An Inuyasha Fanfiction: Scattered Cherry Blossom, Bruised Irish Rose
by CroftButler21
Summary: Roughly the same story the fans are familiar with, but with a character cut and replace: Instead of Kagome Higurashi as the female protagonist, we have instead a red-haired girl by name of Coraline Croft. See my profile for Full Plot and OC Character Description(s). Apologies to any Kagome fans out there! This is just my take on the story. (Title update 2)
1. Prologue: Past's Fate, Present Mystery

Okay, before the story starts, here's the following:

Special Note:

I will be following the anime plot of Inuyasha as closely as possible, with some changes here and there courtesy of my OC, Coraline. The only major change to mention at this point, is that the story setting for the modern era will not be in the late 1990s as it is originally, but in 2017.

Disclaimer:

I do not own Inuyasha in any shape or form, be that the plot or characters.  
That right solely belongs to _Rumiko Takahashi_ (creator; manga), and _Sunrise Studio_ (anime series).

I also do not own references (subtle or otherwise) to the following:

Tomb Raider (reboot 2013 and onward; some of the story, characters, plus my OC is based off of Lara Croft); that's _Crystal Dynamics_ and _Square Enix_

Legend of Zelda (Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time); that's _Shigeru Miyamoto_ , _Takashi Tezuka_ and _Nintendo_

Oh, and my character will be singing some songs from this time, so I'll be be adding disclaimers to the songs that come up; if I somehow forget, do not hesitate to let me know in the comments/reviews so I can fix it. Also, due to a comment that has recently surfaced (June 3rd), you will need to look up the lyrics on your own.

...Okay, that should cover it all. Now, on with the story!

* * *

 _Sengoku Period (430-480 ya), Goshinboku Village, Edo, Japan..._

Our story begins almost five hundred years ago, in what was previously known as Edo, Japan.  
The view is over a modestly large village, deep within a lush, green hillside forest, which was currently under attack.

Fires are blazing all around the village, engulfing a few huts, accompanying other signs of destruction...

Who, or what, was the cause?

"Inuyashaaa!"

Several village men crowd back in fear, as a figure, seemingly trapped within netting and rope, leaps into the air, and cuts through the ropes with ease!

Getting a closer look at the figure, one could see that this was no ordinary individual:  
A young man, with long, thick silver-white hair, wearing a strange, red robe, barefoot, clawed fingers, canine ears on top of his head, and sharp, amber eyes.

With a small chuckle, the figure, now known as Inuyasha, continued to leap from up high, dodging arrows shot towards him, before crashing through the roof of a tiled, well-kept shrine house.

Inside, he stands up straight, covering his face from the smoke of the fire posts planted inside, focusing his vision on his target of interest:

A pedestal, holding a mysterious jewel about the size of a large marble, held within a necklace of other mineral shards...

Inuyasha rushes over to the pedestal, and snatches away the jewel, knocking the holder to the ground. As he turns to leave, the door to the shrine bursts open, courtesy of more men from the village. Inuyasha acts quickly, and dodges an onslaught of spears, leaping into the air, and crashing through the roof again.

He continues to glide through the air, remarking with a smirk,

"Ha! So there!"

He looks down at the jewel in his hand, adding,

"Finally...a way for me to become all demon at last!"

He lands swiftly on the ground, and begins to make his escape. But just before he could cut clear into the forest:

"Inuyasha!"

A voice, belonging to an unknown young woman, calls out, before she pulls the arrow on her bow, and releases!

(Twok)

The arrow flies, as Inuyasha leaped forward, somehow not seeing the arrow, and before he knew it:

(Whizz...TOK)

"Agh!"

The arrow makes contact with his chest, right where his heart is, pinning him to the tree behind him, and causing him to fumble his grip on the mysterious jewel...!

...He watches, a stunned and confused expression on his face, hand stretched out, as the jewel fell to the ground a few feet away from him. His gaze then focuses on the source of the arrow: The unknown woman, who held a stern expression on her features, stock-still as the wind blew gently pass...

With his last strength, he calls out to the woman in a hoarse, and pained voice:

"Ki-Kikyō...How could...I thought-...Auu..uh..."

And his eyes close, he now gone from the world...

The woman, now identified as Kikyō, then steps forward slowly, softly groaning in pain, before kneeling in front of the fallen jewel.  
As she does so, footsteps begin to resonate behind her, one set belonging to a young girl in a light orange kimono, and a gauze around her right eye.

"Big sister!"

"Lady Kikyō!" "That wound..."

"You're hurt really badly." Kikyō then says in a pained voice,

"I forgot who I, and now see that..." She then picks up the jewel, and holds it in her fingers, looking at it with a grim expression:

"All for this...The Shikon-no-Tama, which-mmh!"

She cringes from the wound on her right shoulder. Her younger sister desperately pleads, arms held out to her in concern:

"Your in pain, let someone..."

"I won't, be let much longer..." Kikyō then turns to her sister, holding out the jewel:

"And so, I give this to you: The Shikon-no-Tama. Which you must burn with my body..." She adds with a stern expression,

"It must not fall into the hands of those who would abuse it..."

Kikyō grasps the jewel to her, as her expression turns from serious, to one of distant sadness, mixed with pain and exhaustion...She whimpers softly, eyes closed, and succumbs to her wound, as her sister calls out in tears,

"Sister Kikyō... _Sister Kiky_ _ō_ _ō_ _ō_ _ō!_ "

Time passes, and the body of the woman once known as Kikyō, is seen as it falls to cremating flames, the mysterious 'Shikon-no-Tama' placed in her hands in a ceremonial fashion.

 _I shall take it with me, to the other world..._

The jewel emits a bright glow, as it, and Kikyō, fall into the inferno, never to be seen again...

Unknown Time and Place...

 _...Fire...gunshot..._

 _...Forest...escape.._

 _...Pain...shining light..."You will soon realize your destiny."_

 _...Wh..What?...Grabbing the light...no, an object..._

 _...So, bright...voices...(sheen)_

(Jolt)

"(Gasp), (Pant, pant...)"

We now turn to a large home and shrine somewhere in Tokyo, namely, on one particular resident: A young girl with long, auburn hair, whom had just awoken from sleep, slightly shaky, but also curious from the dream she had:

"...That, dream...It came again..."

She gets up, walks over to her bedroom window, and opens it to greet the morning.  
Yet, as she breathes in the fresh air, it did little to help quell the unease and intrigue arsing within her:

"...This is the third night in a row that I had this dream. I wonder what it means? And...why do I have this feeling, that something life-changing is going to happen soon?"

Little did this young woman know, just how right her intuition was, or was about to be, _in the events to come..._


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Girl Discovering the Impossible & The Boy Discovering Time Passment**

 _2017, (430-480 yl), Higurashi Shrine/Residence, Tokyo, Japan..._

"Shikon-no-Tama? Did I pronounce that correctly?"

"Yes, my girl, precisely."

That same red-head from earlier is now with the elder Higurashi inside one of the storehouses, examining a new product intended for sale.  
She looks at it with a careful eye, though with some light uncertainty on her face:

"Are you sure that these key-chains will sell well to tourists, Grandfather? The idea just seems rather done to death."

Grandfather Higurashi looks at the girl with seriousness:

"Quite sure, as this is no ordinary key-chain. That crystal you see at the end is a replica of the ancient Shikon-no-Tama."

Hearing the fabled jewel's name again, the girl looks up with interest and curiousity laced in her blue eyes:

"Shikon-no-Tama: That translates to 'Jewel of Four Souls', right?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Could you explain to me again how the jewel has such legendary prowess?"

Grandfather Higurashi was thrilled by the girl's interest, so how could he deny the request?

"Of course. (Clears throat) The Shikon-no-Tama was a jewel that was rumored to have legend-"

(Meow)

(Jingle, jingle)

Just then, Buyo, the family cat, comes up to the young girl, and begins batting at the key-chain in her hand, interrupting the explanation.  
The girl looks briefly at Buyo, eyebrow raised, before focusing back on the elder in front of her:

"Sorry, Grandfather. Go on..." He starts again:

"Ahem. As I was saying, the jewel was rumored to have legendary power that would-"

(Jingle, jingle)

Cue Buyo once again...

Frustrated but determined, Grandfather tries once more:

"The jewel was rumored to have power that would-"

"Oh! I just remembered something I meant to ask. Sorry again for interrupting. You and everyone remember what tomorrow is, right?"

Grandfather sighs, slightly exasperated, but smiles with a laugh nonetheless:

"(Laugh) How could I forget my adopted granddaughter's birthday? Hm, I was planning to wait until tomorrow, but..."

"Really? Thank you so much! Let's see what we got here!"

A few tears later, and the young girl's early birthday present is revealed:

"This my girl, is an authentic, mummified hand of a kappa which has been around since the late Azuchi-Momoyama period."

The girl looks at the hand with intrigue and mild excitement:

"Wow...to think this kappa hand has survived preservation for this long. Incredible!"

Her gazing was then cut short by a pounce and swipe from Buyo!

"Waah! That's an antique!" "No, Buyo! That's not a cat toy!"

Just then, the girl notices a stick, and a piece of twine laying by one of the boxes in the room. Turning to look at the key-chain in her hand...

"Ah-ha!"

With creative innovation on her mind, the girl grabbed the items, and quickly got to work...

A few minutes later:

"There, Buyo. Play with this."

The stick, twine and key-chain, were now made into a makeshift cat toy that attached to Buyo's collar!  
Wouldn't take long before Buyo became distracted, and drop the kappa hand...

Grandfather looks up at the girl with astonishment, before smiling in amusement at her quick thinking:

"(Laugh) Oh Coraline, you seem to have a plan for everything, don't you?"

"(Slight laugh) Not everything, Grandfather, but I do my best!"

Coraline's POV

I sigh in satisfaction, looking at the now safe kappa hand before looking around the room in thought:

 _The replicas, the authenticity...wow. It seems that everything here has a story to tell..._

"Why, these pickles are full of history!"

I look over at Grandfather a while later from across the dining room table during dinner in slight amusement, but with enough seriousness on the subject:

"Perhaps in the eyes of _food culture enthusiasts_ , but not necessarily historians or history in general."

Everyone laughs a bit at my answer, with Grandfather looking at me with a mix of appreciation and playful irritation...

As the night rolls in, I think further about this place:

 _Higurashi Shrine...This place has never ceased to amaze me. The stories, including 'The Legend of the Bone Eater's Well', the objects, even the Goshinboku Tree...they all seem to breathe with mystery and mystic. Of course, I don't have any deep-rooted connections here, or in Tokyo at all for that matter..._

 _At least...I thought I didn't. But I would soon be proven wrong in my assumption, come tomorrow...My fifteenth birthday, the day where not only my life would change, but so would others through the events set to motion..._

Next Morning

I begin to leave the house to walk Souta to school, and then head off to the library in search of more references for a research project I'm working on. True, not the 'most fun' way to spend my birthday, but my friends said they would meet me there later in the afternoon.  
And no, this project is not for school; this is my own solo research. I'm actually not enrolled in any school at the moment, instead choosing to self-educate myself through an online program...

Anyway, I have on a simple white tee, my green/blue flannel shirt, dark-wash jeans, and my brown hikers, along with my brown leather satchel.

"I'm heading out! See you in the evening!"

As I move on to meet Souta at the top of the stairs, I begin thinking about the dream I had last night:

 _Fourth time consecutively this week alone. What does this mean?...What is it trying to tell me?_

"Buuuyooo..."

My thoughts were interrupted by Souta, calling out for someone...in the Bone Eater's Well?

"Souta?"

He turns to me with unease written on his face, holding a dish in one of his hands.  
I walk over to him, eyebrow raised, and told him sternly,

"You and I both know this well is off-limits without Grandfather here."

He turns back to look inside the well-house:

"I know. It's the cat."

"Buyo?"

Curious, I peer inside: Not much to look at, minus the sealed well, and the strange bone fragments littered around it...

"I don't know where else he could be..." I kneel down, and reply nonchalantly,

"So go down." Souta gains a whiny tone as he asks,

"But why do I gotta be the one?"

"Well, aren't you the one looking for him?"

Suddenly:

(Scritch, scratch...)

"Ahh, wh-what's that? Something's down there!"

He dives behind me afraid; I turn to him with a look of obviousness:

"Who else? Buyo. He's probably just freaking out a bit, is all."

Seeing that Souta wasn't gonna try to retrieve Buyo, I began venturing down the stairs towards the sealed well myself.  
As I got closer, the sound from earlier began again:

(Scritch, scratch...)

I stop, and narrow my eyes suspiciously:

 _That noise...it sounds like it's coming from, inside the well..._

Next thing I knew, I heard a thump, something brushed against my leg, and I cry out in surprise:

"Wah!" Souta yelps before tripping backwards with a scared look...

I look down, and see that sneaky cat...

"Oh, there you are Buyo."

I pick him up, and hold him securely to my torso. I then hear Souta scoff while saying,

"You make fun of me 'cause I'm scared, but then you're all, (fake girly scream)"

I turn to him with my own scoff, and retort,

"You may want to take note of _who's down here_ and _who's up there._ Honestly, there's nothing to be afraid of here in the well-house..."

But just as I'm ready to take my leave, I hear strange sounds, mixed with an even louder chorus of the scratching, began to erupt from inside the well...

"C-Cora, behind you!"

(CRASH)

(WHOOSH...)

The sound of wood splitting to pieces rings in from behind me, and I feel a strange, strong wind gushing up, most of it coming from the now unsealed well!

I become too stunned to move, and the next thing I knew, I felt semi-solid hands grab me by my upper body, and I'm DRAGGED IN!

I drop Buyo, and barely hear Souta shout,

"What's going on?! Cora!", as I began my backward descent into the well...

Strangely, it doesn't feel like I'm falling, but almost _floating downward_...The inside of the well is also strange, no temporal space anywhere...

But that was the least of my worries, for those hands that still have a hold on me, have begun to turn into full-on arms, attaching to a body that was slowly regenerating before my very eyes!  
The body had the torso of a woman, and the rest some sort of insect. The woman half had about six arms, was pale and bare-skinned, had long, dark-brown hair, and blank eyes. I suddenly hear the creature speak:

"Ah, alive. O, to be alive one more...Already my strength returns." The insect-woman then focuses on me:

"So then, you have it, don't you? The jewel...give it to me..."

 _'The, jewel'? Could, she mean-_

Her tongue then slithered out her mouth, and began licking my face!

"H-Hey! What are you doing? Get OOFFFF!" I shove from me, and the next thing I knew:

(Sheen)

A strange light emits from my hand, forcing the insect-woman back! I watch as she tumbles into nothingness, her last message being,

"Retched girl. I must have the Shikon-no-Tama!"

...Eventually, I reach the bottom of the well, gently landing on my hands and knees. I pant heavily, as try to make sense of it all:

"...What...just...happened?"

I look around, and take in my surroundings:

"Ok. I definitely fell into the well...or, was I dragged in? That insect-woman...was it real, or some sort of illusion?"

I look to my left, and see a severed arm:

"Ah! Alright, not an illusion!" I take a deep breath, and stand up:

"Either way, I need to get out of here. Hey, Souta! Get Grandfather and tell him to bring a ladder!"

...No answer. With that, I switch to plan B, and started climbing up the well using the vines on the walls:

"(Grunt) I guess he, must've ran off. Not that I can really blame him, but still..."

After a few minutes, I reach the top, pull myself out, and was greeted by the sight of... _a woodland area?!  
_ Wait, this can't be right...I am dumbstruck by the change of scenery:

"...Ooooh, this is a problem..."

Beautiful as the landscape was, I was so confused! Where did the shrine go? Where did Tokyo go?!

"Granfather? Akari-sama*! Where are you?!...Souta! Buyo!..."

No matter who I shouted for, I was given the same answer: Nature's silence.  
As I kept looking around, I finally spotted something familiar:

"The Goshinboku Tree!"

I began rushing towards it, happy to see that one thing in the area hasn't changed...

But, when I reached the tree, I was struck stupid by yet another surprise: Tied within some rather ancient-looking roots, _was a boy!_

And judging from the size of those roots, it looks like he's been there for quite a while...

"Uh, hello?...Are you alright?...Could you maybe tell me where I am?"

...No response. I then climbed up onto the main root, and moved to get a closer look at this boy: He had long, silver-white hair, was wearing a red robe of some sorts, and no shoes...

"Wow...He looks more amazing up close...Hm?"

I then see the arrow that was lodged into his chest, right where his heart is!

"Oh no...Does this mean-...Yet, it doesn't, look like he's dead...It looks, more like he's been frozen in time..."

I then look up, and notice the ears on top of his skull, dog-ears at that!

"...No way...Those can't really be...Well, only one way to find out..."

I remember to be gentle, just incase they were. I take my index finger, and very gently stroke the boy's left ear...

"(Soft gasp) It is real!"

I repeat the action with the right ear, then rest my hand lightly on his right shoulder, questions stirring within my mind:

 _...How? How is this even possible? Who is he? And most importantly...what happened to him?_

"Hey, you! Get away from there!"

(Twok, twok, twok)

Next thing I knew, I have several arrows shot at me! I duck just in time, placing by body where the boy is, and the arrows barely miss me!

 _...Phew...That was close..._

I turn to see my assailants: Men, dressed in simple clothing, possibly the locals of the area. I decided to go on the defense, and surrender peacefully...

Small Time Skip, No POV

Unfortunately, that plan did not go as _smooth_ as she would've wanted it to. Bound by her wrists and ankles, Coraline now waits on top of a wicker mat for what was to comes next...

"Hey! Was tying me up 'really' necessary?"

None of the people were listening to Coraline, for they were too busy trying to make sense of the situation, moreover, of this 'new stranger':

"Who is this girl?" "Such strange clothing..." "Is she a foreigner?"

"You reckon it's war?" "Of course it is. And right in the middle of rice planting season too."

"She could be a kitsune in disguise." "Nah, them shape-shifting foxes are alot trickier than that..."

As the villagers kept murmuring possibilities, Coraline took the time to observe the people and the area:

 _Hmm...The men around here all have topknots...while the women have scarves tied on their heads...Wooden huts, old farming tools, kimonos of simple quality, some weapons, even a shrine-house or two...The style and structure of this place and its residents suggest the time to be Sengoku, the Warring States era...but, how?_

"Make way for Lady Kaede!"

Coraline's thoughts were interrupted, as a man calls out, and an elderly woman comes through the crowd of wary eyes. The woman, Lady Kaede, wore an outfit that indicated she was a priestess, had a bow in her right hand, quiver slung on her shoulder, and wore an eye-patch over her right eye.  
She carried a serious look abound, which told Coraline that this elderly woman was not a person to toy with...

Suddenly, Lady Kaede passes her bow to a villager standing by, reaches her hand into a pouch, and proceeds to throw some sort of dust powder at Coraline:

"Demon, begone!"

"Hey, hey! Cut it out, I'm not a demon! What in the world would give you that idea?"

Kaede stops, and then asks with some surprise laced in her voice,

"Are ye not? Then why were ye found in the Forest of Inuyasha?" The village man with Kaede's bow whispers a suggestion:

"She could be a spy from another village..."

"In that case, she would be a fool. Who would invade such a poor village as ours?"

Kaede then looks a bit more intently at Coraline, and her eyes widen a fraction, noticing something in Coraline's eyes that seemed, _familiar..._

She move forward, to examine the strange girl:

"Let me have a good look at ye..."

Kaede then grasps Coraline's chin, and moves her head from side to side, adding,

"Look clever, girl. Or be ye a half-wit?" Coraline was not pleased with that last comment:

 _Grrr. Who is she to call me a half-wit?_

When she was done, Kaede then stood straight, with an expression that would hint at slight disbelief:

"It's there...though, I know not why..."

"Hm?"

If Coraline wasn't confused before, she was now...

Time Skip

After Coraline was finally deemed harmless, she was untied, and brought to Lady Kaede's hut. The inside was fairly modest: A hearth, Wooden bars on the window, wicker door cover, some clay dishes, various herbs, various pottery items, and the bow and quiver laying by the entrance...

As Coraline rubbed her wrists a bit, she was then handed a bowl and chopsticks:

"Stew?"

"Oh wow. Thank you. I didn't even realize my hunger until now." With that, Coraline began to eat. As she ate, Kaede began speaking again:

"Bare us no ill will, child, for though I now see ye mean us no harm, in these trouble times of war, no stranger may be welcomed among us without a deep distrust."

"I understand...So then, this really isn't Tokyo, is it?"

"To-ky-o. Never heard of it. Is that where your people are from?"

"Um, in a sense, yes. Anyway, I really should be finding a way back..." _The only question is how in the world am I gonna do that?_

Suddenly:

(BAM, CRASH)

The sound of wood being crushed in multiple areas of the village began resonating.  
An alarm bell is rung, with Kaede and Coraline peering out the entrance way to see the trouble:

"What's going on?"

They rush out, and both gasp, as their eyes meet the sight of that same insect-woman that attacked Coraline in the well!

As the villagers voiced the danger, the said monster rose into the air, with a horse clamped in its jaws. It hisses, before brushing away the village men with its insect half, and then releasing the horse with a menacing laugh. The horse gives out a final strangled cry, before falling to the ground dead...

"Oh man...I thought that monster was gone!" The insect-woman calls out in a threatening tone:

"Give me the Shikon-no-Tama!"

It then dive-bombs Kaede and Coraline, the both barely dodging it. As the women get up, Kaede then asks Coraline,

"It said 'Shikon-no-Tama'...Tell me, are ye it's quarry?!"

"Uh, technically, yes. But I honestly don't know why! I only know of the Shikon-no-Tama by legend."

The men continue to fire arrows at the insect-woman, as it continues to voice its obsession:

"I must have it! I MUST!"

It then twists and spins its body, swinging it at villagers and structures around it...Coraline watches with anger and guilt:

 _Everyone here is suffering...because of me..._

Two men, now known as village head-men, come up to stand protectively in front of Kaede and Coraline, with looks of frustration:

"Spears, arrows, nothing works!" Kaede then says sternly,

"We must lure it to the Dry Well." Coraline turns to Kaede in confusion:

"Dry Well, you say?"

"Yes, in the Forest of Inuyasha."

 _Of course, the well I climbed out of...Alright: I can't let this monster destroy the village!_

"Tell me: Which way is the forest?"

Kaede points it out, and Coraline turns to the east where the trees grew thickest, noticing a strange light:

 _That glow...it has to be it!_

"Got it! Where that light is shining!"

With that, Coraline began sprinting towards the forest, despite Kaede trying to call her back:

"Wait!"

The insect-woman dives between the head-men and Kaede, heading after Coraline. Coraline jumps down into a ditch, calling out to Kaede,

"I won't let the village be destroyed!" Kaede watches as Coraline runs, muttering in surprise:

"How is it she can see, what cannot be seen in the Forest of Inuyasha?"

"Lady Kaede!"

More men come, with horses that were not spooked off by the insect-woman, armed and ready for battle. Kaede lifts herself onto one of the horses, armed with her bow and quiver, before riding off in the direction that Coraline and the insect-woman left for...

Meanwhile, Coraline was having a hard time keeping a distance from the insect-woman:

 _I don't know, how long I can keep this up...could, this be the end?...NO! It, can't be!_

"(Pant, pant) Please...someone...I need HEEEELLLPPP!"

Coraline's cry travels, mixed with the howl of the insect-woman, deep within the forest...The echoes reach the Goshinboku Tree, where the young man tied within the roots...begins vibrating with an unearthly energy:

(Heartbeat)

One of the boy's hands, now seen having claws, begins to twitch, then slowly lifts to his face, revealing that the boy, was in fact now alive!

"I smell it...The blood of the woman who killed me...And it's coming closer...Rrrgh!"

(Sheen)

The boy tried to remove the arrow embedded him, but found he could not, as it began to glow...

Getting back to Coraline, she eventually reached the edge of the forest, the insect-woman still in hot pursuit:

"The jewel...Give me the Shikon-no-Tama!"

"How many times must I say it?! I don't, have it!"

The insect-woman then cuts through the ground, sending Coraline forward, tumbling in front of the Goshinboku Tree.  
As she begins to rise from the fall, groaning a bit from the impact, a new voice cuts into the silence:

"Hello, _Kiky_ _ō._ Playing with bugs, now are we?"

Confused, Coraline looks up, and her eyes widen at seeing the source, was none-other than the mysterious boy tied within the roots!

 _He...spoke?_

She gets up, astonishment traced into her features:

"...So I was right...You really weren't dead at all..."

"Why you taking so long to kill it? Just do her like you did me..."

The boy's eyes then widen a bit, looking at Coraline, before speaking again:

"You look pretty dumb there, Kikyō. The Kikyō _I know_ wouldn't waste time."

Coraline gets an annoyed look, and stands up to answer back to the boy:

"Why I outta...Listen up: Whoever this 'Kikyō' is, is not me! My name is-"

The boy's eyes then narrow:

"...She's here."

The insect-woman then dives from the top of the Goshinboku Tree, and Coraline quickly moves backwards to get away...

(Twok, twok)

Suddenly, arrows with rope attached shoot into the insect-woman's torso. It turns, and sees the source to be the villagers who went after the monster:

"Good! Now pull!"

The men begin pulling, forcing the insect-woman back, while Coraline looks over at them with an urgent but relieved look:

"Damn...that was too close..." The boy in the tree roots comments again:

"You're pathetic, Kikyō."

Coraline gets fed up with being called 'Kikyō':

 _Alright, that tears it!_

"Hey, you! I'm not Kikyo!"

She walks over to him, and gets into his face adding,

"Quit calling me by a name that's not mine!" The boy stubbornly retorts back,

"Well I'm saying you gotta be her! Cause if you're not, there's no way that you could smell so-"

He breaks off, and then sniffs the air, before saying in a soft, and surprised voice,

"You're not her..."

"I know. My name is Coraline. Cor-a-line." His eyes widen, before turning away from her with a disgruntled tone:

"...You're right. Kikyō was cuter...Much cuter..."

Coraline raises an eyebrow at the boy's change of attitude: _Sheesh. What's up his corduroys?_

Next thing she knew, Coraline was then grabbed by two sets of arms, and was being dragged away by the insect-woman!  
Coraline desperately grabs for something to help pull her away, and winds up grabbing the boy's hair:

"Ah! Let go, dammit! Let goooo!"

"Ow, ow, ow! You let go!"

The villagers watch the scene with disbelief, one of the men remarking,

"Inuyasha has revived!"

Kaede watches just as stunned, if not more so: _How can that be?! The seal should've held forever!_

The insect-woman calls out her demand once again, in an even harsher and desperate tone than earlier:

"Give me the Shikon-no-Tama!"

Inuyasha then has a look of epiphany rise in his eyes: _The_ _Shikon-no-Tama..._

The insect-woman's face then shifts to look even more monster-like, with huge fangs prodding out of her mouth! Before it could attack, however:

"GET, BACK!"

Coraline holds her hand out, and the same weird glow comes out of her palm!

The insect-woman is forced back, and Coraline falls to the ground, along with the rest of the insect-woman's arms...

Coraline rises, and looks at her hand, softly commenting,

"That glow...It happened again, just like in the well..."

The village men and Kaede watched with amazement at Coraline's move, while she herself questions further:

"But how...How did I..."

(Sheen)

"Huh?"

Coraline looks down upon herself, and her eyes widen in shock, at seeing her left side glowing with a strange, orb-shaped energy!

"Wh...What is this?!"

The insect-woman then charges across the ground, and with a growl, bites into Coraline's side, before tossing her into the air!  
Coraline cries out in pain, before noticing something pop out of her, along with her blood:

 _What...is that? It came, from inside me...Is that the-No! It can't be! The Shikon-no-Tama?!_

Coraline then falls from the air, hitting the insect-woman's body, before landing on the ground hard:

"Argh...Ghh..."

As she goes to lift herself from the ground, Inuyasha then urgently tells her,

"Give me the jewel, quick!"

"What?"

"Hurry!"

But before she could do anything, the insect-woman then surrounds the two with her body, and constricts Coraline to the tree alongside Inuyasha!  
The insect-woman then comes down, and addresses the two, namely Inuyasha:

"I heard some half-demon spawn was after the Shikon-no-Tama. It's you, isn't it?"

 _Half-demon? So, he isn't human?_

Coraline looks up at Inuyasha, while he retorts with a smirk:

"Half's all I need to kick your scaly hide. Anything more than that would be a waste of my time!" Coraline then asks him,

"Do you really have the strength to beat this monster?" He looks at her confused, before she asks again:

"Well, _do you_ or do you _not?_ "

...Inuyasha turns back to the insect-woman, glaring as it continues to mock him:

"What can he do, pinned there like that? Or you for that matter? You're powerless to stop me!"

It then bends down to the Shikon-no-Tama, adding with a laugh,

"You're helpless, the both of you!"

It then sticks its long tongue out and swallows up the jewel, despite Inuyasha's angry threat of,

"Don't you dare!"

The villagers begin panicking:

"It swallowed the jewel!" "Lady Kaede! What shall we do?!"

The insect-woman's fallen arms glowed an ominous red, before floating to re-attach!  
It then bends down on the ground, and shudders, before shedding it's skin, revealing a more hideous version of its upper torso!

"At last...My power is complete!"

The insect-woman then begins to squeeze its body further on Coraline and Inuyasha, causing her to cry out:

"Auh...D-Damn...It's, crushing me..." As she struggles, Inuyasha then asks her in a calm tone,

"Hey. Can you, pull out this arrow?"

Distracted from her squirming, Coraline looks up to the arrow in his chest:

"Rrrg...Do you mean...this one?"

"Yes! Can you pull it out, or not?"

Coraline reaches a hand to it, answering Inuyasha with some strain in her voice,

"I...I think so...rrgh..."

Keade then gets off her horse, and calls out to Coraline in protest:

"Nay, child! Once the arrow is removed, then Inuyasha will be free to destroy us all!"

Inuyasha retorts back,

"Don't be stupid, you old hag! At least with me you got a chance, where as _that thing's_ gonna eat you!"

He then looks down at Coraline:

"And what about you? Are you ready to die yet?"

Coraline freezes, thinking on his choice of words:

 _...No...I'm not ready to die! Not now! I don't know what'll happen after, but I've come to far, to give up my life now..._

She reaches the arrow, grasping it while shouting,

"I...Refuse...To DIE!"

(POW, SHEEN)

The arrow glows a bright pink fushia, before disintegrating into nothing! Kaede is awestruck:

"It's gone! My sister's spell banished..."

The power glow spreads briefly to the two bodies, before disappearing as quick as it came...Suddenly:

(Heartbeat, heartbeat, heartbeat...)

The boy's body pulsates an ominous energy, with Coraline watching, before calling out in a quiet voice,

"Inu...yasha?"

He shivers, before breaking out into a menacing laugh! The insect-woman turns with a howl, before lifting its body off of the two briefly, then slamming it back on them again, seemingly crushing them...

That is, until Inuyasha breaks out with a war cry, cutting the torso into pieces, and forcing Coraline to fall to the ground:

"Oof...Ouch..."

Coraline looks up, and sees Inuyasha spin-barrel in the air, landing on the ground with ease...The insect-woman then turns and says with malice,

"Retched child!" Inuyasha turns back, and retorts with a smirk,

"Nasty hag!"

The insect-woman charges him, and he raises his right arm into the air, crying out his own attack:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

His claws slice straight down the middle of the monster, cutting it into pieces, and ultimately destroying it!

...Coraline looks at Inuyasha with amazement at his quick work of the insect-woman, as pieces of the monster fall to the ground:

 _Incredible...His strength surpasses any normal person...Then again, I'm not sure what normal is..._

Of course, the fight wasn't over yet, as Coraline notices the flesh begin to twitch:

"Oh crap, it's going to regenerate!"

Kaede comes up to Coraline and tells her what to do:

"Find the glowing flesh, quickly! That's where the jewel will be. It must be removed at once, lest the flesh of Mistress Centipede revives!"

"What? Seriously?!"

Seeing no other options, Coraline began scanning the flesh; a few seconds later:

"There! That piece!"

Kaede walks up to where Coraline was pointing, and removes the Shikon-no-Tama from the flesh. The second it was taken, the flesh began disintegrating, leaving nothing except the skeletal remains of Mistress Centipede...Coraline watches in amazement:

"Huh...Guess that's the end of that..."

Kaede then turns to Coraline, and presents the Shikon-no-Tama to her!

"Wh..What? But, why?"

"Only ye may possess the Shikon-no-Tama now..." _Ye who so holds the spirit of the dead Kiky_ _ō..._

Coraline is taken aback, shocked by this turn in events:

"But, how? How could the Shikon-no-Tama have been inside me? I, shouldn't have any prior connections to the jewel at all..."

(Step, crack)

Inuyasha then steps forward, crushing a set of bones with his foot, offering his insight:

"Exactly. Humans can't use it, so why bother to keep it? If you hand over the Shikon-no-Tama right now, I won't have to start _sharpening my claws on you._ "

Coraline is shocked by Inuyasha's threat:

"Wait, what?!"

 _I don't understand. Does this mean, he isn't a good guy?...Oh man, what do I do now?!..._

* * *

*Note: This is the name I'll be using for Ms. Higurashi, as Coraline does not really acknowledge her as her mother...It'll be explained later on in the story why.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Battle with a Crow & a Quest Ignited**

 _Quick Recap:_

 _Coraline, a young red-haired girl, is pulled down a mysterious well by supernatural forces on her fifteenth birthday, and finds herself in the Sengoku Edo, Japan. After encountering a boy - later known as Inuyasha - wrapped in the roots of a younger Goshinboku Tree, she was then brought by the local villagers to Lady Kaede, a priestess whom had been on watch of the forest for fifty years.  
_

 _Soon the village is under attack by Mistress Centipede, a demon that assaulted Coraline in the well upon her arrival, as it searched for the fabled Shikon-no-Tama, a jewel that granted unimaginable power to those who sought it.  
Knowing that the monster was after her, Coraline lead it away to the forest, her cry for assistance echoing back to Inuyasha, whom would awaken after a long, spell-induced stasis caused by an enchanted arrow. When the events began taking a turn for the worst, Coraline made the rash decision to free Inuyasha from the spell, allowing him to destroy Mistress Centipede in no time flat!  
_

 _Lady Kaede then presented Coraline with the Shikon-no-Tama, informing her that she was now the protector of the jewel, much to Coraline's dismay and confusion.  
Inuyasha then steps forward, and argues that the Shikon-no-Tama has no place in the hands of humans, and demands the jewel be given to him, before he used his claws on Coraline!_

 _Now..._

As Inuyasha stares at Coraline with a menacing smirk, the village men begin surrounding him, getting ready to use their weapons on him.  
Meanwhile, Kaede places a protective arm in front of Coraline, and tells her calmly,

"Pay no heed to Inuyasha, child."

Coraline stares at Inuyasha, before focusing on the Shikon-no-Tama:

 _Grandfather told me that this jewel was rumored to have legendary power for the possessor. But he didn't specify on what kind of power...If it makes demons like Mistress Centipede stronger...could that mean the jewel is cursed?_

Her thoughts are then interrupted by Inuyasha's growling tone:

"I hate having to wait...and I hate the smell of you..."

He suddenly begins his charge on Coraline, and she grits her teeth, before turning the other way to run.  
Coraline wouldn't get too far, however, when she trips on a bone fragment of Mistress Centipede!

Fortunately, that seemed to be her lucky break, for she tripped just as Inuyasha came with a swipe of his claws, just barely missing her by a hair!

She slides to the ground with a grunt, and she looks up with a glare at Inuyasha, whom had slid on his feet, stopping just a few feet away from her.  
He cracks his knuckles, and asks her tauntingly,

"You want me to scratch your back?" She lifts herself up, down on one knee, and replies back,

"You really tried to hit me just now, didn't you?"

The men act upon the scene:

"Now! Shoot!"

(Twok, Twok, Twok...)

Arrows are shot at Inuyasha, who easily slices them in half, before dash-jumping to slash through two nearby trees, causing the men to flee before they were crushed!

(Leap)

Inuyasha then lands on one of the trunks, and then looks at the men with an annoyed frown:

"Feh, who do you people think I am?! You think you can hurt me like I did that Centipede?!"

One of the men turns to Kaede, and says with uncertainty,

"Lady Kaede. Methinks may-hap that we might have chanced the Centipede..."

Kaede responds in a clam and slightly disgruntled tone,

"Somehow, I knew that it would eventually come to this..."

She reaches into her robe, and pulls out a set of mysterious prayer beads, that had some bone teeth stringed on with the beads...  
Meanwhile, Coraline was sprinting from Inuyasha, as he was closing in for another attack:

"Prepare yourself!"

"Oh great, now what?!"

She turns her head, and cries out in surprise, as Inuyasha brings his claws down on her again. This time, although not hitting her directly, his power does send an impact to her body and the surrounding earth!

(Slash, Rumble...)

"Aaaaagh!"

Coraline lands on her front again, and accidentally drops the Shikon-no-Tama a few feet away from her.  
She turns around, and her eyes bulge out, at seeing the huge claw mark now embedded into the earth...

Inuyasha then side-jumps off a tree, diving for the dropped Shikon-no-Tama:

"Ha! Now it's mine!"

...Or so he thought. At the same time, Lady Kaede went into a deep prayer with the strange beads, using her spiritual power to place a spell on it.

(Sheen)

(Pow, Spark...)

The spell was now complete, and the beads then shot out from her hands, flying through the air wrapped in their own individual glow, aiming straight for Inuyasha! The beads all surround his neck, joining back up again, and he looks at it confused, landing on a rock just a few feet in front of Coraline:

"The heck are these?!"

Kaede then calls out to Coraline:

"Quickly, child! The word of subjugation!"

Coraline calls back confused, as she reaches to grab the jewel:

"Uh, can you be more specific?"

"It matters not! Your word has power to hold his spirit!"

Coraline takes off again, running a short distance before reaching a small cliff edge, and looses her footing before sliding down to the bottom:

"Wah!"

She looses grip on the Shikon-no-Tama again, and it hops all the way to the middle of a wooden bridge overlooking the river:

"Crap!"

As she goes to get up, Inuyasha comes bursting from the treetops:

"Ha! How can you overpower me when you can't sit up?"

Coraline tries to think of a 'word of subjugation':

"Dammit, what word will work on him? What word?"

She then notices Inuyasha's silhouette overlooking the full moon, and thinks of what his appearance akins to in some way. Specifically, his ears...

Just before Inuyasha could grasp the jewel, Coraline calls out a command:

"...Sit Boy!"

(Gleam)

The beads glow, and the spell activates, causing Inuyasha to fall face-first into the bridge with a off-guard yelp!

...Coraline steps forward onto the bridge, amazed by the spell's effectiveness:

"...Whoa...I can't believe that actually worked..."

The spell wears off, and Inuyasha sits up with a dumbfounded look, shouting in angry disbelief,

"What the heck is this thing?!"

He then tries to yank the beads off, but no matter how hard he pulled, the beads would not come off...  
Kaede comes up to the cliff edge and explains why:

"I'm sorry Inuyasha, but even you lack the power to remove it."

Inuyasha quickly rises and retorts back in heated irritation,

"We'll see about that! I'd come up there and finish you off, if you didn't look half-dead already!"

"...The word, please." Coraline obliges Kaede:

"Sit, Boy."

(Gleam)

The prayer beads activate again, sending Inuyasha to the bridge again face-first, this time landing enough of an impact to crash through the boards, he falling into the river below:

"Aaaahhh!"

(Splash)

...With that 'minor annoyance' taken cared of, Kaede approaches Coraline and remarks lightly,

"Well then. Shall we head home?"

Coraline looks down at the river, and says with mild surprise,

"Well that was easier than expected..."

Time Skip

Come the next day, the villagers were hard at work, busy with reconstruction of their home thanks to the onslaught of Mistress Centipede.  
Focusing in on Kaede's hut, she herself was finishing patching up Coraline's wound:

"How's that? Perhaps I'll put more salve on your belly..."

Coraline grimaces a bit in pain, but otherwise felt fine after last night:

"Thank you, Lady Kaede...To think, this is where the Shikon-no-Tama once resided...I noticed that everyone is already busy with repairs from last night. All that destruction..."

Coraline couldn't help but feel guilty...

Kaede washes her hands when she was done treating Coraline, replying to her observation:

"Aye, child. And the destruction has only just begun. Now that the Shikon-no-Tama is back among us, many more demons will come to claim it and its power."

"I'm assuming they will be stronger than Mistress Centipede?"

"Yes. And not just demons: There are humans, whose hearts fall prey to petty ambitions and dark desires, that will come for the Shikon-no-Tama as well."

"Speaking on the subject of petty, why are you still around?"

Coraline's question is directed to Inuyasha, who got out of the river sometime last night, and has been lingering at Kaede's since...  
He's currently laying on his side, arm propped up at the elbow, chin resting on his hand, his back turned to Coraline and Kaede.  
Inuyasha turns his head briefly to Coraline with a grunt, and replies irritably,

"I'm waitin' for the jewel," and turns away, a scowl on his face. Kaede then speaks:

"With the beads around his neck, his threat is greatly diminished. It is perhaps the only way we can allow him so close to the jewel."

Coraline then furrows her eyebrows in thought, and speaks to Inuyasha again:

"What I don't understand is why you want to have the jewel in the first place. You already have such incredible strength that could easily best any opponent in your way. What more could the Shikon-no-Tama possibly give you?"

"Ah, but he's just half-demon."

(Smash)

In a spat of sudden anger, Inuyasha drives his fist into the floorboards, before spinning around to yell at Kaede for her comment:

"You know what, I'm sick of hearin' some dried-up witch I just met, talkin' like she knows me!"

Kaede of course, is unfazed, and replies back calmly:

"So ye don't remember? I thought as much. I am younger sister to Kikyō, she who bound ye to the tree. Kaede."

" _You're_ Kaede?"

Inuyasha then goes into a flashback, remembering a young girl who used to be by Kikyō's side half the time...

"So you're the brat, huh?"

Kaede explains as she tends to the fire:

"Fifty years have passed, and I have grown old." Inuyasha then scratches his brow in thought:

"If you're this old...Kikyō must be pushing a hundred. Sure glad I don't gotta worry 'bout being old...least not for a while..."

Kaede then adds in a somewhat bitter tone,

"Kikyō didn't worry either... _Kiky_ _ō died..._ "

Inuyasha's ears twitch on that information, his eyes narrowing into a distant look...

"It was on the same day she shot ye with the arrow..."

Kaede adds more wood to the fire...Inuyasha then gains a smirk, and says with a sarcastic tone,

"Gee, sorry to hear it. Not that I really care or nothin'." He leans back into a lazy position, and adds,

"It's one less thing for me to worry about."

"I wouldn't let your guard down just yet, Inuyasha. For I know now that Coraline, is the reincarnation of my sister."

Coraline's eyes widen in shock at Kaede's claim:

"Say what now?!" Kaede continues:

"Though true ye do not bear any 'physical' resemblance to her...The Jewel of Four Souls was in your body. That alone is proof enough. It is up to ye now, child, to take over its protection."

Later on, Coraline is walking by the riverside, the Shikon-no-Tama now in a set of beads around her neck, as she contemplates her newly developed situation:

 _...Me? Protect this?...This, can't be right..._

"...I can't possibly be Kikyō's reincarnation. Hell, I'm not even Japanese! Unless citizenship counts..."

Some villagers who were gathering provisions were conversing nearby:

"She's the reincarnation of who?!" They turn to look at Coraline in the distance:

"You gotta admit, there's something other-worldly about her..."

By this time, a small crowd had gathered, all curious about this new information:

"But who?"

"They're saying that girl is really Kikyō reincarnated."

"That's _Kiky_ _ō-sama_ for those who respect her!"

"Me? I knew that it was Lady Kikyō all along."

"Kikyō-sama has come back just as she left."

Coraline turns to see the crowd of villagers, as they all bowed to her in worship...Of course, she doesn't take this gesture too well:

"...Crud! I gotta get outta here while the gettin's good!"

Meanwhile, up in a tree, rested Inuyasha, as he thought about how much time had passed, and the events that took place during his sleep:

"...She died...And I never knew..."

Suddenly, a pear was thrown at Inuyasha's back, who caught it with ease. He looks at it, confused by the air-travel:

"Hm?" He then notices Coraline:

"Hey, don'tcha wanna eat?"

"Where'd you get all that stuff from?"

He's indicating the two bags of food, and a bushel of some kind of root-based vegetable now in Coraline's hands. Coraline explains:

"The villagers just gave it all to me. How 'bout you come down and help me eat it?"

Soon, both Coraline and Inuyasha were sitting at the base of the tree, having eaten a good amount of the food.  
However, as Coraline was munching on a pear, Inuyasha had his mouth set in a frown, and his eyes narrowed suspiciously at her:

"...Whatever you're up to, I ain't buying it."

"Who said I was up to anything? (Sigh) Ok, it's become quite obvious that you don't like me, am I right?"

"Waaay more than obvious."

"Whatever...It isn't even me you have an issue with. It's this, 'Kikyō'."

At that remark, Inuyasha grunts, before dropping his share, and jumping back up into the tree, back turned to Coraline.  
Nevertheless, Coraline continues to try and reason with him:

"Look, Inuyasha, I am not Kikyō. I am Coraline. Can't we just, I dunno, come to some sort of compromise?"

He turns immediately back around to face Coraline and retorts to her question:

"Ha, I knew it! You talk of compromising, but you're just trying to lull me into a false sense of security!"

"(Raises eyebrow) Really? That's your conclusion? Hmm...That's funny, since all I have to do to 'ensure my safety' is say the word, Sit."

(Gleam)

(Wham)

Inuyasha falls out of the tree face-first into the ground. Coraline realizes her mistake:

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry! I gotta be more careful with that word," muttering that last part with a remorseful look.

Gritting his teeth, Inuyasha lifts his face up, an infuriated look on his face:

"Oh, man..."

Time Skip

Another night has come, and Coraline lies under a blanket provided by Kaede in her hut. As she begins to drift to sleep, an uneasy look is on her face:

 _It's been two days since I came here...I hope everyone back home isn't too worried about me..._

 _...Grandfather, Akari-sama, Souta...I'll find a way back to you all...somehow..._

And with that, she fell fast asleep, with the Shikon-no-Tama held close to her...

Meanwhile, outside the hut, in a tree not too far away, a large murder of crows had gathered. One of them was particularly large, giving off a dark vibe, had a long, lizard-like tail, and three piercing red eyes, which focused on the hut, its eyes flashing in want at the prize inside...

Suddenly, Inuyasha, whom was wide awake the whole time, came bursting from another set of trees, striking a few choice attacks, scaring off the murder.  
He watches them leave, commenting,

"Keh, they've all come just 'cause they smell the jewel. Stinkin' vultures..."

Unfortunately, what Inuyasha didn't know, was that it wouldn't be the last time he would be seeing one of those crows...

Morning

As the sun came and rose to greet the day, and a rooster crows in the distance, we now find Coraline out on her own, heading for the forest to try and find a way back to her time:

 _Hmm...I'm sure that this way leads back to the Bone Eater's Well...If it brought me here, surely it's the key to going back..._

Meanwhile, Kaede was back in the village, looking for her:

"Coraline! Coraline!"

Three men come rushing to her, as they too were in search for Coraline:

"Lady Kaede, we've looked everywhere, but she's not here!"

"Could it be that she's gone off on her own? We spoke of those who seek the Shikon-no-Tama, yet we spoke not nearly enough..."

Unbeknownst to Kaede, Inuyasha was listening from on top of a nearby hut:

 _What? She seriously left all by herself?_

Coraline's POV

Ok, so striking out on my own may not be my 'smartest' decision, but I have to get back home!  
After walking for a while, I finally spotted the well in the distance:

"Aha! There it is! Now, to see if I can get back..." But just as I began to move toward the well:

"Haaah!"

I'm ambushed by bandits! They grab me by my arms and waist, with one of their hands covering my mouth:

 _Aww damn! Why does going home suddenly have to be so difficult?!_

Small Time Skip

The bandits took me to a rather worn-down shrine-house, where the whole gang of them was hiding out.  
One of them pins me to the ground with a hand on my head and my arms behind my back. I grit my teeth from the impact:

"Rrrgh, ouch!"

"Heheh, hey Boss! We caught the girl just like you said we should!"

As I struggle to get out of his grip, another one then says,

"Hahahah, check out her clothing. Looks like some sort of form-fitting slacks..."

I feel a hand fondle by backside, tugging at by jeans...I flushed in anger and embarrassment, before rising quickly into a defensive position:

"H-Hey, cut that out!"

The bandits look at me with teasing expressions, a few of them with lust in their eyes:

"What's the matter, princess? Our hands too dirty for ya?"

"Marry me and I'll buy you a nice kimono." They all chuckle at their comrades comment, while I angrily retort,

"Quit laughing, you perverts!"

Suddenly, their leader, whom was laying casually by the far wall, speaks in a low, commanding voice:

"Hand over the jewel. Right now..."

As he rose from the ground, I notice his face held a rather dazed expression, and his walk was a bit uneasy.  
He then unsheathes his sword, just as two of the bandits grab my arms to hold me in place:

"Hey! What're you-"

"Here, Boss! Try taking off on one swing! Like a dandelion! Haha."

"Are you nuts?! Get off!"

The leader does swing his sword...but instead of hitting me, it cuts down the bandit holding my left!

"Aggh! What'd you...do that, for?..."

(Thud)

The bandit falls dead, and the others look at their leader with shocked and frightened expressions.  
The leader just brushes it off with a low chuckle, before going to swing his sword again, with no real target in particular!

His sword even cuts through a statue, the top half crashing to the ground.  
The bandits fearfully try reasoning with their leader:

"Boss, Boss! W-Where you aimin'? She's who you want!" They began pushing me towards him, but I wasn't having any of that!

"Whoa, whoa! Hang on! Can't you idiots see there's something seriously wrong with him?! Get your heads together before he chops 'em off! Am I the only observant one here?!"

The bandits suddenly duck, and I turn around, only to barely duck in time myself from another sword swing!  
They all scatter around the room, and I duck between the leader's legs, trying to put as much distance between him and myself as possible:

 _Crap! Here I am, in the Sengoku Period, playing Red Rover, with an eight-foot forest troll!_

Inuyasha's POV

I run using my demon speed past a river and through the forest, trying to track down that strange human.  
I pause my pursuit and land up on a tree branch, sniffing the air for her scent:

"Tch, stupid girl. I don't care where she goes, but she took the jewel with her."

I jump down and continue the search, hoping I find the human before she gets into trouble and looses the jewel...

Coraline's POV

I watch as the leader kept blindingly swinging his sword, cutting and smashing all in his way:

(Slice, slash)

(Crash...)

The bandits and I barely manage to keep out of the way each time, as the room becomes more ruined, and our options of escape starting to diminish.  
I then rush over to help one of the bandits who got caught under some of the rubble:

"You alright? Can you stand up?"

The others rush over as I wrap the arm of the injured bandit over my shoulder (Hey, I know they kidnapped me, but come on, I'm not heartless!).  
We all turn to stare as the leader began to move towards us once again:

"I want the jewel...Give it to me..."

 _Rrrgh, he's after the Shikon-no-Tama...God, if only I didn't have it with me...Then again, Kaede did warn me that evil and desire of all circles would be after it...But that's a worry for later; I need to focus on getting out of here!_

As the bandits and I begin slowly side-stepping out of the leader's line of vision, I move with the injured bandit to another wall...while the other non-injured bandits scramble behind me...The cowards...

"Seriously? What kind of bandits are ya?!" They just nervously laugh...

The leader then let out a war cry, and swung with the sword again!  
Luckily, we were faster, and he just ended up flinging himself into the wall. I realized what I had to do:

"Alright...this has gone on long enough."

I hand the injured bandit to one of his comrades, before taking the Shikon-no-Tama off my neck, and throwing it out the entrance as far as I can!  
I watch it bounce out, as did the leader:

"The jewel..." That's when I took the opportunity:

"Quick, all of you! Push out the wall while he's distracted!"

"You got it!"

They all slam against the wall at once, but it wasn't enough for the wall to give way:

"Sorry, Boss, no good!"

"What did-Who the hell elected me as your Boss?!"

I hear a grunt, and I turn around, to see the leader standing directly behind me!  
He swings his sword, and with no hope of getting out of the way, I placed my arms in a defensive X-position, praying for a miracle...

(CRASH)

"Hrraaah!"

Which was fortunately answered...by Inuyasha! His robes somehow blocked the sword, splitting the blade, and I watch as he punched and roundhouse-kicked the leader to the floor...

Once the leader was out of commission, the bandits took this opportunity to flee for their lives.  
The last two, including the injured one say,

"We're outta here, Boss!"

"Thanks again," and they leave to catch up with the others. I couldn't begin to explain my relief in seeing Inuyasha:

"Thank you. You came just in the nick of time." He turns to me and asks with urgency,

"Is it safe? Where's the jewel?" I give him a look of stupidity:

"Uh, the jewel?"

He gives me an incredulous look in return:

"Oh, no! Tell me you did not just say that!?"

I laugh nervously, as I realize that I've completely forgotten about the Shikon-no-Tama!  
But that was the least of my worries; I then heard a strange noise, and saw the leader beginning to rise:

"Ah! Inuyasha, behind you!"

He turns around, and we both watch as the bandit leader stand upright once more.  
Suddenly, Inuyasha covers his nose with his sleeve in disgust:

"Augh...What is that smell? It's like, rotting meat, or-"

 _Strange, I picked up a hint of that too, now that I think about it...Wait! Could the bandit-_

Next thing I knew, the bandit leader's armor comes off the one side, and I see a gaping hole where his heart would be...

Inside, _was a monstrous crow!_

No One's POV  


As the crow caws menacingly, Coraline cringes, and Inuyasha comments with a grim smile,

"How much you wanna bet that bird ripped his living heart out and made itself a bloody nest?"

Coraline then frowns with a serious glare:

"This would explain the bandit's odd behaviour until now. This crow's been using him as a puppet of flesh!"

The crow continues to caw while Inuyasha explains further:

"Carrion crows don't fight on their own when there's dead bodies handy. They ain't so tough... _but they're hell-a nasty!_ "

Inuyasha then jumps and drives his claws into the hole, trying to get the crow. But the crow bursts from the back, flying away; Inuyasha lands in a crouch, as the bandit body falls, its flesh disintegrating away, leaving a skeleton behind...

Coraline goes up to his side and says,

"It's getting away! Shouldn't you go after it?" Inuyasha just rises while rolling his shoulder and calmly replying,

"Maybe you haven't noticed, but the world is full of monsters. You want I should go after them all?"

"Of course not, but-"

"No but! You wanna start doin' the fightin'? Be my guest!"

As they argued, the crow flies overhead, then dives to the ground where the Shikon-no-Tama was, and takes it within its beak!  
As the two came out of the rubble, Inuyasha adds,

"In the meantime, where's the jew-Awwoh!"

He breaks off in a groan, as he watches the crow flying away with the Shikon-no-Tama!

"That stupid crow's makin' off with the jewel! What's wrong with you?!" Coraline yells at him in return:

"Hey! I never mentioned having the jewel, did I?! Anyway, let's go after it!"

(CRASH)

"Come on!"

Inuyasha bursts through the blockage, dragging Coraline by the wrist with him. He suddenly stops, Coraline landing against his back:

"Why'd you-"

But Inuyasha wasn't listening; he was focusing on a bandit's abandoned horse, specifically, on a set of bow and arrows strapped to the side...

Small Time Skip

"Oh no you don't!"

Inuyasha begins his pursuit of the Carrion Crow, Coraline riding on his back, while holding onto the quiver and bow.  
As he kept moving swiftly through the treetops, Inuyasha then turns to Coraline and asks,

"What're you waitin' for?! Hurry up and shoot it!" Coraline looks at him with disbelief and retorts,

"Shoot?! You can't be serious! The only long-range I know is with a _rifle_ , not a _bow and arrow!_ "

"...What's a 'rifle'? Anyway, the crow lives by eating human flesh. If you think that's bad, let it swallow the jewel!"

And guess what the crow did?

"Crap, it swallowed it!...Alright! I'll, give it a shot!"

"Thank you!" _And after she takes out the crow, it's her turn..._

Coraline grabs an arrow to use, getting the bow ready as Inuyasha kept dashing across the ground:

"Kikyō was a master archer. Take it on one shot!"

(Leap)

Inuyasha soars into the air, as Coraline shouts back,

"I keep telling you, my name's Coraline!" _Even so...Kiky_ _ō, if you can hear me, please lend me your strength..._

"Here we go..."

(Twok)

She fires the arrow...but unfortunately, her aim misses the crow by a mile...Inuyasha trips face-first in surprise, with Coraline barely managing to steady herself on his back. She curses her shot:

"Dammit...Hey! Didn't you say Kikyō was a _master archer?_ " Inuyasha lifts her head and retorts in frustration,

"She was! It's _you_ that's the klutz!"

The two begin their pursuit again, and watch as the Carrion Crow grows larger and more hideous than earlier:

"See how big it is?"

They come in range again:

"Do it!"

(Twok)

But even though she was a bit closer to her mark, Coraline's shot missed again...

Inuyasha suddenly slides into a stop, and dumps Coraline harshly off his back and onto the ground:

(Thud)

"Ouch! Why'd you-"

Inuyasha turns around abruptly, and points at her while angrily shouting,

"I don't care what the old lady says: You, are not, Kikyō, you got that?! I am so outta here!"

He turns and speeds off on his own, as Coraline gets up off the ground, saying sarcastically,

"Gee, took him long enough to take his blinders off..." She then runs off after him...

We now zoom in on the Carrion Crow, as it swoops over the Goshinboku Village, specifically overhead the river, in the direction of a young boy and his mother as they were crossing the bridge. The crow dives down, and snatches up the boy in its talons!

"Waaah!" "Help, somebody, help!"

Inuyasha arrives on scene, speeding up along the treeline, and catching up with the monster:

"Looking for your next meal already, huh? You forget, you first gotta get through me!"

Coraline arrives on the bridge, and calls out in protest to Inuyasha's intent:

"Inuyasha, no! You'll hurt the boy!" He just rebuffs her:

"Back off!"

He leaps from the trees and attacks:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(SLASH)

He claws the crow into pieces, sending the poor boy into the river with a splash! He bursts from the water, crying out for help:

"Help! Help me!"

Inuyasha was too focused on finding the Shikon-no-Tama to bother with rescuing the boy:

"Where'd it go? Where's the jewel?"

As the little boy kept getting forced downstream, much to the villagers' worries, Coraline decides to take action. She tosses off her shoes, socks and shirt, leaving her in just her jeans and t-shirt, and dives from a rock into the water:

(Splash)

She bursts back up, and starts paddling over to the boy:

"(Pant, pant) It's a good thing I was taught how to swim when I was little..."

The villagers watch her with amazement:

"How can she do that?"

"She's fast..."

"She's a kappa, I tell ya! A kappa; she isn't human at all!"

Coraline manages to reach the boy, who was struggling to stay afloat:

"Don't worry, lad! I gotcha!"

She holds him with one arm, and begins swimming to shore with her free arm and halfway on her back.

"It's on it's back now! I don't believe it, what a day, what a girl, what a kappa!"

Coraline mutters at the man's cheering:

"Obviously, swimming isn't a _normal teaching_ around here..."

Inuyasha stops on the other side of the river and shouts,

"Save the jewel, stupid! The jewel!"

But Coraline ignores his urging as she comes to shore. The young boy and mother embrace, while Coraline turns to Inuyasha with an icy glare and a huff before turning her back to him. He backs up in surprise, sputtering in confusion. The boy and mother then proceed to thank Coraline:

"Thanks for saving me..."

"Thank you. Thank you, thank you..." Coraline just smiles modestly and replies,

"No worries. I'm glad the young lad is safe..."

But the fight wasn't through yet, because the flesh pieces of the Carrion Crow began to from back into one again, and the crow busted with a caw out of the water!

"Knew it...Hey, it's getting away!" Coraline turns to Inuyasha's shout, and mutters with a frown,

"Great...should've seen this coming considering the 'Mistress Centipede Incident'..."

Suddenly, the boy begins crying out, and Coraline turns back, to see one of the crow feet gripping the boy's kimono, tugging in the Crow's direction!  
Coraline then furrows her brows in thought...

"That's it!"

She looks around, and turns to one of the villagers to ask,

"Excuse me. Can I borrow your bow?"

"Uh, sure..."

The man hands over his bow and arrows to Coraline, and she takes a piece of twine, to tie the crow foot to the arrow...

She gets ready to fire:

"Alright, third time's the charm..." Inuyasha watches from his vantage point:

"My butt she's gonna hit it..."

(Twok)

The arrow flies, but unlike the first two shots, this one was flying at a speed and aim that was better than before! Inuyasha notices why:

"Of course, she's shootin' the foot!" Coraline muses her idea as well:

 _With the foot attached, this arrow's pretty much a heat-seeking missile! Now way it'll miss..._

(Whizz...)

(TOK)

The arrow hits, destroying the Carrion Crow!

...But...it also aimed directly at the Shikon-no-Tama, causing it to form crack spots, before ultimately shattering into pieces! Not that anyone knew that (yet):

"Yes! Got it!" Inuyasha is amazed by the shot:

"She hit it!"

He then notices the bright light emanating from the area, as does Coraline:

"...That light...Is that the jewel?"

Suddenly:

(BOOM, Whoosh...)

Everyone watches as beams of light shoot every which way from the central area of impact...

"Lady Kaede! Those lights...!"

She watches the sky as it lit up with the beams, narrowing her eyes as she sensed something amiss:

"Oh, aye...And I like not the looks of it..."

Time Skip

We jump ahead to around dusk, as Inuyasha and Coraline where searching in the woods for the Shikon-no-Tama:

"Are you sure it landed here?"

"Fairly sure. This is where the crow hovered last before it was destroyed...Still, I can't help but be worried about that burst of light..."

Suddenly, Coraline hears a rustling in the treetops, and turns to see the Carrion Crow head bursting out from hiding!  
Coraline is taken by surprise, but Inuyasha acts fast:

"I don't think so!"

(Slash)

 _Now_ the Carrion Crow is gone...but:

(Ping...)

Instead of the 'full' Shikon-no-Tama, Coraline sees,

"...Oh shit, that better not be..."

"Better not be _what?_ "

Coraline kneels down, and picks up the object, before replying in a worried but curious tone,

"Um...I believe this is a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama..."

...Inuyasha's response:

"Wh... _WHAT DID YOU SAAAAAYYY?!_ "


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Heated Personalities & Journeying Back**

"Aw man...you gotta be kidding me! How could I forget about the indoor plumbing system in this era?!"

(Splash)

We zoom in on the riverside, at a waterfall a couple kilometers away from the Goshinboku Village, as Coraline entered the water to take a quick bath.

"Brrr...damn, this water's cold..."

As she stood shivering in the water, naked, and waist-deep with one arm subconsciously covering her chest, Kaede, who was sitting on the bedrock shore next to a fire, called out to her:

"Come, child! Ye'll catch sick if you don't get out." Coraline called back,

"I wish it was that simple, Kaede! But if I don't get the blood and grime off now, it'll just a bigger hassle later on!"

Coraline then takes in a breath, before diving underwater; Kaede watches, sighing a bit at her stubbornness.  
In the distance, Inuyasha was lounging in a tree, briefly side-glancing down where Coraline was, before looking away with a grunt.

Deep within the watery blue, Coraline swam, a frown on her face, as she thought about the fabled item that had brought about the current fiasco she was caught within:

 _...The Shikon-no-Tama..._

Last Night, Several Hours Earlier...

"What did you do to it?!"

Inuyasha's question was directed at Coraline, as they and Kaede were sitting in Kaede's home, discussing the situation that was now the _shattered  
_ Shikon-no-Tama. Coraline's gaze was focused on the one shard they do have, currently enclosed between Kaede's fingertips.

"Stop barking, Inuyasha."

"Leave it to her to wind up breaking it!"

"Technically, it was not Coraline who broke it, but the crow's foot she attached to her arrow which shattered the Shikon-no-Tama."

Kaede's gaze fixated on the shard, before continuing:

"As ye saw, the Shikon-no-Tama has now been scattered into many different pieces. The exact number is unknown, but one thing is certain: All it will take is one, to fall into the wrong hands, and bring disaster."

(Foom...)

As the fire crackles in a small burst of embers, Coraline raises a hand to hover over her lips, a remorseful look on her face:

"...I'm so sorry. If I had known this would happen, I never would've even considered..."

 _God, what a mess...and it's all my fault..._

As Coraline's eyes went to downcast in guilt, Kaede spoke again:

"Coraline, Inuyasha. Only by working together will the two of ye be able to recover the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama."

Coraline darts her head up, eyes wide:

"Beg pardon?!"

Inuyasha responds to Kaede with a smirk:

"Hmph, you won't catch me complaining. I'm one of the wrong hands you were talkin' about." Kaede closes her eyes with a frown:

"Oh aye, _that I know too well_ ," while Coraline thinks frantically,

 _Cripes, how did I get roped into_ _this?!_

Back to the Present

 _How does Kaede even expect this to happen? Inuyasha and I, working together? Ha! Yeah sure, and I dream of dancing on a rainbow with Hello Kitty!_

(Note: Rights of ownership to Hello Kitty belong to the _Sanrio Company_.)

Coraline resurfaces from the water with a splash, a skeptical frown on her face...Feeling a stare, she then looked up, and sees Inuyasha crouched on the cliff-side, staring innocently down at her. Mind you, 'innocent' wasn't the word she was thinking of:

"Gah!"

Coraline ducked down back into the water, flushing with embarrassment before yelling angrily,

"Sit Boy!"

(Gleam)

"Ah!"

(Wham)

Inuyasha is pulled down by the subjugation rosary from the clifftop, crashing down on the ground below.  
As the dust settles, he groaning in pain, Kaede calmly asked,

"Be ye alright, Inuyasha?" He darts back up, looking at the prayer beads with irritation:

"Aw man...I forgot about this stupid necklace of yours."

Coraline glares at him from behind a bush as she hurried to dress herself in some dry clothes generously provided by Kaede, retorting heatedly,

"Well next time, be mindful of where you stare, you Peeping Tom!"

He looks with disbelief at Coraline, before quickly looking away and brushing off her comment:

"Keh, show's what you know! The reason I really came was-"

"Ye really came to steal this shard, correct?" Inuyasha sits up, back turned and arms in his sleeves, before commenting,

"Think you're pretty smart...you old hag..." Kaede maintains a cool demeanor and informs Inuyasha,

"I see. Ye think to do it alone, do ye?...Ye forget, only yon girl can find those shards, while only ye, Inuyasha, have strength enough to take them back once found."

Inuyasha growls slightly, before turning his head to Kaede's direction and replying,

"Incase you haven't noticed, I'm still here, ain't I? I can put up with anything for the jewel."

(Step, step)

"You seriously need to take a crash course in People Skills, you know that?"

Inuyasha turns around, and sees Coraline, dressed in the garments of a priestess that were similar to Kaede's, with her hair tied back a bit courtesy of a ribbon. Overall, her appearance had the young half-demon flashing back to a 'certain someone':

 _...Kiky_ _ō..._

(Flap, flap)

As Coraline proceeded to fold out her damp and slightly torn clothes from before, Inuyasha sat on all fours, glaring at her while growling...Kaede then noticed his change of mood:

"And what ails ye now, Inuyasha?"

Feeling the stare, Coraline looks toward him, he fidgeting a bit, and it wouldn't take but a few seconds for her to figure out why his mood became a touch darker:

 _...Ugh, he must be comparing me to that Kiky_ _ō woman again..._

"Idgit..."

Meanwhile, in an Unknown Location...

Unbeknownst to the three, a figure was slowly rising from sleep against a glowing red backdrop, feeling the presence of the object she sought out many years ago...

"Oh my, oh me...Fifty years later, and the Shikon-no-Tama finally resurfaces!"

The unknown woman gazes at a skull in her hand, brushing out the attached black locks of hair while adding,

"I've almost given up hope...!"

She then broke into gleeful giggling, thinking joyfully about her plan for obtaining the said jewel...

Back to the Riverside

After a while, a young mother carrying a child on her back came out from the woody undergrowth:

"Lady Kaede?"

"Hm?"

"It's my daughter..."

The mother explains the situation, and Kaede understands the trouble right away:

"I see. Let's head back." Kaede turns to the teens and says,

"I'll be checking on you two later. Try not to fight," before she and the young mother go on their way back to the village.

The teens watch as Kaede vanishes, leaving them alone...After a moment, Inuyasha breaks the silence:

"Hey."

"What now?"

"...Get undressed."

(Klonk)

"Ow!"

Inuyasha is then clocked on the head by Coraline's fist!

"That, hurt! Why did you..."

As he grimaces in pain, Coraline glares at him, fist in the air:

"Geez, are you that unfamiliar with the word 'indecency'?" Inuyasha immediately jumps to his defense:

"I didn't say 'get naked', stupid! I just can't stand seeing you in those clothes!"

"Gee, I wonder why. Oh wait, could it have something to do with that Kikyō woman?"

...Inuyasha couldn't respond to her sarcastic deduction at first, but then he shifted to a frown, and stubbornly denied her claim:

"That's got nothin' to do with it, okay?" Coraline looks at him, unconvinced by his brush-off:

"Oh, spare me the act. My kid brother Souta's more mature..."

Coraline then sighs a bit, before calmly saying,

"Look: I'm not exactly 'jumping for joy' about this situation either, but unless you wanna lose your shot for the jewel, we gotta work together!"

" _I_ ain't gotta do nothin'. It's _you_ , the weak human, who needs me."

Coraline then smiles bitterly, before saying in a sarcastic tone,

"Oh-hoh...'Weak Human', is it? Alright, I see where this conversation's going..."

Inuyasha's ears twitch, before he turns around, and watches as Coraline goes to grab her semi-dry clothing, a neutral expression on her face.

"Hey, where you goin'?"

"Why do you give a damn? I'm heading home."

As she finishes folding her clothes to her, she states in a neutral tone,

"Goodbye, Inuyasha," before going on her way. Inuyasha calls out to her retreating back:

"Y-You can't just leave! You-"

"Last I checked, my name wasn't 'You'."

"Wait, stupid!"

"Wrong again. It's Coraline, not 'Stupid'."

"Will you just wait and hear me out?"

Coraline turned back with a frustrated glare and asked heatedly,

"And why should I, so you can stop me?" Inuyasha dashes in front of her and replies,

"No, so you can give me your jewel shard."

Coraline holds out the pouch from her neck, containing the said shard, and asks in feign ignorance,

"Oh what, this? This shard here?" She snaps it back to her hand, and said harshly,

"Up yours! Sit Boy!"

(Gleam)

(Wham)

And as Coraline continued on her way, Inuyasha lifts himself from the ground, grumbling,

"Why, you..."

"It's Coraline: Remember it well."

Goshinboku Village

We zoom in on a hut owned by the young mother from earlier, where her daughter now lays unconscious.

"This way, Lady Kaede." The two women approach the entrance:

"Collapsed without warning, did she?"

"Aye, though she seemed just fine this morning."

"Well..."

As Kaede began entering the hut to examine the young girl, she suddenly sensed something amiss:

"Hm?"

A strange sound then began to resonate, almost like wind scratching on string...  
Kaede placed a protective arm in front of the mother:

"No. Stay back."

Next thing they knew, the daughter, though still unconscious, rose off the ground, before hanging limply in mid-air!

"Look, she moved!"

As one of the girl's hands rose, that's when Kaede saw it:

"It looks like, hair..."

(Rattle...)

Suddenly, a cleaver laying on the floor, began to vibrate, before mysteriously floating up into the girl's right hand, poised to strike.  
Kaede and the mother gasp, and we leave the hut, just as the girl brings down the cleaver in an attack:

 _(SLICE...)_

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV  


After a while, I reach the clearing where the well was, grumbling a bit to myself over Inuyasha's earlier behaviour:

"God, the nerve of him...Men, I swear..." I reach the well, and look inside:

"Well, here I am; back where I started...The Bone Eater's Well..."

I think back to Kaede's description of the well and its purpose:

 _"We call it the Bone Eater's Well. It's a resting place for the bodies of monsters. Though the flesh of those bodies disappears quickly enough..."_

 _So then, it's safe to say this well acts as both a grave, and a prison for Mistress Centipede..._

I place my clothes on the ground, and then proceeded to sit on my knees, arms propped on the rim of the well, as I calmly assessed my current situation:

"Hmm...Should I really just leave this place? I don't want to cause any more worry for Kaede. Then again, Inuyasha had made his point clear to gather the Shikon-no-Tama shards on his own...Besides, the shard I have right now will probably be better off in my time, where there's less a chance of demons and greedy humans coming for it."

I get up, ready to head into the well, and hopefully back to my time...only to notice something was, _off.  
_ The forest seemed a bit, _too quiet_ , and as I watched a leaf float gently down to the ground, it mysteriously split in two halfway down...

"What, the..." Suddenly:

(Cut)

"Gh!"

I felt something slice across my cheek, leaving a small cut. I look around, trying to spot the source, only to see... _strands of hair?_

"What in the world..."

"Oh my, oh me. You can see it then? My knit of hairs, I mean."

"Huh?"

I look up, and standing on some of the strands, was a young woman, dressed in a rather, 'skimpy' dress, with a katana strapped to her hip, and a short bob of black hair, a red ribbon tied in it like a headband. She also wore red lipstick, matching her red eyes...Some of the hairs were knitted in her fingers, as she looked at me with some mild surprise, but brushed it off with the following comment:

"Pity...because seeing isn't enough."

"Who the hell are you?"

She just looked at me with a small, taunting smile, and I began to get the feeling my journey home was gonna be _delayed_ for a bit longer...

Inuyasha's POV

I ran fast through the trees, thinking back to that girl's attitude as she left:

 _"I'm heading home."..."Goodbye, Inuyasha."_

 _Tuh, let her go. I'm better off without her._

I reach the village of that old hag, Kaede, and as I jumped across a few rooftops, I noticed something odd:

"Hm?"

Several young women were hanging around outside...and when I say hanging, I mean they were _literally suspended_ from the ground by, some other source...  
I skid into a stop, and watch as they gathered in a semi-circle in front of me:

"Well, guess I shouldn't ask what you're up to..."

The women then raised their weapons into the air, and I smirk, getting ready to fight as well:

"Heh, alright, now this is what I'm talkin' about!"

Back to Coraline, No POV

At the same time Inuyasha was getting himself ready for a fight, the mysterious lady introduces herself to Coraline:

"How do you do? I'm Yura of the Hair. Though you needn't bother to remember."

Coraline cringes with a glare, and takes a half-step back, positioning to defend herself.  
Yura then raises a hand into the air, shouting,

"Cause you'll be dead soon!"

She then sends out several strands of hair, and they all whip Coraline, causing her to cry out a bit in pain. Yura then says,

"I'll be having the jewel, if you don't mind," before sending out another strand of hair, to snag the loop on the pouch, and snapping it off Coraline's neck!

"Hey!"

Yura pulls the pouch to her, and opens it, only to be taken by surprise by its contents:

"Oh! You naughty, naughty girl, you shattered the jewel. Where's the rest, or I shall be cross." Coraline calls out to her,

"You give that back!" Yura firmly asks again,

"Answer the question: Where is the rest of it?"

"How the hell should I know? The shards all shot into dozens of directions! For all I know, a piece could have landed on top of Mount Fuji!"

Yura forms a look of disappointment, and her katana floats in front of her, as she responded,

"Ah...In that case..."

She grabs the handle, and leaps off the hairs, and shouts as she dives down to Coraline, sword at the ready,

"I may as well finish you right now!"

Coraline's eyes widen, and she barely ducks backward in time from the katana, before losing her footing, tumbling over the edge and into the well!

"Aaaaaahhhhhh!"

"No fair escaping!"

Yura throws her sword down the well, intent on killing Coraline...  
But, she hears no sound of metal meeting flesh...

"Hm?"

She summons back her katana, and looks down the well confused:

"That's strange...Come to think of it, so was that girl..."

Back to the Village

So far, no battle had started, for the women made no move to make the first attack.  
Inuyasha lowers his arms a bit, realizing something was seriously off:

"Huh, I knew something was strange. I recognize these girls from the village. Look: Is someone gonna tell me what's going on, or do you wanna another fight, cause that's fine if you do!"

He cracks his knuckles a bit, adding under his breath,

"Just don't expect I'll go easy on ya."

"Inuyasha, wait!"

He turns his head, hearing someone call out to him, and sees none other than Kaede, crawling on the ground with a shoulder wound!

"Rrgh, do not hurt them! 'Tis not their doing!"

"...Old Kaede..."

He leaps over to her, kneeling down to her level, looking at her with concern:

"What happened? You look awful!"

"Must ye always treat an old woman thus?" Ignoring Kaede's comment, Inuyasha gets back on the subject at hand:

"About the girls: It's them or us, and I choose us!"

As the village women floated in a semi-circle around the two, Kaede tries to explain:

"But someone else is controlling them." She then gasps, realizing someone was missing:

"Where's Coraline? Tell me ye know where she is!" Inuyasha replies dryly if a bit bitterly,

"All I know is that she said she was going home. What's the big deal, anyway? I can handle this without her." Kaede protests:

"Nay, nay. Ye must not hurt them, Inuyasha."

He looks around at the women before replying seriously to Kaede's plea:

"Your heart bleeds in more ways than one, old woman. But if you're plannin' on seein' tomorrow, we gotta do somethin'."

"(Pant, pant) Control the strings, and ye control the puppets. If not-"

As two of the girls try to attack Inuyasha, he interrupts Kaede irritably:

"I don't see you helpin' none, old woman!" Kaede tries again:

"Find the hair, Inuyasha. Find ye the hair, and mayhap they will wake!"

"Hair? I don't see any hair!"

In the distance, Yura is sitting in a tree, hands out in front of her, as she continued to manipulate the village women with her demon hairs:

"Oh me, oh my. I'll definitely be wanting this one for my collection."

Focusing back to Inuyasha, he tries to attack one of the women, only for her to dash away from his line of vision.  
Confused, he looks around, noticing all of the women were leaving the area. Kaede immediately saw the feint:

"A trap! Inuyasha, flee the hair!"

(Shrrnk)

Her warning came a bit late, for the next thing Inuyasha knew, he was wrapped with his arms in front of him by strands of the demon hair!  
He tried to struggle, but the hairs only tightened. As one puppet woman came to attack once again, Inuyasha managed to leap away, dragging some of the puppets with him.

"Whoever's doing this ain't too smart! Cause you have me all tangled up, I don't need to see who's on the other end!"

He then proceeds to pull at the hairs, and try to force the puppeteer out of hiding.  
However, Yura sees this tactic too easily, and goes to loosen the hairs:

"Oh, so sorry."

Not seeing this, Inuyasha trips to the ground on his back. Yura then prepares to kick her assault up a level:

" _Perhaps it's time to tie things up._ "

She then uses her power, manifesting a set of red string in a shape similar to a cat's cradle, before pulling it all in...  
With that done, Inuyasha is then forced up against a tree, as the hairs wrapped around his body began to tighten even further!

"Arrrgh!"

As he struggles against the pressures to the hairs, Kaede calls out to him:

"I-Inuyasha..."

As the hairs put even further strain on his body, Inuyasha then goes to pull himself away as hard as he could pull:

"AAAARGH!"

And just like that, he pulls free, the hairs cutting through the tree behind him!  
He lands on the ground, not injured, as the tree falls behind him with a crash. Yura feels the hairs loosen, and immediately noted the flaw:

"Hm? The hair is slack." She frowns with a glare, and adds,

"The cut was not clean."

Inuyasha was then crouching on the ground, panting heavily with a hand to his throat, relieved he wasn't cut into pieces:

"Oh man, I thought I was a goner..." Kaede wasn't too surprised:

"And so would ye had been, were ye normal, Inuyasha."

They both suddenly look up, and see that the village men were now being manipulated to attack!

"Men from the village..." Inuyasha then says a bit annoyed,

"Ya know something: I'm gettin' real sick of this."

"Inuyasha...save yourself. Forget this old woman." Inuyasha retorts back,

"Oh, spare me the noble act, will ya?" He then sees Kaede cringe before falling back to the ground:

"Hey! You okay?"

As he watches Kaede writhe in pain, he then says a bit bitterly,

"Tch, thanks alot."

In the distance, Yura pulls back some hair, and notices some of Inuyasha's had been snagged in:

"Oh? Oh...what pretty silver hair..."

After a bit, Inuyasha and Kaede (she on his back) are seen retreating from the village:

"Hang on tight, ya hear?"

As they continued to leap onward, Kaede tries to warn him of the unseen danger:

"Beware, Inuyasha, lest you touch. The hair will-"

She cuts off, ducking behind him, as he leaps through the hairs, snapping them away, without gaining any injuries...

"Hey: Did you say something, old woman?"

"...Not at all."

Unbeknownst to them both, Yura was in hot pursuit, swinging from the trees using her demon hairs:

"He's stubborn, but he's also fun. And I positively must have this pretty silver hair of his."

Small Time Skip

Eventually, Inuyasha and Kaede stop in an area hidden within the forest, somehow losing Yura along the way.  
After Kaede explains the situation related to the hairs, Inuyasha was surprised:

"Did I hear you say you can see the hair?"

"...Mm-hm..."

As she laid down on a bead of leaves, unable to move any further due to her injury, Inuyasha then asks,

"Can you tell me where it's being pulled from?"

"Don't be absurd. With me in this condition and, assuming I did know from whence the strands of hair came...Ye must, find Coraline."

"You mean _she_ can see it too?"

"Aye. And to defeat this foe, ye'll be needing that power. Without it, ye have no hope, none...mmm-hh..."

Kaede then grimaces a bit, before shutting her eyes as her injury took more of her strength, while Inuyasha stares at her, unsure of what to next...

Meanwhile, in Present-Day Tokyo...

"Mmm...mmh..."

Inside the Bone Eater's Well, Coraline began to wake up, revealed to be unharmed from falling within it earlier.  
As she sat up, she looked around the area, momentarily confused, before remembering where she was:

"...I'm, at the bottom of the well...Oh, that's right: That girl Yura tried to slice me with her katana, and I fell backwards dodging it."

"...But we already looked here a dozen times!..."

"Huh?"

Coraline suddenly heard a familiar voice, coming from the top of the well:

 _Is, that..._

"But Grandpa, I keep telling you, this is where she fell!"

Suddenly, a light came flashing down, the source being none other than Souta and Grandfather! (The latter was holding a flashlight)

"But are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

"But I wasn't!"

The two then look down, and are shocked to see that Coraline was indeed at the bottom of the well!  
Coraline, in her own shock, would be the first to speak:

"G-Grandfather?! Souta?!"

After a few minutes, Coraline was outside the Bone Eater's Well and Well-house, and was gazing around at the shrine and residence, in a stunned daze:

 _...My God...I'm back...Back in my own time..._

"You were missing for three full days! The least you could've done was call!"

"And why are you wearing those weird old clothes?"

Coraline wasn't listening to Grandfather nor Souta; she was too busy wrapping her mind around the fact that home wasn't inaccessible after all:

 _I really have come home...Which means...I really did go back five hundred years into the past!_

Coraline then began shaking, a torrent of emotions washing over her, with the dominant being, _excitement!_ She immediately turned around, and knelt down to Grandfather with her hands on his shoulders, a look of shock and enthusiasm on her face:

"Grandfather! I don't know, I don't know how to-What I've seen! What I experienced! You were right; the legend was right!"

Grandfather was taken aback by her rushed words, and the mix of terror and excitement in her eyes:

"Coraline...What on earth..."

Meanwhile, in the Sengoku Era

As Kaede continued laying on the pile of leaves, eyes shut, Inuyasha was digging up a hole with his claws, unaware that Kaede was nowhere close to death:

(Scoop, scoop)

"There, that outta do it. Well, all things considered, old woman, it's the least I can do for you."

He then proceeded to bury Kaede in the hole, with a mix of dirt and leaves. Kaede then spoke up:

"Why, I'm resting, not dead."

"Then think of it as a hiding place. I'll even come back and dig you up, if I remember."

As he puts some more leaves on Kaede's body, she then asks,

"Ye promise? Ye won't forget where ye left me?"

...As Inuyasha turns to go and leave, Kaede brandishes an arm out, pointing at him and adding,

"Do not forget, Inuyasha." He turns his head back and replies,

"Ok, I heard ya. Geez!"

With that, Inuyasha was off, using his demon speed to rush through the forest, and find Coraline:

"Curse that stupid woman! Taking off on me right right when I need her!"

And what was Coraline up to?

(Shhhhhh...)

After her shock wore off, she decided to calm her nerves with a nice, hot shower.  
As she stood under the shower head, the water lapping in a rush against her bare skin, Coraline lets out a relaxed sigh:

"Ahhh...Hot water at last...This'll definitely melt away the stress..."

With Inuyasha

As the red-cloaked half-demon continued to dash through the forest growth, a large tendril of black, demon hair was not far behind him, being controlled by Yura in a distant location:

"(Small chuckle) Little girl~, come out, come out, wherever you are~..."

Back to Coraline

The poor redhead was blissfully unaware of the danger that was heading her way, as she combed her fingers through her hair:

"Ah, conditioner...amazing how much one can miss it..."

Oh, if only she knew: Coraline's role in the Sengoku Era, was _far from over..._


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: A Hair-Raising Battle & A Partnership Forged**

 _Recap:_

 _Coraline has been in Sengoku Japan for about three days, and is at odds with herself of what to do next. Kaede had informed her the night before that Inuyasha and she will have to team up in order to reclaim the pieces of the Shikon-no-Tama!  
After Inuyasha makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with Coraline anymore than he has to, Coraline storms off in a huff for the Bone Eater's Well, intent on returning to her time.  
_

 _Meanwhile, Kaede leaves to lend a hand to a young mother, who's daughter had mysteriously collapsed without warning moments ago. But, when Kaede goes to examine her, she is then attacked by the girl, who was being manipulated by an unknown source...  
_

 _As Coraline reaches the well, she suddenly meets the one responsible for the manipulation of the girl, along with several young women who would attack Inuyasha later on when he returns to the village: Yura of the Hair, a demon in search of the Shikon-no-Tama.  
She attacks Coraline, then steals away her shard of the jewel, and is surprised to find the jewel to be shattered. When Yura is told by Coraline that the whereabouts of the other shards is unknowable, she lunges at the latter with her katana.  
Coraline barely dodges the sword, and subsequently falls into the Bone Eater's Well, escaping Yura, much to the latter's confusion...  
_

 _Meanwhile, Inuyasha is informed by an injured Kaede of the puppet tactics being orchestrated, and after barely escaping being skewered by several demon hair strands, he decides to retreat with Kaede from the village to come up with another plan.  
When Kaede tells him that Coraline has the ability to see the hair, Inuyasha leaves her in hiding, and dashes off to find the young redhead, with Yura's tendrils of demon hair following close behind.  
As for Coraline, she was relaxing in the shower, ignorant to what would soon be coming her way..._

 _Now:_

As the night rolled in over the Higurashi Shrine/Residence, Akari was sitting with her son, Souta, and her father, as they discussed about what Coraline had told them regarding her mysterious disappearance. Needless to say, she wasn't all too convinced by the details:

"Come on, don't tell me you believe her story?"

The elder Higurashi frowns, crossing his arms in thought, as Souta defends Coraline with his side of the story:

"But it is true! Coraline fell down the well, and then a monster came up and kidnapped her!"

Grandfather Higurashi then voices his insights:

"There is a certain legend of the Bone Eater's Well: Since ancient days, whatever's inside has consumed the corpses of monsters. But what if the continuum of time/space itself is disrupted?"

He then rises from his seat, a determined frown on his face, before heading straight for the said well-house, and began to seal the well the best he could.  
He hammered it shut with wooden planks, then placed several protective sutra spells over top of it. He back up a bit, a satisfied smile on his face:

"That'll stop ya! (Chuckle)"

Back inside, Coraline was now out of the shower, wearing a pair of green cargo pants, a red tank top, and a gray jacket-shrug. As she dried her air with a towel, she turned to Grandfather Higurashi, after he informed her of what he did:

"Closed it off, eh?"

"Yep. We needn't worry about any more visitors from there." He takes his cup of tea from the table, and adds,

"I used special spirit wards just incase," before going to sip.

Coraline flashes an appreciative smile at his efforts, but there was uncertainty traced in her eyes:

 _I hope for both our sakes, the strength of those sutras holds out, Grandfather._

Meanwhile, in the Sengoku Era

(Whoosh)

Inuyasha continued to dash through the forest in search of Coraline, heading uphill, before stopping to crouch down and sniff the air to pick up her scent:

"Uh, it's her alright; I know her anywhere."

He gets up from the ground, revealed to be just a few feet away from the Bone Eater's Well, and walks over to the rim, noticing the pile of clothes that Coraline had left behind.

"Why'd she leave her clothes?" He looks up at the well, and it dawned on him:

"She did it. She went back to her own world."

Inuyasha looks down into the well for a moment, before he goes to jump inside:

"Through here, was it?!"

And he dives down, determined to find Coraline and bring her back.

Present-Day Tokyo

After a bit, Coraline decided to relax on her bed, Buyo tucked in by her side.

"Ahh...It sure feels nice to be in my own bed again..."

She then reflects on all that has happened in the last few days:

"To think...I was really there, in Sengoku Japan, five hundred years in the past...Not only that, but I got to witness firsthand the truth about the legends and myths that surround the cultural history of this country..."

 _(Flash)_

 _"Only by working together will the two of ye be able to recover the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama."_

 _"Oh! You naughty, naughty girl. You shattered the jewel."_

 _(Flash)_

"...Then there's that Yura character. If not for her, I probably would've jumped in the well sooner..."

She sat up on her knees:

"And now, she has the one shard of the Shikon-no-Tama that was found. She's obviously not going to give it up without a fight, and I can already hear Inuyasha..."

 _(Flash)_

 _"I never asked for your help. Go home. You'd only slow me down anyway."_

 _(Flash)_

"Tch, of course...God, why am I worrying about him?"

Coraline then clapped a fist on her mattress firmly and with finality on the subject:

"Alright, it's settled then, chapter closed. As far as I care, this will just be another adventure to record in my journal."

Akari then calls Coraline down:

"Coraline! It's dinner time, plus your friend's on the phone!"

"I'll be right down!"

As Souta and Grandfather Higurashi sat at the table, waiting for the women to join, the former asks with worry in his voice,

"Grandpa? T-Those things will stay on, right?"

"Course they will! Have a little faith, will you? If there's one thing I know, it's spirits!"

Coraline then arrives to sit down:

"Hey Grandfather, Souta. Boy, that looks great!" Grandfather turns to address Coraline seriously:

"I'll defend you to my last breath, Coraline, so don't you worry." Coraline turns to him with a smile and replies,

"I appreciate the concern, Grandfather, but I'm no longer worried. I have confidence that what lies beyond the well will not be making any beelines to this era anytime soon."

"Are you sure, Cora?"

"Quite sure, Souta." Coraline sighs in content:

 _Thank goodness the danger has passed..._

(Step-step-step-step-step-step)

Unaware of the approaching footsteps, Coraline picked up her chopsticks, ready to dig in:

"Alright, let's get star-"

(Shwoop)

Suddenly, the screen door is slid open, with Inuyasha coming to stand in the doorway!

...As everyone of the household stared at the newcomer with shock, Coraline softly said,

"I-Inu-yasha?" He immediately began barking at Coraline:

"Idiot! Who told you you could go home?!"

Coraline places her bowl and chopsticks down, and asks still slightly stunned,

"How, in the world did you-"

"Through the well, of course!"

"The Well?!"

Grandfather Higurashi was just as surprised, responding to Inuyasha's claim in an bitter tone:

"You lie! I made those spirit wards myself! There's no way you could've-" Inuyasha holds up one of the said 'spirit wards', replying in a deadpan,

"Well, I hate to break it to ya, old man, but, they don't work."

Grandfather Higurashi is appalled, while Souta sweatdrops and mutters,

"Grandpa..."

Inuyasha then grabs Coraline by her arm, and begins to drag her away and out of the room:

"C'mon you, we're leaving!" Coraline immediately retracts her arm from his grip and angrily retorts,

"Whoa, whoa, who said I was going anywhere with the likes of you?!"

Akari immediately went on the defense:

"Stay right there!" Inuyasha watches as she approaches him, muttering,

"Now what?" Coraline looks at her with surprise:

"Akari-sama..."

But she would quickly switch to exasperation, as Akari went to tug at Inuyasha's ears with curiousity:

"Those ears. Are they real?"

"Me next mom, me next!" Coraline tries to reason with Akari as Inuyasha started growling in annoyance:

"Uh, Akari-sama, that really isn't a good idea...Course, I did something similar, but..."

Suddenly, Coraline noticed something lingering on Inuyasha's shoulder:

"Hm? Inuyasha, do you see that?" He turns to where Coraline was looking with confusion on his face:

"I don't see nothin'."

"A hair, on your shoulder, see?"

Coraline goes to wrap the hair on her hand slightly, and it tightened around her palm, causing it to bleed a bit...

"It moved..."

"Coraline, your hand!"

"What is it?" She turns to the adult Higurashis and says,

"It's here," confusing them both. Coraline then realized:

 _Of course...I'm the only one that sees the hair..._

 _(Flash)_

 _"But seeing alone is not enough."_

 _(Flash)_

Coraline narrows her eyes into a glare:

 _Yura...Oh shit!_

Coraline immediately dashes to the Bone Eater's Well, opening the doors, just as a large tendril of hairs began to pool inside!

"Dammit, hair...Yura's doing..."

"The old crone was right: You do have the sight." Coraline turns to Inuyasha, and says angrily,

"Rrgh, if you hadn't come, the hairs wouldn't have followed!"

"Coraline!"

The other Higurashi residents came to the scene, and Coraline knew what she had to do:

"Stay back! Don't come in here!"

She closed the doors tight, and turned back to the well:

 _Okay, I gotta find a way to stop the flow of hair, and fast!_

The tendril then lunged at Coraline, and she made for the side, while shouting,

"Inuyasha, there!"

"Where? Here?"

He tries to claw at the hair, and misses; using his hearing, he picks up on another attack, and jumps away, only to get tangled by several tendrils on his limbs! Meanwhile, Grandfather Higurashi began banging on the door, with he and Akari calling out to Coraline:

"Open the door, now!" "Coraline!"

Inuyasha cuts himself free, clawing the hair into pieces. But Coraline watched, as the hair began to rejoin the mass:

"Crap, it can grow back! And there's more coming!" That's when Coraline saw it:

"Ah, there, that's it! That one strand must be the low-end that controls the mass!"

Coraline rushes down the steps, just as Inuyasha pulled back on the tendrils attached to his wrists and ankles, and tries to point it out:

"There, do you see it? Cut this strand right here!" But Inuyasha couldn't see the hair:

"Which one? This one?"

"Oh that's right, he can't see the hair...Okay, time for plan B!"

She then goes to grab the hair, holding it tightly in her hands, as it cuts into her hands. Her blood made the hair visible to Inuyasha:

"I see it!"

He immediately claws it in two, and the hair stills...before retracting into nothing! The two look towards the well, Inuyasha commenting,

"It went back in," as Coraline rubbed her hand with a frown:

 _Hmm, that isn't good. Yura already has my shard of the Shikon-no-Tama, so why continue with the assault? Unless...She's now after Inuyasha and myself!  
_

"We need to go, now."

"Hm? But I thought that'cha didn't wanna go back?"

"...I don't, but I have to."

"Huh?"

 _Akari-sama, Souta, Grandfather...If I stay they'll be in danger._

"Hm?"

Coraline felt something being draped over her, and turns to Inuyasha, who was now without the shirt of his fire robe:

"It's made with hair of the Fire Rat. You'll have some protection at least."

Coraline was taken aback by his generosity, but nonetheless was grateful:

"...Thank you."

"Yeah well, if ya weren't so weird-lookin', you wouldn't need it." Coraline retorts back with a half-smirk,

"Tch, that's rich coming from you, Sengoku-boy."

Inuyasha leaps up onto the rim of the well, and dryly says back,

"Yeah yeah, whatever. You ready?" Coraline jumps up beside him and replies,

"As ready as I'll ever be," before they both leap into the well, he putting an arm around her waist as they descended...

Meanwhile, in an Unknown Location...

Back in the Sengoku Era, Yura was lazily lounging on a massive pile of skulls, smirking while waiting for a certain pair to resurface:

"They'll be back any minute."

She grabs a particular skull, the colour a blood red, and adds with a coo,

"Only we won't let them run away this time, will we?"

And she breaks into a soft chuckle while stroking the skull...

Bone Eater's Well, Sengoku Era

Back in the forest canopy where Inuyasha and Kaede were last seen, the latter urges out to the former:

"Here me, Inuyasha! Coraline is truly Kikyō reborn! Yet that will aid ye, but little, if she not knows her power. Help her, Inuyasha, to find herself..."

Meanwhile, our two heroes were emerging from the well:

"Better watch ourselves; there's hair all over the walls." Inuyasha climbs up to the top, and says,

"So you're saying that all Yura's really after, is just us." Coraline climbs up in front of him:

"Yes. Why else since she already has my shard of the Shikon-no-Tama?"

"Your shard of the-How did that happen?!"

Coraline ignored his question, as she gazed into the forest, and noticed something strange in the undergrowth:

"Great, more hair...But the main focus should be on the low-bearing strand. Following that will lead straight to Yura."

After a few seconds, she spots it:

"There!"

Inuyasha follows her point:

"Got it!"

Back in the hideaway, Kaede sends her urge to the both of them, as they began the hunt for Yura:

"Ye must both work together. Ye need Coraline, Inuyasha, and Coraline, ye need him. Forget ye differences for now, and be as one..."

After a bit, Inuyasha and Coraline stumble across a fire along the forest path.  
When they stopped, the sight that was met was rather, disturbing to say the least:  
Several bodies of soldiers, with their heads cut clean off, a few of them pinned with arrows...

Coraline cringed a bit, but was more curious on what happened to them:

"Where are their heads?" Inuyasha steps forward to get a closer look:

"They're guys from the village...Or their bodies anyway. Looks like their tops came clean off."

He turns back to see Coraline on her knees, thinking that she may be feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sight:

"Now what'sa matter? I better not hear you say you're scared, or that you wanna go home."

However, Coraline was completely the opposite to what Inuyasha was thinking: Contrary to what most teenage girls would feel, Coraline felt no fear gazing at these corpses...Instead, she turns to Inuyasha standing up, holding up a quiver and bow set, replying calmly,

"Actually, I was thinking of using these." _If Yura isn't stopped now, there will be countless corpses left in her wake..._

As they set onward again, Inuyasha couldn't help but comment on the 'flaw' in Coraline's choice of weaponry:

"You know that you're not gonna hit. Why bother?"

"Hey, gimme a break! I just need practice, that's all."

"Practice? Dont'cha mean learn?"

As they settle atop a tree branch, Coraline says with determination,

"It isn't too different from aiming with a rifle. I just need to focus, and I'll do it."

 _Keh. Then again, who knows...Maybe she can do it..._

"The hairs here are much closer..."

Suddenly:

(SLICE)

Several strands of hair slice through the tree they're standing on, and Inuyasha barely jumps off the trunk in time before it crashes to the ground.  
Of course, the danger had only just begun to make itself known:

"The main force is here!"

As a huge torrent of tendrils made their way to attack, Inuyasha begins leaping out of the way each time, with Coraline trying to help the best she could:

"From the left!" "Okay,"

"The right!" "Hey!"

As Inuyasha lands on the ground, Coraline looks up and sees the huge swarm of hair poised to attack:

"It's no good, there's too many to dodge. You need to help!"

"Me?! I thought that's why you're here?! You're really not good for much, are ya?!" Coraline then yells,

"Left, left!"

(Slam)

"Behind you!" "Oh, gimme a break!"

As they slid downhill, one tendril of hair wraps around Inuyasha's wrist, and yanks him away, leaving Coraline to tumble to the ground:

"Aaaahhh!" "Wah!"

Coraline gets up from the ground and calls out for him:

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha is then trapped by his wrists and ankles mid-air courtesy of the demon hair, and just not to far from him, is a massive cocoon of the said hair, which Coraline deduced as the main source:

"A giant, hairball? Ah! Yura's hideaway!"

Said demon then came down from the air, landing gracefully on several suspended strands, before cooing,

"Oh my, look at the cute doggy."

As Inuyasha continued to pull fruitlessly at his restraints, Yura addressed him a bit more formally:

"You must be Inuyasha."

"And you must be Yura of the Hair! How'd ya know my name?"

"Let's just say a little birdie told me. Everyone's saying that half-demon Inuyasha is playing fetch, with some reincarnated shrine-maiden."

"Me, with that half-wit human down there?! Nothin' doin'!"

"Oh? You're both half-wits to me. Just look what you've done to the poor jewel."

Inuyasha growls at Yura, seeing her hold up the said shard in her fingertips. Coraline sees it as well:

"There's the shard that witch stole from me..." Yura continues to boast:

"Once you two have been wrapped up, I'll go and find the rest for myself."

Inuyasha calls Yura out on that comment:

"You?! Take care of me?" He pulls further on his restraints, and adds threateningly,

"When this is over, you're gonna wish you've never met me, or ever heard my name!"

(Rip, tear)

And just like that, Inuyasha frees himself from the hair restraints, using one of the tendrils on his wrist to swing over and try to claw at Yura...  
Key word, try, for unfortunately Yura managed to easily dodge said attack, and then use her demon power to summon more tendrils of hair, that would wave-crash, and ultimately restrain Inuyasha again!

"Urh, not this again!"

Yura then comes up behind him, and examines his hair:

"You have such pretty hair. But you really haven't cared for it very well. Look at the split ends."

"Get, OFF OF ME!"

(Swing)

Inuyasha brushes Yura away from him, but she was hardly fazed, and merely somersaulted downward onto a set of hair strands.  
Her weight causes a bend, before the force sends her shooting upward once again, and she takes out her katana, to cut Inuyasha's side on the way up:

(Slash)

"Aaagh!"

"Inuyasha!"

Yura lands not too far from him, giggling a bit before going to lick the blood on her blade, and then saying,

"I'm going to cut you into little pieces."

As she jumps from her stance, ready to slice some more into Inuyasha, suddenly:

(Twok, zing)

"Ah!"

An arrow comes shooting in front of Yura, blocking her path, and forcing her to refrain from her attack!  
As she lands on the safety of another set of strands, she looks over at the source of the arrow, revealed to be Coraline, who had another arrow at the ready:

"Let him down, now! Otherwise I promise my next shot _won't miss!_ "

Yura was taken aback a bit by Coraline's attack:

"The girl who fell in the well..." Coraline continued to glare, and warned Yura again:

"You heard me, _Yura!_ "

Yura stands upright on her hairs, and coos to Inuyasha,

"Ooo, I think she wants you back, Inuyasha. What a sweet wittle doggy you must be." Inuyasha turns to Coraline and shouts,

"I told ya to hide, not draw attention to yourself!"

Yura then insults Coraline with the following comment:

"Of course, her hair isn't as pretty as yours, Inuyasha. But then, waste not, want not." Coraline heatedly retorts,

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to care for long hair like mine?! No, of course not, since I'm talking to a bob-cut hair witch living in a time before conditioner!"

(Twok)

Coraline releases another arrow, but her aim was way off its mark, just barely missing Inuyasha by an inch! Inuyasha calls to her edgily,

"Would ya watch where your aiming that thing please?!"

The arrow continues its trajectory, before landing in the hair cocoon. As it makes its mark, the area around it suddenly glows:

(Sheen)

(Pow)

The area vanishes, and pouring out of the loosened strands, was a mess of human skulls!

"Oh no, what have you done?!"

"Those guys we saw from the village..." Yura then says to Inuyasha,

"I'll be putting you in there too. Once I separate that pretty hair from your head. It's wasted on you anyway."

Yura then drops down a bit, before emitting with a sadistic smile,

"One thing first: That woman over there has to Die!"

And she sends out a stream of flames shooting down, which hit Coraline dead on!

"Aagh!"

Coraline is forced down to the ground, and cringes from the heat...

"There. _Hot enough for you?_ You'll feel the heat down to your bones."

"(Cough) He...lp..."

Yura and Inuyasha watch as the fire continued to add pressure to Coraline's endurance:

"That's for emptying my lair."

"Huh?"

"Pity there'll be nothing left but ash."

"Come on..."

"Poor thing. I almost forgot: Pets ought never be allowed to outlive their masters!"

As Yura lunges to attack Inuyasha once again, he goes to sink his claws into his wound, drawing blood onto them.  
He then sends his own attack against Yura:

" _BLADES, OF, BLOOD!_ "

Yura is taken by surprise:

"Oh no!" And before she could react:

(SLASH)

Her hand holding her sword is cut clean off by Inuyasha's clawed attack! He then feels one of his restraints begin to weaken:

"It's loosening up."

The hand then is drawn into some strands of demon hair, as Yura looks with a irritated glare:

"That's not fair!"

"There, how'd ya like that? Serves you right!"

"I do wish you'd show some restraint when addressing a lady. Were you brought up in a doghouse?"

(Rattle)

The skull heads began chattering their teeth, as the opening to Yura's hideaway began widening even further in response to her next attack:

"Heads up!"

She then commands several tendrils of hair with skulls heads at the front to lunge at Inuyasha, who manages to smash them away using his fists.  
But then, Yura uses her puppetry to send her decapitated hand with sword to try and slash at Inuyasha again, who barely lunges away from its path!

"Stay still~, it's much harder to hit when you move!"

"Yeah, I'll just, (swipe) bet it is!"

He sends another set of blood blades against Yura, but she manages to block them with a wall of hair. Next thing Inuyasha knew,

(STAB)

"Auugh!"

The sword manages to sneak-attack him from behind him just below his left shoulder!  
He is then sent to the ground by his hair restraints, while Yura uses her powers to reattach her hand, while jeering lightly,

"Half-demon, half-power, I should've known."

"Rrrgh, why you..."

Yura begins descending downward, mockingly pulling out the pouch with the jewel shard while continuing her thought:

"Disappointed? I'll bet you were hoping to use this to become all demon."

"The Jewel of Four Souls." Yura stands behind him, sword at the ready:

"Now stay still~. If I don't get a clean cut, your blood will stain that pretty silver hair of yours."

As Yura raised her sword, Inuyasha retorts,

"Don't you wish!"

(Lunge, swipe)

He then drove his claw straight through Yura, specifically, just above her chest...  
The pouch falls to the ground, as Inuyasha says,

"There, that'll teach ya," before going to grab the pouch. But, Yura's foot stops him from grabbing it, and she looks down at him with malice:

"Why I never! A half-demon I just met, sticking his hand in my chest?!"

 _Wh-Why isn't she dead?_

"Plus there's the fact that you stole my jewel." She takes back the pouch adding,

"Now I have become cross."

 _Her weak spot...Where is it?_

As Yura looks down on Inuyasha with a smirk, she then feels a tug on her hairs.  
She turns around, and sees Coraline, alive and well, climbing up the hair cocoon!

"That girl...Rrrh!"

She pulls on her hairs, causing the mass to go upwards, and Coraline to tumble a bit, but still managing to hold on.  
Inuyasha sees this as an opportunity to get the jump on Yura, and grabs her sword:

"You shouldn't have looked away!"

(SLASH)

"Aaaaaagh!"

He aims true and lands a cut to Yura's back, she crying out in agony, before using her hairs to repair the damage.  
She turns around to him, anger traced in her face:

"Alright...That does it!"

She forces Inuyasha into a spread-eagle pose with his restraints, but he wasn't fazed at all:

"Heh, when took your hand, it was like you broke a nail. But now you seem mad for real. What're hiding thatch're so worried about?"

Yura just growls in return to his question...

Coraline then calls out from the hill of hair:

"Inuyasha, the red skull, up there! Focus your attacks on that!"

"What red skull?"

Inuyasha then watches Yura turn and head straight for Coraline, but he wasn't having any of that:

"No you don't!"

He breaks out of his tendril bindings, and leaps after her. Meanwhile, Yura forces the hair upward:

"Stop pulling my hair!"

"Whoooa!"

Coraline holds on for dear life to the hair, and Inuyasha tries to intervene, only to dodge another set of hair tendrils:

"Whoa, whoa!"

Yura then sends her sword on Coraline, stating angrily,

"You're tangling it all up!"

"Gah!"

(Clang)

"Got you!"

Coraline falls from the hair pile with a yell, while Yura looks at her descending form with confusion, realizing the sword didn't make contact with flesh.  
Yura then traps Coraline by her wrists in a set of hair tendrils, before setting off towards her muttering on frustration,

"What are you? Why don't you bleed?!"

Coraline was just as befuddled:

 _Yura does have a point...Why wasn't my arm chopped off, and how did I avoid being scorched?_

 _(Flash)_

 _"It's made with hair of the Fire Rat. You'll have some protection at least."_

 _(Flash)_

"Inuyasha..."

Yura's voice then cuts in, as she examines Coraline closely:

"Even from here you look mortal enough to me. Let's put you to the test."

Yura leaps back, and sends a few strands of hair at Coraline, that then wrap around her throat!  
As Coraline struggled against the choke hold of the hairs, Inuyasha's voice then rings in:

" _BLADES, OF, BLOOD!_ "

(SLASH)

"Auuuugh..."

Yura is hit true from the multiple red blades, her body dematerializing, and no longer having control over her strings of hair!  
Coraline's throat then relaxes from the strain of the hairs, and she emits a quiet mutter:

"I-Inuyasha..."

The entire mass of hair then begins to fall, Coraline as well. Inuyasha dashes mid-air towards her, calling out,

"Don't you faint on me, you stupid girl!"

He was able to reach her, putting one arm around her waist, the other around the front on her shoulder, and they slowly descend to the ground, flinching a bit from the crashing hair and skulls...

As they move to get up, Coraline then shouts,

"Inuyasha, look out!"

(Stab)

"Auuuh!"

Inuyasha is then stabbed by Yura's sword through his upper chest, and the sword retracts, the source being Yura!  
Somehow, she was still alive, and still able to fight...

"You again..."

"You forget I'm immortal!" She sends down her sword again, when suddenly:

(Freeze)

(Tok, tok, tok, tok...)

The sword stops in mid-trajectory, and Inuyasha turns to see Coraline on the side, repeatedly stabbing the red skull from earlier with an arrow:

"This skull, this is the source of her power! These are the main hairs connected to her hand!"

"STOP THAT! I'LL KILL YOU!" Yura sends her sword down at Coraline...but:

"Rrrrah!"

(TOK, CRACK)

Coraline manages to break open the skull in time, hitting the dead-on center, and ultimately stopping the incoming sword!

(POW, Sheen)

The inside of the skull glows, revealing the shape of a comb, aka Yura's true from, as it snaps in two...

"Huh...Uuuuuhhhhh..."

And just like that, Yura's body dissolves into nothing, gone forever from the world...

Coraline pants heavily, relieved she managed to break the skull in time, picking up the item that was split inside...

(Step, step)

Inuyasha walks up to her, a hand on his shoulder to cover the wound, and remarks,

"So that's what Yura really was..."

"Incredible...Yura was a comb this whole time..."

"Yeah. With all that'cha seen since you've been here, are you surprised? It's probably got powers 'cause it was once used to comb the hair of the dead. Yura didn't really use so much it as it used her...Rrrgh!"

Inuyasha then goes on one knee, cringing in pain from his wounds. Coraline says to him in a worried tone,

"Inuyasha! That stab wound in your chest...It only happened because I've got your kimono."

"It's no big deal. What happened to the Shikon-no-Tama?"

Coraline finds the pouch on top of Yura's clothing that was left behind:

"It's here."

She pulls the shard out to look at it, a frown on her face:

"I wonder how long it will take to find the rest of the shards?"

"...Coraline, let's go."

Coraline turns to him a bit perplexed, causing him to be a bit confused:

"What?"

"That was, the first time you've addressed me by my name."

"Yeah, what of it?"

"It's just I think you're warming up to me as I am to you, is all." Inuyasha brushes her comment off with a huff and replied dryly,

"Tch, don't get excited. I still think that you're pretty useless." Coraline glares a bit before replying,

"Remind me next time not to save you!"

She pats him on the back, causing him to cringe in pain, and fall over onto his side. Coraline then says,

"If your injuries were that bad, why didn't you speak up?!" Inuyasha just cries back,

"L...Leave me alone!"

And what about Kaede? Well, unfortunately she was still buried in that hiding place in the forest...

"Inuyasha, only by working together will ye triumph. Also, _don't ye dare forget where ye had buried me._ "


	6. Chapter 5

Hey all! So, quick memo before the next chapter:

As you have no doubtingly have noticed, I've been titling these chapters with names of my own design. However, from this point onward, you will be seeing a mix of the original anime titles, and ones that I came up with in my imagination, as it will become increasingly difficult to come up with titles better (at least in my mind - lol) than the first one...

Ok, that's it! On with the story!

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Encounters of the Half-Brother Kind**

As the full moon shines down on the lands of Sengoku Japan, we turn to a misty area deep within the forests of Edo, where a lone figure stood atop a stoned hill:

The figure was male, tall (at least six foot), with long, silver hair reaching down past his waist, a handsome face with a fair complexion, golden eyes and pointy ears. His face also carried a purple crescent moon on his forehead somewhat hidden under his bangs, magenta stripes on his cheeks, with matching magenta stripes on his eyelids.  
The man was wearing a red and white cherry blossom kimono, the flower crests on the sleeves and collar, a large, boa-like piece curving over his right shoulder, and armor that included a spiked pauldron over his left shoulder attaching to an upper cuirass and 'lotus petal' faulds. Finally, he also wore sashinuki hakama that gathered around his ankles, and black boots.

His gaze was focused on a tomb site situated on top of a distant hill, where a staff, decorated with two distinct heads, came floating up, followed by another figure: A green-skinned, imp-like fellow, wearing a brown shirt, tan pants, and a black hat tied to his head with string.

As he slowed into a stop, he then turned and shouted,

"Milord, there it is! The tomb that we've been searching for!" The other figure comes up to the imp:

"You're sure?"

"Aye, Milord. The Staff of Heads has always lead us without fail. Clearly it must mean this tomb! Allow me to prove it."

The imp then begins to jog over to the tomb, only to stop in his tracks, as several wolves came lurking from hiding:

(Growl)

"Th-This isn't right at all. M-Milord, success, this is exactly as I expected!"

His lord slowly walk up to his side, as he quickly darts behind him out of fear. As they both walked to the middle of the pack, the imp mutters,

"N-N-N-Nice, d-d-d-doggies..."

(Growl, bark-bark)

The wolves continued to make their stand, as the taller of the two turns to look at them with a monotone and cool expression:

"The fang. It is the fang I seek here. Once I possess it, I shall transform myself into a far greater power...Heh, yet why must I explain? My power is what it is; I shall not always be limited thus."

He then smiles faintly as he ponders this thought:

"Can it be that I am afraid, or is it merely that I know not of my limits?"

He then holds out one of his clawed hands, and it begins to glow an eerie light green:

"Perhaps, I presume..."

The wolves then spring on him, bent on tearing him apart with their jaws, just as a long, green whip-shaped beam materializes from his hand, and he spins on his foot in a spiral:

"The fang. It is the fang I seek here."

As the wolves continued their trajectory, a final howl is heard, before:

(POW)

The whip cuts through all the wolves, their bodies ripped beyond recognition!

The corpses of the wolves now lay dead on the ground in their own blood, as the man turns his attention to the tomb site once more:

"Position the staff, Jaken." The imp, now known as Jaken, does as he asks:

"Yes, Milord!"

Jaken climbs up to the roof, knocks over a token piece, before planting the staff straight on the stone. A few seconds later, the head that depicts a woman suddenly moves, opening its mouth, and then letting out a raspy scream!

"This time it is the beauty who responds. Do not tell me we've been mislead!"

Jaken then turns, realizing his master was already walking away:

"Milord! Wait for me! Your humble servant comes, Milord!" And he goes off to catch up to him...

...Meanwhile, some of the rest of the wolf pack who wasn't slaughtered were running off to a safer area. On one wolf, a small flea-like entity was commenting on what he witnessed:

"(Sigh) And here I thought I've seen it all. Whoever he is, Lord Inuyasha will want to know. I must go quickly."

Small Time Skip

Outside the forest, camping out by a riverside, was a large company of soldiers, whom were resting up for the night. Their leader speaks:

"We rejoin the main force on the morrow. Let us eat on this boar tonight, so that we might have strength for battle!"

"Aye, and let us give thanks that we have such a leader to follow." Another soldier says enthusiastically,

"Lead us to victory!" The leader gins and replies,

"That I will, and more be signs, hahahaha!"

Suddenly, a strangled cry of pain was emitted from the crowd, the cause revealed to be the tall figure from earlier, whom had just killed several of the soldiers!  
The leader comes out of the crowd, addressing him with a growl:

"What's this? Are ye mad?" The man just turned to the soldier leader calmly and said,

"I need a boat."

The leader was taken aback by the bold request, before emitting a laugh:

"You need a what? Hahahahaha, before a battle? And were to give it, are we?" As he continued to laugh, the man bluntly replied,

"Why, yes you are, and now." The leader stopped laughing, and broke out a glare, stating,

"I think not!"

The leader then began to charge the man, he charging as well. But the army leader was unprepared for what came next, for the tall figure swiftly grabbed him by the neck, choking him to death in mere seconds!

(Crash)

The leader is tossed into the river, crushing one of the river boats, much to the shock of the other soldiers...

"Wh-Why you...!" As the soldiers prepare to avenge their leader, Jaken's voice breaks in:

"Lord Sesshomaru, I regret to inform that there are no boats...(turns head) uh, unless you count those over there, of course..."

The soldiers become more defensive after Jaken's arrival:

"Wh-What is that?"

"Y-You're not even human!"

"They're beasts. Worse than beasts!"

"Kill them!"

The now identified Lord Sesshomaru ignores the soldiers, and turns to address Jaken:

"Jaken. I leave them to you."

Jaken laughs menacingly, just as the soldiers begin to charge. The staff from before is held up, and the face of the old man opens its mouth, breathing out fire! The soldiers all cry out in agony, as Jaken jeers at them:

"Heheheheh, feel the power of The Staff of Skulls!"

He continues to mercilessly burn the soldiers, until they all turn to ash...

"Heheheheh, they might've been spared, yet such is the arrogance of these lofty samurai warriors, that each and every time Lord Sesshomaru must teach them a lesson anew!"

He turn his head to his Lord's direction:

"Ah, hello, Lord Sesshomaru? I've done as you asked. Milord, are you there? Wait for me, Milord, I'm coming!"

But just as he begins to rush off to catch up to his lord, one of the heads of the staff begins to emit a red glow from its eyes:

"Whoa-hoh-hoh, what is this?"

The staff begins to move on its own, turning a bit, before settling on a particular direction, its eyes glowing again, before floating in said direction...

"The Staff's changed position. It must be the fang, it's changed location!"

After a bit, Lord Sesshomaru and Jaken are seen floating down river on one of the boats. Jaken then asks a bit timidly,

"L-Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Yes?"

"M-Mighten we ask, Lord I-Inuyasha where the tomb is?" Lord Sesshomaru's tone gained a growl when he answered:

"Inuyasha..."

(Whack)

"Whaaah!"

Jaken is then smacked into the river, before held down underwater by the pole of the staff courtesy of Lord Sesshomaru.  
Though his tone is calm, it's clear that the name mentioned did not tweak at his good side:

"I'd prefer not to think of him." Jaken calls out in a drowned tone,

"F-F-Forgive me..."

"He is, for our purposes, dead. And wasn't he still sealed to a tree fifty years ago?"

"B-B-B-B-But sire, the spell, they say it was removed recently. B-Besides the Staff, it's been acting strange. It's because of Inuyasha, I'm sure of it!"

As Lord Sesshomaru narrows his eyes a fraction in thought, Jaken calls out from underwater,

"S-Speaking of the Staff, Milord, mighten you remove it? I-I-I can't breathe!"

He then puffed out a bit, before letting out his breath, and went floating down the river with a water-muffled wail...

Time Skip

As the morning came over the Forest of Inuyasha, we zoom in on the Bone Eater's Well, where Coraline came climbing out, ready to start another day in the Sengoku Period. This time, she came a bit more prepared, her leather satchel full of the essentials she thought she would need for the adventure ahead. Today, Coraline was wearing a simple, black form-fitting t-shirt, a gray unbuttoned shirt, acid-ash jeans, and black combat boots. She also decided to wear her hair in a low ponytail, using a dark red elastic.

"Phew...What a climb."

As she began to jog down to the Goshinboku Village, she thought about what has brought her to this point in time:

 _I never thought I'd live long enough to find out time travel was possible. Here I am, in Sengoku Tokyo, where the legends and mythical creatures such as demons are known to exist!  
To think, a couple days ago, I was just living life as an adopted member of the Higurashi Family, whom for generations have been the caretakers of an ancient shrine, with a tree hundreds of years old, and a mysterious well-house that no one has entered for years...  
_

 _Heh, I guess that makes us rather strange to some circles...  
_

 _The second I enter and travel through the Bone Eater's Well, I become the target of demons, or rather, they target the Shikon-no-Tama, that unknowingly was inside my body!  
Thanks to the guidance of Lady Kaede and the other villagers, I've done alright...well, so far I'm doing fine...But I can only imagine what other souls will soon dare come after the jewel...  
_

 _And then there's Inuyasha...He doesn't seem to get on well with others, me especially, but I'm not losing hope yet..._

"After all, as long as we succeed in restoring the Shikon-no-Tama, then everything will work out, right?"

As she affirmed herself of her task, someone else was traveling on foot as well:

(Hop, hop)

Zooming down below, the same flea-like entity from before had stopped on a rock to catch his breath:

"Hah, three days I've been walking nonstop. I think I need a rest...hah..."

(Step-step-step-step-step)

"Hm? That sounds like, someone rushing...?"

He turns around, only to be crushed by a giant shoe, the shoe belonging to Coraline!

"Huh, that's weird, I feel like I just stepped on something...Must be my imagination..." And she continues in her way...

Eventually, she finds Inuyasha, who was lounging lazily in a bare tree:

"First-Aid treatment? I don't need it; go away!" Coraline calls back,

"Do so! I saw how you got injured first hand! Come down here!"

"Nothin' doin'."

"I said come here!"

"Tch."

Coraline sighed at his attitude, but wasn't going to give up easy, and decided to switch to a less forceful tactic:

"Ok, let me try it this way: If you really aren't injured anymore like you say you are, can you at least come down and show me evidence that you're okay? If you do, I promise to stop pestering you about the subject."

...Inuyasha's ears twitched, before he focused his vision down on Coraline:

"...You'll really promise to stop nagging me if I 'show you evidence' that I'm fine?" Coraline nods firmly and replies,

"Promise."

Seeing the sincerity in her eyes and noting no trace of a lie in her tone, Inuyasha reluctantly decided to comply:

"(Disgruntled sigh) Fine, I'll come down."

(Leap)

He drops to the ground, before walking up to her, an annoyed frown on his face, but seriousness in his amber eyes. He then lifts a hand to his robes, pulling down from the left side, showing off his bare chest, and indeed, there was no sign of injury!

"There, see? You happy now? I don't need your First-huh?"

He felt fingertips touch his chest softly, and he sees Coraline looking with honest surprise and curiousity on her face:

"Amazing...Not even a scar is left...Simply amazing..."

Coraline looks up a bit, a small smile on her face, but still had her fingertips on his chest:

"...You have an incredible healing ability..."

Inuyasha was taken aback by her curiousity, and her compliment:

 _What? She's seriously amazed by this?...This girl is odd, that's for sure..._

Meanwhile, in the distance, Lady Kaede was walking with some of the local children, her having a sling on her arm:

"Lady Kaede, are you all better?"

"Aye, child, almost all better."

"And you're gonna find all the jewel pieces soon, huh?" Kaede lightly chuckles a bit at the child's curious question:

"Not soon perhaps, but aye. It would help if Inuyasha and young Coraline could like eachother a little more."

One of the children then says innocently,

"They do like eachother!"

"Eh?"

They all look where the little girl points, and see Coraline conversing with Inuyasha, her fingertips still not leaving his chest:

"So, do all of your injuries heal this fast, or do some take more time?"

"Uh, depends on the injury, I guess...You're seriously that fascinated by this?"

"Yeah. I've never seen healing like this before!"

The children smile and giggle a bit at the two, while Kaede lightly chides,

"Alright, that's enough, little ones. On your way now, please."

The teens turn to Kaede and the children, confusion written on their faces. Kaede then walks up to them and remarks lightly,

"Mayhaps you two are beginning to get along a bit quicker than first thought."

They look at eachother, before blushing a bit, Coraline taking a few steps back in embarrassment. Inuyasha looks at her, and says dryly,

"This is just how I heal; my body's different than yours, is all." Coraline smiles a bit sheepishly and replies,

"Hm, still doesn't mean I've encountered this scenario before." Kaede then says,

"For so great a wound to have healed so quickly and not leave no scar..." Inuyasha replies,

"Tch, just because it would've killed a human, don't make it a big deal for someone like me!" Coraline stares a him in thought:

 _He's not all human, but not demon either...To be half and half..._

"Ow...huh?"

Inuyasha feels something biting him, and looks down to see something, or someone, sucking out his blood:

"(Slurp) Greetings and salutations."

(...Slap)

Inuayasha hits the tiny figure with the palm of his hand, and looks to see the figure, before remarking,

"Well, if it ain't Myoga the Flea."

"Flea, you say?"

The said Myoga then floated down to the ground, with Inuyasha kneeling down to address him:

"So, what'cha come to see me about?" Myoga pops back up 'unflattened' and answers:

"Lord Inuyasha, I've come to-uh, huh?"

Myoga then becomes distracted by a foreign object coming in front of him. The object being, Coraline's magnifying glass, she coming to kneel beside Inuyasha:

"What's that do?"

"It's called a magnifying glass, and as the name implies, it can magnify something small so you can see it better." She then turns to focus on Myoga:

"So, this is a Flea Demon...Interesting..."

Time Skip

As the day rolled on until dusk, we now find everyone in Kaede's hut, as Myoga tells Inuyasha the news he carried:

"What do ya mean someone's trying to find my Dad's tomb?"

"As guardian of his final resting place, I can bear it no longer."

"So you took off and came here instead."

"But it's the remains that are important, and they are no longer there."

"Oh? So where are the remains then?"

"Regrettably sire, no one knows." Inuyasha rests his cheek in his hand, muttering,

"Some guardian you are..."

Kaede then turns to Inuyasha with a serious expression:

"Inuyasha, they say your father was a phantom beast, that the Western Lands were his domain."

Inuyasha just replies a tad boredly,

"Can't say that I remember all that well." Myoga gives a description of the said legendary dog demon:

"Your father was a demon among demons, great and powerful. His blood was especially delicious, heheh, and you, Lord Inuyasha, have inherited that from him."

Coraline was deeply intrigued by the conversation:

"Wow, it sounds like he was a great lord. What of his mother? Surely she was a great as well."

"She was a beauty beyond compare. A true-Doh!"

(Stomp)

Inuyasha suddenly stood up, and proceeded to dig his heel into Myoga! Coraline was appalled by his action:

"Hey, was that really necessary?" Inuyasha goes to leave, turning back briefly to angrily reply,

"Just drop it, okay? She died a long time ago," and he was out the door. Coraline watched him go, perplexed by his reaction just now:

"Sorry about that. Did, I say something wrong?"

"Aye, well..."

"I'm sorry. Was it, when I mentioned his mother?" Myoga pops back up and replies a bit solemnly,

"Yes, well, Lord Inuyasha has always preferred not to speak of her..."

As the fire continued to crackle, Coraline thinks a bit further, before standing up to head outside herself...

She eventually found Inuyasha, situated in the same tree from earlier, only on a higher branch. As she quietly approached him, her thoughts were fixated on Inuyasha's parents:

 _His father was all-demon, while Inuyasha is only half...Does this mean, that his mother was human?_

She looks up at him, her eyes gaining a bit of sadness:

 _...This probably explains some of his rough attitude. Is it, possible that he hates his mother for giving him his half-human DNA?_

 _(Flash)_

 _"See you later!"_

 _"Coraline, wait!"_

 _"Akari-sama, I can't, I gotta go."_

 _"Take this. I know you have a lot to carry, but I-"_

 _"I appreciate your concern, Akari-sama, but I'm trying to keep it to the bare essentials."_

 _"Well, you can use it for that friend of yours, the one with the cute ears. Didn't you say he'd been hurt in the shoulder?"_

 _"(Smile) Thank you."_

 _(Flash)_

 _...I suppose I can't really understand the idea of hating your own mother anymore than loving one. Not that Akari-sama can't be seen as a mother figure...I just, don't feel the need for one anymore..._

"Not since...my own mother died when I was three years old...I hope his mother loved him unconditionally."

(Whoosh)

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the wind began changing pace, blowing leaves all over...

"Get down!"

Inuyasha then jumped down from the tree, pushing Coraline face down to the ground.  
He removes his hand from her head, and she lifts her now dirt-dusted face to ask,

"Inuyasha, what was that for?"

"Something's coming. Can you feel it?"

Coraline looks back up into the sky, and sees something floating from behind the clouds...

"Is that...a carriage?"

Inside the said carriage, the door flaps away, revealing a woman, dressed in a pink-dominated kimono.

"I see a woman riding in it..."

She then feels Inuyasha get up, and she does the same, noticing a stunned look spread onto his face:

"Inuyasha...what is it? What's wrong?"

"M...Mother..."

Coraline's eyes widen at his response...The woman in the carriage then turns her head to the teens down below:

"It is you...Inuyasha...aaugh!"

The imps that were driving the carriage pulled at the chains around the woman, causing her some discomfort.

"Mother!" Coraline gently tries to reason with Inuyasha:

"But, this can't be right...Your mother has been dead for a long time. You told me so yourself."

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha!"

The carriage then disappears upwards towards the clouds...before a giant, clawed hand reaches out, and grabs the carriage, only to crush it:

(CRUNCH)

Just then, a set of glowing red eyes came out from the cloud cover, belonging to a giant demon with long, tan hair, horns, sharp teeth, and a dark-coloured body!  
The creature roars, and within its grasp, laid the now unconscious Mother of Inuyasha!

"Oh no, that thing's going to hurt your Mother!"

"No he's NOT!"

(Leap)

But just as Inuyasha jumped in the air, a shot of flames came at him, he barely dodging them, before landing back on the ground.  
The source was none other than Jaken, who was situated atop one of the arms of the giant!

"Ya missed!"

Just then, Jaken is then addressed by a voice from behind him on the giant's shoulder:

"Jaken."

"Yes, Milord?" The voice belonged to none other than Lord Sesshomaru, who then said,

"Once we're through, I want him dead."

"Y-Y-Y-Yes, Milord." Inuyasha looks up, and immediately recognizes the said lord:

"It is you...Sesshomaru!"

"Indeed. I've quite missed you as well, _little brother._ "

As Inuyasha growled at his snide remark, Coraline comes up to his side, shocked by this turn in events:

"Wait, you two know eachother?"

 _He called Inuyasha his brother...They, do look similar...but this guy seems more demon...Oh! Then that means, these two must be half-brothers!_

Lord Sesshomaru notices Coraline, and remarks,

"Ah, a mortal, how interesting..." Coraline glares a bit at him, retorting,

"Yeah, so what?"

"Others would be shamed, but with you, little brother, the girl quite suits you."

One of the imps from earlier then pulls on the chain around the woman's neck:

"Rrgh!"

"These, human creatures, I should think you've had enough of them. Or is it a taste from Father?"

Inuyasha growls further, while Coraline folds her arms with a glare:

 _Who the hell does this guy think he is?! Arrogant bastard..._

"That's not all, is it? You couldn't have come all this way just to tell me that!"

"Be not a fool. I've not such time to waste. The tomb of our Father; where must I seek it?"

"Our Father's tomb? Why ask me?"

" _'_ _Seeing, yet never seen. Protected, yet never known to it's protector.'_ No other clues are known."

"I got no idea what you're talking about! Besides, even if I did, there's no way I'd tell you!"

"I see. then you leave me no choice, but to let your Mother's suffering convince you."

Lord Sesshomaru then takes his energy whip, and hits the giant's face, forcing it to crush his hand further on Inuyasha's mother!

"Ah! You bastard, stop hurting her!" Though Coraline was worried, Inuyasha wasn't fooled:

"Heh, nice try, jerk! She's been dead for years, and we both know it! Like I'd really fall for some stupid trick like that!"

Lord Sesshomaru then smiles:

"A trick, is it?" Jaken then said,

"You're who's stupid! Recalling spirits from the netherworld is a simple task, if you are Lord Sesshomaru! He was even so kind as to give her flesh! And yet her own son would deny it! How sad to be mother to one such as you."

The woman then calls out to him again:

"I-Inuyasha..." Inuyasha looked at her with wide eyes:

 _Then maybe...It is true!_

"I have come back, Inuyasha. Back from the world of the dead."

She then gives out from the strain of the imps pulling on her chains, as Inuyasha angrily and worriedly cried out,

"Stop hurting her!"

(Leap)

" _IRON REAVER, SOUL STEALER!_ "

(SLASH)

Inuyasha clawed his way through the wrist of the giant, it crying out in pain, as her mother and the hand fall to the ground, and the imps scamper away...  
Coraline rushes over to her:

"Oh no! Are you alright?!"

"Coraline! You and her get outta here!"

"I think not." Lord Sesshomaru begins to whip the giant again, muttering,

"And you, you're worthless!"

(Slash)

The beast's face becomes disfigured from the harsh whipping, before reaching it's good hand down to Coraline and Inuyasha's Mother, the former using her body to shield the latter!

"Mother!"

His mother then rises form her state, and cries out,

"Inuyasha!"

(Freeze)

"Agh!"

Inuyasha is then tapped under the giant's hand, just as it was coming down to crush all three!  
But at the same time, his mother then projects a light orb from her palms, he landing against it, before they all vanished in a blinding flash of light!

...When the light was gone, so were they, and as the giant moved its hand away, Lord Sesshomaru muttered a tad sarcastically,

"What a bother."

"Aye, Milord, and yet it goes so well. Please, Milord, leave it to me."

"This scheme of yours is beneath me. Should it fail, Jaken...you, will die." Jaken yelps before shakily replying,

"A-A-A-As you will, Milord."

Meanwhile, in an Unknown Location...

Somewhere by a misty riverside, Inuyasha was beginning to arose from his unconscious state:

"Uh...Uh..."

As he woke up, he saw that the area had a structure overlooking the clear-blue water, and lily pads scattered around the watery edge.  
He sees an unconscious Coraline laying sideways beside him, and he remarks,

"This place...Where is it?"

(Step, step)

"At the Border of the Spirit World..." He turns around, and sees his mother, and she adds,

"I must be crossing over it very soon."

He gets up from the ground, a somewhat perplexed but thoughtful look on his face:

"Crossing over? Oh yeah, right. It happened so long ago, I keep forgetting you're dead."

His mother turned around, and began walking away from the area, he deciding to follow her, but not before glancing at Coraline briefly...  
When they reach the water's edge, his mother spoke again:

"Inuyasha, you've...you've become a man, haven't you?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, when you died, I guess I was still just a kid, right?"

"Such terrible, violent days...And you all alone, with no one to care for you..."

She turns to face him, an anxious look on her face:

"How can you ever forgive me?" Inuyasha turns sideways and says offhandedly,

"It weren't that big a deal, I mean..."

"...Inuyasha."

"Huh?"

As they continued to converse, we jump back to Coraline, as she too began to awake:

"Mm...Rrmm..."

When she opened her eyes, she saw Inuyasha standing with his mother in the distance:

 _Inuyasha, and his mother...she's okay..._

When she tried to go and lift herself from the ground, she found that she could not!

 _Nngh...Huh? I, can't move...Am i paralyzed?  
_

She then casted her gaze downward to the water, and what she saw, caused her to silently gasp:

 _Her face! She has no reflection!_

"Inuyash-Inu..." _My voice! I can't speak!_

"Mother..."

"Partings are never easy, wouldn't you agree?"

"I..."

Coraline called out within her mind:

 _Inuyasha, snap out of it! She doesn't have a face! Whoever she is, she's not your mother!_


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: An Unmother's Love, & Tessaiga, The Fanged Sword**

"Lady Coraline!" "Lady Coraline!"

As Inuyasha and Coraline were dealing with the cruel antics of Lord Sesshomaru and Jaken, the men of Goshinboku Village were searching in the forest for Coraline, torches lit to guide them through the night.  
Suddenly, two of the men come across Coraline's leather satchel, sitting by a tree:

"Oh no...Over here!"

The other men come running, murmuring in puzzlement and worry at finding the strange bag, but not Coraline...

Present-Day Tokyo

Back at the Higurashi shrine, Akari was leaning against the doorway, looking up at the stars, thinking about Coraline...

(Slide)

Souta then comes out, dressed in his pajamas, after discovering the outside light to be on:

"Mom? What're you doing out here?"

"Oh, did I wake you up? I'm sorry. I just couldn't get to sleep yet, with Coraline still on my mind...Remember? She left to the other world not too long ago, so I can't help but wonder what she's doing right now..."

"She'll be gone a couple of days this time. Her backpack had a few clothes and some 'bare essentials' as she worded it..."

"Right. She always seems to be ready for what comes her way. Hopefully, she won't have too much to worry about when she gets back."

"She's lucky to have you to worry about her. I'm sure glad that I don't make you worry like that."

"But I do, how can I help it? I'm your mom. You do still wet the bed-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa mom, I don't do that! I'm in third grade, remember?!" Akari laughs a bit and responds,

"All I really want for you two is to be happy."

"Thanks, I know." Souta then looks up at the sky and sees a shooting star:

"Oh, quick, make a wish!"

"To be happy, hoh, and win the lottery..."

Sengoku Edo, Unknown Location

Meanwhile, picking up where we left off, Coraline has discovered that Inuyasha's Mother is _not who she appears_...Unfortunately, due to a strange case of paralysis, Coraline could only watch, as the 'mother' and Inuyasha continued to converse:

"Inuyasha. I must return now to the netherworld."

"D-Do you have to?"

The 'mother' then holds out her hands, forming a lotus flower between her palms, and then directing it to the water, as it fell apart, the petals glowing a bit as they touched to water:

(Drop)

"The petals...Look into the water."

Inuyasha does so, and the water ripples, before revealing a memory from long ago...

Flashback

 _A ball bounces across a bridge, pursued by what seems to be a younger Inuyasha...  
_

 _He catches the ball, as his mother watches from afar, in an area surrounded by flowers..._

 _Young Inuyasha sees her, and drops the ball, before running into his mother's waiting arms..._

"That's me...back when I was still small."

 _The scene shifts to Young Inuyasha being held by his mother in a small house opening to the water..._

"You remember. That's good. As a child, I often held you that way."

End Flashback

The 'mother' then embraces Inuyasha from behind, a gentle smile on her face:

"I held you to my heart, just as I'm doing now."

"Hmm..."

As Inuyasha leaned in, the 'mother' shifts her hands to his back...before proceeding to sink them into his back!

"I'll never let go. Not now...not ever."

Inuyasha grimaces a bit from the intrusion, before succumbing to her touch:

"M-Mother..."

Coraline watches from afar, mad at herself for not being able to do anything:

 _Inuyasha...dammit, I'm still stuck. Why can't I move? Huh?!_

Suddenly, chains begin to reveal themselves around Coraline's body, controlled by those small imps from earlier. Not only that, but the once beautiful river...gradually shifts into a rather dismal area, with tar bubbling in one spot, darkened by the night...

 _So this is an illusion...I thought something was off! That fake mother must be controlling it..._

At last, help came to Coraline, in the form of Myoga the flea! He hopped onto her cheek, trying to get her to respond:

"Coraline, snap out if it! It's me, ME, Myoga the Flea!" He hopped onto her shoulder and remarked,

"Who would've thought Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's older brother, would be the one seeking the tomb? And what a foe he is. And here's Coraline, poor thing, chained head to toe. So wrapped up she couldn't swat a-couldn't even swat a..."

Myoga is then distracted by Coraline's cheek, which to him was all too tempting in terms of,

"Hmmm, blood..."

He then hops onto her cheek, and begins to suck out some of her blood...until:

(Slap)

Coraline's hand hits him, revealing that she wasn't as incapacitated as once thought! The imps scatter away from her, and she lifts herself up into a sitting position, remarking as she looks at her palm,

"Huh...Guess I wasn't paralyzed after all..." Myoga's flat body floats off her cheek, as he mutters,

"H-Happy to hear it..."

In the distance, Jaken was coming up the river on a boat, seeing the silhouette of the 'mother'. Seeing her now, it's revealed to have lowered her kimono, exposing her chest, as she proceeds to absorb Inuyasha:

"My boy...My precious boy..."

Jaken immediately rushes over:

"Stop that, what are you doing?!"

(Whack)

"No soul-sucking till I tell you!"

The 'mother' easily regenerates her face from the injury, courtesy of Jaken's staff, and replies,

"Sorry."

"You can have your way with him later, after he tells us how to find the tomb of Lord Sesshomaru, and Inuyasha's father!"

Coraline is seen nearby, hiding among some tall grass and reeds, and she turns to Myoga situated on her left shoulder:

"So that's Jaken, Sesshomaru's evil henchmen?"

"Right, but keep your eye on his staff." She nods firmly, and begins crawling away, intent on getting the jump on Jaken...

Meanwhile, the 'mother' continues to pry into Inuyasha's mindscape to find the answers she needs to seek:

"Inuyasha...(heartbeat) Inuyasha..."

Inside the illusion, Inuyasha is being held underwater by the stretched arms of the 'mother', as his mother's voice came ringing in:

"Your father's tomb, where is it? Please, tell me!"

"I dunno..."

"Then think harder! Let me see into your heart..."

The 'mother' sends her hands downward into his mindscape, and sees a shape:

"(Gasp) What's that?"

Back outside the mind, Inuyasha answers in a slightly muffled voice,

"Black Pearl...On the right..."

Jaken is not satisfied by the answer:

"What Black Pearl? Where? We need more than that! Go deeper!"

"But, Lord Jaken, if I delve deeper his spirit will be broken."

"I don't care, do it!"

Though a bit hesitant, the 'mother' complies with Jaken's command...back within the mindscape:

"Inuyasha...shhh..."

"M-Mother, I can't breathe..."

Inuyasha opens his eyes, and looks up, to see the truth behind the guise:

"(Gasp) Her face...That means she..."

But before he could think further, Inuyasha is then encased by her arms, choking on her hold around his neck...

Jaken grows impatient:

"What's taking so long? Get a move on before Lord Sesshomaru comes back and-uh?"

(Stomp)

"Ack!"

Jaken then has his staff taken away, before being stepped on by a combat-booted foot, belonging to none other than Coraline!  
She then raises the staff like a golf club and yells angrily,

"You cruel, bastard toad!"

(Whack)

"Aaaaaahhhh!"

(Sploosh)

And just like that, Jaken is knocked into the water...Coraline then focuses on the 'mother', as she rises, taking Inuyasha with her!

"Stop! Let go of him, please!"

"No!"

Coraline continues to chase the 'mother', as she forces Inuyasha deeper withing her body:

"Inuyasha!"

Coraline tries to save him, pulling him out some, before losing her grip when she trips onto the ground.  
As Inuaysha goes deeper, Coraline remarks,

"Damn, at this rate Inuyasha will be inside of her!" Myoga then comes to her aid:

"Coraline, his spirit, awaken it!"

"Awaken his spirit? How?!"

The 'mother' settles not too far from Coraline, and Myoga gives a description of the creature:

"Behold, the Unmother. Born from the grief of losing children to famine and war, she seeks to fill the void within herself, by taking the spirits of others. In this case, Inuyasha."

Coraline narrows her eyes in thought:

"Sounds like another version of the Beldam Witch I encountered in France a few years ago...Anyway, how do you suggest we-(Gasp)"

"That's the way. Soon we'll be together always..."

Inuyasha's arm was now the only part of him not encased within the Unmother!

"There's no time to-huh?"

Coraline then sees the reflection in the water, picturing a different scenario then the real one:

"That child...Is he, Inuyasha?"

"An illusion, but yes, that's how it works."

"I see. If I can take out the illusion..." Coraline then runs into the water, swiping at the reflection with the staff:

"Inuyasha! Snap out of it!"

The illusion ripples and fades, and the Unmother cries out in pain, before releasing Inuyasha from her hold! Coraline runs up to him, and places her hands on his upper arms:

"Inuyasha. Are you okay?"

He breathes in a bit, his eyes dilating back to normal, before he shouts in anger and betrayal,

"How dare she! You pretended to be...and I fell for it! I can't believe I thought she was...!"

"Jaken and Sesshomaru are to blame here, not you."

"What did you..." Suddenly, the voice of the latter mentioned broke out:

"Inuyasha..."

"Huh?"

"I know where it is now." Inuyasha turns to Sesshomaru, anger written on his face:

"Sesshomaru!" But before he could fully react:

(Dash)

(Grab)

"Uugh!"

Sesshomaru uses his demon speed to rush in front of Inuyasha, and grasp him by his throat!

"You bast..."

"Of all the places for him to find it. All this time beneath our very own noses. Or to be technical, above our very own noses. Right above one might say. Our father was determined to keep it a secret, which is why he chose here to hide it."

"What are you talking about?! You're making no sense at all!"

"Well then, little brother, since it was obviously done without your knowledge, how would you like to come with me and find out?"

Sesshomaru then holds out his free hand, directing two of his clawed fingers towards Inuyasha's right eye, and a strange bolt of energy shot out directly into the eye!

"Lord Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha cried out in agony, and the bolt of energy was extended, before extracting an orbed object from his pupil, and into Sesshomaru's hand...  
Sesshomaru drops him to the ground, and Inuyasha places a hand over his eye. Coraline rushes over to him:

"Inuyasha!"

Sesshomaru chuckles a bit before saying,

"No wonder searching for it beneath ground was useless. _'Seeing, yet never seen. Protected, yet never known to its protector.'_ Our father's tomb, hidden within a black pearl deep within your eye."

Inuyasha shudders a bit in pain and anger, before removing his hand from his eye, revealed to have no pupil! He then shouts,

"And all for something like that?! You pretended she was my mother!"

"Hm, you're not amused?" Coraline shouts,

"Of course he isn't, you sadist!" Inuyasha then yells,

"No I'm not...YOU BASTARD!"

He then tries to take a swing at Sesshomaru, but he easily leaps away, before sending his energy whip at him:

"Die."

(Whip, whip...)

Inuyasha begins dodging the incoming attacks, but is then hit dead on in the chest:

"Auuugh!"

He falls to the ground on his back, leaving him wide open for Sesshomaru. But, when the whip was sent, the Unmother leaped in the way, taking the final blow!  
Coraline gasped, watching the Unmother fall apart, her head being the only part still somewhat in tact, and pieces of her kimono floating away...  
Inuyasha was also stunned by the act...Mygoa then spoke up:

"The Unmother!" Coraline spoke next:

"She, gave her life, to protect him..."

"Demon spirit or not, she still had a mother's heart...and isn't protecting her child what a mother can't help but do?"

The Unmother's head echoes a final cry:

"My boy..."

(Whip)

Before Sesshomaru whips the head to pieces! Inuyasha growls at him, and Coraline shouts,

"Hey, you!" She runs to Inuyasha's side, much to Myoga's protest:

"Coraline, don't, or he'll kill us both!"

"Be quiet..."

Nearby, Jaken was crawling through the tall grass and reeds, he hearing his Lord call to him:

"Jaken. Jaken." He rushes to get up and run to him:

"Aye, Milord!" Coraline then sees the staff is in his hands:

"Oh no!"

"Lord Sesshomaru, the Staff of Skulls is ours once more!"

Sesshomaru takes the staff, gazing at the black pearl in anticipation:

"At last, the moment has come."

He drops the pearl to the ground, then taps it hard with the rod of the staff...The pearl glows, and the head of the man then opens its mouth, before proceeding to break out in a strong, maniac laugh!

"The old man laughs! That means the tomb will open!"

The pearl emits a final flash, before vanishing, and in replacement, came a large, gaping black portal! Sesshomaru and Jaken waste no time in jumping through...Coraline, momentarily stunned, then says,

"They're gone..."

Myoga comes to Inuyasha's shoulder and says with urgency,

"The portal, we must move quickly before it's closed! Do you want your brother to take sole possession of your father's treasure?!"

"...Let him. What do I care?"

"But sire..."

"I never said I'm not going in there, okay? Say your prayers, Sesshomaru..."

He rips off the piece of fabric from his other shoulder and yells,

"Cause you're dead!" He turns to Coraline and says,

"You stay here! It's too dangerous for y-huh?"

But, Coraline wasn't there...He turns back to the portal, and sees Coraline with one leg already inside!

"Well, what are ya waitin' for, an invitation?" She jumps in, much to Inuyasha's protest:

"Hey!"

As Coraline floats through the portal path, Inuyasha comes up from behind her and says,

"You realize Sesshomaru's there...!" Coraline turns to him and retorts,

"Yeah, and what of it? I don't care who he is, he's not gonna get away with this! Besides, he's not the first arrogant bastard I've dealt with..."

They eventually reach the end of the tunnel, coming out in a misty, mountainous space, where in the distance, stood a giant skeleton with armor, the bones looking more canine then human...  
The two land on top of a skeletal bird, and begin flying towards the giant armored skeleton. As they closed in, Inuyasha mutters,

"Father..."

"This is your father's skeleton?"

"What else would it be?"

"So then this is what can happen to demons when they-Hey, what do ya mean, 'what else'? They're ginormous, okay?"

Myoga then speaks:

"It's true. They're huge because he himself was of incomparable stature. Here he is in truest form, undisguised! The treasure sword embedded in his bones. That is what Lord Sesshomaru is after..."

Deeper within the bone tomb of Inuyasha's father, Sesshomaru and Jaken have reached what they sought out. They now stand in front of a gold-coloured pedestal, where an ancient-looking sword stands embedded within...

"Here is what I have sought. At last, I shall take possession of the sacred sword: The lethal legendary blade known to kill a hundred in a single stroke, Tessaiga."

As he reaches to grab the hilt of the sword, Jaken says in an amazed tone,

"They say it was forged from the fang of your father's own mouth! Once you possess the blade Tessaiga, you'll possess his power as well!"

But when Sesshomaru went to lift Tessaiga from the pedestal:

(Bzzztttt...)

A barrier of energy sparked out, forcing Sesshomaru to relinquish his hold on the hilt! Jaken cries out in surprise, while Sesshomaru looks down at his hand, it glowing a dark blue and looked more canine than before...As it returned to normal, Jaken timidly asked,

"It's not stuck, is it?"

"Father has done his work well. The blade is insourceful."

"Sesshomaru!"

He turns his head, and sees Inuyasha and Coraline on top of some of the enlarged bones. Inuyasha then leaps down, shouting,

"We're not finished yet!"

(Swipe, miss)

Inuyasha crashes to the ground, crushing a few of the skulls that made up the floor. He gets up, fists at the ready, muttering,

"Now where'd he go? Huh?"

He then sees Sesshomaru up on a ledge, as he calls down,

"Be more respectful. It's our father's tomb." Inuyasha smartly retorts,

"Look who's talking! You're the one here who's robbing his grave! Why not respect him by leaving?" Myoga then exclaims,

"Lord Inuyasha, look back, look back!"

"Back where? How come?" He turns around, and sees Tessaiga:

"Do you see it? The blade forged from your father's fang, Tessaiga!"

Inuyasha walks over to the sword, and says a bit skeptically,

"Huh, what, you mean this? What a piece of junk. Tessaiga what? It wouldn't even cut paper, wet!"

"Lord Inuyasha, you must draw the sword. Please! And you, Lord Sesshomaru, you couldn't pull it out, could you?"

...Sesshomaru was silent for a moment, before asking Myoga,

"Do you mean to say Inuyasha can?"

"Of course. It was always intended that Lord Inuyasha should inherit it. He, he was entrusted with the tomb, wasn't he? That, should be prove enough, if you ask me. Now hurry, hurry and claim what's yours!"

Inuyasha looked at the sword, then shook his head in disbelief before spitting out,

"What entrusted? What inheritance? For all I care, he can keep the rusty piece of junk!"

He then directs his eyes at Sesshomaru before shouting,

"What I do mind though is all the other stuff! Good thing you're in a grave cause you're gonna die!"

(Leap)

(Swipe, miss)

Inuyasha tries again to attack Sesshomaru, but he easily dodges the attack:

"Now was that aimed at me?"

He lands on the ground, before going to dodge other oncoming attacks from Inuyasha's claws:

(Crash)

Inuyasha punches his fist through bone again, and he falls to the skull-littered floor.

"Damn..." He turns to Sesshomaru, who insults him by saying,

"You fight as though you're still a child." Myoga tries to urge Inuyasha to get the sword:

"You can't fight him unarmed. The sword! Get the sword!"

"You shut up!"

"Inuyasha!"

"Huh?" Inuyasha turns his gaze to Coraline, and she shouts,

"Get the damn sword!"

"Coraline?"

"Sesshomaru wasn't able to pull it out! If you can't hit him physically, hit him mentally! Hurt his pride!"

Inuyasha turns to Sesshomaru, breaking out a smirk as he said,

"Heh-ha, I get it...I'll do it, if only to see the look on your face!"

He walks over to the pedestal, grabs the hilt of the sword, ready to pull it out:

"This is gonna be more fun than I thought!"

Meanwhile, a rattling came from a few skulls, revealed to be Jaken, who looks over to Inuyasha and says with worry,

"N-N-N-No! Inuyasha is immune to the spell that thwarted Sesshomaru!" Myoga wasn't as surprised:

"I knew it! Tessaiga is fated to become Lord Inuyasha's!"

Inuyasha begins to pull, using all the strength he can in his arm! The area surrounding the blade begins to glow, as Coraline calls out,

"You can do it, Inuyasha! Draw it out!"

He continues to struggle in pulling Tessaiga, putting everything he has into drawing it out...but despite his efforts, _he couldn't pull it out!_

"What?!"

"Huh?"

Both teens were dumbfounded, but then Inuyasha addresses Myoga in a low tone:

"Yo."

"Yes?"

(Squish)

"I couldn't pull the sword out, could I?!"

"Not really, no..." Sesshomaru grows tired of the scene:

"Are you done? I am."

(Dash)

(Swipe, miss)

Inuyasha barely dodges a swipe from Sesshomaru, and begins using his own demon speed, only to be pinned to a wall!  
As he struggles, Sesshomaru then holds his free hand out and says with a menacing smile,

"I don't think you've met my poison claws."

His hand glows an acid green, before he tries to land a blow at Inuyasha!  
Inuyasha manages to get away, so the acid poison is directed at the wall, melting the bone away...

 _That was too close!_

(Dash)

"Running?"

Inuyasha swipes at him, and misses, with Sesshomaru brandishing his whip, landing a few blows against him, and Inuyasha goes down hard...  
Jaken laughs, waving his staff a bit before saying,

"Don't worry, Milord, it's all taken care of."

"Hah!"

Coraline then lands down on Jaken's back, turning to him and saying,

"You coward!"

Jaken quickly recovers, and glares at her while retorting,

"Why, you...!"

(Swing)

(Grasp)

Coraline grabs the staff before it can it her, and she and Jaken now square off to see who's strength will prevail:

"You damn toad!"

"You damn human!"

"This human's gonna kick your-"

"I don't think so!"

Jaken's strength prevails this round, hitting Coraline in the gut with the staff, and sending her to the ground near the pedestal.  
Inuyasha looks over at her as he continues to dodge Sesshomaru's whip:

"Corali-Urrgh!"

Sesshomaru manages to punch him hard in the gut, while Coraline struggled to get up from the ground:

"Rrgh..." Jaken jeers at her:

"What's the matter? Is that all you got?" She manages to get up thanks to the hilt of the sword, and she retorts,

"Not even close..."

She then looks over, and her eyes widen, seeing Inuyasha sprawled on the ground, barely managing to sit up, as Sesshomaru looms over him...

"Rraaaahhh-Augh!"

He tries to charge Sesshomaru, but is stopped by another blow to the gut! Sesshomaru holds him up, positioning his poison claws threateningly:

"The time has come...Die."

He pins Inuyasha to the ground, ready to kill! Coraline gasps, and calls out,

"Inuyashaaaa!" As she began to rush over, suddenly:

(CLACK)

Tessaiga was pulled out, by Coraline's own hand! She looks down at the sword and mutters,

"Uh...Crap."

(Freeze)

Sesshomaru stops, sensing something was wrong, and he turns around, seeing Coraline with the sword in hand...  
She shifts her grip on the sword, holding it upright by both hands, and says in a hushed tone,

"It, just came out..."

Jaken is stunned, as are Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, that Coraline was able to even touch the sword! She adds,

"Um..." She looks at the blade, and thinks,

 _...Cripes, what do I do now?!_


	8. Chapter 7

Hey, all!

Just a quick memo for this chapter, plus a snippet in the previous, there will be referencing to the book/film _Coraline_ , to which it is not owned by yours truly. Rights and ownership to that popular book/film belong to _Niel Gaiman_ (author) and _Laika/Focus Features/Henry Selick_ (Production Co./Distributor/Director).

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Brother Grudge Match - Inuyasha versus Sesshomaru**

As Coraline continued to examine the ancient sword Tessaiga, now in her hands, Jaken somewhat shakes off his stupor and shouts,

"Th-Th-That's impossible! If the two of them couldn't do it, how could a mere human ever hope to...?!"

Noticing Sesshomaru's change of focus, Inuyasha then says,

"Don't look at her, look at me!"

He misses his shot, and Sesshomaru dashes away, stopping right in front of Coraline!

"Ack!"

As he gazes at her, Sesshomaru then asks,

"What are you, and how did you draw the sword?"

Inuyasha turns to where Sesshomaru rushed over to, and Myoga looks over while muttering,

"Good thing he's after her now and not us, eh Lord Inuyasha?" Inuyasha barks at him in return:

"Shut up! Sesshomaru, leave her alone! She's not involved in this!"

Despite the danger laced into where she stood, Coraline stared at Sesshomaru with a defiant glare, and shifted to a offensive position, sword out, and said threateningly,

"If you think for a second I'm afraid, you're dreaming! One false move, and I'll drive Tessaiga into your rib-cage!"

Both males were surprised by Coraline's bravery, but Sesshomaru then turns to Inuyasha, and says,

"For some unknown reason, I was unable to draw Tessaiga. Fortunately, you were unable to draw it either. It's obvious that she must die."

Inuyasha responds,

"You're right. It is weird that she could do it but we couldn't, but she's still just a human girl! Coraline, give him the sword! There's no choice!"

"Not a chance! Sesshomaru obviously isn't the one meant for Tessaiga! The sword even knows it! If he wants it that bad, he'll have to take it!"

"Don't be stupid! You're only a human, so back off, shut up, and but out!"

"Only human, my ass! Why I oughta..." Sesshomaru then cuts in, his voice carrying an amused tone:

"Heh, Inuyasha. Your patience with this creature is astonishing to me. You protect her, indulge in her, even seem to love her."

Inuyasha said nothing, and Sesshomaru took a few steps in his direction, continuing his thought:

"Certainly these, feelings of mercy of yours, are not something I inherited from our great and terrible father...It must've been that mother of yours. That, human mother, who caused our father to meet our end, in this ignoble place. Her blood affects you as well. Is it that which so endears you to them? When it comes to humans, I of course, bear no such weakness."

"Hmph, with that kind of arrogance, it's no wonder Tessaiga rejected you."

...Sesshomaru turned back to Coraline, hearing her harsh words, and asked,

"...What are you insinuating, mortal?" Coraline kept a cool, serious stare at Sesshomaru, and answered,

"Well let me ask you something in return, Sesshomaru: Were you there during your father's final day? Did you actually _see_ what occurred that led to his demise?"

...He says nothing...

"That's what I thought. So how can you accuse Inuyasha's mother of being the ending of your father, when you weren't even there when it occurred? Simple: You can't. Your anger and prejudice towards humans is unjustifiable and blinds you, Sesshomaru. And guess what? _Tessaiga knows it as well._ "

"Gh!" Something inside Sesshomaru's blood ran cold, and Coraline continued:

"It's clear to me now: Tessaiga is a sword that can judge the openness of one's heart. You, Sesshomaru, have too many stone walls built around your heart, not able to open to the world, so the sword rejects you. I'm actually surprised Inuyasha was rejected, but perhaps Tessaiga sensed he wasn't ready to open his heart completely..."

Inuyasha stared at her as she said that part, unable to do anything but whisper,

"...Coraline..." She looks at Tessaiga and adds,

"As for why it would let me draw it, well, I don't have an answer to that. Maybe it sees my heart to be very open, I dunno...But, I am more than confident when I say this, Sesshomaru: _You are not worthy of even touching the hilt of Tessaiga!_ "

At that last sentence, Sesshomaru snapped, and before she could blink, he sent a torrent of acidic poison from his claws straight at her!  
Coraline finches from the wave of poison, and yelled,

"Inuyashaaa! Auugh!"

"Coraliiiine!"

And just like that, Coraline became buried under a mixture of melted bone and acid!

"So fragile, don't you agree, little brother?"

"Sesshomaru..."

"And not just humans; half-breeds too."

(Leap)

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

Inuyasha misses, and Sesshomaru uses that boa-piece to wrap him up, constricting him:

"How can you think, with your dirty blood, that you are my equal?"

He then slams Inuyasha to the ground, sending him on a trajectory for the wall! Inuyasha barely manages to lift himself up:

"You..."

(Whip)

"Rrgh!"

(Whip, whip...)

"You forget your station. Worthless half-breed!" His whip attacks slam Inuyasha into the wall again, and he mutters,

"A half-breed, am I?"

He then shields himself as best he could, as Sesshomaru continued to whip him mercilessly, and he couldn't help but flash back to a time when that label first affected him...

Flashback

 _(Men laughing)_

 _Somewhere in an unknown village, a group of priests were playing some kind of ball game while in circle. Young Inuyasha comes up, and chases the ball as it lands in the hands of one of the men. He reaches his hands out to it, and the men laugh at his antics, but not in a good way...  
The man then tosses the ball away onto the bridge nearby, calling him something unheard in the memory..._

 _Young Inuyasha chases the ball across the bridge, picking it up, and looking back, to see the priests and the rest of the crowd dispersing away..._

 _"Half-breed?"_

 _As he looks towards the now empty area, his mother watches him nearby, a sad look on her face...  
He then drops the ball, and rushes to his mother's waiting arms:_

 _"Mother...What's a, half-breed?"_

 _...No answer is given..._

"That's right. I remember...My mother, she was, crying. Crying for me. She knew what it meant. What my life would be like..."

End Flashback

Inuyasha lifts himself from the ground, the memory still on his mind, and looking over at where Coraline once stood, Tessaiga the only thing sticking out of the acid pile...

"Half-Breed or Full-Breed, to me it don't matter. But when you insult my mother, that's when I get angry."

He sends a harsh glare at Sesshomaru and adds,

"For her sake then, if nothing else,"

(Dash)

"I'm gonna make you pay!"

(Slash)

He successfully lands a blow to Sesshomaru's right side, calling to him,

"That was for mother!"

(Leap)

"And this...This is for Coraline!"

(SLASH)

Jaken comments in surprise,

"Th-Th-This can't be happening! A moment ago, he couldn't hit at all!"

Inuyasha's second blow to the left side, was even more successful, not only causing Sesshomaru damage:

(Crack, SNAP)

But also breaking his armor! Sesshomaru wasn't surprised, though; on the contrary, he merely smiled and said,

"All that, for a memory and a dead mortal girl? If I had known that's all it took to get you to fight, I'd have killed her sooner."

Inuyasha's blood ran cold at that remark, and he turns to Sesshomaru, angrily sending the following threat:

"I'm gonna slit your stomach, take out your guts, and put 'em in a bowl! By the time I'm done, you're gonna wish it was you who was dead!"

...Suddenly, the pile of acid and melted bone, begins to quiver, and bursting out of the pile, was Coraline!

"(Deep breath) Damn, thought it was the end of me..."

Inuyasha looks over at her, stunned speechless, as she rises to her feet, and raises the sword in Sesshomaru's direction, yelling in an angered tone,

"You bastard! You almost did me in! Don't go and think you'll get away with that move!"

...With that out of her system, Coraline moves over to Inuyasha, and gives him Tessaiga, saying lightly,

"Here. Tessaiga is more reliable than it looks, trust me. Don't let me down."

"Hey, uuuh, how come you're still alive?"

Coraline looks down at herself, and replies in a surprised mutter,

"...Um, I'm gonna have to get back to you on that..." Sesshomaru is angered by this turn in events:

"The sword...That's what protected you."

(Rattle...)

As the skulls down below at Sesshomaru's feet began to shake, Myoga exclaimed,

"It's true! Those claws of his dripped deadly poison! It had to be the sword, or she really would've died! Why not put it to a real test, and try it on Sesshomaru?"

"Big words, for such small vermin."

Sesshomaru then began emitting a glow from his body, his eyes shooting inward to mere dots, and a supernatural wind stirred up the skulls around him, a few of them shot at the two teens! Coraline ducks behind Inuyasha, and he just stands with a serious glare, the skull merely breaking on his forehead, leaving no noticeable damage...

 _What's Sesshomaru's problem now? What a jerk!_

"Let's see if a half-breed can even wield the Tessaiga." The wind picks up a bit more, and Sesshomaru adds,

"I myself, shall be the witness."

His eyes then shift to glow red, his pupils going a dark green, before his face begins metamorphosing into a more canine look!  
His body is surrounded in a glow, and he shoots up in a pink-shaded bolt of energy, before crashing back to the ground, revealing he to have transformed into his true, demon form!

"He transformed!"

"Good. Now we know his real form."

As Sesshomaru growled menacingly at the two, Inuyasha readies the Tessaiga. Sesshomaru barks at him threateningly, and he looks at the sword while saying,

"Heh-heh, now that I'm using this, I'll win for sure."

As Sesshomaru steps forward to him, Inuyasha steps back a bit, Coraline as well, and he adds,

"Yep. I'd say this battle's just about finished before it even starts."

He swings the Tessaiga towards Sesshomaru, who backs a bit from the blade. Inyasha turns to Coraline and says,

"You go hide until it's over!"

"Alright, but where at?"

"Here, goes!"

(Leap)

"This is it, sword! Time to show me what you're made of!"

(Swing, clang)

The sword was unable to make contact, and Sesshomaru continued his trajectory, with Coraline barely scrambling away in time:

(Crash)

Inuyasha looks at Tessaiga, the blade vibrating, and mutters,

"Didn't even make a scratch! Huh?"

(Crash)

He barely ducks away from Sesshomaru, as he drives a paw into the wall! Inuyasha is then dodging attacks from Sesshomaru, one of them involving his own jaws, biting through the skull floor...It is then revealed that Sesshomaru has acidic saliva in this form, now dripping from his mouth, melting the bone below him...

Inuyasha then asks Myoga,

"Yo, Myoga. What's the deal? This sword can't even bruise, let alone cut!"

As Myoga readies his belongings onto his back, he replies nervously,

"Well, uh, Lord Inuyasha, I suppose that, um, it'll make a lovely heirloom, if nothing else. B-Besides, i-it's the thought that counts! Now, if you'll excuse me..."

(Hop, hop, hop...)

"Hey, whoa, whoa!"

"And don't let that Sesshomaru push you around, okay?"

(Zip, zip)

And with that, Myoga scurried away, leaving Inuyasha on his own...  
As Sesshomaru continued to drip his poisonous saliva, the reaction of the saliva on bone started to create a poisonous smog!

"Oh no. Coraline, quick! Get up off the ground!"

Coraline did so, also seeing the newly forming poison smog, shouting back,

"Alright! But what about you?!"

"Just keep climbing, up, up!"

While Sesshomaru was distracted on taking out Inuyasha, he dodging each swipe of a paw, Coraline was climbing up the spinal cord of the tomb.  
She stopped briefly, calling downward,

"Inuyasha!" Myoga quickly reaches her and tells her,

"Don't stop, just climb! Even a demon can't stay in those fumes for long!" This was true, for even Jaken began to escape the area:

"Lord Sesshomaru, I can't-wu-wuaaaah!" As he scurried upward, Coraline turns back to Myoga and asks,

"But, what about Inuyasha? Will he be okay?"

"Uh, probably no-wuaah!"

Myoga momentarily lost his grip, falling a bit before darting back up, and adding in a panic,

"Forget the heroics, it's every flea for himself, come on!"

Coraline calls for Inuyasha one more time, before moving to catch up with Myoga...

Down below, the poison smog has become so potent, that the skulls and other assorted bones have started corroding and ultimately melt away!  
Inuyasha slides back into a wall, coughs a bit from the smog, and mutters,

"Even I can't stay down here too much longer."

He turns around, and leaps into the air, escaping the bulk of the fumes. Even so, when he landed, he fell a bit onto himself, weakened by the poison smog:

"(Cough) Rrrgh, my arms and legs are going numb..."

As he goes to lift himself up, suddenly:

(CHOMP)

Sesshomaru came in from behind, sinking Inuyasha into his jaws, his teeth piercing his body! As Inuyasha cried out in pain, Sesshomaru jumps back down to the bottom of the tomb, jaw locked tight. He then shook his mouth a bit, causing further strain on Inuyasha:

"Even a mosquito with wooden teeth must bite harder than this piece of junk!"

(Stab)

Inuyasha then drives the sword into Sesshomaru's eye, causing some irritation, and Sesshomaru thrashed around a bit, before leaping into the air, and ultimately shooting straight through the roof:

(CRASH)

Coraline calls out nearby:

"Inuyasha!"

He is seen grasping onto the fur of Sesshomaru's lower jaw, and swings off, landing swiftly on the ground below...Sesshomaru manages to shake off the irritation in his eye, and barks menacingly at Inuyasha. Coraline watches from the sidelines, and Myoga pops up in front of her, exclaiming,

"Now do you see the power of Tessaiga? Hoh, you're giving Sesshomaru what for, hoo-hoo!"

Inuyasha turns to him and yells,

"Where have you been?! This thing's been about as useful as a walking stick!"

"Oh~, so maybe it wasn't from your father. Ahem..."

(Zip)

"Hey! Myoga! Ugh, I can't believe he left!"

Coraline watches as Myoga begins darting off to who knows...Inuyasha answers back,

"Why am I not surprised? In the meantime, what am I gonna do with this thing?"

(Slam)

Inuyasha dodges an attack from Sesshomaru's paw, and he counters by swiping the sword against said paw.  
As he lands back, Coraline calls to him encouragingly,

"That's the way! Show him who's boss, Inuyasha! I think that last swipe actually made contact!" Inuyasha replies incredulously,

"What are ya, nuts? That wasn't even close!"

"Tessaiga is meant to be yours! You just have to believe in its power, like I believe in yours!"

Sesshomaru whines a bit, licking his paw, indicating that Tessaiga did leave some sort of damage at that last attack.  
Nevertheless, Inuyasha calls Coraline out on her belief:

"You are nuts! This sword is good for nothing! Me, I'll live, I'm half-demon. You ain't gotta chance..."

...Coraline becomes discouraged by his words, her eyes welling in sadness:

"So, are you saying, I should, give up hope?"

Inuyasha noticed that tears were staring to silently fall from her eyes, and actually grew concerned:

"Wh-What are you doing? You're not crying, are you?" She doesn't answer, and Inuyasha shouts,

"No crying!" Coraline then shouted in a mix of mockery and angry frustration,

"Oh, what, should I laugh?!" Inuyasha retorts,

"No! You should shut up, and let me protect you!"

Coraline is stunned by what he said, her tears ceasing...Sesshomaru then catches their attention, and Inuyasha holds Tessaiga at the ready, walking forward while saying,

"You stay her and watch." As Coraline watched him go, she says to herself,

"Did, I actually hear him right? Did he just say he'd protect me?"

...A small smile then came to her lips, as she added in her mind,

 _I suppose in some respects, these two are somewhat alike...But Inuyasha, he's the better of the two in every way possible..._

(Growl)

"Yeah, yeah, roar, roar to you too, buddy. Let's get it over with!"

(Heartbeat, heartbeat, heartbeat)

"Huh? Tessaiga is pulsing..." _I can hear it. The sound from before! No...This time it's different!_

"Get him, Lord Sesshomaru! Bite his little head off! That's right, nibble on his little-"

(Bonk)

Jaken's shouts were cut short courtesy of Coraline, who began to throw skulls at him, retorting back,

"We'll see who eats who!"

After knocking out Jaken, she looks up at Inuyasha: _Go for it, Inuyasha. You will win, I know it!_

(Leap)

Sesshomaru launches his body into the air, before shooting back down, aiming straight for Inuyasha!  
But, he remains calm, waiting for the right moment, before:

"Now!"

(SLICE)

(Thud)

Inuyasha successfully cuts off Sesshomaru's front leg, he landing on his front, blood now gushing in a river out of his socket! Inuyasha lands back on the ground, looking at the newly transformed Tessaiga:

"Huh? It looks like a fang..."

Sesshomaru is up again, his wound still gushing out blood, as Inuyasha waves his sword a bit, before positioning himself at the ready, smirking as he said,

"It is a fang. The old man really did leave something worthwhile." He focused back on Sesshomaru before continuing:

"So here we are: Two brothers fighting over father's sword. But compared to him, you and me are nothin'. Don't you get it? We're just a couple of fleas jumping around on his body! Huh, we'd be lucky if he didn't squash us flat."

Sesshomaru growls menacingly, and Inuyasha adds,

"So maybe I don't have too many memories of him. But it _was me_ father chose to hide his tomb in, after all. I'd rather give up an eye than give up his sword. Maybe I'm not so worthless then, am I!"

As Sesshomaru charges at him, Inuyasha lands a final slash against his chest, the impact sending him flying off the shoulder of the tomb!

"L-Lord Sesshomaru!"

His body glows, before retracting into a large orb, before flying away, out of the tomb...Jaken rushes after him:

"Don't leave me!"

As Jaken goes off, Coraline comes up to an exhausted Inuyasha:

"Inuyasha?"

He goes to lean on one knee, planting the sword into the ground, and Coraline asks again,

"Inuyasha, are you okay?" Though tired, he smiles and replies,

"Heh-heh-heh, I take it back. So the sword's not such a piece of junk."

(Hop)

"You see? I~ was right. Of course, if you had listened earlier, you wouldn't have-"

Inuyasha interrupts Myoga with his finger, he blocking it while adding,

"Wait. Over there, see?" Myoga points out a pair of the skeletal birds from earlier:

"I wasn't running away. I was getting us a ride home. You, believe me, right?"

Inuyasha takes his finger away, and smiles 'brightly' while replying,

"Oh, so then you didn't run away?"

"I didn't?"

Myoga sees through the false brightness, and falls to his knees while pleading,

"I, I, okay I admit it! I ran away! But you have to believe me! If I had known you'd make a comeback, I'd never have left you! I'm ashamed of myself. I oughta have more faith. Please, please forgive me! How can I make it up to you?"

"Myoga..."

Inuyasha's smile then shifts to one that's menacing, before squishing Myoga flat with a frown. Myoga floats down and mutters,

"Oh well. Such, is a flea's rotten life..."

Small Time Skip

Eventually, they all travel safely through the portal back to Edo, landing softly on the ground. The portal detracts, forming the black pearl from earlier, and it gently floats back into Inuyasha's eye. He blinks a bit, and Coraline asks him,

"So, how are you feeling?"

"Actually, I feel pretty okay. Everything's back to normal, and at least now I know that the old man can can rest in peace."

After a bit, they walk back to the Goshinboku Village, and Coraline, Myoga and Kaede are in the third's hut, discussing the events of what occurred in the last couple hours, particularly, Tessaiga:

"But how is it, that ye child were able to pull out the Tessaiga? I must say that ye continue to surprise me." Coraline smiles a bit and replies,

"You and me both, Kaede. I'm still a bit perplexed myself." Myoga then offers his insight:

"My theory, is that it was because Coraline, is mortal. Don't forget, Tessaiga was forged by Inuyasha's father, as a way to protect his mortal mother. It was his feelings towards mortals, that allowed Lord Inuyasha to wield it effectively."

Coraline thinks back to what Inuyasha said to her before, and remarked,

"You're right. That was when Tessaiga reacted, when his heart opened more..." Myoga continued:

"For someone like Sesshomaru, who could only hate humans, wielding Tessaiga was impossible. In some respects, Coraline's judgement against Sesshomaru was quite right."

"Tis a strange story, aye. To Inuyasha, his half-human heritage has been a curse. His feelings for his mother have been tinged with shame. And yet, those same feelings are what make him different. That is why his father chose him for his resting place. Perhaps the one who most resembles his father is not Sesshomaru, but Inuyasha."

Outside, Inuyasha sat cross-legged in a tree, swinging his sword a bit, trying to get it to transform again, but with no success.  
He swings sideways, hitting the tree trunk, causing him to wobble, before steadying himself, and irritably remarking,

"(Outward sigh) I spoke too soon. Now it's back to being a piece of junk."

"Inuyasha?" He turns to Coraline down below and asks,

"What?"

"Do you want me to tell you? How to use Tessaiga, I mean." He leaps down and replies,

"And since when are you an expert?"

"Well, do you promise to stand by me, sword in hand, so long as I stand by you?"

"Huh? What in the world are you babbling about? Your brain's broken or something."

"But didn't you say to let you protect me?"

"I didn't mean it like that! If you'd shut up for a minute, I'd tell you what sword like this should really be used for! Stuff like, collecting jewel shards and making me more powerful! I sure as heck ain't wasting it on babysitting a helpless little human like you!"

Coraline becomes furious by his answer, and silently pushes him onto the log bridge, much to his confusion:

"I don't get it!"

Once he's in the middle, Coraline moves off, back turned, before calling with a glare,

"Sit Boy."

(Gleam)

"Ahh!"

(Topple, splash)

"My bad. Should'a known the saying of teaching an old dog new tricks was invalid!"

As she walks away, Inuyasha climbs out of the water, calling back,

"What da ya mean, trick? Wait, where are you going? Come back here! You said you'd tell me how to use the sword!"

Coraline ignores his calls, continuing on her way, the glare starting to fade a bit:

 _Okay, maybe that was a bit uncalled for, but he asked for it!_

When she reaches a tree at another part of the river, Myoga comes up to her shoulder, having listened to the teen's word exchange:

"Coraline. Are you alright?"

"Oh, Myoga...Yeah, I'm fine, just irritated. I, imagine you heard all that?"

"Yes, and I understand your reaction to what Lord Inuyasha said. Though, is it possible you may have overreacted a tad?"

"...Yeah, I suppose I did. I should apologize to him later, when we've both cooled down..."

Coraline then goes to sit down at the tree trunk...After a bit, Myoga asked her something he remembered from earlier:

"You said that you once encountered an Unmother in the past...what was she like?" Coraline replied,

"Hmm...Well, first of all, I don't know whether or not she was a demon or a witch. She was kind-of on the borderline between. Also, she was known in the little French town that she resided in as the Beldam Witch."

"Bel-dam?"

"Yes. It's an archaic word that can mean 'witch' or 'old hag', depending on the language. Anyway, unlike the Unmother Inuyasha and I faced, this one was more manipulative and two-faced. The Beldam was actually the sole cause for a number of child disappearances for more than a hundred and fifty years."

"Goodness, she went that long undetected?!"

"Yep. I dunno the full story, mostly because French isn't one of my stronger languages, but based on my experience, she would lure the child chosen based on how neglected they are, with the promises of gifts and unconditional affection and attention. She would re-create her image as the child's mother, and even go as far as create other versions of people the child was close with. If the child lingers long enough, the Beldam will offer them the choice to stay forever, with one catch: She would have to sew buttons into your eyes."

Myoga shudders, and asks,

"Buttons? Why such a cruel act?"

"Well, my theory is that the Beldam sees a child as a doll, something to care for on her terms. And eventually, when she got tired of them, she would throw them away, in a sense. I don't know what the ultimate fate of the said child is, but I did meet three ghosts of her more recent victims, so I don't think she consumes souls, but possibly collects them..."

"Interesting. So how did you survive against this, Beldam Witch?"

Unbeknownst to the two, a set of dog ears had been listening from nearby, and twitched in anticipation for this part of the story...Coraline hesitated a bit, but continued:

"When I came into the little French town four years ago, I didn't know what to expect, especially after hearing about the legend. The Beldam must've been drawn to me for some reason, and decided to choose me as her next victim. However, I don't believe she was prepared for the challenge that was me, because unlike the other victims she's lured in, I felt no desire for a mother figure...She was close to manipulating me when she introduced that other version of my father...but I saw through her facade pretty quickly.  
Anyway, she would eventually trap me in a little room after becoming frustrated with me, where I met the three spirit children, and formulated a plan to defeat the Beldam. Her weakness was in the games she spun: She couldn't resist a challenge. I challenged her to a finding game, where I had to find the 'eyes' of the ghost children, as well as a special item of a child that vanished three months prior to my arrival. I did, but as the third ghost warned me, even though I won, the Beldam wasn't going to let me go without a fight.  
I tricked her into opening the exit, and after a struggle, I managed to escape. I took the key that opened the door to her world, and with help from one of the local boys, I threw it deep within an old well, never to be seen again...And the Beldam was no more."

A silence fell over the ground for a bit, before Myoga spoke up again:

"It sounds like you had quite a battle with this Beldam...But, if I may ask, what did you mean when you said that you had no desire for a mother figure? Did, something happen to your mother?"

"...She passed away from an illness when I was three years old." Myoga's eyes widened, and Coraline added,

"You see, while she was strong in spirit, her body was prone to sickness more so than most humans usually are. All it took was a bad case of pneumonia, and...she was gone."

"Oh...I'm sorry for your loss." Coraline shook her head with a sad smile and replied,

"It's alright...I guess, a silver lining is that because she passed when I was really young, the loss wasn't as heavy. Although, as the years go by, I can barely remember what she looks like. At this point, I only remember a figure, with long, wavy red hair, much like my own. Heh, 'cept my hair's a bit straighter. The other thing I can remember, is her voice...especially when she sang. She had a voice that could put angels to shame...I remember a lullaby she used to sing to me when I was a baby to help me sleep. Other than that, she's fading from my mind day by day..."

"Hmm..."

...Suddenly, another voice broke the silence:

"Is it true?"

"Huh?"

Coraline turned around, and saw Inuyasha standing a few feet away, arms folded, and a strange look on his face, suggesting he was, interested...

"Inuyasha. When, did you get here?"

"Not too long after you started telling that story about your encounter with that, Bel-dam woman or something..."

"...Oh, I see."

Coraline turned forward, a neutral look on her face...She then felt someone sit beside her, and turned to her left, seeing Inuyasha!  
They sat for a bit, before Inuyasha asked his question again:

"...So is it true?"

"What is?"

"You losing your mother when you were three...Is it true?"

"...Yes. Like I said, the loss wasn't too heavy. But, somehow, even though I was so young, I understood that my mother was gone, and wasn't coming back. Sure, I was sad for a few days, but unlike most kids, I managed to move on a bit quickly...My father, though...It hit him pretty hard. He went into a depression for a while, but after a long while, he found a form of distraction, and was okay...And then I lost him only five years ago...I then proceeded to travel all the way to Japan myself, which I did, that is, back in my era. And I've lived here ever since."

"...I see."

They fell silent for a bit, then Coraline felt a nudge from Myoga, and she remembered what she was going to do:

"...Listen, Inuyasha. I'm, sorry for that dunking earlier. That was rather uncalled for of me, and I shouldn't have taken out my irritations out like I did. So, I'm sorry."

Inuyasha looks at her with surprise, not expecting the apology, but then turned away with an odd frown on his face, and replied,

"Feh, don't worry about it, I'm fine...So, what happened to your father? Did he die of sickness too?"

...Coraline suddenly stood up, her hair in front of her face. Inuyasha could sense an anguish coming off of her, and he heard it hidden in her voice when she replied,

"No...He was murdered." Inuyasha's eyes widened, and she quickly added,

"But I don't wanna talk about those details...It's, still a bit painful for me to speak about...Anyway, I think I'll head back into the village. See you, Inuyasha."

And she walked away, with Inuyasha and Myoga looking at her, with a mix of confusion and worry, wondering what Coraline wasn't saying, and why...


	9. Chapter 8

Okay, tip of the day for my fellow writers and readers: Always remember the **Save** button!  
I was typing up this chapter yesterday, and I went to turn off my laptop, and I forgot to hit the save button for the document...Luckily, I didn't have to start completely over, but I had to re-type everything from a certain point, which is reeeaaally annoying!  
Again, save button = really important!

Okay, that's my little rant for today...On with the story!

* * *

 **Chapter 8: The Princess & The Demon Toad**

Come another day in Sengoku Edo, and we zoom in on an idyll pond, where Coraline, clad in a blue two-piece swimsuit, was swimming around in the water, while her clothes sat on a rock nearby.

(Splash)

"(Sigh) Wow, this water feels fantastic! And the air here is so fresh! A shame it will all change come the next couple centuries..."

Up in a nearby tree, laid Inuyasha, hidden within the leaves, as he spoke with Myoga:

"We've been away for three days now. You said if we left the village, we'd find more jewel pieces out here in Musashi, but-"

"Yeah yeah, sure, whatever."

"Are you listening to me, or what?"

"Uh, w-well yes, of course, you're right. I was just a bit, distracted, by the young lady down there."

"Listen, you..." Myoga hopped onto Inuyasha's knee and quickly said,

"I'm just, gonna go check on her, k?" And he proceeded to hop down to the pond. Inuyasha called to him,

"You're just gonna get clobbered. I wouldn't do that if I were y-"

(Dash)

"Hm?"

Suddenly, he saw a small, white blur zoom past, heading straight for the pond! Acting quickly, Inuyasha began bounding downward after the blur; of course, Myoga hadn't seen it, and thought he was going down for 'another reason':

"Lord Inuyasha. You naughty boy. You can't resist either."

As Inuyasha continued his way down, Coraline felt someone was coming behind her, and turned around, only to yelp in surprise!  
Inuyasha was startled by her yelp, and flailed his arms a bit while balancing himself on a floating rock. Once he steadied himself, he called out to Coraline,

"Geez, would you not scare me like that? It's not what you think!" Coraline called back,

"I didn't yell 'cause of you; I yelled 'cause of that!"

Inuyasha looks where she's pointing, and sees the white blur taking off again, apparently making off with Coraline's clothes!  
...Suddenly, Inuyasha heard something echo over the hillside:

(Whistle...)

"I heard a whistle..."

In the distance, a young man, black hair tied in a topknot with bangs, wearing a dark-blue kimono with light-purple undershirt, and a sword strapped to his side, whistled three more times. The white blur, revealed to be a small macaque, comes hopping with Coraline's clothes into his lap.

"That's my good boy. So, what'd you bring me this time?"

He looks into the clothing bundle, and pulls out...Coraline's bra?!

"Th-This isn't something to eat!?" The macaque is just as confused...Suddenly:

"Hey!"

"Give me back my clothes!"

Inuyasha and Coraline come bursting out the bushes, each having an angry look on their faces.  
Taken aback by their sudden appearance, the young samurai goes on the defense:

"W-Who are you?! You look suspicious!"

(Stomp)

Inuyasha drives his foot into the samurai's face, replying,

"We were just about to say the same thing!"

And the macaque goes into a panic attack, running around in a circle...

...Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, Coraline, once she was dressed back in her clothes (i.e. A white tank-top, a tan-yellow/light-brown checkered, unbuttoned flannel shirt, medium blue jeans, and her brown hikers), decided to give the samurai a bit of her provisions, namely, a bag of chips and some tea. As the samurai ate away, Coraline commented,

"You must've been really hungry...Would you like some tea?"

"Thank you."

Coraline reached into her satchel and grabbed something else out, before directing to Inuyasha:

"And there's something in here for you too."

"No thank you." Coraline raised an eyebrow to him and said,

"Well, if you're sure...Maybe I'll have it and lessen my load."

Inuyasha hopped off the tree root, and snatched up her satchel before replying,

"Look: It's not my fault you gotta carry around so much junk all the time."

"It's not junk. Unlike some travelers from where I come from, I remember to only carry the bare essentials."

"(Exasperated sigh) If you say so..."

The samurai finishes up, and then bows respectfully to Coraline, saying,

"I give you thanks, woman. The chips-potato were delicious." Coraline smiles lightly at him and replies,

"My name is Coraline. And his is Inuyasha, and-"

(Sucking...)

(Slap)

"(Giggle) And of course, we have Myoga the Flea."

The samurai looks at them all with apprehension, unsure what to make of them:

 _Who, who are these people?_

"You said that before you were separated from your allies. Tell me, are you a nobleman?"

The samurai turns away with his arms folded and replies,

"I'm not at liberty to reveal my family." He then turns back with a small smile and adds,

"But my name's Nobunaga." Coraline's eyes widen, recognizing the name:

"Nobunaga? As in the Nobunaga?!"

She then comes up to shake his hand, saying in some excitement,

"Excuse me, but it's such an honour to meet you! Would you be willing to give me your autograph?"

"Umm, okay." He takes the paper and pen from her, she adding,

"Here, if it's not too much trouble, and of course, your full name."

As she stands back with a smile, Inuyasha asks with a deadpan,

"What's got you so excited?" She turns to him and explains:

"This is Oda Nobunaga. He's a, or should I say, will be an infamous figure in Japanese history someday."

Myoga hops onto her shoulder and says to her,

"Well, actually my dear, that's not what the signature says..." Coraline forms confusion on her face, until she actually reads the autograph...

"Amari Nobunaga? But, I was under the impression you were Oda Nobunaga."

"Hmph. I belong to the Takeda Clan in the land of Kai. Please do not confuse me with _him._ "

"So you two have crossed paths then?"

"Yes, and he's a big idiot!" Coraline smiles apologetically and replies,

"I see. Forgive me for the mistake of identity, but it probably would've helped if you said your full name from the start."

She then wonders in her mind,

 _Strange, I don't recall coming across 'Amari Nobunaga' in the Japanese history books. I wonder why that is?_

"Ahem. I trust you'll excuse me, an important mission demands my immediate attention. Farewell."

As Nobunaga began to walk away, Inuyasha called out,

"Uh, I wouldn't go that way if I were-"

"Gaaah!"

"You..."

(Slide, crash)

Unfortunately, Inuyasha's warning came a bit late, and Nobunaga slipped and fell upside down from the small ledge...  
As they looked down at the fallen samurai, Inuyasha said,

"I told you, but you wouldn't listen," followed by Coraline remarking,

"Hmm, I'm starting to see why Amari Nobunaga may not be noted in future texts..."

Small Time Skip

We jump overhead to a small village secluded within a woodland area, where several samurai have come to take away some young women.  
Apparently, this wasn't the first time, either, as one of the elder men watched and commented,

"Haven't they taken enough young women away from our village already?" Another man adds,

"Of all the girls summoned to the castle, not a one has yet to return."

As the young women were lead away, wrists bound by rope, Nobunaga pops up from behind some bushes and says,

"Ah-ha, I knew it. So the rumors were true after all." Inuyasha and Coraline pop up behind him, the former asking the latter,

"So, why was it that you and me had to follow this guy again?"

"Because he needs help, and we can't just turn away from him."

"What about us?! We still have our own mission!" One man then whispers this to his companions:

"I wouldn't want it repeated, but, they say the lord's been possessed by some kind of demon."

That caught Inuyasha's attention:

"Demon?"

Meanwhile, at the Castle...

Inside the palace walls, another soul has become uneasy by the events that were going on: Namely, a young woman, dressed in a kimono and robe that suggested she was of royal descent. As she poured some water for the said lord of the castle, he also dressed in royal garbs, and bandages wrapped around his head and hands, he laughs a bit before asking,

"Likey well, castle life, my princess~?"

"Yes, my lord. I lack for nothing."

"That's alright then." As he sips his water, the princess asks him,

"If I may, my lord?"

"Yes, princess?"

"The young women, my lord. The ones your highness has so generously summoned here to the castle...might I ask, where they are?"

...The lord pauses, before dropping the bowl, and smashing it to bits with his hand, before slamming both on the ground, shouting,

"You may not!" Sensing his anger, the princess quickly bows to him, saying timidly,

"Forgive me! I had, no right to ask."

The lord calms down a bit, and walks away. The princess watches him go, fear laced in her eyes, and mutters,

"Uh...Oh...Oh, that I might return to Kai..."

Time Skip

Night soon falls over the land, and Inuyasha, Coraline and Nobunaga are now standing below the castle cliff-side, ready to infiltrate:

"That's the place." Inuyasha smirks and comments,

"Huh, I smell the demon stink from here. There's a piece of the Shikon-no-Tama there alright."

He then goes on one knee, and turns to Coraline while saying,

"We better go and have a closer look. Jump on, Coraline."

"Right."

But Coraline wasn't the only one; Nobunaga suddenly came to the other side of Inuyasha's back:

"Ey, what's the big idea?! Get off!"

"I've got business up there."

"Then go find your own ride!"

"Just do it, Inuyasha."

"Appreciate it." Inuyasha grumbles,

"Why does it always gotta be me who's the nice guy? You ready?"

Nobunaga nods, and Inuyasha takes off, springing over the wall, and into the castle courtyard.  
When they land inside, the first thing they see, is one of the guards, asleep by an open fire. In fact, all of the guards were asleep!

Coraline goes to one up on the stairs, commenting,

"Huh, would've thought castle security would be better than this. These guys are so out of it, an earthquake probably wouldn't wake them up..."

Myoga hops onto Inuyasha's left shoulder and warns him,

"Don't be fooled, Lord Inuyasha. Their sleep is hypnotic, not natural. Possibly, it may even be castle-wide."

They all move inside, and Nobunaga immediately began searching rooms for the person he's looking for:

"Princess! Princess Tsuyu!"

(Slide)

"Princess Tsuyu, where are you?!"

(Slide)

"It is I, Nobunaga, come to save you!"

(Slide)

"Princess! Princess Tsuyu!"

As Coraline watched him shouting for the said princess, she asked Inuyasha a bit uncertainly,

"Uh, is it a good idea for him to be shouting around like that?"

"Dunno why not. They're asleep, ain't they? Besides, the sooner we find the demon, the sooner we find the jewel."

(Slide)

"Princess!"

Nobunaga rushes into one particular room, and gasps, seeing a woman figure passed out on the floor.

"Princess Tsuyu..." He goes to her and lifts her from the ground:

"Princess, be brave."

But when he lifted her up, he suddenly cringed, seeing the face of an elderly woman! Thinking it was the princess, he began to wail in despair:

"Oh, what has happened?!"

As he continued to weep, Coraline then asks him, looking at a younger woman asleep on a futon bed,

"Uh, Nobunaga...I hate to interrupt, but isn't this Princess Tsuyu over here?"

He looks over, before gasping in surprise, and dropping the elderly woman to the floor. Myoga hops onto Coraline's shoulder, exclaiming,

"Did somebody say princess? I know a good way to wake her up..."

He then hops onto Princess Tsuyu's cheek, and started sucking out her blood...until:

(Slap)

The princess's hand came down onto Myoga, and she opened her eyes, awakened from her hypnotic slumber.

"Princess..." She turns to Nobunaga, and asks in surprise,

"Nobunaga? Why are you here?"

"Princess Tsuyu, you remember me?" She smiles and replies,

"Of course I do. I'll never forget: You and I were friends as children, and you were always so very kind."

Nobunaga began to blush at her compliments, and said modestly,

"I, I dunno what to say. I, I just thought you wouldn't remember a lowly vassal like me, heh-heh..."

"I remember everything: How you'd slip and fall in the pond, how I'd laugh and laugh when you fell in horse dung..."

And just like that, his blush went from a light dust of modesty, to a deep one of embarrassment...As Coraline sat on the sidelines, she asked Inuyasha out of curiousity,

"Hey, Inuyasha, you don't suppose Nobunaga is in love with Princess Tsuyu, do you?"

"Huh, pathetic..."

Princess Tsuyu then spoke up tearfully, a depressed and fearful look on her face:

"If only I could, go home..." Nobunaga chides to her in worry,

"Princess..." She then began to explain her trouble:

"It was shortly after I came here as his bride that my lord has begun to act, strangely. He'd fallen into the garden pond, and ran a terrible fever. It was as though he had become a different person. Nobunaga, what ever shall I do?"

"There seems no choice: You must return to Kai. Even your father so far from here has heard of the lord's derangement. Indeed, it was his wish I come that you might be returned to him."

"You, came on my father's orders?"

"Even if he had not ordered it, still, I would somehow have come."

"Nobunaga..."

"Yes, my princess? I'm listening."

"Nobunaga...there's a monkey on your head." Nobunaga weeps a bit in dismay replying,

"Yes, princess..."

(...Step, step, step...)

Suddenly, Inuyasha picked up on some steps heading towards them. He got up, commenting,

"Sounds like he's finally here. You coming, Coraline?"

"Right behind ya."

And they both enter the hall, just as the lord comes up into view:

"I thought I heard something." Inuyasha retorts back at him,

"Yeah, and it took ya long enough. Let's go!"

(Lunge)

"Let's see your true face!"

(Slash)

Inuyasha claws away the bandages, and as the lord falls backwards, it's revealed that he's in fact, a toad demon!  
Coraline looks at him, commenting in surprise,

"A toad demon?! Well, I guess that makes sense considering where the lord fell a while back..."

"My lord?" Overcome by shock, Princess Tsuyu faints, with Nobunaga catching her:

"I have you, princess. Don't worry."

As the demon toad glares at them, Coraline notices a pink glow coming from his shoulder:

"The Shikon-no-Tama! It's in his right shoulder!"

"Yeah, that lot a good it's done..." Myoga hops onto Inuyasha's beads, and warns him,

"Not so fast, Lord Inuyasha. He's the ninety-ninth toad of the ninety-ninth generation. He's stronger than he looks."

"Then one good punch oughta make it a hundred!"

Inuyasha then goes to charge the demon toad, but before he could reach him, it suddenly opened its mouth, and expelled a cloud of gas! Inuyasha falls to the ground, and clutches his throat a bit from the gas. Coraline cringes and coughs, and Myoga comes to her and says,

"Coraline, toxic fumes! Very dangerous..."

"Yeah, I had a feeling as such..."

As everyone coughed ans sputtered from the toxic cloud, the demon toad walks over to Nobunaga, who was holding onto Princess Tsuyu.  
It glares at him, before demanding,

"Rrrr, gimme back my princess!" Nobunaga brandishes his sword, and calls out to the demon toad,

"Stay back, monster!"

"Very funny. As though you could, stop me, human scum!"

The demon toad then shoots its tongue into Nobunaga's shoulder, and he goes down, dropping Princess Tsuyu! Coraline calls out to him and her:

"Nobunaga! Princess Tsuyu!"

(Crash)

And just like that, the demon toad crushes its way through the wall, and runs across the rooftop, Princess Tsuyu in hand...

"Princess!" Coraline rushes over to Nobunaga:

"Nobunaga, your shoulder..."

"It doesn't matter what happens to me, please! You've gotta save the princess!" Coraline smiles and says lightly,

"I was right. You really have fallen for Princess Tsuyu, haven't you, Nobunaga?"

"H-How could you tell?" Coraline giggles a bit and replies,

"Love does have a funny way of making it obvious sometimes..."

Inuyasha looks out the hole in the wall, while saying angrily,

"Lousy, stinkin' toad! No way is he gettin' away!" Suddenly:

"Aaaah!" Princess Tsuyu's scream came echoing from the other side of the castle! Inuyasha calls back to the others,

"I'm goin' ahead!"

(Leap)

"Come back!" Coraline calls out to him,

"We'll be right behind you!"

Meanwhile, in a secluded room, the demon toad removes Princess Tsuyu's robe that was on it, and leers at her with a dangerous smile.  
Princess Tsuyu, now in her light-pink kimono, crawls back a bit in fear, as the demon toad says,

"Princess, my princess...I could eat you up..." And she shudders in fright...

(Crash)

Inuyasha soon clawed his way into the room:

"Ha, knew I'd find ya! Huh?"

If only he had come a few seconds sooner, for now Princess Tsuyu was trapped in some sort of bubble casing!

"Too late, heheheheh..."

Coraline arrives, supporting Nobunaga, and they both react in shock at the scene:

"What the hell...?!"

"Princess Tsuyu!" Myoga then explains the situation:

"Sealed her in like toad spawn, just as the rumors said. Young women, kept in egg sacs until their souls ripen, and then eaten. With the power of the jewel shard, and the young lord's position, no one could appose him."

"Y-Y-You mean that thing is going to eat Princess Tsuyu?!" As the demon toad laughs, Nobunaga charged at it with his sword, shouting,

"Not while I'm alive!" Inuyasha dashes in front of him, just as the demon toad unleashed its attack:

"Poison gas, watch out!"

(Leap)

"See how you like this!"

(Slash)

"Auugh!" The demon toad is driven backwards by Tessaiga's power as it cuts through the floor! Coraline exclaims from the side,

"Yes, he got 'im!" Myoga adds just as enthusiastic,

"And not only that, he was able to use Tessaiga to do it too!"

"Right, because he was protecting humans!" Inuyasha holds the transformed Tessaiga at the ready:

"I'll dissect you with this if I have to, and cut out the jewel myself!"

The demon toad rises up, and notices the wound on its shoulder. It breaks into a worried sweat, muttering,

"I-I don't wanna die. Come to meeee! Souls, sooooouuuls, I need sooouuuls!"

The egg sacs holding the other women begin to destabilize, before the souls start floating out, and fly into the demon toad's mouth!  
Once it absorbed enough, the wound on its shoulder was healed anew, and it faced the others with a grin:

"I live again..." Coraline was shocked by this move:

"Its wound, completely healed, and those women...!" Inuyasha growled,

"Filthy, no good...!" The demon toad jeers,

"What are you waiting for? For each cut you make, I'll take another sooouul, hehehahah-huh?"

Its attention then turns to the left, where Nobunaga uses his sword to cut Princess Tsuyu from the egg sac she was trapped in!  
As she slides out, Nobunaga calls to her:

"Princess Tsuyu, talk to me!"

"...Uh...uh...(Cough)...(Gasp)"

"Princess..."

"Nobunaga. Nobunaga!" She then goes to embrace him, causing him to blush deeply:

"P-Princess Tsuyu..." He then embraces her back, adding,

"Now I die without regret," while his macaque companion stands on his head, spinning a bowl on a stick...

Suddenly, the demon toad starts to trudge over to them:

"Don't you touch my prince-"

"Hold it!"

(Clonk)

Inuyasha stops it dead in its tracks, hitting it square in the head with Tessaiga...

"You got nothin' to say."

The demon toad falls dizzy on its backside, and Nobunaga positions himself in front of Princess Tsuyu, sword at the ready...  
Suddenly, the demon's eyes blink open, now a shade of blue and not red, and he mutters in a much different voice,

"Pr-incess Tsuyu...Wh-What have I...Wh-Where am...Please, someone tell me this isn't my doing..."

Inuyasha felt that this was a ploy, and said,

"Well, well, isn't that convenient?" Princess Tsuyu however, saw it differently:

"That voice...It is the voice of my kind lord husband!" Coraline then realizes,

"So then, this means the true lord is still alive!"

The lord, speaking through the demon toad body, laments in a scared tone,

"I-It's like a nightmare but I can't wake up. Somehow I knew, deep inside, I realized what was happening. And yet I was powerless to stop it. I, I wanted to, but I couldn't. Kill me please."

Inuyasha looks at him with surprise by the request, and the lord adds,

"I don't think I have the strength to stop myself!"

"My lord..." The lord begins to cry, and tells Inuyasha desperately,

"Do it now, please, before it's too late!" Inuyasha was more than happy to oblige:

"Alright, now you're finally making sense! So, you want it in the gut or, do I take the head?"

"Inuyasha, wait! What about the lord?" Coraline agrees with Nobunaga, and tries to reason with Inuyasha:

"The lord's spirit is still fighting in there! There must be another way!" Inuyasha tells Coraline,

"It's you who didn't hear! He just asked me to kill 'im, didn't he? This ain't the time to go all mushy!"

"Stop it!"

"Huh?"

Nobunaga suddenly stands in front of the demon toad/lord, shielding him with his arms!

"Sheath your sword, Inuyasha, please! Inside this monster, the real lord's heart is still beating!"

Inuyasha replies while pointing Tessaiga in front of him,

"Why, you...Move it, little man or I'll kill you too!" Nobunaga continues to stand brave:

"Please, don't!"

"Then move it!"

"I can't! I cannot let you kill him while the real lord's still in there! Besides, even if it wasn't in there, I can't approve of your taking life!"

Coraline smiles faintly at his words:

"Nobunaga..."

"I realize that it's crazy in today's world to feel this way...But I can't help it! I can't!"

...Inuyasha lowers Tessaiga, and sheathes it, before looking up at Nobunaga with an annoyed but serious glare:

"Have it your way. I'll let you settle this yourself. The responsibility's yours now."

And he goes to sit down, arms in his sleeves. Coraline whispers,

"Inuyasha..."

Just then, a menacing laugh began to resonate, and its revealed that the demon toad has taken control of the body again! He says to Nobunaga,

"Thank you for sparing me," before:

(JAB)

"GAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The demon toad's tongue shoots through Nobunaga's shoulder again, and he goes down hard...

"Nobunaga! You bastard, you forced the real lord back in again!"

As the demon toad's tongue slithers back in, Princess Tsuyu tries to wake Nobunaga:

"Nobunaga! Nobunaga!" Coraline calls Inuyasha to help:

"Inuyasha!" But he merely replies,

"I'll help alright, but only if I get to kill him." The demon toad begins to slowly make his way over:

"Princess Tsuyu..." Nobunaga, though injured, manages to urge,

"L-Lady Coraline, t-take the princess, don't worry about me..." Coraline nodded firmly, and says,

"Alright. Come on, Princess Tsuyu!"

Princess Tsuyu calls back to Nobunaga one more time, before she and Coraline are put the door...As the demon toad goes to follow, he suddenly stops, and looks down, seeing Nobunaga trying to stop him. But he just nudges him off his leg:

"Get off!"

And he continues on his way, leaving Inuyasha and Nobunaga the only ones left in the room...

"Well, how 'bout it? You want I should kill him yet?"

"(Cringe)...No killing..."

"Idiot..."

"P-Princess..."

Inuyasha looks up to where the girls and the demon toad left, contemplating on what to do next...

Meanwhile, down the halls...

"Come on, Coraline, think! There has to be a way to defeat it!"

As Coraline continued to lead Princess Tsuyu down the hall, Myoga hopped onto her shoulder and suggested,

"A monster toad is still just a toad. Try something hot!"

"Hot?"

"Like hot water or something."

"Water? Seriously?"

"Well, sure! Distract the toad and the lord can come out!"

"And where the hell am I suppose to find hot water, smart guy?!"

"Waaait!" Suddenly, the demon toad had caught up to them, and Coraline shouted,

"Damn, here he comes!"

And she grabs Princess Tsuyu's hand, as they tried to rush away, as the demon toad called out to them:

"Waaaaiit!"

"Something hot, something hot...I got it! Fire! Princess, do you know if there's a torch somewhere near here?"

"I-I..."

Suddenly, a little white friend appeared on Princess Tsuyu's shoulder:

"Nobunaga's macaque? When did he-"

And the little macaque dashed out in front of them...Princess Tsuyu suddenly trips, and as Coraline went to help her up, the demon toad shouted,

"Wait for meeee! I'm gonna eat both of yooouuu!"

As Coraline glared down at him, the macaque comes back, carrying some fire for her!

"Ha, what a smart macaque, thank you!" But when he hopped into her hand, she saw the um, 'size' problem:

"Oh, if only the flame was a bit bigger..."

(Jab)

"Waaah!"

Coraline was suddenly attacked by the demon toad's tongue, and she falls forward, with her satchel spilling some contents out...She looks at one particular bottle that fell out:

 _Huh? How'd that bottle get in there?...Must've been Akari-sama that put it in...But I told her I don't use that stuff anymore..._

As she looks back up at the laughing demon toad, Inuyasha suddenly comes springing in:

"You still in there, toad lord?!"

"Inuyasha!"

"Coraline, I'm sorry, but mercy's a luxury we cannot afford!"

Coraline think on those words, and looks back to the stuff that spilled out of her satchel:

"Luxury...as in...I got it! Hair spray!" _May as well put it to practical use! Yes, this will definitely save the lord!_

She grabs the small travel bottle, as well as the flame the macaque brought, and just as Inuyasha went to attack,

"This is it! The only way!"

"Sit, Boy!"

(Gleam)

(Wham)

And as Inuyasha slammed to the floor, Coraline unleashed the hair spray/flame torch:

(FWOOOOM)

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The demon toad yells in agony from the wave of fire, and when he couldn't take the pressure anymore, he left the body of the lord!

"He left the body! Inuyasha, now's your chance to get the jewel!"

"Don't worry, I'm on it!"

The disembodied demon toad tries to float away, but Inuyasha comes down on it with Tessaiga:

"Die, stinkin' toad!"

(SLASH)

And the demon toad is cut in half, destroyed at last, leaving behind the jewel fragment, which Inuyasha would grab as it floated down...  
Suddenly, Nobunaga comes down the hallway:

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha! Well done!" He grabs his hand and adds in praise,

"The lord is still safe! You drove out the toad! You worried me for a bit, but then you came through!"

"Actually, I, uh..." Coraline comes to Inuyasha and whispers,

"It's kinder to just to let him believe it..."

"Nobunaga?" Everyone turns to Princess Tsuyu, as she rises with a relieved smile on her face. Nobunaga steps forward:

"Princess Tsuyu..."

"Nobunaga!"

"Princess Tsuyu!"

(Hug)

"You saved my husband! Thank you!" Nobunaga trips on himself in shock:

"Princess Tsuyu..." She addresses her husband, who looked to be in good health:

"Oh my lord, you haven't changed a bit. It's as though you were never away."

"I'm so sorry I worried you." Coraline smiles a bit, commenting,

"He, uh, seems well enough of a guy..." Inuyasha offers his comment:

"He had his chance..."

Time Skip

Inuyasha, Coraline and Nobunaga now sit at the place where they started from, as Coraline commented lightly,

"Now that the demon toad is gone, the girls can return to the village safely. Isn't that nice?"

...Nobunaga continues to gaze out to the horizon, not saying a word...

"Oh come on, say something, Nobunaga..."

"Idgit. Even though he practically got himself killed, he still went out of his way to save the life of his only romantic rival..."

Nobunaga nervously laughs at Inuyasha's comment, and says,

"That's me, alright. Amari Nobunaga: World's Biggest Idgit and Fool."

"You are an idgit. But you also saved a lot of lives, so don't beat yourself up. There's plenty others who will do that..."

Nobunaga smiles a bit more at Inuyasha's less harsh comment, and stands up while saying,

"Know what, that does cheer me up! Okay," and he begins to journey away from the area. Coraline calls to him,

"Hold up a sec, Nobunaga..."

"Wouldn't go that way if I were-"

"Gah!"

(Thud)

"You."

And the two teens look down on Nobunaga, laying upside down on himself (again), with Coraline commenting lightly,

"I have a feeling 'idgit' may become a permanent label for this poor guy..."


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Enter Shippo...Plus, The Amazing Thunder Brothers**

"Annnd, done! There we are, the noddles are ready."

(Slurp)

"Mmm, not bad, not bad!"

It's another day in Sengoku Edo, and Inuyasha and Coraline have stopped in their travels to eat...

Excuse me, Inuyasha discovered the instant ramen in Coraline's satchel, and _insisted_ on stopping to eat...Anyway:

"I can see how this stuff would catch on." Coraline watches him eat with a deadpan and says,

"It does come in handy during travel..." Inuyasha looks up from his noodles and urges,

"Come on, Coraline, aren't you gonna dig in?"

Coraline sighs a bit, and smiles faintly before replying,

"It's not that I don't want to, but my appetite's a bit apprehensive due to our 'current surroundings'..."

The surrounding she was referring to was the battlefield that they were sitting by, with crows cawing overhead, indicating that the corpses, though with most reduced to bones, were somewhat still fresh...Coraline continues:

"Of course, I can't really complain considering I at one point was forced to eat in trash-filled alleyways and fishing docks...Still, I think that a grassy field would be a better place to eat than here."

Myoga comments as he ate a few fishcakes,

"Finally, I found someone who has good taste and tastes good. I must say how impressed I am by the conveniences of your era. That 'cam-per heat stove', and your instant food stuffs...Tell me, has our land started trading with other lands?"

"Yeah! Good observation, Myoga. I had a feeling you would take notice. Actually, instant noodles were invented right here in Japan during the space age, which will be roughly four hundred years from now. It's become a convenience food for many people around the world, but originally, they were made for astronauts for space travel."

"Astro-what?"

"Astronauts. Their job is to explore the bounds of outer space. (Clap) Oh, right! The humans of my era have already traveled to the moon!"

"Man has traveled to the moon?"

"How do they do that?"

"They use a transportation vehicle called a rocket."

"And a rocket would be?" Coraline takes a nearby stick, and tries to draw in the dirt what a rocket would look like:

"Well, basically, they're a cone and cylinder-shaped object with something called an engine at the bottom. Using a type of fuel called nitrogen, they would set the fuel ablaze, and the rocket will launch into the air, burning the fuel as it went, eventually leaving our planet's atmosphere, and into the vacuum of space."

Coraline looks back up from her explanation, and sees Inuyasha munching away on his ramen again, not listening...She sighs, and mutters,

"On the other hand, I dunno if I should even be explaining future technology to someone from the Sengoku era..."

Suddenly, the atmosphere around Inuyasha, Coraline and Myoga got dark, causing them to be on edge:

"What the-who turned off the sun?"

"I dunno, but somethin' tells me it trouble!" Myoga scolds him for carelessly throwing away the empty ramen cup:

"Lord Inuyasha, no littering!"

"Huh, this is no time to talk trash!"

The sky then begins to light up, as a light blue flame swirled in the air, and a disembodied voice spoke:

" _You down there! You possess a piece of the Shikon-no-Tama!_ " Inuyasha and Coraline ask respectively,

"Who's that?"

"A demon?" Myoga hops onto Inuyasha's shoulder, and tells him,

"I believe it's a fox."

"Not likely, Myoga."

The swirling vortex of blue fire suddenly shrinks down, before:

(Pop)

A giant, pink balloon replaces it?...The teens look at it with confusion, and the 'balloon' spoke in the same voice from earlier:

"Hand, over the jewel! The jewel, or your life!"

When the mouth of the 'balloon' comes to rest on Inuyasha's head, he growls in irritation, and then:

(Slap)

"Auuuhwaaaaaah!"

He backhands the 'balloon' causing it to sputter out air, and when it was out, the 'balloon' transforms, and a small, child demon is in its place!  
The young demon was short, had auburn hair tied back with a blue ribbon, pale skin, and wore a turquoise shirt patterned with leaves, dark blue pants, and a fur vest with back belt. He also had a bushy tail, paw-like feet, pointed ears, and green eyes.

Inuyasha and Coraline rush over to where he fell, and Coraline commented,

"It's a kid..." The demon gets up, and asks with fury,

"Who dares to burst my bubble?!"

He then widens his eyes in fear, and tries to run away, but is caught by his tail, courtesy of Inuyasha. He holds the kid in front of him, and says,

"Huh, feisty little thing, aren't ya? Nice tail; looks like a badger or a squirrel."

"I'm a fox, heathen!" Coraline comments on the side,

"A fox demon, eh? Interesting..." She goes up to Inuyasha, and says,

"Inuyasha, don't hold him by his tail like that."

"Ya mind? I'm trying to teach him a lesson. Gaaah!"

(Wham)

Suddenly, Inuyasha is dragged downward, and in replace of the fox demon, was a statue!

"A statue? Where'd that come from?"

Coraline then hears some shuffling coming from her satchel, and turns to shout,

"Hey! Get out of my stuff!"

The fox demon digs through her things, before finding what he was looking for:

"Found it! A sacred jewel shard!" He then turns with a mischievous smile, and leaps into the air, calling out,

"Our time together has been short but sweet! Farewell!" And he vanishes in a spin of flames:

(Pop)

"Huh?" As Inuyasha growled, Coraline commented with a glare,

"He vanished! The little..."

(Rattle)

"Huh?"

They look behind them, and see a skull, with a bushy tail sticking out the back, trying to make a break for it...One whack of Inuyasha's fist, and the fox demon was stopped...  
He was now sitting with the teens, a huge bump on his head, as he grumbles,

"Always pick on the little guy..."

Coraline takes some healing cream she brought for bruises and begins to put it on his bump:

"This may ache a bit, just think happy thoughts..." Coraline then asks,

"So, why were you so determined to get the Shikon-no-Tama shards from us?"

"...For my father."

Coraline stops, surprised by his answer, and the fox demon continues:

"I need to get the jewel shards to avenge him!" Coraline, who was occupying a mix of empathy and confusion, asked,

"Revenge? Whatever for? Unless...was your father killed?" Inuyasha comments from his seat, if a bit sarcastically,

"I get it. He's not strong enough, so he needs the power of the jewel shards to take out his enemies," looking at the bottle.

"I'm strong enough to take on any enemy! I only want the jewel as a precaution..."

The fox demon hears them arguing about who should be holding onto the bottle, and not listening. He then bursts out in frustration,

"I'll do the talking here!"

They stop arguing, and focus back on the kid, as he continued his story...

Flashback

 _(Whinny)_

 _Two armies gather in a field, ready to charge into battle..._

"It all started not too long ago. Hundreds of warriors were engaged in a battle near the forest where we lived. But a dark cloud past overhead; a cloud so dark and evil, none could imagine the horrors it would bring. The warriors were at first puzzled by the strange turn in the weather..."

 _The soldiers look up to the darkening sky, until one warrior points to the sky, shouting,_

 _"Look, something approaches!"_

 _Lightning crashes, and two demons come flying overhead:_

 _"Time to hunt, Monten!"_

 _"Aye, brother, start the hunt!"_

 _One of the brothers then takes his pike, and shoots a huge lighting bolt, sending it straight on one of the armies, killing the soldiers in the area!_

 _"Flee, little rodents!"_

 _He throws his pike down to the ground, and it bursts out another lightning attack, eliminating the soldiers surrounding..._

 _The other army watches, with one soldier commenting,_

 _"They annihilated the enemy with a single with a single strike of lightning!" As the demon brothers float towards them, the soldier asks,_

 _"What is their purpose? Do they claim to be our allies?" The other demon brother, Monten, scoffs at his question, and responds,_

 _"Hm, you entertain thoughts of being our allies?!"_

 _He then opens his mouth, charging his own attack, and sends a torrent of electric energy at them, killing them all!_

 _The brothers now fly overhead the barren and corpse-scattered landscape, with one saying,_

 _"Ah, now that was certainly entertaining," followed by Monten:_

 _"Yes indeed, pitiful warriors!"_

 _"But the day's still young and I'm feeling restless. The Shikon-no-Tama shard embedded in my forehead leaves me with power to spare!"_

 _"So true..."_

 _Both of their foreheads glow, and the first brother comes to join the other on the cloud holding him up:_

 _"Imagine what other powers we would have with even more jewels." Monten nods, and strokes a fur pelt on his waist while adding,_

 _"We must search among the beasts, and relinquish them of their precious treasures, as we did to our dearly departed friend, the fox."_

 _Both laugh maniacally, and they continue to float away..._

End Flashback, Small time Skip

As Coraline walked along the dirt path, the fox demon situated on her shoulder, she asks seriously,

"I see, so they murdered your father to get his shard of the Shikon-no-Tama. But, why did he have it?"

"I couldn't say. All I know is that the Thunder Brothers steal the jewels from demons." She stops, then asks,

"Thunder Brothers?"

"It's a nickname. Because of their thunder and lightning attacks."

Inuyasha, who was standing up in the tree above them, asks Myoga,

"Heard of 'em, Myoga?"

"He must be talking about Hiten and Monten. And if the rumors are true, those two are evil incarnate." Inuyasha says boastfully,

"Big deal! All I gotta do is defeat the brothers and I'll walk away with all their jewel shards!"

"And one day, man will walk on the moon! You're no match for the evil Thunder Brothers!" The fox demon folds his arms and adds,

"You're only half-demon. I can smell the human in you. This is between demons. It's got nothing to do with half-breeds such as yourself, stay out of it!"

Coraline looks at him and sternly says,

"That's no way to speak to Inuyasha." He then comes down, and clonks the kid on the head!

"You, big-"

(Hit, hit, hit...)

Inuyasha goes to clobber the kid on the head repeatedly, and Coraline tells him,

"Go easy on him!" Inuyasha stops, and the kid bows apologetically, saying,

"Forgive me, no hard feelings. Sorry..."

"Huh, someone's gotta teach him a lesson."

"As a token of my a-"

(Wham)

"pology..." The kid then brandishes another statue on top of Inuyasha's hands, and slaps on a sutra spell!

"This suppose to be humorous?"

"Heh-heh, you're stuck until you can get the scroll spell peeled off!" Coraline tries to reason with him:

"There's no need to play childish moves, Shippo, now take the spell off. Inuyasha, are you really stuck?"

"I'd like to see you free yourself, hrrrrrr!"

But no matter how hard he pulled, his hands couldn't get free...Shippo then side-glances Coraline and says,

"I don't like playing tricks on women if I can avoid it...Don't hold this against me, Coraline."

He then taps Coraline on the neck, and she tries to grab hold of him, but he uses his fox fire to trick her into letting go.  
Shippo lands swiftly on the ground, holding out the bottle of jewel shards:

"Thanks! I'll use this to lure out the Thunder Brothers!"

"Hey! That little twerp, he's got my jewel shards again!" Coraline grabs her bow and quiver before taking off after him:

"Get back here, you brat!" Inuyasha calls back to her,

"Wait, Coraline! You can't just leave me stuck like this! Wait! Coraline!"

Meanwhile, down by a Marsh...

"Hmmm, what a pleasing visage. But with a few more hairs I could attract the ladies as brother Hiten does."

As the demon Monten takes a small comb through his few strands on top his reptilian head, he suddenly hears a rustling in the underbrush nearby.  
Turns out, that rustling was Shippo, who had outran Coraline at last:

"They'll never find me now!"

(Step)

"Auwoah!"

Monten steps over and looms over Shippo, before remarking,

"What a coincidence. If it isn't the son of that flea-bitten fox." Shippo winces in fear, before asking,

"What do you want?"

Shippo then wails at seeing the pelt on the demon's waist, and Monten asks menacingly,

"Like my fur coat, do you? Just like your father's...Hehehahahahaha!"

"Monster, you'll pay for what you did!" With angry tears running from his eyes, Shippo jumps to attack Monten:

"Lemme at you!"

(Punch)

But he was easily knocked aside, and as he fell to the ground, the bottle of the shards he stole fell out of his pocket. Monten gasps, and mutters,

"A shard of the Shikon-no-Tama."

Shippo sits up, and turns to cover the bottle with his body. Monten steps on his tail, pinning him in place, and demands,

"Now, hand it over like a good little lad...Or else."

He then opens his mouth, charging his lightning attack, and as Shippo muttered,

"This don't look good," while Monten laughed, suddenly:

(TOK)

An arrow shot straight into his nose, courtesy of Coraline!

"Yes, I got 'em!" Monten asks,

"Who are you? And as for you..."

"Not another step!"

Monten pauses, looking up at a glaring Coraline, as she got another arrow ready:

"Otherwise this next arrow's going right through your brain!"

Meanwhile...

"Please, get this thing off me!"

Unfortunately, Inuyasha was still stuck, and the passing traveler he pleaded to was not willing to help:

"Wah, a monster!"

"Wait, come back! I need you to peel off this spell scroll!"

But the traveler was long gone...

Back to Coraline and Shippo

"Coraline!"

"My beautiful nose!"

"Do not move a step! Shippo, get over here, and bring the shards with you!"

Shippo looks up at Monten briefly, before dashing over to Coraline. Monten began pursuing him:

"Stop! I must have those Shikon-no-Tama shards!" Coraline sees a glow coming from his forehead:

"Looks like he's got a few shards in his forehead. If I hit 'im there, I can bring him down!"

(Twok)

(Tok)

The arrow did hit, but did not go deep enough, and merely bounced off his head...

"Almost...I only grazed him..."

As she went to grab another arrow, she and Shippo notice him tremble, as his hands reached up to his head:

"What's his problem?"

As it turned out, the arrow did more than just graze him; two of his hairs suddenly fell off his head, much to Monten's horror.  
He tears up in anguish, before letting out a cry of rage, and charges up his lightning attack!

"Come on, we gotta flee! That's the same kind of attack that killed my dad!"

But as Shippo and Coraline began to run for it, suddenly:

(BOOM)

"Aaaaahhhh!" "Aaaaahhhh!"

Both Coraline and Shippo were knocked off their feet by the lightning attack, and fall to the ground, miraculously still alive!  
But while Shippo was awake, Coraline was knocked unconscious...

"(Pant, pant) That should stop them for a while..." Shippo tries to get Coraline to wake up:

"Coraline, you gotta get up!"

He picks up on Monten's footsteps, and with cowardice getting the better of him, he darted into the underbrush...  
Monten comes up, and sees only Coraline:

"Hm, so the little fox managed to escape...Hm? She looks good enough to eat..."

He comes closer to Coraline, and a light blush dusts his face as he notices her beauty:

"She's lovely..."

As Shippo kept himself hidden in the underbrush, he hears a crash of thunder, and looks up with horror at seeing,

"He's got Coraline! I gotta go rescue her!" But he quickly stops in front of a stump and asks himself,

"But how? I don't stand a chance against the Thunder Brothers. Coraline will soon be in serious trouble...Unless..."

Back at the Dirt Path

Myoga was now trying to peel off the sutra, but due to his size compared to it, the task was proving to be a bit~ trickier than he thought...

"It's no use, milord, I can't remove the spell scroll." Inuyasha pulls at his hands again, shouting,

"Why that little fox...He'll regret doing this to me!"

"Inuyasha!"

He looks up, and sees Shippo situated on top of Coraline's satchel:

"I'll help you on one condition, which is: You promise not hit me anymore."

"Where's Coraline? Why didn't she come back with you?"

"Do you promise me or won't you?"

"Okay, I promise I won't strike you." Shippo removes the sutra and statue:

"Alright, I'll tell you where she is."

(Repeated punches)

(BONK)

And Inuyasha leaves several bumps atop Shippo's head...

"I thought we had a promise..."

"Oh, right, that reminds me..." Inuyasha then begins to shake Shippo upside-down by his tail, adding,

"You have something that belongs to me."

The bottle of shards eventually falls out of Shippo's pocket, and Inuyasha picks it up:

"Thank goodness, it's safe." Shippo yells at him:

"Would you forget that for a while?! Coraline's been abducted by the Thunder Brothers! So, shouldn't you go after her?!"

Inuyasha looks at Shippo, momentarily confused, before looking at him with a serious glare:

"The same brothers who killed your father abducted Coraline? You let 'em get away?"

Shippo avoids his eyes, and Inuyasha leans in, looking at him more intently:

"Hmph, you're not exactly reeking with the scent of victory. What did ya do? Conceal yourself in the bushes while they made off with her?"

"Why are you pinning all the blame on me?! She's your woman, you should at least do some of the rescuing!"

"Huh?"

A light blush dusted Inuyasha's cheeks...before he pinned Shippo to the ground in angry embarrassment and shouted,

"She ain't my woman! Hmph!"

"Hey!"

"...But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to save her." As Inuyasha kept his back to Shippo, he added,

"If you're prepared to give me an apology, that is. And also prepare me a nice, hot bath tonight."

Shippo gets up and growls incredulously at Inuyasha's stubbornness, but Myoga hops to him and says,

"Shippo, give the master what he wants. Time is wasting, and the girl is in danger."

Shippo growls to himself a little louder and mutters,

"Why am I always the one handing out apologies?"

He then flashes to Coraline being carried away by Monten, and realizes the real issue:

"But I can't rescue Coraline on my own..."

So with major reluctance on his part, Shippo bows to the ground and grunts,

"Okay! I apologize..."

"...Don't mention it."

"Huh?"

Shippo looks up, and sees Inuyasha swing Coraline's satchel over his shoulder:

"Come on, we've got a lot of work to do, Shippo. Let's move out."

And as Inuyasha began moving down the path, Shippo watches him go, saying to himself in mild surprise,

"That was fairly painless..."

Meanwhile, at the Fortress of the Thunder Brothers...

In a small room, Monten was preparing some sort of concoction in a pot:

"Ah, mother would be proud if she knew that the family recipe was being put to use...The only ingredient left is the most important. The one I like to call, _deliciously awful,_ hehahahaha..."

Behind him, Coraline, whom was laying on top a wooden bench, was slowly beginning to wake up:

"Rrr...gh...Uh?"

As she rose up, holding her head a bit from an oncoming migraine, she then widens her eyes at seeing Monten:

"Awoken, have you, my fair maiden?" She glares at him and asks,

"Where have you taken me?"

"That's the least of your worries..."

"What are you implying?"

"I'll tell you: The flesh and blood of young maidens does marvels for hair growth. Some call it 'The Wonder Potion of the Century'."

Coraline's eyes narrow in anger and disgust, and she clenches her fist before shouting,

"I'd rather be thrown off a cliff than become an ingredient for some damn hair potion!"

"Shhhh! Keep your voice down! If brother Hiten hears you, he might just fulfill your wish!"

(Thump, thump, CRASH)

Suddenly, the said brother drives his fist in through the door, sending it sprawled into splintered pieces!

"Thought I heard voices. Back so soon, Monten?" The lady on his arm, who was dressed rather 'provocatively', asks,

"Huh, that thing is your brother?"

Monten's eyes widen from his brother's arrival, and answers in a high-pitched tone,

"Hiten! Good to see you!" Hiten looks over at Coraline:

"Who's she? What's she doing here?" Monten goes to block Coraline from his view:

"She's mine! I found her first!" Hiten says casually,

"No need to worry, I have no use for her. Not when I have this little vixen."

Coraline looks over at Hiten and the vixen:

 _His appearance is more humanoid than his brother...Maybe I can reason with him somehow..._

"Oh, while I'm thinking about it: How'd you fare in your search for more jewel fragments?"

"Heuh? Um...How could I have forgotten?"

Hiten growls as he steps forward, and Monten immediately goes on the defense:

"My apologies, dear brother, I found one, but I lost it!"

"Found one but lost it? Don't tell me you were more interested in this woman that much that you would forget about the precious jewel shards...! Grraaaah!"

(FLASH, Whoooooosh, CRASH)

(Thud)

And with a flick of a wrist, Hiten sends a lightning attack from his hand, completely burning the Vixen to a charred corpse!  
Monten pleads mercy from his brother:

"Please Hiten, forgive me!" Hiten responds in disdain,

"You bring nothing but shame to this family. If you were not my younger brother, I would've done you in long ago!"

Coraline looks at him with wide eyes at his cruel words:

 _Then again, looks can be deceiving...I better think of something fast, or I'm done for!_

Monten then explains what happened, and though calmer, Hiten was still disappointed in hearing about his blunder:

"So, this little Shippo tyke has our jewel shards?" He then turns to leave:

"A-Are you going after him?"

"Of course I am, and you're coming with me." Coraline sees this as an opportunity:

 _Now that they're distracted, I better make a break for it..._

"Where do you think you're going?"

Monten turns back around, grabs a cleaver, and Coraline barely dodges the blade:

(Clang)

"Hey, watch it!"

"Oh, a thousand pardons..." Monten taps the blade on his palm, and adds menacingly,

"I meant to make it quick so you wouldn't have to suffer, and there's no sense delaying since I don't want my main ingredient for my hair potion escaping."

"Hold it! You don't wanna go killing me!" Monten comes over to her and asks,

"Oh, and why not?"

"Because, killing me means you won't be able to find Shippo and his shard of the jewel!"

"Huh?!"

Coraline smirks to herself:

 _Heh, there truly is a sucker born every minute...I've got Monten's attention, now to reel in Hiten. Let's see...Oh!_

"Are you two familiar with Inuyasha? The strong, brave, handsome warrior?" Hiten scoffs,

"Him, strong? That Inuyasha's merely a half-demon."

"Half-demon doesn't mean anything to him! He's defeated all kinds of opponents single-hand, moreover, he has most of the fragments of the Shikon-no-Tama!"

"Huh?!" "Huh?!"

 _That's it, Cora! That will get their interest!_

Hiten then comes to sit beside Coraline, and asks somewhat skeptically,

"Hey, you. Are you lying?" Coraline chuckles a bit and answers,

"I would be a fool to lie about him. After all...the guy's madly in love with me."

Monten widens his eyes, and Coraline adds with mock passion,

"If you tell him you're holding me captive, I know my one and only love will gladly hand over the shards for my safe return!"

The brothers talk among themselves, with Monten saying to Hiten,

"Something tells me she's lying," Hiten replying,

"I think she's telling the truth," much to Monten's disbelief. Hiten then stands on the bench, and as he yanks Coraline up by her tank-top, he says,

"Wench. Take us to this Inuyasha lover of yours at once. But be warned: If you're lying, you'll suffer the same fate as she."

He grabs Coraline by her chin and adds in a mocking tone,

"And I doubt you'd enjoy being fried to a crisp."

Coraline glares at his sadistic smile:

 _And he'd do it in a heartbeat too, no doubt. Sadist..._

Small Time Skip  


As Coraline successfully dupes the Thunder Brothers, Shippo was riding on Inuyasha's shoulders as they leaped from each rock peak to the next in search of her.

Of course, it was pretty obvious to Inuyasha that Shippo was not a fan of heights, and proceeded to mock him:

"What's the matter, Shippo? Not afraid of heights, are ya? I could always take you back if you're frightened."

"I'm not afraid! Whoah! I'm gonna save Coraline and avenge father!...W-With a little help form you that is. You better be as strong as you say you are!  
Those Thunder Brothers have jewels in their foreheads to make them more powerful!"

Inuyasha stops on one peak, and after steadying his balance, he merely chuckles a bit and replies,

"That'll only make defeating them more enjoyable."

(Crack, Boom)

As a storm begins to brew in the darkened sky, Myoga says,

"Master, we must hurry before they do something to Coraline."

"I'm sure she can handle herself. She's probably talkin' their ears off or somethin'..."

"We can only hope. But if the rumors are to be believed, the Thunder Brothers do not keep pretty young ladies for long before devouring them."

"Devouring them? Inuyasha, you don't suppose Coraline is-"

"Get real. Didn't you hear him? He said 'pretty young ladies'..." Shippo retorts,

"Yeah, she is pretty, and brave and smart!" Myoga asks,

"Hmm, isn't anyone gonna ask my opinion?" Shippo then wails,

"Oooh, this is all my fault! She's probably being eaten alive as we speak!"

"Methinks it's not too late."

"If it's not too much trouble, could we continue the search?! We might be able to get to Coraline before the Thunder Brothers get hungry!"

"What's the rush? She ain't pretty, so they're definitely not gonna go for her." Myoga then suggests,

"We can always take a vote, and seeing as I have four hands instead of two, I should be able to vote twice." Shippo worries more:

"Aaah, she'll come back and haunt me for this! I've heard the legends, so I know how it works!"

"I did say pretty young ladies, that's true, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and Shippo might find her good-looking, but I myself am more fond of-"

"QUIT NAGGING, I'M GOIN', ALRIGHT?! STOP YAPPIN' AT ME AND JUST POINT ME TO THE WAY OF THE EVIL BROTHERS!"

A second after Inuyasha's heated outburst:

(CRACK)

"Guwaah!"

A huge bolt of lightning came crashing down on the steep rock they were standing on, and Shippo tumbled alongside Coraline's satchel, while Inuyasha landed on his feet, before rushing to snatch Shippo up, and dodge another crash of lightning!  
They look up, and find the source of the double-attack:

"Very impressive maneuver, dodging my lightning bolt. Especially in spite of your light and dull conversation just now."

Hiten tucks his pike to him and says,

'You must be the reputed Inuyasha himself." Myoga informs Inuyasha,

"Master Inuyasha, that is Hiten, the elder of the Thunder Borthers." Shippo hops onto Inuyasha's shoulder and shouts,

"Where's Coraline? What have you done with her?"

"Don't despair. We've done nothing to her, as of yet. Monten." Hiten directs his attention to brother, situated on a cloud:

"Coming, brother!" He grabs Coraline, who was also up there, and adds,

"Behold." Coraline calls down with a relieved smile,

"Inuyasha! Shippo!"

"Coraline!" As Inuyasha raises his shoulders, Shippo slips off and rolls to the ground...

Inuyasha looks up with relief and agitation:

 _Well, at least they haven't hurt her, yet._

"Judging by your expression, it seems the girl spoke the truth. Now hand over the fragments of the Shikon-no-Tama to me, or you'll never see your lover alive again!"

As Hiten cracks lightning from his body threateningly, Inuyasha went into a confused and somewhat shocked stupor:

"See my lover?" Coraline sees his expression, and mentally facepalms:

 _Oh man, I should've known he wouldn't play along with the ploy..._

Inuyasha then begins making his way forward, responding in a slight voice break at the beginning,

"Uh, there must be some sort of misunderstanding. So lemme get this straight, you and I are supposed to be lovers?"

Coraline quickly calls down to him,

"Well there's no need to be so shy about it, come on!"

Monten turns to her, and says while rubbing his fist lightly on her head,

"You little vixen, I knew you were fibbin'," to which Coraline nervously laughs in return. Inuyasha then asks incredulously,

"You actually think I'd hand over the jewel shards as a ransom to get you back?!" Coraline yells back with a glare,

"Of course you would, cause that's what a lover would do!"

"But we ain't lovers! And without love, the whole argument kinda falls apart!"

"Alright, clearly I didn't think my cover story thoroughly, but you have to at least admit you have some sort of feelings towards me, otherwise you wouldn't have come!"

Hiten interrupts them before they could go any further:

"I believe I've heard my fill. It's clear that you do have some jewel shards for us, Inuyasha. Shards that will be mine!"

(Fwoom)

Hiten then charges at Inuyasha with his flame wheels, and Inuyasha draws out Tessaiga:

"Not in my lifetime, pal!"

"Hrrrah, gyaah!"

(Clang)

Both blades of the pike and Tessaiga meet in a clash of steel, with the staff emitting blots of lightning, and loosening the ground under!

"No one can withstand my attacks for very long!"

"Rrraaaah!"

Contrary to what Hiten said, Inuyasha manages to push him back, but he recovers pretty quick:

"You do have power, but no style. This should be an interesting battle!"

(Crack, Boom)

 _And hopefully, your last..._


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Phantom Showdown - The Thunder Brothers versus Tessaiga**

Dream Sequence...

A group of beautiful women, dressed in angelic robes, all swoon atop clouds as a figure approaches:

"Master Hiten is handsome, but Master Monten is positively dashing~!"

Overhead comes a winged horse, drawing a carriage, the passengers being Monten, with hair similar to Hiten's, and two lovely girls in his arms...

"Heheheh, just as I expected. Having a full head of hair is all that I needed to make me as popular as my elder brother Hiten."

He tuns a hand through his hair, only to find several strands have come out...

"Hoh, my tresses!"

Suddenly, the rest of his hair slowly flies off his hair, leaving him bald as he was before!  
The ladies become appalled, and begin to float away, much to Monten's dismay:

"No, wait! I have special ointments, I can make then grow back, honest! Oh no, I'm losing my charisma, I must find some hair!"

If things weren't bad enough, the body of the winged horse then faded into a skeleton, before it and the carriage all fell apart into pieces!

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

"Oof!"

Monten then falls out of bed, revealed to have been having a nightmare...

 _Since reaching puberty, my dreams have all ended in the same manner: My hair falls out, dashing my hopes in one crushing blow._

 _Oh, what I wouldn't give for a full head of silky, smooth hair. It may not deem me Hiten's equal with the fairest, but I'm confident that with some coverage on my cranium, I would attract at least a few lovely maidens..._

Now...

"Huh, you wish to draw out this game, I see. Fine, I shall relish in your prolong suffering."

Inuyasha retorts back at Hiten,

"Ha, I've heard similar threats from other poor souls whose memories I keep alive by dancing on their tombstones!"

"Perhaps in your dreams. Enough delay, time for you to meet your unfortunate DEMISE!"

Hiten charges with his pike, and Inuyasha barely manages to avoid being crushed along with the upturned earth. Hiten growls before coming at him again, and the two begin clashing, sword against pike:

"Enjoy your last moments of life! Grrh!"

"Hrrh!" _One touch of this lightning and I'm a goner!_

Shippo watches them fight from behind a rock, whispering to himself,

"Good. Hiten's busy. I'm certain Inuyasha can hold him off. Meanwhile, I'll find a way to save Coraline."

Speaking of Coraline, she watches the battle too, calling down to one of the fighters:

"Inuyasha, you got this! Hiten doesn't stand a chance!" Monten laughs, clapping at his brother's efforts:

"Give him a send-off that is unrivaled! I shall lend my assistance," and he goes to charge his electric attack!

"Not on my watch, cheater!"

Coraline goes to push Monten off the cloud, and he falls to the ground, leaving a huge crater surrounding him...

Unfortunately, with him no longer on top the cloud, it wouldn't stay stabilized for more than a few seconds, before:

"Oh, crap-"

(Poof)

"Aaaahhhh!"

Coraline begins her descend from the sky, much to Shippo's and Inuyasha's shock, the latter yelling,

"Coraline!"

(Clang)

"Ha, a true warrior never puts a woman before a battle!"

"Hold on, Coraline! I'll come for you just as soon as I finish him off!" Coraline calls back,

"Hurry! Gravity isn't exactly in my favor here! Oof!"

Fortunately, Coraline's landing wasn't too bad, considering she bounced off of Monten...

"Rrgh, well, the fall certainly didn't kill me."

"Not yet, no, but I might..."

"Wah! Shouldn't you be dead?!"

"Wench!"

Coraline begins running from Monten, but doesn't get to far before she trips, falling on her front!

"Damn..."

She goes to get up, but turns and sees Monten closing in!

(Spin)

"Time to use my Fox Magic!"

Suddenly, Shippo sends a toy top flying through the air, landing on Monten's head. He looks up, and the top grows to ginormous size, drilling Monten into the ground!

"Get away while you can, Coraline!"

"Uh, right!" Coraline climbs out of the cater, and says to Shippo,

"Nice maneuver down there, Shippo!"

"Aw, it was nothin'."

Myoga suddenly hops onto Shippo's shoulder and says,

"It's far too early for celebration."

"You and your big mouth..."

"Shippo's so-called Fox Magic is all about illusion." Coraline was surprised to hear such:

"Really, that's an illusion? Looks pretty real to me."

But as she looks over to Monten being held down by the top, it suddenly begins to shrink:

"And yet it is not. Behold."

And the now normal top rolls off of Monten's head, and he goes to sit up while muttering angrily,

"That fox tyke will pay for his tricks..."

But that was the least of his problems: Apparently, the place where the illusion top was drilling was where his last hair was, and the pressure from the spin caused it to loosen, and had now fallen off...

"Oh...Oh! Oh no, my beautiful hair! Gone, they're all gone!"

Monten lets out a cry of agonized rage, and unleashes a torrent of electricity from his mouth! As he mentally wails over his newly found baldness, Coraline and Shippo barely escape the onslaught of attacks, before ducking behind a rock and dead tree, the ground around them ablaze and singed...

"Guess we really added oil to the fire now, eh?"

"You said it!"

Once Monten's rage had cooled a bit, he began skulking around for the two responsible:

"I can smell your fear. I'll hunt you down, and use one for my hair potion, and the other for a new pelt!"

As he passed them, Coraline tells Shippo in a whisper,

"I hope you have another plan ready, cause we're definitely up to our necks in trouble now..."

She looks up to see Monten, and it dawns on her:

"Wait a minute! That arrow; maybe I can use it again...Shippo, I need your help..."

As Monten kept looking around, he suddenly sends a shot of electricity where Coraline and Shippo were hiding!

"Over there!"

(Boom)

He then walks over, and past the rubble and smoke, laid an unconscious Coraline...

"There's the little wench." Monten picks her up my her hair and asks rhetorically,

"Did you honestly think you can allude a Thunder Brother?"

"...Yeah, actually, you slimy mud-skipper!"

"Huh?"

"Funny, I just can't do a thing with my hair today..."

And 'Coraline' begins to wrap tresses of her hair around Monten's wrists! Suddenly, the real Coraline comes rushing over, much to Monten's surprise:

"What trickery is this?!"

"I'll be takin' back the arrow, thank you!"

(Yank)

"Ouch!"

Monten then focuses at the fake Coraline, realizing who they really are as their red hair shifts a couple shades lighter:

"You're that miserable fox!"

"In the flesh and blood, here for my father's revenge!"

"Keep him right there, Shippo! This may be our one shot!" _I just gotta him 'im where the shards are, and he's finished!_

"Take, this!"

But Monten manages to knock Coraline aside, and flails his other arm still trapped by Shippo's hair:

"Damn you, wretch!"

Shippo then pops back to normal, before getting kicked away by Monten!

"Your turn!"

Monten then puts his hands around Coraline's throat, and begins to choke her! She struggles and hoarsely calls out,

"Hnnhh...I-Inuyasha, help!" Inuyasha blocks away a few more of Hiten's attacks, before shouting,

"Coraline!" Next thing he knew:

(CRACKLE)

"Gyaaah!"

"Didn't think my advice about women worth heeding?!"

Hiten forces Inuyasha down with his pike, and he falls to the ground, with Tessaiga landing beside him, before transforming back...  
As Inuyasha tries to get up, a new wound in his shoulder, the blade of Hiten's pike blocks him from moving an inch further:

"Pathetic. You don't live up to your reputation. Human compassion will prove your undoing, half-breed. What to die first: this cursed wretch or that odd woman he's preoccupied with?"

 _I'll deal with this loser afterward. I gotta save Coraline first!_

"What do you think, Monten? Should we put these fools out of their misery or make them suffer a little longer?"

"I'm in no rush, Hiten! I'm quite enjoying myself. Hah, what is it about the sight of a woman before death that is so exquisitely irresistible?"

Shippo manages to get up, and when he saw what Monten was doing, he quickly got angry, before leaping onto his arm:

"Rrr, let her go!"

(Punch)

"Aaah, uh!"

Shippo is knocked clean off Monten, and as he holds his bruised cheek, Monten laughs menacingly:

"Hehahahah...When I'm done, I have a surprise for you! My girth has been expanding of late, and I could use another fox pelt to keep warm at night! It'll be like a family reunion..."

Shippo growls, enraged tears threatening to fall, while Monten continues:

"Should I slay you first, or skin you alive like your father? Perhaps I should sever your toes and use them for a new set of earrings."

"Very clever, Monten. If I didn't know better, I'd say that you're becoming quite the villain." Monten breaks into a crazy laugh and replies,

"How kind of you to say so, Hiten!" With that, Shippo snapped:

"You won't get away with this!"

He then hopped onto Monten's neck, and bit down hard! Monten didn't feel much pain, however:

"Hmm, trying to hasten your fate?"

He tries to pull Shippo off, but he holds hard with his jaw:

 _I won't let go, not if it kills me!_

"Release me at once, you little pest!" Shippo just bites down harder in return...

"Release me immediately, fox tyke! Remove those baby teeth from me now, or I may have to rethink the order of my victims!"

Monten hits Shippo's head with his fist, but Shippo was determined to hold on...

"Monten. Careful you don't soil that precious fox pelt of yours. Wouldn't want it soaked with blood."

"Thanks for the tip, Hiten!"

As Shippo kept his teeth on Monten, Inuyasha suddenly spoke up as he stood up:

"Hey, I'll be the first to admit, I've dealt my share of bad karma in the past...But I'm innocent compared to you two swine!"

He then reaches to his wound, and soaks his claws before unleashing,

" _Blades of Blood!_ "

Hiten was taken by surprise, but quickly managed to block the incoming blades with his pike. He says,

"Finally, this is starting to get interesting!"

Inuyasha took the opportunity to rush to Tessaiga, and then leap into the air, before throwing the sword:

"Hah!" But it 'misses' Hiten, and he jeers back,

"Nice throw, if you're aiming at the rocks!" Inuyasha lands in a crouch and mutters,

"Did I get him?"

"Huh?"

(STAB)

"UUUHHH!"

Turns out, Inuyasha was really aiming at Monten, and Tessaiga's blade had landed clean through his torso!  
He falls to the ground, releasing Coraline, while Shippo fell off...

"Monten! Are you alright?!" Coraline gets up, and goes to grab Shippo:

"Shippo...The Tessaiga. I've gotta get it to Inuyasha!"

"Don't leave my father!"

"Huh?" Coraline then looks to the fox pelt around Monten's waist:

"Oh yes, your father's fur...But, I can't carry both..."

"MONTEN!"

"Coraline, get outta there before he kills you!"

Coraline tries to flee with Shippo and the fox fur, but Hiten sends a lightning attack her way, causing her to be sent to the ground below, and knocked unconscious...Hiten then goes to help his mortally wounded brother:

"Monten..."

"Huuuh...Hiten, they're gone. Every last strand of my hair has fallen. And with them my hopes of becoming happy."

"Don't be so foolish, Monten. We can make it grow back!"

"...It's no use kidding myself. I'll never have your beautiful hair. You were fortunate enough to inherit father's looks. But fate smote me: It was my unfortunate lot in life to resemble our homely mother, with her receding hairline and decidedly reptilian continence. How I long for the looks of you and father..."

"Beauty isn't about what's on the outside. I wouldn't change anything about you, I love every last bald inch of you!"

"Thank you, even if you don't mean it. Say a prayer for me when I'm gone. Pray that I'm reborn as a fuzzy caterpillar, covered in hair from head to furry toe.  
No, brother...Who am I trying to kid? I'd rather be reborn bald again. I'd make that sacrifice, if I could be reborn as your brother. Wouldn't that be nice, Hiten?"

And with that, Monten's strength was gone...

"Monten, please don't die!"

Meanwhile, Inuyasha rushed over to Coraline:

"Coraline, are you alright?" She sits up and replies,

"I'm fine, but I dropped Tessaiga when we were hit by the lightning attack." Inuyasha then says sarcastically,

"No problem, lots more where that came from..."

"I'm, so sorry I messed up..."

"Damn right you messed up! You messed up big time! But sword or no sword, you're wrong if I'm gonna let Hiten get the better of me!"

Hiten then grows cold, as his brother passes...

"Monten...You wretches! You slaughtered my brother!" As tears of anguish ran down his cheeks, Hiten whispers to his brother's corpse,

"My dear Monten...Rest assured that we will always be as one, brother..."

His eyes then go blood red, as he bites into Monten's forehead!

As they watch from below, Coraline mutters,

"Hiten's a cannibal?!"

"Wait! Things are not always what they appear." Myoga then hops over to Inuyasha and Coraline to explain further:

"Hiten bit into his brother's head to fuse the sacred jewel shards into his own body. Master, you must be even more careful than before, for now Hiten holds the power of five jewel shards."

As he Myoga hops onto Inuyasha's shoulder, the latter then says in a sarcastic tone,

"Gee, ya think? Hey, you wanna try explaining your noticeable absence until now?" As Myoga flinches, Coraline adds,

"Convenient how you vanished just when things got their roughest..."

"You catch that? That's what we call sarcasm, as in it wasn't convenient when you bailed on us when we needed you most!"

"I didn't bail on you! I had to make an inch that needed scratching!" Suddenly:

"Look out!"

(Boom)

Inuyasha grabs Coraline and Shippo (with his father's fur), barely dodging an incoming electrical attack!  
He looks back, and sees an enraged Hiten in front the new crater:

" _How dare you strike down my beloved brother...I shall not stop until I return the deed!_ "

The lightning crashes, highlighting the red flash in Hiten's eyes...

 _His Thunder Pike is even stronger than before! He has the power of five jewel shards now, and I have a real fight on my hands..._

"Coraline, take Shippo and get as far away from here as you're able."

"We can't just leave you!"

"Do it now." Hearing the seriousness in his tone, Coraline reluctantly complied:

"...Okay. Be careful."

As she takes off to a safe distance, Inuyasha turns back to Hiten, as he yells,

"I shall avenge my brother! Prepare to DIE!"

He points his Thunder Pike down, and shoots a great ball of lightning, heading straight for Inuyasha!

"Man, I can't avoid it!"

"My lord, use the sheath of Tessaiga!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Use the sheath and it will stave off the lightning bolt, quickly!"

"You better be right..."

Inuyasha grabs out the sheath, and holds it out in front of him, just as the great ball came at him:

(Crash)

"Rrrrh!" And just as Myoga said, the sheath manages to hold off the lightning bolt!

"What?!"

Eventually, the lightning burns out, and leaves behind a gaping crater, with Inuyasha standing on a patch of land not upturned...

"Wow, it really worked..."

"Just as I presumed: The sheath keeps the almighty Tessaiga's power in check, so naturally, it can repel a mere lightning bolt...Whew, glad my hunch was correct on that one."

"You sent me into battle armed with a mere hunch?!"

"I-I wouldn't exactly call it just a mere hunch, milord, more like a highly educated guess, now let's get back to the more purgnet matter of escaping with our lives?!"

"No chance. I'm gonna use this baby to defeat that demon!"

(Leap)

Inuyasha charges into the air, as Hiten unleashes another ball of lightning, and the former uses Tessaiga's sheath to force his way through:

"If I can blast through the core, I can defeat him!" And as he passes though to the other side, suddenly:

(STAB)

"Auuuh!"

"Splendid plan, indeed, in theory that is!"

And Inuyasha falls to the ground hard, after getting a full hit from the Thunder Pike on his back!

"Inuyasha!"

As Coraline looked fearfully for Inuyasha from her vantage point, Shippo stirs awake:

"Uh...Uh? Father's fur..." Coraline rushes over to him:

"Shippo, are you alright?"

"Coraline? What happened to Monten?!"

"Inuyasha took him out, but now Hiten is hunting for retribution...!"

Indeed, Hiten shows no mercy as he continuously brought the blade of his pike down at Inuyasha, who barely keeps it at bay with the Tessaiga's sheath:

"Inuyasha's losing energy fast..."

"Hiten's hard to match with those flying wheels!" Seeing said wheels, an idea springs to Coraline:

"...I got it!"

Inuyasha continues to try and outrun Hiten:

 _Those extra jewel shards have increased his speed!_

"What are you searchin' for, Coraline?"

"Oh, shoot! I forgot the arrow's useless without a bow!"

"Coming right up!"

"Huh?"

"Don't ask questions, just let me take care of this!"

Coraline watches as Shippo begins to transform:

 _He's gonna shape-shift into a bow! Awesome!_

(Pop)

The shape, however, was not what Coraline was expecting:

"Uh, this isn't what I meant by a bow..." Shippo sweatdrops and mutters,

"But I am a bow..."

Meanwhile, Hiten attacks with his pike again, and Inuyasha is electrocuted in his left side, knocking him on his back!  
At this point, Coraline readies to fire:

"What's taking you so long, Coraline? Hurry up and fire!"

"This is our very last shot, and my aim with a bow and arrow isn't high-caliber..."

"It will be with me as your guide." Coraline was confused, but then smiled and said,

"Thanks, Shippo. Let's take that brute down!"

(Twok)

As Inuyasha cringes from his wounds, and Hiten begins to charge for a final blow, suddenly:

(TOK, crack)

The wheel on Hiten's left foot is shot into pieces! He fumbles a bit, while Coraline says from the sidelines,

"Yes! Bulls-eye!"

While Hiten was distracted, Inuyasha went in for the attack:

"He's mine!" He dashes over, and grabs the Thunder Pike:

"You're competence is annoying!"

As the pike unleashes its electricity, Myoga yells from where the others are,

"What is he thinking?! Master Inuyasha is strong, but taking hold of the Thunder Pike is foolhardy indeed!"

Coraline looks at Myoga in a deadpan:

"Wait a minute, weren't you fighting with Inuyasha?"

"Let go of the pike, milord!" Inuyasha keeps his hold, and then looks at his sheath while muttering,

"I don't need this thing anymore," and he tosses it aside, much to Myoga's further shock:

"Don't let go of the sheath, fool, it's your only chance of triumph!"

"I'll do things my way! Hrrah!"

(PUNCH)

"Gyaaah!"

Inuyasha sucker-punches Hiten in the face, sending him through the air and then driving throughout the ground:

(Crash)

"Not bad for a half-breed, hey Hiten?!" Coraline comments in surprise,

"Well that's one way to do it, I guess," followed by Shippo's comment:

"Whatever works for you, I say." Myoga was ecstatic:

"KO for Master Inuyasha, he slugged him right in the kisser, downed him in the final round with the old right hook, yeah!"

Coraline asks him blankly,

"Didn't you call him a fool not too long ago?"

After the dust clears, Hiten lifts himself up with a grunt, feeling the place where Inuyasha had punched him, a smile forming on his face:

"I've never been struck in the face before...And I refuse to allow it again!"

His body then begins to emit a light-blue glow, his power charging up higher than before!

"Ohhh, this is not good..."

"He's gonna explode!"

Hiten rises upright, body still aglow, and charges Inuyasha while shouting,

"I'll see you in hell, you SWINE!"

Inuyasha leaps down and grabs his sheath, and just manages to block the blade of the Thunder Pike! As he holds his own, suddenly:

(Crick...)

"The sheath's starting to crack!" As the Tessaiga sheath began to feel the pressure, Hiten jeers,

"I shall relish your demise more than any other, half-breed!" Inuyasha struggles as Myoga mutters in worry,

"Master Inuyasha is powerful, but if the Tessaiga sheath should shatter...!" Coraline finishes:

"He'll, lose..." She then looks over and sees Tessaiga:

"Tessaiga...I gotta get it to him somehow..."

"Right, I'm on it!"

"Shippo, come back! It's too dangerous, come back!"

Hiten suddenly looks over his shoulder, and sees Shippo, followed by Coraline (carrying the fox fur), heading for the Tessaiga.  
He then begins to charge an attack from his mouth:

 _Oh no, Hiten must've gained his brother's abilities as well as his jewel shards!_

"Coraline, run for it!"

"Grrah!"

(FOOM)

But it was too late: Coraline and Shippo were hit dead on my the electric attack...!

"Coraline...!"

"Huh, wouldn't waste my breath on her."

"Coraline!"

Hiten watches as their bodies are swallowed up by fire:

"What a shame, it seems she and that fox child are dead." Inuyasha snaps:

" _You'll pay for this...You slaughtered my friends!_ DAMN YOU!"

Inuyasha knocks his forehead into Hiten's, pushing him back:

"That's right, half-breed!" _I don't understand it! He fights as well as any other demon I've encountered!_

"You'll regret the day you ever crossed me, I promise you that!"

"I think the blood's gone to your head ever since you lost your beloved woman. When will you ever learn that no woman is worth risking a battle over?!  
A brother's revenge, on the other hand, is well worth fighting to the death for! Hhhghh!"

Inuyasha blocks the pike again, but Myoga shouts,

"The sheath is about to break!"

 _He's mine!_

(Crick...Heartbeat, heartbeat)

"Uh?"

But before things could end in the worst possible way, Tessaiga suddenly comes flying into Inuyasha's hand!

"The sheath has summoned the Tessaiga!"

" _TESSAIGA!_ "

(SLASH)

(SNAP)

An with a single stroke, Hiten was finished:

 _I-I was, defeated...Th-This half-demon, he defeated, both of us..._

Hiten's body then fades away, leaving behind the five shards of the Shikon-no-Tama to fall to the ground.  
Inuyasha kneels to the ground, sword in hand, bangs covering his face, as Myoga cautiously approached him:

"Lord Inuyasha, the scared jewel shards..."

"I don't care about them...If only I'd taken care of Hiten sooner, I could've saved Coraline and Shippo..."

"Inuyasha..."

"Huh? Coraline?"

Inuyasha turns around, and sees Coraline and Shippo, surrounded by an ethereal blue flame:

"Inuyasha, you fought the battle hard and well..."

"And in the end, I was finally able to avenge my father." Myoga then says,

"Witness: Their souls have come to bid you a final farewell before they make their departure to the other side..."

"Huh?"

The flame then shoots upwards, and Inuyasha rushes over to them:

"Wait, don't leave me!"

He then grabs Coraline's wrist, much to her shock. As the flame shot into the sky, briefly taking the shape of a fox, Inuyasha cried out,

"Coraline!"

...He then looks down, and sees Coraline and Shippo were alive and well!

"Inuyasha?"

"But...Hey, you're still here..."

"Of course, did...did you think we perished?"

Shippo watches as the blue flame fox flies into the sky, a sad but thoughtful look on his face:

 _F-Father? You must've used Fox Fire to protect us during the battle..._

Shippo then smiles...

"I-I should clarify, when I said souls, I really mean to say Fox Fire, which shot out of the fur of Shippo's Father."

"Yeah, sure, I make that mistake all the time..."

"Y-You're only human, or half-human..." Coraline then timidly asks with a small blush,

"U-Um, Inuyasha, my wrist...?"

And with a blush on his cheeks, Inuyasha swiftly lets Coraline's wrist go:

"This is all your fault for that sappy, 'You fought the good fight' line! Dah, if you're gonna die, it's not like it matters to me or anything!"

Coraline then watches with confusion as Inuyasha grumbles incoherently with his back turned...

Time Skip

"Come on, Inuyasha, your lips are moving, but the words aren't translating. How about telling me what's got you so upset?"

As they traveled along a more peaceful dirt road, Coraline is then informed by Myoga,

"I believe that Master Inuyasha is ashamed that he believed you were dead, and in a moment of grief, he may have revealed more than he bargained for..."

Myoga then ducks into Coraline's satchel when he sees Inuyasha wave a fist at him...

"What are you still tagging along with us for, Shippo?" Shippo calls back from Coraline's shoulder,

"Why do you think? You need me and you know it!"

Coraline tries to keep the peace between the boys:

"Go easy on him. He doesn't have a home and besides, he's not hurting anyone."

"Yeah, I'm a defenseless orphan! How am I supposed to get by in the world?" Inuyasha begrudgingly calls back,

"Alright, you can stay with us, but only until you can look after yourself!"

Shippo nods firmly, and Coraline sighs before muttering to herself,

"Boys..."

...After a few more minutes, Coraline notices that Shippo was looking rather, despondent...

"...Shippo?"

"Hm?"

"You, okay?" Shippo tries to smile reassuringly, but Coraline easily saw his hidden sorrow:

"I'm fine...Just, thinking about Father...I hope he's in a good place now..."

Coraline looks at him, before breaking out a sad smile of her own, while stroking his hair:

"...I understand. If it helps, I too lost my father to murder, and can no longer reach his remains to wish him good tidings in his next life..."

Shippo looks at Coraline in surprise, while Inuyasha's ear twitches, indicating he was listening:

"...Really? How come?"

"...His grave site is not where I'm living now in my era. It's, actually in a hidden place where I use to live when I was young. If you haven't already guessed, Shippo, I'm not from Japan originally...I'm from a country called Ireland, which is far, far across the ocean from here..."

Shippo's eyes widen in wonder, and Coraline smiles a bit more at his curiousity...

"Guess that explains what you meant a while back when you said you're not Japanese..."

"Hm?" Coraline looks up at Inuyasha, who was looking at her with an oddly neutral expression.

"...You remember me saying that?" Inuyasha nods, and Coraline awes at his memory...

"Coraline?"

"Yes, Shippo?" He was a bit hesitant, but asked the following question:

"What, happened to your father? How was he killed?"

"...Gunshot to the heart. I saw it for myself."

Both boys gasp at her answer, and Coraline adds a bit offhand but in a serious tone,

"I was almost killed that day myself, but I escaped. I soon decided that I had to leave Ireland, otherwise I probably wouldn't be alive for much longer..."

"What do you mean? What are you not saying, Coraline?"

...Coraline went quiet for a moment, before sighing and said while looking at Inuyasha,

"Look, like I said before: This is still a bit painful for me to talk about. Plus, there's still a lot you don't know about me yet, and that part is somewhat dangerous for me to speak of...Don't get me wrong, I do want to tell someone about it...I just, don't know who, and how..."

"Well, when you are ready to tell the full story, I'll be ready to listen, Coraline, and I'm sure Inuyasha will listen too..."

...Inuyasha nods firmly, and Coraline was awestruck by them both:

"...(Smile) Thank you, both of you. I promise when I am ready, I'll tell you everything..."


	12. Chapter 11

Hey, all! So, I've noticed one or two of the more recent reviews had a question or two to ask about my story, and I thought I'd take this opportunity before this chapter begins to answer a few.

So, first, while technically this wasn't a question, but one guest reviewer seemed a bit curious about Coraline's future weapons.  
Well, I can say this: In the next chapter, yes, there will be a hint about a new weapon coming into Coraline's arsenal, but no, I'm not gonna say what it is; that's gonna be a surprise.

Second, there was a question about what Coraline wasn't telling about her past...  
Sorry, but you'll just have to wait for more details as they come like Inuyasha and the others. Plus, my OC is a bit touchy on the subject, so she'll need time to get her voice ready.

And third, the question about what Coraline's 'bare essentials' are in her satchel?  
Actually, this was a bit tricky to answer: Best I can say is to try and imagine a way less bulky version of Kagome's iconic yellow backpack (maybe about the size of a regular highschool backpack?).  
Plus, my OC has more of a travel survivalist mind, so she's obviously gonna focus on what she really needs, and less on what she doesn't (Not that she won't have an 'unnecessary' item or two like say, her solar-battery Mp3 player, I mean, come on, a girl's gotta have her music - lol).  
If this isn't a sufficient enough answer, try looking up lists of survivalist/camping items and come up with something on your own...

Whew, ok, that's it. Now to get back to the story!  
Oh, and this chapter will feature the first appearance of my other two OCs, the twins. Yay!

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Terror of the Ancient Noh Mask**

We zoom in on the clearing of the Bone Eater's Well, where Coraline was peeking out from behind some bushes.  
She looks behind her, then both ways, before muttering,

"Coast is clear...Here we go!" And she begins sprinting towards the well...

"What's your hurry, Coraline?"

Unfortunately, Coraline wasn't fast enough, and was forced to skid into a halt, as Inuyasha dashed in front of her, stopping her from reaching the well:

"Not so fast! You're not going anywhere until you hand over the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama!"

"Well in my era, girls are enlisted in school, and this girl just happens to have some assignments to hand in online! Besides, I have other obligations to attend to, and the shards are better off in my hands as they're less likely to be pilfered by a demon in my era..."

She then hears a weird movement, and turns back around, only to bulge her eyes out, at seeing Inuyasha with a giant boulder in hand, leaning over the well!

"Whoa whoa, what the hell are you doing?!" Inuyasha replies,

"What does it look like? I'm gonna cover up the well for good, then you won't be able to escape into that strange era of yours."

(Lift)

"Good, riddance!"

"Sit Boy!"

(Gleam)

"Gyah!"

"Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit!"

(Wham)

"GYAH!"

And with that final 'sit', Inuyasha was now pinned to the ground by the boulder...As he moaned in pain, Coraline got ready to leap into the well, but not before giving him this final message:

"Sorry I had to do that, but you left me no options for reason! I'll be back in three days at most, if not sooner. Until then, don't you dare follow me!"

With that done, Coraline leaped into the well traveling through the space-time vortex...

Present-Day Tokyo

Back in the modern structure of the well, a strange cryptic chanting was resonating from inside the well-house, courtesy of Grandfather Higurashi.  
Souta, whom was also in the room, asked him a somewhat weary voice,

"Why bother wasting time with that chanting stuff, Grandpa? Doesn't actually work, does it?"

"It does. This ancient 'get-out-of-the-well' chant has been passed on through generations of Higurashi priests."

"Then how come you've been at it for three days and nights and Coraline still hasn't come back?"

Grandfather picks up a bucket with a hmph, just as Coraline made it through the vortex back to her era:

"Ha, another successful travel." Not hearing her down there, Grandfather then lifts the bucket into the air:

"Now for the sacred rice wine," and he tosses the wine down the well, and Coraline looks up, before:

(Splash)

"Agh! Ugh, what is this? It, smells like sake..." Grandfather looks down, and sees Coraline:

"Coraline, it's you! I knew that my prayers would be answered!"

Coraline looks up at him with her hands on her hips and sarcastically replies,

"Gee, thanks Grandfather, for worrying about my well-being _so much_ that you'd soak me in alcohol! Ah-achoo!"

"See Souta, I told you it would work!" Souta joins Grandfather to look down and exclaims,

"Hey, she's back, you really did it, Gramps!"

"No time like the present to shave your head and start your training for the priesthood!"

"Shave my head?!"

"Of course, time to pass the torch!"

"Get real! I'm gonna be a famous soccer player!"

"Soccer? What kind of a job is that?! Now dusting antiques and checking for pocket change, now that's a-" Coraline finally interrupts and shouts,

"Sounds real fascinating, but can we continue the conversation after you help me out of the well?!"

"Anyway, mom wants me to be a doctor!"

"A doctor? Well I suppose you could be a doctor on the weekends, but we're still gonna start your training for the priesthood today!"

Coraline just sighs at the two in exasperation...

Eventually, Coraline got out of the well, and went to take a shower to get rid of the sake from her body and hair. Once she was done, she was sitting in the dining room, eating a piece of toast while wearing some sweats and had a towel around her neck. Suddenly, Buyo, who was sitting on her lap, sneezed, and Coraline looks down at him in confusion:

"Hm? What's up, Buyo? Gettin' a cold? Or, maybe my hair still reeks a bit of alcohol..." And Buyo inches away from her...

"Here's a clean shirt from the dryer, Coraline. I'll put it on your bed for you."

"Thank you, Akari-sama. Looks good." Souta then asks,

"Where's that, dog-guy Inuyasha, didn't you bring him home with you?" Coraline replies with a neutral expression,

"Of course not. I've got other priorities for today, and babysitting a dog-demon is not one of them."

She takes a bite from her toast, and mentally sighs:

 _Hah, as if my life hasn't been complicated enough in these last few years...  
_

 _I've lived here at Higurashi Shrine since I was just shy of twelve years old. There's Grandfather, whose an old colleague of my late father, Akari-sama, my kid-brother Souta, and then me, Coraline Croft, your anything-but-average fifteen year-old...  
_

 _It's only this year when things took a major one-eighty, when I found out that the hidden away well is actually a vortex that leads to Sengoku Edo!  
To make it even more exciting, there are these demons (or yokai, to use the Japanese terminology) that are now after the shards of a jewel called the Shikon-no-Tama. Now, this chapter in my life has a supernatural element to add to the mix...  
_

 _If I wasn't who I am, I'd probably be constantly thinking that this will turn out to be a crazy nightmare or something...  
But no, I know better: This is far from a dream, and I'm just gonna have to roll with it..._

She takes a breath, now standing out atop the staircase, before running down the steps with a newly determined look, heading off to meet with two very dear friends of hers...  
Unbeknownst to her, the shards she left behind in her bedroom, will have awakened something that should've stayed asleep...

Time Skip

After seeing Souta to school, Coraline jogged to a small herbal shop where she was meeting her friends. Today, she was wearing a tan-coloured tank-top, a green/yellow checkered flannel shirt (unbuttoned), dark-blue jeans, and her black combat boots. She also had her hair styled down, and her red locks flowed around her face as she ran to catch up with the two boys she was looking for:

"Hey Freeman, Besa!" Two boys, dark complexions, turned around, and replied back with smiles,

"Coraline!" "Hey, Cora!"

Getting a good look at them, you could easily tell they were twin brothers, but with a couple minor differences:  
Both had short, coarse black hair, green eyes with a brown outline, and had had a bit of muscle tone.

However, while Freeman had his hair just a short-crop style, Besa was sporting corn rows, and Besa's eyes were a shade darker.  
They also wore different outfits: Freeman was wearing a dark green T-shirt with a black leather vest, black jeans, and gray converse sneakers. Meanwhile, Besa wore an outfit consisting of a light-green button-up shirt with dark blue jeans and black/white converse.

A while back, the three made plans to meet at a place called Hōjō Herbal, a medicinal shop they discovered a year ago that they frequent to for purchasing natural remedies.

As they made their way inside, Freeman asked Coraline,

"So, where have you been at, Cor?" Besa added,

"Yeah, when we went to the shrine two days ago, your Grandfather said that you were sick with some crazy illness..."

"Lime disease, I think he said. But me and Besa know that's bull. So what, have you been 'project hermiting' again?"

Both boys laugh while Coraline answers with a nervous laugh,

"Uh, yeah, something like that..."

 _Damn it, I gotta talk to Grandfather about cover stories...But considering how sharp my bros are, that may not matter long..._

(Ring, ring)

"Oh, Coraline!"

"Hm?"

She and the twins turn around, and see another boy enter the shop: He was wearing a boys middle school uniform, which consisted of a black jacket buttoned all the way, black pants, and plain shoes. He also had short, brown hair, a pale complexion, and dark brown eyes. Coraline realized he was coming up to her, and said back softly,

"Hey."

Besa and Freeman whispered on the side,

"Hey, isn't that-"

"Hōjō, that mega hunk..."

Besa shook his head at his brother's dreamy look; Freeman wore his heart on his sleeve, and had an eye for hot guys...

"How are you making out with those bunions?"

"Huh?"

Coraline was confused, and the twins held amused smiles, realizing they weren't the only ones to receive the phony report from Granfather Higurashi...  
Hōjō then held a concerned frown on his face:

"Wow, talk about a double whammy...Bunions and Gout?"

Coraline then grew mortified, while the twins barely contained their laughter...

"Oh, hang on a second. I, have something for you here in the shop for you. You know, for your ailments..."

Hōjō then went behind the counter briefly, then came back out with a package, wrapped with a red bow, and handed it to a perplexed Coraline:

"Mom wrapped it up. Hope you like pink."

As the twins watch in bewilderment, Coraline unwrapped the package, now holding a sandal of some sort...

(Ring, ring)

"Uh..."

"Therapeutic sandals, for your bunions. I gotta head to school; see ya." And with a bright smile on his face, Hōjō was out the door...

Snapping out of their individual states of confusion, the teens then got what they came here for, and left the shop.  
After walking for a bit, Besa then asks,

"Coraline...are you, by chance, going out with Hōjō?" Coraline immediately answers,

"What? No, of course not. I haven't the time." Freeman puts a hand under his chin in playful thought:

"Are ya sure? Hōjō reaaally seems hot for ya..." Coraline glares at him a bit, before replying,

"Quite sure, especially since we never really talk to eachother." Both boys look at her with surprise:

"Really?!"

"Yeah. I mean, aside from when he occasionally works with his mom in the shop, we never really exchanged words."

"Huh...But aren't you even a bit excited that he's interested in you?"

"Or, do you like someone else?" Coraline looks at both boys in disbelief:

"W-Where's all this coming from? Look, I don't have the slightest interest in any guy, least of all Hōjō. Don't get me wrong, he seems nice, but I think he's a bit too gullible for his own good."

The twins hm in thought, and Besa says,

"I guess you have a point there. He does kind-a seem like the pushover type, and based on what happened back there, he's libel to believe almost any lie you tell him..."

As they wait at a crosswalk, Freeman then asks Coraline,

"Okay, so let's say you do like a guy: Who would be your type? The athletic, intellectual, romantic...?"

Coraline thinks aloud:

"...I dunno. I guess, if I was to like a guy, he wouldn't be aggressive, but have the backbone to say his opinion, even if he disagrees with me. He would need to keep his temper in check, and be kind, understanding, see me as me, ya know? And I'm not asking for a sappy romantic, but it would be nice is he could open up about his emotions once in a while..."

 _Simply put: A much, milder version of Inuyasha..._

The twins watch Coraline as she goes into deep thought, and whisper to eachother,

"Definitely undecided."

"I'll say this: She's askin' for a toughy for a guy type like that..."

In Sengoku Edo

While Coraline was hanging out with her friends, Inuyasha was laying on his stomach in Kaede's hut, as his back was hurting from the boulder falling on top of him earlier. As he grumbled in anger, then wince in pain when he tried to stand up, Kaede turns to him and says,

"Stop lazing about. Get off ye daft and seek out some information on the Shikon-no-Tama." Inuyasha snaps back,

"And if ye hadn't noticed, my back's out of commission thanks to all those 'sit' commands!" He turns away and mentally grumbles,

 _Oh~, just wait until you come back, Coraline. You're gonna pay for this!_

(Back crack)

"Ah! Uuuhh..."

Back to the Present-Day Tokyo, Higurashi Shrine

As Grandfather Higurashi came up the steps of the shrine with a dust pan and broom, he suddenly heard and smelled something off:

"Huh? Something smoking..."

The source was one of the old storehouses on the property, and when Grandfather rushed over so see what was going on, he became dumbfounded by the sight inside:

"The storehouse is on fire!"

On a table in the back, where the fire had started, a strange box was emitting a dark aura, and the sutra seals plastered on top, had mysteriously burned off...the wood underneath the box gave away, and then suddenly:

(CRACK)

The box itself broke apart, revealing a mask, that was now floating in the air on its own!

"This is terrible! The Noh Mask has burned through the talismans that had sealed up its evil for generations!"

The said mask then began to speak:

" ** _I must have a physical body..._** "

(Splash)

Grandfather poured a bucket of liquid over his body, and with a determined look, grabbed out another set of sutras:

"My great-great-great-grandfather exorcised that evil mask for a Noh Actor, who brought it to him. It was called 'The Flesh-Eating Mask', and was rumored to have malevolent powers. I must do everything possible to seal it up again!"

He then took one set of the sutras, and threw them at the Noh Mask, but it easily burned them away:

" ** _A body...I must possess a body!_** "

It then dived at Grandfather, who ducks away from it several times, before watching the mask float up to the head of a suit of armor!  
But, try as it did, the mask could not utilize the armor for its own uses:

" ** _A body! I must possess a human body!_** " Grandfather began backing away:

"It's looking for living flesh to embody and reek havoc on us!"

(Criiick...Crack)

"Ahhh, uh!"

(Crash)

Grandfather was then taken down by the supports of the storehouse as the fire spread, while the mask continues to voice its plight:

" ** _My soul yearns for a living body..._** " Grandfather tries to lift himself up, muttering,

"I must stop it..."

(Dash)

" ** _Give me flesh and blood!_** "

(Alarm bell)

Small Time Skip

As a ambulance sped by, Coraline, Freeman and Besa were walking back to the shrine. They suddenly come up to a group of skaters:

"Hey, did ya hear? Higurashi Shrine's on fire!"

"Cool, come on, let's go check it out!"

As they ran off, Coraline freezes, her blood running cold at their words...She turns to the twins, and all three nod, before dashing for the shrine...  
At the area below the stairs, two firetrucks and police cars had parked in front, with a crowd of passers gathered, kept at bay by firefighter and policeman alike. Of course, that wasn't gonna stop Coraline from going up there, the twins following close behind:

"Excuse me, let me through!"

"Hey you, this area's off limits!"

"It's okay, she's part of the residence, and we're with her!"

Up at the top, Akari-sama had finished conversing with one of the policemen:

"Thank you for all your help, officer."

"No problem." As he walks off, Coraline and the twins came into view:

"Akari-sama, what's going on?!" "Ms. Higurashi!"

"Coraline! You as well, boys?!" Coraline comes in front of her:

"What happened, where was the fire?"

"The old storehouse caught on fire, and Grandpa was trapped inside with the smoke."

"...Is, he...?"

Akari-sama smiled sadly but chided gently,

"Oh, don't worry, he fainted and suffered from a bit of smoke inhalation, but they say two or three days in the hospital and he should be good as new. I'm just on my way now to check in and see how he's doing."

"Please, let me go with you!" Akari-sama puts a hand on Coraline's shoulder:

"Coraline, you stay here and wait for Souta. Someone's got to explain things to him."

"...Okay."

 _How the hell could a fire start in the storehouse of all places? Something's seriously not right..._

"If it's alright with you, Ms. Higurashi, we'll stay here and help out any way we can."

Akari-sama looked to Besa and replied with an appreciative smile:

"Thank you, Besa, and you as well, Freeman."

As Akari-sama left and the teens waited for Souta, the firemen were busy in the storehouse, assessing the damage and trying to find out what the cause was...As one fireman walked by a hole in the floor, he suddenly turned towards it, feeling an eeriness coming from deep in the water:

"What's down there?" Unbeknownst to him, the Noh Mask was lurking below...Next thing he knew:

(Splash)

"Uhh...uhh!"

The mask launched onto his face, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pry it off! His companion turned to him in concern:

"Hey, wh-what's the problem? What's going on?! Say something, what's the matter?!"

But all he got for an answer was the muffled cries of the firefighter, as he stumbled out the door...

Meanwhile, Souta came sprinting up to Coraline and the twins, finally home from school:

"Coraline!"

He bumps into Coraline, and she takes him by the shoulders to calm him down:

"Don't worry, Souta. It wasn't in the main shrine and no one was seriously hurt." Besa adds,

"Your Grandfather has been taken to the hospital for some smoke inhalation, but your mom said a few days of recovery and he'll be out again."

(Crash, Rumble)

"Uh?!" "Huh?!"

Suddenly, the sound of metal and glass being crushed started resonating from below, and all four ran to the stairs to see what was going on.  
What they saw, was one of the firetrucks, being driven over a few police cars, before clumsily and dangerously driving away!

"That way!" "Sir, requesting to call in for back-up!"

As the four watched with wide eyes as the police directed a car chase for the firetruck, the following message was broadcasted on the local news:

 _"This just in, a firetruck is driving wildly through the streets, completely out of control and smashing into anything and anyone in its path. The number of injured so far has not been confirmed since every person that crosses its path seems to have vanished into thin air. That's all the information we have at present, but until more is known about the incident, we strongly advise everyone to stay off the streets."_

As the firetruck continues to barrel down the road, it's revealed to be the Noh Mask who's driving.  
However, getting a closer look at its hand, it seems that the flesh it's acquired is not stabilizing well:

" ** _The flesh is disintegrating. If I can find more shards of the Shikon-no-Tama, I can gain the power to stop this flesh from decomposing. Then I will have an almighty, everlasting body of living, pulsated flesh!_** "

Time Skip

Once Coraline was sure she could navigate the streets safely, she left to see Akari-sama and check in on Grandfather, with Freeman and Besa volunteering to stay behind with Souta and keep him calm. Once she got there, she went to where Grandfather's room was, and met with Akari-sama to discuss the details:

"How is Grandfather? Has he awoken yet?"

"He's still unconscious, but the doctor's a little baffled. He said it was nothing serious, so he expected Grandpa to have woken up by now."

"I see..." Noticing the worried look, Akari-sama added,

"I'm sure it's just a matter of time. Let's not forget his age is a factor."

Coraline nodded, and then saw something in Akari-sama's hands:

"Hm? What are those, in your hands?"

"Oh, these? They're talismans; the firefighters found them plastered over Grandpa's face and in his mouth. Poor grandpa; something must've really spooked him..."

"Uh...uh..."

The women then turn into the room, where Grandfather began to mumble something:

"Beware, the Flesh-Eating Mask...Beware, the ancient Flesh-Eating Mask..."

Small Time Skip

Eventually, Coraline got home, and was now sitting at her desk, writing down a list of assignments ready to go into the scanner for one of her online courses:

"So it's just the four of us, since Akari-sama went back to the hospital to keep an eye on Grandfather incase he wakes up. Thanks again to you and Besa for staying, Freeman."

"Eh, no probs; better to have your friends around in times of crisis. I'm just glad that Ms. Higurashi allowed us to stay."

Suddenly, the door creaked open, revealing Souta and Besa, with Buyo on top of a blanket that was being dragged by Souta:

"Cora, got any room for Buyo and me to sleep here tonight?" Besa smiled apologetically:

"Sorry, I tried to get him to stay in his room, but he insisted." Coraline sighed a bit and said as gently as she could,

"I'm sorry, Souta, but I got some work to catch up on, so I can't have interruptions."

"Please, Cora?"

"I'm sure if you ask the guys politely, they could stay with you until you fall asleep." The twins both nod, and Freeman adds jokingly,

"Yeah, besides, the only thing that you should be scared of are the dust bunnies under your bed."

Souta looked a bit calmer, but still replied worriedly,

"But Grandpa was scared. He covered his face with those written spells. Something creepy happened in there, you guys, I just know it."

Coraline thought on his words, then the ones Grandfather mumbled earlier, and felt a foreboding begin to grow:

 _...Something is wrong. Aside from the hair attack from Yura, there's never been any trouble like this at Higurashi Shrine before.  
_

 _Why now? Why after all of these generation?...Unless...The Shards! Of course! It must be because I brought back the Shikon-no-Tama shards!  
_

 _...So much for my idea of them being safe in this era..._

(Siren)

"Huh?"

They all look up, hearing a siren in the distance. Freeman then comments,

"The police must've caught up with the crazy driver..."

Indeed, downtown, the police have set up a road block, ready for the firetruck that was coming up slowly, with police cars bringing up the rear...  
But, the Noh Mask wasn't fazed at all; on the contrary, it seemed more ready for them then they for it...

(Shatter, swoop)

"Ahhh!" "Oh no, oh no!" "Aaaargh!"

And before anyone could take action, the mask crashed through the window, and into other various vehicles, the flesh taking hold of the people inside, and absorbing them in!

As the mask situated itself in the flesh mass, forming into a shape that could be considered humanoid...

"Beware, the Flesh-Eating, Noh Mask..."

Back in the hospital, Grandfather Higurashi darts awake, calling out,

"Beware of the Noh Mask!"

(Screeeeech...)

(Crash)

(Crash, shatter)

"Aaah!"

Coraline grabs Souta, and both duck to the ground, just as the firetruck ladder came crashing into her bedroom window!  
As the twins rush over to them, also ducking just in time from the intrusion:

"Are you guys okay?!"

"We're fine!" Freeman then looks up, and shouts,

"Wh-What's that?!"

Coraline sits up, keeping a hold on Souta, and looks up to see the Noh Mask, reaching a hand out to something:

"A Noh Mask?! That must be the Flesh-Eating Mask Grandfather was mumbling about in the hospital!"

She then follows the hand, and gasps, seeing what the mask was after: The jewel shards inside the glass bottle!  
Luckily, it only rolled off her desk and onto the floor. The mask then spoke:

" ** _The jewel...I must have the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama..._** "

Coraline dives down, and snatches up the bottle, just before the mask could get them:

" ** _Give me the pieces of the Shikon-no-Tama!_** "

All three teens run out the door, Besa carrying a shocked silly Souta in his arms:

"Come on, we gotta get out of here!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!"

"Right behind ya!"

As they got to the outside, Souta snapped out of it, just as Coraline said,

"I've got to call Inuyasha. He's the only one who can help us!" Souta then noticed blood on Coraline's hand:

"Cora...Cora, look at your fingers, your fingers are bleeding."

"Don't worry, I just cut them a bit on the glass, nothing serious."

Just then, they all feel a shadow loom over them, and look up, with Freeman shouting,

"Look out!"

(Gloop)

And they all scrambled away, just as the Noh Mask came down at them to the ground. It looks at Coraline, before demanding menacingly,

" ** _The jewel shards...Give me the jewel shards!_** " That's when Coraline saw it:

 _The mask has a fragment of the jewel in its forehead. No wonder its so desperate to get these shards._

 _I've got to get Souta and the guys out of here before they wind up in more danger!_

"Souta, run to the Bone-Eater's Well and get Inuyasha! Tell him there are more jewel shards here, that should be enough to get him here and help us! Guys, you keep Souta safe!"

"No way, sis! We're coming with you!" As the twins run to catch up with Coraline, Souta calls out to her,

"I have to go in that spooky well?!" Coraline calls back,

"You can do it, Souta, I know you can! Now hurry!"

"Yeah, dude! You got this!" And Coraline and the twins were off, with the Noh Mask following close behind...

With that done, Souta ran over to the Bone-Eater's Well, Buyo still clinging to him.  
When they reach the well, Buyo hops onto the rim, while Souta looks down, fearful, but determined:

"(Gulp)...I can handle this!"

(Leap)

"Yaaaaaaahhhhh!"

(Wham)

"Uh!" Unfortunately, Souta was unable to pass through the vortex to Sengoku Edo...He gets up, and asks,

"How come I'm still here? Gaahah, what went wrong?!"

As Buyo kept cool above, Souta began digging into the ground, desperate to reach Inuyasha:

"I've gotta get through the well, cause Cora's in trouble...The mask is after her and the twins, and I'm the only one who can help!"

As he breaks down into tears, suddenly:

(Whoosh)

"...Uh..."

The vortex activates, and rising in front of him, was Inuyasha! Souta whispers,

"It's you, you're Inuyasha..."

"In the flesh, kid. Now what's this problem you need help with?"

Small Time Skip, Downtown Tokyo

Now, Inuyasha was leaping from building top to building top, Souta on his back, as they searched for where Coraline and the twins ran off to.

(Leap)

"Hang on tight, kid, it's a long way down."

"I guess I wasn't strong enough to pass through the hidden well."

"Lucky for you. Because in my world, there are plenty of monsters who would love to have you for lunch."

(Leap)

Inuyasha jumps down onto a moving truck, and Souta asks Inuyasha,

"Do you know how to find Cora and the twins?"

"Sure, I'm not human, remember? I can pick up scents from miles around with this nose."

"Cora cut her hand on some glass."

"Don't have to tell me that. I could smell the blood from the well. Fear not, I'll rescue Coraline and these 'twins' before they get into any real trouble."

Souta mentally wonders about how Coraline described Inuyasha:

 _(Flash)_

 _"What is he like? He's impatient, a show-off and has a easily provoked temper. (Sigh) Honestly, he's your typical macho guy who needs a crash course in talking to people."_

 _(Flash)_

 _This can't be the same guy Cora was told me about. Sure, his outfit's a bit out of date, but, Inuyasha's the only guy around I think I can trust..._

Meanwhile, at a Construction Site  


Coraline, Besa and Freeman have ran all the way down and up a building that was under construction, stopping a moment to catch their breath:

"(Pant) Ya think we lost it, bro?"

"No idea..." Coraline looked out to the view, her mind a mess:

 _Inuyasha's not here...I hope Souta reached him somehow..._

Suddenly:

(Shoom)

"Ah!"

Coraline ducked away from the edge, with the twins supporting her balance, just as the Noh Mask came shooting up, and landing in front of them!

"Oh, damn!"

"What now?!"

" ** _Hand me the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama!_** "

Just as the twins stand in front of Coraline protectively, waiting to take the blow:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash)

(Sploosh)

Inuyasha came in with his claws, slicing the flesh in two, with one piece flying to the left, and the other to the right!  
He lands in front of them, and Coraline comments in relief,

"Nice timing!" Souta asks,

"Are you guys alright?!"

"Yeah, we're fine." Souta goes to embrace the three teens:

"Oh Cora, Freeman, Besa..." Inuyasha looks at him in annoyed confusion:

"Hey, what's with all the tears? I thought you said you weren't afraid?" Coraline bends down to Souta and says with a reassuring smile,

"It'll be okay now. Inuyasha will take out that mask and it'll all be over."

"Ahem."

Coraline looks up, and sees Inuyasha, arms crossed, eyes closed:

"Before we get on with my little rescue mission here, this might be an appropriate time for an apology, wouldn't you say?"

"Huh? Apology? For what?"

"For what?! For shouting all those incantations and putting my back out, that's what!" _Now she has the gull to beg me for help..._

Coraline stands up, and says,

"Oh, yes of course. Not that I haven't already, but...Okay: I'm very sorry for that repeated incantation. It was uncalled for of me, and I shouldn't have done it. Can you forgive me?"

Inuyasha looks at her, noting the remorseful look on her face, and replies while turning away from her,

"Tch, alright, close enough...Yeah, I guess I forgive you..."

"Uh, excuse me..." The teens then turn to the twins, who occupied looks of surprise and confusion:

"Sis, who is this guy? And how did he do, what he just did now?!"

"Does he have something to do with why you've been so recluse lately?" They both ask at the same time,

"What are you not telling us?!" Inuyasha was taken aback by their protective looks, and Coraline quickly replied,

"Uh, now's not a good time, you guys, but I swear once this is all over, you'll get a full explanation!"

"We better!"

She turns to the confused look on Inuyasha's face and adds,

"And I'm sure you want an explanation about them as well, and you'll get one too, honest."

"Feh, whatever..."

Once that got cleared up, the situation then shifted back to what brought them all here: The Noh Mask.  
It would be Freeman who got everyone back in focus:

"Uh, guys, the sludge is forming back up!" Everyone looks to his direct of sight, just as the Noh mask asked lowly,

" ** _Who dares to attack me?_** " Coraline then says,

"Inuyasha, aim for the mask. The shard is embedded in its forehead!"

" _ **I am the Flesh-Eating Mask. Centuries ago, I was carved from an old tree, which had a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama embedded in it. Since my creation, I have craved human flesh, and devoured my victims. But now,** **I wish to have a living body that will not rot. For that, I require more shards of the Shikon-no-Tama.**_ "

"I see. This explains why the mask is so desperate for these shards." Inuyasha then remarks with a cocky smile,

"I dunno how many humans you've eaten so far..." He snaps up:

"But it's time to lose some weight!"

(Punch)

He hits the mask, but it was expecting the move, and engulfs his fist into itself, teeth lining the opening!

"What the-"

" ** _You've fallen into my trap. Now you shall never escape me!_** "

With that, Inuyasha was pulled into the mound of flesh! Coraline and the twins shout respectively,

"Inuyasha!"

"Aw man, he got duped!" Meanwhile, Inuyasha was immobilized within the flesh:

"Rrgh...gh...should've known better..."

The mask then forms back into its original shape, and floats out the flesh, before diving straight at Coraline!  
Using her free hand, she blocks the mask from her, but falls on her back in the struggle:

"Coraline!" "Cor!"

 _Dammit, I can't let this thing get the shards!_

She turns to the boys, and says desperately,

"G-Guys, take the shards and run! Hurry!"

She tosses the bottle, and it lands in Freeman's hands. He grows a serious expression, nods, then says to the other two,

"Besa, Souta, split up!"

"Right!" "Right!"

He then turns and runs to one end of the building level, the mask coming up behind him. The mask dives at him, and he ducks, before he shouts,

"Besa, catch!"

He then tosses the shards to him, and Besa catches them, before running the opposite way. Just as he ran, he accidentally trips on a set of cables, and falls to his knees:

"Gh!"

He gets up, just as the mask comes barreling at him! At the last second, he shouts,

"Souta!"

He tosses the bottle, then slide-dives to the ground to avoid the mask, and Souta just barely catches the bottle. As he ran off, he trips, and drops the bottle, it spinning in front of him:

 _The mask is after this bottle. I'll throw it away! No, that won't work; I can't let it get these jewel shards!_

He gets up, grabbing the bottle and continues running. Souta then stops at the edge of the building, and turns to run again, but freezes as he sees the mask coming up fast for him!

"Aaah!"

(Sploosh)

(Dash, leap)

"Don't move, kid! Rrrah!"

(SLASH)

And just like that, the mask is cut in half by Inuyasha's Tessaiga, inches away from Souta's face!

(Boom)

The mask falls apart and disintegrates, as Inuyasha lands on the ground, and Souta falls on his rear in shock...  
The twins awe at Inuyasha's skill, and watch as the jewel shard floats to the ground. Souta then breaks out an amazed smile and exclaims,

"You destroyed the mask! You did it!"

"Sure thing. You still got those jewel fragments?"

"M-hm, yeah!"

The sun began to rise, as Coraline walked over to them:

"Inuyasha!" He turns to her with a smile and says,

"Hey, Coraline. How's your hand?" She stops, a bit taken aback by the question:

"Uh, fine, thanks for asking..."

 _Ok, this is a bit weird. When did Inuyasha get so nice? I mean, not so nice, but well enough._

 _And maybe it's the morning sunrise, but he looks kind-a cool against the glow..._

"Wait, it's morning already?"

She walks over to the edge, and watches the sun come up:

"...Damn, we were up for that long?"

Inuyasha watches her astonished look, until he feels someone tug his sleeve, and looks down at Souta, who had a sheepish smile on his face:

"Know what? I got a new hero. Bet you can't guess who it is..."

Inuyasha turns away with a somewhat embarrassed blush and mutters,

"Oh, man..."

The twins then look at eachother, nodding in silent agreement, before walking over to the others. They stop in front of Coraline, and Besa asks,

"So, sis, you gonna introduce us or what?"

"Huh? Oh, right."

Coraline turns and walks to Inuyasha, the twins following close behind, and coughs a bit to get his attention:

"Um, Inuyasha?"

"Hm?" Coraline then smiles, and begins introductions:

"Inuyasha, I'd like you to meet two close friends of mine, brothers really. This is Freeman, and Besa Brownlee. Bros, this is Inuyasha, a new friend I made recently, through an adventure you're not gonna believe."

"Hey." "Nice to meet you, dude."

"Uh, yeah, same."

Small Time Skip

As they all began to slowly walk back to the shrine, ignoring the stares from any early morning pedestrians, Coraline told the twins everything that has happened to her, from entering the well, to the quest she was roped into involving the Shikon-no-Tama.  
Needless to say, the boys were stupefied by the news:

"So, lemme see if I got this right: You got pulled into the feudal era, attacked by a centipede lady, accidentally shattered a jewel that gives power to demons or anybody with dark intentions, and now you and Inuyasha gotta go and find all of these pieces before something crazy happens?"

Coraline turns to Freeman and replies,

"Well, that's the short version of it, but yes."

"...Holy crap."

"Yeah, I know..." Besa then asks,

"So, this means you were lying when you said you were just recluse in your room with school work? Not cool, sis."

"Hey, technically, I didn't lie! I just, half-truthed it, is all..." Both twins hmmed, before Freeman replied,

"Well, okay, you're off the hook on that one. But, why didn't you tell us?"

"I was worried about your reactions, plus I didn't want to endanger you both. Not that I wouldn't have told you guys eventually, I just, didn't know when..."

"Heh, well, you're kind-a late on the danger part..." Coraline turns to Inuyasha with a half-glare, but says,

"...Yeah, I guess I am. So, are you two mad or what?"

The twins smile and shake their heads, with Freeman saying,

"How could we be mad, Cora? Obviously, this wasn't easy to explain, and we get that." Besa adds,

"Absolutely. In fact, we support you, just like any brothers should. We'll help out any way we can, and you too, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha looks at them for a minute, taken aback by how understanding they were. He then asks,

"Really? You're, not against me or anything?"

"Why would we be? Cause you're half-demon? Psh, that kind-a thing don't matter to us. We judge by character, not by background or how a person is made up. As far as we're concerned...you're a cool guy."

"Yeah, and you we're totally badass with that sword of yours! And you're protecting our sis too, so I say, welcome to the club!"

...Inuyasha was stunned, definitely not expecting that kind of answer. He then said in a small voice,

"...Thank you."

The twins nod, comforting smiles on his faces, and Inuyasha almost smiles back. He then turned to Coraline and asked,

"Alright, my turn for questions: How do you three know eachother, and what's with the 'brother, sister' thing?"

The twins chuckle a bit, before Besa replied,

"Well, the reason we call eachother brother and sister because that's how we see eachother as. We just, feel that close."

Freeman then chimed,

"As for how we met, well, we were the ones who actually helped Cora get to the Higurashi Shrine in the first place."

Inuyasha looks at them with surprise, then turns to Coraline, who smiles and says,

"...It would've been about three and a half years ago..."

Flashback

 _I had just arrived in Tokyo, and I was a bit worse for wear, cause of how long I'd been traveling. I also had no idea where I was going; unfortunately, the map I did acquire got soaked in a puddle when I was pushed to the ground by a rushing businessman.  
_

 _I couldn't remember my way to the map kiosk, and my Japanese was a bit too broken to properly ask anyone for directions, so I was left to wander on my own...  
That is, until:  
_

 _(Bump)_

 _"Oh!"_

 _"Ouch!" "Whoa!"_

 _I walked into two people, and we all fell to the ground. As I rubbed my back from the impact, I heard the two get up, and one ask,_

 _"You okay?"_

 _I look up, and see two boys, dark complexions, and obviously not anymore from around here then I was. I accepted the hand, got up, and said,_

 _"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry 'bout walking into you guys like that."_

 _"No prob. I'm guessing you just arrived here?"_

 _"Is it that obvious?" They smile at me and reply,_

 _"(Laugh) Well, you're wandering in a bit of a daze, you just crashed into two strangers, and are now talking to them, in English I may add."_

 _"Not that we mind, since we like meeting people and that English is our native language. I'm Freeman Brownlee, and this is my twin brother, Besa."_

 _"...Coraline. Coraline Croft."_

 _After talking a bit more, I told them about my directional issues, and Besa said,_

 _"Higurashi Shrine? We know where it is, don't we?"_

 _"Yeah! We can take you there, if you'd like."_

 _"Really? Thank you so much! I totally owe you guys for this!" They just laughed and said at the same time,_

 _"No owing needed. Happy to help!"_

 _Eventually, we walked all the way to the shrine, and after exchanging contact information, I hugged them both in gratitude, and made my way up the stairs, shouting with a smile,_

 _"Thank you again! Let's meet up again sometime!"_

 _"Totally!" "See ya!"_

End Flashback  


"...And that's the story. After a few more adventures here and there, we became especially close."

By this time, everyone had made it back to the shrine, just making their way up the stairs. Inuyasha was actually amazed by the story:

"Wow. So if not for them, you wouldn't have been here at all."

"Yeah, pretty much. At least not for a long while." Inuyasha then turns to the twins and asks,

"So, where are you guys originally from? Are you from this, I-re-land place that Coraline's from?"

"(Laugh) Nah, we're from waaaay further away, from a place called Pennsylvania in the United States of America, USA for short."

"Ah, okay...And, why did you leave, and when?"

The twins grow quiet for a moment, some sadness forming in their eyes. Besa would be the first to speak:

"...We ran away from home when we were twelve, so about four years ago...As for why, well...Let's just say we were having parental issues..."

"...The biggest problem was that our so-called 'Dad'...he hated me." Inuyasha quirked a confused eyebrow:

"What? Why would your own dad hate you?" Freeman hesitated, but answers,

"...He didn't agree with my sexual orientation."

That just confused Inuyasha even more, and Coraline explained the definition:

"Sexual Orientation refers to a person's romantic and/or sexual preferences in another. You know, who they like and what gender."

"Ooooh...Why would your dad hate you for something stupid like that?" Freeman answers,

"Because I'm into guys, not girls. I'm homosexual, or gay as some people call it." Inuyasha's eyes widen:

"...Whoa...Uuh, I see you're not shy in saying it to."

"(Laugh) Thanks. I wasn't always this open about it, cause dad always kept barking at me for 'how wrong it was for a man to like another man', or something along those lines. He even started beating me for it at one point. Nothing too serious, but enough for it to hurt physically and mentally."

Inuyasha and Souta gasped, and Besa then said,

"I tried to reason with Dad a few times, but he either ignored me or called me a traitor for siding with him. Mom wasn't much of a help either, cause even though she didn't hate Freeman for being gay...she pitied him. Eventually, I had enough of seeing the violence, and decided to step up as the brother I was, and take action. After a serious discussion, we both agreed we couldn't stay any longer, and packed what we could, before leaving at morning light. Why Japan? (Laugh) Well, we're big fans of the dancing and music scene here, and it just seemed like the right place to go."

Inuyasha was speechless:

 _Whoa...These guys are brave, just leaving home like that...I can't believe anyone can hate someone for, something like that..._

"...Wow..." The twins nod firmly, and Souta said somewhat timidly,

"Um, if it helps, I don't think being gay is a reason to not like someone. I think you're pretty cool, Freeman, and Besa, you're a good brother for protecting him...And, you guys are so brave for coming all the way here, to Japan, I mean."

"Yeah, what he said..."

"Thanks, both of you. That's appreciated."

An odd silence fell between everyone for a bit...before Coraline broke it with a smile:

"Hey, how 'bout we all head inside, and I'll cook up some breakfast?"

The guys all brightened up at the thought of food:

"Yeah!" "Good idea!" "Let's do it!"

And with a small chorus of laughter, all five made their way inside, with a new friendship formed, and a good feeling for the future...


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: The Soul Piper & The Mischievous Little Soul**

(Toss)

Up the Bone Eater's Well flew a brown satchel, and following it was the owner, Coraline, returning to her era after another excursion into Sengoku Edo.

"I'm home, Grandfather!"

Suddenly, two friendly faces popped out from both sides of the entrance way to the well-house:

"Hey, sis!" "Cor!"

"Oh, hey bros, I didn't see you here!"

Apparently, the twins had come earlier, and were waiting patiently for Coraline to come back.

"Yeah, we came by to see if you were comin' back today."

"Need a hand?"

"Gladly." As they pulled a semi-weary Coraline out of the well:

"Shinges, is that serious?" The three teens turn out the door:

"Huh?" "Is that..." "Don't tell me..."

Turns out, Hōjō had come by to check in on Coraline, and had met with Grandfather at the entrance way to the shrine.

"It's a nasty form of herpes, from the chicken-pox virus."

"That does sound nasty, last week she had rheumatism. Here, this might help."

Grandfather accepts Hōjō's gift, and replies tearfully,

"You're mom's gonna go broke giving all this away. Thank you; I'll think of you when I put this on my-er, Coraline's swollen ankles."

By this time, the three teens had caught up, and were watching the scene and whispering about it:

"Aw man, it is Hōjō, and Grandfather is telling him another bogus story!"

"I don't understand how that poor boy doesn't see the lie in it..."

"I know, right?"

Once Hōjō was gone, Coraline silently came up beside Grandfather, looking anything but impressed:

"So, how's my rheumatism?" Grandfather immediately replies,

"Coraline, you shouldn't be out here in your condition, now get back into bed and put your feet onto some pillows before the swelling gets too bad!"

Coraline yells irritably back,

"I don't have any swelling, except for the headache that's coming on from your constant fairy-tales you keep telling to Hōjō when they're not necessary!"

"Well, somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed..."

As the twins burst into laughter from the scene, Coraline sweatdrops in exasperation, mentally lamenting over her predicament at home:

 _Nobody aside from my family, including my brothers Freeman and Besa, are aware of my constant excursions to the Bone Eater's Well and into the Sengoku era.  
Even if I could tell anyone else about it, who would believe me? Not that this hasn't been an issue before, but that's another story...  
_

 _(Sigh) At least my brothers are understanding enough to take it in stride, even if they constantly worry for me. Maybe I should talk to them and have them give Grandfather ideas about cover stories for if anyone else comes by to ask about me...  
_

 _Speaking of which...Why is Hōjō coming by to check up on me? Could, my bros be right? Could Hōjō have a crush on me?  
_

 _...No, that's silly...Why would any guy in Tokyo want to date a girl like me?_

Time Skip

By this time, Coraline, Freeman and Besa have gone downtown to hang out, and their first stop was to get some ice cream to help them cool off during this heat wave that started a few days ago.

Coraline remembered to dress smartly for the weather: Today, she was wearing a white t-shirt, long, blue-jean shorts, short white socks, and her brown hikers. She also wore her hair in a braid.  
The twins had to dress lightly as well: Freeman was wearing a white muscle shirt, black shorts, and brown sandals. Meanwhile, Besa wore a white tank-top, bright-blue shorts, and brown sandals.

"Here you go."

"Thank you!" As they walked away with their purchases, Freeman says,

"Geez, this has gotta be the hottest day yet! Who's idea was it to turn up the heat lamp?!" Besa laughs a bit and replies,

"I dunno, but if this keeps up, we might end up goin' broke just to stay cool..." Coraline looks at them, and says,

"God forbid if that happens, I'd be glad to loan you guys some cash..."

"Nah, it's okay Cora, I was joking."

"Yeah, besides, you got enough to worry about with that Shikon-no-Tama..."

Yes, the twins have been caught up with the story by now, and were offering support in any way they can. Needless to say, Coraline was eternally grateful...

"Hey, check it out, those kids have got fireworks!"

By this time, the three have reached the park downtown, and were now watching a small group of little kids with their mothers playing with some low-grade fireworks. Freeman then says to Besa with a grin,

"Remember back when we were seven and we got our hands on those firecrackers? Haha, we scared the crap out of our neighbours!"

"Haha, yeah, that was kind-a funny!" They sigh with smiles of content and both quote,

"Hah, those were the days..." Coraline smiles fondly at them and says,

"Heh, sounds like you guys had a good day. Although to be perfectly honest, I'm not a big fan of fireworks. I don't think they're really safe for kids to be handling, even with adults around..."

"Hm, yeah, I guess you have a point. Still, I say we lived it while we did..."

Besa shakes his head at his brother before he says,

"Speaking of safe, there's something Freeman and I have been meaning to talk to you about, Cora."

"Oh? What?"

Besa waves his hand in a gesture to indicate low voices, and the other two nod, before he continues:

"Well, we think that since you're gonna be doing this quest in the Sengoku era for a long while comin', it might be a good idea for you to acquire a weapon."

"Not that we doubt Inuyasha's skills or anything, it's just better to be safe than sorry, ya know?"

Coraline looks at them oddly and replies,

"...I understand what you guys mean, but what sort of weapon are we talking here? I already have the bow and arrow to try and figure out..."

"Nothing complicated, but maybe something along the lines of...say, a combat knife?" Coraline's eyes widen:

"A combat knife?!" Both boys nod, and Coraline looks at them incredulously:

"Alright, I'm not saying that isn't a bad idea, but where in the world am I supposed to find a combat knife? They don't exactly give 'em away for free, ya know!"

Both boys smile and Freeman replies,

"Oh, access is something we can handle, believe us."

Coraline stares at them for a moment, then asks suspiciously,

"...Bros, you better not be saying you're doing black market trade..."

They quickly wave their hands in defense, Besa replying,

"Oh no, no! Nothing like that! However, we do know someone near where we live that is able to get things...and yes, weapons is one of them."

"Nothing fancy like a gun, he knows when to limit risk-taking. But, he does know how to get small things, like knifes...Look, we know it doesn't sound ideal, but it's really the only way you can get anything at our ages..."

Coraline sighs, but reluctantly nods her head nonetheless, knowing that they were right:

"...Alright, as much as this is probably gonna kick my ass later, we'll go and try making a deal with him."

The brothers high-five eachother, and say,

"Thanks, sis, you won't regret it!"

"I better not, or you two are gonna get it." _Aaand I'm already getting a bad feeling about this..._

Of course, Coraline wouldn't have time to worry about this new development, because suddenly:

(Heartbeat)

"Uh...!"

Coraline sensed something...She lifts her head, and looks directly at a spot in the play equipment, near a bucket of fireworks.  
Her brothers were confused by her behaviour:

"Hm?"

"What is it, sis?"

"Look there."

They follow her direct of sight, and all three of them see a little girl, dropping a lit spiral:

(Sizzz...)

(POP, CRACK-CRACK-CRACK...)

Next thing she knew, there were fireworks going off all around the little kids and mothers! As they scrambled to shield themselves from the sparks, the mischievous girl climbs out the top of the play structure, and mutters,

"Ha, that'll keep 'em busy, little brats!" And she jumps off to run away from the scene...

"Hey, stop!"

"Come back!" "Why'd she-"

The three teens took off after her, and Coraline shouts,

"Hold it right there!" The little girl stops, and the teens catch up to her:

"Why'd you scare all those kids like that?"

"Yeah, that wasn't nice!" "Not cool, kid..." The little girl was confused:

"Wait a second, you mean you can all see me?"

That caused the three to get more confused, the twins whispering,

"See her?" "What does she mean?"

Coraline thinks it over, taking note of her appearance:

 _What's with this girl? She's only in her socks...Not only that, but she's wearing a fall jacket, when summer's approaching...Too strange..._

Coraline then steps up to the girl, saying sternly,

"Look, you owe those kids an apology. I'll go with you to make it easier." The girl replies harshly,

"Mind your own business!"

(Slap)

"Uh!"

The girl slaps Coraline's hand away, and her brothers run up to her, just when a ring of fire suddenly erupted! The little girl shouts,

"I don't wanna talk to you anymore! All of you, leave me alone!"

And just like that, the girl faded away, as did the flames...

When everything settled, the first to speak out the three was Freeman:

"Wh-What the hell just happened?!" Besa was just as shocked:

"I have no idea...Unless, could that girl, be a ghost, or were we hallucinating?"

Coraline shakes her head, and replies,

"...No...that was no hallucination...That girl was real, I could feel her hand..."

All three shiver, wondering what was to become of them from this encounter...

Meanwhile, in Sengoku Edo...

(Droning buzz...)

In a deep part of the Forest of Inuyasha, the namesake was sitting behind some bushes, watching as a swarm of strange insects were crawling around the Tessaiga, embedded within their honeycomb.

"How much longer is this gonna take anyway?" Myoga hops to his shoulder and says,

"Be patient, my lord, if you try to take the sheath from the Steel Wasps now, you'll be stung to death. The sheath of your sword was badly cracked during your last battle. Let the Steel Wasps do their job and repair it with their special wax."

Suddenly, Shippo comes floating in his pink balloon form, calling out,

"Oooh, hey, how 'bout a bite?"

He then proceeds to playfully gnaw on Inuyasha's head, before the latter replies irritably,

"Back, off!"

(Punch, punch, punch)

Shippo retreats, reverting back into his real form:

(Pop)

"Hey, I was only trying to liven things up around here!" He lands on the ground and then asks,

"Where's Coraline, anyways? I'm getting tired of hangin' around with you."

"Funny you should mention that." Shippo then stomps around in a tantrum and shouts,

"It's not fair! Why do I have to be alone with you?!" Myoga then says,

"Um, don't I deserve to be counted...?"

(Flute melody)

"Hm?"

Suddenly, a bright source of yellow light came floating in the distance, with smaller orbs of white following it, emitting chirps of children giggling.  
Inuyasha sees it as well, and asks,

"What's that?" Shippo hops onto his arm and exclaims fearfully,

"It's a demon!"

"Why are you scared? You're a demon too." Myoga then explains:

"That's no ordinary demon, it's the Soul Piper. When a child dies, the Soul Piper stays and plays with that child until the soul is ready to rest in peace. As long as the eyes of the monster remains closed, there's nothing to be afraid of. But when the eyes of the Soul Piper open, _it becomes a fearful demon._ "

Next Day, Present-Day Tokyo

"Alright, Akari-sama. I'll take Souta, but I need to call Freeman and Besa to let them know."

After Coraline called and told her friends that they needed to post-phone their excursion to meet with the acquaintance, they said to meet up along the way anyway.  
So now, Coraline, Souta and the twins were walking down to the hospital to see a classmate of Souta's, who was in a coma. As they exited the train station, Freeman said,

"Sorry to hear your friend's in the hospital, Souta."

"Thanks. I hope these fortune cranes help in some way." Besa smiles gently and says,

"With how hard you worked on them, I'm positive that good vibes will be sent towards a full recovery."

Coraline nods in agreement, and Souta smiles in appreciation.  
As they moved onto the street, Souta's face then shifts to a worried frown, as he asked Coraline,

"Um, Cora?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think, evil ghosts really exist?"

"Hm? What do mean?"

...Souta goes quiet, and doesn't answer. The walk remains silent as they finally reached the hospital, head up to the room where the boy was, and meet with the mother who was keeping a vigil over him:

"Oh, Souta. It's so nice of you to visit."

"How's Satoru? Will he be getting out soon?" Satoru's mother sadly replies,

"I'm afraid he'll be here for a while yet, he's still hasn't woken up since the accident." Souta hands her the tree of cranes:

"Well, maybe these will help."

"Get Well Cranes. How very thoughtful of you, Souta."

Coraline looks up from her vantage point, and notices something about the woman's hands:

 _Her hands...they're burnt._

"Oh these. They were burnt in the fire."

"Oh! Forgive me, I didn't mean to stare." Satoru's mother smiles faintly and replies,

"Thankfully, he wasn't burnt. But he's been in a coma for half a year, since the fire." Besa says softly,

"I pray that soon your son awakes, ma'am."

She smiles and nods, accepting his words of sincerity. Suddenly:

(POP)

"Uh!"

The bag full of solution that was attached to Satoru's arm breaks, and crashes to the ground!  
Coraline looks over, and sees the little girl from yesterday!

 _The girl from the park! But, why did she...?_

She turns to the twins, who nod, silently saying that they saw her too...

"Not again."

"Huh?"

Coraline looks over to Satoru's mother, and she walks up to where the bag fell and mutters,

"Why does this keep happening?"

 _Who is she? And what does she want with Satoru?...I've got to get to the bottom of this, and quick!_

Meanwhile, up on the roof of the hospital, the Soul Piper and the little girl are floating by, the flute emitting a low, ominous sound, as the girl glares down below:

"One of these days, I'm gonna finish off my stupid brother for good!"

When the visit was finished, Coraline, Souta and the twins were walking down a side street, with she asking Souta,

"Souta, is their a specific reason why you asked about evil spirits earlier?" He answers,

"Yeah. Some people in our class think there's an evil ghost that's after Satoru. He's been in a coma for six months, right? Everyone used to come and visit him all the time, but then all kinds of weird things started happening every time someone came to see him."

"You mean like what happened just a bit ago?" Souta nods to Freeman and continues:

"And that's not even the craziest thing that's happened: Some kids were pushed down stairs, others almost getting hit by cars...Everyone's too scared to visit him now. His sister, Mayu, died in the fire, you know. Some guys think that maybe she's the one doing the creepy stuff."

By this time, the four had reached their next destination: An apartment building, where one particular unit was in horrible shape from fire damage.  
As they looked up, Coraline asked,

"So, this is where the fire occurred?"

"Yeah. They kept tryin' to clean it up and rebuild it after the fire, but every time someone got near, there was another accident."

As they continued to gaze upward, a potted plant suddenly rises into the air, moves forward, before:

"Heads up!"

(Crash)

The four scramble out of the way, before they got hit by the pot, and it just shatters on the pavement...

"See! I told you there was an evil ghost around! Gh...Uh..."

Overcome with shock, Souta faints. Coraline tries to wake him up:

"Souta. Souta!"

Besa comes over and feels his pulse, before looking up at Coraline and saying,

"It's okay, he should wake up in a bit."

Coraline nods, but then jumps startled when Freeman shouts,

"Whoa, hey, get off of there!"

She and Besa look up, and see the little girl again, as she suddenly jumps off the railing, only to land slowly and smoothly onto the ground!

"But, how-"

"Duh. I'm dead, don't you get it?!"

As Besa continues to kneel beside Souta, Coraline glares at the girl while rising to a stand:

"I get it now. You're Mayu, Satoru's sister, aren't you? Why are you doing this?" Freeman adds,

"Yeah, surely you don't want to hurt anyone, don't you?"

Mayu turns away from them and replies harshly,

"I don't care about anyone, especially not my mommy. Mommy couldn't stand me. She didn't even cared that I died! She left me in the fire; she only saved my little brother..."

Coraline's eyes soften and she chides,

"I'm positive that is a lie. We've spoken with your mother, Mayu." Freeman steps up and adds,

"We can guarantee that she loves you just as much as your brother." Mayu snaps at them,

"What do you know?!" She then adds while glaring at them,

"You better stay out of my way or I'll have to kill you too!"

At that threat, Mayu vanishes in a flash of light, and begins to rip out multiple bushes and a tree, throwing them into the air, before they came soaring back down! Thinking quickly, the three teens huddle around Souta, and cover their necks, just as the uprooted plants and pieces of rubble came raining down:

(CRASH)

Once the dust cleared, the three teens, now covered in dirt, look up, before freezing up at the sound of a low whistling of a flute...  
They turned around, and saw the Soul Piper staring at them!

"Wh-What the hell?!"

"What is that?!" Coraline looks more intently at its face, before muttering,

"...When the eyes open up..."

Then just like that, the Soul Piper was gone, leaving behind three rattled teens, even more bent on solving this problem...

Small Time Skip, Sengoku Edo

Realizing that the creature may very well be a demon, Coraline decided to speak with Myoga, while the twins waited for her on the other side of the well for her, just as curious for the answer...  
As she sat on the lid of the well, with Shippo on her left, and Inuyasha sitting on the grass a few feet in front of her, Coraline quirks,

"So you've heard of this creature...The Soul Piper, is it?" Myoga, whose on her finger, answers,

"Yes, it sounds like we're talking about the same thing. The Soul Piper consoles the children until they can accept their deaths. It entertains the children with its flute, until the child finds peace."

"And, what happens if the child cannot find peace, because something is holding them back, like jealousy or hatred?"

"Then the child will become an evil spirit."

"Just like that? Really?"

"You've heard of poltergeists, full of rage and hatred. When the Soul Piper senses the child's rage, its eyes open, and the Soul Piper hurls the child into the depths of hell."

Shipo then chimes in:

"Most of the time the Soul Piper's eyes are closed, but look out when they open!" Coraline then says seriously,

"Oh god...They were opening! I've got to do something to save Mayu!"

"Let it be, Coraline."

"Huh?"

She looks at Inuyasha, and he says just as seriously,

"Ghosts and spirits aren't like monsters. We can't just take out our swords and start ordering them around. Ghosts are different and _much more dangerous._ "

Coraline stands up and retorts,

"Like hell that matters to me! I believe in helping others when they need it most, and so do my brothers! We're not just gonna sit around when we know that we can at least try to save Mayu from eternal suffering!"

"Keh, well you can count me out. There's nothing you three can do for the girl at this point...Haah?!"

When he turns around to address her, he finds that Coraline was gone, and Shippo calmly says,

"You shouldn't talk to yourself. People will wonder."

He then snaps out his stupor and growls, realizing where Coraline was going...As she floats down the well, Coraline mentally declares,

 _I can't let her continue down this path...Poor Mayu. She's already suffered so much..._

Meanwhile, at the Hospital...

As Satoru's mother worked on a specially detailed fabric, she thought back to before the tragedy...

Flashback

 _We see Mayu gazing into a fish tank with a happy smile as her mother washed the dishes:_

 _"Mommy, I can't wait to try on my new Kimono! I'll wear it to the festival, and catch lots of goldfish friends for my new tank! Are you almost finished, mom?"  
_

 _Her mother replies with a smile,_

 _"Almost, but the festival's still a long way off."_

 _"Yeah, I know, but I wanna try it!" Mayu's mother laughs a bit and replies,_

 _"Yes, honey."_

End Flashback

She stops working on the kimono for a moment, at the same time Mayu came floating to the window:

"This time, when mom leaves the hospital, I'm gonna make sure Satoru has an accident."

As she glares determinedly into the room, the Soul Piper lingers behind her, as its eyes open a fraction further...

Small Time Skip

Downtown, Coraline and the twins are heading towards the hospital, after agreeing that they had to save Mayu somehow, before the Soul Piper passes judgement on her soul...

At the same time, the mother was beginning to leave, with a nurse sending a wish to her as she went:

"Sure, thank you...Oh, goodnight, Mrs. Akaita, see you tomorrow, we'll call if there's any news."

"Thanks. Goodnight."

"Have a good night's rest." But just as she left out the door, the three teens just arrived:

"Mrs. Akaita!"

"Oh, hello, what are you three doing here? Visiting hours are over, dears."

"We know, but we need to speak with you...It's about, Mayu."

As they all watch a nurse direct an ambulance to the entrance, Mrs. Akaita laments,

"It seems like just yesterday..."

She then retells the events of the night of the fire...

Flashback

 _As Mrs. Akaita tends to a sick Satoru in his room, Mayu stands in the doorway with an angry look on her face:_

 _"I hate you, mommy! Why didn't you come to the school open-house?!"_

 _"I'm sorry, Mayu, but your brother's been sick in bed all day."_

 _"It's always about stupid Satoru!"_

 _"That's not true."_

 _"I can't stand you or Satoru!" Mayu throws her bag to the ground and darts off:_

 _"Mayu!" Mrs. Akaita tires to call her back:_

 _"Don't you run out on me!"_

 _(Door closes)_

"It seemed we were always having arguments like that. I thought I heard the door slam and I assumed that she ran off to the neighbour's apartment like she usually did...but I was mistaken..."

 _She leaves for home with a bag of groceries, only to meet with two of her neighbours, who tell her that her apartment was on fire.  
She immediately runs back, and enters the flame-engulfed home, desperate to find the 'one child' inside..._

 _The fire department arrives, and one escorts Mrs. Akaita outside, she holding Satoru in her arms, as they are covered in a blanket...  
_

"How could I have known that Mayu was still inside?"

 _"We got a body in here. Poor thing, looks like just a kid..."_

End Flashback  


"If I had known, I would have gone back in, but I was sure that she wasn't there..."

As Mrs. Akaita tears up from the horrible memory, Coraline mentally deduces,

 _So then, Mrs. Akaita wasn't even aware Mayu was still inside...Oh god, poor her...Poor them..._

(Crash)

"Huh?"

The four look up, and see shattered window glass fall from a hospital room, along with the lights flickering erratically:

"That's Satoru's room!"

"It's Mayu!"

"Oh god, we gotta get up there!"

And all four rush up to the hospital room, as the lights short out, and the wiring hits the machine beside the bed, causing it to short as well!

Coraline leads the charge, opening the door and shouting,

"Mayu, stop!" Besa and Freeman add respectively,

"Please, let's talk this out!"

"This is all a big misunderstanding!"

Mayu stares in shock, as does her mother, before the latter mutters,

"Mayu?! But, you were-"

"STAY OUT!"

(Whoosh, slam)

But before she could walk in, Mayu sends a wave of energy at her, causing her to fall against the hallway wall!

"Mrs. Akaita!" Besa goes to her, while Coraline and Freeman try to reason with Mayu:

"Please, Mayu, your mother isn't to blame for this!"

"Try and think back: She didn't abandon you in the fire! She didn't even know you were still at home!"

Flashback

 _"Ooo, it's nice and warm in here."_

 _Mayu comes back into the bedroom, and Satoru stirs awake as she hangs her scarf up:_

 _"Ooh, hi there Mayu. Mom said, (sniff) you're not suppose to hang stuff over the stove when it's on, remember?"_

 _"You gonna snitch on me?" Mayu then opens the door to the closet and walks in:_

 _"I'm gonna play a trick on mommy. Don't tell her I'm in here or I'll be mad! I'm gonna make her worry about me..."_

 _She closes the door..._

"I left my scarf over the stove. It must've fallen and caught on fire. It was my fault our apartment burned down...and mommy didn't know I was home..."

End Flashback

Coraline and Freeman take a few steps closer, staying as calm as possible as they spoke to Mayu:

"Mayu..."

"It's okay...It isn't too late to make this right..." But Mayu wasn't listening; she was in her own mind:

"I forgot about that, but it doesn't matter...CAUSE I STILL HATE HER!"

(Boom, crash)

The floor erupts from the ground, causing the two teens to cringe back, as the Satoru and his bed suddenly moved toward the window:

"Satoru!" "Satoru!"

But just as they ran to save him...he already fell out the window!

They look down, shocked at the turn in events:

"...No..."

"Oh Satoru..."

"Can't you handle anything on your own?"

Recognizing that voice, the teens turn to the upper right, and see Inuyasha, hanging from the implanted-in-the-wall Tessaiga, and with Satoru in his free hand!

"Inuyasha! You came to help us...thank you!"

"Nice catch, by the way!"

"Keh, good thing I came too, otherwise this kid would be in big trouble." Inuyasha then turns outwards, staring at Mayu:

"Give up on the girl, it's too late for her."

The teens back from the window, Freeman holding onto Satoru, as Inuyasha came to crouch on the windowsill:

"Even if you get her to realize what happened and make her stop, I guarantee you she's not going anywhere near heaven."

Just then, the Soul Piper appeared behind Mayu, the eyes ready to fully open:

"Oh no, it's eyes!"

"Aw man, not good!"

And the Soul Piper's eyes were wide open, the irises holding a dark red, foreshadowing the fate it had in store for Mayu...  
Red chains then began to materialize, and wrapped around Mayu's arms:

"W-What are you doing? Hey, lemme go, I wanna stay here!" And the Soul Piper dragged her away...

"Mayu!" Coraline turns to Inuyasha and says,

"...I won't give up on her, no matter what you say! I'm going after her!" Freeman then says,

"Try the apartment where the fire was! That Soul Piper may be forcing her to relive her past before hurling her to hell."

"I was just thinkin' that. Guys, I hate to ask you this, but-" Besa cuts in:

"Say no more, Cora. We'll take care of things here with Satoru and Mrs. Akaita. You go on ahead, but be careful!"

Coraline nods, and begins to run out the door...only to be dragged onto the back of Inuyasha!

"Agh-Hey, what're you-"

"Feh, like I'm letting you go on your own. Hang on and we'll get there faster!"

"...Inuyasha...Okay."

And she bids her brothers farewell, as Inuyasha takes off into the night...As they began their pursuit, Inuyasha says to Coraline,

"...I'll give you and your brothers this: Your instincts aren't too bad, for humans."

Small Time Skip

After a bit, Inuyasha and Coraline come up to Mayu's family apartment, the room now glowing an ominous light purple...

"That must be it. Let's just hope we're not too late..."

Inuyasha lands atop the railing, and Coraline hops onto the deck, and says,

"Thank you for getting me here...I can take handle things from here."

"Like you and your brother handled that kid back at the hospital? I don't think so, I'm going with you."

As they walk inside, Inuyasha comments,

"I can relate to whoever first said 'there's nothing scarier than an ignoramus'..."

But just as he said it, Coraline had vanished!

"Huh? She disappeared! Right, this is the dimension where humans are dragged into hell! I'm half-demon so I can't make it past this barrier...Aw, damn! Coraline cannot handle this on her own!"

Inside the Dimensional Space...

Mayu was now kneeling in a dark space, her own body illuminated within the room, and the chains still visible around her arms...

"Where am I? Why's it so dark in here?"

She turns to the right, and sees a sliver of orange light shining in through a door...

"The light's on..."

But when she opens the door, she cringes back in horror at the sight of flames and smoke, and begins to scream!

Meanwhile, back at the Hospital

(Jolt)

"Huh?"

"You're awake. How are you?"

Mrs. Akaita rises from a sick bed, a bandage on her forehead, asking the nurse,

"Where am I? What happened?" The nurse explains gently,

"Satoru's woken up, and one of the nice boys who helped you is waiting with him."

"Huh?!"

"Mrs. Akaita?" She turns towards the door, and sees Besa, who said with a relieved smile,

"I'm glad you're alright, ma'am. My brother is waiting for us with your son."

They walk together to where Satoru was resting, Freeman standing by the bed:

"Satoru!"

The twins step back respectively, as Mrs. Akaita went to greet her son, finally awake:

"M...Mommy?" As she kneels by him, worried but relieved, Satoru then says,

"Mommy...Mayu, she's...hiding, from you, in the closet..."

Mrs. Akaita could only stare with shock, as Satoru adds,

"Hurry and, get her, mommy..."

The twins look at eachother, the same message on their minds:

 _Coraline...Please be careful, and save Mayu!_

Back in the Dimensional Space  


As Mayu curls into a ball, surrounded by the torturous flames of her memories, she fearfully laments,

"T-This is my house...this is how I died. Nobody could save me because no one knew I was here!"

"Mayu! Where are you Mayu?!" She looks up in shock, as she heard someone call out for her:

"...Is that you, mommy?"

In reality, it was Coraline who was looking around the home for her, following a similar path that Mrs. Akaita did back when:

"Where are you?! Please, answer me!"

Mayu opens the closet door, and sees Coraline looking around, before turning and spotting her:

"There you are!"

Coraline comes up to Mayu, and says with a relieved smile,

"Come on, Mayu, let's get outta here! It's not too late!" Mayu becomes angered and yells,

"How many times do I have to tell you?! I'm dead, you stupid idiot! What's your problem?!"

"Dead or not, my problem is letting someone suffer when they shouldn't suffer at all!"

Mayu becomes stunned by Coraline's words, when suddenly:

(Rumble)

"Huh?!"

The floor behind Mayu caves in, revealing an entrance to Hell! As both girls look down in shock, more chains wrap around Mayu, and begin dragging her in!

"Aaaah!"

"Mayu!"

(GRASP)

Coraline manages to grab Mayu's hand, and was now stuck in a contest of strength between herself and the chains of hell, with Mayu caught in the middle, and fearfully looking down below...

"Mayu, don't let go!"

Overhead, came the eye of the Soul Piper, and more strain is put on the chains, pulling Mayu further in, and putting more strain on Coraline's grip...  
As she barely manages to maintain her grip, Coraline shouts to Mayu,

"Listen to me: You need to go home! You need to go back and make up with your mother!"

As the room began to crumble, Coraline adds,

"Your mother loves you, now and forever, Mayu! Don't you want to make peace before you say farewell for good?"

Mayu looks up at Coraline...and asks timidly with tears in her eyes,

"Isn't...mommy mad at me? Are you sure mommy's not mad?"

Coraline shifts into a sad but reassuring smile and replies gently,

"...Of course she's not mad. How could she be? You're her daughter...She loves you and misses you dearly, and only wants to see you again, Mayu."

As Mayu flashes back to all the happy times with her mother, smiling face and all, she bursts into tears and shouts,

"Mommy! I miss you, mommy! I wanna say sorry to you! I always wanted to make up with you! I'm Sorry, Mommy!"

And just as her grip tightened on Coraline's hand:

(SNAP)

The chain around Mayu's arm broke, and descended back into the fiery depths of Hell!  
Coraline pulls her up, and Mayu continues to cry her eyes out, as she hugs Coraline around the middle, burying her face into her shirt...  
Coraline hugs her back, and whispers,

"It'll be alright now, Mayu...It'll be alright..."

Time Skip

Come the next morning, as the sun shined into the now more peaceful shell of the apartment, we see Mrs. Akaita walking in, wandering the place, searching for something...or someone...

"Mayu?"

As she kneels in front of one spot, a distant voice calls back,

" _Mommy._ "

Mrs. Akaita turns around, and sees Mayu, her form a bit more faded and looking more peaceful than she did before...

"Mayu?!" Mayu come up to her, and says while placing a hand on her head,

" _I'm sorry, mommy. Will you forgive me?_ " Mrs. Akaita smiled sadly, tears in the corner of her eyes, and replies,

"...Yes."

Mayu smiles, and removes her hand before saying,

" _Bye, mommy. I have to go now._ "

And Mayu faded away, leaving her mother behind, both a little more at ease than before...

As this went on, Coraline, Inuyasha and the twins were sitting on a nearby rooftop, as they lament over the events that occurred:

"I hope Mayu's spirit is at ease now." Inuyasha looks at Coraline seriously and scolds her for her recklessness:

"What were you thinking, going in there all alone? That girl could've easily pulled you into Hell, Coraline, and I wouldn't have been able to save you!"

Coraline glances at Inuyasha, before commenting mentally,

 _It was worth the risk._

Freeman then says,

"Sometimes you gotta take risks in order to get things done. Sure, going into a place like that is dangerous, but if you don't try regardless of the odds, wouldn't that make you a bit of a coward, or a quitter?"

The other three look at Freeman with surprise at his words, before going into their own thoughts...

Time Skip

A week later, Souta tells Coraline that Satoru came home from the hospital, and that he and his mother were looking at a better future...  
Now, it was sunset, and Coraline was working on something at her desk:

"Hmm...Let's see here..."

"Coraline."

"Hm?"

She looks out the window, and smiles, seeing Mayu, floating with a smile on her face, and in her new kimono:

"Hey, Mayu."

"I wanted to see you one last time before I left."

"I love your summer kimono. You look adorable."

"Thanks. My mommy made it just for me. Well, I better be going now! Bye!" And Mayu begins to float away...

"Goodbye, Mayu, safe travels!"

 _Heh, I knew you were never destined for Hell...You were just a sweet, little girl, who needed guidance back to her mother..._

Mayu's giggling spirit fades away, along with the Soul Piper, both of whom were at peace...

Coraline sighs in content, before turning to sit back at her desk:

"...I'm glad Mayu is at peace...Now, to focus on this other little girl..."

 _Rikona..._

"Why do I always get myself into these situations? And all this...to acquire a weapon..."

A Few Days Earlier...

"It's right up here, we just gotta turn down this alleyway..."

It's been a few days since the incident with Mayu, and now Coraline was being led by the twins through a shady-looking district of downtown Tokyo, to meet up with the acquaintance and see about obtaining the combat knife.

"So, how do you two know this Shuji character anyway?"

"We met him during our first year here in Tokyo. He was actually the one who helped us find a place to live."

"Though he does dabble in the black market, he's not a full-in gangster or anything. He just, does what he has to to survive..."

"...I see. And you said weapons are his specialty?"

"Yep."

"Like we said before, he stays away from guns and the big grade stuff, but knifes are easy for him."

They come up to the end of the alleyway, where a banged-up garage door stood:

"This is it." Freeman steps up and knocks on the door:

(Clang, clang)

"Yo, Shuji! You in? It's us, Freeman and Besa!" A muffled voice answers,

"Yeah, I hear ya! Come in!"

Freeman lifts the rusty door up, and all three walk in, bending down a bit to avoid hitting their heads, and Freeman sets the door down again.  
As they walked in, Coraline took a look around:  
The interior looked like any other garage, with a few tables set up around the walls, tools and various gadgets scattered atop the wood surfaces; the walls were a bit worn down from age; and their were a few puddles from spilled oil...

"Oi, Freeman, Besa, good to see ya guys!" Coraline looked back in front of her, and took in the appearance of the new face:

He had pale skin, short, messy black hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a torn, black tank top with a skull on it under a rip-sleeved jean jacket, gray jeans, and black sneakers. He also had a skull tattoo on his upper left arm, with a fading scar from a previous injury underneath.

"Yo, Shuji, it's been a while!" Shuji then looks over at Coraline:

"Is this who I think it is?"

"Yep. Shuji, this is Coraline, Coraline, Shuji." Coraline shakes Shuji's hand and says,

"It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, likewise. Your bros have mentioned you a couple times, and I gotta say, you look prettier than I imagined..."

Coraline blushes a bit and replies,

"U-Uh, thanks, I guess..."

Freeman steps up and wraps an arm around Coraline's shoulders:

"Easy there, Shuji. We didn't come down here so you can flirt with our sister." Besa adds,

"Haha, yeah, besides, Cora ain't interested in dating anyone yet."

They all laugh a bit and Shuji says with his hands held out,

"Alright, alright...So what can I help you guys with?" Coraline then goes more serious and says,

"My brothers told me you're the kind of guy who knows how to get a hold of weapons...Is that true?"

"Maybe...depends on what a body needs. What sort of weapon are you lookin' for?"

"...A combat knife." Shuji whistles through his teeth:

"Wow, goin' for the type that'll get the job done, eh? May I ask why?"

"It's kind-of complicated to explain, but let's just say that the adventure lying ahead for me is prone to getting more dangerous, and it would do me good to have another form of protection..."

Shuji nods in understanding:

"I see...Well, unfortunately I don't have anything along the lines of a combat knife currently. I can get you one...but it won't come cheap."

"I know. What sort of price am I lookin' at?" Shuji goes into thought:

"Hmm, well based on what I've seen for selling prices of knifes in today's market, I'd say around...8000 yen."

Coraline's eyes bulge out:

"8000 yen?! That's a little steep for me, I can barely get 5000 out of my account during a good month!"

"I know, but that's the cheapest price there is...But I'm not unreasonable. We can negotiate the price."

Coraline folds her arms and looks at him skeptically:

"...This better not be leading towards me doing black market smuggling, cause I'm not sinking that low..."

"Oh, no, no, nothing like that! Actually, this is more of a personal favour..."

Shuji then goes to one table, and grabs a photograph and a folder, before walking back to the three:

"...Your brothers told me you're the kind of girl who has a mind for detail and sleuthing. My little cousin, Rikona...she's been missing for a couple weeks, and though I already have other sources keeping an eye out for her, she's still not showing up. This may be asking for a lot, but if you can find any sort of sign of where she could be...I'd be willing to half the price. Hell, if you can even bring her home, I'll cut it down further."

Coraline takes the photo, and sees a picture of a cute little girl with long, black hair tied in a braid, and wearing a pink dress with white flowers on it.

"What's this other folder?"

"It's a copy of a file from a few months ago about a gangster that got busted for weapon possession. Don't ask me how I got it. Apparently, Rikona was a witness to the event...Anyway, I think she ran away from home out of fear, because the brother of this guy has been threatening to get back at everyone who was at the scene..."

Coraline narrows her eyes at the file, before looking back up at Shuji with a serious expression:

"...You want me to find your cousin, and in exchange, you'll lower the price of the combat knife?"

"Yes."

"...I'll do it."

Back to the Present

Coraline sighs, as she looks at what she's got so far on Rikona, which admittingly, isn't much:

"I cannot believe I agreed to do this. What did the guys tell Shuji, anyway? That I'm some sort of police girl in training or something?"

She then thinks about Mayu, and compares what she did for her to what she's doing now:

"...Still, she's like Mayu: Another little girl caught in a bad situation...But at least, I have a chance to help before the worst comes to pass."

Coraline smiles faintly, and continues on, a new determination beginning to surface...


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: The Mystery of the New Moon & the Black-Haired Inuyasha**

It's been a few days, and we now zoom in on Coraline as she leaves the downtown library, after returning some texts she borrowed for school work.  
Out front waiting for her, were the twins, and they began heading back to the shrine:

"So, what'd you return this time?"

"Just an algebra text and a book on Shakespearean plays. Nothin' major." Freeman cringes from the sound of the first text:

"Ugh, don't mention algebra to me! I can't stand anything math-related!"

Besa and Coraline laugh, before the former asks,

"Speaking of major, any luck on finding leads for the missing girl, Rikona?" Coraline frowns and replies,

"Not until yesterday: I went down to the street where she was last seen, and spoke with a shop keeper and his son who said that they saw her heading for the abandoned factory district a few times for the past week and a half."

"Well, better something than nothing." As they turned the corner to the shine stairs, suddenly:

(Bump)

"Oh!"

Coraline walks into someone, and a slab of bamboo falls out of the packaging they were carrying. Coraline looks up, and sees the person to be Hōjō!

"Oh, Hōjō!" He smiles at her and says,

"Hey, Coraline. Didn't expect to run into you, but I'm glad I did. This is supposed to be good for hitting pressure points. Can't hurt to try it."

"Um, I dunno what to say..." Besa and Freeman whisper to eachother,

"Gotta give the guy an A+ in persistency."

"I think he'd have better chances with flowers..." Hōjō then asks Coraline,

"I know that sitting bothers you, but, do you think you can make it through a movie? It's just two hours."

Coraline felt a small blush come to her face, before the twins each put a hand on her shoulder and say to him,

"Hate to interrupt, but may we have a word with our sister for a moment?"

Though a bit surprised, Hōjō nods, and the twins gently pull Coraline aside to talk about this new development:

"Whoa, didn't see that comin'...Did he seriously just ask me, on a date?"

"Looks that way."

"So, ya think you might take him up on it, Coraline?" Coraline looks at Freeman in surprise and replies,

"What? Seriously, me go out with him?! You're joking, right?"

"Why not? I mean sure, you're not into him, but it couldn't hurt to test the waters, if ya know what I mean..." Besa cuts in:

"I'm gonna have to go with Cora on this one, bro. If she doesn't have any interest in Hōjō, why should she go out with him? Besides, we kind-of have another priority on our plate with Shuji and Rikona..."

"...Riiight, almost forgot about that..."

"In that case, I know what I have to do." Coraline then walks back over to Hōjō, and says with an apologetic smile,

"I'm sorry, Hōjō, but I must decline. I have this, project I'm working on currently, and it's gonna take me longer than I want it to."

"Oh, I see. No worries, I understand. I guess I'll see you around then?"

"Sure. See you, Hōjō." And he heads off, leaving Coraline with the gift...

Later in the evening, Coraline gets ready with her satchel to head back to Sengoku Edo, and she asks Inuyasha,

"Say, Inuyasha? What are the chances we can get me back here by Saturday at the latest?"

"Um, fair to moderate, if were lucky."

"Good." Inuyasha lifts Coraline up to the well by her satchel, and asks while scratching his head,

"Uh, when exactly is this Saturday of yours again?" Coraline sighs and replies patiently,

"About four days from now." Inuyasha drops her in surprise:

"Four days?!" She calls back on the drop down,

"And I only need to be here for a few hours! Honest!"

"Feh...fine! We'll see, but you better promise that!" And he leaps in after her...

Time Skip

By the next day, Inuyasha, Coraline and Shippo were now far from the village, and floating down a river in a small boat.  
Coraline looks up from her notebook, and looks around the scenery with a smile:

"Heh, flora like this isn't something you come by in my time..."

(Splash)

"Haha, neither is the fauna!" Inuyasha turns to her with an annoyed glare and replies,

"Would you mind focusing a little? We're not here to look at the scenery." Coraline half-smirks at him and replies,

"I am focused; It's called multi-tasking."

Meanwhile, Shippo was leaning over the side of the boat with a queasy expression. Inuyasha looks at him incredulously and says,

"Shippo, you call yourself a demon? You're not suppose to get seasick!"

"I'm not trying..." Inuyasha then comments,

"This is ridiculous. We're not gonna find any shards unless you two snap to it." He then notices the notebook in Coraline's lap:

"And what is that you're writing anyway? That's gotta be the weirdest-looking scroll I've ever seen."

"That's cause it's not a scroll; it's called a notebook. As for what I'm writing, it's stuff for a missing girl I'm trying to find."

Shippo looks at Coraline curiously:

"Missing girl?" Coraline nods and says seriously,

"A mutual acquaintance of mine and my brothers has a little cousin who went missing a few weeks ago. In exchange for a, 'certain item', I'm trying to find some sort of lead to where she could be."

"Feh...and what's this, 'certain item' you're trying to get?" Coraline looks at Inuyasha and replies simply,

"A weapon. And I'm not telling you what it is yet. You'll just have to wait until I get it."

Inuyasha is shocked with surprise at her answer, before turning back to the front, and noticing something odd:

"Hm?"

"What is it?"

"Spider webs..." Coraline looks forward, and sees the white strands of something that did look a lot like spider silk!

"What the...That's strange. Webs shouldn't get this large..."

Inuyasha brushes some aside, but grasps a bit into his hands, looking at it, before clenching it with a frown...Myoga hops onto his shoulder and asks,

"Master Inuyasha, what manner of webs are they?"

"Nothing to be concerned about. Huh?" Coraline points up to a cliff-side:

"Look, there!"

Backing up from the bushes, was a young girl in a short green kimono:

"Get away from me!" She ducks out of the way of an oncoming attack, and falls from the cliff!

"Aaaaahhhh!"

Inuyasha immediately leaps off the boat, and catches her, before landing on a nearby rock. Coraline calls back with an impressed smile,

"Nice catch, Inuyasha!" He watches as the unknown appendage shoots back into the bushes...

"Looks like some sort of demon..." The girl looks at him and says gratefully,

"My thanks. You saved me from certain death...Whuh!?"

She then cringes in shock, and Inuaysha turns to her in confusion, not realizing she was fixated on his ears:

"Unhand me, demon!"

(Slap)

"Gah!" "Wah!"

(Splash)

...Once Inuyasha and the girl were out of the water, and the boat docked onto the shore, Coraline went to work to take care of the girl's injury:

"Here, this type of alcohol is good for cleaning out cuts. It may sting a bit, but that just means it's working."

As Inuyasha sits by the river, grumbling incoherently to himself while flapping his arms a bit to dry his robes, Coraline asks the girl,

"Do you mind explaining what just attacked you a moment ago?"

"A demon known as a Spider Head. These mountains have been plagued by their presence since Springtime. Several villages have already been attacked. Spider Heads trap humans in their webs, paralyze them and devour them alive. They are terrifying demons."

"No kidding. Sounds like a more monstrous version of a regular spider." Coraline turns to Inuyasha and says,

"Inuyasha, we need to do something to help."

"Any signs of the Shikon-no-Tama fragments?"

"Not so far. Not even the Spider Head from earlier had a shard."

"Then let's move out. I wanna cross these mountains before nightfall." As Inuyasha rose from the ground, Coraline says insistingly,

"But we can't just walk away from a situation like this! There's likely more demons than that one on the prowl!"

Inuyasha looks at her with a serious glare and replies,

"Listen: I don't go slaying around demons every time a human comes running scared to me." Coraline frowns and calmly replies,

"That's not what anyone's asking you to do." _What's gotten into him? Usually he'd at least check out the situation..._

The girl suddenly rises and says with a hateful tone,

"I'm leaving. Being obliged to a demon doesn't sit well with me." Shippo says to her,

"Feigning some measure of gratitude might sit well with us, though." The girl snaps at him,

"Insolent Beast!"

Shippo cringes from her, and she goes over to the rock wall, starting up the vines while adding in a sarcastic tone,

"Thank you, for reminding me why I _detest demons_."

Coraline glares a bit at her attitude, as the girl begins to climb up...until:

(Snap)

"Owaah!"

(Thud)

Coraline sweatdrops as the girl falls into a bush, and she turns to Inuyasha with a smile and says,

"How 'bout displaying some old fashion chivalry?"

Time Skip

By around sunset, everyone had reached a temple, situated within the mountainside.

"There's the temple!"

Coraline and Shippo lead the way, with the former remarking,

"Well, that wasn't too bad, eh?"

Inuyasha was carrying the girl on his back, both looking rather unhappy with their current arrangement...As they walk into the temple grounds, a elderly man wearing a priest uniform comes out to greet them:

"You have returned. Are you injured, Nazuma?"

"Master!"

The girl, now known as Nazuma, hops off Inuyasha (getting him with her elbow on the way down), and kneels at the priest, shaking a bit as well.  
The priest steps to her, and says,

"I feared that a Spider Head had attacked you."

"It spied me while I was attending to the grave sites. I had no choice but to rely on these demons to bring me home. I'm sorry, master."

Shippo glares before retorting to Nazuma,

"All demons are not created equal, you know!" The priest looks up at the newcomers:

"I don't suppose they are." Inuyasha then says,

"Aw man...Don't worry, we're leaving anyway."

"Wait, friends. You must spend a night here with us at the temple." Nazuma protests:

"No, master!" He puts a hand on her shoulder and gently orders,

"Go. Prepare a meal for your nice guests," to which she reluctantly replies,

"Yes..."

As she gets up to walk away, the priest turns back to the other and says apologetically,

"I beg you to forgive Nazuma for her rudeness. Her parents were killed by a Spider Head and she has harbored an understandable fear of demons since that incident. I have attempted to quell her fears, but to no avail."

Coraline smiles sadly and replies,

"I can understand how she feels...Although to be honest, I think her hatred is rather misguided. Hating the one responsible for her parent's murder is one thing, but to direct it at all demons is not justifiable."

The priest nods, and Inuyasha and Shippo look at her with shock at her words...Coraline then asks,

"But never mind that: How bad is the Spider Head situation here? Is it likely we'll be running into any through the mountain path?"

"As the number of men dying in war increases, so do the number of Spider Heads...but by leaps and bounds."

Coraline's eyes widen:

"Leaps and bounds?" She turns to Inuyasha with a serious expression and says,

"I think it may be in our best interest to stay the night here." Inuyasha turns his head away from her and retorts,

"Uh, we're on a quest, and I refuse to let some measly spiders to stop us!" The priest smiles a bit and says,

"Stay the night with us and rest at ease. I have posted sutras around the temple to ward off any demons to try and attack us."

Coraline smiles a bit and says to Inuyasha,

"Not really an offer to turn from, is it?"

"..Suppose there's no sense arguing about it."

Small Time Skip

"Ahh, that was a delicious meal. Perhaps we should stay a few days and get to know Nazuma better."

Coraline smiles amusingly at Shippo, who's laying against her satchel with satisfaction after eating his fill:

"Funny how a couple bowls of rice can change your tune about someone..."

"I liked her from the start. I merely thought she was lacking in manners."

As they chatted, Inuyasha was sitting by the open door of the room they were staying in, looking outward with a serious expression:

 _It's getting late..._

"Hey, Inuyasha?"

"Hm?"

Coraline looks at him with concern, noticing his look of unease:

"Are you alright? You, look a bit on edge..." He replies quietly,

"Hmph, it's nothing."

Coraline doesn't buy his answer, and comes in close to Inuyasha's face:

"What? You gotta problem or something?"

"Hold on...I think I may know what's going on..." Inuyasha tenses up, until Coraline asks,

"Inuyasha, are you, afraid of spiders?"

Seeing an opportunity to make fun of him, Shippo transforms into a large spider:

"Ooo, who's afraid of the big, bad spider? Owah!"

(Thump)

Inuyasha squishes Shippo to the ground, and Coraline remarks,

"...Okay, so my theory was wrong..." Inuyasha looks up at her and replies through his teeth annoyed,

"I'm not afraid of spiders."

"Then why are you so tense?" Inuyasha doesn't answer, and goes out the door...

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"To get some fresh air! I'm sleeping outside tonight." As he turns to go, Inuyasha suddenly sees something off:

"Huh?" _Damn, we're surrounded! How could I have missed their scent?_

By their, he means the glowing red eyes of Spider Heads, that somehow fought off the sutras, and were storming into the temple!

Coraline and Shippo see them, and come out to Inuyasha's side:

"But how?! Shouldn't the sutras have kept them at bay?!"

A few spring out through the wall behind them:

"Wah!"

"Careful, they're behind us as well!" Myoga remains calm and remarks,

"Their numbers are great, but they're not a formidable enemy. Up for some after-dinner exercise, my lord?"

"Oh yeah!" Inuyasha takes out Tessaiga:

"We'll ward them off! So much for the priest's sutras!"

Meanwhile, Nazuma was running down the walkway, trying to find the priest and warn him of the attack:

"Master! Master, the Spider Heads! (Gasp)"

Unfortunately, she arrived to her master a little late, for he was already trapped within webbing!

"They've got you!"

By this time, Inuyasha was already on the attack, hitting the Spider Heads with his sword...But, for some reason, the Tessaiga wasn't transforming, so he was merely just knocking them to the ground. The Spider Heads immediately took their opportunity to shoot their webbing at Inuyasha, as he tried to fight against getting entangled!

"Inuyasha!" He turns to Coraline and shouts,

"Make a break! I'll be right behind you!"

"But we can't-"

"Do what I say! I can handle these demons!"

As he kept trying to hack at the webs, Shippo and Coraline are each confused by Inuyasha:

"Why has he been acting so strange today?"

"And why isn't Tessaiga transforming?"

Suddenly, Inuyasha is hit with a wave of webbing, and becomes so entangled that he can't move his arm holding Tessaiga!  
Thinking quickly, Shippo brandishes his own attack:

" _Fox Fire!_ "

The illusionary fire manages to scare away the Spider Heads, and Coraline goes to help Inuyasha out of the webbing:

"Hang on, I'll have you, (Grunt) out of here in a sec!" Shippo comes to assist:

"We've gotta get outta here!"

Back with Nazuma and the Priest, the latter tells former in a hoarse voice,

"Nazuma, the demons have broken through my seals. My sutras are no longer strong enough to ward off the Spider Heads..."

Nazuma begins to tear up, realizing the old priest wasn't going to make it:

"Oh, master...Master, noooo!"

The others manage to escape into the forest, stopping by a tree to rest:

"We should be far enough away from the Spider Heads now..." Inuyasha curses his failed efforts:

"Damn it..."

Coraline frowns, determined to find out what's making Inuyasha act this way:

"Okay, seriously, what's with you? You're definitely not acting like yourself."

As she tries to reach her hand to him, Inuyasha immediately snaps,

"Leave me alone!"

Coraline glares, and goes to remove the webbing in his hair:

"What is wrong with you, Inuyasha?! Tell me!" But when she gets a good chunk of the webbing off:

"Huh?!"

"Forget about me for now. You should worry more about yourselves."

"...Inuyasha, your hair, is black..."

He goes to sit by the tree, removing the rest of the webbing, and revealing his now more human form!

"If you think you can rely on my strength to save you this time, you better think again." Shippo asks with a stunned stutter,

"W-W-What do you mean?"

"Inuyasha...what's happened to you?"

He just stares at her, while Shippo hops onto his head, noticing something wasn't there:

"His dog ears are gone!" Coraline then widens her eyes in realization:

"You're, not half-demon now...You're human!" Inuyasha grabs Shippo and mutters,

"You're lucky that my fangs and claws are gone," before throwing him to the ground...Coraline looks to Inuyasha and asks,

"Inuyasha, please, explain to me what's going on here..." Myoga steps in to speak his insight:

"All half-demons, such as Master Inuyasha, are subject to certain times when they lose their supernatural powers as demons."

"...Whoa...So, does this mean that during these times, half-demons become no stronger than I or any other human?"

"Typically, yes. For him, the time falls on the first cycle when the moon is dark."

"When the moon is dark...Oh! That's the beginning of the month, or the full moon!"

"Precisely."

As Coraline and Shippo look to the sky in thought, Myoga hops onto Inuyasha's shoulder and asks,

"Why, master?! Why didn't you inform us that your period of vulnerability was impending?!"

"Cause if I had, you would've taken off a long time ago." Myoga stops hopping frantically, and avoids his eye before replying,

"Don't you have a wit of trust in me?" Inuyasha angrily retorts,

"Yeah, I trust you to run away when there's trouble!"

"Then what? You can't rely on my trust either?"

Inuyasha looks up in surprise, and Coraline adds with a serious and angry tone,

"If you had told me about your transformation sooner, I never would've suggested staying at the temple with Nazuma! Whatever happened to leaning on one's close friends?!"

"I don't trust anybody, got it?!"

Coraline flinches, feeling something resurface from his tone...Inuyasha looks away, and replies more calmly,

"It has nothing to do with you. It's just the way I've been living up until now. It's the only way I can protect myself."

...Coraline smiles bitterly, now fully recognizing that tone and attitude:

 _Because that's how I used to react to the world..._

"Inuyasha, I...I understand what you're saying...maybe even more than anyone else here...I just, wish you could've opened up a little more..."

Suddenly, Coraline begins to cry silently, overwhelmed by the situation, as well as some old memories resurfacing...Inuyasha was taken aback by her reaction, and tries to stop her tears:

"No, wait, I'm supposed to be the one who's down..." Coraline smiles a bit at his attempt, and dries her eyes:

"...Sorry. 'Guess seeing you acting like this is, reminding me of my own childhood...how, I used to isolate myself from everyone, save my father, of course."

Inuyasha raises a confused eyebrow:

"...Isolate yourself?"

"Yeah. You see, believe it or not, my family has a history of encounters with the supernatural. And, because of that, we've acquired an, odd sort-of reputation. Whether it be good or bad, depends on the generation...In my case, it was more the latter. The children of Majora would constantly abuse me with their words of hate, and some were even bold enough to hurt me physically too...All just 'cause I could see things and experience what they couldn't, what they refused to believe in..."

Inuyasha's eyes widen in shock:

"You were hurt as a kid just for that? Seriously?" Coraline smiles bitterly and says,

"Yeah...Eventually, I fought back and managed to get the brats to back off. Unfortunately, that just forced me into further isolation from the village, and the adults began to look at me with hate rather than a cold indifference. Like you, I lost my trust in the wider demographic of people...It's only in recent years, I've been opening up more, because I learned that too much independence isn't always a good thing. Sometimes...it's good to have at least a few people you know you can turn to for anything..."

...Inuyasha was speechless, almost not believing that a girl like the one in front of him could ever have issues with trust...

As the two just stare at one another in silence, Shippo goes into thought about the current situation:

"Now that Inuyasha has been rendered a mere mortal, I shall have to take over protecting the others. I need to summon all of my courage!"

(Rustle...)

"Ahhh, awah!"

Shippo suddenly gets spooked by the sound of moving branches, and runs to Inuyasha and Coraline while muttering,

"Someone save me..."

But, turns out the one coming out of the bushes, was none other than Nazuma, who despite a little worn down from her escape, was otherwise unharmed!

"Nazuma!"

"I-I knew that..."

"Are you okay?" Nazuma drops to her knees, breathing heavily, before lifting her head to reply,

"Please, you must return to aid the priest." Coraline comes to her side and asks,

"You really want us to go back?"

"Your demon is strong. I'm certain he can assist us." Inuyasha scoffs and turns his head away:

"Keh, now what were you saying about not being obliged to demons? Get the priest to write up some more of those sutras."

Nazuma looks up at him, and notices his human form:

"Your countenance seems altered. Has your hair not changed?"

"Huh, it isn't easy being human, believe me."

Coraline suddenly yelps, remembering something she wished she remembered earlier:

"Oh shit!" Shippo shouts fearfully,

"What is it?!"

"My bag, it's back at the temple!" Inuyasha just looks at her and replies nonchalantly,

"So get a new one when you go back."

"You don't understand! The shards, they're inside it!"

"WHAT?!" Coraline cringes and says loudly,

"I was so concerned for you guys that I totally forgot! I'm so sorry!"

"Take this."

"Huh?" Coraline looks to see Inuyasha handing her the Tessaiga, and he says with a serious glare,

"You and Nazuma stay here and don't think about moving. The Tessaiga won't transform for me tonight. I'll be able to handle a few Spider Heads using my own strength."

"...Inuyasha..."

"It's time to go back to the temple, Shippo. Let's move." Shippo flinches and asks,

"Uuuh, why do ya need me?!"

...A few seconds later, Shippo is seen tucked under Inuyasha's right arm, as he tries to psyche himself up:

"Rrrr...I am strong enough to handle this. I gotta be strong!"

Meanwhile, at the Temple...

A hand is seen reaching into Coraline's satchel, grabbing out the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama...

"Heheheheh...Hah..."

(Shoom)

"Ah!"

(Glass shatter)

(Thump)

But the bottle is knocked out of their hand by a spear, and the thief is revealed as the old priest! He tries to reach for the scattered shards, but:

"Hands off!"

(Thunk)

Inuyasha stops him with a wooden plank before that could happen. He then comments,

"So, you were planning this right from the start!" The priest turns to Inuyasha and replies with a laugh,

"I could hardly contain myself when I saw you, the half-demon rumored to possess jewel shards!"

As the priest begins to shift forms, revealed to be a Spider Head himself, Shippo slides down to the shattered bottle, and tries to snatch up the shards...

"Aaah!"

(Slam)

Only to dodge the oncoming head of the priest! The Spider Head priest then sucks in the shards that were missed by Shippo, and the latter hops back to Inuyasha and says,

"The jewel shards! He swallowed some of them!"

It turns on all fours, then shoots an arm at Inuyasha, pinning him to one of the support beams with its hands!

"What an unfortunate mishap that your supernatural powers have deserted you. By the time I'm done tying the final knot on my gauze web of deceit..."

"I may not have my usual powers...rrrah!" He manages to shake off the arm and add,

"But I can still crush you!"

But as he goes to attack, the Spider Head priest shoots his webbing at Inuyasha, knocking him onto his back. Shippo goes to lend a hand:

" _Fox Fire!_ "

But even though he hits the demon, Shippo manages to get backhanded, and Inuyasha is trapped by his neck in the webbing!  
The Spider Head closes in on him:

"Finally, this tiresome charade as a human has ended!"

Its body then glows, and the light disappears, revealing a giant web with its head in the center! The Spider Head priest then extends his neck to attack, and bites hard on Inuyasha's shoulder, causing the latter to cry out in pain...

"Inuyasha!"

"Now, tell me where you've hidden the rest of the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama!"

"O-Over, there!" The Spider Head priest doesn't fall for Shippo's trick:

"I believe you possess them!"

"Master!"

Suddenly, they all turn to the door, and see Coraline and Nazuma, the latter shocked with this turn of identity:

"I, I don't understand..."

"He was deceiving you..." Shippo calls to Coraline,

"Coraline! Inuyasha's been poisoned!"

Looking upward, we see Inuyasha has gone stiff in pain, courtesy of the Spider Head poison bite...

"Inuyasha, hang on, I'm coming!"

As Coraline dashes to free Inuyasha, the Spider Head priest shoots his webbing at her, only to be blocked by Tessaiga!

"...Huh?" Myoga hopped to Coraline's shoulder and explains:

"The Tessaiga is protecting you as it did before!"

"Seeing you here must mean our chances of success are high...Otherwise you'd be far gone..."

"I am not certain I enjoy your insinuation!"

The Spider Head priest chuckles menacingly and says,

"I have injected a large quantity of poison into him. His innards will already be starting to liquify..."

"Master...How can you do this?"

As Nazuma looks up with tears of betrayal in her eyes, Coraline begins climbing the web, reaching just a few feet away from Inuyasha, who was barely hanging on from the poison in his system:

"Cor-aline, save yourself..."

"No way, no how, Inuyasha! I'm getting you down!"

"I'm serious...It's too late for me."

"No! I'll die before I leave you to suffer!"

(Leap)

As Coraline jumped forward with the Tessaiga held in front, Inuyasha could see...tears, running from her eyes...  
Coraline makes contact with the webs, and the sheath of Tessaiga breaks the strands:

(Pow)

"Urgh!"

Coraline and Inuyasha fall to the ground below, the latter passing out from the pain. The former props up on her elbows and shouts,

"We need to get out of here post-haste!" Shippo looks out the door, seeing more Spider Heads coming:

"Uuh, there's gotta be another way!" Nazuma takes the initiative:

"There is a small room at the end of the hall, quickly!"

As she and Coraline drag Inuyasha away, Shippo opens the door, and they all dive inside the small storage room. Myoga then tells Coraline,

"Coraline, quick! Thrust the Tessaiga into the door!"

"Uh, right!"

She does as he asks, and on the other side of the door, the Spider Head priest is blocked by the energy of the sword:

(Bzzzt)

"Aaagh! You wretches!" Back inside, Myoga explains:

"The Tessaiga should be powerful enough to ward them off for some time."

Coraline then clasps Inuyasha's hand, and widens her eyes when,

"Damn, his skin's cold as ice! Inuyasha, can you hear me? Stay with us! Inuyasha!"

...No response...Coraline begins to shake:

"This...this is all my fault...I suggested we stay at the temple, and now..." Nazuma chides to Coraline,

"You mustn't blame yourself..."

"Yet this is my doing, or rather, the shards that I carelessly forgot about..."

Not all hope was lost, however, as Myoga hopped onto Inuyasha's neck, and exclaimed,

"I shall draw the poison from his blood!"

(Suck)

And as he drew out the poison, Myoga suddenly expanded to a much larger size:

"Nice to meetcha, I'm Myoga. A flea's never a burden."

"Rrhh..."

Inuyasha began to cringe a bit, as Myoga rolled over beside Shippo, adding,

"Master Inuyasha's survival will now depend on his own strength from this point on...(burp)."

Coraline ceased some of her shaking, as she sat on her legs, looking over Inuyasha's face with worry and relief:

"Thank god...Oh, his face is dripping with sweat..."

She reached into her pocket, grabbing out a small blue and red handkerchief, and proceeded to try and wipe Inuyasha's forehead.  
Coraline only got a few strokes in, before Inuyasha's eyes opened:

"Oh! Sorry. I, didn't wake you, did I?" Inuyasha looked away and replied,

"No...Coraline?"

"Yes?"

"Tell me something...why were you crying?" Coraline's eyes widened, before she softly replied,

"You mean, back in the other room?...Because, I was scared that I was going to lose you...(sniff) that you, were going to die..."

"...You shed tears for me...cried for me...Coraline, if it's not too much trouble, may I lie on your lap?"

"...Sure thing."

Small Time Skip

After a couple hours, the sun was starting to peek out through the little barred window of the room. As Shippo, Myoga (normal sized) and Nazuma slept on, Coraline kept a vigil over Inuyasha, he laying his head on her lap. By this time, it seemed that Inuyasha's fever finally broke:

"How are you feeling? Any better than earlier?"

"Yes...Coraline, you smell kind-a nice."

"Huh?" Coraline felt a small blush creep onto her cheeks, and she replied,

"But, didn't you say during the first time we met that you couldn't stand my scent?"

"I did...But, I was lying..."

Coraline's eyes widened, and her blush grew:

 _...Where in the world is this coming from? And, why is my heart racing?...I've, never felt like this before..._

"God, I'm so confused..."

She then notices that Inuyasha had fallen asleep, and she couldn't help but run a gentle hand through his hair:

"Asleep, eh? Oh, Inuyasha..." But the peace wouldn't last:

(Rumble)

"Huh?"

Shippo and Myoga jump awake:

"Aaah, what's happening?!"

"The priest must be in pursuit again! Get the master out of here!"

"We'll need to carry him! He's unconscious!"

Outside the storehouse, the Spider Head priest launches another attack on the surrounding area, causing wood to split and structures to crumble!  
Everyone covers their heads, huddling around Inuyasha to keep him safe from the falling beams...  
Suddenly, a hand launches out, and snatches up Shippo!

"Shippo, no!"

"I must possess the remaining jewel fragments!"

The Spider Head priest shakes Shippo, knocking out the other shards, before tossing him away, Coraline catching him. It then consumes the shards, just as Nazuma notices the Tessaiga...As the Spider Head sheds the rest of its guise while laughing evilly, Nazuma stands up, sword in hand:

"How dare you possess the body of my dear master!"

"There wasn't any priest here! It was all a trap, to lure the half-demon and his jewels to me!"

"You...you slaughtered my parents and all the other villagers?!" The Spider Head laughs and remarks mockingly,

"You served me well, gullible fool."

...With the full truth out in the open, Nazuma goes to lash out in a rage:

"TREACHEROUS BEAST!"

Unfortunately, she could not hit any real blows with Tessaiga, and soon the Spider Head would grab Nazuma, and remark,

"Your fears of the Spider Heads will soon be over! Once I have consumed you, you will become a part of me."

Nazuma quietly calls out against the strain of the hand crushing her,

"F-Forgive me, father...I should never, have trusted this, monster..."

And Nazuma loses her grip on the Tessaiga...only for it to be caught, by Inuyasha!

"You're pretty determined, for a human that is."

"Y-You're alive?"

"Inuyasha!"

The Spider Head laughs, before grabbing Inuyasha with multiple hands! Coraline cries out,

"Inuyasha, no!" Shippo then notices the sky getting brighter:

"Look, the sun is rising!"

The Spider Head laughs, bringing Inuyasha closer to it:

"You are a fine human specimen!"

" _Don't be so sure about that..._ "

(Heartbeat, heartbeat...)

As the sun began coming up over the horizon, Inuyasha's body began to pulsate with energy...and his eyes glowed a bright red!

"You're beginning to transform, but I shall devour you beforehand!"

As the Spider Head rose it's hands into the air, Inuyasha, now fully half-demon once more, remarks,

"If there's one thing I can't stand, it's an arrogant spider that don't know to keep it's hands off!"

(Swipe)

His claws cut through the Spider Head's hold, and Inuyasha shouts,

"The moonless night has come to an end!" The Tessaiga transforms into its true form, causing the Spider head to cringe:

"The sword's regained power!"

"You got it, Spider Head! Hrrraaaaah!"

(BOOM)

(SLASH)

Inuyasha launches his attack, and the energy not only destroys the main Spider Head, but the others in it's wake!

(...Ping)

Left behind from the main Spider Head, is the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama, except now they were fused together, forming almost half of the once proud jewel!  
Coraline comes up to the fallen piece:

"Whoa...the shards are now fused as one...They must've come together inside the demon's body."

Inuyasha comments just as surprised,

"Is that all we have so far? I thought we had a lot more!"

"...Hey, I'd call this a good start at least!"

Small Time Skip

A while later, Inuyasha, Coraline and Shippo were ready to set out in the river boat once again, as Nazuma goes out on her own:

"This is far enough. The village is close by."

"Alright, take care, Nazuma." As the boat begins to float away, Nazuma adds,

"Oh, and Inuyasha? I appreciate your help. I'll try to remember that not all demons are bad. Not most, but some."

"Don't kid yourself, Nazuma. All demons are bad, it's that simple."

"I won't forget you! You'll always be in my prayers, Inuyasha!" He glances back briefly, before turning back to the front muttering,

"...Keh, whatever," but does send a small wave back to Nazuma...

After a bit, Coraline mentally takes in Inuyasha's behaviour and appearance during this time:

 _Well, it seems like he's back to normal again...But still, what he said to me back in the temple..._

 _(Flash)_

 _"...Coraline, you smell kind-a nice."_

 _(Flash)_

 _Did he really say that, or was it the fever talking? Physically he's fine, but what about emotionally? Did, something change in his feeling for me? Maybe, I should ask..._

Inuyasha felt a stare, and he turns back to Coraline and says irritably,

"Are you gonna keep starin' at me, cause it's tickin' me off! If you got something to say, just say it!"

Coraline deadpans and mentally quirks,

 _On second thought, I think I'll leave that question for another day..._

"Uuuh, are we there yet? What do ya say we stop for a short rest?"

"Yeah, sure, as soon as you get over your seasickness."

"Hey, Inuyasha?"

"Huh?"

Shippo then went to throw up in his direction, but Coraline quickly grabbed him and aimed over the side of the boat...

"Oh, Shippo..."

Time Skip, Present-Day Tokyo

As soon as Coraline and the others made it back to the village, Inuyasha took her back to the well so that she could meet with her brothers about the lead on Rikona, with her promising that she come back in a couple hours, no more, no less.

When Coraline did reach home, she immediately called the twins, and they told her that the recon they did while she was gone was successful, as they did see Rikona a few times coming in and out of an old factory building...

Needless to say, Coraline was ecstatic, and all three agreed to meet at the abandoned factory district, and try to see about finding and speaking with Rikona.  
So now, the teens were coming up on the one factory building that the twins had spied on for the past few days:

"So, you guys are sure this is where Rikona is hiding out?"

"Yep! Besa and I have kept a careful watch for the past few days, and this is the same building she comes in and out of around mid-afternoon."

"She's usually got a bag or two when she returns, so we think she comes out every once in a while for supplies...She's a pretty resourceful kid."

"Hm..."

The teens then approached the rusted fence that surrounded the run-down building, and crawled through the opening cut in. They agreed that approaching quietly and calmly would be the best strategy, as Rikona could possibly become frightened by their appearance, and try to run...

Once they got inside, they looked around for any signs of human life:

"Hm, so far, no sign of her..."

Suddenly, the heard a shuffling in the back...and a small whimper...

"...Rikona? Rikona, is that you?"

"...W-Who's t-t-there? Who are you?"

Coraline answers in a calm and friendly voice,

"We're friends of your cousin, Shuji. My name is Coraline, and these are my brothers, Freeman and Besa."

"We're not here to hurt you, Rikona."

"Yeah. We just wanna talk, is all, and make sure you're okay."

...The room is quiet for a moment, before a small shadow comes into light, belonging to a young girl, who despite looking rather grimy, didn't look injured.  
She had long, black hair in a braid, and was wearing a green dress with yellow flowers that had a few dirt stains on it, and wore black Mary-Jane shoes.  
The girl came up slowly to the teens, and asked timidly,

"Y-You know Shuji?"

"Yeah. I just met him myself, but my brothers have known him for a couple years now."

"He's a cool guy, caring too."

"He's been worried about you, sweetie. He asked us to find you and see if you were okay."

"(Sniff) He's worried about me?"

The teens nod, and the girl cautiously approaches Coraline, saying tearfully,

"I-I want to go home, honestly, I do...But, I'm scared."

Coraline kneels down to Rikona's level, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder:

"Scared of what? What's got you so scared, Rikona?"

"T-The scary gang member's brother...He, he's been around my neighbourhood a few times, and he looks really mad. I, I heard he was looking for the people who saw his brother do that robbery. I got so scared, I ran away to hide...Now, (sniff) I dunno what to do..."

As Rikona broke into tears, Coraline gently rubbed her shoulder, and chided,

"Shh, it's okay...Rikona, I understand why you're so scared...But, if you keep hiding like this, the mean man will win."

"(Sniff) Huh?"

"You see, he's counting on you to feel so scared that you can't live life without thinking about him. But, I can see that inside of you, is a brave girl who wants to stand up for herself, and be at home with her family."

The twins come down to their level, and add,

"Cora's right. You're braver than this, Rikona. Just look at how long you managed to hold out on your own."

"If you can venture out on your own to get supplies to help yourself, how can one mean man stop you?"

Rikona looks at the three smiling faces in shock, before saying,

"...You're right. I, I am brave...I can't let fear get the best of me. I, I have to go home."

"That's the spirit! If you come with us now, we can get you back to Shuji."

"What do ya say, Rikona?"

...Rikona looks at the teens, and breaks out a small smile, nodding.

Small Time Skip

After a while, the teens eventually made it to Shuji's garage, Rikona walking in front of them. When they got to the door, Besa knocked:

(Clang, clang)

"Yo, Shuji! You in? We got some good news for ya!"

"Really? Then come in and tell me!"

Besa opens the door, and they all walk in, seeing Shuji wiping his hands on a cloth, his back facing them:

"So, what's this good news you all brought me?" Coraline smiles and says,

"Turn around and see."

"Huh?"

Shuji does as she asks, and nearly has a heart attack:

"Uh!...R-Rikona?!"

"Shuji!"

Rikona rushes to Shuji, and wraps her arms around his neck in a big hug, as he bends downward, shock on his face:

"Oh Shuji! I'm so sorry I was gone for so long!"

"R-Rikona..." Shuji's eyes well up in tears, and he hugs her back tightly:

"Oh god, Rikona...You're okay...You're alright..."

The three teens watch the warm and touching display with smiles on their faces, happy it all worked out...  
Shuji then straightens up, one of his hands clasped around Rikona's, and looks at Coraline with gratefulness and surprise:

"...I...I can't believe, you found her..."

"Heh, you didn't think I'd give up that easy, did you? You wanted Rikona to come home, and now she can..."

"...How?"

"I got a lead a few days ago from a shop owner and his son that they saw Rikona heading for the abandoned factory district a couple times. I then had Freeman and Besa check into it to confirm the lead, and then we went to find her, and convinced her to come with us to you."

Shuji was speechless, then he broke out a laugh, and remarked,

"Wow, I dunno what to say...Thank you, so much, for not giving up, and for bringing her back."

"Of course. I'm just glad she's okay."

"Oh, right! Before I forget..."

Shuji then goes to another table, and grabs something off the table. He walks back over in front of Coraline, and presents it to her:

"Here. It just came in yesterday..."

Coraline takes it, and softly gasps, seeing a knife inside a brown leather sheath:

"The combat knife!" The twins get a closer look, and Coraline brings the blade out:

"(Low whistle) That looks pretty sharp."

"Yeah, that's definitely a good-grade combat knife!"

"Glad you approve...cause I'm giving it to you free of charge." The teens looks up in shock at a smiling Shuji:

"What?!"

"...Shuji, I, I can't possibly..."

"Yes, you can. You brought me back Rikona...I can't think of any other way of repaying you than with this. Besides, something tells me that you'll need this in the coming future..."

Coraline is shocked:

"...Shuji..."

She then smiles, and reaches her hand out to his, shaking it:

"Thank you...I deeply appreciate this."

"Heh, no problem. Just be careful with that; blades like that don't come cheap, and can be dangerous if you don't know how to use it."

Time Skip, Sengoku Edo

Eventually, Coraline said goodbye to Shuji and Rikona, and after returning to the shrine, bidding a goodbye to her brothers, she repacked her things, and dove back into the well.  
On the other side waiting for her, were Inuyasha and Shippo:

"(Grunt) Hey guys, I'm back!"

"Coraline!" Shippo launches onto Coraline, and hugs her, and she laughs a bit:

"Hey, Shippo, good to see ya." She then turns to Inuyasha, and says with a small smirk,

"See, told you I'd be back in a few hours."

"Keh, alright, you pass this time...So, did you find that little girl?"

Coraline gets out of the well, and stands up straight, answering,

"I did. Rikona's now safe and sound with her cousin, Shuji. He was so grateful for her safe return...he gave me the weapon I was asking for free of charge."

"Whoa, really?"

"Really."

"...Can I see it?"

"Oh, me too!" Coraline laughs a bit at the boys and says,

"Sure, give me a second..."

She then takes off her satchel, reaches into one of the pouches, and pulls out the knife:

"Here it is. It's called a combat knife; it comes with a sheath that I can strap to my thigh. It's not likely as sharp as say Tessaiga, but it should come in handy in a tight spot."

The demons look at the knife, seeing the blade glitter a bit in the light. Shippo makes the first comment:

"Wow! And this Shuji guy gave it to you for free?!"

"Yep!"

"Hm, so this is what knifes in your time look like..."

"Pretty much. It depends on the maker and what the knife is made for. I'm confident that this will help me defend myself better."

"...Defend yourself better?"

Inuyasha then grows a strange look on his face, like he seemed almost disappointed in hearing what Coraline just said...  
Coraline sees the look, and is confused:

"Inuyasha?"

He then turns to Shippo, and asks him in an oddly calm and serious voice,

"...Shippo. Do you mind heading on ahead back to the village on your own? I need to speak with Coraline in private for a moment..."

Shippo was taken aback by his tone, but decided to comply:

"Um...okay. I'll see you two in a bit," and he begins to dart back to the village, leaving the two teens alone...

"...Coraline. Come with me."

"Uh, okay..."

Coraline follows Inuyasha away from the well, and over to the Goshinboku Tree, where they both sat down, Inuyasha on one side, she on the other...  
Everything is quiet for a moment, until Inuyasha broke the silence with a question:

"...Coraline, what do you mean when you say the knife will help you protect yourself better?"

"Huh?"

"...Do you think I can't protect you?" Coraline's eyes widen, before she realized what Inuyasha was asking:

"...Oh, Inuyasha, no...that's not what I meant at all. Of course I believe you can protect me...What I meant was that I now have something besides the bow and arrow to use in combat, incase for some reason you can't help me at the time."

Inuyasha whirls around at Coraline, putting his hands at the sides of her head, trapping her against the tree:

"Inuyasha!"

"No way in hell that's happening! I won't ever allow you to end up in that vulnerable position! I said I'd protect you, and I mean it!"

"...Inuyasha..."

Coraline smiles softly, and reaches a hand to touch his shoulder:

"And I appreciate that...but, you and I both know that sometimes it can't be helped."

Inuyasha slowly removes his hands, looking at Coraline with shock at how calm she is, and she continues:

"Perhaps I worded that a bit wrong earlier. What I probably should've said was that the combat knife can better help the group collectively. And not just for battle, but for other practical uses, like hunting for example."

"...You can hunt?"

Coraline smile goes sheepish and she rubs the back of her head:

"Heh, well, to a point. It really depends on the animal and the time of day. I can sometimes get rabbit, but I'm better at snaring fish..."

Coraline then grows an insecure look in her eyes:

"...Anyway, the combat knife will definitely help in making me 'look' less defenseless...and not as weak a human that I likely am..."

Inuyasha looks at her in surprise, and she goes to stand up, saying offhandedly,

"But hey, what am I rambling about? We should go catch up with Shippo..."

With that, Coraline began walking down to the village, while Inuyasha watches her go with a confused frown:

 _...Did she really just call herself weak? Damn...I didn't think she'd take that insult so seriously..._

 _Still, I'm getting this feeling she's leaving something out...  
_

 _There's another reason she armed herself up with that combat knife...and I'm gonna find out what..._


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Kikyō's Stolen Ashes**

Another night in Senogku Edo has come, and the moon shines down through cloudy skies across the grounds of Goshinboku Village.  
Of course, any peace that was occurring down below, would soon be broken:

(Shoooooommmm...)

An unknown source of blue fire and smoke came barreling through the atmosphere, shooting across the river, cutting through two twin trees:

(Slice)

(Thud)

"Hm?"

Kaede hears the trees fall, and immediately heads out to see the trouble...

Up atop an entrance structure towards a set of stairs, the strange source of flames stopped, and is revealed as a demon of sorts:  
Their appearance is akin to that of a homely old woman, carrying a scythe, wearing an odd assortment of robes, a headband, had gray hair, and large eyes with red dotting irises.

By this time, Kaede had caught up with said demon, and readied her bow, firing an arrow:

(Twok)

However, the stone tip would not make contact, for the demon would use her scythe to cut it in half!  
As the demon woman laughed, Kaede shouts,

"Who are ye?!"

Some villager men came to Kaede's aid, weapons at ready, but the demon woman just leaps away to the top of the stairs. Kaede and the village men make chase, and when they reached the top, they find the demon crouching over a grave site:

"I am certain this is it. At last, I have found her resting site." The demon grabs a handful of soil to examine:

"Just enough moisture, and the soil is perfect..."

Kaede aims her bow once again, calling to the demon,

"Intruder, what business do ye have here? Identify thyself! Answer at once!"

"Silence, fools! My only business lies with this grave site! Once I have these ashes in my possession, I shall leave this miserable village."

Kaede mentally deduces,

 _She must be after Kikyō's remains._

The villager men ready their weapons with Kaede as she calls out her final warning:

"Leave our village at once, or we shall have no course but to strike!"

"Persistent wretch! You'd have done well not to cross my path!"

The demon then positions her scythe over her shoulder, and uses her fingernails to scratch against the surface of the blade:

(Scrrrrreeeeeeeeeeccccch...)

The men cry out in pain from the noise, and Keade steps back a bit before firing another arrow:

(Twok)

(Slice)

But once again, the demon cuts the arrow in half, and readies herself for another attack:

"Now you shall pay for your meddling!" And before anyone could prepare:

(SLICE, Boom)

The demon sends a torrent of cuts through the ground, uprooting the earth, destroying several structures (including the grave site), and sending the villager men backwards from impact!

Kaede is hit by one of the cuts, and a villager asks her,

"Are you injured?" Before both are sent back further by the aftermath of the attack...

The demon then floats down towards the crater that was once a resting place, and shoots her hand into the earth, before removing a small urn of ashes!

"No! Take not my sister's ashes! Rrgh!" Kaede cringes from her injury, before calling out,

"I am the Priestess Kaede. I shall not allow ye to take those remains!"

The demon just chuckles and replies in a jeer,

"Your threats fall on deaf ears. These remains now belong to me! The Demon, Urasue!"

And before anyone could stop her, Urasue vanished in a spiral of fire and smoke, laughing maniacally...

Inuyasha's POV

(In his mind)

 _I'm, running, through the forest..._

 _"Inuyasha!"_

 _"Huh?"_

 _That, voice..._

 _(Twok)_

 _(TOK)_

 _"Aagh!"_

 _I'm struck!...Who has done this to me?_

 _Is it Coraline? No, it isn't her...It's_ _Kikyō! The woman who's spell pinned me to a tree!  
_

(Jolt)

"Ah!"

I wake up, sitting on top of a tree branch, remembering that we stopped for the night to rest after coming up with squat in finding more jewel shards. Breathing heavily, I look down at my palm and remark,

"It was a dream..."

I feel myself frown in distaste at what my dream forced me to remember:

"I could've done without those nasty memories...Huh?"

I look down, seeing Coraline, asleep by the fire that was going, laying under a blanket she brought with her, and using her satchel as a pillow.  
The kid Shippo was also fast asleep, leaning up against Coraline...

I hop down below, and find myself staring at this strange human girl, as my mind flashed back to Kikyō's face, then focusing back on Coraline again:

 _It's strange...Coraline looks nothing at all like_ _Kikyō...and yet, she's supposed to be the reincarnation of her. Is that why I'm confusing then both?  
_

I guess she must've felt my stare somehow, cause the next thing I knew, Coraline was starting to stir awake:

"Mm...mm?"

Her eyes flutter open, and she looks up at me:

"Inu-yasha?"

I watch her slowly sit up, moving the kid onto her lap as she went, and she yawned before asking me,

"What are you doin' up? I thought you would've been asleep by now...Is, there something you need to talk about?"

I look at her for a moment, before muttering to myself,

"I'm wrong...You don't look anything like her..."

"Hm? Like who? Inuyasha...what's wrong?"

"Forget it. It's not important..."

I hear her sigh a bit, before moving a bit closer to me:

"Look, I dunno what just happened now, but, if you do want to talk about it, I'm here."

I stare at her, surprised by her caring tone...Suddenly, I see her dart her head up to the sky:

"Huh?"

I follow her gaze, and I see something, floating through the air past the glow of the moon...I stand up:

"What is that?"

"Not, sure...A demon, maybe?" I narrow my eyes, smelling something off:

 _I'm picking up the scent of fresh blood...Wait! I recognize that scent! It's-_

Time Skip, No POV  


Come the next day, we find Inuyasha, Coraline and Shippo heading down a familiar path that led back to the Goshinboku Village, after traveling for another set of days to try and find leads to where the rest of the Shikon-no-Tama shards may be.  
Today, Coraline was wearing a white tank-top, a red/black/white checkered un-buttoned flannel shirt, olive-green jeans, and her black combat boots.  
She also wore her hair down, and had her new combat knife strapped to her thigh.

As they continued their trek down the dirt path by the riverside, Coraline called to Inuyasha again:

"Come on, Inuyasha, a hint would be helpful! What's with the sudden urge to head back to the village?"

Shippo chimes in lazily from her shoulder,

"What's the rush? (Yawn)"

But Inuyasha doesn't answer, and only continues to leap ahead, Coraline jogging close behind...

Down below and by the tall staircase, Kaede comes out from a hut, now having a sling for her right arm, a bandage over her forehead.  
A village woman follows behind her, trying to coax her back inside:

"Lady Kaede, you mustn't move as of yet."

"Pay no mind. These are but flesh wounds."

"Kaede!"

They both look up, and see Coraline running up towards them:

"You're back."

Coraline slows into a stop, breathing a bit heavily from her run, before noticing Kaede's injuries:

"What the-Kaede, what happened to you?!"

Inuyasha arrives, leaping beside Coraline, before rising to a stand and remarking with a frown,

"What, you're still alive?"

They all soon made their way up the stairs, with Inuyasha remarking in a blunt tone,

"Trust a stubborn old goat like you to refuse to give injuries time to heal."

"This is nothing. So you picked up the scent of my blood as the specter passed, did you?"

"Don't change the subject on me! Just swallow your pride and take it easy!"

Coraline looks back at Inuyasha as she helped Kaede see her way up the steps, remarking,

"I see now: He came because he picked up the scent of your blood, and was worried about you."

When they reached the top, Kaede led Inuyasha and Coraline to the crater that was left by Urasue the night before.  
Coraline looked at it with shock:

"Whoa...What in the world happened here?" Kaede explains:

"The specter...She desecrated my sister's grave site."

"So, this was Kikyō's tomb?"

"Yes, and I was virtually powerless to stop the assault."

"How awful...As if Sesshomaru's desecration of Inuyasha's father's tomb and the memory of his mother wasn't bad enough... _and now this._ "

Inuyasha glanced briefly at Coraline with surprise at her remembering that, and Kaede adds,

"Aye, child, and yet the situation worsens still. My sister had unusually strong powers, even for a priestess as she was. Her remains have fallen into the hands of evil. Who knows to what end Kikyō's powers will be exploited."

Coraline then notices Inuyasha turning to leave, as does Kaede when she calls to him:

"Inuyasha." He stops at the top of the staircase and replies bitterly,

"You're on your own. (Turns with a glare) Apparently, you've forgotten that _Kikyō betrayed me._ I am not so lucky: I can still remember the pain from the arrow she used to _pierce my chest._ "

Kaede hms before looking down and replying,

"...Forgive me."

As Inuyasha continued on his way, Coraline couldn't help but sadly go into thought about his situation of before and now:

 _The unfortunate event happened fifty years ago...Yet, for Inuyasha, the memory feels like only yesterday...  
_

 _If I recall correctly based on what I know from he and Kaede, Inuyasha sought the Shikon-no-Tama back then as a way to become a full-fledged demon.  
Only, he wasn't successful in his personal mission. _

_Though he managed to get the jewel, the young Priestess Kikyō was able to take him down with a single arrow, pinning him to the Goshinboku Tree, and sealing him in a comatose spell that would last for half a century...  
_

 _Of course, every action does come with consequence, and unfortunately, Kikyō would lose her life shortly after from an unknown wound..._

Small Time Skip  


A little while later, we find Inuyasha sitting at the base of a tree outside the village, as his thoughts went to the current development in play:

 _The Demon Urasue: She stole more than simply just Kikyō's ashes. I also smelled the strong scent of fresh soil as she passed. Soil from the grave site; what could she be scheming?_

(Step, step, step)

"Hm?"

He looks up, and sees Coraline coming up to him, a faint smile on her face:

"There you are. Come on, let's get goin'."

"Hmph...Where to?"

Coraline goes to sit on the fallen log beside the tree, and sighs a bit before answering gently but seriously,

"Look, Inuyasha...I understand that things for you regarding Kikyō aren't at the best of interests right now, but, surely you feel just a bit sorry for her? Her grave was violated. I know that she betrayed you, but the reality is that it happened almost half a century ago. The wound may still feel fresh, but even you should know that sometimes you have to let go at least some of the old anger and try to move on with life..."

Inuyasha grunts quietly, before looking away from her.  
Coraline notices this, and frowns, before moving off the log, and grabbing him by the shoulders to turn him back around:

"H-Hey, what are you-"

"Care to explain to me why you haven't been looking at me straight in the eye since yesterday?"

Inuyasha makes a sound of surprise, before looking away from her again and muttering,

"...You're obviously imagining things..."

Suddenly, it dawns on Coraline, and she glares hard at Inuyasha and says,

"Oh wait a second...Don't tell me this is about me being Kikyō's reincarnation, is it?! Is that seriously why you can't look at me? I can't believe you!"

Inuyasha turns back, and stares at Coraline for a few seconds, before grabbing her left hand, causing her to remove her right in shock:

"Inuyasha!"

"It's not...(sigh)" Coraline eyes follow hers and his hands for a moment, before looking back at Inuyasha bewildered:

"Hn?"

"It's not like that..."

The way that he was staring at Coraline seemed to suggest...longing? Coraline lightly blushed and quirked nervously in her head,

 _W-What is he doing...?_

As he slowly leaned in closer to her face, Coraline suddenly breaks out in a nervous rant, waving her arms in front of her:

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, back the truck up!"

(Shove)

"Gah!"

As Inuyasha tumbled to the side from being pushed away, Coraline's blush grows a bit as she thought frantically,

 _Okay, I would be lying if I said I wasn't, afraid...What just happened? Did he seriously just, try to kiss me?!_

Inuyasha comes back up, and pants a bit before shouting irritably,

"Can we lose some of the violence?!"

"I'll lose it as soon as you stop acting so weird!"

"You're the one who's being the lunatic!"

Before they could argue any further, both teens turn to see Kaede coming towards them, horse in hand:

"Kaede."

"I have reconsidered. I too am a priestess; I shall recover my sister's ashes on my own strength. Inuyasha, do me the kindness of telling me which way the witch, Urasue was last traveling."

"You trying to get yourself killed?"

"Don't be so harsh."

"I'm going. I shall deal with the consequences when I arrive." Coraline steps to Kaede and tries to persuade otherwise:

"But Kaede, you're in no condition to go."

"You're wasting your breath trying to stop her. She's a stubborn as an ox, you'll never talk her out of it."

Inuyasha then steps over to the horse, and grabs the reins while looking back at the women:

"Come on, let's move it along, granny. We'll lay Kikyō's remains to rest again."

As the women watch him lead the horse back down the stretch, Kaede says with a grateful smile,

"Inuyasha, thank you." Coraline then says,

"Something tells me Shippo and I better come as well."

"Coraline..."

Coraline takes a few steps forward, and watches Inuyasha go, while this thought went through her head:

 _...It wasn't me he was looking at just now..._

Small Time Skip

By this time, everyone was on their way to find Urasue, Inuyasha leaping ahead. As Keade rode on the horse, Coraline walked along beside her, Shippo situated on her shoulder...  
Coraline's thoughts were still on what happened earlier:

 _He was looking through me...looking at Kikyō..._

After a bit more traveling, the group stopped to rest for the night by the cliffs. Coraline sat propped against the rock wall, as Kaede fell asleep wrapped in her blankets, Shippo sleeping against her.  
Coraline looks across the fire at Inuyasha, and says softly,

"Kaede has fallen asleep."

"Hmph. Let's get some sleep ourselves. We've got a big battle waiting tomorrow."

"That quick, huh?"

"I can smell the remains; they're not far off."

Coraline watches Inuyasha lean over with his eyes shut, and softly whispers to him,

"Inuyasha?"

But he's already asleep...Coraline continues to stare at him, and thinks back to when she first laid eyes on him:

 _Hmm...He fell asleep. I remember that's how I found him during my first excursion to this time...It may have been a spell, but still, his spirit was sleeping for a long time..._

 _I, was under the impression that he hated_ _Kikyō...But, earlier today...The way he gazed at me as he held my hand...I saw no hatred in his amber eyes...  
_

 _Damn, my heart's still racing...Is it possible, that he's been hiding what he really feels?_

 _Was Inuyasha, in love with_ _Kikyō?_

Next Morning

Shippo wakes himself up with some mountain water, before everyone is on their way again, with Kaede saying,

"We must retrieve Kikyō's remains quickly, lest Urasue use them to some evil end. I fear trouble lies in the path ahead, dreadful trouble."

Inuyasha replies with some blunt sarcasm,

"Oh good, that's just what we need to hear. If you were so worried about her remains, why didn't you scatter them in the river in the first place? We wouldn't be in this predicament if it hadn't been for your sentimentality."

"(Disgruntled sigh) Inuyasha, have ye no regard for man's grave sites and tombstones? A grave is not simply just a place for man to bury a body or ashes. It is also a place of refuge, a shelter for those hearts of the loved ones left behind."

"The loved ones left behind?"

"My sister was born a priestess. She used her powers for the good of the villagers. She warded specters and demons away from the village, and battled sickness and famine countless times. Ever since her demise, her spirit continues to encourage them to overcome their obstacles and have the strength to carry on. But people are weak, and hearts are easily suede by the winds of danger and uncertainty. Her grave was a place of reassurance, a haven to encourage the villagers to brace themselves against the storms of life."

Coraline walked behind them, taking in Kaede's words, but was more focused on Inuyasha:

 _It sounds to me like Kikyō was treated in a way similar to a goddess, even after she passed...  
_

 _Inuyasha...he looks the same as yesterday...He must be thinking of Kikyō._

 _It's clear to me now: He was in love with her, and yet, she shot him, and trapped him under a spell that lasted for fifty years..._

Coraline stops walking, and looks at Inuyasha sadly:

 _Oh Inuyasha..._

Inuyasha feels a stare, and turns around from atop the horse:

"Hm?" Coraline doesn't stop her stare:

 _She never returned your feelings..._

(Growl)

 _She didn't return your love. She didn't love you..._

"Huh?"

Seeing the tears that were starting to form, Inuyasha had enough:

"What're you gawking at?!" He leaps over in front of her, and looks at her with a frown with his arms crossed:

"That's pretty bad, when you can give a half-demon the creeps."

"Um..."

"What's with the sympathetic looks you're giving me?" Coraline smiles faintly and turns from his face replying,

"Oh, it was nothing, I was just thinking about something silly..."

Inuyasha doesn't buy her attempt to brush it off:

"Hm...Silly like what?"

"Nothing, really. Just forget about it."

"Answer me!"

Coraline begins jogging off to catch up with Kaede, but Inuyasha easily jogs in step with her, shouting at her authoritatively,

"Coraline! I want some answers now!"

"Look: Just drop it, okay?! It's not important!"

Meanwhile, in Urasues's Hideout...

As the group continued their way to confront her, Urasue was heading back to the entrance of her cave, cutting away the rock blocking the entrance, revealing a clay sarcophagus currently being baked:

"Now then...let's see what magic my demon cure has brought to the mixture of ashes and grave site soil..."

She walks forward to the sarcophagus, and remarks with a smile,

"Ah, yes. This could be my finest creation yet. Now..."

Urasue then takes the herb stalk kept in her headband, it now glowing, before tossing it onto the sarcophagus:

(Sheen...)

The flames die away, leaving only the sarcophagus and herb, before Urasue takes her scythe, and bringing down on the head:

"Arise!"

(Swipe, Ting...)

(Crick...Crack)

The sarcophagus opens, and a hand reaches out from it, grasping the herb...

"Arise, Kikyō! Come to me!"

(CRACK)

The sarcophagus smashes open, and rising out if the shattered pieces... _is a newly resurrected Kikyō!_

"Kikyō, The Great Priestess...You foiled many in attempt by demons and monsters to take possession of the Sacred Jewel of the Four Souls...They say that even if a demon should possess just one shard of the broken jewel, its powers as a demon would at least double in strength...I need them. I must have every fragment of the jewel myself. Go forth, and destroy every demon in search of the jewel fragments. Burn them alive. I have brought you back, so you shall serve my every wish. Now go and retrieve the jewel shards!"

(Pow)

Urasue sends a torrent of energy at Kikyō, causing her bare body to rise up, before floating back down...

But, when she touches back down to the ground, Kikyō suddenly falls to her side...

"Impossible...! I do not understand!"

Urasue steps over to Kikyō, grasping her by her hair, and noticed what was wrong:

"Hmm...The body has revived, but the soul has not returned! My unparalleled magic could not have failed to bring back the soul...Wait: This could only have happened if the soul was already reincarnated into another body!"

Urasue growls in frustration:

"I have no use for this body of Kikyō's unless it has a soul!"

(Toss)

Kikyō's body lands on the ground, and Urasue laments in anger,

"All this time and magic wasted! Wasted on a useless shell of a human! Now how will I retrieve the jewels shards? How?!"

Back to Inuyasha and Company

As they continued their trek to Urasue's hideout, the group comes across a number of clay sarcophagus's similar to the one that was baked moments ago:

"What are these? Pottery mummies?"

"Clay statues, maybe? Uh, they're giving me the willies..."

Soon, they could all see the mountain where the hideout was, a stream of smoke coming from it:

"Something tells me that's the place..."

Now, the group was overlooking an old rope bridge, overlooking a very deep gorge. Coraline steps in front:

"Fantastic...A rickety old bridge..."

She steps forward, and cringes from the rattling of the chains, Kaede behind her:

"(Deep breath) Okay, just don't look down..." Inuyasha looks back at her, he closer to the middle of the bridge:

"Stay here if you're that scared. I'll go on my own and get the remains back, okay?"

"No. I'm fine; just need to focus in front of me, is all."

"Alright, then step it up a bit," and Inuyasha turns to keep going. Meanwhile, Shippo runs a bit further, only to stop at an unexpected sight:

"H-Huh? How'd those get here?"

(Cri-CRACK)

The clay sarcophagus's smash open, revealing several clay soldiers! Shippo calls back nervously,

"We've got trouble!" Inuyasha deduces,

"Must be some of Urasue's soldiers." Coraline narrows her eyes:

"Figures that crossing the bridge to her hideout wouldn't be easy...Oh crap, that means...!"

She and Kaede turns around, and see several more soldiers coming towards them on the other side of the bridge! Coraline calls back,

"Inuyasha, they're closing in from the other side as well!"

"Hang on tight, ladies. This bridge is about to live up to its name!"

(Leap)

" _Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!_ "

(Swipe, crash)

Inuyasha cuts his claws through one of the soldiers, and looks in surprise at what they're made of:

 _These guys really are made of mud..._

" _Fox Fire!_ "

Shippo sends his illusionary fire at them, and Kaede uses her bow to knock them aside. Inuyasha keeps up the assault:

"Wish all my enemies were this, (Swipe) weak! (Grunt) Too bad, there's so many of 'em!"

Coraline looks back at the other soldiers, and narrows her eyes:

"...Alright. Time to step up." She moves in front of Kaede:

"Kaede, I got these next ones!"

"What?"

Coraline then reaches to her thigh, grabbing the handle of her combat knife:

"Good time as any to test my new knife..." _And hopefully, it doesn't break..._

Coraline then brandishes the knife out, and lunges forward:

"Hah!"

(Stab, crack)

In a sprout of luck, the blade goes through, and does not break! The soldier is taken off-guard, and goes down with a shove from Coraline:

(Thud, crack)

"You want some of this?!"

Coraline continues her attacks, stabbing and shoving the clay soldiers, much to Kaede and Shippo's shock:

"Coraline..."

"Wow, she's doing it!"

Inuyasha looks back briefly, and his eye widen in shock, seeing Coraline fighting the soldiers:

"Coraline?! Hey! What are you doin?!"

(Smash)

"What does it look like?! I'm helping, and taking the initiative! (Smirk) Besides, it's about time I step up and fight!"

"...Coraline..."

Inuyasha smirks a bit at her determination, before focusing back on his side of the fight...

Back up with Urasue

"What can all that ruckus be outside? I'll go see for myself, and work off some frustration..."

But when Urasue goes to retrieve her herb from the hand of Kikyō's body:

"Rrrgh...Release it! This herb belongs to me!"

But the hand holds its grip, and the head...turns to the outside...

"Inuyasha, look out!"

(Crash...)

"She's moved on her own...Wait!"

Out on the bridge, Coraline stabs yet another two soldiers, smashing them into each other, and steps back a bit, breathing heavily...

Urasue flies overhead to the bridge:

"That must be Kikyō's reincarnation. How odd; she does not resemble in appearance, yet the body was focused in her direction. I also sense, a strangeness in her soul, like _something more than one_...Whatever the case, she must me the reincarnated soul of the priestess."

Inuyasha and Coraline keep up the pressure on the clay soldiers, and the former calls back at the latter,

"Hey, Coraline! How are ya, (Swipe) even striking these clay pots, (Swipe) with your knife? Wouldn't the blade have broke by now?"

"(Stab) Couldn't tell ya if I wanted to! Hrah, (Kick, crash) but I might ask Shuji about it, next time I'm, (Stab, shove) back in my world!"

Inuyasha nods, swiping down more of the soldiers, before sensing something off:

"Hm?"

He looks up, seeing Urasue, and before he could react:

"Hrrrraaaaaaah!"

(SLICE)

She cuts through the bridge with her scythe!

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" "Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

Everyone begins to fall with the bridge, and Urasue makes her move, snatching up Coraline into one of her arms, and leaving Shippo and Kaede to continue their way down the gorge, following Inuyasha...

"No! Kaede, Shippo, Inuyasha! (Grit) Release me, you grave-robbing witch!"

Urasue directs the blade of her scythe under Coraline's neck, causing her to freeze in her struggles:

"Prefer to fall to your death, young maiden? After all my hard work trying to revive that corpse, I won't easily give up its reincarnated soul. I have plans in store for you... _plans to bring back Kikyō._ "

 _Did she say...bring back Kikyō?...Oh, this is not good at all...  
_


	16. Chapter 15

Hey all! So, here's the second half of Kikyō's return, and Coraline's kidnapping.

Sorry it took so long, but I was caught up in other affairs, including a bad sunburn I got yesterday (ouch)...But hey, doesn't mean I'll stop writing; just means it'll be a bit slower for a while (lol).

Anyway, on with the story!

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Return of the Tragic Priestess, Kikyō**

Picking up where we left off, we find Inuyasha continuing his trajectory down the chasm:

(Slide, leap)

He jumps off a tree growing on the chasm wall, and then lands down below in a pile of clay soldier pieces:

(Crack)

His torso bursts out of the pile, and he looks left and right for any signs of everyone else:

"Where are Coraline and the others?"

Suddenly, he looks up, and sees a large projectile heading his way, before:

(Thud)

"Gh!"

It lands on top of him, and it's revealed to be a giant leaf, with Kaede and Shippo riding it:

"I sure hope Inuyasha is alright."

"An individual such as he would not easily be slain."

Inuyasha then pops his head out from underneath the giant leaf:

"Do ya mind gettin' off me?"

"Ah, well speak of the devil..."

Shippo dismisses the leaf, and as everyone stands up straight, it's revealed that some of the clay soldiers were not in fact destroyed!

"Huh, haven't had your fill of me, I see."

Inuyasha growls, before tapping out the hilt of Tessaiga:

(Ting)

" _Tessaiga!_ "

(SLASH)

Wouldn't take more than a few seconds before Inuyasha destroyed the rest of the soldiers with a few swings of his blade...Once that was taken care of, Shippo informed Inuyasha of Coraline's whereabouts, and he wasn't too pleased about it either:

"The old witch has kidnapped Coraline?!"

"Yeah, she pulled her off the bridge as we were falling!"

"Well, at least Coraline didn't fall to her death..."

Kaede then moves forward to examine the remains of the clay soldiers. Suddenly, silver-blue orbs of light began to float out of them:

"Their souls are ascending..."

"Kaede!" Inuyasha and Shippo rush over to her, the former asking,

"What are these strange orbs of light?"

"Urasue must've imprisoned human souls to animate these clay soldiers...I fear it gets worse."

She leans down to the head of one soldier to grab a handful of the contents:

"Human bones are baked in with the clay."

"Human bones?" Kaede stands up and remarks grimly,

"It is worse than I thought. Urasue's magic is fiendish: She's using souls and bones of the dead, but now she possesses my sister's remains, and holds Coraline in confinement."

Kaede moves forward, but pauses when she feels her injuries acting up. Inuyasha calls to her,

"You're wounded, old woman. You wait here while I go recover Kikyō's remains."

"I worry that time is not on our side." She turns to face Inuyasha, and says bluntly,

"We may soon find ourselves face-to-face with my sister."

"What?! But Kikyō's dead!"

"Urasue has all that she needs to revive her, and if she succeeds, we shall be facing a formidable foe. We must find some way to stop this."

Meanwhile, At Urasue's Hideout

"You damn witch! You won't get away with this!"

Coraline was now bound by her wrists and placed in a stone basin, while Urasue poured in more of a strange herbal mixture.

"You are an insolent one, are you not?" She finishes pouring in the amount needed:

"There, that should do it."

"Grave-robber! What have you done with Kikyō's remains?"

...Suddenly, the body of Kikyō came walking out, now wearing a set of priestess robes, looking towards Coraline...

"Oh god, don't tell me that's..." Urasue turns to address the body:

"So, you are dressed? The attire of a priestess is most suited and flatters your good looks. I have done well to reshape your body with human bones and graveyard soil. Now all that you require is a human soul."

"A human soul? Dare I ask what that entails for me?"

"My magic herbal potion will soon suck the soul from your living body. Kikyō shall have her soul, and you shall be among the living dead."

 _...Son of a bitch...Then this is Kikyō!_

Inuyasha & Company

We now find Inuyasha leaping up the cliff-side while carrying Kaede, Shippo following close behind.  
Landing on another ledge, Kaede cringes from her injuries again, causing Shippo to yell angrily but worriedly,

"Show some mercy! Can't you see that granny Kaede's in a lot of pain?" Inuyasha looks back at Kaede, and says,

"Faster, slower, will somebody make up their mind?"

"I beg of ye to proceed quickly. Fly like the devil's at your heels!"

(Leap)

Inuyasha continues his way, with Shippo following and commenting,

"If we don't hurry, Coraline's soul will be stolen. Kaede's right; there's no time to lose!"

(Hop)

Back to the Hideout

Urasue's potion was starting to activate, causing strain on Coraline's body:

"D-Damn, necromancy witch...Y-You're playing with forces, not m-meant to be tampered with..."

Urasue drags away a twin set of tall pottery pots, and looks back to see Coraline trying to fight back against the potion:

"This young lass differs somehow. Most of my victims will have fallen faint by this point..."

Suddenly, a circle of light begins to emanate from Coraline's chest, as she squirmed in pain. Urasue rushes over to see:

"That light! The girl possesses a fragment of the Shikon-no-Tama! How very fortuitous for me!"

But when she went to go and grab the jewel fragment, suddenly:

(Pow)

"Aaagh!"

A large, white barrier of light blocks Urasue from even reaching the basin!

"Does this light shine from the jewel itself? Aagh!"

She backs up a bit more as the light becomes more strong, and Urasue realizes what's really going on:

"The soul appears to be angry. Kikyō's soul flashes with an inexplicably violent and angry light."

"Ag-gh, my body's, burning up...aaah..."

The light of the soul shines even more, and suddenly, it flashes from pink, to blue, then back the white:

"The soul is seeking revenge. I suspect she must have experienced a tremendous betrayal in her former life...As for that change in colour...though I have never seen it occur before...it is a sign of a _merged soul._ Is it possible then that this young lass was not originally Kikyō's reincarnation?"

By this time, Inuyasha and the others arrive on scene. They see the lights bouncing within the barrier, and Kaede says in shock,

"Kikyō is there..." Coraline calls out in a strain,

"In-Inuyasha...please, h-help..." Urasue is surprised by their arrival:

"You survived the fall?" Inuyasha then saw the body of Kikyō slumped against the rock wall:

 _It is her!_

Within the barrier of light, a disembodied voice calls out,

 _"Do not call out for me...Do not call out my name!"_

But Inuyasha was too shocked by what he's seeing, to realize the consequences in what he utters next:

"...Ki-Kikyō..."

(Pulse)

With that, Coraline's eyes dilated out of focus, and the soul light erupted!

"The soul is emerging!"

"C...Coraline!"

"The instant you called her name, her heart missed a beat, and Kikyō's soul sprang forth!"

The orbs of light that shot out of Coraline, soon shot into Kikyō's body, before the body shone an ethereal glow, floating back down, her hands reaching to her face...

"Coraline's spirit has entered Kikyō's body!"

Shippo rushes over to the basin, where Coraline laid, eyes shut:

"Coraline, don't leave us! Wake up, Coraline!"

Urasue jeers at Shippo amusingly,

"You waste your time speaking to a soulless lump of flesh, but I have no bones about having her later for dinner..."

Kaede calls out,

"You fiend, Urasue! How dare ye desecrate my sister's grave and steal her remains!"

"My creation is wondrous, is it not? I used her remains and grave site soul and created her as living flesh and blood! As such, I am her creator, nay, her birth mother, and as proof of her allegiance to me, she shall follow my every command. Now come, and use your powers to rid us of..."

Urasue pauses, as Kikyō kneels downward in front of Urasue, hands on her shoulders, before...

(BZZZT)

"Haauuuhhh!"

Kikyō uses her powers against Urasue, causing the demon witch to self-combust into blue flames, before falling to the ground...!

"Huh?"

Inuyasha looks forward at Kikyō, who keeled with her head down, before she spoke:

"Inuyasha...why are you still alive? I bound you to a tree with a sacred arrow."

Inuyasha was momentarily taken aback, but recovered with a grim smile and replied,

"Yeah, you sure did. And I stayed there for fifty years, but as you can see, I'm alive and ready to take you on again."

...Kikyō then looks up, and had raging tears threatening to fall, as she growled angrily at him...

"You vile beast. (Stand) I despise you...You loathsome half-man."

As she began to walk forward, Kikyō's shoulder suddenly glowed a deep red, and Inuyasha asks her with some sarcasm,

"Got a problem, Kikyō?"

As its revealed, the return of her soul had also brought back an old injury. As Kikyō looked at the blood in her palm from covering her shoulder, she then shouts in anguish,

"Why did you betray me, Inuyasha?!"

Inuyasha was confused by the blood:

"What's going on? Where's all that blood coming from?" Kaede tells him,

"Look closer, Inuyasha. Is that not the fatal wound ye inflicted on Kikyō?"

Inuyasha replies incredulously,

"I inflicted?! What are you saying?! That I was the one who killed Kikyō?!"

"Yes. It was your wounds that sealed her fate, and ensured her demise."

"T-There must be a mistake of some kind! I didn't kill her! I don't even remember wounding her!"

"Can ye be certain? These wounds did not come from your hand? Think hard, try to remember! If, if not you, then who slew my sister?"

Kikyō cuts in with raw edge in her voice:

"You are even more vile than I thought, inventing such feeble excuses. Please, it is most unflattering, Inuyasha. Stop it!"

Kikyō then sighs, before cringing a bit from her wound again, and looking up at Inuyasha with a bitter smile:

"Inuyasha, do you not remember when you told me that you wished to become human?" Kaede comments,

"Impossible! He wishes to become a demon!" Kikyō continues her case:

"You said you would become human...I believed your words: That day, I carried the Shikon-no-Tama, and went to you..."

Flashback

 _Kikyō is seen walking on a grassy plain, going to meet Inuyasha with the completed Shikon-no-Tama._

 _She stops, looking around to spot him...Suddenly:  
_

 _(Dash)_

 _(SLASH)_

 _"UH!"_

 _She is attacked from behind by a clawed hand, and falls to the ground with blood soaking into her robes from her right shoulder!_

 _She sees the jewel in front of her hand, and goes to grab it, but:_

 _(Step)_

 _"Fool. I have no desire whatsoever to become human."_

 _Kikyō looks up, and is shocked to see her assailant, is Inuyasha! He takes the jewel from her and adds,  
_

 _"But I shall take the Shikon-no-Tama nonetheless. Thanks. This jewel's about to absorb a great deal of pain and suffering, when I use it to slaughter the villagers."_

 _He then walks away..._

 _Kikyō watches him go, shaking in pain and in rage...  
_

 _"You, traitor...TRAITOR!"_

End of Flashback  


"But Kikyō, I can't believe that Inuyasha could have committed such a heinous crime!" He wasn't any more convinced than Kaede was:

"Are you suggesting that I was the one who betrayed you?!"

"You know that it's true. That is why I summoned the last vestiges of my strength and bound you to the tree with my sacred arrow."

As Inuyasha growls, Kikyō walks over to him:

"Inuyasha..."

"Kikyō..." She begins to embrace him, and says sadly,

"You and I were never fated to meet again..."

She then switches to a hateful glare, before grasping his upper sleeves, and using her power on him:

(BZZZT)

"Aaaarrgh!"

Luckily, he isn't destroyed like Urasue was (likely due to his Fire Rat Robes), and is only thrown backwards.  
Kaede steps froward and tries to reason with her sister:

"Stop this assault, Kikyō."

"Who are you?"

"I am your younger sister, Kaede. My looks have altered because fifty years have passed since your demise."

"Then explain why you would speak on Inuyasha's behalf."

Kikyō then takes Kaede's bow and quiver:

"Give me this!"

(Shove)

Kaede is pushed away, and Kikyō goes to aim an arrow at Inuyasha:

(Twok)

Inuyasha manages to jump out of the way in time:

(Boom)

Shippo, who had dragged Coraline out of the pool, flinches from the blown up rock, and Kikyō turns to address her sister:

"Kaede!" Kaede steps back from her and says insistently,

"You must stop this madness! Inuyasha is not your enemy!" Kikyō glares hard at Kaede:

"Open your eyes! You too have been taken in by this deceitful monster!"

"You're mistaken!"

"Hand me your arrows!"

"I'll do no such thing!"

"Kaede! Show loyalty to your flesh and blood, not to some devious, lying half-breed! Now, hear the demand of your elder sister and give me those arrows!"

She takes the quiver, and Kaede tries to stop her:

"Sister!"

(Shove)

"Move!"

"Ah!" Kikyō focuses back on Inuyasha:

"You told me you wished to become human!" She drops the quiver as she aims another arrow:

"You told me you wished to be with me..."

As Inuyasha growled, Shippo asks Kaede,

"Wh-What happened to Coraline?"

"Kikyō's soul will not find any manner of peace, as long as she harbors this hatred of Inuyasha. And unless Kikyō's soul returns to Coraline's flesh, Coraline is doomed."

"Awah! No!"

Inuyasha then tries to talk to Kikyō:

"Wait, Kikyō! I meant every word!"

"Liar! I was a fool beyond compare to believe your far-fetched tales and wishing to live together with you! I despise you with my last breath. My spirit will not forget that all-consuming hatred. So long as you live, my spirit cannot be freed."

After that vendetta-laced proclamation, Kaede, who was now holding Coraline to her, says grimly,

"Inuyasha, you must destroy my sister's body at once. This rebirth is nothing but a deceit of magic. Destroy the body, and release the soul within."

Kikyō retorts,

"It's futile; I shall not return to that body until I've carried out my revenge on the traitorous beast! Inuyasha, you are the one that shall die!"

(Twok)

The arrow flies, wrapped in a ribbon of purification magic, and Inuyasha quickly brandishes Tessaiga to block it:

(Tang)

Inuyasha struggles to keep it at bay, and unfortunately, the arrow's power manages to transform the sword back to it's dormant form!

"It has overcome the Tessaiga! Run, Inuyasha!"

The arrow slides past the sword, and pierces through Inuyasha's robes, causing an immense amount of pain to erupt!

"AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"

...Suddenly:

(Heartbeat, heartbeat...)

Coraline's body begins to pulse...before she rises on her own from Kaede's lap!

"Uh!"

As Coraline continued to slowly walk to the middle of Inuyasha and Kikyō, Shippo asks with surprise,

"Granny Kaede, what's going on?!" Kaede then senses something amiss in Coraline's body:

"(Gasp) Impossible! Her body, still carries the energy of a soul!"

Coraline then turns to face Kikyō, who held a shocked look on her face, before Coraline opened her eyes, revealing them to be glowing an icy neon blue!

"Coraline's eyes are glowing!"

...Very slowly, Coraline raises a hand towards Kikyō, before her hand glows the same blue:

(SHEEN)

Kikyō then feels her soul being pulled out of her body, the orbs flying back into Coraline!

"Oh no!" Kaede then sees what's going on:

"It is Coraline; she is trying to call back the soul into her body!"

"Nooo! Not yet! This cannot be! My revenge!"

Once all of Kikyō's soul returned to Coraline, the power of the arrow was cancelled out, and Inuyasha would only land on the ground with moderate damage...

"Rrrgh...h-huh?"

He then saw Coraline, glowing a bit from the strange power that was pulsing from her body, her eyes still shining that icy blue:

"...Coraline?"

She then grits her teeth, her strength greatly exhausted, and falls to her knees, then face down to the ground...

"...Coraline...W-Wait! Where is she?"

By she, Inuyasha was meaning Kikyō, who despite having her soul sucked out of her, was somehow walking away from the area...

"Kikyō!...Some part of the soul must remain inside."

Urasue, still barely hanging on to life, jeers at him:

"That which keeps Kikyō moving is no more than her deep hatred...It seems that about half of the soul has returned to the girl that once it came. Though based on what was just witnessed, it's clear that the girl would not have needed it returned, for she carried a merged soul of two, now one and a half. Kikyō's hatred of you and her need for revenge must have absorbed into her bones and the grave site soil itself. The once pure maiden is now a monster... _a monster feeding off its hatred of you. Lovely image, is it not?_ "

As Urasue turned into a pile of ashes, Inuyasha takes off after Kikyō, much to Kaede's calls:

"Inuyasha!"

Suddenly, there is a stir, and Coraline lifts her head, in a half-awake state, and she sees Inuyasha leaving, and her eyes glow a bit, before she mutters unknowingly,

"...She only has half..."

Meanwhile, Kikyō is struggling to trudge as far away from the area as possible:

"I must, distance myself from the girl with the strange power, or she will steal back the remainder of my soul...I must move away."

Suddenly, she slips downhill, and almost plummets off the side of a cliff, before a familiar clawed hand grabs hers:

"Uuh..." Kikyō looks up, and gasps at seeing,

"Inuyasha..."

"Kikyō, you can't go on like this any longer. You must return to Coraline's body."

"...You are saying you wish me to die, is that it?"

Inuyasha is shocked by her accusation, and Kikyō continues:

"For if my soul were to return to the girl, it will permanently merge with hers and I will cease to exist forever. You must know that...Is that what you desire, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha could only stare, as Kikyō shifted to a cold but determined look:

"I refuse to die."

She then goes to grasp Inuaysha's wrist with both hands, and sends a shock-wave of power, causing him to cry out in pain, while she adds in anguish,

"My spirit cannot rest in peace, until I see you dead!"

"Don't, do this!"

Inuyasha then slips, and barely manages to grab onto the rocky cliff-side:

"Kikyō!"

But, before wither of them knew it, _Kikyō's hand slips out of his!_

"Kikyōōōōōōōōōōō!"

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

Kikyō fell into the misty fog, her fate now unknown...

Inuyasha could only stare in disbelief, before uttering,

"...Why...why did it have to come to this?!"

He clenched his fist, as his mind dwells back to before these dual stories of betrayal erupted...

Flashback

 _"Kikyō had used her spiritual powers to protect the Shikon-no-Tama from demons..."_

 _Two of the many attempts by demons to claim the said jewel are stopped with only a few sacred arrows, courtesy of Kikyō..._

 _"I too needed the jewel so that I could become a full-fledged demon..."_

 _Another attempt is made by Inuyasha to sneak into the shrine-house where the jewel resided, but he is pinned to a tree with several arrows by Kikyō.  
For some reason, she does not kill him, and merely walks away from him again... _

_"Will you stop it?! Why do you never finish me off?!"_

 _"Stop coming after the jewel. I have no wish to waste more arrows."_

 _"I merely wanted the jewel for myself. I had no intention of killing Kikyō. It became clear to me that Kikyō did not intend to kill me either..."_

 _Inuyasha observes Kikyō performing a purification ceremony on herself by the waterfall...  
_

 _Scene shifts to she sitting on a grassy hill:_

 _"Inuyasha. I know you're watching me. Please, come join me."_

 _Inuyasha pops out from behind a bush...He is then sitting near_ _Kikyō, but looked rather apprehensive about it:  
_

 _"This the first time we have spoken like this."_

 _"What's your point?"_

 _"Inuyasha, what do you think of me? Do you see me as ordinary?"_

 _"Huh? Where are you goin' with this?"_

 _"I must never reveal my weaknesses to anyone. I must never waver. If I did, a demon would get the better of me...Inside, I am an ordinary woman, yet, I cannot reveal myself as such. In many ways, we are similar: Both outsiders. That is why I was unable to kill you."_

 _Inuyasha rises from the ground with a scowl on his face:_

 _"Hmph. Quit whining. We've all got got our cross to bear."_

 _He pauses, feeling a stare, and sees_ _Kikyō shift from surprised to a sad smile:  
_

 _"...You're right. I shouldn't complain."_

 _"When I saw Kikyō's sad and lonely expression, I felt guilty, for the very first time in my life...After that, I couldn't get her out of my mind...She was always by my side...and I, by hers..."_

 _They are seen talking over by the riverside during dusk:_

 _"Me? Become a human?"_

 _"It's possible. It is true that you are half-demon, but you are also half-human. If the Sacred Jewel of the Four Souls were to fall into the hands of a demon, their powers would undoubtedly increase. However, if it were used to turn you human, it would be purified. The Jewel of the Four Souls would probably cease to exist."_

 _"...And then what? What would happen to you?"_

 _"My duty is to protect the jewel...Without it, I could live the life of an ordinary woman."_

 _The two are seen sailing back to shore in a riverboat, and when_ _Kikyō goes to get out of the boat, she trips, landing against Inuyasha's chest.  
...She looks up at him, and they stare at one another for a moment, before they embrace...  
_

 _"I had no second thoughts. I knew that I could live with Kikyō, as a human. I longed for such a life...But the day she was to bring me the jewel..."_

 _Shift the scene: Inuyasha is shot at with arrows, courtesy of a glaring Kikyō!_

 _"Die, Inuyasha!"_

 _"She betrayed me. Kikyō betrayed me! As soon as I let down my guard, she tried to slay me! I managed to dodge the arrows, and I went to the village to steal the jewel for myself...And that's when she bound me to the tree..."_

 _Recent event: The newly revived Kikyō recovers her injury on her shoulder, and she turns to him and shouts,  
_

 _"Why did you betray me, Inuyasha?!"_

End of Flashback  


Inuyasha begins to slowly make his way back, his mind still appalled by what has become of him and Kikyō:

 _How did it come to this?!_

He then cries out in pain, before falling to his knees, then face-down on the ground...He lifts his head, muttering with a angry and slightly shaken tone,

"How did it go so wrong? It wasn't suppose to be like this..."

He then rolls onto his back, and calls out,

"Ki-kyō..."

Coraline's POV

I watched Inuyasha leave after Kikyō, before slowly rising to rest on one knee, rubbing my head a bit:

"Rrh..."

"Coraline, are you okay?"

I look to see Shippo string at me with a worried expression, and I turn to my right to see Kaede having a similar expression, but with seriousness laced in her eyes:

 _...Kaede...do you now know?_

"Don't worry, Shippo...I'm, fine..."

I move to get up, but suddenly:

(Heartbeat)

"Uh!"

I sway a bit, but manage to stay standing by placing one hand on my knee, while the other held my head from a pounding throb beginning to resonate.

"Coraline!"

"Are ye alright, child?!"

I grit my teeth from the pain, before I feel an old memory that I haven't had come back to me for a long time...

(Flash)

 _A black space..._

 _A figure approaches; blurry...no, wait...a young girl..._

 _A young girl with black hair and brown eyes..._

 _She holds out her hands...a bright, pink orb manifests..._

 _It's coming closer...closer..._

 _(Sheen)_

(Flash)

"Uh!"

I open my eyes, and the pounding in my head is gone, and I'm feeling shock, the gears in my brain beginning to click:

 _...That, dream...I haven't seen flashes of that for years..._

 _...But now...I feel like, there's something, more to it...more than just an imagining..._

"(Gasp) Could it, be...that dream, was never a dream after all?"

I move to sit on the edge of the basin, my mind running rapid with realization...and fear...

I hear footsteps approaching me, and I feel a hand rest on my shoulder, belonging to Kaede, who had a questioning look on her face:

"...Coraline, I sense ye are troubled by something...What has you ailing?"

...I stay quiet, unable to speak, for it was not just my 'dream' that I was thinking about, but a secret that I've been keeping...One I hoped to never reveal in this world...

(Pulse)

"Uh!"

I feel a familiar body of energy, and I turn to the right, my eyes flashing blue for a moment, before saying in a monotone,

"...Inuyasha is coming..."

Shippo and Kaede look at me in surprise, before focusing on where I was looking: Coming out of the mist, was Inuyasha, who looked a bit worse for wear both physically...and emotionally.

"Inuyasha!"

Shippo runs up to him, and Kaede and I both stand up, each of us having our own thoughts on why he looked so dejected:

"...I do not see my sister with him."

"...I don't imagine they parted on a good note if he's looking like that..."

"Aye."

I watch as he continues walking with his head down, glancing at Shippo's approaching form, before facing the ground again.  
Shippo must've sensed that he was not in the mood to speak, for he slowed down, and only walked beside Inuyasha, a worried expression on his face...

Once they reached Kaede and I, Inuyasha lifted his head, and the expression on his face made my heart crack:

 _Oh god...He looks so heartbroken...Inuyasha..._

Swallowing a lump in my throat, I stepped up to him, and carefully wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into a hug, his head on my shoulder.  
I gently squeezed him, and said in a whisper,

"Inuyasha...I'm sorry...for both you, and for Kikyō..."

I feel him flinch a bit, likely from either the mentioning of the said priestess, or surprise from my apology...But, he didn't pull away, and only buried his face into my shoulder, like he saw me as an escape from the world...I then hear an almost inaudible whisper:

"...Thank you..."

We stayed like that for a few more minutes, until I decided he was okay, and I slowly unwrapped my arms, we separating from eachother, only looking at one another. He looked a bit better, but still looked like he went through Hell...

"Coraline." I turn to Kaede, and she asks me,

"What did you mean when you whispered, 'She only has half'? And how did ye immediately know when Inuyasha was returning?...There is something you haven't been telling us, isn't there?"

...I sigh, and I walk a distance away from the others, noticing Inuyasha's change of expression from devastated to confusion as I went.  
When I reach near the edge of the cliff-side, I said in a monotone,

"...Yes. There is, Kaede. I have been keeping something secret from you all...Something that only a scarce few in my world know about. Something, I hoped to never reveal in this world..."

I hear Inuyasha ask me,

"...What do you mean, Coraline? What secret?"

I turn around to face them, a neutral expression on my face...before:

(Sheen)

All three gasp, seeing my eyes glow an icy blue, before going back to normal a few seconds after. I take a deep breath, and say,

"...I'm an Aura Reader..."

* * *

Oooooo, Plot Twist!

What will Inuyasha and company make of this new information about Coraline?

Why was she keeping it a secret?

And what's all this talk about a merged soul?!

Find out in the next chapter to come!


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 (Special): Coraline's Secret & The Truth Behind the Soul**

Inuyasha, Kaede and Shippo were staring at Coraline with shock, as the teenage girl began to reluctantly explain:

"Basically, my soul has a higher energy concentration then most human souls, which grants me the ability to see into a person's Aura, or energy of the soul. It's an ability that's been pasted on through my family for generations, including my father before me. In a way, it's like my sixth sense, and I can even tell if someone is human, or if they are supernatural, by the way their Aura is structured."

She focuses on Inuyasha with a faint smile, and says,

"I'll say this much: Inuyasha's Aura is the most beautifully unique I've ever seen. While having the central core to that of a Human Aura, the energy is also spread through his body, like that of a demon's...It reminds me of the sunrise and sunset..."

Inuyasha was taken aback by her description of his Aura, and looked away shyly, as Shippo asked,

"So, does that mean that my, 'Aura', is spread out through me?"

"That's right, Shippo. And Kaede's Aura is structured to that of a sphere-shaped core, like most humans, but with a thin stream of energy surrounding it, likely related to her powers as a Priestess."

Kaede then asks,

"Then what we witnessed, during which ye tried to reclaim my sister's soul, was an ability of yours as an Aura Reader?"

"Yes; a newly awakened ability at that. My, father, once told me that Aura Readers can sometimes manipulate the energy of the soul. That was likely what happened: Whatever remained within me, must've sensed that Kikyō's rage was becoming out of control, and then the ability was triggered when I heard, Inuyasha's cry of pain...I can't fully recall the details myself, but I can faintly remember a blurry figure calling out incoherently as I felt an energy return to me...I suppose that was me reclaiming Kikyō's soul..."

Kaede nods in confirmation, and Shippo then asks,

"But, Coraline...Why didn't you tell us about your ability? Why'd you keep it a secret?"

...Coraline turns her back to them, feeling herself beginning to shake, as old memories began to resurface...

"Coraline?"

She replies in a sad and slightly shaky voice,

"...I was scared."

Inuyasha looks back up, and asks,

"What do you mean? Scared of what?"

"...Of being judged. All my life, this ability has brought me nothing but ridicule and disdain. Back when I was growing up in the Village of Majora, I was constantly abused by the children, all because I could sense the supernatural. They didn't understand that my ability wasn't dangerous, or didn't care to. Some were even bold enough to throw dirt and dust at my eyes, trying to blind me!"

As the others gasped, Coraline turned around, angry tears now falling from her eyes:

"Their damn parents did nothing to stop them, either! I even heard a few encouraging their kids to hurt me any way they could! Everyone regarded me as a freak!...(Sniff) My father, he did the best he could, but anytime he tried to talk reason, they only made his life more difficult for him. Luckily, he wasn't physically hurt...but his reputation plummeted, to the point where anytime he left home to restock or send his work in, he received death glares from the adults."

"Coraline..."

"...I left Majora when I was only ten, but that was a bit more due to my father's murder. But I certainly don't miss the place: _That damn village is no longer my home._ Anyway, thanks to all that childhood abuse, it became a condition to keep my ability under wraps, out of fear of being ridiculed again. Only Grandfather Higurashi, and my brothers Freeman and Besa know about it. I've debated on telling Akari-Sama and Souta, but...I haven't had the guts to do so yet...And, now you three know..."

Her face then shifted to a mix of fear and frustration, as she shouted,

"I don't care if any of you call me a coward after this! I know I am, and I don't give a damn! I'm nothing but a freak, a freak that shouldn't even be here!"

Coraline then turns and begins to sprint from the area, down the path that came to Urasue's hideout, much to Kaede's and Shippo's protests:

"Coraline!"

"Come back, Coraline!"

Inuyasha watched Coraline's form disappear from view down the path, before a strange frown formed on his face...

With a grunt, he then leaped after Coraline...

Coraline's POV

I ran fast, tears flying from my eyes, blurring my vision a bit, as I went to get as far from the area as possible. Eventually, I got a couple feet down the mountain, and found a tree that had surprisingly thrived in this rocky environment. Sniffling a bit, I went to sit down at the tree trunk, wrapping my arms around my legs, and buried my face into my knees. Memories of the jeering from those brats came rushing back to me, echoing in my brain:

 _"Loser!"_

 _"Freak!"_

 _"Weirdo!"_

 _"Alien!"_

 _"Why don't you just leave for the woods and never come back?!"_

 _"Wild monster!"_

 _"Monster...Monster...MONSTER!"_

I clutch my head, whimpering as I tried to stifle those hateful jeers...

"Oi! Coraline! Just what do you think you're doin?!"

"(Sniff) H-Huh?"

I look up, and softly gasp, when I see Inuyasha, standing in front of me, scowl on his face, arms crossed over his chest disapprovingly. I quickly stand up, wiping my eyes on my sleeve, and avoid his eyes...

"I'm askin' what you're doin'. Why'd you run off like that?"

I hear him step closer to me, and I look up, seeing him look at me, his amber eyes not sharp like they usually are, but instead having a softness that rarely shows...  
I sniff again, and say in a slightly hoarse voice,

"Don't, look at me. I look horrible," and I turn away, wrapping my arms around myself...

I feel strong hands grab my arms, pulling mine away from myself, before turning my body back to the front. I then hear Inuyasha say,

"Coraline. Look at me."

...I remain silent, too afraid to listen...I hear him sigh, before he grabs my chin gently but firmly, and lifts my face upwards:

"I said, look at me."

"...Please, Inuyasha. Just leave me be. I, I can't-"

"Shut it." I flinch a bit from the tone of his voice, and he continues, his scowl shifting to a serious frown:

"If you wanna talk cowardly, then I'd say what you're doin' now fits the description."

"What?"

"You heard me: Running away just now, when all you're scared of is just a lousy memory or two. That's cowardly."

I avoid his eyes, ashamed of myself, knowing how right he was...

"And another thing: You are not a freak."

I look back up at his eyes, searching for any signs that he was lying. I guess he sensed my uncertainty of his words, for I saw his eyes soften a bit more, and he adds,

"I mean it. You're far from a freak; you're great just the way you are. I know now that you're a pretty decent fighter, and from the past time we've spent together, I know that you have a heart that opens to everyone, now matter where they come from, or what they look like. I mean, sure, this whole 'Aura Reader' thing's a bit over my head, but if it means you can sense danger quicker, that'll be a big help in the long run for finding the jewel shards..."

He releases my chin, and moves his hand to my shoulder, squeezing it a bit:

"You're not a freak, Coraline. You're, unique, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

...I feel myself shake a bit, before I go to hug Inuyasha around the middle, crying tears of relief and happiness at his words...

"Th-Thank you, for s-saying that. I needed to hear that, Inuyasha..."

I feel him slowly put his arms around me, and he tches before replying,

"Yeah, sure, you're welcome. Now can you stop crying already? You look like a mess..."

"Heh, right..."

I wipe my eyes, a small smile now on my face, a lot better than I was earlier. I see Inuyasha half-smile back:

"Keh, that's better."

"...Inuyasha!"

"Coraline!"

"Hm?" "Huh?"

We both turn around, and see Kaede and Shippo coming down the path towards us, the latter bounding ahead of the former. Shippo stops in front of us:

"There you guys are! Boy, Coraline, you sure know how to run!"

"Heh, yeah. I'm sorry for running off like that, I wasn't thinking rationally."

"It's okay, I understand. At least you didn't run too far that Granny Kaede and I couldn't catch up with you and Inuyasha."

I smile and nod, before looking up at said elder priestess:

"I apologize to you as well, Kaede. I shouldn't have run off like I did. It was wrong of me."

"It is alright, child. Ye were in a fragile state, and were unaware of how to approach the issue other than to escape. But I hope ye realize now that you cannot run from your fears forever."

"I do, and I won't now. I feel ready to begin facing them head on."

"Good. Now, perhaps we all should make way back to the village?"

We all nod, and begin walking down the path to exit the mountain...As we moved along, these were the thoughts that began to weave into my mind:

 _Well, that was a stupid way of dealing with that issue. I'm glad that Inuyasha was kind enough to set me straight...Well, kind in his own way, (Laugh). Anyway, now that they know about my ability, I don't have the weight of keeping it a secret anymore..._

 _Still, there's that other bit regarding my soul: Urasue said that I my soul and_ _Kikyō's were merged, and I saw that_ _Kikyō's Aura is only half of what it once was. Not only that...but it had a rather dark energy to it...I wonder if I somehow absorbed only the light in her soul?  
_

 _...And then that flashback...That, dream...the little girl with the pink orb...Is it, possible that she was the original reincarnation?  
...Actually, now that I think about it, the little girl, kind-of looked like-_

Flashback, Three Years Ago (No POV)  


 _"Say, Akari-sama? Who is this?"  
_

 _Coraline is looking at an old family photograph, which consisted the Higurashi Family, standing in front of the shrine. What made this picture peculiar, was an additional member: A young girl with black hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a pretty white dress with a pink cherry blossom pattern..._

 _Akari comes over to wear Coraline's standing, and looks at where the young tween was pointing. She then gains a sad smile, and replies,_

 _"Oh...That's my daughter, Kagome..."_

 _"Kagome...Pretty name...Forgive me for asking, but, did something happen to her?"_

 _"Unfortunately, yes. You see, two years ago, I was driving home with Kagome from a parent-teacher meeting at her school. We were there a bit longer than expected, so it was already very late into the evening...As I was getting ready to turn onto the next street, the traffic lights were acting up again...Next thing I knew, a large truck came out of nowhere, and crashed into the side of the car..."_

 _"...Oh no..."_

 _"Yes...Luckily, someone called for help, and we were rescued by the paramedics and the fire department...But, while I only sustained several cuts and bruises, Kagome...she...well, let's just say her injuries were worse than mine...As we rode in the ambulance to the hospital, she began to go into cardiac arrest, and the paramedics did all that they could to help her, and she fought for as long as she could...But, in the end...Kagome didn't make it. She passed away before we even reached the hospital..."_

 _Coraline goes to hug Akari, noticing the tears falling from her eyes:_

 _"Oh, Akari-sama, I'm so sorry..." Akari hugs back, and replies,_

 _"Thank you, dear...But I'm alright. I've already gone into mourning for as long as I needed to. For Souta and Grandpa, as well as Kagome's memory, I vowed to stay strong, and live life with all that I have. I, know that she would have wanted it that way."_

 _Coraline releases her hold on Akari, and says with a sad smile,_

 _"That's a good vow. And, if it helps, I understand the feeling of losing someone you care deeply about. I too have gone through mourning...maybe a part of me still is, but I wanna continue living life to the fullest..."_

 _"That's good...I'm sure your father would want that for you."_

 _Akari then moves back to the kitchen to continue prepping dinner, and Coraline looks a the photo one more time, specifically, at the little girl:_

 _"...Kagome...It's strange...though we've never had the pleasure of meeting eachother..."_

 _She puts the photo frame back onto the shelf, as she adds,_

 _"I, feel like we've met sometime before..."_

End of Flashback, Coraline's POV

I gasp quietly, realizing something I should have clicked into already:

"...No way...Is it really possible?"

"What is?"

I turn to see Inuyasha looking at me funny, as we all exited the mountain. I say to him,

"...Okay, this is probably gonna sound crazy, but...I think, I may know the identity of Kikyō's original reincarnation."

"What?!"

All three of them look at me with wide eyes, before Kaede asks me,

"What do you mean, child?"

"Well, I've only just remembered this now, but, five years ago, about two weeks before my father died, I had this, strange dream...I was in a black space, no light anywhere. I looked around for any signs of life, but came up empty...Until, I feel a warm glow coming from in front of me. I turn back, and coming from far away, was this little girl with black hair and brown eyes, about the same age as me. She was wearing a white dress with pink cherry blossoms on it, but it was tattered-looking, and she had several injuries on her body...Despite that, she was smiling softly...and her body, was partially transparent."

Shippo asks,

"You mean, like a ghost?"

"...That's what I was thinking. I walk up to stand a couple feet in front of her, and ask if she was okay. But she said nothing, and only smiled at me...Next thing I knew, she held both her hands out, and a pink glow manifested, shaped like a sphere. I could only stare, as the object came floating towards me, before touching my left side. I feel a piercing charge of energy hit me, and I cried out in pain, as the pink object began entering me...Then just as quickly as it came...it was gone. I look back up, my eyes as wide as china plates, and the little girl giggled a bit, before floating backwards, she fading from view. I try and chase after her, asking for her name, but I couldn't find her...That's when I woke up."

"...Weird dream." I look at Inuyasha and add,

"Yeah, and the aftermath was even stranger. For the next few days after that night, I kept feeling a slight ache in my side, right where the glowing orb entered me...It stopped after a while, but now I realize, this ache is exactly where the Shikon-no-Tama once was."

The three widen their eyes again, and Kaede then asks,

"So then, ye are saying that the spirit of my sister's original reincarnation came to you years ago, and passed the Shikon-no-Tama to ye?"

"Yes...I don't know why she would choose me, but I think I now know who she once was. You see, back in my world, there used to be one more member of the Higurashi family: A young girl by name of Kagome. Unfortunately, she and Akari-sama got into a terrible accident years ago, and she passed away on the way to the healers...But, now that I think about it, Kagome looks exactly like the little girl from my dream."

They all gain a look of astonishment, and Inuyasha asks,

"So, wait: You're saying that this 'Kagome' died in your world years ago, and her spirit came to you to pass on the jewel?"

"...It's really more of a theory, but it makes sense, in a crazy way. It's even possible that the jewel even contained Kikyō's soul, which would explain why I have a merged soul of two. Again, I don't know why Kagome's spirit would choose me as the next safe-house for her soul and the jewel, but, there you have it."

"Hmm..."

We all go into silence, each of us having our own thoughts on this new situation...

After a few minutes, Shippo looks at me with a smile and says,

"Well, I don't really care about the details. I'm glad that you were the one to come to our world, Coraline."

...I smile back and say,

"Thanks, Shippo. I'm glad I came too..."


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Mystical Hand of the Amorous Monk, Miroku**

It's been a few days since the group's encounter with Urasue, and we now zoom in on Coraline, as she kneeled by a small waterfall, gathering a handful of water to drink.  
Today, she was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a white crop-top, her tan-flannel shirt, and her combat boots.

Shippo, who was sitting beside her, looks at her for a moment before asking,

"Coraline, are you sure that you're back to normal already?" She smiles gently at the little fox demon and replies,

"Yes, Shippo, for the dozenth time, I feel perfectly fine...To think, though, only a few days ago, that grave-robbing hag managed to suck one of the souls out of my body. But I'm back to my old self now. Or, at least _my soul_ is in tact, along with the one half of Kikyō's soul..."

 _I wish I could say that Inuyasha was okay too...Ever since his confrontation with Kikyō, he's been constantly lost in his own thoughts..._

Speaking of Inuyasha, he was a couple feet away from the other two, standing on a more grassy patch of the rocky woodland area they all stopped at, looking up into the sky with a sad frown on his face:

 _I just don't know anymore. So I gather all of the Shards of the Shikon-no-Tama to become a full-fledged demon...And then what?_

 _Even if I do fully become a demon, will that make me stronger inside? Can I ever truly forget Kikyō?_

As he kept staring into space, Coraline and Shippo (the latter being carried) silently come up to him, both occupying a worried look:

"Look at him. I've never seen him act this way before." Coraline replies,

"Yeah. Can't say I have either..." With that, Shippo decides to try and snap Inuyasha out of it:

(Leap)

"Take, that!"

He thwacks Inuyasha lightly on his head, before leaping back into Coraline's arms. Inuyasha turns around while muttering,

"Bad move..."

He then grabs Shippo by his tail and asks with irritation,

"What'd you do that for, Shrimp?"

"To knock some sense into you! We're suppose to be looking for the jewel shards!"

"Get off my back. Even a guy like me needs some time to think every once in a while."

"Yeah, that's what's worrying me!"

"Worry about this!" Inuyasha then proceeds to chase Shippo, shouting,

"Come back here, ya little pipsqueak!"

"Try and make me!"

They run in a circle around Coraline a few times, before moving the chase away from her.  
She smiles faintly in amusement at their childish behaviour, before shifting into a frown:

 _...It seems that the Shikon-no-Tama's been bringing nothing but pain and misery._

 _Kikyō claims Inuyasha betrayed her, but Inuyasha says it's the other way around..._

 _(Narrows eyes)_

 _There's no way that two different stories from the same day can be possible..._

 _There's a third, true point of view to this tragedy, and I'm gonna figure out what it is, even if it takes every bit of my brain power to do it!_

Meanwhile, in another part of the area...

(Jingle)

A metal staff falls forward to the ground, belonging to another traveler whom was trying to decide which way to go next:  
He was a young male, wearing black and dark purple robes akin to that of a monk, sandals, had short black hair, some tied into a short ponytail in the back, and dark brown eyes.  
He kneels down while looking at his staff, remarking,

"So, I should go right..."

"Have you heard about the new woman working at the rest-house up ahead?"

He then turns his head slightly behind him, hearing two other male travelers approaching:

"They say her beautiful eyes and pale complexion are nonparallel and that she's, _unattached_."

The man's companion laughs a bit and says,

"I could use a bite to eat..."

"Just what I was thinkin'."

The two men continue down the left fork in the road...

(Jingle)

The staff is redirected to the left, and the monk comments,

"Divine intervention..."

But when he got to the rest-house:

 _Surely they couldn't have been meaning this woman?_

The lady of the rest-house, wearing a yellow and orange kimono, and whom was (cough) a bit heavily built, came to the monk with a tray of food:

"Your sweets are ready."

He gestures a praying symbol, and takes the tray while replying,

"Uh, thanks." _Should've stuck to the right..._

"Just between us, I understand the daughter of the lord in this region has acquired the spirit of a demon, and has taken to her bed."

"He'll require the aid of a skilled priest, then."

That caught the monk's attention...

Small Time Skip

After some more walking, the monk reached the home of the said lord, and the latter speaks with one of his vassals:

"Are you certain this monk is virtuous and trustworthy?"

"If one is to believe his claims, then aye, my lord."

So then the lord has the monk brought to him, and makes his point clear:

"Monk, you must drive out the evil spirits possessing my child or you will receive nothing."

"My. Living in opulence in such turbulent times as these. Surely, your vassals must resent your wealth."

"Impudence!"

Despite the insult, the lord does not turn the monk away, and leads him to where his daughter now lays:

"Princess, a monk has come to offer his blessing."

Laying atop a mat in front of an elaborate statue, was a young lady, wearing a dark pink robe with a gold-yellow pattern.

"Pardon me. Allow me to see her."

Upon a closer look, the monk notices something about the princess's facial appearance:

"Her face is terribly swollen..." The lord irritably replies,

"It is always so! Are you certain that you're truly a monk?"

"...Hm?"

The monk then turns his head towards the statue, and feels something off...He turns to the lord and asks,

"Tell me about that statue."

"I received it from a impervious nobleman. They say that it is a blessed idol."

The monk goes to stand up, and moves to examine the idol more closely:

"Hmm..."

After a minute or two, the monk turns to the lord and says,

"I am prepared to begin. Leave the princess here with me and take everyone on the residence grounds outside the gates."

"Huh?"

"And milord, mark my words: No matter how alarming the sounds may appear, you must not peer inside."

The lord widens his eyes, before nodding seriously.

"Now then, I shall commence the exorcism."

The lord makes his way out of the room...Once he was gone, the monk turns to the idol:

"Very well: Come out at once and surrender peacefully and I shall show you mercy!"

He points his staff at the idol...Suddenly:

(...Rattle)

The statue begins to shake, and the face metamorphosizes into a more demonic facade, with flames at the side! The monk is not fazed however, and merely smirks while saying,

"I should've known you wouldn't give in that easily..."

The source of the change in the statue emerges, revealed to be a demon in the guise of a monstrous weasel!  
As it howls, the monk comments,

"A weasel demon, how befitting!"

The demon charges at the monk, but he easily jumps away.  
As he lands back on the ground, the monk notices a glitter coming from the demon's forehead:

"Hm? That glow...A shard of the Shikon-no-Tama!"

The demon hisses, before charging at the monk again, but not only does he jump away from the attack, he also manages to land a blow on its head with his staff:

"Haah!"

(Whack)

Meanwhile, the lord and his vassals were waiting outside, and could hear the battle that was taking place:

"The beast sounds fearsome indeed."

"It certainly does!" One of his older vassals asks the lord,

"Maybe we should take a look inside, my lord."

"No. We'll wait. He said that we must wait outside until he gives us the word. Besides, I want to make sure that the demon is long gone..."

(Thump, clatter...)

"...Sounds less like an exorcism and more like the mansion is being pillaged!"

"I still say we should wait."

Time Skip

After some time, the sunset had finally begun, and all was right again inside.  
The lord is with his daughter, and is now examining the dead weasel (that was also no longer demonic):

"So, this weasel was the culprit. (Turn) And you say this creature turned into a demon and possessed you?"

"Yes."

"And what of that young monk?" The princess blushes and holds her face as she answered:

"He gave me no name, but left with my heart."

Suddenly, one of the lord's vassals comes rushing into the room:

"My lord! I regret I have terrible news to bring you!"

What was the said terrible news? Well, as it turned out, the monk had left with waaay more than just the princess's heart...

"All of your valuables have been stolen."

"Including three of the finest horses."

...The lord collapses to his knees, and mutters in shock while staring at the now empty room,

"I've been had!"

As this was going on, the said monk was already far enough away from the lord's home, riding front in a large wagon filled to the brim, with the three horses drawing it:

"Now then, to find a place to pawn these off..."

Small Time Skip

The crescent moon now shines through the forest grounds of Edo Japan, as the monk relaxes in a hot spring, after selling off the items he pilfered from the lord's home:

"Hm, how disappointing...An entire cart-load of spoils, and they only fetch but a small price."

He then holds up the shard of the Shikon-no-Tama he managed to acquire from the weasel demon:

"Even so, this shard of the Shikon-no-Tama may have worth my while..."

Suddenly, a familiar female voice breaks out not too far away from him:

"Oh wow, this hot spring is fantastic..."

"Hm?"

The monk turns around, and peeks from behind the boulder he was laying against, seeing none-other than Coraline, bare-skinned and moving to sit in the water:

"Ahh..."

 _A girl! She wears a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama, and their-I mean, it's huge!_

"Don't get any bright ideas of peeking at me, got it?"

The monk ducks behind the boulder, before relaxing when he realizes her gaze was directed at someone else, namely, Inuyasha:

"Tch, don't flatter yourself. I got no interest in lookin'."

"Hmph. I see...Whatever," and she swims over to sit by another boulder. Inuyasha then sees Shippo going to remove his clothing:

"Hey, why are you getting undressed?"

"Give ya one guess!"

But before Shippo could even reach the water, Inuyasha grabs him by his tail:

"Oh no ya don't!"

Shippo is oblivious to why Inuyasha stopped him, and asks with an innocent smile,

"Oh, sorry. Did you wanna come?"

"Huh?"

"Hey, come to think of it, why do you and Coraline seem to spend so much time together, and yet you never seem to bathe at the same time? Think of all the fun things that you could do if there's two of you."

"Listen, kid..."

"Mom, Dad and I always took baths together, and we always had such a great time..."

Now realizing the little fox demon's innocence on the subject, Inuyasha says calmly with a slight blush,

"Maybe I'll explain to you when you're a bit bigger." Shippo looks at Inuyasha intently and asks,

"I guess this means you haven't gotten very far with Coraline, right?"

Inuyasha makes a nervous face, as Shippo turns with his arms folded as he adds,

"I dunno what that means, and no one seems willing to answer...I wonder why?"

Inuyasha then grabs Shippo from behind his face, and stretches his cheeks while yelling irritably,

"I'll tell ya why, in about fifty years when you're old enough to understand it!"

"It was just a question! What did I say?!"

As the boys argued, Coraline leans her back against a boulder while sighing, before submerging into the water a bit more:

 _...Tch, why should I let Inuyasha's comment bother me? It's not like I give beauty that much thought anyway..._

Suddenly, Coraline feels a presence behind her:

"Hm? Aah!"

Inuyasha hears Coraline yelp, and rushes to her:

"What's wrong?"

But when he got to her:

(Clonk)

Coraline hits him over the head with her fist and says with a disgruntled tone,

"I'm fine, Inuyasha, just go back to shore."

Turns out that presence she sensed was a group of brown-furred macaques:

"Shoo, macaques..."

By this time, the monk had gotten out of the water, and was finishing up redressing in his robes:

 _She's with another man...Hmm..._

"Too bad..." _I hate having to resort to violence..._

A little while later, the monk is seen speaking with a Tanuki, whom was rubbing his head from being bonked by the staff:

"Allow me to explain! I'm only asking for a guarantee!"

"I told you that you'll be compensated."

"...Yes."

Time Skip

Come the next day, Inuyasha, Coraline and Shippo were on the move again, now walking along the pathway of a mountain.  
Coraline was trying to talk with Inuyasha:

"Come on, can't you try and see the humor in it?" She turns to Inuyasha's direction and adds,

"So I clonked you on the head with my fist. You saw me naked, so can't we call it even?"

"I saw nothing!"

As Inuyasha avoids Coraline's eyes, a blush now dusting his cheeks, Coraline turns to Shippo (sitting on her shoulder) and asks,

"Did he really see nothing?"

"I dunno; I was lookin' somewhere else."

Meanwhile, the monk and Tanuki were looking down at them higher up the mountain:

"So it's the fellow in red you want me to attack?"

"Right. Meanwhile, I shall make off with the girl."

"I still don't get it. Why go through all this trouble when you can just use that powerful right hand of yours and have the jewel shard in a matter of seconds?"

"Don't be a fool. Surely you know better than that. If I were to use this hand, everyone in the vicinity would die."

"How could I have forgotten?" The Tanuki goes to grab a leaf out of his pocket as he nervously adds,

"I hope you remember who your friends are if this should somehow get out of control..."

The monk places a hand on the Tanuki's shoulder and says reassuringly,

"You can count on it, my friend."

With that, the Tanuki leaps off the cliff, rolling down the cliff-side, while shifting form...

As the three travelers down below kept walking, they stop when they heard a rumbling sound...When they look up, they see a monstrous boulder with a menacing face barreling towards them!

"Rrrr, I will come for you!"

"Whoa!"

Coraline manages to jump away, while the boulder slams into Inuyasha and Shippo, the two now being forced down the mountainside!

"Crap! Inuyasha, Shippo!"

Suddenly, Coraline feels someone grab her upper arm, and turns to see the monk!

"What the hell?! Where'd you come from? Wait a sec, do you have something to do with this?!"

"Fear not, young lady."

The monk begins pulling her away from the area, and adds with a gentle smile,

"You have no reason to doubt my intentions. I am but a simple monk...A monk who desired a jewel shard, and got a young woman in the process."

"Hey! Speaking on behalf of all women, we're not objects for men to possess!"

As the monk kept running off, dragging Coraline away, Inuyasha was struggling to keep the 'boulder' at bay.  
He then notices Coraline being taken away by the monk:

"Coraline! Who's the guy? And where is he taking her to?"

Noting the glare that Coraline was giving the man, Inuyasha decided that enough was enough:

"Don't take this, (Punch) personally!" He then unsheathes Tessaiga:

"But I got better things to do!"

Seeing that Inuyasha was serious, the Tanuki immediately shifts back to his normal form, cowering while saying,

"Please don't kill me! I'm but an innocent badger!"

The monk then stops, seeing his Tanuki companion was in trouble. He then unwraps the beads around his right hand, commenting to Coraline,

"Your friend is a violent one..."

Back below, Inuyasha interrogates the Tanuki:

"Explain yourself! Why did you attack me?!" But before he could get any form of an answer:

(Whoooooosh...)

Inuyasha was suddenly relinquished of Tessaiga, courtesy of a vacuum of wind, which also pulled him over to crash into the side of the cliff!

"Inuyasha!"

Coraline then reaches to her combat knife, and pulls it out, pointing it threateningly at the monk:

"Release me, now!"

The monk's eyes widen at seeing the knife, but remains calm and lets her arm go:

"Gladly."

As Coraline rushes off to Inuyasha, the monk looks down at the jewel shard necklace now in his hand:

"Seeing as I now have what I desire..."

With that, he began to rush off down the path and away from the area...Coraline slides down the cliff-side to Inuyasha's aid:

"Hey, are you alright?"

Once Inuyasha was pulled out of the rubble, he, Coraline and Shippo were now sitting down on the road, discussing the events that occurred just now:

"That, creep. Who the heck was that guy anyway?!" Coraline puts a finger under her chin in thought:

"I remember him mentioning being a monk...But the power in his right hand, I can't seem to explain at all."

Inuyasha was just as perplexed:

 _Yeah. I've never seen such a strong storm come out from nowhere before. It was like the wind in his hand was pulling everything into its path..._

Coraline's eyes then widen:

"Oh, damn!" She stands up and glares down the road, adding,

"That monk took off with the jewel shard around my neck! That slippery bastard!"

"WHAT?!"

"We need to pursue him now, before he gets too far ahead!"

"...Dammit, as if you almost getting kidnapped wasn't bad enough, now this?!"

Coraline moves to get on Inuyasha's back, and she says lightly,

"...If it lightens the mood a bit, I did threaten him with my combat knife..."

"...Seriously?"

"Mhm."

Shippo hops onto one of Coraline's shoulders, and comments with slight nervousness,

"Gee, remind me to never get on your bad side, Coraline."

Small Time Skip

After a bit, we zoom in on a crowd of villagers, who turn to see Inuyasha bounding down the path fast, hell-bent on finding the monk:

"Lousy thief! He couldn't have gotten too far! I'll hunt the fraud down!"

Once they reach the village, Inuyasha began to try and zero in on the monk's scent. Coraline asks,

"Why the slow-down, Inuyasha? You didn't lose his scent, did you?"

"No I didn't. There's just alot of smells to sift through, alright?" Coraline looks around the area and replies,

"Right, of course. I'm just saying that we probably shouldn't linger here for too long at a time..."

"I'm with Coraline. These people don't look too friendly..." Ignoring their worries, Inuyasha kept looking while mumbling,

"Where'd that thief go?"

Suddenly, Coraline turns to one of the male villagers as he asks with a frown,

"What is he, some matter of beast?" Coraline glares a bit at the man and replies,

"There's no need to be so rude, sir." The man ignores Coraline's reply and says to his companion,

"The young man and the boy are odd enough, but look at the strange girl." The man's companion asks back,

"Is she also a demon?" Coraline barks back at the men,

"Hey, who are you calling a demon?!" Inuyasha smiles with a glare and asks sarcastically,

"See how it feels?" Coraline gains a cold look, and says back,

"...Not like this isn't the first time, so yes, _I do know how it feels..._ "

That wasn't an answer Inuyasha was expecting:

"Huh?"

Inuyasha then remembers what Coraline said about how she was treated when she was young, and widens her eyes in realization...Coraline just sighs and softens her cold look before saying somewhat quietly,

"...Never mind, let's just keep looking."

With that, Inuyasha continues to sniff the ground, trying to hone in on the monk...Coraline then says,

"I hate to sound skeptical, but it's possible that the monk may have not passed through here..."

"He was here alright! I can smell him!"

"Even so, why would he remain if he knows we'd still be pursuing him?"

(Pulse)

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Coraline feels a familiar energy, and looks toward a house with a cloth door:

"Hang on a second..."

Using her power, Coraline's eyes shine that icy blue, and she sees a familiar Aura:

"(Gasp) The monk's Aura! I can see it in there!" Inuyasha gets up, and looks at her with confusion:

"How can you tell it's him?"

"Easy: While his Aura is human, I can also sense an odd concentration of energy that lingers in his right hand."

Meanwhile, inside the house:

"Would anyone like to dance~?"

The monk is sitting on a mat while drinking and eating, as several geisha women dance and giggle in the room, two of them latched onto his arms.  
He sighs before mumbling in a disappointed tone,

"So much for their claims of having beautiful geishas...I probably would've had a better time if I had gone drinking with the badger..."

(Step-step-step-step)

(Slam)

"Gotcha!"

"Busted, jewel thief!"

The monk looks up in surprise at seeing Inuyasha, Coraline and Shippo:

"I'm so glad you're here!"

He then walks up to Coraline, taking her hand and adding,

"It's too good to be true. You're a real sight for sore eyes." Coraline asks with slight sarcasm,

"Oh, sore eyes, is it?" Inuyasha then cracks his knuckles before saying,

"I'll give you sore eyes!"

(Swipe)

The monk dodges Inuyasha's claws, and backs up to the other side of the room, while the geishas all crouched in fear:

"You again? I should have figured as much."

"Yeah, you should have. Funny, that's just what I was thinking. But I guess not all of us were blessed with good looks and brains. Don't suppose you'd be interested in handing over that jewel shard you stole from us?"

"A gem such as this does not belong in the hands of a demon."

"We'll see about that!"

Inuyasha goes to try and attack the monk again, but he leaps away, hopping down to the outside, and takes off from the geisha house.  
Of course, Inuyasha wasn't going to let him escape that easily:

"Oh no ya don't!"

As the two men ran through the street, Inuyasha called to the monk,

"Come back and fight like a man!"

"I will not fight a senseless battle!" Inuyasha then unsheathes Tessaiga:

"All a matter of opinion!"

(Leap)

The monk looks behind him, and sees Inuyasha barreling back down from the air, sword at the ready:

"Hrrah!"

(Clang)

Luckily for him, the monk had fast reflexes, and manages to block the Tessaiga with his staff! Inuyasha was taken aback by the move:

 _He blocked the Tessaiga! I knew it; he's no ordinary mortal!_

"You'll be punished if that's what you insist!"

The monk then pushes Inuyasha back, and the latter lands a few feet away, before swinging his sword over his shoulder and saying,

"I dunno who you are, but you're no ordinary monk."

"I go by the name Miroku, and yes, I am a monk who works to aid the common man."

As the wind blows past the two, the tension rising, Coraline and Shippo finally catch up to them, as a villager calls out,

"Beware, villagers! A monk is about to slay the demon!" Inuyasha glares at Miroku and says,

"Work to aid the common man? You're nothing but a sleazy robber! Now give us back our shard of the Shikon-no-Tama! We went through a lot of trouble to get it, and we're not going to lose it now!"

Miroku smirks and pulls out the said shard while replying,

"Touching speech...I know you went to great pains to collect this gem, but trust me, it's in better hands with me, Inuyasha."

"Heh, so you knew who I was all along."

"Not at all." As Inuyasha wobbles a bit, he then glares heatedly at Miroku as he adds,

"Now, was it that beautiful companion of yours who called you by name or that young fox?"

Coraline watches from the sidelines, and she blushes a bit at Miroku's comment, before shaking her head and looking at him with suspicion:

"Nice a compliment it was, I'm still skeptical about his intent with the Shikon-no-Tama..."

"Yeah, especially since he stole the jewel from under your nose..."

"Hmph, I'm just gonna pretend I didn't hear that comment, Shippo..."

Inuyasha then calls out,

"Enough talking! Lemme at'ch ya!"

He then charges at Miroku with Tessaiga, and the two begin to fight again, with Miroku managing to match Inuyasha's speed, blocking all of his attacks:

 _He's strong, but not strong enough..._

Inuyasha begins to get frustrated:

 _Curse him! He blocks every strike!_

Suddenly, Miroku is struck with bad luck, as he trips over a pile of lumber:

"Ah!"

Inuyasha takes the opportunity, and manages to knock Miroku's staff out of his hands!

(Tok, jingle...)

As the staff lands in the ground behind Inuyasha, he then points Tessiaga at Miroku and says,

"I'll be having that jewel shard back from ya now, unless you'd rather die that is..."

Miroku glares at Inuyasha, before quickly flipping backwards, and begins running off again:

"As you wish!"

As he runs from the pursuing Inuyasha, Miroku calls back to the people,

"Villagers, take heed! Distance yourself from this area, it's for your own safety!"

Coraline and Shippo are confused by his warning, as are the now fearful villagers...  
Meanwhile, Miroku leads Inuyasha to the outskirts of the village, stopping to face him in front of a tree. Inuyasha holds Tessaiga at the ready:

"End of the line! This time victory is mine!"

Miroku merely smirks, and holds out his right hand at the ready...Inuyasha is a bit confused:

 _He's holding out his right hand..._

"This may come as somewhat of a surprise, but I'm a _very sore loser._ "

Miroku then removes the beads, hollering,

" _Wind Tunnel!_ "

And before Inuyasha could foresee it, a black hole manifested in the palm of Miroku's hand, as it began to suck up everything it's vacuum wind could get at, including the structures of a horse and chicken house!

Inuyasha uses Tessaiga to steady himself, and comments in disbelief,

"It's just like back at the cliff! Where's that wind coming from?!" He then looks forward, and sees the black hole:

"His right hand is drawing it all in!"

"Let's see how long you can withstand me."

As the vacuum wind pressed on, Tessaiga began to slowly move forward through the dirt towards Miroku!  
Inuyasha barely manages to hold on, slowing his sword to a stop...

Meanwhile, everyone back in the village was beginning to panic, trying to stay as far back as possible from the wind tunnel.  
Coraline and Shippo were closest to the action, holding on from behind a tree. Coraline comments in shock by Miroku's latest attack:

"Incredible! That monk's hand can produce a black hole?! At this rate, anything that isn't nailed down is gonna get drawn in!"

"We better escape here while we can!"

"It's not that simple, Shippo! That black hole needs to be contained!" Shippo looks at Coraline with surprise, as she mutters,

"But how? It's not like the ones in deep space can be stopped..."

 _(Flash)_

 _"Villagers, take heed! Distance yourself from this area..."_

 _(Flash)_

 _If he warned the villagers, then maybe he doesn't have any intent of hurting anyone, least of all humans..._

Inuyasha begins to feel more of the strain from the wind vacuum:

"Rrgh, can't let go..." Miroku calls out to Inuyasha,

"Surrender while you can! If you get sucked in, you'll never come out alive!"

"Rrr, no chance!"

As Inuyasha begins getting dragged forward more, he adds,

"I'll be too busy hacking your right hand off to surrender!"

"My hand will pull you in, sword and all!...Huh?"

Suddenly, Miroku looks up, and sees Coraline, up in the air, heading on a straight course for his wind tunnel!  
Inuyasha looks where the other's looking, and his eyes bulge out:

"Coraline!"

Miroku quickly wraps his right hand with the beads again, stopping his wind tunnel, but wasn't fast enough to dodge Coraline, who crashes into his torso, knocking both to the ground:

"Ugh!" "Aah!"

(Thud, slide)

Inuyasha immediately rises into a stand and calls,

"Coraline!"

...As the dust settles, Coraline manages to rise to her knees, while Miroku remained passed out:

"Rrgh, that could've gone a bit smoother..."

She then looks down, and notices the beads around Miroku's right hand:

 _So, it's those prayer beads that contain the power of his hand...He stopped the black hole willingly, so, his intentions can't be so bad..._

Inuyasha then rushes to her, and shouts,

"(Pant) Coraline, are you crazy?! You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"I wouldn't have done it if I knew it wouldn't work. With power like he has, he would've killed us a long while back, but chose not to. Let's at least here what he has to say. Who knows? He could even lend us a hand to our search."

Unbeknownst to Coraline, Miroku was stirring awake, and his right hand...was soon caressing the side of her rear...

"Aaah!" Coraline jumps from the contact, and moves to Inuyasha's protective arm:

"Scratch that! Take him down, now!"

"You just blew your last chance!" As Coraline cringes, Miroku holds his palms out defensively:

"Settle down, will you? Just hear me out..."

Small Time Skip

Once everyone had calmed down, Miroku began to explain himself, and what his intentions were regarding the Shikon-no-Tama:

"I too am after the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama. My purpose is to find and eliminate a demon. A terrible demon, that goes by the name of Naraku."

"Naraku, eh? And what is it about him that makes him so terrible?"

"Well, in my case, it was he who left me with this cursed hole in my right hand." Coraline narrows her eyes in thought:

"I see...What sort of demon is Naraku?"

"I know very little of him, except that he is wicked and known to, devour people."

"...Nice. Continue."

"According to father, my grandfather battled Naraku long ago, in his youth. It was over fifty years ago. Their battled ensued for several years, and each time Naraku faced my grandfather, he took the form of a different human."

"Damn...That would make Naraku a shape-shifter. I've seen similar examples among other supernaturals, but this is the first I've heard of a demon that can do it so successfully."

"They say that the last time Naraku faced my grandfather, he took on the form of a beautiful woman. My grandfather had great spiritual powers, but unfortunately, as fate would have it..."

"Wait, lemme guess: He was a lecher, right?"

"Remarkable intuition!...Naraku pierced my grandfather's right hand with his sacred religious seals, and managed to escape..."

(Flash)

 _"The abyssal hole I have cursed you with shall be passed on to your children and their children so long as I live. Each generation shall thus be cursed, until no one remains..."_

(Flash)

Miroku gazes at his right hand as he says with a heaviness etched into his voice,

"Each year, the hole in my hand becomes bigger, and the wind evermore powerful. Unless I can defeat Naraku, I too will soon be devoured by the hole."

"In other words, you'll be pulled into oblivion..."

"Yes, and I am prepared to accept that fate if such is my destiny. In the meantime, I must continue my search of Naraku. The Sacred Jewel of the Four Souls vanished fifty years ago, and now is shattered into many tiny shards. Knowing Naraku, it is certain he is to try and gather the shards in order to strengthen his malicious power. I'm sure of it; I know because Naraku came close once in getting the jewel fifty years ago. In doing so, he slew the priestess protecting it."

Inuyasha snapped his head up, gasping under his breath, before rising to his feet:

"You say he killed a priestess?"

"That's right."

 _He must be the demon who disguised himself as me, and stuck down_ _Kikyō! It must be him!  
_

Inuyasha goes to Miroku, and hoists him up my his robes, asking with an urgent glare,

"Miroku. You say that this Naraku can take on all kinds of forms, right? What about now? What does he look like now?"

Miroku glares seriously at Inuyasha and replies,

"Calm down. If I had that information, I would've slain him long ago myself."

Inuyasha releases Miroku, as he goes into thought, realizing what really happened to he and Kikyō fifty years ago:

 _Naraku laid a trap for me and_ _Kikyō. He made us believe we deceived eachother!_

 _The one who killed_ _Kikyō is still alive, and is after the Shikon-no-Tama fragments.  
_

Inuyasha clenches his fist and grinds his teeth as he silently vows,

 _I'll hunt down_ _Kikyō's killer, and avenge her death!  
_

Coraline looks with worry at Inuyasha, hearing him growling a bit, knowing exactly what he's thinking about:

 _Looks like I was right; there is a true side to this dual tragedy...No doubt about it: Inuyasha has the word vendetta etched into his brain now..._

Coraline shifts to a thoughtful look, as she pulls out the almost half of the once proud jewel:

"As long as we keep searching for the jewel fragments, Naraku will certainly cross paths with us eventually."

Miroku looks at Coraline with confusion and surprise:

"How did you get that back?" Coraline gives him a crafty smile and says,

"Took it back while you were passed out, smart guy, but that's not important. I think it will be in all of our best interests to join forces in finding the rest of the shards."

Miroku sighs a bit, before Coraline adds,

"You don't plan on giving up, right Inuyasha?"

"I'm never giving up!"

"And what of you, Miroku?"

Miroku puts a finger under his chin in thought:

"...I've always been a solitary man, preferring to work on my own than in the company of others."

"Fair enough, but unless something is done fast, you won't even have your own company to enjoy."

"Dear Coraline, are you troubled by this retched fate of mine?" As he clasps Coraline's hands into his, she answers,

"Well, as troubled as any other person would be..."

"Then do me this good turn, would you? I wish for you to bear me a son."

Coraline's eyes bulge out:

"Beg pardon?!"

As Inuyasha gains a strange look of mortification on his face, Coraline asks with a deadpan,

"And why on earth should I do that?"

"If for some unforeseeable reason I am unable to destroy Naraku..." He brings Coraline closer to him:

"I shall like my son to carry on my family's mission."

Inuyasha rushes in, separating the two, and places Coraline behind him protectively:

"Hands off, priest! Your only family mission is in lechery!"

"I'm a monk, not a priest."

"Don't ever consider laying a hand on Coraline again." Said girl looks at Inuyasha with surprise, smiling a bit at him:

"Inuyasha..."

"Oh, I beg your pardon. I thought you no more than a companion, but apparently, you are in love with Coraline."

Inuyasha breaks into a nervous blush, as Miroku rubs the back of his head while adding,

"My, this is awkward..."

Inuyasha stutters nervously while responding defensively,

"Uh, y-y-y-you got it all wrong. Sh-She's just a-a-a, jewel detector!"

Coraline was not pleased with that description, and immediately chews Inuyasha out for it:

"What?! Is that seriously all I am to you?! Oh wait, how could I forget? Your type of woman includes dead girls!"

Both men widen their eyes in surprise and confusion at that last accusation, and Coraline smirks bitterly before saying,

"Maybe I should reconsider my alliance. After all, Miroku does seem to have a more pleasant attitude."

"You wouldn't dare betray me!"

"You can't really blame her. You could treat her more kindly."

"Keh, what do you know?"

As the two men and one young lady continued to argue, Shippo watches from atop a tree branch, munching on some fruit before commenting,

"Well, so much for everyone coming to a peaceful solution. Heh, I never wanna grow up."

As the sun sets, we pick up on the last of the conversation:

"Yeah, what he says, more gentle!"

" _Like this._ "

"Wah! That's not at all what I meant!"

"I told you not to touch her!"


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Artistic Inspiration from Hell**

"(Pant, pant)"

"After 'im! He has a fragment of the Shikon-no-Tama!"

It's another night in Sengoku Japan, and we now zoom in on a short, simple-clothed man, who was being pursued by several mercenary men on horseback, apparently containing a fragment of the said legendary jewel.

(Twok)

(Tok, tok)

The man barely avoids being hit by two incoming arrows, they embedding a nearby tree:

"Gah! Oh no..."

The man then goes to grab one of the scrolls in his arms, it glowing that familiar shade of pink...

The mercenaries look around, trying to spot the man:

"He can't be far; find him at once! We mustn't let him flee with the jewel fragment!"

The leader then looks up, and sees a giant, ominous floating towards them...Getting a closer look, the cloud contained dozens upon dozens of demons!

All the men cry out in fear, but were unable to move fast enough, before each one is slaughtered mercilessly by the demons!

The man with the scrolls watches from behind some tall grass, commenting,

"These demons are indeed thirsty for their fill of blood...Heheheh...They shall drink to their content."

He then pulls out a bamboo ink holder, the inside containing a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama!

Time Skip

(Caw, caw, caw...)

Come the next day, our main travel group, along with Miroku, come across the aftermath of the attack from last night.  
Shippo is the first to comment:

"Uuuh...I-I don't think I've ever seen so many dead bodies. Must've been some battle...I'd hate to see what the other guys look like."

Coraline sighs quietly, occupying a sad look as she observed the scene:

"This is a rather depressing scene...Though I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised considering that this is the Sengoku Period, one of the most war and battle fueled times in Japanese history..."

"You're mistaken. This was no battle."

"Huh?"

Coraline looks at Inuyasha in confusion, and he says,

"Something's not right...no blood. I can't pick up the scent of blood." Miroku adds his insight:

"It must be the work of a demon...and a strong one if it was capable of this much destruction. Which must mean, it possess a fragment of the Shikon-no-Tama."

Inuyasha turns to look at Miroku, and says with a glare,

"Miroku, let's get one thing straight: I have no intention of teaming up with you, or of sharing any jewel shards with you."

"Each man for himself...that's what you're trying to say?"

"Glad we're on the same track."

As the wind blows past, each man looks at the other intently...Miroku then sends this silent message:

 _Then I shall take my leave now...Better for us to compete from afar..._

As the monk walks away, Shippo comments,

"Too bad. He was starting to grow on me." Coraline asks,

"Inuyasha, are you sure it's a good idea to let Miroku just take off?...(Turn) Huh? Oh great, now where is he?"

"Help! A demon!"

"...Never mind. He's that way."

Coraline rushes to where the cry was, and she and Shippo see Inuyasha, sniffing a scroll while the scribe tried to reason with him  
(he being held back by his robes):

"Please, return that letter at once! I must deliver it before the sun rests..."

Inuyasha ignores the man, too focused on the scroll:

"Is this the scent I was picking up?" Coraline glares down at the half-demon before saying,

"Oh for the love of...Sit Boy!"

(Gleam)

(Wham)

"Gah!"

Inuyasha slams face-first into the ground, releasing the scroll, it being caught by the delivering scribe, before he takes off from the area...Inuyasha darts up and rushes to Coraline before asking irritably,

"What'd you that for?!"

"Because you we're harassing the poor man! What was that all about, anyway?" Inuyasha folds his arms and replies,

"I was picking up the same scent of ink from the battlefield."

"Oh?"

"If I can track down the source, we can probably find the demon." Shippo comments,

"A demon, or anyone who has a letter on hand..." Inuyasha turns to him and says,

"You wanna come up with a better plan, or use mine and find the jewel fragment first before Miroku?"

Coraline sighs and asks,

"Why are you so against Miroku? Do you really find him that unpleasant?"

"So now you're telling me you like the lecher?!" Coraline calmly replies,

"Well, yeah, kind-of."

Inuyasha is stunned by that answer, and Coraline adds offhandedly,

"But obviously not in a romantic way, I mean come on, that would be crazy...Mm?"

She looks up and sees Inuyasha a few feet away, muttering to himself in disbelief (and obviously missing that last part):

"She likes him?! What could she possibly see in that guy?!"

"Hey! Can you at least try to pay attention for more than three seconds at a time?!"

Shippo mutters,

"...He's such an idiot..."

Meanwhile, at a Nobleman's Home...

"In-credible! You mowed down that army of men?"

The same ink artist from yesterday was now in an audience with the nobleman of the house:

"On your own, no less. If it is the truth you speak, I would be honoured to have you join my military forces."

"My lord. I have heard that those mercenary soldiers were becoming a nuisance to you. I thought it the perfect opportunity to display my capabilities."

(Slide)

Suddenly, a guard comes in:

"My lord, I must speak with you."

The artist became nervous, as the guard whispered something to the lord...

"Oh?"

A few minutes later:

(Toss)

"Aah!"

The ink artist was being thrown out of the gates, with two other guards jeering at him:

"Your claims of power are unfounded! You're nothing but a wandering artist from the capital!"

The artist, now covered in bruises, lifts his head out and tries to invoke reason:

"No, I spoke only the truth! I am powerful; I am not a wandering artist! Please, allow me to speak with your master again!"

"Liar!"

(Whack, whack...)

The guards hit the artist repeatedly with their Bo Staffs, one yelling,

"You were selling your paintings in the market!"

"Go easy on the poor man!"

"Uh?"

The artist looks up, and sees the source of his moment of mercy to be the princess of the home:

"O-O-Of course, princess! F-Forgive us, w-we didn't see you there."

...As the princess walks away with two of her tenants, the guards turn back to the artist, one muttering lowly,

"We're not through with you yet."

The artist meanwhile, was more focused in the princess:

"(Soft gasp) The lady is stunning..."

Soon enough, the guards come to a bridge-covered river gorge, carrying a now wicker-mat bound artist:

"Hope you can swim!"

(Toss)

"Aaah!"

(Splash)

Luckily, the artist does not drown, and manages to emerge his head, though has difficulty keeping afloat:

"Safe journey!"

"Hope the trip is pleasurable!"

And the guards laugh tauntingly, as the artist continues floating downstream...

Eventually, the artist floats down far enough, that he makes it to a nearby riverbank.  
He frees himself from the mat, and sheds off his wet over-clothes while muttering lowly,

"Curse them all. They'll regret this! I can summon my demon brigade, and defeat all who stand in my way!"

As he walks down the path away from the river, he continues his rant mentally:

 _I deserve to become a warlord! No one will be able to criticize me, once they witness my power. I shall possess my own castle and be surrounded by riches!_

He then remembers the princess:

"Aye, and I shall marry a princess! There is nothing I cannot achieve! Hahahahaha...Uh?"

Suddenly, the artist is lifted up by the back of his robes, courtesy of Inuyasha:

"Excuse me. Mind answering a few questions?"

"Eh-what?"

Coraline and Shippo aren't too far behind, and see Inuyasha interrogating the man:

"Oh no, here we go again..."

"Six innocent peasants down, hundreds of thousands to go..."

Though nervous, the artist boldly asks,

"W-Who are you? I warn you, I am powerful! I-I mean, I am nothing more than a mere, second-rate artist..."

"An artist? Then answer me this, little man: Why is it that you reek of ink and fresh human blood?!"

"Ah! R-Release me! Free me at once!"

(Slap)

The artist manages to break free of Inuyasha's grasp, and the latter calls,

"Come back here!"

The artist runs a couple feet away, before turning back around, and rolling out a scroll:

(Fwap, roooolllll...)

(Sheen)

The painting glows, before a monstrous, full-coloured version of the monster bursts forth, emitting a menacing groan!

"Huh?"

(Wham)

Inuyasha dodges one of the hands of the monster as it claps down at the ground in front of him.  
He lands in front of Coraline and Shippo, and they both comment respectively,

"What the hell is that?!"

"A demon!"

The demon giant groans again, as the artist makes his escape, sliding down the grassy hill, and into a riverboat:

"Hey you, come back here!"

Coraline sees the man go, and questions mentally,

 _What's going on? Is that man a demon?_

Feeling a need to double-check, Coraline uses her Aura power to see into the man's Aura, confirming it to be human:

 _...Nope, he's definitely human...He must be using some sort of dark power..._

She focuses her glowing eyes upward, and notices something about the demon giant:

 _...Odd...This demon's Aura looks weaker than he appears to be. Not only that, but it seems, unstable somehow..._

Speaking of, the demon giant brings down his crescent-shaped axe down at Inuyasha, who leaps out of the way, while brandishing out Tessaiga:

"Raaaaahhhhh!"

(SLASH)

Inuyasha's attack was successful, cutting right down the middle of the giant's body! Inuyasha lands back on the ground, commenting,

"Heh, well they say size isn't everything..."

Suddenly, the giant's body swells a bit, before bursting apart, sending a wave of black-shaded blood all over the area, including on Inuyasha:

"Ah!"

(SPLASH)

Coraline and Shippo watch with wide eyes:

"Holy Hera..."

"His blood's black!"

Inuyasha coughs a bit, and says in confusion as he sits in the puddle,

"What the hell? This is blood and black ink!"

Overcome by the scent, Inuyasha falls back feint, his eyes swirling in a daze...Coraline rushes over to him and tries to snap him out of it:

"Inuyasha, get a grip!"

He only responds with a weird giggling, and Shippo, whom was standing on the other side while holding his nose, tells Coraline,

"His nose is so sensitive, the smell of ink and blood got to him."

Coraline tilts his head to the side, and calls loudly,

"Can you hear me? Respond, Inuyasha!"

Meanwhile, the artist managed to get far enough away, and stops to rest behind a tree. As he catches his breath, he questions aloud,

"What manner of beast was he? And how did he detect the scent of black ink and blood?"

...He then shifts into a smile, and adds,

"But it is he who should be afraid. I have an endless stream of demon battalions ready to back me on my command..."

Time Skip, Back at the Nobleman Home  


"An exorcism?"

"Yes. I sense an evil shadow hanging over this palace. I could drive out the demons in a single night."

Miroku had now arrived at the nobleman's home in the late evening, and was trying to see about 'helping' the lord.  
The guards, however, were not making it easy:

"Some claim. This mansion is not cursed with demons. Every year, a reputed priest of much greater standing than yourself comes to bless the ground here."

"Leave this place at once! The only curse were plagued with is visits from rogues like you! Evil shadow, he says, huh..."

"Hmph..."

With that, the guards turn to head back inside...Miroku then says to himself,

"There you have it. (Sigh) I suppose I'll have to retire in the woods tonight..."

But as Miroku begins to walk away from the palace grounds, he suddenly stops, seeing a large shadow across the ground...  
He looks up, and sees a large, ominous cloud with a foreboding glow heading straight his way!

"My prediction is true..." He darts around and calls back as loud as he can,

"Run! The evil shadow I spoke of is upon us!"

Of course, the guards only thought he was trying to con them:

"Listen to him, his arrogance goes unbridled..." But when they turned around:

"Uaah!"

"What?!"

As the demons of the cloud manifest, the guards run in terror, but are not fast enough to escape being killed...Miroku arrives on scene:

"A bull demon and dragon demon! I've only seen paintings of them in Hell!"

"AAH, help! Someone rescue the princess!"

"Coming!"

Artist's POV

"Princess...princess...princess..."

I shake in my sleep, as I search for the princess from the lord's palace:

"Rrrgh...princess!"

(Flash)

 _I finally find her, outside one of the home structures...but when she turned to face me:_

 _"Uah! Princess! What happened to you? You're eyes glow red!"_

 _"I want your blood...Give me your blood!"_

 _(Grasp)_

 _"Aah!" The princess grabs me tight by my neck:_

 _"Rrrgh..."_

 _I then watch, as one of my hands shrivels away before my very eyes, the blood gone!_

 _"Aaaaah! Stop this madness, release meeee!"_

Miroku's POV

I reach the princess's chambers, and ready myself, as the demons come barrelling through the wall towards us!

But then:

 _"Stop, thiiiiiis!"_

(Whoooooosh...)

"Rrrrgh...huh?"

By some strange stroke of luck, the demons retreat!

"Wha-What happened?!"

Artist's POV

(Jolt)

"Stop thiiiis!"

I jump awake, revealed to have been having a terrible nightmare. I feel a great amount of unease in my soul, and flinch at the sight of my drawings...

I soon calm down, my heartbeat slowing...But then suddenly:

(Patter...)

I hear an odd noise outside, and look out the door to see,

"The skies are raining black ink..."

When it was done, the ink then jumps from the ground, past myself, and flies back into my bamboo ink pot...!  
It was then I realized,

"The ink must've sprung to action on it's own accord, while I lay sleeping..."

I can only stare in wonder and fear at the ink, questioning what will soon come about me in this new development...

Back to the Palace, No POV

Once the chaos was cleared, Miroku was granted an audience meal with the lord:

"I am indebted to you for saving my daughter. Monk, I hope that you will find in your heart to forgive my men for earlier rudeness."

"You need not thank me, and I bear no grudge towards your men. But I fear that the danger has yet to pass. The demons will surely attack again. Come to think of it, the princess will undoubtedly be safer if she were to stay here with me. Here in the same room, sharing the same bedding..."

Suddenly, a muffled and familiar male voice came calling in:

"He's at it again!"

"Huh?"

"And I suppose you'll need to search her robes while you're at it too, you pervert?!"

Coming in from the outside entrance, was Inuyasha, Coraline and Shippo:

"Well, if it isn't my old friends, Coraline and Inuyasha."

"Damn, must've just missed 'em."

"Tell us, Miroku: Did the ink demons pass through here?" He rises from his seat and answers,

"I suppose. But I didn't realize they were made of ink."

Small Time Skip

After a bit, Coraline and Shippo explained the events that took place not too far from the palace involving the odd artist and the live ink monsters to Miroku. Needless to say, he was quite surprised:

"So an artist is capable of manipulating those demons?"

"Yes, but he's definitely human, and I don't think he's even aware just how unstable his creations really are."

"Very troubling. For a human to have such strength, he must be drawing on the power of a jewel shard."

"Exactly what we've been theorizing."

"So, how do we stop an artist who has the power to bring demons to life?"

"I don't think it should be too hard. The demons aren't really true demons since their Auras are so weak and unstable due to being made of ink and blood.  
It may not look it, but they're barely hanging onto life thanks to the power of the shard."

"Interesting. How is it that you know that?"

"I'm an Aura Reader. I can see into the energy of the Soul. Admittingly, I haven't really shown my power for a long time, but I'm starting to gain courage in using it when I can."

"Remarkable; I've never heard of such a power before. I can see how that would be useful; I hope that all goes well for you in gaining your courage to show the world what you can do."

"Thanks. I appreciate that."

Shippo bites into a dumpling and adds,

"I've seen the Shikon-no-Tama give people some incredible powers before, but bringing paintings to life?" He looks up at Inuyasha:

"Why do you sit there? Don't you wanna join the others in forming a plan?"

"Keh."

Coraline looks over at Inuyasha's back, sitting at the doorway:

"Oh come on, don't tell me you're actually sulking?"

"Is something the matter, Inuyasha?"

"Leave me alone." Coraline then calls to him irritably,

"Hello! Cut the tough guy routine and contribute, will ya?!" She then sighs and says to Miroku,

"Sorry, what can I say? The guy is so jealous..."

"Hardly! Why would I be jealous?...Huh?"

Inuyasha and Shippo look over, and see Miroku grasping Coraline's hands into his:

"Your faith in me is strong. So you at least can sense my pure intentions."

Coraline removes his hands and calmly replies,

"Not quite how I'd word it, but whatever floats your boat...I was actually more focused on the jewel shards you have."

"Huh?"

"I see two...no, counting three..."

Miroku covers below his shoulder (where Coraline saw a glow she could only see), and comments with a smile,

"You have the power to see the shards..."

Inuyasha begins fast-walking over to them, hell-bent on chewing Miroku out, but:

(Rise)

"Oh no you don't!"

Coraline stands up in front of Miroku, and places her hands firmly on Inuyasha's shoulders:

"Wh-Hey, what're you-"

"Don't you dare start anything that isn't necessary." Miroku then says to him,

"I collected these shards on my own. Taking them would make you a thief."

"Thanks for spelling it out! Anyway, who are you to call me a thief? I happened to remember a 'certain someone' who made off with Coraline's shards!"

"Hm~, your powers of recall are greater than I imagined..."

"Guys, knock it off, will ya...?"

Unbeknownst to our travelers, two of the guards was listening in...They reported back to their master:

"What?! That artist was manipulating the demons?!"

"Yes, my lord. It seems the Shikon-no-Tama shard he possesses grants him that power."

"He possesses a fragment of the jewel? I have heard rumours of its powers; they claim that a single shard can increase one's natural powers by one hundred fold!"

"Perhaps we should, liberate it from the artist."

"Hm, (nod)."

"My lord, it seems the monk also possesses one."

"That young monk does?!"

Small Time Skip

Later on that evening, our travelers had gone to sleep on their respective futons. We zoom in on Miroku, who was 'unaware' that he was soon about to be jumped by the guards who were spying earlier...

(Slide)

"Ha!" "Hra!"

(Stab)

The guards thrust their sword blades into the form on the futon...but it's quickly revealed that Miroku created a decoy!

"You tricked us!"

Miroku was not pleased by this assault:

"What is this about? I remember doing nothing to warrant this violent and traitorous attack. (Bitter smile) _Not yet._ "

The guards try to attack him again:

"Listen, monk: Hand over the jewel shard!"

(Swing, tok)

Miroku manages to block both swords with his staff, before hitting the guards back, knocking them off their feet!

Hearing the commotion, Inuyasha and Coraline hurry over:

"You alright, Miroku?!"

"What is this, a freak out?! What are these vassals doing here?!"

Miroku holds them both in a choke hold using his staff, and begins interrogating them:

"Now, what were you saying about a jewel fragment? Which one of you wants to go first?"

"It isn't our fault! The lord demanded that we seized your jewel shard!"

"The master himself went to seize the one from the artist!"

"You know the whereabouts of this artist. Tell me where he is, now!"

Once the guards confess the location, Miroku takes off, much to Coraline's protest:

"Miroku, wait up! I'll go with yo-Whoa!"

Inuyasha yanks her up onto his back, Shippo hopping onto her shoulder:

"Me too!"

Inuyasha bounds on, calling to Miroku,

"Keep going! I'll catch up!" _These demons are created by the power of a jewel fragment!_

Miroku was having similar thoughts:

 _Mere mortals cannot possibly defeat them!_

Scene Shift: Old Shack  


By this time, a reasonably large army of soldiers have gathered near the place where the artist resided, the mission being to gain the jewel shard.  
The lord, situated on a horse, gives the word:

"...In."

With that, the soldiers begin the charge, spears and swords in the air! Inside the shack, the ink artist hears them coming, but is not quivering in fear:

"Heheheh, I have an infinite number of soldiers at hand, and if any are destroyed, they can be immediately replaced with the stroke of a brush."

(Fwap)

"Come forth, my demons of Hell!"

(Foom...)

The scrolls expel light and smoke, carrying the soon to be manifestations...The cloud shoots out of the shack, the lights then forming into living shapes of the demons!

The cloud of Hell overtakes the army, the soldiers doomed to be slaughtered by the murderous monsters inside...

The lord tries to call back some of the more lucky soldiers who manage to flee:

"Wait, come back! Somebody help me get my horse under control!"

By this time, Inuyasha, Coraline and Shippo arrive on scene. Inuyasha prepares to attack, but Shippo warns him,

"Don't slay them, or the noxious fumes will overcome you again!"

"Just watch!"

(Slash, slash)

Inuyasha successfully deals some fatal blows with Tessaiga, and lands beside the lord:

"You saved me, young man. You shall be compensated."

(Splash)

The ink blood spills out of the ink demons, spooking the lord's horse, and forcing him to retreat. Meanwhile, Coraline cringes from the smell:

"Urgh, this blood reeks worse than human blood..."

"Inuyasha, are you alright?"

...Inuyasha is once again overwhelmed by the scent, causing all three of them to tumble over. Shippo rolls over and mutters,

"Don't say I didn't warn you..."

Suddenly, one of the ink demons comes straight for them! Coraline jumps up, grabbing the handle of her combat knife:

"Crap!"

But just before she could try to defend, Miroku comes leaping in, destroying the demon with his staff!

Coraline lowers her blade and comments with a smile,

"Good timing, Miroku!"

He then stands towards the approaching demon army, and removes the prayer beads around his right hand:

"Stay behind me, friends; this is dangerous! I'm going to unleash the _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whooooooosh...)

The black hole manifests, and begins drawing in the mass of ink demons! The artist watches with a stunned look:

"What's this?! He's drawing in all my demons into his hand!"

After a few more seconds, Miroku finishes sucking the demons in, and contains his Wind Tunnel. However, Coraline notices the exhaustion in his being:

"Miroku...Are you alright?"

"Never before have I drawn in so many demons in one attempt. If I just rest a bit..."

Inuyasha mentally quirks,

 _Oh great, I knew we couldn't depend on him._

(Rumble...)

Coraline narrows her eyes and rises to a stand, sensing something amiss:

"Damn...I'm picking up a large and unstable Demon Aura..."

(CRASH)

Suddenly, a huge, three-headed serpent ink demon bursts from the shack!  
Inuyasha quickly grabs Coraline as the body of the demon comes towards them, and leaps over to a safe distance:

"Fantastic. This must be the artist's last resort..."

"I'll get 'em."

Inuyasha begins heading over to attack, only to wind up ducking from one of the charging heads, the others joining him in suit.  
As Inuyasha jumps out of the way of another head dive, he calls,

"Coraline! Can you tell me where the fragment is?"

Coraline looks up, and scans for the jewel fragment...a few seconds later, she spots it:

"There! In the bamboo ink container on his waist!"

"I'm all over it!"

(Leap)

Inuyasha lands atop the body, but then remembers something:

"Oh, right, how could I have forgotten this? Hey Miroku: You'll never impress anyone with those flashy antics!"

The artist turns to spot Inuyasha:

"Agh, miserable wretch. Behold, The Demons of Death!"

The artist sends a torrent of demons at Inuyasha, but he wasn't fazed at all:

"Isn't that trick getting old?! Hrrraaaaahhhh!"

(Punch)

Inuyasha then proceeds to use his fists against the ink demons, knocking them all off of the giant! Miroku comments from down below,

"My, what do you call that technique he's using?"

"In my world, it's called 'wailing on 'em'."

Once that was done, Inuyasha calls to the artist with a clawed hand raised,

"Alright, I've finished that group off! Now hand over the jewel shards before I lose it!"

Next thing he knew, two of the serpent heads began breathing fire on him:

(FWOOM)

"Aaaargh!"

"You underestimate me! The flames of my hellfire shall burn you to the bone!"

Inuyasha is thrown backwards by the impact, but manages to use his claws to steady himself.  
Thanks to his fire-rat robes, Inuyasha was perfectly fine, if more mad than earlier:

"This is it! Take your last chance to surrender!"

"Aah!"

Inuyasha then goes to charge, flames and all, at the artist! The flames then disperse after Tessaiga is drawn:

"Maybe one day I'll at the hands of someone stronger than me, but they won't be human!"

"Stay back! You cannot have the jewel! It is my last chance of happiness!"

The artist then proceeds to jump off the demon serpent's head, but Inuyasha was faster:

"It's, over!"

(SLICE)

...The bamboo container is cut away from the artist's waist, his life spared!

(SLASH)

Inuyasha then destroys the container, which in turn causes the serpent demon to morph back into ink and blood...

The artist then goes down hard, rolling down the hill and slamming into the nearby tree.  
He shakes himself, before his eyes bulge out at seeing his creation was no more:

"My ink! My ink has all been spilled!"

Desperate to find a way to bring the ink alive again, the artist takes one of the soldier's fallen swords, and stabs his arm, releasing his own blood as an offering!

"Here me, ink: I give you my blood! Drink well, and fill yourself! _Come to life...Feast on my life blood!_ "

Inuyasha watches, as the ink begins springing to the artist:

"(Gasp) That fool!"

The ink masses and surrounds the artist, who shouts in a blind and crazy tone,

"You are mine! I shall never let anyone else take their hold on you!"

He cackles...until he realized his grave error...and what the ink's true intent was to be:

"My blood...Oh no...They're devouring my blood! Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

The artist's body shrivels up before Inuyasha's eyes, and he calls out one last desperate cry:

"Help me, aaaaaaagggggggghhhhhhhh!"

(Whoosh, splash...)

But his fate was sealed, and the artist was completely devoured by the ink, before it fell to the ground in a dark puddle...

The others rush to Inuyasha's side, as he comments in disbelief,

"The fool...The ink devoured him..." Coraline looks at the puddle with a foreboding stare:

"What a horrible way to end..."

"You're telling me: The artist's ambitions must've turned the ink into a parasite. Imagine, he'd rather have his blood sucked dry than to give up the jewel fragment, and he paid for his foolishness with his life."

(Ping...)

Suddenly, the said jewel fragment becomes seen in the inky muck, and Miroku curses in his mind at it's current state:

 _Damn. The jewel shard I worked so hard to get is tainted with evil! I dare not even touch it..._

Coraline then kneels down, and takes the shard between her fingertips, much to Miroku's surprise:

 _What?_

"Alright, so who's taking this one?"

"Obviously it's mine!" Coraline calmly says to Inuyasha,

"Yet Miroku fought his share of the battle too." Miroku then smiles and says,

"Why don't you keep it, Coraline?"

"Hm?"

"Really?"

"Mm-hm."

"...Alright, it's a done deal!" Shippo hops atop Inuyasha's head and comments,

"Glad that someone's grown up," to which Inuyasha humphs and turns his head away.

Miroku then quirks in his mind,

 _Amazing. Coraline purified the jewel just by picking it up..._

Next Day

"Really, Miroku? You'll join us?"

"Gladly."

We now find all four of our travelers, as they walk down a dirt path away from the lord's palace. Miroku walks beside Coraline (she holding Shippo on her shoulder), and he says,

"Traveling in the company of a pretty young woman is so much more enjoyable." Coraline smirk-glares and replies,

"Easy there, ya flirt. I don't swoon that fast for any man."

Inuyasha humphs, and Miroku adds,

"And despite Inuyasha's appearance, he's not really a bad fellow."

Coraline smiles while looking at Inuyasha, thinking on Miroku's words:

 _Miroku's right; Inuyasha could've ended the battle in one fell swipe of his sword, but instead spared the artist's life, and went straight for the ink container._

 _Yeah, Inuyasha really is a good friend and a one-of-a-kind person; he just doesn't know it yet._

 _I'll be sure to tell him that, too, when the time is right..._


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Alliance of Dark Intentions**

As the sun sets on another day in Edo, we zoom in on a dirt path deep within the forest, where a group of mercenary men were riding horseback, laughing at their success in their latest pillage:

"Respectable hoard, wouldn't you say, chief? Look at those bales of rice!"

"Hehahaha, who would've thought that tiny village would have such a large storehouse?"

One of the others then says with a serious expression,

"Let's hurry out of this area instead of setting up camp for the night."

"Huh?"

"They say when the sun sets, the monsters come out around here." The chief was not impressed by such a comment:

"What kind of outlaws are ya, running from goblins?!"

"Hey, chief! Look up ahead!"

He does, and sees a figure highlighted by the setting sun in the distance. That said figure...was Sesshomaru!

Of course, the chief was unaware of who (or what) he was, and merely replies with a smirk,

"That's no demon; it's only a human!"

"A human with armor and weapons, no doubt!"

"Ha, kill him and strip his weapons!"

With that, the mercenaries raised their swords and began to charge at Sesshomaru!

... _If only they realized how grave a mistake they made_...

Suddenly, Sesshomaru brandishes out a monstrous blue-skinned arm from where his previous one used to be attached, flexing the fingers, while his eyes flashed a blood red:

(SLASH)

In just one stroke of the claws, the mercenaries were slaughtered, their bodies evaporating to ash!

Sesshomaru lands swiftly on a nearby rock, and we zoom in on the arm he was using, now seen sizzling and cracking a bit.  
As it turned out, the arm was only temporary...

Coming out of the tall grass shortly after, was Jaken, who congratulates on his lord's skill:

"Once again, you made quick work of them! Very impressive, master. I must say, slaying that blue demon earlier, and pillaging its arm was a splendid idea!"

"...Open your eyes, fool."

Sesshomaru rips the arm off, much to Jaken's shock, and the latter backs up a bit as the arm is thrown at him:

"This arm has already been rendered useless."

"Oh dear, that didn't last very long..."

(...Twitch, grab)

"Owah!"

The arm was not completely through yet, as it grabs Jaken around the middle! As he struggles to break free of its hold, Sesshomaru orders in a cool tone,

"Go and find a more suitable demon, and bring me back its arm. Know that if you don't, I will have to kill you."

Jaken froze at that cautionary threat, before getting back to his current problem:

"Aaaah! Release me at once!"

He escapes the hand, before kicking it away from him, and the flesh of the arm begins to disintegrate, leaving only the bone behind...

Jaken pants in exhaustion as he laments mentally in a woeful tone,

 _Mother was right; I should've been a ferryman..._

He then turns to look at his master's figure, as he mentally rants,

 _This is entirely that Inuyasha's fault for severing Lord Sesshomaru's arm!  
_

 _It is not the sword severing the arm that I direct my hatred towards, but toward the beast who wielded it!  
_

 _Inuyasha..._

 _...By all rights, the sword belongs to Lord Sesshomaru, and we shall take it back from Inuyasha without fail!_

As that heated proclamation is made in Jaken's mind, Sesshomaru looks down to his empty arm socket, and comments,

"Even if I am provided with another arm, it shall also become useless after a short period."

...Suddenly, a deep, male voice answers back:

"A vexing problem, isn't it?"

Sesshomaru looks behind him, and standing in the tall grass, was a figure, wearing a robe and mask made from the fur of a baboon...

Jaken ducks behind his lord, and the figure speaks again:

"If I am not mistaken, you are the elder brother of Inuyasha, Lord Sesshomaru, are you not?"

"What do you want? Should I know you?"

"I am someone whom like yourself _despises_ Inuyasha. Forgive me, but I happened to overhear your conversation just now."

The figure then holds out an arm to the dog demon lord:

"Perhaps I can be of assistance. Might I suggest employing this arm?"

Jaken sees it, and is not impressed by its obvious origins:

"Have you lost your senses?! Clearly, that is the arm of a human!"

The figure is not fazed, and explains with a smile:

"Yes...clearly. This arm did belong to a mortal, but embedded in it, is a shard of the sacred Shikon-no-Tama."

"The Shikon-no-Tama?"

"Should you choose to employ this arm, the shard will enable you to wield the Tessaiga, Inuyasha's fabled sword. The sword is known to work for the benefit of man, and at present, a demon such as yourself will be unable to even touch the Tessaiga."

"...You mentioned something about your despising Inuyasha. Tell me, do you intend to use me to exact your revenge?"

"Yes."

Jaken begins to chews the figure out:

"How dare you exploit my master-"

"Hm, sounds interesting. I shall accept the arm from you." Jaken tries to reason with his master:

"Master, please reconsider!" The figure spoke up again:

"Oh, and one other thing..."

He then holds up a small, spherical hive:

"Take this hive; you shall be able to make good use of it with certainty." Sesshomaru takes the said hive, and says,

"I should know the one of whom I made a pact with."

"...My apologies. Call me, Naraku."

"Very well, Naraku. You have yourself a deal."

Scene Shift: Large Inn  


As the dark pact was being made, our four travelers have reached a new village, and were now staying at an Inn for the night.  
Coraline says while grabbing a bit to eat,

"(Sigh) One of the cool things I find with traveling, is all the new and exciting places you get to stay at. Not that I don't enjoy sleeping outdoors now and again, but it's good to stay in places like this Inn every once in a while."

"Well excuse me for letting us sleep in the wild all the time."

"Easy there. What's with the need to get snippy all of the sudden? I just said that outdoors and indoors are both good, didn't I?"

Shippo offers his suggestion regarding Inuyasha's current mood:

"He's probably put out because coming here was Miroku's idea. With food like this, who cares who's idea it was?"

As the red-heads both smile in agreement, Inuaysha huffs...

Outside, Miroku was placing another protection sutra on one of the supporting beams of the place:

"There, that should suffice. With the last seal in place, the dark cloud that hovers over your tavern shall disappear for good."

The innkeeper expressed his gratitude:

"I am forever in your debt, good monk. Goodness me, when you appeared on my doorstep claiming that an evil cloud hovered overhead, why I, I almost jumped out of my skin in fear! Hehe, but now thanks to your exorcism, I can sleep easy."

"(Smile) It is all in a day's work for a simple monk."

Back inside:

"Aaah, I can't eat another bite..." Coraline was as happy as Shippo:

"That was a good meal, indeed." She then saw Miroku come back:

"Oh, hey! How'd the exorcism go?"

"Uneventful. Now I'm ready for some relaxation." Inuyasha then forms a frown and says,

"Hold up a moment, Miroku. There's something I haven't been able to figure out about your powers."

"Yes?" Inuyasha comes over to him and says in an accusing tone,

"Whenever we're lookin' for a place to bed down, you seem to be able to detect an 'ominous, dark cloud' over what happens to be the finest tavern in the area. How is that?"

"Oh? You noticed that, did you?" Miroku smiles and waves his hand while saying offhandedly,

"Well, they say that a falsehood is sometimes the expedient path."

Inuyasha is stunned speechless by Miroku's casual confession, and Shippo asks just as surprised,

"You mean there wasn't any cloud?!"

Coraline calmly sips her tea and thinks to herself,

 _I thought my suspicions were right. Not to mention I wasn't picking up anything with my Aura Sight..._

"Geez, you're shiftier than I thought!"

"Partake in my share of the spoils, and your opinion of me will soften."

Shippo grabs the bowl of offered dumplings when Inuyasha doesn't:

"Sweet dumplings!"

"You're just as bad as he is!"

Coraline smiles tiredly and tries to mediate the atmosphere:

"Take it easy, Inuyasha. I admit that I'm not impressed by the lies either, but as long as Miroku's not causing any real problems, I say what the hell?"

Suddenly:

(Rumble...)

The grounds of the Inn begin to shake, causing everyone to tense up:

"What, is that?" Shippo jumps into Coraline's arms:

"I don't like the sounds of this!"

Inuyasha and Miroku ready themselves with their respected weapons, eyes narrowed in suspicion:

"I dunno, but whatever it is, it's big."

"Yes. Let's run."

"What?! No way! You can't just eat and run!" Miroku maintains a calm expression and replies,

"If the demon is truly that big, then we are no match for it. It's irrational, it's impossible, it's against my religion."

"You oughta be arrested."

That's when Coraline sensed it:

"(Gasp) There's a jewel fragment nearby, and it's coming up fast!"

"Oh, well that's a change. We've never had them bring us the jewels before." Miroku matches Inuyasha's smirk:

"I suppose if there's a jewel fragment involved, I can afford a little effort," and he takes off.

"Hey! This one's mine!"

Down below in the village, the people were beginning to feel and hear the rumbling as well:

"What's making that sound?"

"Sounds like a thunder storm...Uh?!"

Suddenly, a large shadow begins floating into the area...belonging to a giant, clawed hand!

"AAAAH!"

(Crash)

As the hand comes slamming down, a large row of teeth belonging to the head of the creature came into the moonlight, gleaming menacingly.  
Pulling back, we see the full profile of the beast, as the same demon giant that attacked Inuyasha and Coraline several weeks ago!

(Note: For a full description, see chapter five.)

The villagers begin fleeing for their lives, as homes are crushed by the beast. By this time, Inuyasha and the others have arrived on scene:

"Over there!" Coraline then gasps, remembering the demon:

"I recognize this giant! It attacked Inuyasha and I once before!"

Situated on the giant's right shoulder, was the master and servant, namely, Sesshomaru and Jaken!

Inuyasha spots him first:

"...That's Sesshomaru!"

(Leap)

Sesshomaru jumps off, diving at the group, and gets his poison claws ready to attack!

Everyone barely manages to scramble away from the poison attack, and Inuyasha lands back on the ground while covering his face from the acidic fumes, as Sesshomaru says,

"As usual, you're slow to take action, _little brother._ "

"(Cough) Sesshomaru. To what honour do we owe this visit?"

"Spare me the feigned innocence. I am here for the Tessaiga, of course." Inuyasha grabs the handle of the said sword:

"Keh, still haven't given up on it, huh?"

Back behind some boulders and bushes, Miroku asks Coraline,

"They know one another?"

"Unfortunately, yes. He's Inuyasha's older half-brother."

"Remarkable."

"But unlike Inuyasha, Sesshomaru is a full dog demon."

 _So, he's still hell-bent on acquiring Tessaiga. Huh, does he not remember last time that the sword rejected him?_

 _What could've changed?_

"Draw your sword now, Inuyasha. Or will you surrender it now without having to battle?"

"No chance. This time I'll take off more than just one of your arms!"

(Shhhing)

"Rrrraaaaahhh!"

(Boom)

Inuyasha goes to attack Sesshomaru, but the latter is faster than the former's swings, and does not forget to repute the observation either:

"Such a pity. I see you haven't managed to uncover the full power of the Tessaiga."

"Oh yeah?! We'll see about that! Hrrrah!"

Inuaysha comes at Sesshomaru again, but he readies his poison claws, before:

(GRASP)

Sesshomaru ceases Inuyasha's wrist that held the Tessaiga! The others watch with stunned expressions, as Sesshomaru mocks Inuyasha's skill:

"Such pitiful swordsmanship. The little man is having trouble holding his sword."

(Siiiizzzz...)

The acidic poison begins to corrode Inuyasha's skin, causing him to cringe in pain as he struggles to maintain his grip on the hilt of the sword.  
Miroku and Coraline note it as well:

"The flesh is burning from his wrists!"

"It's those damn poison claws!" Sesshomaru then says,

"Your wrist or the sword: Which will drop first?"

"Rrrrgh, well it ain't gonna be the sword!"

Inuyasha then takes his free hand, and grasps the lower end of the sword handle!

Before Sesshomaru knew it, he was pushed back by Inuyasha! Miroku was impressed:

"He overpowered him!" Inuyasha shouts to Sesshomaru,

"I'll slit you in half, you sad excuse for a demon!"

"You should have surrendered."

Sesshomaru then launches himself backwards from Inuyasha, before sending his poison whip against him!  
Inuyasha uses Tessaiga to block the attacks, before one slash of the whip knocks the Tessaiga out of his hands!

(TOK)

The sword lands in the ground a distance away, and Sesshomaru was faster to reach the sword than Inuyasha:

"Oh no!"

Using the arm that Naraku provided him, Sesshomaru manages to take hold of the handle, much to Inuyasha's and Coraline's shock:

"Impossible!"

"But how?! He shouldn't be able to even touch Tessaiga!"

Sesshomaru then takes the transformed Tessiaga, and easily sends a wave attack at Inuyasha, he barely managing to dodge it!

(CRASH, BOOM)

Inuyasha lands back on the ground as the dust settles, and looks at his half-brother in disbelief:

 _But Sesshomaru is a demon! Why is he able take hold of the Tessaiga?!_

"I'm the Tessaiga's rightful owner. Stand back as I demonstrate it's true power. Jaken."

"Yes, my lord! I shall summon all the demons down from the mountain!"

Jaken directs the demon giant towards the mountainside, and orders,

"Go forth!"

The demon giant raises its hand, before smashing its strength onto the forest patch of the mountain...  
Next thing everyone knew, a light emits from the crater, and dozens upon dozens of demon spirits came flying out into the sky!

"Witness this, and learn from the master, Inuyasha. With one stroke, I shall slaughter one hundred demons!"

(SLASH)

Sesshomaru then sends a three-clawed attack from Tessaiga, and the energy hits the demon spirits dead on, killing them all instantaneously!

Inuyasha watches the scene dumbstruck:

"No...It can't be!"

Once the dust and excess energy settled, all that was left behind from the attack, was a huge split in the ground, exposing molten rock, embers sparking out here and there!

On the sidelines, Coraline, Shippo and Miroku were stuck in a daze, the second being the first to utter fearfully,

"The mountain...!" Miroku then says,

"He slayed the demons...and he also split the mountain!"

Sessohmaru turns back to Inuyasha:

"Now do you see? This sword, formed from our own father's fang reigns supreme. Unfortunately, contrary to what that mortal girl once said, the Tessaiga is not capable of choosing its owner. But perhaps you, a mere half-breed, now realize that you can never master it."

Inuyasha grits his teeth while clenching his fist:

 _Damn him..._

Coraline had enough of sitting idly by, and decided to go help Inuyasha:

"Gh, Inuyasha!"

Miroku calls her to a stop:

"Hold it Coraline, stop right there! I shall go. Both of you make sure you stay behind me."

"...You're going to use your Wind Tunnel, aren't you?" Miroku nods...

Meanwhile, Sesshomaru declares,

"Your blood shall stain this sword. Truly a fitting end for you, is it not?"

Inuyasha silently vows,

 _Never! I'll never let him keep the Tessaiga!_

Suddenly, Miroku comes to stand in front of Inuyasha, Coraline coming up behind the latter:

"I'm afraid I cannot stand to listen to this any longer. I must put an end to this foolish sibling rivalry."

"Hey, butt out!"

Sesshomaru narrows his eyes a bit at Miroku's arrival:

 _That monk..._

Inuyasha tries to take back control of the situation:

"I can handle this!"

"Not on your own you can't."

"Back off, creep! I wanna stand in the front!"

"Don't be such a stubborn mule."

"That's rich coming from you!" As Coraline tries to mediate their argument,

"Guys, please! This is not the time or place to go into a contest of testosterone," Jaken notes Miroku's arrival as well:

"Naraku spoke of a certain monk...Could this be the same young man before us?"

 _(Flash)_

 _"Journeying with Inuyasha is a young monk. He will prove to be more troublesome than Inuyasha himself..."  
_

 _(Flash)_

"Ha! He doesn't look as troublesome as any other mortal!"

(Tap)

Jaken then silently orders the giant forward, causing the ground to shake a bit. He calls to his master,

"My lord! Allow me to finish the monk off! No sense on wasting your energy on such a feeble opponent!"

"As you wish. I shall observe."

"Onward! Crush them all!"

Just as the demon giant began to raise its hand to our four companions, Miroku quickly moves up front:

"Move back! _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whoooooosssshhhh...)

As the black hole in Miroku's right hand is unleashed, Sesshomaru, who for once was visibly surprised, immediately leaps back as far as he could, using Tessaiga to keep himself steady against the sucking wind current!

Suddenly, the demon giant begins to get sucked in, starting from one of its hands:

"No, stop this!"

Jaken panics and moves to sprint away from the black hole, as the demon giant gets pulled in even further...  
Shippo calls to Miroku while holding his staff,

"You show him, Miroku!" Coraline was next:

"You got this, Miroku, pull that demon into oblivion! (Turn) And don't worry Inuyasha, we'll get Tessaiga back from that arrogant idgit soon."

"Feh, damn right...nice insult, by the way."

Sesshomaru observes Miroku's attack, and decides to employ a counterattack:

 _I suppose, this is good a time as any..._

 _(Flash)_

 _"This is the hive of the Saimy_ _ōsh_ _ō, the Insects of Hell. This will prove extremely useful in plugging the hole in the monk's right hand..."  
_

 _(Flash)_

Sesshomaru takes out the said spherical hive:

"Huh, we shall see if Naraku is correct."

(Toss, POW)

(Buuuuzzzzz...)

The hive bursts at the seams, releasing a large drone of mutated-looking wasps, armed with dangerous stingers...

As the giant's head becomes half-consumed, Miroku notices the wasps coming, and before he knew it, they were diving willingly into the Wind Tunnel, deliberately getting sucked in!

"Giant, insects!" Inuyasha and Coraline see them too:

"What are those, killer wasps? WAIT, they're not being sucked in, they're DIVING IN!"

"What, are these?!"

Suddenly, Miroku feels a surge of pain in his hand:

"GH!"

Miroku cancels the Wind Tunnel, before crouching to one knee while saying with some strain in his voice,

"Inuyasha, you'll have to take over." Coraline and Inuyasha ask with worry,

"Miroku, what's wrong?"

"What did they do to you?"

The demon giant falls on his face from the impact of the Wind Tunnel, and Jaken flees from the battle area, as the insects go to continue their assault.  
Inuyasha then uses his claws to destroy some of them:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash, slash...)

As he took care of the insects, Coraline kneels beside Miroku:

"Miroku, can you stand up?"

"The insects have poisoned me with their venom..."

"Crap, I thought so! Ah!"

As a couple of insects come diving at the two humans, Shippo uses his illusionary fire to fend them off:

" _Fox Fire!_ "

(Foom)

"Watch yourself, Shippo!"

"Don't worry, I can handle 'em! Ah, Owah!"

"Shippo!"

"Miroku, don't move. I'll get some anti-venom!"

Coraline begins running back to find her satchel, stopping briefly to holler,

"Inuyasha! Keep an eye on Miroku!"

(Slash)

As Inuyasha claws away some more of the poisonous wasps, he calls back somewhat irritably to Miroku,

"Come on, Miroku! How 'bout a little help here?"

Said monk looks up at him, sweat beginning to drip from his forehead, and he calls back in a strain,

"Sorry, Inuyasha. The venom's gotten to me. Gh, how could insects, have blocked the use of my hand?"

Inuyasha then takes some of the blood from his wrist injury, and sends an attack at Sesshomaru:

" _Blades of Blood!_ "

But, Sesshomaru manages to block the red blades with Tesssaiga's blade...Of course, that was meant as a distraction, so that Inuyasha could take the injured Miroku to duck behind the demon giant's body, Shippo following:

"You owe me big time for this one, Miroku." He then notices the pain on Miroku's face:

 _Wait, he said something about venom. Is Miroku in serious trouble?_

Shippo peeks from behind the giant body, and immediately sidesteps back to Inuyasha:

"Gah! Uh, we've got company coming!"

By company, he meant Sesshomaru, who was slowly making his way over to where the three were, intent on destroying Inuyasha:

"He has no hope..."

Inuyasha thinks to himself furiously,

 _Now what do I do? We're trapped; one strike with the Tessaiga, and we're all done in..._

"This is the end for you. Die."

(SWIPE, SLASH)

Sesshomaru sends that three-clawed attack again, cutting straight through the demon giant, seemingly killing Inuyasha and the others!

(BOOM)

...As the dust settles, and we see the charred remains of the once demon giant, Inuyasha bursts from the fleshy rubble, revealed to be alive, if a bit roughened up (It's safe to say Shippo and Miroku are okay too)!

As he glares heatedly at Sesshomaru, the older of the two then chuckles before saying mockingly,

"Your stupidity knows no bounds. Run and Hide while you can; that, and only that is your only choice now. Then again, maybe you should stand and face your death. At least then you would be dying with honour."

"Blah, blah, blah. The guy starts swinging a big, new sword around, and suddenly he's looking for a soap box to stand on and preach to the world. Heheheh, let me give you a piece of advice now that I've got your attention: If you're going to kill someone, make sure you do it right the first time! Because if you only maim them with the first attack, they have a nasty way of coming back to make you regret it!"

(Leap)

"Like this! Raaaahhh!"

(Slash)

Inuyasha's claws are blocked by Tessaiga, and Sesshomaru leaps into the air:

"Silence! I, have heard, enough!"

But just as he went to cut Inuyasha down with Tessaiga, he uses the sheath to block the blade!

 _He's holding off the Tessaiga, with the Tessaiga sheath!_

As Inuyasha begins grinning in anticipation of getting one over his half-brother, Jaken then bursts out of the remains of the demon giant:

"Lord Sesshomaru nearly killed me, his servant, with his own blow! His blatant disregard for ally or foe when he sets his mind on killing someone is much more terrifying than his awesome power! Oooh, my future may not be in good hands..."

(Grab)

"Doh."

Suddenly, Miroku and Shippo rise out of the flesh as well, the former grasping his hand on Jaken's head...

"You! You're still alive!"

"Imp, perhaps you could explain something..."

Miroku holds Jaken close to his face, as he asks with edge in his voice,

"How is it that we have never met, but unless I'm mistaken, you two brought along those insects _specifically_ to obstruct my Wind Tunnel?"

"Uh...uh...we did? Um, yes..."

Shippo then spots Jaken make for the Staff of Skulls:

"Look out!"

(Fwooooooom)

"Aah!"

Miroku ducks away from the fire attack, and goes tumbling down the pile up, Shippo hopping after him, before turning to face Jaken with a glare:

"You miserable-"

"Hahahaha, a weak monk and a fox child! I am powerful enough to take you both on at once!"

Meanwhile, the battle of strength between half- and full-dog demon continues:

"Please, trying to defend against my blade with a sword sheath?"

"Yeah, but this is no ordinary sheath! You'll change your mind soon enough, when I use it crack open that head of yours!"

Back overhead, Shippo uses his illusion attacks to defend Miroku from Jaken:

"Is that all you got?! Come on!"

"How's about, this?!"

(Spin)

"You, fool!"

(Tok)

As the top is knocked away by the Staff of Skulls, Shippo lands back on the ground, getting increasingly frustrated:

"I don't get it! That one always works!"

"Save yourself, Shippo. Don't worry about me."

"I'm staying!"

(Fwooooom)

"Ah!"

The two males dodge another shot of fire from Jaken, and begin retreating back as far as they can...  
Back over at the two feuding half-brothers:

"Oh really? Let's see you prove it."

Sesshomaru pushes Inuyasha back, and he leaps a good distance away, before the former begins dashing towards him, sending a number of attacks with the sword, eventually knocking the sheath out of the latter's hands!

(Bang)

As the sheath tumbles away, Sesshomaru says,

"One strike. One more strike and it's over."

As Inuyasha glares, and Sesshomaru raises the Tessaiga, suddenly:

(TWOK, TOK)

(TANG)

An arrow flies through the air, hitting the Tessaiga blade dead-on, causing it to transform back into its dormant form, much to everyone's shock!

 _The Tessaiga's transformed back!_

"Sesshomaru!"

"Huh?"

The two half-brothers turn to the side, and standing atop the boulder by the stairs, was Coraline, bow and arrow in hand, a furious look abound her face!  
She then calls to the older with malice,

"Drop the Tessaiga now, or the next arrow that flies will be _driven right through your throat!_ "

"Coraline!"

"Inuyasha, step out of the area, now!" Sesshomaru looks up at Coraline:

 _That woman's arrow cancelled out the Tessaiga..._

Miroku mentally quirks in surprise,

 _Then it must be true: Coraline really is the reincarnation of the priestess!_

(Gleam)

Just as things reached a new level of intensity, _Coraline's eyes then flashed a dangerous icy blue...!?_


	21. Chapter 20

Hey, all! Just wanna say all's good for me health-wise; my burn has since cleared, so I don't need to declare war on the sun anymore (lol).

Also, wow to all the reviews I got so far for this story; we are now close to the 90 mark!

I didn't realize this story was gonna get so popular in terms of the commentary...

Anyway, I'm happy to see that everyone's enjoying my fanfic; I'll keep updating as often as I can!

So, onward and upward, next chapter!

* * *

 **Chapter 20: Coraline's Ejection Home**

Picking up where we last left our story, we find everyone's attention directed at Coraline, as she kept a strong grip on her bow and arrow, ready to fire at Sesshomaru once again:

"Sesshomaru, prepare yourself! I'll start by shooting off that blatant excuse of an arm!"

(Gleam)

Her eyes began flashing that icy blue, but unlike before when Coraline used her Aura power, this glow seemed more lethal...  
Everyone else suddenly widens their own eyes in surprise, when Coraline's bow and arrow began emitting the same blue glow:

(Sheen...sheen...sheen...)

"Huh? Why his arm...and why is Coraline's bow and arrow glowing like that?"

Inuyasha looks towards his half-brother, who seemed to have tensed up, realizing that Coraline could see the Shikon-no-Tama shard embedded in the arm!

"You're going down, demon bastard!"

(Twok)

Coraline fires her arrow, and the arrow flies, wrapped in the icy blue glow! Sesshomaru, of course, uses his demon speed to dodge the arrow, and it only lands in the ground...but not without leaving an impact:

(Pow)

The energy that was in the arrow leaves a small crater behind, shocking the bystanders:

"Wh-What the-How did she do that?!" Miroku was just as confused as Shippo:

"Coraline's shot would've left a substantial amount of damage if it made contact with Sesshomaru...But how? Unless, could this be, an example of her power as an Aura Reader?"

Inuyasha was the most stunned:

"...C-Coraline..."

(Dash)

Sesshomaru then begins charging to where Coraline was, just as she readies another arrow, somehow unafraid of the deadly dog demon:

"Grrr, this next shot better not miss!"

But Inuyasha went to stop Sesshomaru from attacking Coraline:

"No, you don't!"

(Leap)

"Leave her out of this! I'm the one you really want!"

(Slash)

Inuyasha then uses another round of his blood blades, and Sesshomaru leaps away from getting hit. Inuyasha then lands in front of Coraline, as Sesshomaru lands back on the ground below, looking up with a smirk:

"Most amusing. You seem so anxious for her safety." Coraline then says to Inuyasha,

"Move, Inuyasha. His arm has a shard of the jewel. I'm positive I can hit him with my next shot!"

"Forget it, Coraline."

"What?"

"Sesshomaru's never the kind of opponent that's easy to strike down. Even if that last arrow made contact, he'd still be ready to fight. Stay here and care for Miroku. The remedies from your world seem powerful; maybe you'll be able to save him."

"...That's right, Miroku. Okay, I'm on it." As Coraline rushes off, she stops when Inuyasha adds,

"Coraline?"

"Yes?"

"...Thanks for your help. Your first arrow reversed the Tessaiga's transformation. Now I can defeat him."

Coraline was surprised by the thank you, but smiles grimly and nods:

"...Of course." She then glares down at Sesshomaru, and adds,

"...Just let me know if I have to fire another. I won't hesitate to put that bastard in the ground if I must..."

(Gleam)

Inuyasha sees Coraline's glow again, and as she runs off, he grows a serious frown:

 _...Something's changed here. I've never seen such a dangerous look in Coraline before. If that second arrow had made contact, Sesshomaru would've been hit pretty hard...There's even a chance he wouldn't have been standing afterword..._

 _What was going through her mind when she shot the arrow? What could have Coraline go into such a lethal state?_

 _...And why, do I get the feeling that this isn't the first time?_

As Coraline ran down the stone steps to Miroku, similar thoughts were running through her mind:

 _That last arrow...I felt my Aura energy go into it when I fired it...Why did it happen?_

She shakes her head:

 _I'll have to figure it out later. Right now, I have to get to Miroku and Shippo!_

Meanwhile, Sesshomaru stared down at Tessaiga, processing what just occurred:

"The transformation was stopped by an arrow...of a mortal girl, no less. I suppose the Tessaiga didn't take to me..."

Jaken observes from the top of the fleshy rubble:

"Lord Sesshomaru appears to be wounded...And that mortal girl's arrow...if it had made contact..."

(Clonk)

"Aagh!"

Jaken is then pounded on the head by a fist, belonging to a rather pissed off Miroku! Jaken flinches back from Miroku, and mutters,

"Methinks your earlier expression was more pleasing to the eye and less menacing to the head!"

He tries to flee, but Miroku grasps him by his noggin:

"Where do you think you're going, you little imp?"

"Um, going to a, funeral?"

Shippo then grabs the Staff of Skulls so that Jaken can't get to it, and throws it away while saying,

"Something tells me things are gonna get violent..."

Miroku then proceeds to shake Jaken while saying angrily,

"Now confess, you nasty little beast! Where did you get those poisonous insects?"

"They were given to us by a demon. I did not see his face, for he wore the mask of a baboon to conceal himself!"

"And what was his name?!"

"N-Name?"

 _(Flash)_

 _"...My apologies. Call me, Naraku."_

 _(Flash)_

Miroku freezes up at hearing the mysterious demon's name:

"Naraku."

"Did you say Naraku? It must be the same demon you're pursuing!" Miroku questions Jaken further:

"Tell me his whereabouts! Where can I find him?!"

"I know not where he is! And even if you were to find him, it would do you no good! Your fate has been sealed! It's too late for you, for the poison has taken hold and soon will claim your life!"

Miroku cringes a bit, feeling the effects of the wasp poison attack his system, and Shippo asks in concern,

"Are you in pain, Miroku?"

"...Pain is nothing. It is death that concerns me...and my retched fate as a mere mortal!" Jaken jeers to Miroku,

"Don't look to me for sympathy."

Miroku smirks grimly...before:

(Hit, Clonk, Crack...)

(BONK)

He beats the living daylights out of Jaken, who mutters,

"I really, should learn, to keep my mouth shut..."

With that done, Miroku goes to lay back a distance away, his strength beginning to fail him further:

"Miroku!"

"I'm fine. I just need to rest." _The imp must be right about the poison. It's getting difficult to breathe..._

"Shippo!"

Coraline arrives on scene, slipping off her satchel, and kneeling in front of Miroku:

"How's Miroku holding up?"

"Not well. He's gotten worse."

"Shit...Hang on!"

Coraline then rummages in her satchel for the proper treatment:

 _I know I packed anti-venom...I just hope it'll be strong enough..._

"Miroku, I need you to take this medicine. Are you strong enough to sit up?"

"...No. I'm too weak. Pass it through your mouth."

"...Good plan."

But when Miroku opened his eyes again, it was Shippo who was preparing to do the act...Miroku turns his head away and says,

"I think I can manage on my own..."

As that went on, Coraline climbs up to see over where the half-brothers were:

 _If Miroku has the energy to joke around, he should be alright for a while longer._

She readies another arrow:

 _But if this battle drags on, Miroku will be in serious trouble..._

Down below, Inuyasha says,

"I've figured you out, Sesshomaru: Because you're a demon, you shouldn't be able to grasp the Tessaiga. That left arm of yours must've belonged to a human. You're using a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama to connect it to your body."

He readies his claws and adds,

"If I can lop off that human arm, you'll no longer have what it takes to hold onto the Tessaiga. And that's not all..."

(Leap)

"When you lose that arm, I'll have myself another shard of the jewel!"

Sesshomaru begins dashing forward as Inuyasha begins to charge:

"Let's see you try to take this arm away from me."

(Slash)

"Gh!"

Inuyasha is then hit by Sesshomaru's claws on his left shoulder, and as he leaps back, the latter begins using his poison whip, the former barely dodging each crack:

(Whip, whip, whip...)

(Leap)

Inuyasha eventually back-flips over Sesshomaru, landing on a rock, before dashing forward to try and land a hit:

" _Iron Reaver..._ "

"Hhh!"

(Punch)

"Agh!"

But instead, Inuyasha gets hit in the right side of his face by Sesshomaru's fist, and goes crashing through the ground, sliding a couple feet away...

(Twok, tok)

(Clang)

An arrow then goes flying, smashing it's way through Sesshomaru's armor on his left shoulder! Shippo cheers at Coraline's hit:

"You did it, you broke through his armor!"

"I was aiming for the shard in his arm..."

(Bzzt)

"Rh!"

Suddenly, Sesshomaru feels a electric pulse from the tip of the arrow, shocking him a bit with a strange blue energy...!

Inuyasha saw it too, and looks up to where Coraline was:

"Coraline...!"

 _There it is again...that blue light...Could it be her Aura Reader powers doing that? What's happening to you, Coraline?_

Sesshomaru's voice snaps him out of his thoughts:

"Inuyasha, make her stop. Half-demon though you are, the blood of a demon runs through you. Be proud about that. Do not accept human aid, even in death."

Inuyasha turns back to shout,

"Don't you try anything, Coraline! Sesshomaru is ruthless!" Coraline readies another arrow:

"All the more reason he needs to be taken down! I'm not afraid of him, or anyone like him!"

(Gleam, sheen...)

(Twok)

Coraline releases the blue-shining arrow, but:

(Fwip)

Sesshomaru catches it between his fingertips! Ignoring the pulse from the blue energy, he uses his poison claws to corrode the arrow...

"...No...He, melted the arrow..."

(Riiinnnng...)

And things were only about to get worse; the Tessaiga began to glow, it's power returning...!

"You've had your warning. Now I shall put an end to your interference!"

(SLASH)

Sesshomaru then sends an attack cutting through the ground, heading straight for Coraline:

"Look out, Coraline!"

Coraline cringes, knowing she wouldn't be able to outrun the attack...Inuyasha then rushes to her, shielding her from the incoming impact:

(BOOM)

"Aaaaaaaggggghhhh!"

The two teens crash into the ground on the other side of the rocks, and Shippo asks,

"You're not hurt, are you?!"

Inuyasha rises up a bit, grasping his head from the fall, before checking up on Coraline:

"You alright?"

...But Coraline was unconscious...

"Coraline!"

Inuyasha gently grasps Coraline's face with his hand, and she grumbles incoherently:

"...uhh..."

As the Tessaiga transforms back into battle mode, Inuyasha turns to Sesshomaru with a hateful glare:

"You'll regret that move, Sesshomaru! She doesn't deserve it!"

(Tok)

Suddenly, Miroku comes up to Inuyasha, using his staff to steady himself:

"Miroku..."

"The Tessaiga's not fully transformed, but it has such power. There's only one method left to counter him and the sword..."

Miroku readies to pull off the prayer beads around his right hand:

"I must attack with my Wind Tunnel." Inuyasha stands up beside the kneeling Miroku, and retorts back,

"Better rethink that. Remember what happened last time you opened it..."

Inuyasha tosses a small rock, and it lands over at a pile of rock and flesh, stirring up a swarm of the remaining poisonous wasps from earlier...

"They're, still here..." Shippo worriedly protests:

"Don't do it, Miroku! You're doomed if you take in anymore venom!" Inuyasha then turns to them both with a serious look:

"...Take Coraline and get out of here fast. Get as far away as you can."

"Uh?"

"A-A-Are you sure?"

"...Get Coraline out of here. Guard her with your life."

At that tone, Miroku and Shippo nod...However, Sesshomaru wasn't about to let them all go so easily:

"You will never escape me. I shall destroy you all with a single stroke!"

Inuyasha begins charging at Sesshomaru, claws raised, just as the latter unleashed the Tessaiga's power:

(Slash, POW)

As Inuyasha barely fights against the impact to get the Tessaiga, Miroku and Shippo duck from the power blast...  
When the rumbling settles, they look back up:

"...The blast has subsided..."

It is then seen that Inuyasha somehow fought his way through the impact, and is now grasping Sesshomaru's human arm, trying to pry it off!  
As Miroku goes to lift Coraline into his arms, he comments in surprise,

"Inuyasha is staving off the sword...!" Said half-demon turns his head and shouts,

"Hey! Why are you waiting?! _Run for it!_ "

Miroku and Shippo scramble away, the former holding the unconscious Coraline in his arms...

"How touching, trying to by time, only to save the lives of your friends!"

(SHOOMK)

"AAAAGH!"

Sesshomaru then drives his hand through Inuyasha's torso!

Miroku and Shippo look back briefly as they continue to flee, worried for Inuyasha...Suddenly, Coraline stirs awake:

"Mm...H-Huh?"

She looks upward, and her eyes bulge out at seeing what was happening:

"Inuyasha!"

Miroku grasps her upper arm, stopping her from running:

"Stop!"

"Let go, Miroku!"

"He wants to deal with this on his own. That's why he told us to run to safety."

"...Inuyasha..."

Sesshomaru removes his hand from Inuyasha's torso:

"...Any last words before you're tragic demise?" Inuyasha grins, and says,

"Your ignorance surprises me...I really thought you would've realized it by now..."

"...Noticed what?"

(TWIST)

"That the sword is back in my hands!"

Inuyasha rips the hand of the human arm off, and takes back the Tessaiga! Jaken then come to his master's side:

"Master! Without the human arm, you are unable to hold onto the Tessaiga!"

...But, even though Inuyasha got the Tessaiga back...his injuries were finally starting to take their toll on him...

"Agh...rgh...GH!"

(Tok)

Inuyasha then goes on one knee, the Tessaiga blade sitting in the ground...

Coraline looks over with worry:

"No...His endurance is dropping..." Jaken sees this as an opportunity of interest:

"Lord Sesshomaru. It seems that Inuyasha finally lost consciousness-"

"Do not approach any closer."

"Huh?"

(Rattle...)

Though true Inuyasha was no longer in any condition to fight:

(POW)

"Gah!"

Jaken barely dodges a shot of energy from the Tessaiga!

"W-W-What happened?! The sword attacked of it's own accord!"

Sesshomaru realizes what's going on:

 _He holds power over it, despite being unconscious. (Narrows eyes) If I make a move for it, he will strike me down._

"We shall leave, Jaken. The Tessaiga's presently beyond my reach. There's no sense in staying."

"I won't argue with your decision. After you, master."

With that, Sesshomaru and Jaken leave, floating on a spectral wind out of the area, the poisonous wasps following them...

Miroku and Shippo comment on their retreat:

"They must've given up."

"What a lucky break."

"Inuyasha!"

Coraline rushes over to Inuyasha, as he draws back the power of Tessiaga with the last of his strength:

"Coraline..." _You're alright..._

"Guh!"

Inuyasha then falls, splashing into a puddle of his own blood...

Coraline stops in front of him, and calls out with worried tears in her eyes,

" _Inuyasha!_ "

With Sesshomaru and Jaken

As they continued to float away, Jaken comments with annoyance,

"Gh, how long will these cursed insects follow us?!"

"Be patient. Ultimately, it is the jewel they are after. Surely, they are waiting for me to discard the arm."

As Sesshomaru lowers his sleeve, Jaken then sees something troubling:

"The arm is burning at the joint, master! The fire licks at your shoulder!"

"...This retched arm threatens to burn me alive."

Sesshomaru then grabs the arm from the joint, and rips it off, before tossing it into the air! The arm burns to ash, leaving the jewel shard behind for one of the wasps to grab into its mouth...  
The insects then fly down to an area below, and Naraku, who was awaiting their arrival, holds his hand out to retake the shard:

"What a pitiful soul. I see he failed..."

He then feels a presence behind him, and immediately turns to bow to,

"Lord Sesshomaru. What a pleasant surprise."

Jaken then steps up to call Naraku out on his end of the deal:

"Naraku! You gave that miserable human arm to Master Sesshomaru in the hopes that it would destroy him!"

"You are mistaken. I merely wished to assist him, and of course, have my jewel shard returned to me."

Sesshomaru then smirks:

"I suppose that makes sense..."

(Dash, Slash)

He then proceeds to behead Naraku with his claws...only to discover that there was no one in the baboon fur anymore!

"Serves you right for putting my master in such jeopardy!"

"So, he escaped..."

"Huh?"

Jaken gets a closer look at the baboon fur, and sees that his master was correct:

"Where'd he go?"

Suddenly, Naraku's voice carries into the area through the wind:

" _Lord Sesshomaru...I implore you to contain your anger. I may call on you again, should another opportunity arise to destroy Inuyasha..._ "

With that, Naraku's presence was gone, and Sesshomaru comments,

"...What a crafty and audacious character..."

Time Skip

As the sun began to rise over the mountains, we find Coraline, Miroku, Shippo, and the unconscious Inuyasha, all floating atop the transformed tanuki friend of Miroku's.

"Hachi...We've known eachother for a long time."

"Take care, my friend. No need for deathbed sentimentality." Coraline turns to Miroku and asks,

"How are you doing? Is the anti-venom working for you?"

"I believe that your remedy is indeed starting to take affect. You saved my life, Coraline."

She nods, and goes to move a bit down Hachi as Miroku says,

"Hachi, I could use something to eat."

"Glad to hear that you've regained your appetite."

Coraline comes to Shippo, as he leaned on her satchel, both looking over at Inuyasha:

"How is he, Shippo? Any changes?"

"He's hardly moved the entire time."

 _Inuyasha said that he wanted to return home...His injuries must be that bad..._

"...Shippo, explain to me the origins of the hive."

"According to the imp, it was Naraku who lent the hive to Sesshomaru...Naraku was the one who burned the Wind Tunnel into Miroku's hand, remember?"

Coraline nods:

 _That's right, and it was he who set Kiky_ _ō and Inuyasha up back when. Now Inuyasha has set a vendetta against Naraku, to avenge her death.  
_

Coraline comes to kneel by Shippo, and asks,

"Does Inuyasha know about all of this?"

"No, he needed his energy to battle Sesshomaru, and I knew that this news about Naraku would only infuriate him, and the last thing he needed was a distraction."

"Good man, Shippo. For now, it's best that we keep this information quiet, until Inuyasha fully recovers. And we must do all we can to help him heal."

"Good idea."

...As this decision was made, Inuyasha stirs half-awake, and holds his bloody claws to his vision, as his mind wanders:

 _Naraku...He's close at hand._

 _Naraku, the cursed demon who disguised himself as me, to get close enough to end Kiky_ _ō's life.  
_

 _Now he's returned and is hiding nearby..._

 _(Flash)_

 _"Fool. I have no desire whatsoever to become human."_

 _It wasn't me..._

 _"But I shall take the Shikon-no-Tama nonetheless. Thanks..."_

 _It wasn't me! I didn't betray you,_ _Kiky_ _ō!_

 _"You, traitor...TRAITOR!"_

 _(Flash)_

 _He shows up when a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama's to be found..._

"...He's near..."

After a while longer, they all land on the ground, and Hachi returns to his normal form...As they all rest at the treeline by the Goshinboku Village, Coraline says,

"Thanks for the ride _,_ Hachi. We really owe you one."

"Don't mention it." Miroku hands Hachi something:

"A token of appreciation."

"Mm, it's currency in natter roll of, leaves I hope?"

Coraline looks to the two with a smile, before hearing Inuyasha address her:

"Coraline..."

"Huh?"

"Come with me..." Coraline rushes to his side:

"Inuyasha, you need to sit down. Look, I understand half-demons don't take injuries the same way as humans do, but that one is life-threatening!"

"Gh!"

"See, told ya."

...Inuyasha then stops, growing an annoyed look on his face, before turning to Miroku and Shippo:

"Hey! Who invited you? Quit following!"

Coraline watches him rush off, and mentally quirks,

 _Okay, so maybe his stamina's holding out better than I thought..._

After a short while, Inuyasha and Coraline were walking side-by-side in the forest. Coraline then stops, and kneels by some plants that were growing thick in the ground:

"That's right, Kaede told me that this herb was best in treating all kinds of poisons. I'll make some up for you later. And this herb makes a good antiseptic; good for treatment, but damn, it hurts..."

Inuyasha watches her mini moment of excitement, and smiles a bit before saying,

"You've learned a lot."

"Yeah, I suppose I have. "

"Coraline, you've grown stronger."

"Thanks for noticing. It's hard to not get stronger when you're on the run from demons...Mind you, ever since I left Majora years ago, I've had to toughen up more than most teenage girls, just to stay alive, so this isn't too new an experience for me..."

As they move further, they come across the Bone Eater's Well:

"...And there's the well..."

 _That well looks pretty ordinary to the untrained eye, but in reality, it acts as a gateway between the past and present._

 _It activated when I, the carrier of the Shikon-no-Tama, passed through it...or, got dragged into, I should say..._

 _...That's how I came here, and met Inuyasha..._

Inuyasha goes to sit against the well, and says,

"Coraline...I haven't asked how you're feeling. You got hurt too." Coraline was taken aback by his concern:

"Oh...It's just a bit of a bruising to the head, nothing I can't handle...I'm sorry, Inuyasha. You told me to back off from attacking Sesshomaru, but I didn't listen. My actions only made things worse, and led you to get seriously injured."

"...No, in the end, it was you who saved me with your arrow. I'm grateful, Coraline."

 _He's, grateful?...What's going through your head now, Inuyasha?_

Coraline goes to kneel in front of Inuyasha:

"...You're acting a bit stranger than usual. You don't have a fever, do you?"

As Coraline double-checks for one, Miroku and Shippo watch the two teens from behind some bushes. Shippo asks,

"What's Inuyasha doing, taking Coraline so deep into the forest?"

"Shh."

Inuyasha then says to Coraline,

"You've heard the story, about how Naraku deceived me fifty years ago. He's the one pulling the strings behind Sesshomaru."

Coraline's eyes widen:

 _...So he does know. I suppose I should've expected this, considering Inuyasha has become more aware of Naraku's movements than the rest of us..._

"I've made a decision."

"Huh?"

"Things are getting more dangerous by the day."

"...You say that like it's a new lesson to learn."

"Huh?" Inuyasha looks up with surprise at a calm Coraline:

"What's that mean? Aren't you scared? We're in serious danger! This time we were lucky, but who knows about next time!"

Coraline glares a bit as she retorts back,

"I feel no fear. Naraku's a terrible demon. We must do whatever possible to defeat him!"

(Grasp)

"Uh!"

(Hug...)

...Time seemed to have froze for Coraline, as Inuyasha suddenly grabs her into a hug, holding her tightly to him!  
Inuyasha shakes a bit, as Coraline's mind tries to process this new development:

 _Wh-What's, going on?_

"Inuyasha...What's wrong?"

"...I was afraid..."

"...What...?"

"...I thought, I was going to lose you. I was terrified..."

Back in the bushes, Miroku shields Shippo's face from the scene, much to his protest:

"Lemme go. I wanna see! What's he doing?"

"This isn't something for children to see..."

After a few more minutes, Inuyasha then releases Coraline, shoving her a bit to the ground:

"Rgh..."

Coraline looks up, confused, until she sees what Inuyasha was now holding in his claws:

"I'll hang on to the jewel." Coraline darts back up:

"Inuyasha, why are you-Uh?"

Inuyasha tucks the Shikon-no-Tama piece into his robes, before sending the following message:

"...Coraline: Go back to your own era!"

(SHOVE)

"(Gasp) Aaaaaahhhhh!"

And just like that, Coraline is pushed by Inuyasha, falling backwards down the Bone Eater's Well!

Miroku and Shippo immediately rush over:

"Inuyasha! What have you done?!" They all look down the well, and see no sign of Coraline:

"...Coraline is gone. What have you done?!"

"I sent her back, to her own time on the other side of the well."

The other two males were shocked by Inuyasha's actions, and could only stare back into the now empty well...

Present-Day Tokyo

As this went on, Coraline found herself climbing up to the rim of the well, confused by what just happened:

"...Why? Why did he do that?" She feels a glare come on:

"That Inuyasha. I'm goin' back to give him a piece of my mind!"

(Drop)

But instead of falling through time-space, Coraline wound up hitting the actual bottom ground of the well!

"Rrgh...Wh-What?"

(Ding-dong...)

"...That's the bell for the local school...Which means...I'm still in my own era!"

Coraline begins to feel a panic come on, as her hand caresses the dirt ground:

"...I, I can't return to Sengoku Edo! But, why-Uh! The shards!"

...Coraline grips the ground, feeling her blood beginning to boil with a new found anger and betrayal:

"...Damn you... _Damn you to hell, Inuyasha!_ "


	22. Chapter 21

Hey all! Here's the next chapter!

Everything's been going good for the most part; just been busy with other things going on in my life, so that's partly why updating has been slow.

Well, that, and I've also recently did a huge grammatical update on all my chapters so far for this, plus my other story (...So many letters...lol).

I noticed that my review count for this story has reached a hundred! Yay!

So, once again, thank you for your patience, and enjoy the latest chapter in this Inuyasha adventure!

* * *

 **Chapter 21: Despicable Villain! The Mystery of Onigumo!**

(Shhhnk, Thump)

Shortly after Coraline's forced departure from Edo Japan, Inuyasha then grabs a tree trunk, and proceeds to shove it down the Bone Eater's Well!

Shippo tries to stop him:

"What are you doing that for, Inuyasha?!"

"Lay off!"

"If you seal up the well, Coraline will never be able to return to this era! Don't fool yourself: You need her as much as the rest of us!"

Inuyasha's tone then grows a tad more serious, his expression the same:

"I can't have her hanging around, otherwise I'll never be able to fight the way I want to."

He turns away from the now tree-stuffed well, his shift of body weight causing Shippo to lose his grip on his pant leg.  
The little fox demon pouts in a frustrated manner, and folds his arms to himself while sitting, angry tears threatening to fall...

Miroku, whom was observing the scene with seriousness and mild confusion, turns to Inuyasha when the latter says,

"Let's go, Miroku."

"Go? Where?"

Inuyasha stops walking, and replies a bit heatedly,

"How can you ask such a thing? We'll find Naraku and crush him once and for all!" Miroku turns to Shippo:

"...Let's be going, Shippo." The fox demon replies in an upset tone,

"Not me. I despise Inuyasha, (sniff)."

"Feh, fine with me. Stay here."

Miroku then proceeds to calmly speak with Inuyasha about what he had just done:

"I understand that you forced Coraline to leave for her safety, but do you not think that you could've achieved the same end through less aggressive methods?"

"Leave me alone! I did what I had to!"

"So, how do you recommend we go about searching for Naraku? You've come across some new leads, I suppose?"

That question left Inuyasha unprepared:

"...No, not exactly."

"So we have nothing to go on?"

"Quiet!"

"You sent Coraline back of your own volition. I'd appreciate it if you didn't take your frustrations out on me."

"(Turn) Will you get off my back?!"

Miroku then goes to sit on top of a boulder, before saying simply,

"Our best hope now lies in composing ourselves and thinking things through." Inuyasha shouts back,

"I don't have time for this!"

But before he could walk away, Miroku calls to him:

"What are you thinking? I want to crush Naraku as desperately as you do, Inuyasha!"

...Inuyasha turns back to the monk, and Miroku continues with a bit more edge in his voice:

"Fifty years ago, he formed a Wind Tunnel in the hand of my grandfather, and now the curse has carried over the generations to me!"

Inuyasha watches Miroku clench his fist in anger at his dire situation, before responding more calmly and seriously:

"Miroku..."

He then moves to sit beside Miroku on the grass with a slight sigh before adding,

"Taking action is more my style, not strategizing. You think of something."

"Work with me, Inuyasha. Let's go back to when this all started: You mentioned that you fell into Naraku's trap fifty years ago in this very same village, correct?"

"Yeah..."

"So you've met Naraku in person, right?"

"...No, not exactly..."

Flashback

 _Inuyasha and Kikyō are seen standing in front of eachother in at forest clearing, surrounded by the changing colours of the season._

 _"Inuyasha, you can become fully human if you use the Shikon-no-Tama. I shall bring to you at the brink of dawn, to this very place."_

 _Come that morning:_

 _(Twok, tok)_

 _"Huh?"_

 _Inuyasha turns to see the source of the arrows shot at him, to be 'Kikyō':_

 _"Die, Inuyasha!"_

 _Inuyasha growls at his attacker..._

End of Flashback

"I may have met him, but if I did, he was disguised as Kikyō, so I have no idea what he looks like."

"Hm, it makes no sense: You don't know Naraku, and yet he despised you enough to disguise himself as Kikyō, and left you for dead. Could you have done something in the past to cause him to be embittered?"

Inuyasha scoffs a bit and replies,

"How would I know? I don't even know what he looks like!"

"Hmm..."

Miroku looks towards the Bone Eater's Well (and Shippo, who was trying to lift the tree trunk out), and thinks aloud:

"One thing we do know, is that Kikyō was a priestess...Perhaps it was she and not you that Naraku had a deep grudge against, especially since you don't think you know him."

"You mean it's Kikyō he hates?"

Present-Day Tokyo

As the mystery behind Naraku's motive was being contemplated, Coraline was finishing soaking her clothes in a stain remover:

"There. That should be enough; I just hope the blood will come out..."

Coraline had since changed out of her clothes, and was now wearing a light blue t-shirt, a worn-out pair of jeans, and white socks. She also had her hair tied back into a loose ponytail, with a piece hanging out from the elastic in front of her face.

"Coraline! Your friends are here!" She smiles faintly at hearing that message:

"Be right there!"

As Coraline walks out of the laundry room, she tries to still the depressing thoughts running through her mind:

 _Inuyasha was still bleeding out a good deal...I, was so worried for him..._

 _But perhaps, his mind was elsewhere as he held me in his arms:_

 _"I'll hang onto the jewel."_

 _...Did he really only hold me to get his claws on the Shikon-no-Tama?_

(Slam)

Coraline hits the nearby wall with her fist in a spat of anger:

"That bastard's gonna pay for this!"

"...Cora?"

"Huh?"

Coraline looks up, and sees Freeman and Besa, looking at her warily and with concern:

"Are, you okay?"

"Did we come at a bad time, Cor?"

Coraline relaxes her clenched fist, and sighs before looking up at them with a relieved but sad smile:

"No...Actually, you guys are what I really need right now..."

Small Time Skip, Downtown Park

Once they reached the park, and were sitting under one of the cherry blossom trees, Coraline had regaled to her brothers what had happened in the time she'd been gone, including what Inuyasha had done recently.

Needless to say, both boys were quite pissed:

"What?!"

"Seriously?! He just, hugged you and took the jewel before shoving you home?!"

"Yeah, and now I can't get back into the Sengoku Era..."

"...Damn, that blows..."

Coraline nods in agreement, and both brothers look at her sympathetically:

"We're so sorry that this happened to you, sis."

"It's not your guys' fault...I just don't understand why he would do this..."

"...I'm guessin' that hug got you goin' in a way or two?" Coraline half-smiles at Freeman:

"Kind-of...I mean, that was the first time any guy has held me like that. I, did get a bit flustered...But, c'mon, he is a guy, right?"

"True. I would've gotten flustered myself if it was me."

"...Right...But you'd get fired up for any man to hold you in their arms."

The three teens laugh a bit, before Coraline goes back to a depressed look while sighing...Besa then voices his insights:

"...Coraline, is it, possible that Inuyasha did what he did, so he could better protect you? I mean, I'm not siding with him or anything, I'm just trying to see things from both sides..."

Coraline forms a look between frustration and understanding:

"...I see where you're going with this...and yeah, maybe he just doesn't want me to get hurt in the oncoming changes for this quest...But that doesn't give him the right to do what he did."

Freeman nods:

"Yeah! If he really was a man, he would've talked it out first, not jump to the first action he thought would get the job done."

"You're both right. But, isn't Inuyasha one of those types of people who speaks with actions more than with words?"

"...Yeah..." "True..."

Besa finishes his thoughts:

"I don't think Inuyasha faked anything in what he did say and do. I think the problem was that he didn't know how to properly assess the situation, and chose to go and use the quickest method available. He does care...but he doesn't know how to fully express it."

Coraline hms, feeling some of her anger against Inuyasha begin to slowly dissipate:

 _Besa is right: Inuyasha has lived his life with his feelings closed off from everyone around him..._

 _...Damn, now I feel guilty for cursing his name to Hell..._

 _I hope he and the others are doing okay..._

"...I think you're right, Besa. Thank you, both of you. I'm feeling a bit better now that I got it all out on the open."

"No prob."

"And hey, don't give up hope yet, Cor. Maybe Inuyasha will come to his senses and dive into the well to bring you back to Edo. It just might take a while, is all."

Coraline smiles faintly at her brother:

"...I sure hope you're right, Freeman."

With that done, Coraline and the twins go to head back downtown to check out a few stores...

But as they reached the exit from the park grounds, suddenly:

"Rrr...gggh..."

"Hm?"

Coraline looks to the right, and sees a figure slumped against the barrier wall...

 _...Wonder what happened to him?_

 _...Wait...is that-_

"(Gasp) Shuji?!"

Coraline then runs to the figure, the twins following close behind, and all three are shocked to find that it was Shuji!

"Shuji!"

"Shuji, what happened to you?!"

"You look terrible!"

Whatever happened, it looked like Shuji was in a recent shakedown: He had multiple cuts all over his body, along with some nasty-looking bruises, including a black eye that was slowly swelling up.

Shuji looks up at the three, and breathes a bit heavily while holding his ribs, before responding hoarsely,

"P-Please...Guys, I...I need, help..."

Shuji then proceeds to try and stand up, only to cringe from his injuries, causing the twins to hold him steady:

"Take it easy, man. You're seriously hurt."

"Yeah, we need to get you to the hospital, ASAP!"

"You...you don't, understand...Ri...Rikona...she...(cough)..."

Coraline steps closer to Shuji, holding her hands on his shoulders:

"...Shuji, what happened? What about Rikona?"

"...The, the gangsters' brother...He and his boys...th-they took her...took her away..."

"What?"

"I, I tried to, stop them...but they just pounded me senseless...Please, C-Coraline, guys...Please, s-save Rikona, (cough)..."

Coraline could only stare with shock at this dire news, as did the twins...She then forms a serious frown, and asks Shuji,

"...Shuji...Where are these gangsters? Where can I find them?"

"They...have a hideout, by the docks...It's, an abandoned warehouse...T-There's more: These gangsters, they...kidnapped a bunch of other kids from my nieghbourhood and hers, all around her age...Somethin', about insurance...There's a group of teens, from my neighbourhood and Rikona's...they're all gonna team up, a-and go attack the warehouse, to save the tykes...I-I know it sounds crazy, but the gangsters made it clear that if any cops were involved..."

Shuji couldn't finish that thought...Coraline nodded, understanding the rest:

"...Okay. And where are they meeting?"

"Same place, you found Rikona..."

"Gotcha..."

Coraline looks up at the twins with fierce determination laced into her eyes:

"Guys...can I count on you to get Shuji to the hospital, while I go ahead to the place?"

"...Coraline...are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"And you're not thinking the same?"

...The twins then nod firmly, and both say,

"We'll meet you there, sis."

Coraline nods back, and begins running to the abandoned warehouse district, while the twins wrapped their arms around Shuji's shoulders, and proceeded to walk him to where he could get medical help.

As she ran, Coraline's thoughts were fixated on one thing:

 _...Don't worry, Rikona. Help is on the way! I promise!_

Meanwhile, in Sengoku Edo

While Shippo chose to stay at the Bone Eater's Well out of stubbornness, Miroku and Inuyasha have since moved to Kaede's hut, the former now sipping some tea, while the latter was being treated for his injuries, including the place where Sesshomaru drove his hand through.

"These injuries are serious; you won't be seeing any battles for some time yet."

"They won't hold me back any longer than two or three days."

"Not surprising that you would put on a brave face. There."

But when Kaede lightly slapped Inuyasha's back where the bulk of his injuries were:

"Aaaawh! What'd you do that for?!"

"If ye can muster that much vigor, then perhaps ye won't take long to recover." Kaede then gazes downward:

"I need to speak to ye. I have given this much thought, ever since my sister Kikyō was revived by the demon witch, Urasue."

Miroku tilts his head up, indicating he was listening as well, and Kaede continues:

"Kikyō had told me that it was ye, Inuyasha, who had stolen her sacred Shikon-no-Tama. Do ye not think it strange? The one who disguised himself as ye could have made off with the jewel, yet, he did not...He tricked ye into terrorizing the village, and pursuing the Shikon-no-Tama. Then Kikyō bound ye to a tree with her sacred arrow. Was the trickster trying to pit ye against eachother, or was it Kikyō that was the true object of his malice? Was it trying to fill her heart with hatred and bitterness?"

As Inuyasha puts his shirts back on, he looks at Kaede with confusion at the last question:

"What?"

Kaede explains:

"In Kikyō's possession, The Sacred Jewel of the Four Souls remained pure. But, when her heart became tainted and hateful, the jewel also became submitted, and it filled with a malevolent power. At the time, there was but one person who so wished for such a terrible outcome..."

As Miroku and Inuyasha look to Kaede, she finishes with the following question:

"Would you like me to take ye to the place where he once resided?"

Small Time Skip

As the three walked through a field of tall grass, Kaede speaks about the person in question:

"Kikyō had come to her own decision..." Inuyasha responds,

"She was harbouring a thief."

"Because she pitied him. He was unable to move on his own."

After a few more minutes, the three come to stop in front of the mouth of a cave, with mossy overgrowth all around the outside, and a tree standing proud on top:

"This is the cave. The man went by the name of Onigumo..."

Flashback

 _We see a man, wrapped in gauze around his head, one of his bloodshot eyes looking around. The rest of his body is covered by a blue blanket, likely wrapped in gauze as well...  
_

 _Kikyō is seen tending to him...  
_

"He suffered from terrible burns and was especially scarred. I know not if he fell from a cliff, or how he sustained his injuries. Both legs were broken. Yet despite his severe wounds, Onigumo continued to endure. He did not move again, but he recovered his strength, enough to converse. That, is when his true nature, gradually emerged..."

 _Young Kaede is now seen ringing a cloth, as Onigumo speaks with her:_

 _"You there...young lass."_

 _"It's Kaede."_

 _"Yes...Your sister possesses what is known, as the Shikon-no-Tama, does she not?" Young Kaede looks at Onigumo suspiciously:_

 _"What would ye know about the jewel?"_

 _"All who are wicked know it, and pursue it..."_

 _"Ye included?"_

 _"I understand that the more evil the jewel absorbs, the more evil it becomes...Outstanding."_

 _"My sister has it under her control. It won't be corrupted."_

 _"..._ _Kikyō's manner is self-righteous. For once, I should like to see her apprehensive and frightened. That would bring me true pleasure, heheheh..."_

 _Young Kaede is then seen speaking with_ _Kikyō about what she had just learned:  
_

 _"I see. Onigumo said that, did he?"_

 _"Big sister, I don't care for that man."_

 _"Bare him no grudge. Give him pity; his injuries are great. He shall never move from there again."_

"It was not long after that when Kikyō bound ye to the tree with her arrow..."

 _Young Kaede, now bearing a gauze over her eye, is then seen looking into the cave with bewilderment in her features:_

"Several days later, when I went to visit Onigumo at the cave, I had found it to have been burned out. Judging from what I saw, the flames must've been intense, for Onigumo was unable to move and surely would've perished in the cave, _but his bones were never found._ They too must've gone up in flames."

End Flashback

Inuyasha then asks Kaede when she finished her tale on Onigumo,

"What does this have to do with me? I'm looking for Naraku, and Naraku is a demon, not a human such as this Onigumo person."

"No mistaking that. Onigumo may have been evil, but he was human. A scorch to humanity."

Miroku then steps forward:

"Let's go inside and take a look, shall we?"

As this was being decided, Shippo was still trying to lift the tree trunk out of the Bone Eater's Well, with no success:

"Rrr...rrgh...W-Whah!"

Shippo then falls backwards onto the grass, and as he lifts himself up into a sitting position, he mutters sadly,

"Auh, I can't pull it out of the well. And unless I do, Coraline will never return to us."

He looks up to the sky with watery eyes:

"I'm starting to miss her already..."

He then remembers what Inuyasha said before walking away, and begins to get frustrated again:

"Rrgh, he's more stubborn than a mule! That does it! I'm never speaking to Inuyasha again!"

" **Did you say, Inuyasha?** "

(Thump...)

Suddenly, a deep, raspy voice breaks out behind Shippo, and he turns around, only to meet the eyes of a large demon with a pack of black-furred, three-eyed wolves following with him!

" **I asked you a question...** "

All Shippo could do was cringe back in fear...

Back at the cave, Inuyasha, Miroku and Kaede have walked inside the mouth a good few feet, before the second points out something:

"Lady Kaede."

"Hm?"

"Look there: That one site alone is free of grass and moss of any kind..."

Kaede gets a closer look, and remembers the spot:

"Oh...It's the same place. This is the very site where Onigumo laid injured."

Miroku leans down on one knee to the spot, only to cringe back while waving his staff:

"Ah...! I'm sensing the evil spirit of a demon! An entity that which has been left behind here for decades!"

"Impossible...!"

"Could it be a human who left this foul spirit behind, here where even grass refuses to grow?"

Inuyasha adds his insights after Miroku:

"The spirit in this cave belongs to no human. It's definitely that of a demon." Miroku puts a hand under his chin in thought:

"Hmm...but if Onigumo was human, how could he have possessed the spirit of a demon?"

Suddenly:

"Heeelp! Somebody, help meee!"

Outside the cave, Shippo was on the run from the black wolves from earlier! The three from the cave rush out and see Shippo in trouble:

"Shippo!"

As Inuyasha leaps to his aid, Shippo suddenly trips, falling face-down on the ground...He turns around, and just as the wolves came charging at him:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash, slash, slash)

Inuyasha kills all of them with his claws, landing on the ground with Shippo tucked into his arm. Shippo looks up at him:

"Are you still in pain?" He then looks at his hand, and sees blood:

"(Gasp) Your chest! You're bleeding!"

Inuyasha cringes from his injuries, as he curses mentally,

 _N-No...It must've, re-opened..._

Inuyasha then feels a presence, and looks up, meeting the eyes of Shippo's attacker:

The demon looked to be that of a monstrous wolf, with brown fur, wearing armor and had red pupil eyes with light blue surrounding.

" **Might you be Inuyasha?** "

"That depends on who's askin'!"

" **I am Royakan, Guardian of Hell.** "

Kaede and Miroku arrive near Inuyasha and Shippo, the former recognizing the demon:

"Royakan! Are ye not the gentle giant that guards the forest?"

" **That was before I reborn! Inuyasha, I have come to slay you!** "

Next thing everyone knew:

" **Bwaaaah!** "

Royakan expels numerous three-eyed wolves from his mouth! As they charged forward, Inuyasha rises from the ground and retorts,

"Good luck is all I can say!"

Meanwhile, Miroku goes into thought on the new situation:

 _Royakan seems to know that Inuyasha is in no condition to fight...  
_

(Growl)

The wolves leap forward at Inuyasha, fangs bared, but are easily swiped dead by Inuyasha's claws! Miroku defends Kaede with his staff, knocking away any attacking wolves coming in their direction.

Royakan jeers at their efforts:

" **Fight as you may, you can never defeat me!** **Bwaaah!** "

He then expels even more wolves from his mouth, adding more pressure to the battle...Miroku realizes the action that he must undertake:

"That leaves me with no choice..."

(Rattle...)

Miroku removes the prayer beads from his right hand:

(Whooooooooossssshhhhh...)

He then unleashes the Wind Tunnel in his right hand, sucking in the surrounding three-eyed wolves!  
Once that was accomplished, Miroku seals his hand before calling,

"Inuyasha, quickly, this way!" But Royakan was far from done:

" **Bwaaahh!** "

A new set of wolves was unleashed, only this time, they circle to attack Miroku...

As the battle continued on, we briefly zoom into the forest, where Naraku, sitting on a tree branch, was chuckling to himself on his latest scheme:

"I must congratulate myself. It was a brilliant idea indeed to embed a jewel shard in Royakan's body..."

While Naraku said this, we also see a good number of jewel shards in his possession...

Anyway, getting back to the action:

" _Iron Reaver!_ "

Inuyasha takes down a couple more wolves, but as he lands on the ground, Shippo notices that he was getting exhausted:

"You okay?"

"...My vision is starting to become blurry..."

Meanwhile, Miroku was using his Wind Tunnel to try and suck in as many of the wolves as he could:

(Whooooooooosssssshhhh...)

"Monk, Inuyasha is in danger!"

"I'm moving as fast as I'm able! But first,"

(Slide)

Miroku dives down across the dirt to retrieve his staff:

"I must stop Royakan!"

(Toss)

Miroku then throws his staff at Royakan, hitting him square on the forehead. While he was distracted, Miroku reopens his Wind Tunnel in the demon's direction:

"It can be done!"

(Whooooooosssssshhhh...)

Royakan cringes back from the pressure of the vacuum...But just when it looked like gravity would no longer be in his favour, Royakan then slams his fists onto the ground, uplifting a layer of dirt and rock!

Miroku realizes what tactic the demon was using, and immediately closes the Wind Tunnel...

But, when the dust settled, only a gaping crater remained, and there was no sign of Royakan...!

"He escaped..."

At the same time Miroku turned to see Kaede rush to where Inuyasha was, Naraku comments on the turn in events:

"How unfortunate. Perhaps I should've made Royakan more powerful..."

(Shift)

And just like that, Naraku vanishes...

By this time, Kaede had reached Inuyasha, whom was kneeling towards the ground:

"Inuyasha, show me your wounds!"

"...Where is Royakan?"

"He has fled."

Miroku then says,

"Inuyasha, I sense that Naraku is near."

"What?!"

"Most likely, Royakan has a jewel fragment and through it, is being manipulated by Naraku."

"That would explain such a gentle creature being evil."

Inuyasha then rises from the ground, much to Kaede's protest:

"Inuyasha!"

...But his mind and last bit of stamina was directed elsewhere:

"Naraku...Where are you? Come out and face me, one-on-one! Gg-guh..."

With that, Inuyasha collapses...

"Inuyasha!"

As Shippo and Kaede come to the unconscious half-demon, the latter turns to Miroku and says,

"Royakan may come for another attack. We should flee to the village at once and contemplate our next move."

Miroku nods, while Shippo looks at Inuaysha with worry:

"...Inuyasha..."

Present-Day Tokyo, Late Evening...

(Drop)

"Hup!"

Coraline lands down to the bottom of the Bone Eater's Well, double-checking to see if she was still blocked off:

"...Still nothin', huh? Hm...well, with what I'm about to do, I guess it's better off this way for now..."

 _I think I've lost most of my anger with you, Inuyasha. I just hope you're getting a decent rest..._

With a sigh, Coraline climbs out of the well, walks out of the well-house, and begins jogging silently past the house, avoiding any places where she could be spotted:

 _I cannot believe I'm actually doing this...I just hope Akari-sama and Grandfather don't find out..._

You see, at the same time Inuyasha and company had investigated the cave before getting attacked, Coraline and her brothers (once they dropped off Shuji at the hospital) had since met with the other teens from the neighbourhoods at the abandoned factory building to join in the rescue mission to save Rikona and the other children from their captors.

Of course, this was more a guerilla attack plan if anything, but based on the profile information that was gathered about these gangsters (including the secret connections they had with even the local police departments), it looked like that vigilante efforts were the only way to go...

After meeting and allying with the teens, Coraline and the twins all agreed to meet at the bottom of the Shrine steps around 10pm, before rushing out to meet with the main force at the docks.

Coraline made sure to dress as smartly as possible for the battle that she would soon be fighting in:

She is now dressed in a form-fitted black tank-top, gray-blue jeans, and her black combat boots, and had her hair tied back in a ponytail. Basically, she wore nothing that would constrict her movements. She also had her combat knife strapped to her thigh, just incase things turned for the worst (but she silently prayed it wouldn't come to that...).

Her brothers were dressed for the upcoming mission as well:

Freeman wore a dark-gray tank-top, black cargo pants, and black/white converse. Besa wore a similar outfit, he dawning a black tank-top, black cargo pants, and gray converse.

Eventually, after a good deal of running, the three reach the docks, specifically, around the abandoned parking lot, where several other teens were waiting:

"...Hey."

The leader of the group, a teen by name of Mokoto, turns to them:

"Hey, you guys made it. I sure hope you three are ready, 'cause time ain't on our side."

"What do you mean?"

One of the other teens points Coraline to a laptop, and she goes to look:

"...Whoa. Is this the inside of the warehouse?"

"Yeah. We had one of our guys sneak some hidden cameras into the warehouse a couple hours ago. It wasn't easy, but well worth it...Do you see the big goon there, near the cage?"

"...Yeah."

"He's been gettin' really antsy and pissed off the longer they're waitin' for their payout, mostly 'cause of how scared the kids are. We're all worried that it'll only take a few more minutes, before he starts takin' out his anger on the kids...And who knows? Some of the others may join him."

"Shit..."

"Exactly. That's why we gotta act fast."

Mokoto then turns to address everyone at once, which would be somewhere around twenty to thirty teens, including Coraline and the twins:

"Alright, listen up: We all know what the key objective is, and that's getting all of the kids out. I'm not gonna lie: These bastards are gonna be armed, but luckily, we're attacking while they don't have the heavy weapons like guns. Worst they'll have is lead pipes and chains...I'm not asking for any sacrifices: All I want is for us get in, free the kids, and get out. What I am asking, however, is that everyone watches themselves in there. Use defensive strategy, not offensive, and look out for one another...Understood?"

Everyone nods firmly...

"Good. Okay, first team's with me, second team, follow Ricky! Let's do this!"

"Yeah!"

With that, Mokoto's team rushes to the gates, two of them cutting the fencing down with some metal clippers...

As they all rush to the front, Ricky's team, which included Coraline, Freeman and Besa, head towards the back, and begins climbing up the old dumpsters left behind the warehouse, and into the windows...

Suddenly, out front:

(Clang, clang...CRASH)

"Surprise, you bastards!"

(Collective war cry...)

Mokoto's team begin assaulting the gangsters, all caught off-guard from the attack...!

Meanwhile, while some from Ricky's team begin sneak-attacking a few of the gangsters from behind, Coraline, Freeman and Besa move towards the metal bars of the rusty cage that the children (about eleven in total) were trapped in, the second having a crowbar at the ready to bend the bars.

Inside the cage, Rikona sees the three, and softly gasps when she recognizes them:

"You're Shuji's friends! You came to help! But, where is he?"

Coraline softly shushes her, and replies in a low voice,

"Yes, it's us, and don't worry, Shuji's at the hospital safe and getting help for his injuries. Just hang on, and we'll have you all out of here before you can say jailbreak."

Rikona nods, and Freeman places the crowbar at the ready:

"Alright, here, gooooes..."

(Crrreeeeaaakkk...)

"Rrrrrrggghhh..."

He and Besa begin putting pressure on one of the bars, using all their strength to try and bend it back:

"C-C'mon, bend dammit...!"

"Keep trying, brother!"

As they continued to bend the bar, the leader of the gangsters, the brother of the one that Rikona witnessed during the robbery, sees what was going on:

"What the-Rrgh, god dammit..."

He picks up a lead pipe, and begins charging at the three, his focus being on the twins! Luckily, Rikona sees him coming:

"(Gasp) Look Out!"

Coraline sees where Rikona was pointing, and immediately jumps into action:

"You guys keep going! I got this creep!"

And just as the gangster's brother came swinging:

(CLANG)

Coraline blocks him, using a second crowbar lent to the three for the mission!

As she grits her teeth, trying to keep herself steady, the gangster yells at her heatedly,

"Who the hell are you, bitch?!"

"Ggh, someone you're gonna regret crossing!"

(Shove)

"Rrrah!"

(Punch)

"Argh!"

Coraline manages to push the gangster back, before slugging him in his rib-cage, knocking him flat on the ground!

As he went down, Freeman and Besa succeed in prying one of the bars loose:

(Clang, rattle...)

"Got it!"

"Quick, everybody out and we'll get you to safety!"

The frightened but relieved children do as the twins say, and Coraline turns to call to one of the other teens:

"Hey! We got 'em out of the cage!"

"Okay! We'll lead 'em out! Can you three help clear the way?"

"No prob! C'mon bros, time to clean the house!"

"Right!" "Right!"

With that, Coraline and the twins switched tactics, acting as a wall along with some other teens to help get the little kids out of the building...

Eventually, after a good ten minutes, the kids were at a safe enough distance to leave the area with four of the teens back home, while Coraline, the twins, and the rest of the group kept the gangsters at bay...

Come another twenty minutes, everyone was safely out of the area, walking away with mild to moderate forms of injury...

Coraline is now seen slowly walking home, while Freeman and Besa went to brief Shuji at the hospital on what happened, letting him know that Rikona was safe.

Thanks to the dock fight, Coraline was now covered with numerous bruises, mostly on her arms and legs, and was also sporting a cut of two on her face.  
She was limping a bit, but despite the pain, she was feeling quite triumphant:

"(Pant, pant) Well, that was one hell of a rumble..."

After a long and somewhat difficult trek up the stairs, Coraline made it back home. However, because of how tired and sore she was, Coraline decided she would sleep out in the well-house tonight, and sneak back into her room in the early hours...

As she slumped against the wooden walls of the well-house, Coraline thought over what she had just walked back from:

 _...I can't believe, I actually came out from that fight with only this much injury. I was actually expecting to come back with a broken rib or two..._

 _I'm glad that my bros weren't hurt too badly too...I just hope Besa only got a sprain and that his wrist isn't broken..._

 _The important thing is that Rikona and those other tykes are safe and sound._

"(Sigh) I'm beaten and bruised...and yet, I feel accomplished...Heh, I wonder if this is how Inuyasha feels after his battles...?"

Soon enough, Coraline begins to fall asleep, her last thought being,

 _...If only Inuyasha could see me now..._

Two days later...  


Coraline's luck managed to hold out come that morning, and she would sneak back into her room, slip on her pajamas, feigning sleep as Akari-sama came knocking on her bedroom door...

So far, she has been careful in making sure that no one in the Higurashi household knew about what she had participated in that night, using her long-sleeved shirts to hide the bruises on her arms...

Now, Coraline was working on some homework for her online classes, wearing a blue, light-material shirt, black yoga pants, and light blue socks:

"Hm, so if you divide this by twenty...Yeah, there's the answer, six!"

 _Heh, math isn't too hard to figure out...I dunno why Freeman's so gun-ho about it all the time. It's all in breaking it down step-by-step..._

"Coraline! The boys are here to walk with you to Martial Arts class!"

"Coming, Grandfather!"

Coraline puts her pencil down, and grabs her satchel, before rushing down the stairs to meet her brothers at the door...

You see, the day before, the three teens had discovered a small dojo situated discreetly within the tall buildings of downtown Tokyo, belonging to someone by name of Master Yoshi. Apparently, he runs a free mixed martial arts club open to teens around their age, and after talking with him, they decided to sign up for his classes.

So now, Coraline and her brothers were about ready to head out the door:

"I'll be back in a few hours!"

"Good luck, my dear, and tell Yoshi that Higurashi said hello!"

"No prob, Grandfather! See you soon!"

As the three teens make their way down the stairs, Freeman asks Coraline,

"So, how exactly does your grandfather know Master Yoshi again?"

"Um, if I remember correctly, Master Yoshi came here to the shrine when he was a young teen, and he and grandfather really hit it off. They're both very knowledgeable in all things revolving history and legends. They used to get together frequently to chat over tea, but haven't done much so these days..."

"Huh, small world..."

Coraline nods...Besa then cringes a bit, and she asks him,

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. My wrist is just actin' up a bit. It's not broken, thank god, but I think I may have sprained it good."

"You should let Master Yoshi know when we get there, so that you don't have to do any actual fist-sparring today."

"Mhm. I'm okay, but you're probably right..."

Freeman then forms a nervous smile:

"This is probably all a bit early for all of us, considerin' we're still recovering from our battle a few nights ago..."

"Yeah..."

Coraline then forms a serious though somewhat stubborn frown:

"...Still, I'm not backin' out of this. I think this martial arts club's exactly what I need...I can, get stronger this way..."

The twins look at her a bit warily:

"...You sure you're doin' this for yourself, and not for Inuyasha?"

"...No. I've made up my mind: Inuyasha isn't gonna come for me right away, so I may as well take advantage of this time, and perfect my own offense and defense...I can't rely on him when the going gets tough. I gotta be ready for the battles coming soon, ready to hold out my own..."

"...Alright, if that's where your mind's at right now, Cora, we won't stop you."

"Yeah. We'll help you any way we can to get stronger...show Inuyasha that you're a force to be reckoned with..."

"(Slight smile)...Thanks guys."

"Of course." "No prob, sis."

With that, Coraline and the twins fall into a comfortable silence, but as they walked onward down the side-street, Coraline's thoughts were fixated on the following:

 _I do hope you're healing okay, Inuyasha...but if you're not making ways to come and get me right away, then so be it._

 _...I'll become stronger...A fighter that you can look to for support, in the soon-to-come battles with Naraku..._

 _(Narrows eyes)_

 _...And at the same time...I'll become stronger...for the **other enemy** in my life that will likely resurface soon..._

Sengoku Edo, Evening  


(Slam, slam)

"Open, up!"

(Slam, slam)

"Lemme outta here!"

Unfortunately, contrary to what Coraline was thinking, Inuyasha was feeling anything but restful...

As night fell over Sengoku Edo, we find him now locked in a small wood hut, complete with paper sutras plastered all over the outside surface, along with having his wrists tied behind his back. He continued to try and break down the door, much to Shippo's calm protest:

"You're wasting your time, Inuyasha. This hut is covered in sacred seals to keep the demons out, and you in."

"Yeah, but who says I need to be sealed inside?! Open uuuup!"

"Please stop, Inuyasha. Be still and rest."

Inuyasha froze, recognizing that voice:

"Your injuries still haven't had enough time to heal."

"C...Coraline...!"

Of course, it's revealed to actually be Shippo disguised as Coraline (his tail is still visible)...

"(Giggle) I could lie with you if you'd like..."

"Shippo, you creep..."

And with that, Inuyasha proceeded to start kicking Shippo repeatedly while shouting,

"Laugh it up, ya fuzzball!"

"I was only trying to cheer you up!"

Suddenly, the door to the hut opens, revealing Miroku and Kaede. Miroku looks down at Inuyasha and says,

"You've been knocking around inside this place for hours already."

"Yeah, so then hurry up and untie me!"

"Then the demons would get you, thus the sealed hut would be meaningless."

Inuyasha pushes himself forward towards the door with his knees:

"Rrgh, lemme out of here!"

(Whak)

"Argh!"

But Miroku easily stops him with his staff, and pins him to the ground:

"Kaede, seal the door with the sacred enchantment."

"Consider it done."

With that task accomplished, Inuyasha was now laying on his stomach while Kaede applied more slave to his torso/back wound.  
Miroku sits on the left side of Inuyasha and says to him,

"You mustn't rush things, Inuyasha. I am inclined to want to rush after Naraku as well, but first you must recover from your injuries."

Kaede agrees with him:

"He speaks the truth. Naraku's strength is almost beyond comprehension. Isn't that precisely why ye banished Coraline to her own world?"

Inuyasha's ears twitch, yet he says nothing...Shippo meanwhile, has an enlightened look spread onto his face:

 _It is? He sent her away out of concern?_

Miroku speaks again:

"We need you to recover quickly, so that we may face Naraku at our strongest, otherwise I fear that our fates may be short-lived."

Inuyasha rises to a sitting position and asks back,

"Are you a man or a mouse? I for one, am prepared to fight Naraku here and now!"

Miroku merely looks to Inuyasha with a 'calm smile':

"Put your head down and get some much needed sleep, my good man..."

Then just like that, Miroku loses his calm demeanor and proceeds to kick Inuyasha down to the ground while irritably shouting,

"Lie down, be silent! Sleep, rest! How many times do I have to tell you?!"

"Miroku, add not to the old injuries..."

Small Time Skip

The moon was soon shining high in the sky, and as Inuyasha laid and rested, Shippo asks quietly,

"Inuyasha? You awake?"

"Huh? Yeah, why?"

"I was thinking about Coraline, and wondering if she misses us..."

"(Disgruntled sigh) You woke me up for that? Forget about Coraline, she's a thing of the past, I mean, the future..."

 _As long as she's alive and well, that's all I hope for..._

 _...I can't bear to see another woman die._

Shippo glances at Inuyasha, while forming a look of personal conflict on his face:

 _...He misses Coraline, but doesn't want to admit it..._

 _I wonder...should I, tell him about what Miroku and I talked to Coraline about a few days ago?_

 _...Hm, but Coraline asked us not to say anything...She was worried about what Inuyasha's reaction would be...  
_

 _Still, I think he has a right to know...(Sigh) I hope you can forgive me, Coraline..._

Shippo then takes a deep breath, and turns to Inuyasha:

"...Inuyasha...there's, something I need to tell you...It's about, after the battle with Sesshomaru...about that weird thing that happened with Coraline's arrows..."

...Inuyasha's ears twitched, indicating he was listening. Shippo continues:

"...When we were riding Hachi back to the village, Miroku asked Coraline about what was going on with her arrows..."

Flashback, A few days earlier...

 _Shortly after Coraline and Shippo decide on not saying anything about Naraku to Inuyasha for the time being (unaware that he was fully aware of what was going on), Miroku suddenly calls to Coraline:  
_

 _"Coraline..."_

 _"Hm? What is it, Miroku?"_

 _"There was something else I've been meaning to ask you about, regarding your power as an Aura Reader."_

 _Coraline walks back over to Miroku, who was able to sit up now, and Shippo comes to sit with them:_

 _"...I think I know what this is about. This is, about what was happening to the arrows that I shot, right?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _Coraline sighs, before switching to a serious monotone:_

 _"I wasn't entirely sure what was going on myself at the time. All I knew was that I could feel my Soul Energy being concentrated into the arrow as I got it ready to fire...But now that I can give it thought...I also remember feeling, a strong surge of Anger as I was aiming..."_

 _"Hm...Is it possible then, that your power was being concentrated based on your emotions?"_

 _"...It is likely. I, remember my father once telling me, that Aura Readers can sometimes expel their power if they feel a particularly strong emotion at the time...Whether it actually can be used as a defensive measure, or offensive, can depend on the situation or emotion. I think the first time I really did something with my power based on my emotions, was back when that witch Urasue transferred my Soul into_ _Kikyō's newly revived body, and she fired that arrow that would've destroyed Inuyasha...Hearing his, cry of pain, it triggered a feeling of Concern that I've never felt before. Suddenly, I was prepared to do anything to protect him, which in turn, would mean using my power to take back my, or, rather our Soul..."  
_

 _"Our?"_

 _"Yes. In actuality, Miroku, I'm not the original reincarnation of_ _Kikyō. That girl, once known as Kagome, passed away years ago in a tragic accident, and her spirit, for reasons I still don't understand, came to me in my sleep, to pass on the Shikon-no-Tama to me, which likely contained_ _Kikyō's spirit. With that done, I became a carrier of a Merged Soul, which is now a Soul and a half. My Soul is fine, but I also have half of_ _Kikyō's soul."  
_

 _"Incredible..."_

 _Coraline nods, but her expression suggested she was anything but amazed...Shippo then asks,_

 _"So, why were you so angry, Coraline? I mean, I can get why anyone could be mad at a demon like Sesshomaru, but with the way you were glaring at him, it looked like you were wanting to destroy him!"_

 _"Yes, I was having similar thoughts. What was going through your mind, Coraline? What caused such a great deal of rage in your spirit?"_

 _Coraline feels her face shift to a dark look, before she answered both of their questions:_

 _"...Just to be clear, I wasn't directly angry at Sesshomaru...It was his cold demeanor, his ruthlessness...It, reminded me of someone from my past who had a similar personality. Someone...who inflicted a personal wound upon me years ago..."_

 _"Oh?"_

 _"Yes...Sesshomaru...He reminds me of the man responsible for my father's murder. I guess, seeing the mission-oriented way he as fighting...It triggered the old rage I still have against that man...Him, and to a lesser extent...the organization he belongs to."_

 _"...I can see the hate and anger in your eyes. You hold more than just a personal grudge, do you not?"_

 _"...Yes. But I don't want to talk about it. I'm not even sure if I should be mentioning this to the both of you."_

 _"Why's that, Coraline?"_

 _She looks to the little fox demon and replies,_

 _"Because, Shippo, these people, including that man, are very dangerous. You remember back when I told you and Inuyasha about there being a dangerous part of my past? Well, this is what I meant."_

 _"Oh...Um, Coraline?"_

 _"Yes?"_

 _"...I understand if you don't want to answer these two questions, but, is this man still alive? And, does he, or this organization, know if you're alive?"_

 _Coraline turns to stare out into the distance, and reluctantly answers his questions:_

 _"...Yes, the bastard responsible for my father's death, is still alive...As for your second question...(sigh) I honestly don't know if they know that I'm not six feet under, and where I am...I'm just crossing my fingers that it stays that way..."_

End of Flashback

"...She went really quiet after that, and Miroku and I decided that we shouldn't ask anything else about her past..."

By this time, Inuyasha was sitting up, and listening intently to the little fox demon:

"...Are you saying that Coraline has an enemy in her era?"

"I think so. And based on what her face looked like every-time she mentioned the man...I don't think she would hesitate to kill him if his face showed."

Inuyasha's face shifted to one of astonishment:

 _...Coraline, kill?_

 _...No way...There's no way, that she could actually be prepared to do something like that...could she?_

"...I'm scared for her, Inuyasha..."

"Huh?"

"I'm scared that, if this guy knows that Coraline is alive, and knows where to find her...What if...What if he comes after her?"

That made Inuyasha's blood run cold:

 _...My god...So, does this mean, that sending her back to her era...did nothing?_

 _Coraline...Why didn't you tell me this?_

 _Then again, this is more of a 'What if?' scenario. From the sounds of it, this man, whoever he is, doesn't know about Coraline's current whereabouts..._

 _...Still...Does Coraline not trust me? Does she think I can't be trusted with this information?_

 _Coraline...what are you hiding? And why do you think I can't be trusted to help you?_

Meanwhile, in another part of the Forest of Inuyasha  


We hear someone crying fearfully, and it is revealed to be the retreated Royakan, whom was currently crouching at a tree, his hands over his head...

Suddenly, a familiar deep voice cuts through the forest silence:

"I have been searching for you, Royakan." He turns to look in front of him, and cringes when he sees,

"(Soft gasp) Naraku...!"

As the baboon-fur cloaked demon steps forward, Royakan tells him in a scared tone,

"Go away! I refuse to battle with Inuyasha again!"

"Why do you tremble so?"

"I have no desire to be drawn into a Wind Tunnel!"

Naraku chuckles darkly, before holding up another shard of the Shikon-no-Tama:

"I shall take away your fear, and stop your trembling..."

"No, please, stop...!"

But Naraku does not heed him; instead, he takes the jewel shard, and shoots it like a blow dart into Royakan's forehead!

"Aaaargh! Aaaaaaaagh!"

With that done, Naraku vanishes, as Royakan feverishly charges into the trees, the power of the second shard in his body scrambling his judgement further...Eventually, he comes to stop at a cliff-side, before howling towards the sky:

"Arrrroooooooowwwww!"

Royakan's body then begins to shift into an even more vicious version of his former self, including glowing yellow eyes...

Naraku observes this transformation with a dark laugh...

Small Time Skip

Back at the hut, as the dawn begins to lighten the grounds, Miroku senses an unsettling shift in the atmosphere:

"A sinister wind blows our way..."

He and Kaede were sitting a couple feet in front of the hut, both in a focused prayer position:

"Lady Kaede, stay on guard, for a malevolent spirit approaches."

"Aye."

Suddenly, a pack of the three-eyed wolves came into sight, barreling towards the monk and priestess across the air!  
Of course, they were ready for them:

"We shall stop them here."

"Hm, (nod)."

(Bzzt)

As soon as the wolves were close enough, they were blocked away by a spiritual barrier...

(Crash...)

Then came Royakan...

" **Inuyasha...Where are you hiding?** "

Shippo observes the scene from the hut window:

"He's back, and he's even larger than last time...!"

" **Reveal yourself, Inuyasha!** "

Yet, no matter which direction Royakan looked or called to, he could not see the hut nor sense its residents...

Kaede mentally muses why:

 _As long as our spell is unbroken, Inuyasha's hut shall be invisible to the demon..._

Yet, Miroku wonders in his thoughts,

 _What has caused this transformation? The beast is even more frightful than before..._

 _I'll wager that another shard of the Shikon-no-Tama has been embedded in his body._

As Royakan tries to break into the barrier, Naraku observes the scene with a glare:

"Huh, what a pitiful defense..."

Suddenly, Miroku's eyes snap open, and he sees a spear heading straight for Kaede!

"No!"

"Don't, move!"

"I have no choice!"

(WHAK)

Miroku knocks the spear away using his staff...but his move came with an unfortunate price...

(Shift...)

Because he moved and lost focus, the illusionary spell that he and Kaede created to camouflage the hut had broke, and now Royakan could see them:

" **There you are...Rrrraaaahh!** "

(Leap)

Royakan then jumps forward, and uses his fists to crush the hut:

(CRASH)

"Inuyasha!" "Inuyasha!"

(SLASH)

" **Uuurh!** "

Royakan is then attacked with a blade, and it's revealed that Inuyasha is safe, with Tessaiga at the ready!

As he rises to a stand, Inuyasha says with a frown,

"I owe ya one, Royakan, for getting me out of that hut, where my so-called 'friends', the monk and the hag sealed me inside!"

Kaede and Miroku reply in a deadpan,

"For your protection, I might add."

"Gratitude doesn't come naturally to him..."

" **I have heard enough!** "

(Boom)

Inuyasha leaps and dodges a fist attack from Royakan, and readies Tessaiga:

"Let's get at it!"

(TANG)

...But when he tries to bring the Tessaiga down on Royakan, the beast manages to catch the blade between his palms!

(Toss)

"Aaaagh!"

(Thud)

Inuyasha then goes down hard, sliding across the dirt...Kaede calls out worriedly,

"Inuyasha has been thrown to the ground!"

Miroku adds,

"He may have the will to fight, but his strength hasn't had time to fully recover yet!"

Even Inuyasha realizes his efforts were in vain:

"Rgh, I'm no match for his might...Huh?"

(Ping...)

And if things weren't already bad, Inuyasha then sees the necklace of the large Shikon-no-Tama shard, falling to the dirt a few feet in front of him!

" **A giant fragment of the Shikon-no-Tama!** "

"I have to get it, before he does..."

But neither demon nor half-demon reached it:

(Zip)

Instead, it is Shippo who swipes the fragment first, before running as fast as he could out of the area!

"Hands off, demon!"

"Shippo!"

" **You won't escape! Bwaaaah!** "

Shippo is then on the run from a pack of the three-eyed wolves; Miroku immediately calls to him:

"Shippo, move! I'll open my Wind Tunnel!"

But before he could, Kaede sees more trouble approaching:

"Look!"

(Buzzing drone...)

"Naraku's venomous insects!"

Knowing what would happen if he unleashed his Wind Tunnel, Miroku had no choice but to re-wrap his prayer beads...

Seeing the wasps as well, Inuyasha comments irritably while Shippo sprints fearfully away from the wolves,

"Feh, figures...Now, how do we get ourselves out of this one?"


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Naraku's True Identity Unveiled**

"Hah!"

"Hrah!"

(punch, block)

"Good. You are both making progress, but remember to keep true when you deliver a blow, Tamaki."

"Hai, Sensei."

"And Mokoto, make sure that your stance is even as you block."

"Hai, Sensei Yoshi."

It's been about an hour now, and Coraline, Freeman and Besa were now sitting up against the wall of the dojo, while watching the other students take their turns in learning the fundamentals of self-defense, patiently awaiting their turns.

"Wow, Master Yoshi is a good teacher."

"Yeah, he really knows how to engage with the students, right Cor?...Cor?"

Coraline wasn't listening to her brothers; her thoughts were being directed elsewhere, or rather, towards another male she has come to hold as important in her life:

 _...Inuyasha...I wonder what you and the others are doing right now?_

 _You better be keeping that shard safe, is all I can say._

Realizing where her train of thought was going to end, Coraline immediately shakes her head:

 _N-No! I have to focus on the class. I can't worry about someone who obviously doesn't want to be bothered with worrying about me..._

"Croft, Brownlee! It is time to spar!"

"Hai, Sensei!"

"Which one of us do you mean?"

As Coraline, and Freeman (pointed out by Master Yoshi) stand up to begin, Coraline's last thoughts were,

 _I have to move on. Focus on other things...like getting stronger..._

Meanwhile, back in Sengoku Edo...

(Growling, jaw snaps)

Picking up from where the situation was last at, we zoom in on Shippo, as he continued to run from the pursuing three-eyed wolves sent upon him thanks to Royakan.

After a few more minutes, Shippo finds himself back at the Bone Eater's Well, and turns around to face the wolf pack with a determined look:

"It's Showtime!"

(Leap)

" _Multiply!_ "

Shippo then uses his illusionary magic to create decoys of himself, which distracts the wolves long enough for him to disappear into the tree trunk:

"Perfect."

He then begins sliding down the trunk to the bottom of the well, while jeering mischievously,

"Happy Hunting...oof!"

Unfortunately, he did not see the branch sticking out from the trunk, and hits it on the way down, causing him to tumble the rest of the way, landing on his head...

(Ping...)

Unbeknownst to the dizzy fox demon, the Shikon-no-Tama shard slipped gently out of his pocket, and onto the ground of the well...

(...Sheen...)

Present-Day Tokyo, Coraline's POV

As Freeman and I finish sparring against one another, suddenly:

(Pulse...)

"Huh?"

I feel a very faint presence of familiar energy... _too familiar energy_...I turn and look out the window of the dojo blankly:

 _What, was that? It was faint...but, I could've sworn that I, felt the presence of the Shikon-no-Tama..._

I then shake my head disbelievingly and whisper to myself,

"C'mon, Cora, pull yourself together. There's no way that was the jewel...Not by a long shot."

I then feel a hand go onto my shoulder, and turn to see noneother than Master Yoshi:

"Is everything alright, Croft-san? You seem distracted..."

"...I'm fine, Sensei. My mind was just wandering a bit..."

He nods, before directing to everyone here in the class:

"Alright everyone, line up and follow my directions in this next drill."

"Hai, Sensei!"

As everyone gets ready, I move to join beside my brothers, pushing my thoughts of Edo away:

 _I need to keep my head away from the past...Let's hope these next drills can do that._

Back to Sengoku Edo, No POV  


(Slash, slash)

"Rrraaah!"

As Coraline was beginning her first martial arts training class with her brothers, the battle with Royakan continues on. Inuyasha swipes another round of wolves dead, while Miroku was now focused on keeping the Saimyōshō, or Insects of Hell at bay:

(Whak)

"Hyaaah!"

Inuyasha brings his claws down on the wolves again:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash, Slash, SLASH)

As he lands back onto the ground, he barely dodges another attack from Royakan, glaring up at the beast. He then jumps from another side-sweep of Royakan's hand, only to get back-handed a few seconds afterwards, sliding on the dirt below...

"Inuyasha!"

Miroku comments on the half-demon's current efforts:

"He's struggling much more than usual..." Kaede then says,

"Inuaysha's wounds hinder him indeed, but the true problem lies with Coraline. Without her, it seems that Inuyasha is unable to realize his full power, and stave off the demon."

(Crash)

As Inuyasha leaps back to where Kaede and Miroku stand, dodging Royakan's hand once again, the monk then calls out,

"The demon draws on the power of a jewel shard! I can sense it!"

"What?"

"Strike the jewel, it's your only chance!" Kaede then implores Inuyasha,

"We must have Coraline's aid. She can find out where the fragment is hidden."

But Inuyasha's mind was thinking the opposite:

 _Forget about her; we're on our own. Coraline's gone for good._

 _The tree will ensure that the well connecting our worlds will remain sealed. She'll never return here again._

"I won't stand for it any longer...Coraline will never see these dangerous battles again!"

" **Bwaaah!** "

Royakan sends another round of three-eyed wolves from his jaws, and we zoom away from the battle for now, as Inuyasha sends his claws at them:

" _Iron Reaver...!_ "

Meanwhile, in Present-Day Tokyo

"Alright everyone, good work. We'll have a break for lunch before continuing the lesson."

"Hai, Sensei!"

As all the teens crowd into their own little groups to have lunch, Coraline, Freeman, Besa, and Mokoto were all eating together, while chatting about the class:

"So, what do you guys think of the class so far?"

"It's been great so far! Rgh, but it really pushes your muscles after a while..."

"Yeah. I'm glad I remembered to tell Master Yoshi that my wrist is still acting up. Other than that, I feel like we can all benefit from this as time goes on."

"I'm glad to hear it. I had this feeling that we'd be meeting up again, but I didn't think we'd be doing that to fight, again!"

As the three guys laughed, Coraline was occupying a half-smile, feeling a bit exhausted from the exercise:

 _Wow...It's only the first class, and I'm already sweatin' good. I even had to shuck my shirt for my tank-top; luckily I had one in my satchel._

 _But, I'm feeling more in the zone._

 _This is definitely what I needed to channel out my frustrations...and not get them riled up again courtesy of a certain half-demon..._

"Cora? Cora?"

"Huh?"

"I asked if you needed more water? You look like you just got back from the Sahara."

"Oh, yeah sure. Thank you."

As Coraline sipped from the offered water bottle, she thought frantically to herself,

 _Dammit girl, I thought we went through this: Block Inuyasha and Edo out, and bring the martial arts class in!_

Besa frowns when he sees the conflicted look on Coraline's face:

"...You sure you're okay, Coraline? You look like your mind keeps jumpin' back and forth with something..."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I think my bruises are just actin' up a bit again. But hey, nothin' I can't endure, right? Heheh..."

Freeman wasn't buying the smile on Coraline's face either, and even Mokoto seemed a bit suspicious:

"...Coraline...are you, still thinking about him? Inuyasha, I mean?"

"Oh? Who's he?"

"Um, a friend from out of town. Like, waaay out of town, so he can't visit much here in Tokyo. Long story short, he got into an accident, and he's currently healing from some bad injuries."

"Oh, bummer..."

"(...Sigh) Okay, yes, I guess I am thinking a little bit about him."

 _Damn, I suck at hiding my emotions from my brothers...and even Mokoto could tell something was wrong._

 _...Inuyasha...his injuries haven't fully healed when I was forced back here._

 _(Gasp) Wait, what if, that pulse from the jewel...Could it mean he's...?!_

About ten minutes later, Coraline was heading out the door, slipping on her gray sleeveless jacket, finally giving up on trying to ignore her thoughts on Inuyasha:

"I'm sorry guys, but I can't stay. I, I have to go and see him!"

"We get it, Cor. Do what you gotta."

"Please let Sensei know that I had to leave early!"

"We got ya covered, sis! Go to him, and tell him we said hey!"

So now Coraline was running down the streets, hell-bent on getting back to the Bone Eater's Well:

 _Inuyasha...I'm coming, whether you want me to or not!_

Unfortunately, she would receive an unexpected and rather unpleasant delay, come the next turn around a corner:

"There she is! The bitch!"

"Huh?"

(PUNCH)

"Argh!"

Coraline is then sucker-punched in her gut, and goes tumbling backwards onto the pavement...! As she goes to sit up, cringing a bit from the impact, a familiar voice cuts out in front of her:

"Ha, finally found you. It took a while to find the right time to ambush you, but now, you're gonna pay for costing me and my boys that payroll a few days ago!"

Coraline looks forward, and her eyes widen, seeing the gangster leader from the warehouse fight, along with four of his cronies:

 _Oh shit...Not this guy again!_

 _(Growl) Looks like my trip down the well will have to wait a bit. First, I gotta get past these creeps._

Coraline then rises from the ground, a glare forming on her face:

"You think so? Ha, didn't you learn from the night before that I'm not a girl you should fight?"

As the leader growls at her hatefully, Coraline smirks bitterly and says,

"I guess I need to give you a reminder...You wanna fight? Bring it on!"

With that, he and his boys begin charging Coraline with their fists raised, two of them carrying crowbars. But Coraline was ready for them:

(Block, shove, kick)

"Agh!"

One goes down, and Coraline then ducks from a swing, before going to grab a piece of broken wood to use as a makeshift club:

(Whak)

Ahh, my arm!"

(Rattle...)

One of the gangsters with a crowbar drops his after getting hit with the plank, and Coraline ceases it, before using the crowbar to block the other:

(Clang)

"Rrr..."

"Grrr..."

(Kick)

"Gggh!"

Coraline is then kicked in the side, and goes down hard:

"(Grunt) D-Damn..."

"Heh, now I got ya, you bitch!"

But before the leader could bring his boot on Coraline's ribs:

(Roll)

Coraline spins away from the area, the boot only connecting with the blacktop, and she jumps up to a stand, before using the crowbar to knock the other out of reach:

(CLANG)

"Ah! Shit..."

With that done, the crony was vulnerable to the following combo:

(Punch, punch, KICK)

"Aaaaaah, Rrrh!"

And he goes down hard...

"W-Why you...!"

His buddy tries to avenge him, but Coraline wasn't about to make herself vulnerable:

"Hah!"

(Punch)

"Rrrgh!"

He then goes down, joining his comrade...A few more punches and kicks later, and it was just Coraline and the gangster leader who was left standing:

"(Pant, pant) How the hell are you doing this?! Who are you? Some secret assassin or somethin'?"

"Tch, not even close. I'm just another teenager, who happens to know a thing or two about street-fighting."

At that, the two begin trying to beat the other senseless, Coraline receiving a few more blows, but dealing a good number in return...  
Five minutes later, Coraline delivered the final hit:

"Hiiiiiyah!"

(KICK)

"Aaaagh!"

As the gangster brother fell back from impact, his jacket got momentarily caught on some metal fencing, and as it ripped, Coraline saw something that made her blood turn to ice:

 _(Gasp)...No way...That, symbol...It can't be...!_

While the beaten gangsters all groaned incoherently from their injuries, Coraline slowly stepped forward to the leader of the bunch, her eyes fixated on the now visual arm band:

The symbol that she saw decorating it - coloured black with yellow lining it, surrounding a red border that also had yellow lining - was shaped like a pointed Y with a small upside-down triangle in the upper dip, and several small parallelograms sticking out from the left and right lines.

To any other civilian, it just looks like some sort of strange military organization patch...

But to Coraline, the insignia stirred up something she had hoped to keep buried in her being for a little longer:

 _...It is...It's, **their symbol.**_

 _...They must have a base somewhere here in Tokyo..._

 _Damn it...Then this means I won't be safe from **their** eyes for much longer..._

Remembering what her present goal was, Coraline begins to head onward back to the shrine, but not before tearing off the arm band first...

Come another twenty minutes, and Coraline finally makes it home, dashing past the house, and to the Bone Eater's Well. She opens the doors of the well-house, and jumps over the lip of the well (but not before grabbing her combat knife, that she left in the well-house for safe-keeping), landing on the ground below:

(Thud)

"Ggh..."

Coraline cringes a bit from her injuries (old and new), but ignores the pain, as she crouches down on the dirt floor, trying to zero in on where the Shikon-no-Tama fragment was:

 _It's here...I know the Shikon-no-Tama is here..._

 _(Narrows eyes) Where though? Where is the shard of the Shikon-no-Tama?_

Sengoku Edo  


(Sheen...)

As the fragment chunk of the Shikon-no-Tama continued to glow, Shippo begins to stir from consciousness:

"U-Uh...uhh...?"

(Growl...)

Unfortunately, as he opened his eyes, he cringes back into himself, seeing that the three-eyed wolves have zeroed in on him!

"Aaah! The wolves, they found me!"

Present-Day Tokyo

(Scoop, scoop...)

Growing more desperate, Coraline begins to pull back some of the dirt of the well floor:

 _I have to get back to you. Are you okay?_

 _Inuyasha..._

(Sheen)

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the spot where Coraline dug from began to glow that familiar shade of pink, and she was soon falling through that temporal portal!

"Did I, make it...?"

Coraline then feels something materialize into her hand, and when she opened it, she found,

 _The Shikon-no-Tama...!_

A few seconds later, Coraline had completed her travel through time and space, landing gently on the floor of the Edo-old Bone Eater's Well, much to Shippo's shock:

"Uh...! Uh...!"

"Hm? Oh, Shippo!"

...Tears of joy begin to fill Shippo's eyes, before he charges lightly into Coraline's upper torso for a hug:

"Coraline!"

Coraline hugs back just as happily:

"Shippo!"

"I thought we would never meet again!"

"Heh, the jewel finally does somethin' right for once..."

(Growl...)

"Uah!" "Huh?"

But Coraline's arrival wasn't during a peaceful time, for the two turn to see one of three-eyed wolves, coming in close on the tree trunk, with killer looks abound...!

Meanwhile, Inuyasha, Miroku and Kaede were standing back-to-back, the wolves, poison wasps and Royakan all surrounding them...  
It was in that instant, when Inuyasha picked up a familiar scent:

(Jolt)

"Huh?...Coraline's scent!"

As Miroku and Kaede look towards him with confusion, Inuyasha bursts into a new-found energy away from the area:

"It's Coraline! I know her scent anywhere!"

" **You will not escape!** "

"Care to wager on that?!"

(PUNCH)

Royakan then has the wind knocked out of him, courtesy of Inuyasha's fist!

"Time to put an end to this..."

Inuyasha unsheathes Tessaiga:

"Hrrraaah!"

(SLASH)

" **Aaaaargh!** "

As Royakan falls back from the sword blade, Miroku comments with surprise,

"Inuyasha's strength has returned...!"

(Dash)

He then calls somewhat incredulously to Inuyasha's form as it passes quickly for Bone Eater's Well:

"Gh-Come back! Finish him off before you go to her!"

(Stomp...stomp...)

Miroku then ducks out of the way, as Royakan begins to slowly pursue Inuyasha...

Back at the Bone Eater's Well, as the wolves begin surrounding the outside, Coraline asks Shippo with uncertainty,

"Uh, mind filling me in on what's happening now, Shippo?"

"Inuyasha's injuries haven't had time to heal. The demon's determined to take advantage of his weakness."

Coraline cringes internally:

 _...Damn, so my instincts were right: Inuyasha really was in trouble..._

Focusing back in the wolves, Coraline hold Shippo close to her, as she rises to a stand, saying with the fox demon,

"Here they come," while her left hand reaches for her combat knife...

Suddenly:

(Grip)

"Hrrrrr..."

Inuyasha arrives on scene, grabbing onto the tree trunk, before using all of his upper body strength to yank it out of the well:

(RUSTLE)

"HRRRAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

At the same time the wolves on the tree trunk fall off and drop to the ground below, Royakan comes into sight:

" **Rrrraaaaahhhhh!** "

"You could use more, fiber!"

(TOSS)

"Raaaahhhh!"

Inuyasha then throws the tree trunk straight at Royakan, it landing right into his mouth, before he falls backwards hard! With the trunk blocking his main attack, any three-eyed wolves that were still out and about would then fade away into smoke...

As Inuyasha begins to gently fly back down to the ground, Coraline and Shippo climb out onto the lip of the well. Coraline finds herself staring at the half-demon with disbelief, as he lands a few feet away from her...

Climbing out to a stand, ignoring the throbbing from any bruises on her legs, Coraline begins to slowly approach him, softly whispering his name:

"Inuyasha..."

Inuyasha said nothing for a second, too shocked by just seeing that the human girl was back, before finally replying,

"W-What are you doing here? I told you to stay away!...Huh?"

He then sees Coraline rush over to him, arms stretching out with a relieved look on her face, before enveloping him in a much-needed hug:

"Inuyasha!"

"Uh!"

"I, was so scared, that you were dead...I, I haven't heard a damn thing from you in days...!"

"...You should've listened...I told you never to return!"

Coraline releases her hold on him, pulling back to look at him anxiously and reply,

"I know, but, I had to come back. I needed to see you again!"

 _She, needed to see me?...Coraline..._

Coraline then sees the shock on his face:

"...I see. So my worry was only one-sided, was it? You didn't care that I was gone..."

Coraline then wraps her arms around herself, closing herself away from the half-demon with a disappointed look, and felt small tears running from her eyes. Inuyasha tries to protest:

"Hey, c'mon, Coraline, stop the tears! Don't be sad over me!"

Coraline glares at him and says coldly,

"These are not tears of sadness, but tears of unwanted stress!"

Shippo looks at the two with mild disbelief:

"Thirty seconds and they're already at it." He then forms a look of exasperation and adds,

"I suppose though I should just simply my blessings that everything's returned to normal..."

By this time, Miroku and Kaede had finally caught up with everyone:

"Coraline has returned from her era...Lady Kaede, Coraline is back! (Turn) Did you hear me?"

"Miroku, do ye not think it peculiar?"

"What?"

"The drones of venomous insects vanished without warning."

"...You're right..."

Deep within the shadows of the trees, Naraku observes the scene from afar, specifically, his focus being on Coraline:

"(Narrows eyes) That young woman...It's, Kikyō. Nay, Kikyō perished fifty years ago, and the young woman bears no physical resemblance..."

As Coraline goes to help Shippo out of the well, suddenly:

(Pulse)

"Uh!"

 _What in-I sense, a presence. And a dark one at that..._

Coraline moves away from the well, and takes a few steps forward, before narrowing her eyes in suspicion:

"...Someone is near, and they have several shards of the jewel..."

(Glow)

Coraline uses her Aura Sight to narrow down the specific location:

"(Point) That way."

(Dash)

Inuyasha and Miroku begin running where Coraline pointed to, as Naraku begins to move backwards just as quickly...

(Leap)

Inuyasha hops from a tree branch, and lands just a few feet away from where Naraku was now standing, staring at him hard:

"...I sensed that you weren't far away. You're Naraku, aren't you?"

"Hn..."

Naraku smiles menacingly back as a response, just as Miroku came through the bushes...Inuyasha then says,

"At last, I found you," followed by Miroku's low calling of the demon's name:

"Naraku..." _It's him..._

Coraline, Kaede and Shippo then arrive on scene just behind Miroku, staring at the demon with looks of matching wariness...

Inuyasha then asks with a serious look,

"Answer me one thing before I avenge Kikyō's death: Naraku, why do you bare such a grudge against me?"

"(Smile) Good question. Hmph, I suppose you wish an answer to that question, else eternal rest shall elude you in death."

Kaede then hardens her stare, realizing something:

"It is him..." Coraline looks to her in confusion:

"Him?"

Naraku then addresses the elder priestess:

"Kaede. Age has not been kind to you."

"Do ye know me? Aye, Onigumo...is that not your name?"

"Onigumo...Haha, that name brings me such fond memories...Nay, I am Naraku, not Onigumo. Though it cannot be denied that I was born of Onigumo fifty years ago..."

Flashback

 _We see the incapacitated Onigumo hours before the fire that would 'destroy' him...  
_

"Onigumo was a foolish man indeed. He began to harbor desires for the kind-hearted priestess who nursed him...Eventually, he succumbed to his weakness and called forth the demons..."

 _As many demon spirits begin to surround Onigumo, he says to them with no fear,_

 _"My soul is retched to the core, yet it still holds value. Feast upon my flesh. I must possess my former mobility, then the jewel will be mine, not to mention the lovely maiden_ _Kikyō. Feast on me, demons...Devour me! And in exchange, bestow upon me your mobility and strength!"  
_

 _The demons then all dive to Onigumo, devouring the human, and granting his wish..._

"And that, is how all the demons, became one. A demon named, Naraku, myself. It required countless demons to create my body."

 _...Soon afterward..._

"Because the priestess Kikyō was so powerless, the region teemed with demons. Her power had diminished because she had fallen in love with a worthless half-demon...She submitted to her childish desires, and attempted to use the Shikon-no-Tama for her own purposes. For that, she was punished, and Inuyasha, you suffered the punishment as well."

 _Shift to the scene where Inuyasha is attacked by 'Kikyō' come the dawn of their promised meeting, now confirmed as Naraku disguised as her:  
_

 _" **Die, Inuyasha!** "_

 _Then came the surprise attack on_ _Kikyō, also confirmed to have been Naraku disguised as Inuyasha:  
_

 _" **Fool. I have no desire whatsoever to become human. But I shall take the jewel nonetheless. Thanks.** "_

End Flashback

Inuyasha glared hatefully at Naraku, before replying in full:

"You, bastard! You are to blame for everything that happened! You deceived Kikyō and I. You tricked us into trying to kill one another!"

Naraku does not deny it, but merely asks,

"Then tell me: How is it that the trust you held in one another was so easily destroyed?"

"What are you saying?"

"It was anger, a bitter anger that set you against one another. That, Inuyasha, is the true legacy in the trust you held in one another. Even Kikyō could not comprehend it. She should have chosen to live and use the Sacred Jewel to save her. Instead, she chose death. Had she pleaded for her life, her pathetic, retched wish would've easily been granted. Then she would understood the ultimate truth of darkness. Foolish woman; it is claimed that the Shikon-no-Tama grows more beautiful when it is tainted with malice..."

With that all in the wind, Inuyasha's anger was all the more ready to boil over...As he cracks his knuckles, Inuyasha then calls,

"Coraline, look inside him! How many fragments do you see in him?"

Coraline does so, using her Aura Sight to better search:

(Glow)

"...I see, ten, no twenty...Son of a-There's more shards in him than I can count!"

Inuyasha then smiles grimly before calling to the fiendish demon,

"Hey, Naraku, wanna see something really scary? I'll slit you from head to toe to show you what malice means!"

(Leap)

Inuyasha then barrels at Naraku, before both face one another in midair...Claws then come swiping down:

" _Iron Reaver...!_ "

(SLASH)

"...Huh?"

...But when Inuyasha clawed away the baboon fur, he is momentarily surprised by the sight before him:

A male figure in dark-coloured robes, with long black hair, and his right sleeve raised to cover most of his face, save one of his red eyes...

Naraku then smirks, before unleashing a dark barrier cloud of poisonous energy, which caused a major spout of death and decay for the surrounding environment!

"A cloud of destruction! Run!"

"Inuyasha!"

As Coraline, Miroku, Kaede and Shippo flee from the area, Naraku lands on the ground lightly, staring into the distant spot where Inuyasha landed hard:

"Farewell, Inuyasha. It seems you've succumbed to my cloud of destruction..."

(...Grip)

"Rgh...Think again!"

(Whoosh)

Contrary to Naraku's belief, Inuyasha had survived the impact of the destruction, and is now holding a transformed Tessaiga at the ready! Naraku cringes back a bit from the wave of power blowing his way:

"Huh?...Impossible...! How could he have broken through?!"

As Naraku turns to try and escape the area, Inuyasha comes leaping at him with Tessaiga:

"Hrrrrrraaaaah!"

(SLASH)

...His hit is true, but only cuts away the robes, revealing a strange burn mark on Naraku's back...

Before he could try and attack again, Inuyasha is then pushed back by oncoming winds, the smog and dust surrounding Naraku, and making his body no longer visible to his line of vision:

(Whoosh...Shoom)

And just like that, the cloud was gone, as was Naraku...!

"He got away...That wicked demon managed to escape me..."

Inuyasha feels himself shake, before turning his head to the sky, bellowing,

"NO! COME BACK AND FIGHT ME!"

...A while later, as everything in the area settled, Kaede and Miroku discuss what Inuyasha had informed them about regarding Naraku, looking over where the aftermath of the cloud of destruction once was:

"A spider on his back?"

"Yes. Inuyasha said that he saw a spider-shaped burn mark on the middle of Naraku's back."

"If Onigumo suffered from terrible burns, perhaps that proves Naraku is Onigumo."

Miroku looks down at his cursed hand:

"A spider on his back...That shall serve as Naraku's own sign..."

Coraline looks to the crater herself, before taking out the arm band from her jacket pocket, muttering to herself,

"...Speaking of signs..."

 _Naraku is now a fully known threat..._

 _And soon... **They** will show themselves..._

"God damn it all..."

Shippo hears her curse, before looking more intently at Coraline's physical condition:

"(...Gasp) Coraline...You have, bruises and cuts on your body! I didn't see them before during the action, but...What happened? Did you get hurt on the way back here?"

That caught everyone's attention, Inuyasha's especially:

"Huh?"

He leaps down from the tree branch he was sitting in, pushing his thoughts about Kikyō to the back of his mind for the time being, focusing his vision on Coraline's form:

"...Coraline...?"

She sighs under her breath, before looking up at everyone with a grim look:

"...I was on my way out from a mixed martial arts class that I was starting to take with my brothers, and I got ambushed by some gangsters, my world's equivalent to what you would all know as bandits."

(Collective gasp)

"It's not as bad as it looks. (Grim smirk) For every blow that those punks did give me, I payed them back double."

"...You got attacked on your way back, but you still came anyway?"

Coraline turns to Inuyasha with a stern glare:

"Of course. No damn bruises are going to stop me from reaching you all. I'd run through Hell of I had to."

She then walks up to the shocked half-demon, and states outright,

"You thought that sending back to my era would protect me, but you were living in a fantasy world! Face this fact, Inuyasha: Human Beings are constantly in danger day by day, big or small! I will never be truly safe in any era!"

"...Coraline..."

The redhead then sighs bitterly before adding,

"And based on how you handled things a few days ago, I'm starting to wonder if you actually trust me with your problems, including your vendetta against Naraku..."

Inuyasha was shocked stupid by Coraline's accusations and declarations, not to mention her casual attitude regarding her injuries:

 _...In constant danger, no matter what?_

 _...Coraline, just what the hell kind of world do you live in?_

 _And the way she just played off her injuries...She, almost sounds like me..._

His eyes then see the black material of the arm band sticking out of her hand:

"Huh? Hey, what's that?"

"Hm?"

Coraline looks where he's looking, and curses under her breath, before quickly shoving it back into her pocket:

"It's, nothing. Nothing you need to worry about..."

Inuyasha narrows his eyes suspiciously, not buying that offhanded reply:

"...There's more than just these bandits, isn't there? Something else is rattling you, Coraline..."

"I told you, it's nothing for you to be concerned about. I can deal with it myself..."

(Grab)

"Hey!"

Inuyasha then swipes the arm band from Coraline's pocket, and looks at it, seeing the mysterious insignia:

"Huh? What's this? Looks like, some strange military symbol..."

(Snatch)

"What-Hey, Coraline!"

"Butt out!"

"Huh?"

Inuyasha is taken aback by the harshness that suddenly rose in Coraline's tone and expression, as are the others watching:

"...What's wrong with Coraline?"

"I'm not sure, Shippo...but she seems more on edge all of the sudden..."

"Aye, and I suspect it has something to do with the symbol that lies on that cloth...Whatever it represents, it is causing a great deal of stress and anger in her being..."

Miroku and Shippo both hm with worry, as Inuyasha tries to interrogate Coraline on why she was suddenly upping her guard:

"...What's going on with you, Coraline? What does that insignia mean?"

"...Something that you do not need to know about. It's my issue, not yours!"

"If it's causing you this much anger, I have a right to know why...Hang on...Shippo said something about a deep hate you hold for someone of your past..."

Coraline turns to the said fox demon:

"...You told him about what we discussed a few days ago?"

"I'm sorry, Coraline! But, he had a right to know!" Coraline softens her glare at Shippo's apologetic tone:

"(Sigh)...It's okay, I'm not mad at you, Shippo."

"Coraline...does that insignia have something to do with your past?" She focuses back on Inuyasha:

"...So what if it does? I don't have to explain every damn detail of my life to you."

Inuyasha glares hard at Coraline:

"You know, you got a really bad attitude right now, and that's coming from me. What are you hiding, Coraline? Is this man from your past coming after you or something? What's going on? Tell me!"

Coraline then snapped:

"Fuck off, Inuyasha!"

...The area went silent, with everyone falling into their own forms of shock at the sudden spat of rage from Coraline...Inuyasha could only stare at the teenage girl, as she began shaking with mixed emotions, malice being the strongest:

"If you can't trust me with your vendetta, what the hell makes you think I can trust you with mine?!"

Coraline then gasps, slapping a hand over her mouth, realizing her mistake:

 _...Oh crap. I shouldn't have said that!_

"...Yours? You have a vendetta set against someone?"

Coraline feels herself shake again, her hair covering her face from Inuyasha's approaching form:

"...Coraline...What are you talking about? Who are these-Uh!"

He then flinches back, as Coraline snaps her head back up, showing off an expression of anger...and fear:

"Just, leave me be, Inuyasha...Stay out of this!"

And before anyone could stop her, Coraline then bursts off into a run from the area, wanting to put herself as far away from Inuyasha as possible, much to his protest:

"Coraline? Coraline, come back! Coraline!"

 _Damn...What's going on?_

 _Is Naraku not the only one to worry about? Is there another enemy that wants to harm Coraline?_

 _...Coraline...please...talk to me..._

 _Tell me how I can help you!_

* * *

Boom, plot twist!

What in the world has got Coraline more on edge than the thought of Naraku?

Will Inuyasha and the others find her? Will they get answers to why she's acting like this?

What does her father's murderer have to do with the mysterious insignia?

Tune into the next chapter to find out!


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 (Special): Coraline's Tragedy & Newly-Rising Enemies**

As Coraline's form vanishes from sight, heading for the treeline of the Forest of Inuyasha, the namesake and company could only stare with shock, and worry, over the sudden outburst that the redhead went into.

After a few more minutes, Shippo would be the first to speak:

"Di...Did Coraline just say what I think she just said? She, has a vendetta set against someone?"

Kaede frowns seriously as she says,

"Hm...Such anger and hate...I would not have guessed the young one to be so burdened. It is clear that Coraline has been keeping these feelings within her being for a long time..."

Inuyasha then snaps out of his daze, and forms a determined scowl:

"...Coraline...I'm gonna go get some answers!"

But before he could leap after her, Miroku's staff gently blocks his way:

"Huh?"

Miroku turns to Inuyasha with a calm but serious look, and says,

"Hold on a moment, Inuyasha. I do not think it would be wise for you to go after Coraline. I shall go and speak with her."

"What?!"

"It is not because I doubt your skills in speaking calmly to her, but rather Coraline may be too afraid to talk to you. Similar to when you forced her back to her era, she wants to keep this issue quiet for the sake of protecting you. She cares a great deal for you, Inuyasha, just as you care a great deal for her."

...Inuyasha looks at Miroku with surprise at his words, realizing that he was right. The monk then turns to the others, and calls,

"Lady Kaede, Shippo. Shall we meet back in the village?"

"Aye." "Okay, Miroku."

"(Nod, turn) Then I shall begin seeking out Coraline. I will bring her along when she is ready to come. And Inuyasha, I trust you'll be waiting for us outside the hut?"

Inuyasha nods firmly, and Miroku begins walking off, heading in the direction that Coraline had left to. The half-demon watches him go for a few minutes, before following Kaede and Shippo, while he thinks to himself,

 _Miroku...If this were any other situation, I wouldn't trust him being alone with Coraline..._

 _But, it looks like his head's on straight today, so I'll let it happen, this time..._

 _I just hope he can coax Coraline to come back..._

 _Coraline...what's hurting you so badly, that you'd bottle it up, just to protect your loved ones?_

Small Time Skip

After walking for a good while, Miroku had finally spotted Coraline's form, leaning against a tree, arms wrapped around herself, as she looked into the distant landscape...

 _I can sense the dread and anger ridding her being..._

 _But I know that she needs to speak with someone...and I shall be her listening ear..._

As Miroku began to quietly approach her, he then heard Coraline softly singing a song, known to her, as the first part of _Fake It_ by _Seether_.

(Note: I do not own that music reference; find the lyrics on your own.)

Of course, he doesn't know the song; regardless, he couldn't help but cringe a bit from the lyrics:

 _...Goodness, I've never heard that song before. Must be from her era..._

 _I do hope that not all of the music in her world is this dark..._

Once Coraline finished singing, she sighed quietly, tightening the grip on herself, and trying to still the darkness of her past threatening her sanity...

"Coraline?"

"Hm?"

She turns her head, and sees the young monk, looking at her with seriousness and concern. She sighs again, and says,

"Hey...I didn't expect you'd be the one to come and find me. But, I'm kind-of glad it was you, Miroku. I can't really face Inuyasha right now..."

"I understand..."

Miroku comes to stand beside Coraline, and the both of them stare out into the distance for a few minutes...before the former says,

"...You and Inuyasha are quite alike."

"How so?"

"You both carry a habit in closing off your feelings and lives away from others...But the truth in the matter is that you do so, for the sake of protecting others from your personal problems...You are afraid of risking the chance of getting hurt, and of others becoming hurt themselves. Am I right or wrong?"

"...You're not wrong..."

"Listen, Coraline: I may not fully understand the weight of the danger that plagues you...but I do understand enough that keeping this all bottled up within you, will only cause you more pain."

He turns to her, and places a comforting hand on her shoulder:

"I know that you wish to protect the ones you care about...but by not talking about it, you are not only hurting yourself, but them as well. Just look at what happened with Inuyasha not being fully honest with his feelings after the battle with Sesshomaru."

Coraline softly gasps, realizing where Miroku was going with that:

"While true that the physical injuries you now have are not Inuyasha's fault, he did cause you some emotional pain, correct?"

"...Yes."

Coraline then feels herself shake a bit, and with tears threatening to fall, she looks up at the young monk and says,

"...It did cause me hurt when Inuyasha wasn't fully open with me, and chose a rather unorthodox method to protect me. And, and I know, that not talking about my problems isn't healthy...but, (sniff) I don't know how to talk about this, or who to talk to. I, I was only so lucky in being able to talk about my Aura Power...but this, my father's murder, leaving home...I, I don't know..."

Miroku gently brings Coraline to him, hugging her, as she feels herself break down into tears...

After a few minutes, Miroku whispers to Coraline while rubbing her back,

"Shh, it's okay, Coraline. You do not have to feel this way. I can help you; Lady Kaede, Shippo, Inuyasha...we can all help you. All you need to do, is merely speak, and we will all listen. And, whoever this individual from your past is, do not feel the need to remain in fearful silence because of him. Have courage, and stand tall, and we will all stand by you in this endeavor...just as you wish to stand by Inuyasha and I against Naraku."

Coraline stops crying, and looks up at Miroku's gentle smile, before forming a small, watery smile of her own:

"(Sniff) Thank you. And, you're right; I need to be braver about this. I can't let fear rule my life anymore; five years is long enough."

"Indeed. I'm glad to hear you say that...So, are you willing to come with me back to Kaede's hut, and tell all of us the full story?"

"...Yes."

Meanwhile, at Kaede's Hut

At the same time Miroku and Coraline were speaking, Inuyasha was standing against the side of the doorway, patiently awaiting for the monk to bring the young girl here.

Shippo looks up from his seat in the hut, and as Kaede adds a vegetable into the stew she was preparing, he goes to hop up on Inuyasha's shoulder, looking out where he was staring:

"...Any signs of them yet?"

"Not yet..."

Shippo nods, before hopping to the ground, and stands by Inuyasha, occupying an anxious look on his face:

"...I hope Coraline is okay."

"...Yeah, me too, kid."

 _Coraline...hurry up and come back with Miroku, will ya?_

 _I dunno how much more waiting I can take..._

A few more minutes pass, and Inuyasha's silent plea was answered: Coming down from the hill, was Coraline and Miroku, the former still looking depressed, but seemed alot calmer than before.

"Coraline!"

"Hey, Shippo, Inuyasha..."

As she came to the entrance way of the hut, Coraline looks to Inuyasha apologetically:

"I'm, so sorry about earlier, Inuyasha. I, wasn't mad at you; I was mad at myself. I had no right to take my rage out on you like I did. I feel awful for doing it..."

"...Don't apologize. I've done the same thing a couple times to you already. It was only a matter of time before you would."

"Heh, right...Still, I want to make it up to you, and everyone else for causing worry. (Deep breath) I, I think I'm ready to tell you all what happened to me five years ago, about my father's murder, my own near-death, and why I had to leave Majora."

Inuyasha looks at her with wide eyes:

"...Are you sure?"

"Yes. I need to be brave, and this is the first step in gaining my courage again."

"...Alright."

Soon, everyone was gathered around in a semi-circle around the center of Kaede's hut, all having a bowl of the stew that was ready. Coraline takes a sip of the stew, before looking up at the other four who had listening ears:

"...Okay. So as I've said already, this all began five years ago, roughly two weeks after the encounter I had with the ghost of Kagome. My father...he was an archaeologist, which loosely means that he researches and unearths ancient artifacts, relics and any other signs that connect to the big timeline of the human race. But his specialty was researching into topics that would fall under categories like 'Unusual' or 'Mythical'. He had a strong interest in the unexplained mysteries of the world, and with that, he would become known infamously in his trade of work as 'The Man who could see The Extraordinary Among the Ordinary'...

"(Sigh) Unfortunately, not alot of those who worked in the same profession as he saw his talent and intellect. They were too focused on tangibility, and could not see the idea of looking to other methods of explaining what is and what isn't. Father lost most of his credibility, but luckily not enough that he lost his income, just people who could support him socially...The problem only got worse during the month before his death: He began receiving some unknown letters and phone calls, that based on what his facial expressions and Aura energy told me, were quite threatening. I think these people were offering some sort of partnership at first, but my Father could easily sense that something wrong...These people, were of different goals than he was, goals that I would learn later on to be rather sinister..."

"Sinister? How so?"

"I'll come back to that part. Anyway, come that night..."

Flashback

 _A young Coraline is seen sleeping in what used to be her old bedroom, and smoke begins pouring in under the door:  
_

 _"H-Huh?"_

"I woke up to the smell of smoke. I would then rush out of bed to see what the matter was, and was greeted by a wall of fire."

 _"(Gasp)"_

 _We then see her looking down the hall, trying to figure out where her father was. Remembering where he might be, she began running down the hall, calling out for him:_

 _"Father! Father, where are you?! The house in on fire! Father!"_

"I remembered that he would be in his study doing some late night work...But someone had beaten me to the idea."

 _The little redhead finds the study door open, and looks in to see the following:_

 _The study was trashed up a good deal, and her father was standing up against his desk, looking straight at another man, who had a gun pointed at him. This man had short, military-crop hair, was wearing some sort of mercenary uniform, and cold, gray eyes._

 _The man says to Coraline's father,_

 _"You should have taken the offer, Mathias. You have sealed your life by defying the wishes of Trinity."_

 _Mathias says nothing for a few seconds, before replying,_

 _"I cannot work for an organization who's very goals doom our world. You should know very well the road in which these actions will take you."_

 _He then smiles sadly, and adds,_

 _"Besides, if my life taken means that my daughter can live on, then so be it."_

"As soon as my father finished speaking, the room was then filled with one sound that continues to haunt me to this day..."

 _(Bang...)_

 _Mathias Croft is then shot through the heart, and falls to the ground with a sickening thud..._

 _Young Coraline felt her entire body go numb, before screaming in agony:_

 _"FAAATHEEEERRRR!"_

 _The man turns to Coraline when he hears her screech, and she flinches, before turning to sprint out of the house as fast as she could..._

"I knew that I stood no chance against the man, so I had to get out of the house before the fire, or he, could get me. I thought I cleared out...I thought I was fast enough to escape into the forest...But, then the universe decided to play one more cruel joke..."

 _(Bang)_

 _"(Strangled gasp)"_

 _A shot is fired, and the little girl goes down, a new wound in her left shoulder..._

Pause Flashback  


Coraline then points out the scar that now occupies her shoulder:

"I don't know what kind of gun it was, but it must've been pretty powerful for the bullet to go all the way through..."

The other four could only stare at Coraline with shock, and she sighed before continuing:

"Anyway..."

Continue Flashback

 _Young Coraline then begins pushing herself off the ground, gritting her teeth from the pain, but was determined to keep moving:  
_

 _"Ggh...C-C'mon..."_

 _With one hand covering her wound, the young girl then broke into another run, heading straight for the thick tree cover..._

"If I hadn't found the determination to get up and keep moving, I would've probably died right there. After several minutes of hiding, I found no signs of that man, or any of his associates that suggested they followed me. I would then walk back, and saw that they were gone, leaving me alone, to stare with horror as my home was swallowed by the arson fire, my father's body still inside..."

 _The once proud home was glowing a foreboding orange, as the fire rose in power, destroying it and its contents...The little redhead then stutters with a hoarse voice,_

 _"F...Fa-ther...Uhh..."_

 _She then falls forward, first on her knees, then face-down on the ground, all of her stamina drained by the horrible sight before her..._

End Flashback

"...Even now, I still don't know how I survived through the night. But, I would wake up in the early morn, weak, but still alive, and slowly albeit painfully walk to the skeletal remains of my home, and just stare in disbelief...A few minutes pass, and Roth, a family friend, comes running up from the road, seeing my condition and the home, and could not find the words to react to it all. I would then pass out again, and wake up in the healer's ward, with two emotions running through my being: Rage, against the ones responsible for my tragedy, especially the man who killed my father...and Agony, over everything I once knew, gone up in smoke..."

Coraline sighs sadly, placing a hand over her face, trying to suppress the feelings again...Miroku then asks,

"...What is this man's name?"

"...Constantine Bishop. He belongs to an organization that goes by the name of Trinity. According to some documents that belonged to one of my Father's old file folders, their goal is to seek global domination and control over the fate of mankind."

Everyone gasps, and Coraline adds,

"There's more: Trinity seeks out ancient relics that hold supernatural power, before destroying any evidence of the said culture and its people, to which are deemed heretics or non-believers. I'm not sure how old their organization is, but Father did discover a copy of an old tapestry from the middle ages that had Trinity's seal on one of the knight's shields, so it's likely they've been around for centuries."

Mrioku frowns and comments,

"I can see how Trinity could be deemed a dangerous group. To go as far as to eliminate and traces of the pilfered artifact's origins...I have never heard of such horrible desecration."

"Exactly. Trinity is ruthless in achieving their goals. They will stop at nothing to achieve them, even if it means committing mass murder...My father...he was not the first Croft to die by Trinity's hands..."

Shippo timidly asks,

"Y-You mean, your family has encountered Trinity before?"

"...Yes. I have asked my father in the past why I hadn't met any other Crofts, but he only told me the half-truth, that any other members of the Croft Family were too far away or have lost touch with us...But, I soon discovered after my, father's funeral, that Trinity has been responsible for a number of mysterious murders and deaths in our family...With my father gone...I'm, actually the last Croft left alive."

The room became silent after that...Inuyasha then noticed Coraline was shaking a bit, and went to sit closer to her, grabbing one of her hands:

"Hm?"

"...You, don't have to continue if it's too much for you..."

The other three were surprised by his gentleness, while Coraline smiled faintly and replied,

"...It's okay. Talking about it, is actually making me feel a bit better; less weight on my shoulders, ya know?"

Inuyasha nods, before carefully asking,

"Okay...then if you don't mind me asking, when, did you make your vow to kill this Bishop character?"

Coraline's eyes harden, but she kept a calm control in her voice as she answered:

"...That would've been about three days before I left Majora..."

Flashback

 _We see a solemn young redhead, a ten year-old Coraline, approach the gravestone of her Father, which by her request, was beside her Mother's grave, in a secluded part of the forest behind her used-to-be home._

 _The area had a few weeping willows, and a small grove of wild flowers. The gravestones were sitting in front of one weeping willow, with a few white and blue wild flowers growing on the left and right sides..._

 _The young redhead, dressed in a black raincoat and boots, moves to kneel in front of the graves, her eyes focused on her mother's first:_

 _"...Mother...I hope you and Father are happy in heaven together. (Sad smile) I'm sorry we couldn't be together for more than those short three years, but, I love you, and I wish you all the best."_

 _She then turns to her Father's:_

 _"...Father...I know everything now. About Trinity, and how they were threatening you after you refused to work with them. I, understand now, why you never told me about your problems. You wanted to protect me...(Sniff) I, just want you to know, that you did good."_

 _Coraline caresses the smooth stone of the grave, feeling herself shake a bit with emotion:_

 _"I, I wish that we could've had more time...I love you, and, I will never stop loving you. I, hope your spirit is safe, and with Mother..."_

 _She then clenches her fist, anger rising in her small body:_

 _"...And I swear, that if I ever meet the man responsible for taking your life..."  
_

 _Her head darts up, rage ridding in her eyes:_

 _"He won't live to see another day!"_

End Flashback  


Coraline cracks her knuckles, clenching her fist tight:

"I won't deny my anger: I want Bishop to pay for all that he's done. Killing Father, destroying my home, and forcing me to make the ultimate decision in turning into a renegade, at such a young age. I want to be the one, to end him..."

Coraline then uncurls her fingers, relaxing her aggression, and lets out a deep breath:

"...That's pretty much it. The story of how I came to Japan and how I became such a roughneck compared to other teenage girls in my era."

She then felt a hand on one of her shoulders, and turned to see Inuyasha, looking at her with a small smirk:

"Keh, you, a roughneck? Please; if anyone's a roughneck, it's me. True, you're tougher than every other girl I've encountered, but there's no way you could ever be that rough. You have too kind a heart..."

Coraline was surprised by Inuyasha's comment, but then smirks back and retorts,

"Oh yeah? Heh, you'd be thinkin' otherwise if you saw the way I kicked ass earlier today. But, I do appreciate that you think I'm tough, and have a kind heart."

Inuyasha nods, and then Kaede asks while directing her gaze to the ripped arm band,

"So then, if this symbol represents a militant organization that has caused ye such grief, why then was it on the arm of a young bandit, that clearly did not know ye until that incident?"

Coraline hms in thought:

"That's a good question...It's possible that Trinity has been training young teens as scouts to inform them of activity in a given area. And if that's true...then that means Trinity has a homebase somewhere in my era's Japan, possibly in Tokyo."

"If so, would that mean Trinity will soon know of your whereabouts?"

"...There's a chance..."

That caused a wave of unease to wash over the five, but then Coraline adds,

"But so far, it's only that one guy who has seen me, and I can't be sure if the base in Japan is even fully aware of what occurred five years ago. The Trinity soldiers I encountered back then, including Bishop, were stationed in the bases of Europe, which is really far away from Japan. Who knows how often the bases exchange updates in information..."

Everyone relaxed a bit, but were still a bit wary...Inuyasha then says,

"Well, whatever happens, I won't let these bastards hurt you."

"...Inuyasha-"

"I'm serious. I know you want to get revenge on Bishop for killing your father, and I respect that, but, I won't let any other soldiers from Trinity so much as touch you!"

Shippo chimes in determinedly,

"Yeah! Trinity won't get you, Coraline! I'll protect you too!"

Miroku adds,

"I shall like to add my aid as well. You may consider yourself safe with us, Coraline."

Coraline was speechless by their declarations:

"...Guys...I, I don't know what to say...(Small smile) Thank you. And I will lend my aid to all of you in the fight against Naraku. Both he and Bishop will meet their endgame."

They all nod, and Kaede smiled a bit at the four's collective bravery:

 _They all wish to help one another. Such loyalty and friendship is a good thing to have in times of burden..._

 _However, I can only pray that it will be enough, in the coming battle ahead._

 _Naraku has already proven to be a very dangerous opponent...and based on Coraline's description..._

 _so is this Trinity._

Meanwhile, in an Unknown Location, Present-day Japan...  


A figure sits in the shadows, overlooking the tall skyscrapers in their own building, in a room filled with computer screens and large motherboards, and a large table that had dozens of file folders, some opened, alongside some maps and old documents...

"Sir."

The figure turns from the window, and addresses the mercenary-dressed man in front of him:

"Yes?"

"One of our young scouts has some footage you may be interested in seeing."

"...Very well. Show me the footage."

They walk over to one of the larger computer screens, and another mercenary man takes out a USB Drive, plugging it into the adapter...

The screen lights up, and we see the view of the young scout, looking from up on top an old building, recording the fight that Coraline was in only hours earlier!

"...What is the purpose of this footage?"

"Look at what the girl does after the fight..."

They observe the part where Coraline freezes, before stepping to look at the arm band on the one gangster...

"Do you see the way she's staring intently at the other scout's seal? Sir, I have reason to believe that this girl knows of Trinity."

They watch as she rips off the arm band, before rushing off:

"...Do you have footage that includes a clear shot of her face?"

"Yes, sir."

The video is rewound a bit, stopping just as Coraline goes to rush off from the area...

The figure runs a hand under his chin in thought:

"Hm...Her face looks familiar...Pull up the profiles we have in our database, and cross-reference the girl's image."

"Yes, sir."

The screen then shifts to a list of images and profile information on a number of individuals, scanning for a particular profile...

The program stops, finding a match:

 **Coraline Croft**

 **Age: 10**

 **Hair Colour: Red**

 **Eye Colour: Blue**

 **Status: Presumed Dead**

...The men fall silent, shocked by the results:

"...Sir...what does this mean?!"

"...Contact the base in the United Kingdom, now!"

"Ah, yes, sir!"

The figure then moves to stand in front of another screen, as the technician sends a message to speak via Video Conference...

(Ping)

"Saki. This is a surprise. It has been quite a long time since our base has received a call from yours."

"Indeed. Bishop...there's something you need to know. It regards your mission from five years ago, in eliminating Mathias Croft."

"...What is it?"

"His daughter...she is alive. She is here, in Tokyo."

"...I see. Hmph, I suppose I should've expected this from the Crofts...Very well. If I may ask this of you, continue to monitor her activities. Trinity has no reason to eliminate her, yet. I shall arrive at your base in a few weeks time, as soon as I finish my current mission in Mongolia."

"Understood. I shall see you soon."

(Ping)

The call is cut, and the figure, now identified as Saki, turns to another one of his subordinates:

"Inform the scouts in the area of a new mission: Monitor the activities of Croft, and report anything unusual."

"Consider it done, sir."

Bishop's POV

The call between Saki and I is cut, and I turn away from my laptop, before going to my file folders, pulling out two folders I never thought I would open again:

"...So, it seems your daughter is more resilient than I expected, Mathias."

I stare at the picture of he, before turning to the small amount of information we had on his daughter, including a picture from five years ago...I feel myself smirk, as I thought aloud,

"But resilience can only last for so long. Heh...Coraline Croft...We shall meet face-to-face soon..."


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: A Wicked Smile - Kiky** **ō's Wandering Soul**

"This mansion is enormous!"

Come a new day in Sengoku Edo, and we find our four travelers in front of a grand estate, starting out again in their search of the Shikon-no-Tama shards, as well as leads to Naraku's whereabouts.

Today, Coraline was wearing a camouflage-print unbuttoned flannel shirt, a white t-shirt, light-green cargo pants, and her brown hiker shoes. She also dawned a braid for her hair.  
After Shippo's exclaim over the size of the place, Coraline asks,

"So, what's the verdict, Miroku? Are we gonna try to see about staying here for tonight?"

Inuyasha sarcastically retorts,

"I'll wager that Miroku tells the owners that an 'ominous cloud' hangs over the mansion."

"You're mistaken. I have a legitimate reason for coming here."

Soon enough, the group is sitting down with the lord of the estate, and after learning what has been plaguing the region for a while now, Inuyasha was quite surprised:

"So these demons carry off the souls of dead girls?"

"Yes. As if losing the princess wasn't upsetting enough, I cannot have her soul taken before it reaches its final resting place..."

Miroku speaks up to reassure the troubled lord:

"No such thing shall occur. I assure you that my associates and I shall protect the princess's soul from these demons."

Coraline and Shippo look to Miroku with mild surprise at his seriousness...

But, come a bit later, it would be revealed that Miroku had a hidden motive to coming here, namely, the extravagant meal that was brought to the four as a token of appreciation and thanks.

"What'd I tell ya? Same old lines, same old unwarranted feast." Miroku responds calmly to Inuyasha,

"Perhaps, but one must have a full stomach before running into combat."

As Miroku picks up a bowl to drink from, he narrows his eyes in suspicion to the atmosphere of the area:

 _This place is too quiet. The air is thick with evil..._

Meanwhile, down at a riverside village...

A group of small children were playing, with one girl stopping to scan some plants, before finding what she was searching for:

"(Gasp) Look, I found some! Kikyō! Kikyō, I found some!"

And low and behold, standing by the water, was the priestess Kikyō, who somehow survived the fall from the cliff a few weeks back!

The little girl in the orange kimono rushes over the Kikyō with a smile to show her the plants she found:

"Look! Is this a medicinal herb?"

"Yes, well done, Sayo. It is called the Lantern Plant, and it's used to reduce swelling."

Another child, a little boy, comes to show the priestess his find:

"Kikyō, Kikyō! What are these?" Followed by another little girl:

"Do these grasses cure anything?"

Kikyō smiles at their curiousity and eagerness to learn, and goes to examine each of their plants:

"Let's see..."

As this went on, two men, dressed in the worn robes of monks, were skulking in the treeline of the forest:

"Master Seikai, are you certain that the young priestess is a demon? She looks nothing more than a human to my eyes."

"Then you lack in training. Can you not sense it? This area resonates with a sinister evil."

As they continue to observe, Kikyō then calls from her seat on the grass:

"...Excuse me, monk."

"Uh!"

The monks are surprised at being found out by Kikyō, and she turns to where they stand with a gentle smile:

"I see that you have been watching me for sometime now."

The monks come out from hiding, and the older of the two, Seikai, replies,

"Heh, how very awkward. You perceived us, did you? Your beauty is so remarkable, I could not help but stare at you."

"Spare me your flattery."

"Apparently my etiquette is in sore need of refinement."

(Trip)

"Auh!"

The monk Seikai then trips a bit, and a scroll falls out of his robes in front of Kikyō...She stares at the writing for a moment, before looking back up at Seikai with an expressionless face, though her eyes suggest suspicion...

"Gather the scroll up for me, will you? It contains a sutra warding off evil. Should a demon touch it, their true nature will be revealed."

...Kikyō does what Seikai asks with no problems, much to the latter's shock, and she replies with a calm smile,

"How fortunate that we have such sutras to protect us. Here, your scroll."

Seikai reaches to take back the scroll, his mind dumbfounded:

 _She touched the sutra, yet there was no transformation...!_

Then just as he grabbed hold of the scroll:

(Bzzt)

"Ah!"

He was blasted with several shots of an unknown power, his mind flinching from the darkness hidden within it!

Kikyō then goes back to the children:

"Now then, let us go, shall we?"

(...Drop...)

Seikai releases the scroll, it opening back up on the ground, while he places a hand on his chest, trying to make sense on what just occurred:

"...I, I am not certain what transpired. A tremendous force deep past through my body...Ah, no, it's gone!"

His apprentice comes to him:

"What is it? What upsets you, Master Seikai?"

"...Look at the scroll."

"Huh?"

The young monk in training does so, and is shocked to find,

"The sutra has disappeared!"

"It is as if it has been erased...Priestess!"

Kikyō stops, and the children turn look to the monks confused...

"I do not know what binds you to this world, but it is certainly not a place for you to linger...Go, and return to where you belong!"

The children frown at the monk's claim:

"What's he going on about?"

"He's a strange monk!"

Sayo looks up with worry at Kikyō...They then all continue on their way from the river, as Seikai makes this mental conclusion:

 _That woman is no ordinary demon...She is much stronger, and much more sinister..._

Kikyō and the children all return to the village, and are seen coming by some farmers:

"Look, it's Lady Kikyō."

"Luckily, we have such a talented and kind priestess in our midst."

"Aye, she heals our ails and cheers the children."

"It is so; we are blessed indeed."

As Kikyō walked on, her mind wanders back to when she was reborn again, and the consequences that came:

 _The witch, Urasue, desired the spiritual power of a priestess, so she robbed the bones and dirt of my grave and fired my body in her kiln._

 _The Soul that is transmigrated into my body suits me well..._

 _"Why did you betray me, Inuyasha?!"_

 _For the second time, you asked me to die, Inuyasha. So why is it that you looked sad?_

 _Is it because you feel the heat from my hand? The heat of anger that flames of vengeance?_

 _"_ _Kikyō_ _ _ō__ _ _ _ō___ _ _ _ _ō____ _ _ _ _ _ō_____ _ _ō__ _ _ _ō___ _ _ _ _ō!___ "_

"Kikyō? Did you hear me?"

Kikyō snaps out of her thoughts, and looks down at Sayo:

"Sayo..."

"Kikyō, you will always stay here with us, will you?"

She was momentarily taken aback by the question, before smiling softly and bending down to the little girl's level:

"Tell me, Sayo, are you fond of me?"

"Mhm."

"That makes me happy. You are as dear to me as though you are my younger sister."

"Aw, truly?"

"Yes."

That make Sayo beam with happiness, and as she rushed back home, she stops briefly to wave at Kikyō with a big smile...  
As she watched Sayo go, Kikyō then looked around the village:

 _I can live here. I can reside in this village._

 _I know I can do it...but the question remains: Will I be permitted to do it?_

Time Skip, Back at the Mansion

As night falls over the grounds, Inuyasha comes back into the room where he and Coraline were, also where the dead princess was:

"Well, everything looks clear outside. Anything unusual in here?"

"Nope. So far, everything's just quiet like it should be."

"Good."

As Inuyasha sits beside Coraline, he asks,

"Where'd Miroku get to?"

"Apparently, there's a second princess who lives here, and Miroku left to make sure she was content."

"Oh, suuure..."

Speaking of said monk, Miroku, accompanied by Shippo, was being lead by a vassal to the other princess at this very minute:

"The younger princess is petrified."

"Leave her-er, I mean, things to me. If she is like her sister, the younger princess is sure to be a beauty beyond compare. (Happy sigh) I love my job..."

Shippo then asks,

"Miroku, am I suppose to help you protect this younger sister?"

"Hm, first we must do what we can to lay her fears to rest. Perhaps you can transform into something cute and fuzzy."

"What for?"

"(Feminine pitch) 'Oh, a bunny, I always wanted to see one up close!' You see?"

"Um, no, not really..."

Miroku bends down to Shippo and says with a smile,

"I'll explain it one day when you're old enough to talk man-to-man, (nod)."

Ahem...anyway, we go back to where Inuyasha and Coraline were, as the former scoffs and mutters,

"He's some player. Too bad he has everyone convinced that he's a saint, otherwise I'd give him a good stomping...Huh?"

Inuyasha then feels Coraline's head lay between his chest and shoulder, and he blushes a bit while asking awkwardly,

"Uuhh, isn't this a little close, Coraline?"

"S-Sorry, it's the princess. She's got me on edge...I'm not comfortable with being in the same room as a dead body that looks like it could stand up any second..."

Inuyasha looks at her with a deadpan:

"That was your motivation?" Coraline lightly blushes and responds,

"Well, yeah, I guess. You, make me feel safe..."

"...I do?"

"Yes..."

Inuyasha didn't expect that answer, and went quiet while looking away from her, his own blush growing a tad:

 _...I make her feel safe?_

Coraline raises a brow at noticing his red cheeks:

"Hm? Inuyasha...are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Coraline shrugs her shoulders, while her mind wanders:

 _...What's got him so quiet? And that blush..._

 _Is he, not used to this kind of shared friendly affection?_

 _Hm...I guess that makes sense, considering how Inuyasha lived life before he met me and the others..._

...Coraline then smiles lightly, before turning to look at one of Inuyasha's hands, and gently grabbing it.

"Huh?"

Inuyasha turns back, and sees the gentle smile on Coraline's face...

Not sure how to react, he just turns to face frontwards again...but not without squeezing her hand back...

Miroku's POV

"I must take leave. Your sister's soul requires my unwavering attention."

Try as I did to explain my seriousness, the young princess - who by the way, looks nothing like her elder sister - begs in protest while latching onto me:

"Please don't leave me, Master Miroku!"

"Gah!"

We then fall over, as the princess adds,

"I fear for my safety!"

"No one will come after you, I guarantee it."

"You are too cruel!"

Back to Inuyasha and Coraline, No POV  


(Fwip)

The torch light goes out suddenly, and with wide eyes, Inuyasha and Coraline watch as the body of the dead princess...begins to float into the air!

"Ah!"

Coraline grasps onto Inuyasha, he putting a protective arm around her, as the princess's body is suspended in the air...

Next thing they knew, a strange glow appears outside the door, blasting it open, and revealing an eel-like demon...!

Inuyasha grasps the hilt of his sword:

"Time to work!"

The mouth of the dead princess then emits a strange mist, revealed as her Soul, and it floats to gather into the small tendrils of the demon!

But before the demon could succeed:

"Hrrraaaah!"

(Slash)

Inuyasha kills the demon, and the Soul is released, floating back into the dead princess, before the body floats gently back onto the futon...

"Thank goodness, her spirit is safe."

"You think it's over? Not likely."

"Wait...(Glow) I sense others outside..."

Inuyasha and Coraline rush out the room, only to come across the sight of several more of the soul-snatching demons!

"Aw man, there's more of them!"

"Look: They're carrying Souls of the Dead!" Coraline narrows her eyes:

"So many...Where could those demons be taking the Souls?"

Suddenly, Miroku comes rushing to the two, shouting a tad frantically,

"After them, quickly!"

He then jumps over the fence, much to the pursuing princess's protest:

"Please, stay with me!"

Inuyasha asks Shippo lightly,

"Miroku having woman troubles again?"

"I think she might be a demon and not a woman at all...Aaah!"

Shippo is then surprise-attacked with a hug from the distraught princess:

"Little fox, how can you treat me so-o-o-o-o?!"

And the demons fly away, the fate of the Souls unknown...

Meanwhile, back at the Riverside Village...

At the same time Inuyasha and company discover the soul-snatching demons, Sayo lays in her shared bed with her family, wide-awake, as she thought about Kikyō:

 _Kikyō is troubled by something...It must be what that monk said to her this afternoon...  
_

 _(Flash)_

 _"I do not know what binds you to this world, but it is certainly not a place for you to linger...Go, and return to where you belong!"_

 _(Flash)_

Sayo covers her ears as she tries to block the negativity out:

"(...Sigh) I cannot sleep...Huh?"

She then turns to look outside, hearing footsteps...Looking through her window, it's revealed that the steps, belong to Kikyō...

"Kikyō's outside...? Hm..."

Sayo moves to look out her door, and watches the priestess walk outside of the village...

"Where could she be going at this time of night?"

Curiousity getting the better of her, Sayo follows Kikyō...she is now watching from behind a tree near the riverside:

"She's been acting rather peculiar today...I hope she will not leave our village for elsewhere..."

Suddenly, Kikyō removes the ribbon in her hair, letting it flow freely from her head...Then, coming through the night sky, was the same demons from earlier, carrying the stolen Souls!

Sayo utters a frightful sound, as she watches Kikyō reach out to collect the Souls:

"Come, and allow me to lead you. The tragic Souls of maidens..."

 _...Kikyō's controlling the lost Souls...!  
_

Just then, the two monks from before come up from the trees, the elder of the two addressing Kikyō:

"Are you unable to cross over? You are dead, young priestess?...You must now pass on to the Netherworld."

"Can you not overlook my presence here? I am merely wishing to live in peace in this small village."

As the demons float away, Seikai asks,

"If you wish to live in peace, then why must you gather Souls of the Dead?"

"...I have reasons."

"You require Souls in order to sustain that body of yours."

Seikai then holds out a strange stone orb, with the body of a dragon on it...

(...Sheen...)

Kikyō turns to face the monk:

"What action will you take? I take it you won't leave..."

"I shall send you to where you belong! I shall do it for your sake!"

(Pow)

"Uh!"

Kikyō is then surrounded by a swirl of golden light, before it materializes into a dragon, coiling around her body and preventing her from moving!  
As the dragon grasps her neck, Seikai calls out,

"You cannot escape this demon-binding spell of mine!"

"Rrgh..."

"I shall extinguish this light, and save your Soul from eternal misery!"

...Kikyō then glares hard at the monk:

"Save me?...A retch such as you presumes to save my Soul?!"

(Sheen, pow)

Kikyō then uses her spiritual strength to break the monk's spell, and one of the dragon's claws is shot into Seikai's neck!

...Seikai falls to the ground, and the orb falls out of his hand...before cracking into pieces!

The apprentice flees for his life, as Kikyō comes up to the fallen monk, glaring down at him with a look of disdain:

"You would have been better to leave me be than end your life..."

(...Grasp)

With the last of his strength, the dying Seikai grabs onto Kikyō's ankle, before saying hoarsely,

"Priestess...to only watch your purpose is...Time continues for the living. They carve their futures in each passing moment. However, for the dead, such as yourself, _time stands still._ Thus, the dead and the living cannot reside with one another. And yet, you insist on trying... _How, tragic_..."

With that, Seikai dies, leaving Kikyō to ponder his words:

 _...Tragic, you say? I am tragic?_

"Uh!"

She then turns to the treeline, sensing another presence:

"Who goes?"

Her expression then softens, when she sees it to be Sayo, looking fearfully at the scene:

"Sayo...Were you...did you witness that?"

The little girl could say nothing, too scared by what she saw...Kikyō then comes up to her, and tries to speak with her again:

"...Sayo?"

But when she reached her hand out, Sayo cringed away, tears in the corners of her eyes...Kikyō retracts her hand, and looks down at herself in sadness:

"...Forgive me. I did not mean for you to see such a sight."

She then rises from the ground, realizing her question about residing in the village peacefully had received its negative answer...Sayo then looks back up, and watches the priestess walk away. Though still a bit scared, Sayo's dominant emotion was also sadness, and she calls to the other:

"Wait, Kikyō!"

...The priestess stops briefly, and turns to send her goodbyes to the little girl:

"Farewell, Sayo...Please forgive me."

And with that, Kikyō was gone...

Next Day

Come the morning, Inuyasha and the others have since left the mansion after protecting the dead princess's Soul from the demons that came last night.  
But, Coraline was concerned for the other Souls that she had seen being carried off in the night sky...

Now, as they sit on the rocky riverbank, Coraline was trying to convince Inuyasha to seek the demons out:

"Come on! We need to find those demons and save those Souls!"

"Where do you want us to go?"

"Oh, right...That's a good question..."

As the younger of the two licked a lollipop, the older sipping from a juice can, Shippo and Miroku add respectively,

"The demons disappeared without a trace. We wouldn't know where to start searching."

"And there's certainly no point in returning to the mansion, is there?"

"I believe you have other reasons for that opinion. As in a certain princess who's fondness of you is a bit too obvious..."

Miroku coughs irritably in response to Shippo's claim, choosing to say nothing...

Coraline then bends down to Inuyasha and asks,

"What's up with you now? Don't tell me you're getting lazy in your many demon years?"

"I'm just not as interested. I mean, what's in it for us? It's not like we'll find a jewel fragment..."

Coraline sighs irritably and mutters,

"Of course, the bloody jewel's become your motivation...Come on, why not overlook the jewel for a second and show some good will towards humans?"

"That's what I'm tired of, helping people all the time! Look, I'm gonna be a great demon someday, so why should I waste my time going around to help humans?"

"...Nice. You know, not all demons are known for being ruthless to humankind. Besides, you're more of a saint compared to most demons I've seen here so far, and you know it."

"Saint?! Okay, where are you going with this one, Coraline?"

Coraline looks at Inuyasha and replies simply,

"There's no real concept I'm trying to teach you, I'm just complimenting you, that's all."

Inuyasha hmphs, before saying,

"Look, I'm still not interested in helping them, so you can count me out. Heh, you gotta problem with that-Hey! I'm still talkin' here!"

But Coraline wasn't listening; instead, her attention was focused on something, or someone, floating in the water:

"Look!"

"An octopus!" Miroku corrects Shippo:

"More like a human."

Coraline slips off her shirt, then her hikers and socks, before diving into the river, much to everyone else's surprise:

(Splash)

"Coraline!" "What are-"

"I'm getting him outta there!"

...Come about ten minutes later, Coraline had successfully brought the man to shore, and was shivering a bit while Miroku examined the new face:

"Luckily, the monk is only unconscious and had not drowned..."

"...R-rgh..."

"Sounds like he's (shiver) coming to..."

As the monk arose from his unconscious state, the first face he sees, is Coraline's...

"Aaaah!"

"Whoa!"

The monk jumps back a bit, suddenly frightened by Coraline, she flinching a bit from being startled:

"What's the deal, sir?! You scared the crap outta me!" Miroku then asks,

"What is it that causes you such fright?"

The monk apologizes then explains what happened to him, and once his tale was done, Inuyasha asks a bit skeptically,

"A demon?"

"Correct." Miroku then asks his own question:

"You're saying that Coraline's expression resembled the face of a demon you saw?"

"At first glance, she appeared to be human, but, clearly, she was a possessed demon...and a priestess."

Coraline felt a chill run down her spine, making her body colder than it already was:

 _A priestess? And, she carried a similar manner to me?_

"She was able to ward off my master's spiritual powers...Wait, I-I believe I heard her name spoken. It was, Kikyō."

Inuyasha's eyes snapped into an intense glare, and he yanks the monk by his robes while saying in a low tone,

"If I find out you're making this up, _you'll wish you were still in the river._ "

"I speak only the truth! The woman lured away the Souls of dead woman!"

"I don't care about that! It's her name; what made you think her name was Kikyō?!"

"The children of the village called her so. I am certain; the youngsters called her by the name Kikyō."

Coraline frowns with worry and asks aloud,

"So then, Kikyō is still among the world, and is luring away the Souls of the Dead?"

Inuyasha drops the monk, and looks out into the distance, wondering the same thing:

 _Kikyō...are you still in the land of the living?  
_

 _How did she survive the fall from the cliff?_

 _...If she is still alive...If she still wanders the earth..._

And before anyone could react, Inuyasha began leaping off, with one thought on his mind:

 _Kikyō...I'll save you!_

Coraline's POV

I watched Inuyasha go, likely to try and scout out Kikyō's whereabouts...The rest of us then move away from the riverbank, and I'm sitting on a log beside Shippo, Miroku standing near us. Miroku then asks,

"Do you think we are mistaken in allowing Inuyasha to go on his own?"

"He sure took off in a hurry when he heard the monk's story..." I respond to Shippo's comment:

"I'm not surprised, given that Inuyasha's heart still harbours feelings for Kikyō."

"W-What?!"

"...Which is why it's probably best to leave them be for the time being."

"Why? What do they need to be alone for?"

I smile a bit at Shippo's innocent question, and Miroku comes to answer before I do:

"I believe I understand her meaning."

"Huh?"

"...The woman he once loved so completely may have changed. And if that were the case, he cannot allow others to witness the change in her or himself."

 _Yes, that is a possibility..._

Shippo then asks Miroku,

"But why would that be? Who's to say that she didn't change for the better? Then what would happen?"

"I dunno, I suppose if it were me, I would get back together with her."

I felt something in my heart twitch at those words:

 _...Get back together?_

 _Would Inuyasha really do that? Is it even possible for he and her anymore?_

I sigh, suddenly feeling a bit depressed, and pick up my satchel, before walking off...

"...Coraline?"

"Coraline, what's wrong?"

I ignore the other two, as my mind began wallowing in sadness, and for some reason, irritation:

 _Inuyasha...(Irritable sigh) Is chasing after Kikyō again really the best thing for you?  
_

 _It seems more like you're both going to get heartbroken again...so why chase something that was already lost?_

I then hear Miroku call to me from behind:

"Just a moment, Coraline." I sigh and turn to face him and Shippo:

"What now, Miroku?"

"I suppose, we could always follow after Inuyasha."

I shake my head at him, replying,

"No, Miroku. The last thing I need to do is chase after Inuyasha..."

...Suddenly, the atmosphere around the area grows dim...

"Huh? What's going-Uh, there!" We turn to see those soul-suckers from before:

"The same type of demon!"

"After it!"

"Good plan!"

As we chase after the demons, I pass through an area that seemed, off:

(Pulse)

"Huh?"

I stop, and turn around, only to see Miroku and Shippo get knocked to the ground by some kind of barrier!

"Guys!"

I try to rush back, but when I get back to the passing point:

(Bzzt)

"Gh!"

The barrier blocked me from coming back through...I watch Miroku and Shippo get up, the latter asking,

"What was that?!"

Miroku touches the barrier, and replies,

"Looks like someone sealed this area off."

"So we can't pass?"

"Right."

"Wait, Coraline...Where's Coraline?!"

I shout right in front of them:

"I'm right here, Shippo! Miroku!"

But they kept looking around for me, and I suddenly realize,

"They can't see me...This barrier must be causing some sort of sound cancellation for the outside, as well as casting an illusion that's making me invisible..."

I narrow my eyes in frustration:

"...Shoot...Alright, I need to find the source of this barrier."

With that, I turn around and begin rushing off, using my Aura Sight to try and find the source:

"(Pant, pant) Looks like, the projector is somewhere this way..."

I then feel my feet slip, and I yelp, grabbing onto a tree growing on the side of the hill:

"...Slippery grass, huh?"

I look down below, and scan for an open area that didn't have trees...

"Got it, okay..."

I then proceeded to slide across the grass down the hill, aiming for the safe spot...I reach the bottom, fumbling a bit before straightening back up again:

"Whew...What a rush..."

I then notice this particular area had more light, and I look back up, only to gasp, at seeing a certain priestess, laying in a tree, with orbs of light - likely more Souls - floating around her...

"...Kikyō..."


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: Coraline's Voice and** ** **Kiky** **ō** 's Kiss**

"(Pant, pant...)"

Catching up where we last left our story, we zoom in on Inuyasha, as he comes to the area where Kikyō last was a few days ago:

"This is it...This is the place the monk told us about...Hm?"

He then spots something by the water, and rushes to the rocky riverbed, only pick up a white ribbon:

"What is this? A hair band?"

Inuyasha then remembers whom the hair band belongs to:

"...Kikyō...Are you really still alive?"

Meanwhile, deep in the Forest of Inuyasha  


We jump back to Coraline, eyes wide, as she slowly approaches the resting priestess situated in the tree:

 _...She must be asleep..._

Coraline then notices a paleness to Kikyō's skin, and couldn't help but frown sympathetically:

 _...She looks so exhausted, and I can sense sorrow deep within her being..._

Suddenly, Kikyō's eyelids begin to flutter, and she opens her eyes, before sitting up to stare at the young redhead with a neutral expression:

"I see that my barrier was not strong enough to prevent you from finding me."

"Well, given that our souls share a connection, that shouldn't be too surprising. Plus, I used my Aura Sight to find the source of this barrier...Hm?"

Coraline then looks to her left, and sees the soul-snatching demons coming towards them...She snaps her gaze back to Kikyō, shifting to a glare:

"So it was you. You've been manipulating these demons to steal away Souls of the Dead! Why?"

Ignoring her question, Kikyō asks Coraline one of her own:

"...Is he not with you?"

"...If you mean Inuyasha, no. He set off on his own a while ago to find you."

 _Which means eventually he'll come here..._

"Tell me, what is your relationship?" Coraline quirks an eyebrow, not expecting that question:

"Relationship? We're friends...Why do you ask?"

Kikyō says nothing, and instead tilts Coraline's forehead with two of her fingers, before setting a spell on her body!

(Pow)

 _Wh-What did she-I can't move! She paralyzed me!_

"...This, will end your interfering."

Inuyasha's POV

As I continued my search for Kikyō, now moving into the forest, I suddenly come across those demons from before:

"Hn? Them again? The demons that were making off with the Souls!"

I chase after them, only to stop on top of a tree root, watching the demons pass through some kind of barrier:

"...It's a Spirit Shield..."

 _Kikyō must be on the other side...Kikyō, is it really you?  
_

Back to Coraline and Kikyō, No POV  


By this time, the priestess had moved Coraline against the tree she was resting in, using the soul-snatching demons as a further bind.  
No matter how much Coraline willed her body to move, Kikyō's binding spell held fast:

 _Dammit, my muscles are cement!_

As one of the demons passes another Soul to Kikyō, she absorbs it while remarking with a smile,

"Inuyasha is coming," before cancelling the Spirit Shield...She looks back up at Coraline and says with a neutral face,

"I fear he has not come to save you...His purpose lies in seeing me. (Narrows eyes) You will not interfere."

"With what? Are you still hell-bent on destroying Inuyasha?! Kikyō, he is not your enemy! Someone else was pulling the strings behind your tragic end fifty years ago, for the purpose of manipulating the power of the Shikon-no-Tama."

Coraline smiles sadly and adds,

"Surely in your heart, you know Inuyasha would never take your life..."

Kikyō then smiles grimly and replies,

"Hmph, from your countenance, I assume you expect me to be rejoicing."

Coraline frowns and says,

"Well, no, but even you must want the truth behind your death and not be burdened by unwanted hate..."

"Someone caused my premature demise...Will my murderer's death bring me back to life?" Coraline counters,

"Of course not, but would it not bring your Soul closure?"

"Closure? Hmph...The Dead have but one wish: To walk among the living once again...a wish that will never be realized. However, this dead woman can wish for one thing: I wish for a heart. The heart of the man whom I shall not allow to forget me. That is my desire."

"(Narrows eyes) I assume by he, you mean Inuyasha?"

"It is clear that Inuyasha wishes for my death. That is a good thing, because it means that he feels remorse for our dispute. Heh, let him feel remorseful...I shall never allow him to forget about me. Time will not advance, thus allowing me to exist in a dimension in which time is frozen...(Cold smile) I can live on inside his heart, here in my own frozen recreation."

Coraline was appalled by Kikyō's words:

"...Are you kidding me? That has to be the dumbest thing I ever heard! Inuyasha's heart and mind are still swallowed by your memory, Kikyō! How can you not be satisfied with that?! And the fact you do not feel any form of remorse for your dispute with him...(Hard glare) You are a fool..."

"When Inuyasha and I parted, we despised one another. The love in which you speak of is but a shallow emotion, an emotion that which served to deepen the hatred. Nothing can can resolve one's determination in exacting one's vengeance in the way that bitterness can...and I can sense that you harbour similarly in your own life."

That made Coraline go quiet:

 _...Damn...She isn't wrong._

 _I do hold a bitterness towards Bishop and Trinity that fuels my desire for vengeance..._

 _But, I was able to bare witness to everything that day...I know the truth...I actually took the time to learn everything. She did not..._

As two of the demons curl openly around Kikyō, she adds,

"If he must love, then let him love my consuming resentment...and in return, I shall love his heart, as it falls into deepest despair."

"No, Kikyō! Don't give into your darkness! I know that some of this is due to the dark half of your Soul that resides within you, but you shouldn't have to embrace it so recklessly! That kind of hatred will be your undoing!"

(Rustle)

"Huh?" "Hm?"

Both women turn to the left, and standing near them, was Inuyasha...Coraline immediately tells him,

"Inuyasha! You've got to talk to Kikyō! Explain the real events from fifty years ago, that it was Naraku who was behind it all!"

...But, Inuyasha didn't hear her. Instead, he walks over to the priestess, much to Coraline's confusion:

"Inuyasha? Did you hear me?"

"...Kikyō..."

Said priestess clenches her fist to her torso and flinches a tad from his gaze, while Coraline realizes what's going on:

 _He can't hear me, or see me...Kikyō's spell must be making me invisible too!  
_

Inuyasha then says,

"So you were the one. You were gathering up the Souls of the dead women."

As the demons floats from her side, Kikyō explains what's happening to her:

"My body is molded from the bones and soil from my gravesite. It must be sustained by Human Souls if I am to remain here."

Inuaysha's eyes widen, and Kikyō adds with a bitter smile,

"Inuyasha, you must despise me. I have drawn in the Souls of the Dead to retain my presence, and it is my hatred of you that fuels my actions."

Inuyasha replies incredulously,

"That's just ludicrous! You may very well despise me, but the feeling's not mutual. Kikyō... _I've never stopped thinking about you, not even for an instant!_ "

...The entire area went quiet, as Kikyō's eyes began to dilate with her hidden sorrow, and Coraline concluded mentally,

 _I was right: Inuyasha's heart still holds feelings for Kikyō so strongly.  
_

 _Not that I can blame him...Still, it kind-a hurts hearing it aloud...It, feels like Inuyasha's being taken from me..._

 _(Gasp) A-As a friend, I mean! It's not like, I have a crush on him or anything...right?_

As Kikyō turns away from Inuyasha, he adds fiercely,

"I could never hate you or think less of you. It's your spirit I care for, not your appearance!"

"Truly, Inuyasha? You wouldn't?"

Kikyō then moves in close to Inuyasha, softly caressing the side of his face:

"You wouldn't despise me if I were to use these hands to steal the life from you?"

And the next thing they knew, Kikyō moved in to softly kiss Inuyasha! Coraline felt her mind freeze:

 _She...She's Kissing Him!_

It was short and bittersweet, and Kikyō then goes to hug Inuyasha to her:

"Inuyasha, after meeting you, I renounced my position as a Shrine Priestess. I became an ordinary woman. (Shake) I longed to embrace you like this when I was alive."

Very slowly, Inuyasha moves his arms around Kikyō, hugging her back...Coraline felt her heart crack a bit:

"Inuyasha...I had a feeling you would take her back, and why not? You'll be getting what you wanted for a long time, even if it is foolish...Why am I even still here?...D-Damn it, no! I'm not gonna cry! I refuse to cry over something in which I have no say in! Not at all!"

Inuyasha felt his amber eyes well up in sadness and regret:

 _Kikyō's scent is so familiar. Her fragrance is just how it used to be.  
_

 _The only difference is that she has no warmth. Her body is cold from death, and she's sad, and lonely..._

"We are unable to turn back the hands of time...so please, allow me to embrace you a little longer."

"I can't save you. I can't, do anything to help you...except stay like this...If only time could stand still."

"Would you agree to that? If I stopped time?"

"...Yes. I don't care. As long as...As long as, I'm with you."

Coraline had stopped herself from shedding any tears, and was now feeling like an unwanted third wheel:

"(Frustrated sigh) Look, if you two would prefer to be alone, I can grant you that, if you release me! Honestly, did she even think this thro-Huh?!"

Coraline suddenly stops, hearing something off...Next thing she knew:

(CRACK, CRUMBLE, Whooooooossssshhhhhhhh...)

The earth underneath Inuyasha and Kikyō began to uproot, the new crater glowing an ominous pink, and the light orbs were pulled into a harsh, spectral wind...!

Kikyō then whispers to Inuyasha,

"Inuyasha, I will never let you go...Come with me, to the depths of Hell."

Coraline heard her words, and her eyes bulge out:

"She's dragging him to Hell?!...No...I can't let that happen! Inuyasha, snap to it! You're being dragged into oblivion!"

 _Shit, no good. He's unconscious..._

Gritting her teeth, she barks at the priestess responsible for this new peril:

"Listen up, Kikyō, 'cause I know you can hear me: This is not fair to him, or yourself! Inuyasha wants to be with you, but he never once said die! He's made a vendetta against Naraku, the demon responsible for deceiving you both fifty years ago! Inuyasha is bent on destroying Naraku for your sake; he won't stop until he avenges your death! How can you deny him that?!"

Kikyō turns towards Coraline, and the latter adds,

"Please, tell me you understand what I'm saying!"

...Kikyō holds her hand out, and a glow emits from her fingertips:

(Pow)

"Agh!"

Coraline is released from the binding spell, but is also hit by some recoil, while the tree behind her is singed a bit, splitting at the top!

Sliding down the bark, Coraline growls and utters,

"Dammit, Kikyō..."

"And what if he does exact his revenge? Will that serve to revive me?"

Turning back, Kikyō softens her tone as she coaxes the unconscious half-demon to join her in the abyss:

"Come, Inuyasha. Come rather than stay and living with my memory..."

As they both begin sinking further into the vortex, Kikyō adds,

"You and I share the same desires..." Coraline's eyes seethe with anger at the display:

"You...you manipulative bitch! The poor guy's unconscious! You're seeking something that you lost your chance at years ago! Do the world a favour, no, do your own fate a favour, and let Inuyasha go! You hear me?! HANDS OFF!"

(Sheen)

Coraline's eyes begin to glow that icy blue, this time not only fueled by concern for Inuyasha's life...but also a new found form of jealousy!

(Pulse)

"Uh!"

Kikyō feels her heartbeat skip, and from her body, sprang forth the energy of her Soul!

"Aaah!"

(POW)

As the Souls of the Dead shoot out from Kikyō's body, she turns to see Coraline, eyes aglow, and holding her palm out in a commanding gesture:

 _This girl...that power...she is seeking to take back the rest of my Soul! I must hurry this body is completely emptied!_

Kikyō moves back towards the unconscious Inuyasha, desperate to fulfill her wish:

"Inuyasha, come!"

As priestess and half-demon begin sinking further, Coraline, whom was able to see properly this time round, begins shouting to her friend:

"Wake up! Don't let her take you, Inuyasha! Inuyasha...INUYASHA!"

...Suddenly, Inuyasha's eyes flutter open:

"...That's Coraline's voice. Coraline...is she here? (Turn) Coraline!"

Inuyasha turns to where he heard her, and his vision refocuses, before fully seeing Coraline, who's eyes begin to flash back to normal...

"Gh! Coraline!"

(Leap)

He jumps out of the vortex, rushing towards Coraline, much to Kikyō's dismay...

(SLASH)

Inuyasha slices the soul-snatching demons dead, and lands in a crouch in front of the redhead:

"Coraline, what in the world are you doing here?!"

"...Funny, I should be asking you the same!"

"Well, uh...It's kind-of hard to explain..."

The two then flinch from the rest of the demons, as they fly over to Kikyō, who cancels the vortex to Hell...

"What's happening to her?"

As she rises to a stand, holding a fist to her torso, Kikyō asks with a sorrowed expression,

"...Does that girl mean more to you than I do?"

Inuyasha and Coraline look to eachother, before looking away with matching light blushes...Suddenly, Kikyō begins floating into the air with the help of the soul-snatching demons, and Inuyasha rushes to try and stop her from leaving:

"No, wait, Kikyō, listen to me!"

"...Inuyasha, never forget. Remember the feel of my lips against yours, for it was real."

As Coraline looks down with depressed eyes, Kikyō's body glows white, fading away as her voice echoes:

" _Never forget..._ "

"...Goodbye, Kikyō..."

And with that, the tragic priestess was gone, but not necessarily for good...

Coraline then sighs, before rising off the ground, and begins to walk away from the area, no longer wishing to stay. Inuyasha turns to her confusingly:

"Huh? Hey, wait! Hm..."

Inuyasha begins following her, and Coraline stops, before saying to him harshly,

"Stay away from me."

"What are you mad at me for?" Coraline turns away with a serious glare:

"Why do you think? I had to pay witness to all of that nonsense...You likely don't know this, but I saw and heard everything that happened between you and _her._ "

"Huh?"

"I had to listen to you pour your heart out to _her._ I had to witness as _she_ kissed you, then embrace you before you hugged back. Not to mention I had to watch, as _she_ nearly dragged you to Hell! If I hadn't spoken up and used my Aura Power, then...you and _Kikyō_ would be in the worst place possible..."

Inuyasha was shocked:

"...You really saw and heard it all?" Coraline turns to face Inuyasha again:

"Yes, and you can thank that sorry excuse of a woman too! Binding me with her priestess powers...It seems that you and _she_ share something in common, Inuyasha: Neither one of you are honest about your feelings until the last second!"

"Gh!"

Coraline breathes heavily from her latest outburst, before she exhales shortly, and says with a more sober look,

"Look, despite what I had to witness...this doesn't change my feelings regarding our mission in finding the rest of the Shikon-no-Tama and defeating Naraku. Plus, I still care about you, Inuyasha. (Sad smile) You've become too dear a friend to me to allow something like that to friction our friendship."

"...Coraline..." She shifts to a more neutral look, and adds,

"But right now...I need to head back home and quell whatever amount of frustration still remains. And if you're smart, you won't follow me."

With that, Coraline walked away, heading for the Bone Eater's Well, leaving the half-demon speechless...

Just as she vanished from sight, then came Miroku and Shippo, no longer blocked off from the Spirit Shield.  
Shippo hops into the air and calls to Inuyasha,

"What happened? Did you find her?"

When the fox demon came up to Inuyasha's form, he was confused by the look on the latter's face:

"W-What's goin' on, Inuyasha? What are you doin' just staring off into space? Have you seen Coraline?"

Miroku comes to join Shippo, and examines Inuyasha's face, also a bit confused, before wondering aloud,

"I recognize this expression, meaning that Coraline must be somewhere nearby...I wonder what was said?"

"Well, by the way he's not responding, I'd say she's feisty as ever."

Meanwhile, down below in the Goshinboku Village...

We zoom in on Kaede's hut, where the elder priestess was asleep...that is, until her ears picked up the sound of footsteps:

(Step...step...)

"Hm? (Gasp) Kikyō, is it really you?"

Yes, after vanishing from the area where Inuyasha and Coraline remained, Kikyō decided to pay a visit to her sister:

"What ails you, Kaede? Do you fear your older sister?"

"You misunderstand. I had heard that you fell from the cliff. I did not realize that you had survived."

"You are correct. I am dead, yet something in this world keeps me from moving on."

Kaede looks at her sister with serious eyes:

"Do ye still intend to take Inuyasha's life?"

"Inuyasha...I saw him just moments ago, and almost succeeded in ridding the life from him...Speak to me, Kaede."

Kikyō then moves to sit in front of Kaede, and asks,

"Tell me all you have to offer about this Naraku person."

Kaede regaled to Kikyō all she and the others now know, beginning with the dastardly deal that the thief Onigumo made fifty years ago:

"Everything was started by the evil designs of Onigumo. He called forth the demons, and was devoured by them. Thus was born the monster, Naraku."

"So, it all began with that bandit, Onigumo?"

"Yes. He used to say that the Shikon-no-Tama would grow in beauty when it is tainted with malice."

 _He fueled the hatred between Inuyasha and myself, then attempted to steal the jewel that had been tainted in the process..._

Kaede tries to reason with her sister regarding her new outlook:

"Listen, Kikyō: Inuyasha was seriously wounded by Naraku once again, so please..."

Learning all she needed to, Kikyō readies to leave out the door:

"I heard enough. I only came because I thought I should learn the circumstances of my death."

 _...And contrary to what the girl said, it does not seem to bring me any closure..._

Kikyō then says to Kaede with a sad smile,

"I noticed that Inuyasha has changed: His face has a certain softness...Long ago, his eyes held a coldness and he thought he could place his trust in no one."

"Coraline is a strange child. Little by little, she had been able to heal the wounds on his heart...yet seems to avoid healing the ones on hers."

"So _she_ was the one responsible. It was _she_ who changed Inuyasha... _If I had lived, it would have been I to tend to the wounds in his Soul..._ "

"Please, Kikyō. Can ye not let go of the past and move on?"

Kikyō only takes her leave, her last words being,

"We shall meet again," and she was gone, leaving Kaede to worry for her sister and her goals...

"How long will ye wander the earth, Kikyō?"

We zoom in on Kikyō for the last time this evening, as she now floats down a riverboat, the soul-snatching demons hovering by her side, her face set in an unreadable expression...

Time Skip

Come the next morning, Coraline had reached the Bone Eater's Well once more, her mind still in conflict from the night before, but overall, she was maintaining a soberness to the situation.

Inuyasha, Shippo and Miroku watched her from behind some bushes and a fallen trunk, and she sat on the lip of the well for a few seconds, before pushing herself in:

"Hup!"

A minute passes, and Miroku comments,

"And so she has left us once again..." He then asks a tad hesitantly,

"Inuyasha, Coraline was not acting her usual self...Exactly what happened to you and Kikyō last night?"

Inuyasha replies bluntly if a bit carelessly,

"Same thing that goes on with you and women." Miroku flinches with a mortified look, and says with a blush,

"Ghastly! You did that right in front of Coraline?!"

Inuyasha whirls around and barks at Miroku suspiciously,

"Maybe _you_ should explain what  you do with women!"

"N-Nothing..."

Relaxing his incredulous look, Inuyasha turns back to his front, as Shippo asks him with a worried brow,

"Do you think Coraline will come back? She may have looked calm, but I saw the upset in her eyes..."

"Hm..."

Thinking back to his choice of words with Kikyō, and what she said in return, he mutters,

"I spoke the truth...and it was real..."

Miroku then asks seriously if a tad bitterly,

"Now what course will you take, Inuyasha? Kikyō couldn't have gotten too far yet. Will you follow her?"

Shippo adds in his protest:

"Coraline is more important than Kikyō is, so hurry up and make up with Coraline, Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha then remembers what Coraline said before walking away from last night, and mentally wonders,

 _...Do you really value our friendship that much that you'd risk seeing and hearing stuff like that, Coraline?_

 _God...I dunno if I should call you incredibly loyal, or incredibly foolish..._

 _Oh, who am I kidding? It's the former, obviously..._

Speaking of said redhead, Coraline suddenly came back to Sengoku Edo, remembering something she forgot:

"Geez, what a scatterbrain. My mind was running 'cross the wheel so fast, I forgot my satchel and combat knife. (Echo) Yo! Can anyone hear me? I could use a hand out!"

She then picks up on where the conversation left off, with Miroku and Shippo asking respectively,

"What will you do, Inuyasha?"

"Which girl will you choose?"

 _Which girl? Oh god, they can't be serious...!?_

"Answer!

"Which one?!"

"Mmmm..." Inuyasha went into semi-deep thought (Key prefix: semi-), before asking aloud,

"...I don't suppose I could have both of them...?"

Shippo makes a noise of protest, before barking,

"You two-timing...!"

Miroku goes to place a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder while saying sympathetically,

"Well, it's a common problem for men such as ourselves. It's one thing to have both, but another to keep it a secret. For if either girl were to find out..."

"SIT!"

(Gleam)

(Wham)

"Gah!"

"That's right, big Sit...hm?"

And to no surprise, Miroku sees Inuyasha face-down within the earth after the subjugation beads activated...Shippo hops to look closer and says nonchalantly,

"They say that karma includes bad thoughts," followed by Miroku replying,

"Just as well. It would spare him a great deal of grief..."


	27. Chapter 26

Hey all! A new chapter at last!

So, I've noticed for the past while that a number of you have been asking about the possibility of my OC acquiring a partner, similar to the relationship between Sango and Kilala (who make their debut in this chapter; yay!)...

I'll be honest, in the beginning, I had no thoughts in actually doing such a thing. For the most part, my OC Coraline is more the independent type...

But, since then, I've been jumping back and forth with the idea, and now, I'm actually considering it. Just to be clear, though, I'm thinking more towards of an aid rather than a _partner_ partner (Kind-of like Myoga's role to Inuyasha...only more helpful - lol).

This is still in the preliminary stage, so I can't really confirm anything yet, expect for these two things:

1) The creature I have in mind to be Coraline's aid, is not one from Japan (past or present).

2) This will take place during when Trinity will be making their major appearance (that I still haven't pinpointed yet).

Again, it's all in a work of progress, so stay tuned for more details as the story continues!

* * *

 **Chapter 26: Enter Sango, The Demon Slayer**

A new day has dawned in Sengoku Edo, but not everyone was starting out on a peaceful note. We zoom in on one village, that's currently on alert of a demon charging fast from the trees:

(Rustle, rumble...)

"It's approaching, from the forest!...Demon Slayer, it's time!"

Coming through the crowd of wary men and women, was a slim young lady, with long dark-brown hair tied back in a ponytail, dark hazel eyes, and wearing a body suit of black and pink armor, with a red sash tied around her waist, a sword on her left side, and a metal filter mask over her mouth. She was also carrying a ginormous boomerang over her shoulder...

As she moved to stand at the edge of the forest, out came the demon, revealed as a giant centipede:

(Thrash, roar)

The giant insect then started charging at the demon slayer, but she was ready for it:

"Hrah!"

(Toss, spin...)

She throws the boomerang with great strength, and cuts the demon through its middle:

(SLICE, SLASH)

The demon slayer catches the boomerang on the rebound, as the centipede demon falls dead...

(...Ping...)

Out of one piece of flesh, comes a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama, to which the demon slayer would catch in her palm:

 _A shard of the Shikon-no-Tama. I thought so..._

One of the villagers asks,

"Uh, slayer, what is that jewel?" She turns around, holding the shard out as she answers his question:

"The cause of the centipede's ferocity."

Soon after changing out of her battle gear, the demon slayer is then exiting a hut, ready to journey out. She is now wearing a pink and white-striped kimono over her bodysuit, a green over-skirt, and brown sandals. She also let her hair down (though tied a bit at the end), and is carrying a small bundle in a sky-blue cloth under her boomerang.

She smiles at the villagers and says,

"My job here is done! Call again for me should you require help."

"But, but, we haven't yet payed you a fee..."

"I shall take this jewel shard as payment."As she looks at the shard, she adds with a thoughtful look,

"It makes sense, since it is originally from my home village..."

Time Skip, in another part of Sengoku Edo...

"Tonight, the sky is full of stars. Sometimes I wonder what there are more of: Stars in the sky, or shards of the Shikon-no-Tama. Our search has far from ended yet."

We now jump to Shippo, as he, Inuyasha and Miroku sit around a fire, discussing their current stance of their quest for the said fabled jewel, and eventually, running into the _other force_ that was after it as intently as they were...

Inuyasha then says to the little fox demon,

"Not necessarily, Shippo."

"What do you mean?"

"The demon Naraku is gathering shards of the jewel just as we are. In the long run, he'll save us a great deal of work. He'll get the jewel shards, and then, we will get him! How does that sound for a good strategy?"

...While Inuyasha's planning wasn't completely off the right track, Shippo did see the flaw:

"Inuyasha, with every shard that Naraku gathers, he will get stronger, does he not?"

"Heh, (Double-take) huh?"

"In that case, we'll never be able to capture him. It's obvious: Our only hope is to find more jewels than he does. Haaah, even a little kid like me can figure out something that simple. It makes me wonder if maybe you haven't taken a few too many blows to the head..."

Inuyasha rises menacingly at Shippo:

"Why don't we try that theory out on you?!"

"Whah-"

"Inuyasha..." Said half-demon stops, focusing on Miroku, who asks the following question:

"What will you do once you've gathered the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama?"

Sitting back down, Inuyasha replies casually,

"What else? I'll become a full-fledged, bonified demon."

"Oh. That's what you have planned." Inuyasha folds his arms and replies in an obvious tone,

"Nobody wants to be a weakling, right? You gotta be able to stand up to someone you don't like, if ya need to."

Inuyasha turns briefly towards the hill a few feet away from where they were sitting, gazing at Coraline's form, as she sat with her knees tucked into her chest, looking up at the stars...

"Just ask Coraline: She knows what I mean by that...not wanting to be weak in anyone's eyes..."

 _Especially with how rough her childhood was..._

Miroku hms, before asking another question:

"Tell me something, though: When you use the power of the Shikon-no-Tama to become a full demon, do honestly think you will remain as you are now?"

That seemed to catch Inuyasha off-guard, and he replies defensively,

"Uh, why wouldn't I?"

"Well then, can you ever recall ever seen a demon, that was using the Shikon-no-Tama for a benevolent end?"

Miroku looks down at the fire and adds,

"This is merely a theory, but I believe those who seek out and gain the powers of the Shikon-no-Tama, will eventually lose their own hearts in the process."

"Huh...That may be so, but when did I ever say that I wanted to be a good demon?"

"You didn't, but you did say you wish to protect Coraline, and that is why you desire more power...Inuyasha, once you become a full demon, who's to say that you won't devour Shippo or Coraline?"

Unbeknownst to the three by the fire, Coraline's ears had picked up on their conversation, and felt a shiver of worry go through her at that particular question...

Shippo then asks with a slight stutter,

"W-Why me? Wouldn't you be tastier?" Miroku replies,

"I would have fled long before..."

Meanwhile, Inuyasha's thoughts were running in a mantra, trying to reassure himself of his goals:

 _He's wrong. All the demons I've fought before were rotten from the start._

 _It's a mere coincidence, that's all!_

 _...I'm different from them..._

Coraline's POV

As I sat on the grass, looking at the scenery, including the beautiful starry sky, I overheard what the boys were discussing, ending with the question on what would happen to Inuyasha if he fulfilled his goal of becoming a full dog demon...

I sigh, before taking out the close-to-half of the Shikon-no-Tama we possess, and gaze at it with a serious and somewhat morbid look:

 _Miroku does have a point: Most of those who've possessed even one shard seem to lose themselves to insanity and greed..._

 _Could, Inuyasha end up the same way?_

I shake my head, trying to get rid of those negative thoughts:

 _No! No, that won't happen...Inuyasha is better than those others who've possessed the shards._

 _...I know he is. And yet, I can't help but worry for him..._

 _(Sigh) But I guess that day won't be coming for a while yet, so I shouldn't give myself a headache worrying..._

Putting the jewel away, I then take out the torn arm band, the one that had Trinity's symbol on it:

 _...Besides, I've got another problem to deal with: Trinity._

 _So far, I haven't seen any signs of others from their organization. But, when I went to restock and catch up at home a few days ago..._

 _I, felt like I was being watched..._

 _Is it, possible that they now know I'm alive, and are now monitoring my activities?_

"(Soft gasp) And if that's true...then what if Trinity discovers the portal in the Bone Eater's Well?"

I feel dread beginning to rise up in me, and I guess someone noticed it too:

"Hey, Coraline?"

"Hm?"

I turn around, and see Shippo coming to me, looking at me with slight worry:

"You okay? Are you getting cold over here?"

I didn't want to worry the little fox demon of my current thoughts, so I simply said with a small smile,

"Yeah, a bit. I'll come and join you guys by the fire now. I just wanted a better view of the stars for a few minutes."

"Sure!"

I stand up, and we both walk back to the campfire, with Shippo sitting by Miroku, myself sitting beside Inuyasha:

"Mm? Keh, back already, are you?"

"Yeah, the chill was starting to get to me..."

I stare into the fire for a minute, my mind wandering back and forth between the day I snatched up the arm band, to the few days earlier that I felt those invisible eyes...Miroku seemed to notice my faraway look:

"...Is something troubling you, Coraline?"

"Mm? Um, well..."

I was conflicted to whether or not I should let these three know about what was currently going on at home...but Inuyasha would end up being the one to pry the answer out of me with this next question:

"...What's wrong? Did something happen back in your era?"

"...Not exactly. It's really more of a feeling...I, don't know if this is worth mentioning, but...I think Trinity might know I'm alive."

"What?!"

"When I went to restock my satchel a few days ago, I, kept getting this feeling that I was being watched...And, I could sense human Auras nearby in the shadows...Luckily, I haven't sensed any unknowns in, near or around the Shrine, but..."

"You're worried that Trinity may be spying on you?"

I look up at Miroku, and nod...Suddenly, I feel a hand go on top of mine, and I turn to see Inuyasha, looking at me with a serious expression:

"You haven't been receiving any threats, have you?"

"No, and I call that a good thing...That means that Trinity does not seek to eliminate me...Well, not yet, anyway..."

"...There's somethin' else that's bugging you. What is it?"

I sigh, and reluctantly tell them my worry:

"I'm, scared...scared that Trinity may find out about my excursions to this era...And if they do, they'll more likely find some way to use this against me, even find a way to hurt you, all of you..."

I feel my body shake a bit, and add with a catch in my throat,

"I-If anything were to happen to you guys...especially you, Inuyasha...I don't, I don't know..."

I couldn't finish that sentence...Shippo then jumps onto my lap, and hugs me around the middle:

"Don't be scared, Coraline! Nothing's gonna happen to us, or to you!"

"The squirt's right."

I look up at Inuyasha, my eyes a bit watery from stress, and he says to me with a gentle look in his amber eyes,

"Besides, as far as we know, only you and I can travel through the well back and forth between our eras, so how's Trinity gonna be able to hurt anyone here when they can't _get here?_ (Small smile) You've got nothin' to worry about, Coraline. We're safe, and if I have to, I'll be there in your era to protect you if those bastards try anything."

"...Inuyasha..."

I feel myself smile a bit back, touched by his words:

"...Thank you. And you're right; I'm just making myself sick with paranoia worrying over a threat that isn't even a threat yet. There's no way Trinity will ever come to this era..."

 _At least, I'm gonna keep crossing my fingers that it remains impossible for them to try..._

Next Day, No POV

"What?! A girl took the jewel shard? Who was it? Come on, answer me!"

As Inuyasha and the others set off down the forest path, they come across the same village that the demon slayer was in yesterday, and learn about the jewel shard that was here, but wasn't anymore.

"Oh no, look, another demon!"

"Call for the slayers!"

Unfortunately, Inuyasha's information obtaining strategy was on the aggressive side, so as two men begin to panic at his arrival, he held another up my his kimono, and he nervously shouts,

"A giant centipede!"

"I am not a centipede!" Coraline replies to Inuyasha,

"That's not what he meant! I believe he means a demon that attacked here yesterday."

"The maiden is right!"

Once the misunderstanding and confusion was cleared up, Inuyasha and the others would get the full story:

"Demon Slayers, you say?" Coraline was intrigued:

"Huh, interesting. So people can actually make a profession out of slaying demons."

Miroku then asks,

"So this demon slayer has collected the jewel shard as way of payment, you say?"

"Aye. She said that this, 'Shikon-something' or other jewel originated from her home village in the first place."

That caught everyone's attention, and then Miroku would ask,

"Inuyasha, have you heard of the jewel's origins?"

"Not at all...When I learned of the Sacred Jewel of the Four Souls, Kikyō had held it in her protection. I had never given any thought to where the jewel came from, or how it was created..."

Meanwhile, in another, more isolated village...

Surrounded by a fence made from tall logs, was a place that our demon slayer from before would call home. The gate opens, and she enters, with one of the women villagers greeting her:

"Hello, Sango. Welcome home."

"Thank you." One man asks,

"What was your prey?"

Sango opens her bundle, revealing parts of the centipede demon she slew:

"A giant centipede. I didn't bring much except some hide and legs. We can use it to make some armor."

Suddenly, a cat demon, yellow furred with black paws and ears, with red-pink eyes that had black pupils, and two tails that had a few stripes on each one, came bounding over to Sango:

"Haha, hello Kilala. I hope you've been a good kitty."

Kilala rubs her head on Sango's neck and shoulder affectionately...Then came the call of a young boy:

"Welcome home, Sango!"

She looks up and smiles before returning the greeting:

"Hello, my dear brother."

The boy was wearing a short blue kimono with a simple black belt, white wrist and ankle gauze bands, had short hair tied back into a small ponytail, and big brown eyes.

"Father says to-er, the lord, wishes to see you."

We move to the big house, where Sango regales to her father, the lord of the village, about her success in slaying the centipede demon, and obtaining another shard of the Shikon-no-Tama:

"I see. So you managed to bring home a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama? Well done, Sango."

Sango's father places the shard on a small shrine, and goes into prayer, as a way to help ward the malevolent power the shard still carries...Sango then asks,

"Tell me, father: Will prayers help suppress the evil within the shard?"

"...It is unlikely."

"I didn't think so."

"Fifty years pass, the jewel was supposingly given to a young priestess with unusual powers for purification. But in the end, even that maiden became embroiled in a fight over the jewel, and paid for it with her life."

He turns to Sango and adds,

"Until we are able to find someone to with the power to purify the jewel, all we can do is continue to find the shards, and keep a close watch over them."

Sango goes into thought, as she gazes at the pedestal again:

 _The power to purify the jewel..._

She's then seen stretching the muscles in her arms back outside, as her father informs her,

"Rest yourself, Sango. We'll be needing you again in a short time."

"Yes, father."

As she walks off, the lord then turns to his son:

"Kohaku, you to must prepare for battle."

"Who, uh, me?"

"Yes, you are eleven now. Plenty old enough to go into battle."

"Mm...mhm..."

We jump to the back of the big house, where Kohaku is practicing his targeting with his kusarigama (a sickle made from a demon bone on a metal chain). He then asks his sister (who was laying nearby with Kilala),

"Hey, um, Sango?"

"Yes?"

(Slash)

He successfully breaks all of the clay targets on the poles before asking his question:

"Do demons breathe fire and toxins as they say?"

"Sometimes."

"(Dismayed sigh) Then it's true..." Sensing that her brother was troubled, Sango comes up beside him and asks,

"Kohaku, what's wrong? Are you scared?" He tries to defend himself:

"No, I never said I was scared," but the sigh he expelled afterward said it all...Sango pats Kohaku's back and says reassuringly,

"You'll be fine. We slay such things as snakes, spiders and other types of large beasts. As father says, the most frightening demon is one that masquerades as a human being."

Her expression grows more serious as she adds,

"He says that if that type of demon comes to possess the jewel, then it's trouble."

Though still a bit nervous, Kohaku nods, understanding the seriousness of the situation...

Time Skip

Soon enough, Sango, Kohaku, their father and two other slayers leave for an unknown castle, to assist a lord who had called upon them:

"You have done us well to come to our aid, slayers."

"Sir."

"We have been plagued with nightly visits from a giant spider, which has devoured several of our people. Can you put a stop to it?"

"Fear not, sir. I have brought along my best people to serve you."

"Oh?" The lord glances at Sango and Kohaku and says,

"Perhaps they are skilled, but I see that you have brought along a girl, and even a young child."

"Yes, my lord. They are my son and daughter, and the finest slayers in my village. Witness their skills for yourself, if you would."

Sango side-glances at Kohaku and says,

"Hear that, Kohaku? Now do your best."

"Mhm..."

Problem was, Kohaku's nerves have returned, and he was trembling slightly:

 _...Father tells a lie..._

"Hm?"

He then turns to the stormy skies, as the atmosphere begins to grow more dark...Two guards speak up:

"My lord, it approaches..."

"Go forth, demon slayers!" Sango's father nods:

"Aye. Move out!"

As they all spread out, the clouds begin to swirl, and out from the sky, sprang the giant spider demon!

(Crash)

This arachnid was indeed ginormous (bigger than some of the spider demons that have been seen previously), with dark-green hair, red-orange eyes with black pupils, a large jaw with huge horns and pincers, and eight long legs that also had horns at the tips!

As the spider demon continued its menacing roar, we quickly zoom inside the castle, where the son of the lord was speaking with one of the elder vassals:

"So the demon has arrived, I gather?"

"Yes, my lord. I fear that it's the same demon that prolongs your illness. But a number of demon slayers have been called, and tonight, we hope to see the last of the beast! Then I can only pray for your speedy recovery."

The young lord, who had long, black hair, dark-brown eyes, and a handsome complexion (despite looking a bit pale from his current illness), became curious of the news regarding the slayers:

"...Demon Slayers?"

Meanwhile, back outside, the giant arachnid began its assault, shooting spider silk from its mouth:

(Shooooommmmmm...)

"Surround it!"

As each slayer splits into a different direction, trying to box in the demon, Kohaku becomes entangled by the silk, and was tossed into the air:

"Aaaahhh!"

One of the slayers notices, and rushes to help:

"Kohaku!"

(Slash, slash)

Using his axes, the slayer cuts Kohaku free, and they both land safely on the ground:

"Take a deep breath."

"Uh-huh."

At the same time, another slayer uses their long mace to rip and tear through the demon's abdomen, causing it to trip on itself, and allowing Sango's father to pin it by its upper jaw:

"It's done! I have it!"

Sango went in for the kill:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...SLASH)

The boomerang cuts right down the middle of the arachnid, killing it instantly!

Kohaku and the other slayer comment on her skill:

"Sango is incredible!"

"They claim that she is the best in the village."

The guards of the castle were certainly impressed:

"Ah...!"

"She brought the demon down in one sweep!"

With the danger passed, the slayers went to work on the corpse:

"Alright, let's finish this up!"

"Off with his head!"

Kohaku decided to get in on the action:

"This is where I come in..."

...Suddenly, a string of white comes shooting onto Kohaku's neck, and he slows his jog into a stop...

The other slayers were too busy hacking away at the hide and bone of the demon corpse, to notice something was amiss with one of their own:

"For a demon so large, it was easy bringing it down..."

Yet, Sango senses something off:

"It was too easy...There's something about this spider that rings false..."

And before anyone could react:

(SLASH, SLASH, TOK)

"AGH!" GAH!" "AAAGH, UHH..."

All three male slayers are killed in cold blood...!

...A stunned Sango turns around to the source of the senseless slaughter, and felt her own blood turn to ice, when it's revealed to be her own brother, Kohaku!

"...Huh..."

"...Why...Kohaku, why did you slay father and the others?!"

...He says nothing, and when he looks up, we see that his eyes no longer had pupils, indicating that he was not in his right mind...

(Dash)

He then begins charging at Sango:

"No, don't Kohaku!"

(Slice)

"Ngh!"

He cuts Sango's filter mask off, and as his weapon returns to his hand, Sango falls to her knees, before asking in soft disbelief,

"Have, you forgotten who I am?"

The guards were just as confused:

"What's going on? Halt, lad!"

"Stop this madness!"

"...Let him continue."

The guards turn to their lord shocked, as he adds in a half amused, half sadistic tone,

"It should prove to be entertaining..."

Kohaku throws his kusarigama at Sango again, who manages to block it with her sword, tossing it aside. But, that doesn't stop him from continuing the assault with his own sword:

(Clang)

During their stalemate, Sango asks him in a shout,

"Why do you do this, Kohaku?!"

Again, he does not answer...But, Sango then notices the white string on his neck:

 _A web...A spider's web!_

She traces the source back, and it's revealed to be the lord himself!

"He's the one..."

(Clang, kick)

Sango knocks Kohaku aside, before grabbing Hiraikotsu, hell-bent on attacking the lord:

"You did this to him! You're finished!"

Not understanding what was going on, the guards ready to defend their lord...Said deceitful man then says,

"The siblings have taken leave of their senses...Slay them!"

Sango manages to knock away four of the guards, but just before she could continue her charge:

(TOK)

"RGH!"

...The blade of kusarigama hits dead-on in her back!

As she slowed her footing to a stop, she turns around, seeing Kohaku, who drops to his knees, now fully aware of what was going on...He takes off his filter mask, and looks at Sango with wide eyes:

"Sango, what have I done?...!"

"...Kohaku..."

He immediately sprang from the ground, tears of agony in his eyes:

"NOOO! SANGO!"

(Twok...TOK)

"NGH...hhh..."

Sango watches with wider eyes, as her brother is then taken down by several arrows!

The lord then says,

"Take aim and fire your arrows at the crazed siblings."

As the guards ready to fire again, Sango crawls to her brother:

"...Kohaku..." He tearfully replies,

"Help me, Sango...I'm so afraid..."

"Do not worry. I am, right here with yo-"

(TOK)

"UH!"

The arrows are released, hitting Sango's back, stealing the last of her strength:

(...Thud...)

The lord looks at the two sibling slayers with a cruel smile:

"A deathbed truce between siblings, how sweet-"

(SLASH)

"GUH!"

The lord is then killed, by none-other than his own son, sword in hand!

"My lord...!"

"My lord, you have slayed your father!"

"This man is not my father. See for yourselves..."

...Looking at the shadow of the dead lord, we see spider legs spring out from the back!

"Some kind of beast!"

"It's a demon!"

(Tok)

The young lord then stabs the shadow, ending the existence of said demon, while commenting monotonously,

"I thought for some time that father had been acting strangely. Clearly, he was possessed by the demon. (Looks up) It's a shame that these slayers were sacrificed...Bury them in the corner of the garden."

"Yes, my lord..."

Meanwhile, on route to the Demon Slayer Village...

"We must be getting close. It's hard to believe that no one could tell us where the demon slayers were from."

Coraline replies to Miroku,

"Well, at least we know it's somewhere in the mountains. I think the reason the information is so fragmented is that the demon slayers wish to better protect themselves...Given their profession, it wouldn't be wrong to say that the slayers would have plenty of enemies that were demons..."

Inuyasha (with Shippo on his shoulder) turns to the two and replies,

"Coraline's right, so let's not complain about it and just find the village."

As they continue on, Shippo then asks,

"Inuyasha, do you plan on stealing the Shikon-no-Tama fragments from the village?"

"Yeah, what do you think?"

Miroku comments,

"Let's just hope they don't slay us in the process." Coraline says back,

"As long as we don't give them any reason to, I'm sure things will go okay."

 _I can't believe there's actually a chance to learn about the history about the Shikon-no-Tama. To think, it originates from a village of demon slayers..._

 _And I'm sure Inuyasha is just as interested as I am..._

(Whoosh...)

Suddenly, the wind began picking up, and everyone stops, sensing something off:

"This wind is strange...I don't like it..."

Coraline's eyes glow, and she gasps, seeing hundreds of Auras:

"There's a large cloud coming overhead...And the Aura, no, _Auras_ , are especially dark-ridden!"

Eventually, everyone can see it:

"Owah!"

"A horde of demons!"

Coraline then says in a worried yet confused tone,

"There's gotta be hundreds of them!...But, where are they heading to? And why so many at once?"

Miroku agrees that something's not right:

"She's right, their very presence is making me ill..." As Shippo whimpers, Inuyasha says with a growl,

"I smell death. These demons are charging to attack!"

As he begins following the horde, Miroku says to Coraline,

"We should follow them."

"Don't have to tell me twice," and they rush after them...

Scene Shift: The Unknown Castle  


"The demon slayers were still so young..."

"(Sigh) The poor things..."

As two guards pass the gravesites of the slaughtered demon slayers...suddenly:

(Crack)

A hand bursts out on one, and crawling out of the dirt, was Sango, who was somehow still alive!

"Rgh...rrrh..."

As she drags herself out, she says,

"I'm, alive...I will not die!"

The young lord then slides open a door to the gardens, and is surprised to see Sango:

"The woman demon slayer...She still has life..."

And the two are left staring at one another, neither one sure of how to approach this new development...

Scene Shift: The Demon Slayer Village  


At the same time Sango barely holds onto life, her village was under a mass attack from the horde of demons...Watching from a far cliffside, was Naraku, once again cloaked in the baboon fur...

"(Evil chuckle)"

(Leap)

He then jumps downward into the village, the inside erupting in chaos, with fires ablaze, and demons slaughtering the villagers and slayers!

(Ping...)

Inside the big house, were five shards of the Shikon-no-Tama, including the one Sango brought back only hours ago...

However, several demons were already surrounding the fragments, yet have not made any moves to make off with them, too distracted by eachother...

That, was when Naraku entered:

"...It would seem you have avenged your long-harboured grudge against the slayers..."

He moves to stand in front of the shards:

"And did I not tell you that the demon slayers were not to be found at this fortress? Will you attack me as a form of rebuke?"

The demons merely snarl and hiss at him, which served to amuse Naraku further...The demons then try to attack him, but:

(Pow)

This proved to be a mistake, for similar to the events of Onigumo's demise and _his_ creation, Naraku absorbs the demons for his own strength!

"Yes...That feels much better. Heheheheheh..."

Time Skip

Come the next morning, Inuyasha and the others had finally reached the Village of the Demon Slayers...

...Or at least, what would be left of it...

"The village..."

"It's burned..."

"So the demons from last might must have come here..." Inuyasha leads the charge:

"Quickly!"

"Right behind you!"

When they got inside, everyone could see the damage was much worse then they anticipated:

Carnage everywhere, both human and demon, along with broken homes, scattered weapons (only some still usable), and small fires still ablaze...!

Coraline would be the first to comment:

"This...This is horrifying. Like something out of a nightmare..." Miroku comments,

"The villagers must have battled with the demons." Inuyasha grimly concludes,

"There's no mistaking it: This is the very same village of the demon slayers we were seeking..."

Coraline looks around, before cursing under her breath...

"What is it, Coraline?"

"The jewel shards...If any were here, they're gone now." Miroku adds,

"Someone must've stolen them." Shippo exclaims,

"Maybe if we hurry, we can catch up with them!" Inuyasha replies to Shippo,

"We'll think about that after we properly lay these people to rest. They deserve that, at least." Miroku agrees:

"Inuyasha's right."

Suddenly, Coraline picks up on a roar:

"(Narrows eyes) There's something here still..."

Inuyasha gets his claws ready, and out from behind a hut that was still in one piece, came a giant cat demon, who had a colour scheme _very familiar_ to a smaller demon from before...

Inuyasha brandishes out Tessaiga:

"One surviving demon..."

Coraline touches the hilt of her combat knife, ready to pull it out if needing to...As the cat demon growls at the new arrivals, a familiar voice suddenly greets one in particular:

"Lord Inuyasha, is that really you?"

"Huh?" Coraline then remembers something about that voice:

"That voice...is that...?"

"Down, Kilala. These people are not our enemies."

Said identified demon drops the head in her jaws, before the flames on its paws shoot up and around her body, and she transforms back into her smaller form!  
Inuyasha and Coraline were surprised:

"Huh...?"

"Wow...She can transform..."

As Kilala scratches her face, out jumped Myoga the Flea, who then hops onto Inuyasha's nose:

"How I longed for this nose..."

(Slap)

"Still annoying..." Coraline greets the flea demon:

"Myoga, it's been awhile. What are you doing here?" Miroku asks Shippo,

"You know this flea?"

"He's Inuyasha's vassal. Well, sort-of..."

(Scoop, scoop...)

As Miroku begins digging some graves, Myoga confirms the location:

"Precisely. This is the secret village of the demon slayers. For generations, the people of this village have trained and worked hard to dispose of demons."

Inuyasha drags another dead body onto one of the long mats:

"It would make sense then that they were despised by the demons."

"It is true...though it is strange that they chose this time to attack."

"Huh?"

"A number of their warriors were summoned to a distant castle, and the village was left with few to protect it. I cannot help but wonder if those who had traveled to the castle are indeed safe."

Speaking of said castle...

The young lord had Sango treated for her wounds, and was now sitting in front of her, as she laid on a futon:

"I am relieved. At least you have survived." The elder vassal notices her lack of response:

"Slayer! Show the master respect with a response!"

"Stop. That's enough."

"My lord..."

"You said your name was Sango. My dear girl, you have my deepest apologies. You lost your family, and fellow villagers."

Sango remains silent, but tilts her head up on that last remorseful remark:

 _I don't understand. How could this have happened?_

"Young lord."

Suddenly, coming out from the trees, was Naraku:

"Naraku. Yes?"

"As you commanded, I rushed to the village to notify them of this, terrible development...But, the village had already been, annihilated."

That caught Sango's attention...

Back at the Village

Coraline began placing flowers on the graves, a morbid look on her face:

 _...So much death..._

Miroku and Inuyasha were standing near, the former remarking while praying for the souls of the dead,

"It's a shame. I hoped to speak to someone about the Shikon-no-Tama..."

Inuyasha then turns to Myoga, who was sitting on his shoulder:

"Talk to me, Myoga. You must know something."

"Uh, do I know something? About the Shikon-no-Tama?"

Coraline had since finished, and was now standing with Inuyasha:

"Myoga, isn't that why you came as we did? To find out more about the jewel's origins and history?"

"Yes. It's been troubling me for a great while now. I needed to know more about the history of the jewel. After all, everyone who has come across the jewel has suffered great misfortune. I followed the rumors of the jewel and found myself here in this village. However, there is still one thing that disturbs me: During my journey, a white baboon continually slipped in and out of my sight."

That caught Inuyasha's attention instantly:

"A white baboon?!"

"Yes."

 _It's Naraku...He's close by..._

Back at the Castle  


"Tell me everything you saw."

"The village of the slayers...Their slain bodies were countless, and the half-demon that attacked them, his name is Inuyasha. Inuyasha seeks the power of the Shikon-no-Tama to become a full-fledged demon."

"The Shikon-no-Tama?"

"He must've believed he would find the shards at the village, and thus attacked it."

(Flap)

Suddenly, Sango, wrapped in bandages around her torso and arm, came out from behind the door:

"Sango..."

"Return my weapon...rgh...and my armor...I shall avenge my village, gh... _and destroy this Inuyasha who has slain my kin!_ "


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: Naraku's Insidious Plot**

Shortly after receiving the 'news' regarding the fate of her village and its people, Sango set out from the young lord's castle, with Naraku guiding her:

"We cannot travel any further by horse."

After Naraku ties off the twin horses to a tree, he looks over at Sango, dressed in her armored bodysuit and weapon in hand, resting nearby...

"...Is Sango dead?"

As he turns to walk away, Sango's eyes snap awake, before replying to Naraku with a fighter's will,

"I will not die! I will not die until I _kill_ Inuyasha!"

"Hmm, good. But are you in any condition for a decent battle?"

Gritting her teeth a bit from her injuries, Sango lifts herself up (using Hiraikotsu) from the ground:

"Slaying demons...is my sole duty in life..."

Flashback, a few hours earlier...

 _Sango is readying herself before setting out to hunt down Inuyasha..._

 _"I assume you cannot be deterred?"_

 _She says nothing in return, only slipping her sword under her belt..._

 _"Very well. Then I shall send Naraku with you. He is my advisor and well-reverse in the ways of demons. His knowledge will prove useful. When your mission is complete, here upon return to me."_

 _Sango glares a bit at the lord, but that does not faze him:_

 _"You have lost all of your family and your fellow villagers. I am much saddened for you and your plight."_

End of Flashback

As they continued to move up the mountain path, Sango stops to kneel on the ground, her exhaustion and pain taking a further toll on her being:

 _I will not return to this place. I do not have much time left..._

 _Please body, hold up a little longer. Hold fast until I can complete my final task!_

Meanwhile, at the Village of the Demon Slayers

Once everything was finished regarding the gravesites as well as cleaning up the carnage of the demons, Inuyasha (who was pulling a wagon of wrapped body parts) says to Myoga,

"So this the cave where the Shikon-no-Tama was created..."

"Yes. We are currently heading to the outskirts of the village, to the limestone cave. This village has actually served as a sort-of, factory."

Coraline asks,

"Factory, you say?"

"Yes. They made armor and weapons from the skins and bones of slain demons."

By this time, the gang had reached the said limestone cave:

"The villagers, threw all of the unused portions, into this limestone cavern."

Inuyasha turns the wagon around, and knocks the pile of demon parts into the cave, before pushing the wagon in with it...

(Crash...)

"This place is filled with a collection of demon remains. It is fabled that deep inside this particular limestone cave, lies the carcass of a gargantuan beast."

Coraline hmed, before asking,

"And yet, this where the Shikon-no-Tama formed, correct?"

"Yes, according to the local legend, at least..."

As they all looked into the dark of the mouth, Inuyasha says to the flea demon,

"Good work, Myoga."

"Thank you for the compliment, Master Inuyasha. Anything to help; I am more than just a parasite."

Inuyasha smirks and replies,

"Yeah, until the going gets rough, then your big talk about loyalty and courage dries up and you take off on me again."

"Master! How could you doubt my loyalty?!" Inuyasha replies sarcastically,

"Oh, you're right, how could I?" Miroku then asks,

"So, do you think that we should venture in?"

"Yeah, definitely. Let's go in." But as he begins walking in, Myoga suddenly shouts,

"Wait, hold on a minute, Master Inuyasha!"

"What now?"

(Block, whoosh)

"Gah!"

Inuyasha is then sent backwards by an invisible barrier! As he lifts himself up, Myoga explains:

"A strong barrier has been placed over the entrance of the cave, to prevent trespassers like us from casually wandering in and out."

"Be quicker with that kind of information next time, okay?!"

Back to the Mountain Path

As they continued onward to the Village of the Demon Slayers, Sango was using Hiraikotsu as a crutch, breathing heavily...

Her mind flashes back to the horror that caused her injuries, namely, the horror on her dear brother's face...

"Gh..."

She falls to her knees, her exhaustion getting to her again...Naraku turns around and asks,

"Are you in great pain, Sango?"

"(Pant, pant, pant) I am fine..."

"Poor thing. You couldn't die even if you want to, could you?" Naraku then holds out a familiar shard:

"Would you care to try this?" Sango rises to a half-stand, and replies in shock,

"But that's...a Shikon-no-Tama shard!"

As Naraku moves to kneel in front of Sango, she asks,

"But, how did you get a hold of it? Where did you get it from?"

"I've had it for a long time...I'm willing to lend it to you."

"To, to me?"

"I imagine you have come to believe that the Shikon-no-Tama is only used for evil, but it may be used for good as well..."

At the Same Time

"Hrrrraaaaahhh!"

(Clang, whoosh)

"Gyah, (thud) uh..."

"Inuyasha!"

The said half-demon tried to use Tessaiga to break the barrier, but was unsuccessful...

"Rgh, damn it..." Shippo asks,

"You think it may be hopeless?"

"Well I can't force my way in, and any villagers who may have known how to get passed the barrier are now gone."

"Not all of them were killed."

"What?"

Miroku continues his thought:

"I remember: The best of their slayers were at some castle during the attack."

Myoga chimes in:

"Right. The demons decimated the village because it lacked their most talented slayers. Otherwise, their attack would've been easily thwarted."

Inuyasha turns to Miroku:

"Got it. So we have to find out where that castle is, and see if there are any surviving slayers who can tell us more about the secret of the Shikon-no-Tama. Hopefully, one of them also knows the magic trick for opening this stupid cave. Let's go, we don't have all day."

But just as everyone began setting off, Coraline (carrying Kilala) stops, sensing something strange from the cave:

 _...Hm..._

"Hurry up, Coraline, or we'll leave you behind!"

"Uh, right, coming!"

Small Time Skip

Soon enough, Inuyasha and the others were away from the village, and into the forest trying to track down the whereabouts of the castle...

"Myoga, a little help? Where exactly is this castle?"

"Hm? Don't tell me you're lost. Master, with all due respect, I assumed you knew where you were going."

"Listen, flea: You're the one whose suppose to know. I can't think of everything!"

"Why not follow your nose, Inuyasha? The castle can't be too far away. You're a demon; you should be able to sniff it out from here."

Inuyasha replies to Miroku,

"Yeah well, I can't get a whiff of anything from here..."

Suddenly, Kilala's ears twitch, and she goes on alert of something approaching:

"Hm? What is it, Kilala? Trouble?"

But before Coraline or anyone else could react:

(Whizzzzz...SPIIIIINNNN, CRASH)

A giant boomerang comes swinging through the trees, and everyone ducks only just in time to avoid it!

The weapon spins back, landing in the hands of its wielder: _Sango..._

As the dust settles, Sango asks,

"Are you Inuyasha? I have come to gain my revenge."

"Oh yeah, and who are you?"

Myoga recognizes her:

"Sango!"

Coraline concludes,

"So she's one of the demon slayers...!"

"Master Inuyasha, trust me: You mustn't fight her..."

Sango readies her weapon again:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, Spin...)

"You really gotta work on your timing..."

After muttering that to Myoga, Inuyasha quickly pulls out Tessaiga, blocking the boomerang, yet he was still shoved back by the impact!  
Miroku notices that as well:

"The Tessaiga was pushed back!" Coraline softly mutters,

"Oh no...Inuyasha..."

As Sango's weapon returns to her, Inuyasha asks her,

"Hey, what're you comin' after me for?"

"Silence! I am here to avenge my people!"

(Toss, Spin...)

Inuyasha leaps out of Hiraikotsu's path just in time, landing back on the ground while asking,

"Hey Myoga, what's she talkin' about anyway?" Said flea demon replies fearfully,

"I haven't the faintest idea. Here it comes again!"

(Crash)

"Guh!"

Inuyasha leaps away from the boomerang again, and Coraline says with a serious glare,

"We have to do something about that weapon!"

"I am ready. (Beads rattling) _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whooooooosssssssshhhhhhh...)

Miroku's Wind Tunnel manages to catch the Hiraikotsu!

"I got it!"

But that victory would be short-lived, when a swarm of the Insects of Hell came soaring in!

"Watch it, Miroku! It's Naraku's wasps! You'll get poisoned if you suck them in!"

Seeing no choice, Miroku stifles his Wind Tunnel, as he asks in a shout,

"W-What are they doing here?!" Inuyasha turns to see the insects:

"What?! No way!"

As Sango catches Hiraikotsu again on the rebound, we see Naraku on scene not too far behind her!

"Naraku..."

"Inuyasha, she will destroy you. So you may as well accept your fate." Inuyasha retorts heatedly,

"Keep dreaming, monkey! It's you that's going down!"

But Inuyasha would not charge in Naraku's direction for very long, as he leaps over Sango and her boomerang, but is caught by his ankle courtesy of a chain!

"I am your opponent, not him!"

"If you keep interfering like this, I'm gonna have to take care of you!"

"Just try it! Maybe my defenseless village was quick for you to slaughter, but I won't die so easily!"

On the sidelines, Shippo exclaims,

"Hey! That slayer believes Inuyasha attacked her village!" Coraline adds just as angry,

"Naraku must've tricked her somehow...Bastard..."

As Sango throws Hiraikotsu, Coraline notices a familiar glow coming from her back:

 _(Gasp) Oh god...She has a jewel shard embedded in her back!_

Inuyasha barely manages to block Hiraikotsu again with Tessaiga, before starting the charge at Sango:

"Now, before her weapon returns..."

But Sango had more than one method to use in this fight:

" _Poison Powder!_ "

(Boom, boom)

Inuyasha cringes back:

"Gh! A miasma..."

"It's easy to to overwhelm the delicate senses of an overgrown mongrel such as yourself."

"Damn, I can't get close..."

Naraku watches the battle, remarking,

"Ha. The slayer shall finish him off in no time. (Turn) Now what-Well, if it isn't the holy monk."

Miroku makes a stance against the demon:

"Naraku, prepare to die!"

"My apologies for not obliging you, but all I shall prepare to do, is gather the jewel shards."

"Whatever you've been scheming it is all over!"

Naraku pulls out a sword:

"Oh really?"

With that, Miroku and Naraku go staff to sword, and the former manages to rip off one of Naraku's hands!

"Ngah!"

(Crash)

Naraku barely dodges Miroku's staff, as his sword hand falls onto the dirt...He is now on the ground, and blocked from moving another step by a vengeful Miroku...

Coraline and Shippo are impressed:

"Whoa..."

"He did it!"

(Shoom...)

"Huh?"

Coraline turns around, and her eyes bulge out, seeing Naraku's hand shooting towards them!

"Coraline!"

She quickly grabs her combat knife, and tries to swipe at the hand, but misses, allowing it to snatch up the large shard of the Shikon-no-Tama from her neck!

"Nooo!"

Naraku reattaches the hand to his socket, mission completed:

"(Evil chuckle) This shard is not for the likes of you. Now that I possess it, there's no reason to linger."

Inuyasha comes to stand on Miroku's left:

"Not without a fight, Naraku!"

"I bid you farewell..."

Suddenly, a misty purple-black smoke begins to surround the demon, and Inuyasha shouts while he and Miroku race to stop him,

"You're not going anywhere, Naraku!"

Unfortunately, the smoke proved too much for either male to handle, allowing Naraku to flee, sending the following message:

" _Sango, I shall meet you at the castle. I trust that you shall not fail in killing Inuyasha before you return..._ "

Sango watches him go, wondering,

 _Can I really trust Naraku?_

(Mew)

"Huh?"

Sango turns around, and sees Kilala:

"Kilala! You're still alive!"

The cat demon leaps into Sango's welcome arms, both happy to see the other...Sango then asks Kilala in a whisper,

"Kilala, I want you to follow him. And if he does anything strange...kill him."

Kilala tenses with a growl, understanding the request, before leaping off, transforming into her full form to fly after Naraku...

"I will not let you escape!" "You're dead, Naraku!"

(...Spin...)

(Crash)

"Gah!"

Inuyasha is then blocked into a stop by Hiraikotsu...Sango calls to Inuyasha:

"Prepare to fight, Inuyasha...or die on the spot."

"Listen: Why don't you back off! I'm not interested!"

Sango does not heed his attitude, and charges towards him, her thoughts being,

 _I have to end him now, while I still have some life left in me!_

"Hygyahh!"

(Toss...)

Inuyasha jumps away from Hiraikotsu's path, before throwing his Tessaiga back:

"Will you cut it out?!"

(Tok, crash)

Sango is distracted by the upturn of dirt courtesy of the sword, that she misses catching her boomerang on the rebound:

"What? No!"

She tries to go after it, but stops as Inuyasha begins charging at her:

"Not so tough now, are you?"

She hops back, and throws out another bomb of poison:

" _Poison powder!_ "

...However:

"Rrrah!"

(SWIPE)

Inuyasha knocks off Sango's filter mask!

 _My poison-shielding mask!_

Lucky for Sango, she would not be left to fend for her life within the poisonous smog:

(Grab)

Inuyasha grasps her arm, and leaps out of the cloud! Sango was confused by his act of selflessness:

 _What's he doing? He-He isn't trying to save me, is he?_

 _That's impossible...!  
_

They land safely away from the poison smog, and Sango reaches for her blade:

 _He's the one that attacked my village!_

(STAB)

She drives the blade into Inuyasha's arm...! It was around this time that Coraline and Shippo came running towards them:

"Inuyasha! Gh!"

The half-demon of course, isn't fazed much by the blade, and only looks at Sango in annoyance:

"You idiot. Haven't you realized that maybe Naraku has been tricking you? (Takes sword) Give it up! I haven't even gotten started and you're covered in blood."

"What, do you mean?"

(...Drip...drip...)

Apparently, thanks to the shard of the jewel embedded in Sango, she didn't notice that her wounds re-opened during the fight:

"Uh! I, didn't realize I lost so much blood during the fight. I, haven't even felt any pain from my wounds."

Coraline moves to Inuyasha:

"Inuyasha, you're not hurt too bad, right?"

"I'll live."

Sango looks down at herself in disbelief, her mind going back to a time before this chaos had began...

Flashback

 _She and Kohaku are in a grassy field full of wild flowers, where butterflies were abundant..._

 _"Kohaku. Are you, afraid of becoming a demon slayer?"_

 _"N-No, of course not. I'm not afraid..."_

 _She sees the truth in his eyes and smiles gently:_

 _"Oh yeah? I'll let you in on a little secret: All of us are just a little bit afraid of fighting demons."_

 _"Huh? Even you, Sango?"_

 _"Yep. And not just me, but father and all of the others too. But we never fight alone; we're always with someone. We fight together side-by-side with our family and friends. The strength of our numbers gives us our courage..."_

 _Scene Shift: Her brother's death..._

 _"Help me, Sango...I'm so afraid..."_

End Flashback

"...Ko-haku...Uuhh..."

Sango passes out...Shippo asks,

"Is she dead?"

Coraline narrows her eyes in concern:

"...No. She's still alive, barely. (Kneels down) It seems that the shard of the jewel embedded in her back was providing her with extra endurance."

"No wonder: I could tell from the start that she was badly injured from the smell of her blood. Naraku must've used the jewel shard to manipulate her into fighting me to the death."

Coraline felt her fist clench:

 _...That wicked bastard's gonna pay for this.  
_

Meanwhile, Miroku was in pursuit of the insect horde that Naraku was hidden within:

"(Pant, pant) You can't lose me that easy! Huh?"

He suddenly stops, when his path was cut short, courtesy of a small chasm...Miroku then hears something coming from behind, and the next thing he knew, he was on Kilala's back!

"Gah! Uh...Thanks! I appreciate the ride!"

Kilala's speed soon prevailed, and she would catch up to the baboon-cloaked demon:

"Narakuuuuu!"

(WHACK)

Miroku knocks Naraku hard in his side with his staff...however:

(Turn, Shoooooom)

Naraku suddenly sends out some sort of tree root attack, the ends forming into clawed hands!

"What's this?!"

Kilala and Miroku were soon dodging each charging root, but were soon overwhelmed by the strength, and fell to the ground:

"Gh!"

"(Growl)"

Naraku calls from up above,

"Do not take me lightly, monk."

"Damn you, Naraku!"

Sango's POV, Flashback/Nightmare

 _"Hey, Sango!"_

 _I see, Kohaku, smiling and waving while approaching me in that flower field..._

 _"Sango!"_

 _Kohaku..._

 _Wait...The sky is darkening..._

 _"(Silent)"_

 _Uh! I can't speak!_

 _"Sango...!"_

 _Kohaku...he's, fading away, getting farther and farther...No!_

 _I have no voice, my body won't move...What's wrong with me?!_

End Flashback/Nightmare

 _I'm, being carried...by who?  
_

I open my eyes, and see, the half-demon, Inuyasha!

"(Gasp)"

He's not only carrying me, but also has Hiraikotsu!

"It's you!"

"So you're conscious?"

"Put me down now! What are you up to?"

"Be quiet."

Suddenly, another person speaks up, who I see as a young woman with long, red hair:

"There's no need to be hostile. We're going after Naraku so that we can get back the jewel shard he stole from us."

"He called you Sango, right? Well Sango, if you bug me anymore, I'll dump you off right here."

"What?!"

"Inuyasha! You're not helping the situation with being so rude! (Turns to me) Excuse him: He hasn't really opened to the whole 'helping others' concept quite yet. He acts tough, but he does have a good heart."

"Keh, you wish..."

I then hear another voice on my shoulder:

"Sango, Inuyasha and the rest of us didn't want to leave you behind. Your wounds are deep."

"You're Myoga." Inuyasha then says,

"Let's get this over with. You're not gonna get away this, Naraku!" I hear Coraline add,

"Damn right," and I feel something, odd:

(Pulse)

"Hm?"

I turn to see, that the red-haired girl's eyes, were glowing an ice blue!

"What the-"

"Hm? Oh, sorry. I guess you've never seen this before, have you? I'm an Aura Reader; human as they come, but with a stronger energy than usual Human Souls. I have the ability to see a person's Aura, or 'Energy of the Soul'."

"...I see."

 _So strange...I've never heard of an 'Aura Reader' before...This girl...I have this feeling, that she's not from this world..._

Back with Naraku, Miroku & Kilala, No POV  


Miroku was trying to wrap his head around this change in the situation:

"Is Naraku's appearance an illusion?"

"Illusion or not, it is time that you find out for yourself first hand!"

(Shoooommmm...)

Naraku sends the roots straight at Miroku and Kilala, who whack and claw/bite away to fend off the attack...However, the pieces of the roots soon regenerated!

"Gh! No matter how much I strike, it reverts back!"

He barely dodges another attack, only to have his ankle ensnared by a root hand:

"Uh!"

(STAB)

"GYH!"

Another root then shoots into Miroku's side!

 _I-It's, gonna pierce, through me!_

Luckily, Inuyasha comes swinging in with Tessaiga just in time:

"Hrrraaaaahh!"

(SLICE)

The root is cut in half, and Miroku lands on the ground safe. Inuyasha asks,

"You okay, Miroku? What the heck are ya doin'? You're such a useless Monk..."

Miroku knocks away the piece of root from his person, and calls back,

"Inuyasha, behind you!"

(Shoooom)

Inuyasha turns to hack away two more roots, and he and Miroku stand to face the demon responsible:

"So, you're still alive, Inuyasha?"

"Keh, you think a mere human can kill me? Think again!"

"The last time I looked, you were losing to a wounded slayer."

"Shut up! Admit it, Naraku: You're the one who turned that pack of demons onto the village and annihilated everyone!"

"All I did was mention to the demons that the village guard _happened to be thinned that day._ "

On the sidelines, as Coraline held her up, Sango's eyes widen at what she hears:

 _(Gasp) So it was him!_

"You were after the jewel shards in the village, weren't you?!" Naraku does not deny it:

"Not as slow as you look, Monk. (Smile) The villagers should've been prepared to defend such valuable bounty."

Inuyasha barks furiously,

"You could've just taken 'em! You didn't have to kill everybody!"

"Naraku..." Said demon turns to the girls:

"Sango..."

"The demons in the castle and the demon spider were all part of your trap, weren't they?!"

"Trap? Is that what you call my simple diversions? I thought the slayers of your village could handle any sort of demon. They literally, did not live up to their boasts."

That did it for Sango:

(Grasp)

"DAMN YOOOOUUU!"

(Ping...)

The jewel shard falls out from her back, and Sango collapses...

"Sango!"

At the same time Coraline came to her side, Naraku snatches up the shard he gave to Sango:

"Fool. No use in lending you the Shikon-no-Tama if all you do is choose to defy me..."

Sango grits her teeth, as she tries to prop herself on her elbows, despite Coraline's protest:

"Sango, careful, your injuries!"

"Gh, the jewel shard was suppressing my pain...NARAKU!"

"Heh, it would have been easier for you to die believing that Inuyasha was your sworn enemy, not me."

Sango could not respond, for her mind was once again flashing back to the events that only occurred the day before:

 _Gh...F-Father..._

 _Kohaku..._

Coraline looks hatefully up at the deceitful demon:

"Grr...Of all the low, dirty, sadistic..."

Inuyasha wasn't far off in his own opinion of Naraku:

"You really love to mess around with people's feelings, don'tcha, (Leap) ya creep!"

(Slash)

Naraku lunges backwards, dodging Tessaiga, and replies,

"Are you thinking about Kikyō when you say that?"

"You'll pay for that! Hrrraaaaahhh!"

(SLICE)

Inuyasha successfully beheads Naraku!

As Miroku comes to Inuyasha's side, the latter grumbles,

"Damn him...and good riddance..."

...Or was it? Miroku wasn't too sure:

"Is this really the Naraku I was pursuing? No...no, it can't be!" Even Inuyasha was becoming skeptical:

"This was too easy. He couldn't have had the power to have Kikyō and all those other people suffer so much."

Miroku then looks up, and flinches before shouting,

"Inuyasha, watch out!"

(Crash)

Inuyasha then dodges one of the root limbs of Naraku's body, that was still moving!

"His body is moving without his head on!"

Just as Shippo shouts out the fact, said head of Naraku begins to move as well:

"Hmph, I will not die so easily." Miroku is a bit spooked:

"I-Is that a talking head or am I imagining things?!"

With that, he and Inuyasha begin thrashing at the root appendages once more, but just like before, no matter how many time they sliced and hacked, the roots would regenerate!

"Damn, he just keeps reverting back..."

Sango was just as infuriated as Coraline, but for a somewhat different reason:

 _He's using the power of the Shikon-no-Tama. I can usually see jewel shards, so why didn't I notice it before?_

 _He's a demon and I didn't sense it at all. Even now, I can't sense any demon spirit in him..._

 _Wait a minute! That cannot be possible, so it must mean-_

"Inuyasha, that's not him! It's a puppet!"

"A puppet?"

"In demon puppetry, the master controls the puppet with something hidden deep inside the body. His heart; aim straight for the heart!"

Naraku's head laughs:

"You figured it out."

Coraline narrows her eyes:

"The heart, eh?"

She then uses her Aura Sight, and pinpoints the weak spot:

 _There! I see an object where his heart's suppose to be!_

"Got it..."

She then rises from the ground, much to Sango and Shippo's surprise:

"Huh?"

"Coraline, what're you doin'?"

Said redhead brandishes out her combat knife:

 _That bastard is done!_

"Naraku!"

The other two, Inuyasha and Miroku, watch as Coraline's body glows a bit:

"What the-" "Coraline, wait don't-"

"You're, finished!"

(SHOOM)

Coraline then throws her knife as hard as she could, it heading on a straight course for it's target, also wrapped in a blue glow:

(TOK)

It hits dead-on where the heart is, the body splitting apart and evaporating, while the head spins, shoots up into the air, before exploding in a cloud of dust and fur!

Everyone looks at the redhead with shock:

"She...did it..."

"Coraline..."

"How did she..."

Snapping out of his daze, Miroku walks over to where the body once was, and picks up a wooden object. Inuyasha asks,

"What is that?"

"This, is demon puppetry. The hair wrapped around inside belongs to Naraku."

"Well that was more than a doll we just fought. "

"It was a counterfeit Naraku. The real Naraku is probably somewhere safe while controlling this puppet."

Miroku then unhooks Coraline's combat knife from the wooden doll:

"I must say, Coraline's aim with a knife is pretty good. And that power..."

"Agh!" "Coraline!"

"Huh?" "Hm?"

Both men turn around, and their eyes widen, when they see Coraline on her knees, holding her head, as her body glows in a pulsing matter!

"Coraline!"

Inuyasha rushes over, Miroku not too far behind, and the former asks,

"What's happening?! What's wrong?" Shippo replies nervously,

"I-I dunno! One second she was fine, just exhausted, and all of a sudden, she just, fell to her knees like this!"

Looking more closely, you could see that Coraline had a look of pain on her face:

(Pulse...pulse...)

"Gggh...Must, resist...Gotta, get...under control..."

That served to confuse everyone even more:

"Resist?" "Get under control?"

"Is her Aura Power overwhelming her?"

After a few more minutes, the pulsing stops, and Coraline relaxes, though was breathing a bit more heavily:

"(Pant, pant, pant) D-Dammit..."

"Coraline?"

"Hm?"

She looks up, and sees Inuyasha and the others looking at her with concern:

"Are you okay?"

"What happened?"

Coraline nods weakly, and replies,

"I'm, okay...or I am now at least...But, my Aura Power...it, felt like, it was trying to take over me..."

"Take over you?"

Coraline looks to Miroku and nods:

"Yes. It can happen to Aura Readers occasionally. You see, because our Human Souls have a stronger energy concentration, it can sometimes overpower us, and unless we remember to suppress the power...the end result can be riddled with consequences I can't even begin to describe."

"...Has this ever happened to you before?"

"No. This is the first for me...My father, though...he's experienced it at least four times in his life before he fully trained himself. Heh, I wouldn't be surprised if something similar will occur for me."

Coraline then frowns and gains a morbid look:

"...This is likely the secondary reason why Trinity wants me: So they can use my power to every extent, and create chaos for their own nefarious purposes..."

That caused a look of worry to pass over Miroku and Shippo, while Inuyasha, was stuck between worry and anger:

 _So Trinity not only wants her for her Father's knowledge, but to use her as a weapon?_

 _...No...No, that's not gonna happen!_

"But I can't worry about that."

"Huh?"

Inuyasha snaps out of his thoughts, and looks to see Coraline gingerly raise herself to a stand, a calm smile on her face:

"Right now, we should focus on getting back to the village, and of course,"

(Grab)

"Getting you some medical help, Sango..."

Sango stares at the other with wonder, before nodding firmly...

Meanwhile, at the Hidden Castle...

(Slice...tok)

Another demon puppet doll mysteriously breaks into two...

The young lord from earlier, is sitting up, in better health than before, wearing a blue kimono and gray pants...

"My young lord. Neither the young girl nor Naraku have returned. Do you think they are slain?"

"...It is possible. Continue a strict guard around the castle."

"Yes, my lord."

As the lord stands up, he thinks to himself,

 _This castle and this body hide my true identity. I will use them both to great satisfaction, my dear_ _Kagewaki..._

Yes. As it turns out, the young lord is in fact Naraku himself!

He looks over at the destroyed demon puppet doll, and smirks, before walking out of the room, his true nature seen among the shadows of the light...


	29. Chapter 28

Hey all, new chapter at last!

So sorry for the longer than usual delay. I've been under some stress lately, and then of course the weather's been rather bitchy in regards to the temperature, making me want to lay down and do as little as possible.

But, I'm feeling better, and I'm gonna get back on track with the writing as best as I can.

Glad to see that the story is still popular; cracked into the 5000 mark in views! (Applause)

Keep it up, and enjoy the latest in this adventure!

* * *

 **Chapter 28: History of the Shikon-no-Tama Unearthed**

(Scrub, scrub...)

It's been a couple days since the battle with Naraku (or rather, his demon puppet form), and our group was still hanging around in the shambled demon slayer village.

Right now, Coraline was washing two of her tank-tops and a shirt, using some special biodegradable soap she brought in her satchel, and an old washtub she found in the village undamaged from the attack. Today, she was wearing green cargo pants, a white tank-top, her black combat boots, and had her hair in two long ponytails.

She wipes the sweat from her forehead, and quirks mentally,

 _I'm almost wishing I brought fabric spray..._

Meanwhile, Shippo was exploring the huts that were still in fair condition, marveling at the items he found:

"Woo-hoo! There's every weapon out of the sun here! All made from the hides and bones of demons!"

As he grabbed a bone sickle to examine, Myoga - who was also in the hut - replies,

"The people of this village used these arms to slay demons."

"They must've been pretty strong for humans!"

"Yes. That's why the demons had so much anger towards this place." Shippo forms a glare and says,

"Naraku took advantage of their hatred." Myoga also glares hard and adds,

"He used the demons to do his dirty work."

Back outside, Coraline rings and flaps out the last of her clothes, before laying them alongside Sango's clothing, to which the redhead kindly offered to wash:

"...Sango..."

Coraline felt her eyes dilate with sadness, as she laments over the current events that brought she and the others this far in their adventure, including the single living demon slayer's newly grim reality:

 _To think, this place once stood proud as a village of strong demon slayers..._

 _Now, thanks to Naraku's treacherous schemes, the entire population, save Sango, has been massacred._

 _...I feel so sorry for her..._

 _All of this, because of the damned Shikon-no-Tama. Not only was this place harbouring a few fragments, but it also carries the history of the jewel..._

 _I just hope that coming here was not all for not...aside from seeing more death..._

The redhead sighs, and begins walking over to another hut where Sango was currently resting, muttering bitterly,

"I'm starting to believe that damn jewel is nothing but an omen of death..."

At the same time Coraline made her way to see the resting demon slayer with her clothes, Miroku was sitting in front of a blazing fire, and sending prayers to the fallen...

But his work would soon be interrupted by Inuyasha (carrying more wood for the fire), who was getting increasingly impatient with all of this waiting around:

"Damn it, what's goin' on here, anyway? Hey, Miroku, is that Sango girl still in bed healing her wounds or what?"

Miroku sighs exasperatedly and replies,

"Yes, I believe she is."

"Well she can't sleep all day. Get her out of bed! She's the only one who knows where Naraku's hiding!"

Inuyasha tosses the logs into the blaze and adds,

"She said that she can't remember how to get back to the castle where Naraku's staying. But if we keep lookin' around, somethin's bound to jog her memory sooner or later."

"Must've been a spell. And now that it's worn off, she's forgotten everything about Naraku and his whereabouts."

"Who cares about a stupid spell or wounds?! We've been here ten days! I would've been up in three!"

Miroku smiles sadly and says,

"Not me. I would've been bed-ridden for at least a month. (Shifts to frown) Besides, Sango's not just suffering physically: She's lost her entire family and village. Her heart's been deeply wounded."

Inuyasha retorts with a slab of sarcasm,

"Ooo, a wounded heart? Well, the best cure for that is vengeance! And in order to get revenge, we have to find Naraku's castle! I'm gonna see if she remembers anything!"

(Toss, bonk)

"Agh!"

Miroku throws a log of wood at Inuyasha's head, and the latter snaps,

"Why'd you do that?!"

Miroku gets up and says with a calm smile,

"Leave her alone and let her rest for a while. I guarantee that will be the best medicine."

He then sees Coraline heading towards the hut where Sango was resting, and adds in an afterthought,

"Besides, I have a feeling that Coraline may be able to speak to her better than the two of us can...since she understands the feeling of losing a family member to murder before her very eyes..."

"Huh?"

Inuyasha turns to watch Coraline enter inside, before his eyes widen as he realizes,

 _...He's right. Coraline knows exactly how Sango feels._

 _For her, Bishop is what Naraku is to Sango..._

Coraline's POV

I walk into the entrance of the hut with Sango's clothes, as well as the first aid kit to do some more treatment of her wounds, but when I get inside...

"What? Sango?"

 _...She's gone. Where is she?_

I peek back outside, and turn my head left and right, trying to spot her:

"Hm...(Soft gasp)"

I found Sango, clad in a simple kimono, kneeling in front of the graves of the villagers:

 _...Oh dear. I had a feeling that she would end up there eventually..._

I put her clothes and the first aid kit down, before making my way over there...I could see that she was holding one of the flowers I placed on the graves, and Kilala was snuggling up to her side, trying to comfort her.

Smiling sadly, I reach Sango and Kilala, before kneeling on the right side of the former:

"Hey...Are you sure you should be up right now, Sango? Your injuries haven't fully healed yet."

"...The graves."

"Hm?"

"You buried all of the villagers, and you marked their graves."

"...Well, of course. It wouldn't have been right not to."

Sango goes back to staring at the flower, and I feel my heart clench at the sorrow radiating off her:

 _...There's no way I can tell her to cheer up. This is all still too raw for her; one day and night, she became an orphan..._

 _Much like I did, that night five years ago..._

I shiver from the unpleasant memories, before taking a deep breath, and turn to Sango:

"Listen, Sango...I'm not going to be one of those type of people to say that the pain will go away in time, because the truth is, it doesn't."

She turns to me confused, and I continue:

"I understand the anguish and sorrow you must be feeling, for I too lost a loved one, my father, thanks to a despicable man, and almost died the same day. It's been five years since that day, and I still feel pain and hatred. But, what I learned a long time ago, is that you can either let yourself wallow in self-pity and anger, or, you can take the pain, and reshape it into something you can use to help you keep going in life."

I place a gentle hand on her shoulder and add,

"Do not allow yourself to be swallowed by the darkness of your suffering, Sango. Mourn for as long as you have to, but remember that you have the power to take your pain, and make into a strength to carry on...I'm, sure that your loved ones would want that for you..."

Sango looks at me with wide eyes, and the next thing I knew, she was hugging me!

"Uh!"

I then feel her body shake, and she whispers tearfully,

"Th-Thank you...I, hope you're right..."

I feel myself smile sadly, before hugging back and whispering soothingly,

"You're welcome, Sango..."

After a couple minutes, she stops crying, and we separate, turning back to the graves...I then say to her,

"Perhaps, when your wounds are healed, maybe you could join up with us. Inuyasha and Miroku are good guys, once you get past their quirks, and Shippo's a real sweetheart...You don't have to answer right away, but, what do you think?"

She doesn't answer my question, instead replying,

"That's a Shikon-no-Tama shard around your neck, isn't it?"

"Hm? Oh, yes..."

I grab out the said shard, and say in a neutral tone,

"The Shikon-no-Tama shards...They really have a bad habit of fueling power to the likes of darkness. There's still a good number of shards out there, that I need to collect to restore the jewel."

"...Naraku will come after it, I'm positive. That's why I want to join you and your friends." I nod understandingly:

"To avenge your family and fellow villagers, correct?"

Sango rises gingerly to a stand and replies,

"Mm, I guess so. Besides, the Shikon-no-Tama-"

"Was born here, yes. That's what I've learned recently. The others and I originally came here in hopes of learning more of the jewel's history, including its origins."

 _...All who come in contact with the jewel seem to be granted with nothing but despair..._

 _What is it, and what is the original purpose for its existence?_

"(Mew)"

"Hm?"

I look down and see Kilala sitting in front of me. I smile a bit and pet her:

"Hey. You doin' alright there, Kilala?"

"...Alright. Call your friends."

"Huh?"

I turn confusingly to Sango, and she says,

"You helped bury the dead...and your words were blunt but comforting."

As she begins to walk slowly from the graves, she adds,

"So I will tell you, how the Shikon-no-Tama came to be."

Small Time Skip, No POV

Soon enough, everyone was back at the mysterious limestone cave from before, with Inuyasha carrying Sango on his back so that she didn't strain herself. Miroku then says,

"At long last, we will be able to enter the limestone cave, the birthplace of the Jewel of the Four Souls."

Inuyasha asks Sango,

"So, tell us, Sango: How do we get rid of this stupid cave barrier, anyway?" Myoga adds,

"We need to know what age old chant your villagers used to break the barrier and pass through safely."

"There isn't any incantation."

"Doh! Agh, of course there is! How else would you do it?!" Inuyasha glares at the flea demon:

"Myoga."

He then blows him off Sango's kimono sleeve, before she says,

"This place is a graveyard."

"Graveyard?"

"It's useless to just try and look for a way in. At first, my villagers had thought the demons had placed a curse to keep anyone from entering. But we eventually realized that it was _she_ , who keeps intruders out."

"And who is she?" Sango replies to Miroku,

"The person whom the Shikon-no-Tama was born. Her spirit is full of sadness and regret, and it prevents others from entering...That's what I sense. It will be easier to understand once we go in. Go on, step through the barrier."

"Uh..."

Inuyasha was a bit uncertain, but nonetheless stepped forward...

"Are you sure about this?"

"Countless people have been killed because of the Shikon-no-Tama's dark power. And it is the sympathy that you show for the victims that leads me to believe she will allow you to enter the cave."

Everyone then begins to slowly make their way in...

(Glow)

"Huh?" "Hm?"

The energy of the barrier surrounds their bodies for a minute, before fading away. Shippo comments,

"Hey, she's right. We got through."

As the group makes their way down the rocky path, Myoga says to himself excitedly,

"They did it! Now we can meet the person who gave birth to the Shikon-no-Tama! Enter, Myoga!"

(Hop)

(Bzzzzt)

"Gah!"

Unfortunately, Myoga was not granted passage, much to his confusion:

"Now why did that happen?"

Anyway, as our group moved downward, they could see that the floor of the cave carried hundreds of bones from passed demons...At the heart of the cave, stood a tall statue of sorts, with a monstrous demon grasping onto another figure...Inuyasha asks,

"Wh-What the heck is this?"

Sango explains, as she moves to stand on her own two feet (Coraline holding her steady):

"There was a time when ogres, dragons and other demons merged their bodies together to wage in battle. They fought against one powerful human."

As they knelt downward, Coraline narrowed her eyes a bit, examining the stone:

"...I see, a person, a woman, carved into the stalagmite."

Zooming in on said statue, we see the figure as a young woman with long hair, wearing battle armor of sorts, and a hole in her torso...Inuyasha points out,

"The demon has her in its jaws," followed my Miroku remarking,

"Ancient armor...Is that an ancient warrior?" Sango replies,

"It's a woman. A priestess that lived many centuries ago." Inuaysha comments,

"Look at all of the demons surrounding her...This priestess must have had immense spiritual power."

"The court nobles controlled the country at the time. Wars and famines dragged on and on, with countless perished. Demons devoured the dead, and the near-dead, and were able to grow in great numbers. Many priests and warriors set out to slay them, but only one priestess, known as Midoriko, was able to purify demon souls, and render them harmless...She was considered, the most powerful human of her time."

Coraline's eyes sparkled in curiousity:

"Fascinating...Midoriko was really so powerful?"

"Mhm. In her world, humans, demons, trees and even stones were all created through the Four Souls."

"The Four Souls..." _That's what Shikon translates to..._

Miroku explains further:

"I've come across that philosophy in my readings. The Four Souls were called, Aramitama, Nigimitama, Kushimitama, and Sakimitama. When they're combined, they create the Soul of one person, housed inside the heart. Aramitama is Courage, Nigimitama is Friendship, Kushimitama is Wisdom, and Sakimitama is Love..."

Miroku walks forward to look at the statue more closely and finishes his thoughts:

"When the Four Souls or Spirits work together in harmony, it is called Naohi, and the human heart is filled with goodness. Are you keeping up with me, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha's face gains a small blush of embarrassment and he replies,

"Eh, um, not really..."

Shippo wasn't fully understanding the philosophy either:

"(Dizzy) This is way too deep for me..."

Coraline helps Sango to sit down on a nearby boulder, and the latter says,

"When somebody does a bad deed, the Four Souls energizer evil, and the human loses their way. In other words..."

Miroku finishes for Sango:

"In other words, a Soul can turn good or bad, and this transformation can happen within a Human Soul, or a Demon Soul."

"Now you know why Midoriko was a formidable foe for the demons. Because she was able to purify their souls and make them powerless."

Inuyasha scoffs a bit and retorts,

"So what? She fought off an army of demons by turning them into a bunch of weaklings."

He then smirks a bit grimly and adds,

"Well her power didn't last very long, did it? I'd say she's a pretty useless priestess now."

"She hasn't lost the battle yet."

Coraline looks at Sango confusingly as she stated that remark:

 _...Hasn't lost yet? What does Sango mean?_

She turns back to the statue, and notices something else about the statue:

 _...Hang on: The priestess Midoriko...she has a hole in her chest, going all the way through her!_

"After battling for seven days and seven nights, a demon got its fangs into Midoriko. With her last ounce of energy, she reached deep within her own body for strength, and ceased the demon's soul. But in doing so, she forced out her own soul..."

Staring at the monument for a minute, Miroku then asks,

"Tell me, is the hole in her chest the spot where she forced out her own soul?"

"...What flew out of her, was in fact the Shikon-no-Tama. She wasn't able to purify the demon's soul; all she could do was cease and imprison it, along with herself."

Coraline reaches to the shard around her neck, as Sango adds,

"Although the flesh is gone, inside the Shikon-no-Tama, a battle still wages between Midoriko and the demons...That is why the fight is not over yet."

Coraline widens her eyes:

"A war between Souls inside of a jewel...incredible..." Inuaysha then says,

"Keh, it's not like this story complicates things. We just have to worry about Naraku hunting after the jewel shards."

He turns from the statue and adds with a smug smile,

"I'm gonna take the jewel, and use it to become a full-fledged demon, and then Midoriko can rest in peace...Uh?"

Inuyasha then notices that his body was beginning so glow a strange silvery white, and before he could react fully:

(Float, Shoot)

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

(Pow)

He was flying out of the cave, passed through the barrier, and shot a good distance to the ground away from the entrance!

(Crash...)

...Back inside the cave, Miroku comments,

"Looks like those who talk about the Shikon-no-Tama and selfish gain get thrown from the cave."

Shippo adds nervously from the monk's shoulder,

"That must be Midoriko's version of 'Sit'."

Time Skip

"Good, the clothes and blanket are dry now..."

As the sun began setting, casting a beautiful orange glow in the sky, Coraline took down the small amount of laundry she had hanging on a clothesline, while Myoga was being relayed by Shippo of the new information they had learned:

"A priestess inside of a stalagmite?! Oh my, tell me all of the juicy details, Shippo!"

"The priestess thrust the Shikon-no-Tama out of her body while the demon had her in its jaws, and the image of them is set in stone."

"Hmm...They were covered in the stalagmite. So then several centuries must have passed since the battle just as Sango said."

Later that night, as Inuyasha sat on the roof of the hut, everyone else was inside, listening to Sango speak more about her village:

"My villagers have worked as slayers for generation upon generations. That likely has something to do with Midoriko's influence. For centuries, the Shikon-no-Tama has passed to several humans and demons, and eventually returned here during my grandfather's time. The Shikon-no-Tama had come out of the demon he had slain. But my grandfather's life, along with many others, were sacrificed in the battle. The Shikon-no-Tama was removed from the demon, but it was horribly defiled, and the slayers did not possess the ability to handle it."

Miroku jumps in:

"So they put it in Kikyō's care..."

"Kikyō? Was she the priestess who had the ability to purify the Shikon-no-Tama?"

"Yes. But Naraku found out about her and killed her."

Sango goes into thought, before saying,

"When demons and evil humans possess it, the jewel becomes defiled. When a pure-hearted soul possesses it, the jewel transforms, and becomes pure."

As Coraline soothingly rubs a sleeping Shippo who's laying against her left leg, Miroku says,

"It's all very complicated: It's a jewel that possesses the power for good or evil, but I've never heard of an instance when it's been used for good. And as long as Naraku is after it, there will be more and more bloodshed. So we must, put an end to the Shikon-no-Tama's bad karma."

Miroku turns his head to the ceiling, and calls to Inuyasha:

"Inuyasha, you must relinquish all thoughts of using the Shikon-no-Tama to become a full demon."

Outside, Inuyasha just 'Fehs', and says in his mind,

 _First things first: I have to focus on destroying Naraku..._

Back inside, a quiet sigh emanates from Coraline and she says to the monk,

"There's no point in trying to persuade him, Miroku. Inuyasha is set in his ways, and we just have to accept his decision when it comes."

Miroku looks at her with surprise:

"...You actually support the idea of him becoming a full-fledged demon?" Coraline smiles calmly and replies,

"To be a good friend, means supporting that friend's decisions in life, no matter how reckless or irrational it may be to others...It's something my brothers Freeman and Besa taught me..."

"Your, brothers?"

Coraline turns to Sango and says with a small laugh,

"Well, we're not related by blood, of course, but that's how I see them, and they see me as their sister. We're, just that close, is all. I was born an only child, and after traveling here to Japan (in my time) when my father was murdered years ago, I was adopted by the Higurashi family."

"(Nod) I see..."

Coraline then lets out another breath of air, and shifts to a look of minor frustration:

"...But back to the topic at hand: The whole concept of the jewel defiled versus purified, and evil humans...I dunno if I can agree with the terms."

"What do you mean?"

Coraline looks to Miroku and answers,

"I mean that the idea of pure humans and evil humans sounds ludicrous to me. I've never once believed that anyone can be fully pure of heart. And labeling the jewel with terms like defiled and pure, makes it sound like a virgin before they're, 'deflowered' if you'll pardon my phrasing."

Sango's eyes widen a bit at Coraline's nonchalant tone in her language, and Miroku almost laughs at her word choice:

"Oh dear. I did not think you would take the terms so seriously."

"You say that like you don't."

"Huh?"

Coraline then gently moves Shippo off of her leg, before rising to a stand, and begins to walk towards the door, a rather grim look on her face:

"Everyone speaks of the jewel as something that can be saved from 'evil', but I think the Shikon-no-Tama is nothing more than an _omen for death_ , and there's nothing that can be done to change its path of 'bad karma'."

The monk and slayer gasp, and Coraline huffs a bit before walking away...

Inuyasha's POV

I heard every word from Coraline, and watch her leave the hut with wide eyes, shocked at what she said:

 _...An omen for death? Has her opinion really gotten that grim?_

 _And, what she said about me...She supports me..._

I see her heading out to the entrance, before getting up to follow her:

(Leap)

I land a couple feet away, and look from behind the broken entrance, seeing that she was sitting on the edge of the cliff path, looking up at the sky...

"...I know you're there, Inuyasha."

"Uh!" _Damn, how'd she know?_

She turns her head to me, a small smile on her face:

"I can sense you with my Aura Reader powers, remember?"

"...Right."

"Heh, it's okay. You can come sit beside me if you want..."

I hesitate for a moment, before deciding to accept her invitation...I plop down on her left, with one arm propped on my knee, and neither one of us says anything for a while...I then ask her,

"...Do you really support my decision?"

"...Why wouldn't I? It is what you want most in life, is it not? Achieving a strength that's been denied to you for a long time, and become someone you can be proud of being."

I look at her with surprise, before asking in a strangely timid tone,

"But, what if, I'm not the same afterwords? What if, when I become a full-fledged demon, I'm, not the person I am now?"

 _Wait, I'm actually worried about that?_

 _...(Sigh) I guess saying out loud makes it true..._

I then feel her turn towards me, and I see her looking at me with a mix of worry and curiousity:

"...Inuyasha...are you really worried about that? (Small smile) Because you shouldn't be."

"Huh?"

"I have faith in you, faith that you will be who you are, not matter if you're half-demon or otherwise."

"...You, have faith in me?"

She nods, and I feel my heart warm up a bit:

 _...No one, has ever said they had faith in me before..._

I couldn't help it; I had to crack a small smile back at this strange girl:

"...Thank you. I, appreciate that you support me."

"Heh, no problem."

We turn to look at the stars again, and after a few minutes, I turn to Coraline and open my mouth to ask another question:

"...I heard you talkin' about the jewel pretty bitterly earlier, and, something about humans never being truly pure of heart...Is that really what you believe in?"

I see her face shift to a frown:

"...Yes. The idea of being completely pure just seems impossible to me. We all do good and bad deeds here and there, even if they're minor. To be void of any darkness, does not sound right to me. If one is completely pure and innocent, how can they be prepared for the harshness that is life?"

"Hm...I see what you mean about that. Too much innocence can lead to ignorance...But what about that death omen bit?"

...I hear no answer come out of her...

"Coraline?"

"(Sigh) Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh of me to say. But it seems that whomever possesses the jewel will eventually meet their untimely end, and in a horrible way. Not only that, but battles are being waged because of the jewel, adding to this newly growing casualty list...The Shikon-no-Tama, to me, does not represent good or evil...Instead, it represents the grim reaper, just waiting to swing his scythe at his next victim..."

 _...Coraline..._

I feel my eyes soften a bit at the morbid redhead, and before I knew it, I placed an arm around her shoulders:

"H-Huh?"

She looks at me in surprise at my gesture, and asks with a soft stutter,

"I-Inuyasha, wh-what..."

I smirk a tad at her sudden timidness, and say a bit teasingly,

"Keh, didn't think I'd ever see you act shy..." I see her blush a bit in embarrassment before she says halfheartedly,

"...Shut up..."

I chuckle a bit, and say a bit more gently,

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing...It's cute..."

 _Whoa whoa whoa, what?! Did I seriously just say that?!_

"...You, think I'm cute?"

 _Crap, I did say that..._

"U-Um...yeah...I mean, why not?"

Her blush grows a bit more, and she smiles before saying softly,

"...Thanks. I've, never really been called cute before..."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I, don't really give beauty much thought. Just doesn't seem like an necessity; only makes you vain."

"Hm..."

We both go quiet after that, nothing else to really talk about. Instead, we just enjoy this moment of peace, and I pull her a bit closer to me, she cuddling back...

 _Wow...I haven't felt this content in a long time._

 _And, having Coraline here with me, just the two of us...it feels right._

But the quiet wouldn't last for too much longer, when I suddenly feel Coraline's muscles stiffen:

"Hm? What is it?"

"...I sense something...something off."

She turns her head back to the village, and I see her eyes glow for a second, before she widens them and says,

"The cave...the demon spirits...they're coming back!"

"What?!"

"We need to get over there, now!"

No POV, Half an Hour Earlier...

At the same time Inuyasha and Coraline were having a midnight chat, the others had fallen asleep in the hut...

Suddenly, Kilala stirs awake, sensing something amiss. She exits the hut, and turns towards the direction of the limestone cave...

Moving to the said cave, there was an odd ping sound, belonging to the shard of the Shikon-no-Tama that was once around Coraline's neck (She gave it to Miroku before she left the hut as she didn't want to look at it at the time)!

Turns out, the carrier was Kilala, who is now sitting in front of the statue depicting Midoriko and the demon she fought in her last battle.

(Scratch, scratch...)

(Hop)

Myoga then jumps out of Kilala's fur:

"Ah, good. Thank you, Kilala. We made good time coming here." He turns his attention to the priestess of stone:

"Midoriko, I too feel compassion towards humans. However, when one lives as long as I have and sees a great deal of death, and becomes hardened by it...Please forgive me. This afternoon, I was too eager in my pursuit for the truth. But since you've allowed me to pass through the barrier, I take it you understand?"

"(Mew)"

"Oh, sorry, sorry, Kilala. I'll be finished here soon."

Myoga then proceeds to drag the jewel shard he brought with him in a blue cloth, up to the statue itself...

(Hop)

"(Murmur) Damn arthritis...So many huge demons. A single priestess took on this many demons at once? Unbelievable; simply unbelievable. Numerous smaller demons merged together to form huge ones!...Hm? What's that in her armor? Ooh, I bet that's the hole where the Shikon-no-Tama was forced out. Yep, it must be, judging from the size..."

...Suddenly:

(Rumble...)

"Wh-What's going on?! Gah!"

The shaking causes Myoga to lose his grip on the cloth, and the jewel shard tumbles to the ground below...!

Kilala growls, knowing something is about to erupt...Myoga says to himself worriedly,

"Ooooh, I have a bad feeling about this!"

The rumbling pauses, before:

(POW)

A red-orange glow splits from the ground below, along with several orange orbs!

"Damn, it's the power of the Shikon-no-Tama! The demons who were completely subdued are trying to revive!"

The strange orbs then shoot straight into the statue, and the impact causes Myoga to fly into the air, before Kilala catches him!

The cat demon then faces the statue, and surrounds herself with fire, before transforming into her full demon form:

"(Roar)"

Meanwhile, back at the Hut

Miroku comes out, hearing and feeling the rumble:

"What was-"

"Miroku!"

"Huh?"

He then sees Inuyasha and Coraline come running towards him:

"Did you feel that too?"

"Yes. Something's wro-Oh, damn!" Miroku feels around his neck, and realizes something is missing:

"The jewel shard is gone!" Coraline's eyes narrow:

"I bet whatever's going on in Midoriko's cave has something to do with that."

"We have no time to lose!"

The three nod, but just as the men spring off, Coraline stops when Shippo comes out the hut and says to her,

"(Pant) Myoga is missing, Coraline. Do you know where he went?"

"No...I would've assumed he went with Inuyasha, but..." Shippo shakes his head:

"Not a chance! That little coward never sticks his nose into danger. He always hides when there's trouble. Myoga, where are you?!"

Back inside, Sango notices her companion was missing too:

"Where's Kilala?"

Coraline hms, before her eyes widen, and she curses loudly when she realizes,

"Shit! Myoga, he-"

Back to the Cave

(Crash, crash...)

Kilala was dodging the orbs as they tried to charge at her, while Myoga was trying to urge her to retreat:

"Kilala, run! Call Inuyasha and Miroku!"

But she ignored him, choosing to charge forward instead:

(Dash)

"What's the matter, Kilala? Oh, right! We have to get the jewel shard back!"

But just as Kilala leaped towards the fabled shard:

(Grip)

The spirit image of the monstrous demon suddenly sprang from the stone, and ensnared Kilala in a vice grip!

"(Rowl)"

"Kilala!"

The head of the demon would then come out, readying itself to attack...Myoga then realizes what's going on:

"Demon spirits! They're transforming into something foul!"

The demon spirit brings Kilala closer, and the cat demon lets out another frustrated howl...

"Hang on, Kilala! Please! Oooh, this isn't looking too good!"

And just when things were about to take a turn for the worst:

(Sheen...)

"Huh? That's...What?!"

The statue of Midoriko glows that familiar fushia pink, before her own spirit comes forth!

The demon focuses its attention on Midoriko, and the said priestess takes her sword, before bringing an energy wave attack down on the demon:

(POW)

"The priestess, Midoriko..."

But as the image fades, we see that 'Midoriko', was actually Inuyasha! Kilala lands on the ground safely, followed by Inuyasha, and the latter shouts,

"Hurry, Miroku!"

Said monk rushes over to where the Shikon-no-Tama shard fell, and takes it back:

"There! I shouldn't linger here with the jewel shard. I have to leave the cave!"

"Go!"

As Miroku rushes to exit the cave, Inuyasha puts his Tessaiga away and says to himself,

"Keh, now that's over with..."

He then walks over to Kilala, and begins searching her fur:

"I only know one creature on the face of this whole earth who would pull a stunt as stupid as this one..."

He then finds the cowering flea demon, who springs to a stand and says,

"Oh, Master Inuaysha! Ah, thank goodness nothing too serious has happened..."

Inuyasha does not buy the tone:

"Oh, cut the crap, will ya? Why'd ya drag the jewel shard to a place like this in the middle of the night?"

"I-I was asleep on Kilala's back, and before I knew it, she had taken me here!"

Kilala growls, not appreciative of Myoga's fib...

"You liar!"

"I-It's true! A-And when we got here, the demon spirits that still had some evil energy in them reacted and revived with the light from the Shikon-no-Tama!"

"I could'a told ya that would happen, ya idiot! Tryin' to smooth over the fact that you were nearly killed? Keh, I should'a never bothered in savin' you..."

"Uh, excuse me, Master Inuyasha, but I don't recall you actually saving me..."

"Use your little brain! Don't be so dumb!"

Inuyasha then snatches up Myoga, and proceeds to shake him while beginning his journey out of the cave, while the latter says,

"I'm not, being dumb! The priestess Midoriko saved me, not you!"

"Save your dreamin' for sleep!"

(Whack)

Myoga is then thrown into a stalactite, and floats to the ground...

As this went on, Kilala slowly moves towards the statue, and stares at the depicted Midoriko for a moment, before moving to curl up and rest below...

 _Almost as if, old companions had reunited for a moment of peace..._


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: The Lake of the Evil Water God**

"One would think that a large castle would be easy to seek out, but nooo, that would be too easy..."

Miroku adds after Coraline's sarcastic remark,

"(Sigh) Especially when you don't have any directions or landmarks to go by..."

It's been a few more days, and everyone (including Sango and Kilala) had left the demon slayer village, continuing the search for the Shikon-no-Tama shards and Naraku. But so far, no new leads on either have been discovered...Right now, they were overlooking several fields from atop a hill, trying to figure out where to go next, sending Shippo to get an ariel view...

Inuyasha asks Sango,

"Come on, you gotta be fully recovered by now. You wanna hunt down that Naraku creep too, right? So why don't you just join us for a while?"

"Hmph..." She nods slightly but remains silent...

"Well you could show some enthusiasm for my offer! We know a heck of alot more about Naraku than you do! Plus you're alone now. You got nothin' to lose with taggin' along with us."

Sango glares a bit at Inuyasha, but chose not to retort...Miroku then says,

"He's right. Let's take it one step at a time, and focus on gathering the jewel shards. We won't have to chase Naraku: If we keep collecting the shards, he'll eventually come to us."

He goes to kneel in front of Sango with gentleness in his serious eyes:

"I know you are hungry for revenge, but you must be patient."

"I see..."

"Please believe me. I understand how you feel."

"Thank you...but is it necessary, (Pinches his hand) to keep stroking my leg while you talk?"

Miroku laughs nervously...Coraline comments,

"I'm glad he at least had the decency to wait on his flirting until she was better..."

Inuyasha looks at the monk with a deadpan of disgust and says,

"Miroku, try to control yourself, will you?"

Coraline then moves to sit on the grass again, taking out her combat knife to look at while saying,

"Just be glad you're not like me when it comes to seeking vengeance, Sango."

"...And why's that?"

"(Grim Smile) 'Cause I'm already at my five-year waiting mark for Trinity and Bishop to show themselves."

The other three look at Coraline with surprise at how calmly she stated that...Sango asks,

"Who is Trinity, and Bishop?"

"Bishop is the name of my father's murderer, Trinity the organization to which Bishop belongs..."

"...I see."

Suddenly, Shippo (in balloon form) comes floating back to the group from his scouting. Coraline greets him:

"Ah, Shippo. So, what were you able to see?"

(Pop)

"There's a large lake just over that hill to the north. A huge shrine is right in the middle of it!"

"A shrine, is it? Interesting..."

Inuyasha's question:

"Is it Naraku's castle?"

Time Skip

The group makes their way down over the hill, and come across a small village. However, the fields were ridden with debris and excess water, and one could see that some trees around the area were ready to fall dead...

"Must have been a flood..." Coraline comments after Miroku,

"Yikes..."

(Bong...bong...)

"Hm?"

They turn to the left, and see a progression of villagers (one on each end holding a flag), with a palanquin being brought in the middle...  
The villagers murmur as the progression walks by,

"Behold, the human sacrifice..."

"Such a devastating flood this year..."

"I wonder who's child it is this time?"

Coraline's blood ran cold:

"A child sacrifice?!" Miroku was no more pleased than she was:

"(Glare) That is utterly barbaric!"

Zooming in on the progression, one of the men pleads to the village headman,

"Please reconsider, headman." He grimly replies,

"Why do you even ask? It is only natural that we give up our first-born children to the Water God to protect the village."

"What's so 'natural' about that?!"

He and the other men look up, and see Inuyasha standing on the back of the palanquin, arms folded and looking at them with a stern expression:

"This sacrifice is for your Water God? I'll bet he's just some hyped-up demon."

The headman cringes back, and Inuyasha concludes with a grim smile,

"A demon is taking advantage of his new-found strength from a jewel shard."

(Leap)

"Don't even try and hide anything from us."

"Who, who are you?"

"Never seen the likes of him before..."

"Look at his ears! Are you a demon?!" The headman regains his resolve and says to Inuyasha with a glare,

"Listen well: This is a peaceful village protected by a great Water God. Demons are not welcome here."

"Are you talkin' to me, old man?!"

"Stop it!"

(Bonk)

Miroku whacks Inuyasha on the head lightly with his staff, coming in to mediate:

"What are you doin', Miroku?" He places an arm in front of Inuyasha and says plainly,

"Our company is not hostile. Our mission is to travel around the country and assist those who are in need of help. (Lowers arm) We have heard of your misfortune. If you will allow me, I will exorcise your village."

One of the men asks,

"Are, are you really that powerful?" Another says,

"I think an exorcism would be an excellent idea..."

The headman however, heavily disagrees:

"Do not be so easily deceived, men. They are conniving imposters!"

"I beg of you, headman, at least hear what they have to say." But he remained stern:

"If we indulge the whim of shysters and we rely on their trickery only to raise the ire of the Water God, who knows what else might befall our village. How can I just define in an exorcism now when it's my son's turn to be sacrificed?"

He shakes his head:

"Gh! How can I risk all of the sacrifices made by the children before him?!"

...Coraline feels a stare, and turns to see a small body in a white robe peeking out from behind the curtain of the palanquin:

 _Is that the young lad who's to be sacrificed?_

 _...Odd. He's wearing a mask..._

As the child ducks back in, the headman says in finality,

"We must deliver the sacrifice before the sun sets. Hurry up; continue the procession."

And they men continue on...As they watched them go, Shippo comments with a frown,

"That guy with the moustache is weird. I don't trust him," followed by Inuyasha saying,

"I agree. He's actin' like he wants his son to be sacrificed," then Miroku noting,

"He was strangely upset with our interference..."

Inuyasha then says nonchalantly,

"Well, I guess we move on and let him dunk the kid."

Coraline protested to that quick:

"To heck with that plan! We're going to save the boy from this crazy fate! (Turn) You with me, Sango?"

"Mhm."

"Are you serious?!"

The girls look downward, and another boy pops up from a camouflage disguise of a straw cloak:

"Then follow me."

As he makes his way down one path, he calls back,

"Hey! You wanna be left behind?"

Inuyasha wonders,

"What's with him? Bossy kid..."

Small Time Skip

(Clatter)

Once they reached a clearing in the outskirt forest, the unknown boy (wearing a green kimono with light-green shorts, and had short, black hair in a small ponytail, and thick eyebrows) dumps out a collection of items to our group:

"You can have 'em. Take your pick."

Inuyasha comments,

"What is this garbage?" Miroku and Sango, however, saw differently:

"Oh~, there are some valuable articles here..."

"I've never seen such find silk before..."

"You done choosing? Good. Then consider yourselves hired."

"What do ya mean, hired?" The boy replies to Inuyasha,

"I heard you bragging to the villagers. Coming to people's aid is your mission. So I want you to live up to your reputation: You're working for me now to destroy the Water God."

Inuyasha leans into the boy's face...before he clonks his head with his fist!

"What'd you do that for?!"

But Inuyasha does not answer, and only proceeds to hit the boy's head multiple times...Coraline shouts,

"Inuyasha, cut it out! He's only a young lad!" He replies simply,

"He needs to be taught who's the boss around here." Shippo goes to the boy and whispers,

"Just apologize, even if you don't mean it. Inuyasha can be really childish sometimes..."

Evening, Lakeside

We now jump to a boat dock, the torches casting eerie shadows along the misty waters...Suddenly, a riverboat in the shape of a water serpent comes floating down, the child sacrifice looking at it with fear...

"The human sacrifice is taken to the shrine in a boat...So we'll follow the boat, and attack it when the Water God surfaces, and is about to devour the sacrifice. (Turn) Got that?"

In the tall grass, the boy is leading the group to save the child sacrifice...However, they were a bit distracted:

"These are stolen goods. I just know it!" Miroku replies to Inuyasha,

"Well, that's none of our concern..." Coraline sighs and says,

"Guys, we need to focus, and I say we should just leave this stuff behind."

"Hey! Are you paying attention?!" She focuses back on the boy:

"Yes, or at least I am. By the way, who's young child are you?"

The boy is taken aback by the question, and turns away before replying,

"My family is none of your business."

Coraline kneels down to his level and says with a knowing smile,

"Oh really? Because I'm fairly sure that you may be the real son of the headman, and not the other boy."

The boy flinches, his eyes bulging...Miroku then remarks,

"Now that you mention it, they got the same eyebrows and forehead," followed by Inuyasha adding,

"And the same attitude..."

"I'm assuming the boy to be sacrificed is your stand-in?" The boy reluctantly replies to Coraline,

"Yes...My name is Taromaru, and I'm the headman's heir." She states with a smile,

"My intuition hasn't failed me yet." Inuyasha then asks,

"Why are you so eager to do this?" Taromaru explains:

"The Water God started demanding human sacrifices from the village about half a year ago. There were heavy rains and flooding. The Water God said that in order to lift the curse, a human sacrifice was necessary. A child was selected when a white arrow landed on the roof of his home..."

Flashback

 _A grieving mother holds her young one close...The headman gives her a look of regret..._

"Father would always say,"

 _"Please bear the loss for the sake of our village."_

 _(Tok)_

"But when the arrow had landed on our roof, he told me to go and hide..."

End Flashback

Inuyasha concludes,

"So he found another child to take your place, meanwhile you're in hiding?"

Miroku sighs and remarks,

"What a stupid, selfish parent," and Inuaysha says with a deadpan,

"I agree with you there..." Coraline asks with a sympathetic frown,

"There's more to this, isn't there? I'm guessing that this lad is a dear friend of yours?"

"He's one of my best friends. We grew up together. There's no way I'm gonna let him take my place."

"Well, I hope you have a boat."

"Huh?"

Taromaru looks up, and sees Sango, dressed in her slayer gear:

"That demon has to be exterminated. I have a reputation to uphold. I shall take care of the Water God all by myself."

Inuyasha retorts,

"You're still recovering. Stop trying to act so tough, showoff. (Smirk) I bet you can't even lift that heavy weapon over your weapon yet."

" _Is that a challenge?_ "

Inuyasha rolls up a sleeve and replies,

"Bring it on, anytime!"

Coraline protests both their actions:

"Inuyasha, Sango!" Miroku holds up a hand with a nervous smile:

"Listen: We all received payment for our services. So, let's band together and finish the job."

"Miroku's right: We need teamwork, not internal conflict."

"Keh, tell that to her, not me. She wants to work alone all the time and doesn't want to join our team."

Sango just stares at them all, specifically at the half-dog demon...

Moving on, we now find Inuyasha and company setting sail in another riverboat (Sango riding on Kilala up front), determined to find the Water God and save Taromaru's friend...

"There it is...The Water God Shrine gate..." Shippo recognizes the structure:

"That's the shrine I saw this afternoon..."

It was indeed an impressive building, complete with statues depicting water serpents...

"The human sacrifice has entered..."

Up at the front door, stood two guards (who did not look human), side-stepping back and forth and on the lookout for any interlopers...

Taromaru ducks down:

"Gatekeepers. Hide." Inuyasha argues,

"Why should we hide?"

(Leap)

(Kick)

"You're in the way! (Kick) Hgh!"

(Punch, crash)

Inuaysha takes down the guards and the door in no time flat!

"Hurry! Don't just stand there! We're goin' in!" Taromaru was in awe:

"Is he ever strong..."

Meanwhile, Inside the Shrine...

"We brought the human sacrifice, master."

The Water God (A man dressed in purple robes, a pale-yellow face, large slanted eyes, thin lips and two black dots on his forehead) says to the young boy,

"...Come closer."

The boy bows, his breathing a bit shaky from fear...The Water God notices something off about the boy:

"Hmm, your hands are dirty and calloused from working out in the fields. This proves you are not the headman's son."

As the boy's body shakes even more (his secret found out), the Water God rises to his feet and asks in an angered tone,

"What is the meaning of this? How dare you try to deceive the Water God, boy!"

The boy calls out in a muffled (from the mask) and pleading tone,

"Please, oh mighty Water God. Please eat me as your sacrifice instead!"

(Shoom, grip)

"Ah!"

The Water God shoots an arm out, holding the boy up by his face:

"You have dishonoured me with your little ruse..."

"Ngh...Rgh..."

"I will tear you limb from limb,"

(Crack)

The mask breaks off!

"And send you back to the village, back in pieces with the next rain!"

(Rumble...)

He suddenly turns towards the door, sensing something amiss...Back outside the shrine-house:

(Kick)

"Agh!" "Rrrggh!"

Inuyasha and the others were on the move:

"You better get out of the way! Move it!"

One of the guards calls back,

"How dare you charge in here! This is a sacred house!"

"Aah, shut up!"

(Whack)

"Agh!"

Miroku and Sango knock down a few guards as well, and it's revealed that the shrine keepers...were not as they appeared:

(...Sizzz...)

"A crab!"

(...Splash...)

"All the guards are just a bunch of fish and crabs put under a spell!" Coraline narrows her eyes and says after Shippo,

"Then this adds to the proof that the Water God is using deception...Uh!"

One of the fake guards comes rushing over to she, Shippo and Taromaru, but Coraline was ready:

"Oh no you don't!"

(Block)

Coraline uses her arms to block the base of the incoming staff, before:

(Kick)

"Agh!"

"Hiiiya!"

(Punch)

She kicks him in the gut, causing him to drop his staff, before she punches him to the ground...!

"Wow! Nice one, Coraline!" "You're really strong, ma'am!"

"Thanks, Shippo, Taromaru. Come on, let's go!" _Thank you, Master Yoshi!_

They catch up, just as Inuyasha burst through the screen window:

"Rgh! Did I interrupt dinner?"

"(Muffled) M-Master Taromaru?"

Taromaru calls back to his friend:

"Suekichi!"

He goes to try and help Suekichi, but Inuyasha pulls him back:

"Calm down."

The Water God acknowledges Taromaru's presence:

"You're dressed like a dirty urchin, but you are the headman's son, aren't you?"

"That's right! Now that you got me, release Suekichi! I am the real human sacrifice!"

Inuyasha pulls Taromaru up to his level and asks incredulously,

"Why'd you hire us if you're just gonna throw yourself at 'im?!" He then focuses on the Water God with a smirk:

"The only thing strong about you, 'Water God', is your scent!"

He drops Taromaru and leaps forward to attack:

"You reek of demon!" He draws Tessaiga:

"Hrrraaaah!"

(Clang)

But, the 'Water God' blocks the incoming blade with a trident of sorts! Inuyasha is sent backwards, and the Tessaiga reverts back to its dormant form...

"The Tessaiga has been transformed back!"

As the trident glows a bit, the 'Water God' says with a mocking tone,

"A pity demon sword like yours is no match for the power of the Trident of Amakoi. You have committed a grave crime in defacing my shrine. You will pay for this with your lives."

He raises the trident a bit more, before tapping it hard on the ground:

(Wobble...)

A strange wave of energy begins to throb from the trident, like sound waves emanating from a cymbal...Suddenly:

(Whooooosh...)

Everyone cringes from the spectral wind that rose, and the scenery around them started to shift instantaneously!

(SPLASH)

Next thing they knew, everyone was being swept away by a monstrous wave!

Inuyasha flips back to an upward position, and looks to his left to see,

"Coraline!"

She was currently unconscious, yet managed to grab Taromaru, now holding him tight to her torso, while Shippo grabbed onto one of her calves...She somehow managed to hear Inuyasha, and woke up:

"Mm...(Gasp)"

"Coraline!"

If only he remembered to look behind him, because the next thing Inuyasha knew:

(Crash)

"UH!"

A large boulder knocked him in the back of his skull! Coraline called out to him:

"Inuyasha!"

But, he was sinking to the watery ground below...

"INUYASHA! Ahhh!"

Coraline continued to shoot through the water current, before meeting the end point of the enchantment...

(Pow)

"Gh!" "Uh!"

Coraline's POV

Somehow, I made it out of the water with Shippo and Taromaru...As I rose from the floor, coughing and sputtering, I see,

"Oh, damn!"

The 'Water God' was in front of us, and the glow around his body fades, before he begins to slowly approach us...

 _He must have redirected us back here so he can eat Taromaru...I need a plan, fast!_

I notice out of the corner of my eye, that Suekichi was reaching to grab a nearby fire post...before trying to attack the 'Water God'!

"Aaaaaah!"

But, the demon easily saw that move, and used his elastic arm to throw him to the ground...

"The boy's brave, I'll give him that. Now to use this chance..."

I rise to my knees, and quickly take out an arrow to fire:

"You're goin', down!"

(Twok)

The arrow flies, but the demon catches it! Unfortunately for him, that proved to be a mistake:

(Sheen...)

"AGH!"

The arrow shines a mix of pink and blue, and the demon falls back, his hand now a tendril of what it used to be...

"Impossible. How could this body succumb to a human arrow?"

I run to Suekichi, while Shippo slaps Taromaru's face to wake him up:

"Come on! Snap, out of it, will you?!"

"Mmm...huh?"

"Thank you for the distraction. Are you alright, lad?"

"Y-Yes..."

Taromaru comes over to greet his friend:

"Suekichi!"

"M-Master Taromaru!" I smile a bit at their relieved faces, before switching to a more serious look:

"You two can catch up later, but right now, we need to scram!"

I lead the boys out of the Shrine-house, but not before catching a menacing hiss on the way out...We're now running on a dock, heading towards a small storehouse:

"Just keep moving, boys. I promise to protect you while we wait for Inuyasha to come back."

 _...Inuyasha, if you can hear me, please...come back safe._

I see the demon come out of the shrine-house, his eyes glowing red, while his body shone blue:

"How dare you injure my arm, you impudent wench. I'm going to swallow your soul!"

Meanwhile, on a Tiny Isle, No POV

"Sango! Sango, wake up!"

Miroku and Sango had washed ashore of a group of boulders and flat rocks, but only the monk was awake...As Kilala mewed, trying to help wake her companion up, Miroku realizes,

"Oh no...She swallowed too much water! I'll have to breathe air into her!"

He then leans his head down to hers...But just as his lips were only a few inches from hers, Sango's eyes blink open:

"Hm?"

...And her reaction?

(SLAP)

...Miroku replies calmly to a seething Sango (a red hand-imprint on his cheek),

"My intentions were honourable..."

" _Right_...Where am I, anyway?"

"We're outside the gates of the Water God Shrine. I found myself here when I came to...(Gasp)"

Suddenly, he spots someone else floating in the water:

"Is that, Inuyasha?!"

It was him indeed, unconscious but not dead! Next thing Miroku knew, two large fish (red with long, sliver tails, blue dresses, black hair with a flower tied in) popped out from over Inuyasha's shoulders...

Miroku and Sango pull Inuyasha to dry land, and the former says to the fish,

"Thank you for your help. Did you save us from drowning in the flood of water like this too?"

"Yes!" "Yes!"

"But judging from your appearance, you look like you were servants of the Water God."

"The Water God is nothing but an imposter!" The fish gained tears in their eyes as one explains,

"He used to be a simple water sprite like us and lived here in the lake, but he resorted to trickery to gain power."

They turn to their left:

"He sealed the real Water God in the craggy rock over there."

"Then he took the Trident of Amakoi and with a great declaration he fooled the villagers into thinking that he was the Water God!"

Both Slayer and Monk look over to where the fish sprites were indicating, and Miroku says,

"Now I understand. That means we need to rescue the Real Water God!"

It was then that Inuyasha arose awake:

"Get your priorities straight, you idiot! What are you thinking? (Cough) I'm gonna head back to the Shrine now!"

As he leaps towards the said Shrine, he adds,

"Saving Coraline has to come first!"

Speaking of Coraline, Her POV...

The boys and I were now inside the old storehouse, keeping as quiet as mice as we hid from the Demon...I had my bow and arrow at the ready...

Suddenly, we couldn't hear him approaching the hut:

"(Whisper) The footsteps have stopped..."

I use my Aura Sight, and I instantly knew why:

 _Oh no! The demon's reverting to his true form: A giant water serpent!_

But before I could warn the boys:

(CRASH)

The serpent demon uses its body to destroy the hut!

I look around for the boys, seeing they were buried under some rubble, before I hear the demon say,

"I'll destroy you first, _wench_."

I turn to focus on him, and glare hard, while rising to a stand, grabbing my combat knife:

" _You can damn well try..._ "

Sango's POV

Miroku and I were now en route to rescue the Real Water God. I ask him,

"Are you gonna leave Inuyasha alone and let him deal with the 'Water God' all by himself?"

"Don't worry about Inuyasha. He can handle the 'Water God' just fine on his own."

"(Turn) Are you sure? Is he really that strong?"

"Not only is he strong, he's also very cunning. He's not usually so hostile to be around, but I'm guessing it's his way of having sympathy for you. He thinks that fighting will ease your pain, which is why he's acting so aggressive. He's seeking vengeance for you...But, maybe I'm giving him too much credit, and reading too much into his behaviour..."

I face forward again, and think to myself,

 _...Fighting to ease your pain, huh?_

 _I can't help but think of Coraline's words:_

 _(Flash)_

 _"...what I learned a long time ago, is that you can either let yourself wallow in self-pity and anger, or, you can take the pain, and reshape it into something you can use to help you keep going in life."_

 _"Do not allow yourself to be swallowed by the darkness of your suffering, Sango. Mourn for as long as you have to, but remember that you have the power to take your pain, and make into a strength to carry on...I'm, sure that your loved ones would want that for you..."_

 _(Flash)_

 _...Shape pain into a strength..._

Coraline's POV

The demon serpent lunges its tendril at me, but I use my combat knife to slash at it:

"Get, back!"

(Slice)

"Rgh!"

I successfully cut into his flesh, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough: The demon then sends the tendril to wrap around my ankle, and he pulls me down!

"Ah!"

Next thing I knew, the Trident was coming at me!

...But then:

(Clang)

It was blocked away, by Tessaiga!

"Inuyasha!"

"Damn it..."

The Tessaiga transforms back, and Inuyasha asks me,

"Coraline, is everybody safe?"

"I think so..."

I turn to see that the boys were okay, and were rising from under the wood pieces...Shippo then shouts,

"Hey! The Water God is escaping!"

"That's no Water God, Shippo. (Narrows eyes) He's nothing but a conniving snake!"

The demon serpent disappears into the misty fog, and Inuyasha rushes to the end of the dock to shout,

"Where are you, 'Water God'?!"

(Splash)

"Agh!"

Inuyasha flinches back from the incoming Trident, and the next thing I knew, he was dragged down into the lake by the serpent's tendril!

"Inuyasha!"

(...Splash)

"Gah!"

Luckily, he manages to resurface...Unfortunately, the demon serpent manages to wrap its body around him, pinning him down!

"You're showing your true colours now, aren't you? Coraline's right: You're not the Water God, you're a snake! And without that Trident, you're back to the bottom of the food chain!"

(Leap)

(Lunge)

"How dare you!"

The demon serpent shoots at Inuyasha, who barely dodges, before he gets dragged down into the water again!

Miroku and Sango, No POV

The monk and slayer finally reach the place where the true Water God was sealed, only to run into a slight problem:

"I wonder which cave the Real Water God is being kept in?" Miroku replies to Sango,

"Well, it has to be around here somewhere..."

"Is someone there?"

"Hm?" "The voice of a young woman..."

"Who's there?"

Miroku then realizes,

"I see~, so the Water God is really a Water Goddess!"

Sango looks at Miroku warily, not liking the tone he used to describe...The Water Goddess then calls out,

"Just hurry up and unseal this cave and set me free!"

The two then spot the sutra plastered on one cave, and Miroku bows while replying,

"Right away," before he peels the sutra off:

(Glow...POW)

A large, yellow light springs forth, before fading just as quickly as it came...The two look at the cave for a minute, before Miroku calls uncertainly,

"Uh, hello? Goddess?"

"In here!"

He looks inside the small cave opening, and is enthralled by her beauty:

She had long, dark-brown hair with wild flowers tied in at the top, a pale complexion, red lips, brown eyes, pointed ears, earrings that were made from flowers and berries, and was wearing a beautiful kimono of light pink, sea-foam green, and light purple/blue.

Miroku says with an uncertain but infatuated tone,

"Uh-huh...You're so beautiful but so tiny...It would be a first for me, but I'm only willing to give it a try..."

Sango asks him incredulously,

"Try, what?!" He replies quickly with a nervous smile,

"Uh, nothing! (Murmur) Resist all temptation..."

Back to the Battle

Deep within the waters of the lake, the demon serpent looks down with a mocking smile, as Inuyasha, wrapped tightly in the monster's grasp, struggles to hold in his breath:

 _I, can't, breathe!_

Back up above, Coraline, Shippo, Taromaru and Suekichi watch, as the water swirls around in a spiral...

"Inuyasha!"

"He's not coming out!"

As Coraline forms a look of worry, Sango's voice comes ringing in behind her:

"Coraline!"

She and the others turns around, and see Sango and Miroku coming towards them, the latter carrying the Water Goddess in his palms:

"Are you alright?"

"The demon serpent dragged Inuyasha underwater to drown him!"

The Water Goddess says to Miroku,

"Let me down. I shall subdue this imposter."

"Whatever you say, Goddess."

As he lowers her to the dock, Coraline wonders aloud,

"So she is the true Water God-er, Goddess? Amazing..."

The Water Goddess takes one of her berry earrings, and tosses it into the whirlpool while saying authoritatively,

" _I command the waters to part!_ "

The earring sinks downward to where the serpent demon was, and he looks up to see a red light shine:

"Hm? Wha-That's..."

(...POW)

The waters of the lake were pushed back, leaving the area around the serpent dry! Miroku is amazed:

"The waters are departing!" Coraline calls down below:

"Inuyasha, wake up!"

(Shoom)

"Oh crap, watch out!"

(Crash)

They all duck away from the incoming trident just in time, but the serpent demon was far from done:

"I don't know how you freed the Water Goddess, but it doesn't matter. Now I'm the reign Water God!"

Miroku glares up at the demon and says to everyone else,

"Even though she's the Real Water God, she's powerless without her sacred trident."

(Lunge)

"Prepare to die!"

(Leap)

"Not so fast, bottom-feeder!"

(SLASH)

Inuyasha then attacks the serpent from behind with his claws, scratching away some of his scales! The demon begins to rise into the air, with Inuyasha riding on its body...

"Kilala!"

Sango jumps onto Kilala's back, and they fly upward, before Sango releases Hiraikotsu!

(Bang)

But, the demon serpent uses the trident to block it:

"You, fool!"

As Sango catches her weapon, the demon serpent adds,

"Now you shall feel the awesome and powerful wrath of the Trident of Amakoi!"

He raises the said trident into the air, and begins to summon a powerful storm...Taromaru comments back on the docks,

"The sacred shrine trident is making rain clouds!"

Sango tries to attack the demon again:

"Catch this, water snake!"

(Toss, spin...)

(TOK)

The demon serpent uses the staff to block the Hiraikotsu, and sends a whirlwind of water straight at her!

"What?! Agh!" Coraline cries out from the dock,

"Sango!"

As she falls from Kilala, the demon readies to lunge at her with the trident:

"Now you die-"

(GRASP)

Inuyasha jumps in to stop the trident, and calls to the demon slayer:

"Sango! Are you okay?!"

She lands safely back on Kilala:

"Inuyasha!"

He focuses back on the demon serpent with a hard glare:

"I'm tired of lookin' at your scaly hide, you big faker!"

(Punch)

He takes away the staff, but is socked in his stomach by the demon's snake body:

"Grh!"

The Fake Water God then finally transforms into his true form: A sliver-blue water snake with red eyes and sharp fangs!

(Lunge, BITE)

"Damn it, aaaagh!"

"No, Inuyasha!"

Despite his arm being in the jaws of the serpent, Inuyasha was not about to go down easy:

"Enough is enough, you overgrown inchworm!"

(PUNCH)

He hits the demon dead-on the head, before both splash back in the lake...Coraline says in worry,

"If these twisters aren't contained, they'll head straight for the village!" Taromaru adds,

"They'll blow the whole place apart!"

The Water Goddess remains calm, and says to Coraline (who was holding her in her palms),

"Calming a twister is a simple matter. I could do it in my sleep."

"Whoa, seriously?!"

"Then just don't talk about it, do it!"

"I would be happy to, young man, as soon as you retrieve me my sacred trident."

(SPLASH)

The demon serpent comes out of the water again, with Inuyasha still in it's jaws!

"Inuyasha!"

"Don't worry guys! It'll take more than this reptile to get rid of me!" Coraline calls back,

"I'm glad to hear that, but we really need that trident, so please, toss it over here!"

Inuyasha mumbles to himself sarcastically,

"You'd think she could show a bit more concern than that," before going underwater...

(Splash)

"(Deep breath) Here! Take the stupid thing!"

(Toss)

He throws the trident in Coraline's direction, just as the demon serpent lunges at his body again! The tail of the serpent knocks into the trident, sending it back into the water just a few feet in front of the dock:

"I'll go get it!"

"Taromaru!"

He dives into the depths, his mind on one thing:

 _I must save the village! Otherwise, I'll never be able to face the families who lost their children..._

He manages to grab the trident, but is ten knocked out of the water by the serpent demon's tail:

"Ugh!"

"Master Taro!"

(Spin...SLICE)

Hiraikotsu cuts through the serpent demon's body, just as Inuyasha goes splashing back into the water! Sango and Kilala dive after him, and the former garbs the sleeve of his red robes, before they emerge to the surface once again. Inuyasha says to her with an impressed smirk,

"Pretty slick maneuvering there, Sango!" She smirks back and replies,

"That's nothin'!" Inuyasha then focuses back below:

"Okay, I'm goin' down and aimin' for his head!"

"Gotcha."

They swoop downward:

"Do it, Inuyasha!"

"I'm, on it!"

(SPLASH)

" _Tessaiga!_ "

(SLASH)

Inuyasha brings the blade right down the middle, cutting the serpent demon in half!

The body halves rise back up, the outcry of the demon ringing through the area...Miroku readies his right hand:

"Don't worry, I'll handle the clean-up! Rrrah!"

(Whooooooooossshhhhhh...)

He unleashes the Wind Tunnel, sucking away the demon serpent for good...Meanwhile, Inuyasha resurfaces with Taromaru under his arm, and the trident in his hand:

"Here ya go."

Coraline takes the trident, flashing Inuaysha an appreciative smile, before focusing on the Water Goddess:

"Water Goddess, please use your power to stop this chaos!"

Said Goddess touches the Trident of Amakoi, and her body glows, before she reverts back to her original size!

"Uh, she got bigger!"

The Water Goddess raises the trident into the air:

" _Clouds, disperse!_ "

The power of the trident is sent to the skies, and the storm begins to dissipate into nothing, as well as the twisters...The sun then shines through the clouds, the chaos of the Fake Water God finally put to an end...

Everyone is relieved, and Coraline turns to Inuaysha to say softly,

"Inuyasha, you were amazing today," before she hugs him gently, much to his surprise:

"Guh...um..."

"I'm, really glad you're okay...The serpent didn't hurt you too bad, right?"

...His gaze softens at the innocent tone, and Inuyasha puts an arm around her while replying,

"Nah, I'm fine...Thanks for askin', though..."

Time Skip

We zoom in on Tamomaru and Suekichi, who were standing on a grassy cliff overlooking the village...The latter asks,

"Did they leave us already?"

"Yes...I didn't get to thank them properly...Each one of them risked their lives to save our village from the Fake Water God..."

Taromaru smiles and says to himself,

"When I grow up, I wanna be brave and honourable just like them..."

Speaking of said group, we jump to the outskirts of the village, where Inuyasha complains,

"Man, we spend all our time fighting an overgrown snake, and no jewel shard."

Miroku replies,

"It wasn't all a waste. We, helped out the needy..."

But as we zoom out a bit, we see that Miroku was riding a horse that was pulling a cart chock-full of items...

"Hey! Wha'cha got in the cart, monk?"

"Well...I mentioned to the headman that I wouldn't be opposed to telling the villagers that his son acted with tremendous bravery, and for some reason...he gave me these gifts."

Inuyasha saw through that fib pretty quick:

"You blackmailed him into it, didn't you?!"

Sango asks Coraline in a hushed tone,

"Does he always pull stunts like this?" Coraline forms a exasperated smile and replies tiredly,

"One of the many dangers of traveling with a con artist..."

Miroku then says,

"I think we should sell these things off in the next village and have a big party to celebrate." Inuyasha groans and replies,

"This is the last time I do any acts of kindness with the likes of you..."


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30: Deadly Insect Seduction & Miroku's Reality**

"Wh-What is it?! Is something on fire?!"

"Nah, they're just slayin' demons."

We zoom in on another new village, where Sango, clad in her demon slayer gear (including her filter mask), was using a special smoke to flush out a demon that had taken refuge inside an Inn.

"Gah, it stinks!"

"What's all the smoke for?"

Ignoring the villagers and focusing on the task at hand, Sango calls to the back,

"Got everything? Lure it this way!"

Moving to the back and underneath the Inn, we see that Coraline was using a fan to redirect the smoke towards the front, she wearing a regular mask. Today, her day outfit was a pair of jeans, a red tank-top, her camo-print jacket, and her hikers. She also had her hair tied back in a ponytail so it didn't get tangled in the face mask.

"God, this stuff burns worse than incense..." She removes the mask and calls to the demon slayer:

"Sango! We almost done, 'cause I don't sense it coming this way!"

Meanwhile, due to his sensitive sense of smell (and the fact that he was half-demon), poor Inuyasha was forced to crouch down on the ground, covering his face from the smoke...One of the villagers asks,

"Is this one of the demons being destroyed by the smoke?" Shippo replies simply,

"Inuyasha just has a very sensitive nose..."

Miroku looks down at the two, before noticing someone in the crowd was staring at him:

"Hm?"

He turns to see a pretty young lady, dressed with a cloak draped over her person:

 _Mm~...What a beauty..._

Smiling, he begins to follow her, much to Shippo's confusion:

"Hey, Miroku! Where you goin'?" Sango suddenly calls out,

"It's coming, get back!"

Shippo snaps back to attention, and coming out of the smoky haze...was a large black-skinned demon with many red eyes and razor-sharp teeth!

(Roar, charge...)

(Whack)

Using Hiraikotsu as a club, Sango pounds the demon dead, it reverting back to it's original form: A rat...

Pulling off her mask, Sango calls to the other girl with a satisfied smile,

"Everything's okay now, Coraline!"

"(Distant) Got it!"

Small Time Skip

Our group was now sitting inside their own room in the inn, and Coraline (who let her hair down) was rubbing Inuyasha's back, he still disoriented from the smoke:

"You hangin' in okay, Inuyasha?" She then notices that someone was missing:

"Oh, wait a sec: Where's Miroku?"

Shippo, who was eating some sweet dumplings, replies,

"He went after some strange woman."

"Oh?"

Coraline forms a frown of suspicion, and Sango (dressed in her day wear) asks in some disbelief,

"He did? While we were slaying demons?"

"She was really beautiful. He probably gave her the line about having to have his first-born child."

"Wh-What?! Have his child?!"

Coraline looks to Sango and says,

"Oh, that's right: I guess you haven't heard him pop that question yet, have you, Sango? (Sigh) Let me explain..."

Miroku's POV

As the sun began to set over the horizon, I followed the maiden to the outskirts of the village, and she explained to me who she really is, keeping her back to me...Once she was done, I ask,

"I see. So, you are a princess from a very prominent clan, then?"

"...I was. My clan had been decimated by war, and I am the sole survivor of my house. So in order to restore my family, I wish to bear the son of a strong lord."

"So you sought me out..." I put a hand under my chin and add with a confident smirk,

"You have great taste."

The princess then rushes to me, and embraces my front, her head on my chest:

"...Will you do me the honour?"

All is silent in the area for a moment...before the arms of a giant insect come springing out of her back!

"(Sigh) I suppose I should've known that this was all too good to be true..."

I shove the 'princess' away from me, before clubbing her hard on the forehead with my staff:

(Whack)

"GHH!"

The 'princess' then tries to attack me with one of its giant insect arms, and I jump back, noticing that her eyes have become black and hollowed...The skin breaks away and out sprang,

"A giant mantis! So you disguised yourself as a woman!"

" _ **I devoured the innards of the real princess!**_ "

It then swings its arm at me again, and I jump away twice, before leaping into the air over the insect:

"You picked the wrong person as your next victim!"

As I land on the ground, I remove the prayer beads from around my right hand:

" _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whooooooosssssssshhhhhhh...)

As the giant mantis is pulled back by the vortex, I notice too late the consequence of drawing it in, namely, _its bladed arms..._

"UH!"

(...CUT)

...With the damage done, I contain my power, and mutter angrily to myself,

"Damn, my Wind Tunnel's injured..."

Back to the Inn, No POV

Once Miroku returned to the others and told them what happened to him over a meal, he would quickly learn that his story was not as believable as he would hope...

As the two girls stared at Miroku intensely (Coraline a bit less hostile than Sango), Miroku asks Inuyasha in a hushed tone,

"Tell me, Inuyasha: Is it my imagination, or aren't the girls staring at me quite coldly?"

"I dunno, maybe it's from all the womanizing?"

"Mm?"

"What do you expect, Miroku? They think you're a philandering creep!"

"Uh, I've been misunderstood. You may not believe what I'm going to tell you, but-"

Coraline and Sango interrupt respectively in similar tones,

"You're likely right about that."

"Spare us the lies."

"Gh, you could at least hear me out."

Small Time Skip, Miroku's POV

 _(Sigh) Well, that didn't go as well as I hoped. At least Coraline was kind enough to listen to my story, but...even so, she still looked skeptical.  
_

I'm now laying on my side in a futon bed, with Inuyasha sitting and sleeping beside me, Shippo curled up nearby, while the girls and Kilala were in another room. I look at my right hand, and bend the muscles, only to feel another twitch of pain from earlier:

"Agh. Damn, it still hurts..." I move to lay on my back, as I say to myself,

"That conniving giant mantis made my Wind Tunnel spread..."

 _Which only makes my own personal situation the more dire..._

 _Just like, father's..._

Flashback

 _I remember, when I was so young, and my Father's Wind Tunnel had reached its limit:_

 _"Father! Father!"_

 _Mushin was rushing behind me, trying to call me back:_

 _"No! Don't go towards him Miroku!"_

 _"No! Father, Father!"_

 _Mushin then grabbed me around my torso:_

 _"Ah! Let me go, Mushin!"_

 _"You'll be pulled into your Father's Wind Tunnel too if you go..."_

 _Next thing we knew, the Wind Tunnel erupted, creating a monstrous vortex that swallowed everything in its area, including Father..._

 _"FATHER! NOOO!"_

End Flashback  


 _...I lost my Father before my very eyes, helpless to stop what would happen...  
_

 _And unless I do something now...I too will be lost to the abyss._

Early Morning, Coraline's POV

When we awoke the next morning, we found Miroku was not with us anymore. We searched around the Inn, only to be informed by the innkeeper of what happened:

"He went out before dawn? You sure?"

"Yes. The monk said that he was going on a long journey, and had asked me to wish you well."

Inuyasha says irritably to himself,

"That stupid Miroku. Always running off and doing things on his own..."

But I have different thoughts:

 _...I'm not so sure it's that simple. Miroku must have a legitimate reason for this._

 _I'm starting to think that his story may have truth to it after all..._

Miroku's POV

I met up with Hachi in the early morning before the sun rose, and was now floating on his gourd form, heading back to somewhere I had hoped to avoid visiting for a while longer...

"My Father was drawn into his own Wind Tunnel, and he disappeared without a trace...I'm afraid that I may end up dying that way as well."

"Miroku! We found the spot! I-I can see it from here!"

I snap my attention to the front, and see our destination in the distance...We land in the clearing, and I walk to the edge of the crater, with Hachi coming to stand beside me:

"Where did this giant hole come from, anyway?"

"Hmph. This? (Grim smile) This, is my Father's grave."

Hachi bows in respect, and I make my way to the old temple:

"Mushin! Are you there? It's Miroku!"

I move inside, only to find the old fool was asleep with his head on top of a clay jug...I make a noise of disgust and mutter,

"Drunk again as usual," before kicking away the jug:

(Thud)

"Mm...muh..."

"Wake up, you stinking drunkard."

Mushin rises to a sitting position, holding the side of his head (likely from a migraine accompanying his hangover), before focusing on me:

"Miroku, it's you. I'm surprised you're still alive." I sigh in exasperation before kneeling down to his level:

"You're not going to live very long if you keep drinking the way you do..."

"Muh, did you come here to lecture me?"

"No. A giant mantis nicked the sides of my Wind Tunnel. I was wondering if you could repair it?"

Mushin moves his eyes to my right hand to examine it:

"Hm...hm...Too late. You're going to die tonight."

I stiffen up, before forming a deadpan when Mushin waves his hand and says,

"Relax. I was just kidding around...(hic)"

(...BONK)

I leave a good bump on his head, before saying to him irritably,

"(Tick-mark) Look, you wanna get sucked in?"

"Now now, calm down." He then grabs the clay jar from earlier, and says more seriously,

"I'll stitch you up. But I'm warning you: You must keep the Wind Tunnel covered up, and not expose it or try to use it until it is completely healed."

"And what happens if I do?"

"The Wind Tunnel will spread from the nick, and will eventually consume you entirely. I will no longer be able to help you then, young man."

Mushin rises to his feet:

"Now then, I shall start gathering the medicinal herbs. Go and purify yourself, god knows you need it..."

No POV

Miroku was now sitting under the nearby waterfall performing a purification ceremony on himself, with Hachi sitting by:

"So that drunken old Mushin is the high monk who raised you?"

"That's right. He taught me everything I know, the good, and the bad."

"He's a little rough around the edges, that's for sure, but he seems kindhearted."

Miroku smiled a bit at Hachi's description:

"I guess so..."

Meanwhile, Mushin was watching from afar:

 _I'm surprised that Miroku is so worried over a little nick like that._

 _But considering the tragedy in his life, I can't blame him for being upset..._

Meanwhile, back at the Inn...  


Coraline was sitting on the window rim of the room that she and Sango were in, with Shippo and Kilala playing inside, wondering about their missing friend:

"Miroku...I wonder what got into him yesterday that he would take off without so much as a 'see ya later'?"

 _Now I'm really worried if his story was true..._

Shippo offers an answer:

"Well maybe it's because you both shot him dirty looks."

Coraline and Sango form looks of embarrassment, as Inuyasha comes in while scoffing,

"Keh, don't try and tell me that we hurt his feelings? He's not exactly sensitive..."

"Um, well, Master Inuyasha..."

(Hop)

Inuyasha turns and sees a familiar face on his shoulder once again:

"Well, well, Myoga. You're back."

"Yes, I returned late last night. And when I came in, I noticed that the monk was acting, strangely."

"Huh? What're you talkin' about?"

"He kept staring at his right hand, the one with the Wind Tunnel, and he seemed very deep in thought. He didn't say what was bothering him."

By this time, Coraline was back inside, and after hearing what Myoga described, she gasped to herself,

 _His Wind Tunnel...Oh no...Then he really did have it damaged!_

 _...Is he okay?_

She turns her head back up to Inuyasha with a serious but curious look:

"Inuyasha, I think we should go and find Miroku."

Myoga asks,

"But why? You don't think something has happened to him, do you?"

"...Actually, I do. I'm just crossing my fingers that it's nothing life-threatening...yet."

Inuyasha looks at Coraline confusingly for a second, before switching to a serious look of his own:

"And how do you expect us to find him?"

"Mm, now that, I'm not sure..."

"Just leave 'im. Finding the Shikon-no-Tama Shards is more important right now."

Coraline nods reluctantly, but her mind was still wondering,

 _Where have you gone, Miroku? And are you going to come back safely?_

Time Skip, Mushin's Temple

Mushin was now inside a small storehouse, gathering the necessary materials needed to help repair Miroku's Wind Tunnel...

He then notices that the weather had changed dramatically from when he first entered:

"Mm? It's the middle of the afternoon, why is it so dark outside?"

(...Glow)

Suddenly, a small demon entity comes out of the shadows, their eyes glowing red, which spooks Mushin:

"(Turn) Hm? Mmh! Uhhh, who are you?!"

The demon does not answer; instead, it releases a cloud of strange mist from inside a clay bottle it was carrying, which surrounded Mushin!

"Ghhhh!"

...As this went on, Hachi was asleep outside, while Miroku, having completed his purification ceremony, was laying restfully on a futon...

(...Step, step, step)

Mushin comes to his side, kneeling down:

"Did you drink your medicine?"

"Mmh? Yes, but I'm starting to feel very groggy..."

"Sleep..."

Mushin places his hand over Miroku's closed eyes, adding,

"It'll be over with soon..."

"Glad to hear it...'cause I don't feel like dying just yet...Mmhhh..."

With that, Miroku was asleep...Suddenly:

(...Whissshhhhh...)

It's revealed that the odd fog from earlier had entered into Mushin's body, placing him under a strange trance:

 _Heheheh, I'll ease your pain soon enough..._

And just when things couldn't get more dire, Mushin pulls out a cleaver!

Meanwhile, Somewhere in the Forest...

Inuyasha and the others had since left the village, moving along in their quests...But they would come to a stop, when they heard a strange droning sound:

(Buuuzzzz...)

"What was that noise?" Coraline narrows her eyes in suspicion:

"I dunno, Sango, but I'm getting a sinking feeling there's trouble nearby. Inuyasha?"

He growls, confirming that something was wrong:

(Click)

(SLASH)

Using Tessaiga, he cuts down a tree, and as it lands with a crash to the ground, a familiar-looking insect comes flying out...Coraline recognizes it instantly:

"(Gasp) It's one of Naraku's drones!"

Sango makes her move:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...tok)

The giant boomerang successfully dolls damage to the insect's wings, causing its flight pattern to become unstable...Sango readies to throw her weapon again:

"This time, it's dead!"

"Wait!"

Sango looks at Inuyasha with surprise, and he says,

"If he's using his insects to spy on us, then something must be happening with Miroku!"

He puts his sword away, and says to the others,

"Let's follow it!"

"Right!"

And everyone begins running after the insect, determined to figure out what Naraku was up to this time, and if Miroku was in dire peril...

Speaking of Miroku

At the same time everyone else was tailing the Insect of Hell, the young monk was about to receive a rude awakening:

(Swing, CUT)

"Gh!"

Luckily, Miroku woke up just in time, and just barely dodges the incoming cleaver! As he looks up from his hand and knees (holding his now injured shoulder), Mushin says,

"Oh, are you still awake?"

Miroku didn't miss the wisp of mist coming from Mushin's mouth, and knew something was seriously wrong:

"You're, not Mushin! Who are you?!"

Speaking through Mushin, the demon introduces themselves:

"I, am a demon worm charmer, but I came across Naraku, and he promised me a Shikon-no-Tama shard if I killed you."

"N-Naraku? Uh, ugh..."

Miroku falls down to the floor on his behind, his muscles weak, and the demon chuckles:

"You can't move much anymore. The medicine has numbed your entire body."

"Ngh!"

"Go now in, peace!"

(Swing)

Miroku uses all the strength he could muster to hop backwards from the cleaver, crashing though the wall, and landing on top a startled Hachi:

"Miroku!"

"Gh, quick, my staff!"

Hachi hands it to him, and Miroku uses it to block the cleaver! Realizing that Miroku was not strong enough in his current state to fend off the possessed Mushin for long, Hachi quickly used his powers to lend a hand:

"Ah, Ka-boom!"

(Poof)

As the smoke and leaves cleared, the possessed Mushin sees that Miroku and Hachi escaped:

"You won't get away!"

Down below the temple, Hachi was running as fast as he could, carrying the weakened and injured Miroku on his back:

"H-Hurry! Let's get out of here!"

"I-I can't go any faster!" Miroku looks behind them, and sees,

"Oh no, look! The demons are gathering!"

Hachi slows to a stop, and turns around to see demon spirits were beginning to cluster around the temple! As Hachi begins to panic, Miroku tells him weakly,

"Save yourself. If you stay with me, you'll only die."

(Shove)

Miroku falls back on his front, and Hachi rushes to him in shock and concern:

"Master Miroku!"

"Gh, just go. I can keep them at bay myself until the medicine wears off, Hachi!"

"B-B-But-"

"Just, go!"

"Okay!"

And the tanuki flees, while Miroku smiles grimly, preparing himself for what was to come next, glad that his friend would escape...

Hachi's POV

I managed to get out of the area, and switched to my gourd form, flying away while thinking about Miroku's current state:

 _Miroku talks big, but, there's no way he'll be able to battle all of those demons alone!_

 _Inuyasha must be close by..._

(Buzzzzz...)

I then hear a large droning noise come in behind me, and I turn my eyes to look, only to see, a large drone of insects, and boy do they look nasty!

"Aaaaaahhhhhhh!"

Inuyasha's POV

We followed the insect further into the forest, and we stopped behind some trees to rest a sec, keeping ourselves hidden so it couldn't detect us. I turn to Coraline and say,

"That insect is our only lead, so don't lose it, okay?"

"Got it."

Shippo then points to the sky and cries out,

"Aaauh, look, more poisonous bugs!"

"What?!"

I turn to look up, and see that there was a massive drone of those damn insects, except they were, chasing something?

"Waaaaaaaaahhhh, help meeeeee!"

 _Hang on...I recognize that form...Is that, Hachi?_

The insects chase the thing down to the forest canopy, and it transforms back into Hachi!

"Aaaah, (thud)"

"That's Hachi!"

I make quick work of the pesky insects:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash, slash, slash)

Unfortunately, I didn't get all of them, but I scared the bulk of them off, the drone splitting into three groups before dispersing...

 _What the heck is goin' on?!_

Miroku's POV

 _(Sigh) To think that I'm going to die because I like to flirt with women. It's just my luck..._

I managed to move myself to my father's gravesite, and created a barrier to ward off the demons that would soon approach me...But, I know that it would not last long:

 _So...this is it..._

Coraline's POV

"So Miroku is in danger. I knew it!"

After Inuyasha scared off Naraku's poisonous wasps, Hachi took us on his gourd form to fly back where Miroku was, confirming my worries:

"Yes, and he doesn't have the use of his Wind Tunnel."

Inuyasha asks,

"What's wrong with it?"

"His hand was injured in battle. The sides of it got nicked when he tried to suck in a giant mantis. He went to the high monk Mushin to get it fixed, and Mushin said that if he used his Wind Tunnel before it healed, it would spread and kill him!"

 _Oh Miroku..._

 _Why didn't you just explain that to us sooner?_

Hachi then gasps, and says,

"There's Mushin's Temple!"

But what we saw, was not a good sign:

(POW)

A huge swarm of demon spirits had formed, and were heading straight for us!

Inuyasha brought out Tessaiga:

"Go straight through them, Hachi!"

(Boom)

As we all cried out from the impact, Inuyasha used Tessaiga to cut down on a good number of the demons:

(Slash)

(Spin, Cut)

Sango then came in with Hiraikotsu, and Inuyasha shouts,

"I ain't gonna waste my time!"

(Slash)

"Rah! Get outta the way!"

I hold onto Shippo, my other hand reaching to grab the hilt of my combat knife:

 _I don't have to bring it out yet, but...if this keeps up, I'm gonna need to step in and help!_

Meanwhile, back at the Gravesite, No POV 

Miroku's barrier was beginning to wear off, before completely fading altogether...Another group of demons (including monstrous mantises) were coming closer, surrounding the outside vicinity of the crater!

With fatigue and sweat dripping from Miroku's face, he says to himself heavily,

"I, will accept my death, with grace...I will face my foe unflinchingly and with honour...(Grim smile) I won't fight when it's futile like Inuyasha would."

At that, the demons begin to charge...but just before they could even touch Miroku:

(Slash)

"...Mm?"

"Miroku?!"

Said monk looks up, and sees Inuyasha, sword in hand:

"So, this is where you've been hiding, and you got yourself in trouble again."

Miroku was in shock:

 _Inuyasha! You came!_

"You can at least thank me for saving your sorry butt!"

Shippo suddenly comes hopping over Inuyasha's head, shouting,

"Miroku!"

Coraline wasn't too far behind, telling Inuyasha,

"Good swing, Inuyasha. Thank you for saving him," before focusing on Miroku:

"Are you alright, Miroku?"

Shippo jumps onto Miroku's torso:

"Miroku, why'd you leave us without saying anything?" Coraline was just as disappointed:

"Yeah, why would you do that? You left us worried for your life."

Sango comes to the area on Kilala:

"Have you been injured, Miroku?" He was touched by all of their concern:

 _All of them, came looking for me..._

Coraline then turns to Inuyasha with a raised eyebrow:

"Well, Inuyasha? Are you going to say something, or keep your words to yourself?"

Inuyasha snaps out of his daze and replies offhandedly,

"Feh, I'm not into speeches...(Mutters) Besides, you already said what I was going to say..."

"Who goes there?"

"Hm?"

Inuyasha turns around, and sees Mushin standing a couple feet away from him:

"I will punish anyone who dares to disturb the peace of my temple!"

"Are you the monk called Mushin? Very interesting: You're brave for taking me on. Fight me if you can."

Miroku calls out in a strain (held up by Coraline),

"Ngh, Inuyasha, please, I beg you, don't kill him..."

"Heheheh, that's a very good boy, Miroku. I raised you well, didn't I?" Inuyasha scoffs a bit and says,

"Who really cares if you raised him? Your drinkin' days are over, you old drunk!"

But just as Inuyasha began charging Mushin, the elder monk suddenly throws a giant set of prayer beads from his shoulders, which wrap around the Tessaiga:

(Bzzzzt)

"Ghh!"

And just like that, Tessaiga is dormant again...

"The Tessaiga has been transformed back...!" Coraline clenches her fist over Miroku's robes:

 _Damn, this isn't good..._

The beads then glow brightly, before moving from the Tessaiga, to Inuyasha's body!

"Gah!"

Inuyasha is then forced to drop his sword, just as another wave of demons began charging at him from behind Mushin!  
Luckily, he managed to bring out one of his clawed hands:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash)

But even though he takes down the demons, the possessed Mushin is not fazed:

"...My my, aren't we lively?"

(...Glow)

His fingertips emit a dull-yellow light, activating the power of the prayer beads again, shocking Inuyasha:

(Bzzzzt)

"Aaaaagh! Gh!"

As he falls to his knees, Inuyasha grits his teeth and curses,

"Damn it, what's going on?"

"I have you bound with my sutra magic, so I am surprised you can still move. But you won't last long, I promise you."

With some difficulty, Inuyasha rises to a stand, just as more demon spirits begin arriving behind Mushin, that same mist coming out of his mouth again...Coraline's eyes widen, before using her Aura Sight to see what's going on with the elder monk:

"There's something surrounding Mushin's Aura, and it's manipulating him! What is it?!"

Myoga hops onto her shoulder and replies,

"Demon Worms!"

"Demon Worms? So, a demonic presence is controlling him from inside?"

"Yes. The monk has been possessed by a Demon Worm Charmer!" Miroku asks Myoga,

"Can he saved?"

"There must be a charmer close by who's manipulating him...We need to steal his worm bottle away, and place it near the monk. Then the demon will leave the monk's body!"

As Inuyasha cuts down more demons with his claws, Coraline says,

"Okay, come on, Myoga. Let's go find that Charmer!"

"W-Why do you need me?!"

"'Cause you know what it looks like, duh!"

Shippo decides to follow Coraline, and as they move away from the crater, Sango and Kilala come in front of them:

"Coraline? What's going on? There seems to be no end to the demons!"

"I know, and Inuyasha's being pinned down by giant prayer beads."

Myoga then hops onto Sango's shoulder, saying in relief,

"Sango! I'm so relived you're here!"

"Myoga's here?"

Coraline was not amused by Myoga's expression of trust:

"(Glare) What, am I not reliable for keeping my friends safe or something? Not cool, Myoga..."

"Guh, n-nothing personal..."

Shippo then moves a few feet in front of the girls, pointing to the roof of the temple:

"Coraline, look up!"

She does, and sees a demon with a toad-like face and pale skin, wearing a blue robe and carrying a clay bottle...Myoga recognizes it immediately:

"That's the Demon Worm Charmer, I'm sure of it!"

That's all Coraline needed to hear, and she got her bow and arrow ready:

"Alright...now!"

(Twok)

Unfortunately, the arrow was shot a bit too far to the left, and the Demon Worm Charmer began to retreat...

"Damn, missed..."

"I'll get 'em."

Sango begins chasing after the demon, with Coraline and Shippo following close behind...Meanwhile, Inuyasha claws his way through more demons, and was starting to get tired from the constant attacks:

"(Pant, pant, pant...)"

 _Damn it! These sutra beads are draining my strength. I'm starting to feel weak!_

He then feels a glow, and looks up to see that there was no end in sight to the demons that were coming...

"Soon, you won't have any power left to fight with at all, so you better decide on your fate: Do you want to be devoured alive, or do you want me to be more benevolent and chop your head off first? I'm a demon who loves to eat flesh dead or kicking, so my appetite will be sated either way."

Inuyasha cracks his knuckles and replies to the demon-possessed Mushin,

"Don't go counting your hopes yet, you stinkin' monk!"

(Leap)

He grabs Mushin by his neck and readies to kill him:

"Prepare to die!"

"Think about it before you kill me: I am the only one who can repair Miroku's Wind Tunnel! If his hand is left as it is, all of you, including Miroku, will be sucked into it by this time tomorrow!"

...Inuyasha releases Mushin, before getting shocked by the prayer beads again:

"Gaaaaah! (Kneel) Ghhh!"

"Either way, you must resign yourself to the fact that everyone in this temple is going to die soon."

(Pow)

A huge swarm of demons (larger than the others before) manifested, intent on destroying all who are in their way!

...But then, Miroku raises his right hand, and begins to stretch the beads away, much to Hachi's shock:

"Master! The poison wore off, you can move! (Gasp) Not the Wind Tunnel!"

Miroku smiles grimly at his friend:

"Hachi, prepare yourself. Both of us will probably get sucked in this time. But it's better than getting torn limb from limb by a pack of demons."

Hachi gasps, but forms a serious look nonetheless:

"I agree, Master. I'm with you..."

Miroku stands up, and raises his right hand:

"READY? _WIND TUNNNEELLL!_ "

(Whooooooooossssssssshhhhhhhh...)

With the Wind Tunnel unleashed, the demons begin to get sucked in...Miroku calls to his friend over the wind,

"Hachi! Brace me!"

"Yes!"

Inuyasha turns around, shocked to see the Wind Tunnel was activated:

"Miroku?!"

The possessed Mushin was just as flabbergasted:

"The fool...He'll suck in everything around him, including the Shikon-no-Tama shards!"

As Mushin lost focus, Inuyasha felt the sutra lose some of its strength:

 _His spell's weakening!_

Inuyasha wasted no time, and used his strength to break the prayer beads, before knocking Mushin down with his fist:

"Give it a rest!"

Meanwhile, the Wind Tunnel was starting to take a serious toll on Miroku, and he felt the nicks open up more:

"Gyh, I can't hold my ground! Gyah!"

He and Hachi then slip backwards on the grass, and Miroku felt the Wind Tunnel was ready to burst out of control...!

(Grasp)

But then, Inuyasha grabs hold of Miroku's wrist:

"Gh, Inu-yasha?"

The half-demon looks at Miroku with scorn, not pleased by the move that the monk just performed:

"Damn it! If you try to use that Wind Tunnel again, I'll tear your stupid arm off!"

As the demons continue charging, Inuyasha walks up to Tessaiga:

"I don't care if you die or not...but you're not going to do it while I'm around, you got that?"

He grabs the handle:

"I won't be accused of abandoning you...I don't want no guilt trips! _You're not going to lay that responsibility on me!_ "

He then brings Tessaiga down in a large swing:

" _RAAAAHHHH!_ "

(SLASH)

With that, Inuyasha unleashes an attack, except...this particular attack was more powerful than that last ones, with three slash lines, destroying all of the demons instantly:

(BOOM)

Everyone was in awe:

"...Oh my god..."

"He...he blew up the demons?!"

"(Gasp) They've been destroyed?!"

Inuyasha stared at his sword, which was now glowing a golden yellow, also amazed by the release of power:

"Huh? What, happened?" Coraline then realizes,

"You finally uncovered and released the full power of Tessaiga...!"

The Demon Worm Charmer, now aware he had no chance of surviving, tried to make a break for it, but Sango wasn't having that:

"Oh no you don't!"

(Toss, spin...SLICE)

Hiraikotsu cuts the demon in half, and Shippo rushes to catch the clay bottle...Giving it to Coraline, she takes it over to Mushin, and uses it to call back the demon spirit possessing the monk...Once it was all out, Coraline plugs up the bottle with a cork.

"(Relieved sigh) Mushin should be alright now..."

Next Morning

Once everything was calm again, Inuyasha, Coraline, Shippo, Sango and Kilala would then be sitting outside the temple, waiting for Mushin to repair Miroku's Wind Tunnel...

"He's taking so long..." Coraline says to Shippo,

"Well, stitching like that takes a careful hand and time. Rushing something like that can have consequences, you see..."

A few minutes later, Mushin comes out of the room where Miroku was:

"(Sigh) That fool. He should be more careful..." Coraline walks up to Mushin and asks,

"So, how is Miroku, Mushin?"

"He's sleeping...(Turn) You there, Inuyasha...come with me."

Inuyasha stands up, and walks with Mushin over to the waterfall lookout:

"Well, drunkard, I hope you did a good job stitching up the Wind Tunnel."

"(Sigh) I did the best that I could to repair it, but the Wind Tunnel has definitely spread." Inuyasha's eyes widen:

"Does that mean that his life has been shortened? How much longer does he have to live?"

"I don't know. Miroku's Wind Tunnel is a generational curse placed onto him by the demon Naraku. If Naraku is destroyed, then the curse will be lifted, and Miroku's life will be spared...The sooner you get him, the better. It's Miroku's only hope."

Inuyasha nods firmly...Meanwhile, Coraline and the others were inside, looking over the sleeping Miroku:

"He sure puts on a strong front, doesn't he? How does he always manage to stay so lighthearted?"

Coraline smiles sadly and replies to Sango,

"Likely for the same reason we all try to look on the bright side in the worst of times: To keep ourselves from going insane from paranoia."

 _...I know I do..._

Suddenly, Miroku's eyes flutter open:

"You're awake."

"Hi, Miroku!"

"Things are gonna be okay now, Miroku. Mushin stitched up the Wind Tunnel."

Miroku raises his right hand to his face, before flinching, causing everyone to get concerned:

"Huh? What's wrong, Miroku?"

Suddenly, Sango stiffens up with a blush on her face, causing Coraline to look at her confusingly, before seeing,

"...Oh dear lord..."

Miroku's other hand was on Sango's butt, caressing it softly...

(BONK)

Sango hits him over the head with a bucket, and everyone forms a looks of exasperation for his actions:

"Master Miroku..."

"Well, looks like you've made a speedy recovery..."

Inuyasha and Mushin observe from the doorway, commenting respectively,

"Looks like he's still got alot of life left in him..."

"(Nod) Miroku's bloodline is to be feared..."


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31: Sango's Suffering & Kohaku's Life**

(Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap...)

We zoom in on the Higurashi Shrine/Residence on another sunny morning, and Coraline was just finishing up one of two reports she had to send into her online courses before tomorrow. As you may recall, the young redhead is not enrolled in a regular post-secondary school system, choosing instead to take her education into her own hands...

"Haaah, finally, done!"

Wiping a bit of sweat from her brow, Coraline looks over her latest completed homework with a satisfied smile:

"Took me almost a week and a half, but I finished this dang English paper, and then there was that History Report on Japan. Heh, luckily, I had some help from both sides of the time warp for that one..."

After a couple minutes of proof-reading for each paper, Coraline would Save, then Copy-Paste the files into their respectful folders for the online education site, before:

"Aaaand, Send!"

(Click)

Coraline then leans back in her desk-chair:

"(Sigh) That took alot of brain power this round...Makes me glad I'm not in regular school, otherwise I'd be scrambling like a madman just to get even one sheet of homework done. I dunno how those poor girls do it."

"Cora! Freeman and Besa are here to take you to Martial Arts Class!"

Smiling at the thought, Coraline calls back,

"I'll be right down, Souta!"

Grabbing a light jacket of sorts, Coraline (wearing a form-fit blue t-shirt, black yoga pants, and her hikers) would speed down from her room to meet with her friends-that-were-brothers, Freeman and Besa:

"(Pant) Hey guys!"

"Hey, Cor!" "You ready to go?"

"Sure am!"

Waving goodbye to Souta, Coraline and the twins would make their way out the door and begin their journey downtown...But just as they came towards the stairs:

"Now then, let's see what state the world's in today..."

The three teens come across Grandfather Higurashi reading today's newspaper:

"Hmm...What's this? 'Foot and Mouth Disease only effects Younger Children'? Mm, can't use that, then..."

Freeman asks Besa in a whisper,

"What's he talkin' about, bro?"

"No idea..."

Coraline sighs in slight exasperation before concluding,

"I think I know what's going on through Grandfather's mind: He's trying to come up with more illness excuses."

"Really? He's still doing it?"

"Yeah, no matter how many times I keep telling him it's not necessary."

The teens hm, before catching the sound of someone sneezing:

"Aa-choo!"

They look down the stairs, and see a mother with her child:

"Oh, bless you, mommy. Are you sick?"

"(Sniff) Oh, the cold virus is nasty this year. I should've worn a scarf today..."

As they walked away, Grandfather Higurashi says aloud:

"Ah! She could have a cold!"

"For what reason, exactly?"

He turns to see Coraline and the twins, the latter snickering a bit to themselves, while the former had an irritated smile on her face:

"Oh, Coraline! Heh-heh, I didn't see you there. Where are you and the boys off to?"

"Master Yoshi's Dojo; we're taking another class today."

"Oh, how nice..."

Seeing that Grandfather was starting to sweat a bit nervously, Coraline decided to go easy on him this time:

"Grandfather, you really don't have to worry about making excuses for me. Remember: I'm not in regular school, so my homework schedule's very flexible. Plus, Freeman and Besa are virtually the only ones outside the Shrine who know about my excursions to Sengoku Edo, so if anyone's gonna ask about my well-being, it'll be them. Got it?"

Grandfather sighs deeply (partly in relief from not receiving Coraline's heated end of her temper), before replying,

"Alright, I understand...But what if that Hōjō boy comes by?"

Coraline quirks a brow:

"Why would he?"

"Well, isn't that boy interested in you?"

"...Whether he is or isn't is not my concern. I'm not interested in dating or anything related."

Grandfather looks at Coraline intently for a moment...before saying,

"Well, alright, if you're sure. You three better get on your way to Yoshi now."

"Right. See ya, Grandfather!"

"Nice to see you, sir!" "Bye, sir!"

With that, the teens were off, and as he watched them go, Grandfather says to himself with a smile,

"She's a strange one, that girl. You don't see alot of young ladies not interested in boys and more interested in self-defense and seeking out the unknown..."

Akari-sama, who was sweeping the grounds nearby, quirks to him jokingly,

"Well, that's Coraline for you: Never one to follow the crowd. Instead, she draws one."

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

"Alright, everyone: Line up and we'll do some drills, focusing on repetition and delivering power."

"Hai, sensei!"

I stand by my brothers as our group readies to do some kicking and punching drills:

(Kick, kick, punch combo, kick, kick...)

As we went through the routine, I hear Freeman ask me in a whisper,

"So what'd you hand in this time for school, sis?"

"Two big essays: One for English class on the book, _Grimm's Fairy Tales_ , and a History Paper on Japan before the 1700s."

(Note: I do not own _Grimm's Fairy Tales_. Rights and ownership belong to _Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm_, one of my favourite story-telling duos.)

As we began to speed up the combos, Besa whistles quietly and whispers,

"Wow, sounds like you got alot of work done this round."

"Yeah. By the way, thanks for heading to the library for me and checking out _Grimm's Fairy Tales_. You totally saved my butt, bros."

"Hey, no prob."

"What I'd like to know is why you chose that book for your English Paper?" I turn to Freeman and reply,

"I wanted to explore the moral lessons that the stories taught and why the content is not always told to children today."

"Ohhh..."

"Brownlee, Croft, focus!"

"Gah, sorry, sensei!" "Sorry, sensei!"

A few minutes later, as I was leaning against the wall waiting for my turn at sparring, I began thinking back on recent events:

 _It's been a while since I crossed from Sengoku Edo to Modern Japan. I gotta remember to thank Inuyasha, Miroku, Kaede, and Myoga for helping me with my History Paper research while I was traveling..._

 _Now that I'm back here in my own time, I have to rely on my own brain to get things done, especially since I'm close to being allowed to take mid-term exams..._

 _(Smile) Well, okay, maybe I'm not completely on my own._

 _I've been getting help from my brothers in having all of the necessary materials ready to use for when I do come back..._

 _(Laugh) Even Souta's been helping out a bit, keeping track of my online schedule incase there's any big tests or assignments coming up..._

"Croft, Takashi, you're up!"

I sigh in satisfaction, before moving with another boy to stand in the middle of the room to begin sparring:

 _I guess I'm just lucky like that._

 _Freeman, Besa, Souta: Three stacks of annoying trouble time after time, but helpful brothers all the same..._

Time Skip, Sengoku Edo, No POV

We now zoom in on an isolated castle, covered in a thick, purple smog, where one of Naraku's poisonous wasps came hovering downward in font of an entrance, seemingly reporting what had occurred not too long ago at Mushin's Temple...

Inside, Naraku (in the guise of the young lord, Kagewaki) says to himself,

"I see. So Inuyasha managed to wipe them all out in a single swing..."

He rises to his feet, and decides,

"Rather than sending numerous demons to their deaths, it would seem better to send one that he cannot kill. (Smile) Well, killing or not would serve me either way. I intend to use you in my service. What do you say?"

His focus, is on a small figure kneeling behind a bamboo-wicker door...

"Are you able to move your body now?" The figure replies in a young, robotic voice,

"...Yes, Master Naraku."

"Good. Can you kill him?"

"Yes, Master Naraku."

"Can you kill Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango?"

"...Yes, Master Naraku."

Time Skip, Inuyasha's Team

It was now nighttime, with the moon and stars shining brightly in the sky...Of course, contrary to the peace in outer space, someone in our group was in full concentration mode:

"Ready?"

You see, ever since the unleash of power back at Mushin's Temple, Inuyasha has been working on trying to use and master the three-clawed attack from Tessaiga:

"Aaaaaargh!"

(Swing)

...But so far, things haven't been as successful for him:

"Huh? Damn it. How do I engage the Tessaiga's ultimate power?"

Shippo, who was sitting up on a high tree branch, says to the frustrated half-demon,

"Don't worry about it, Inuyasha. Even if it was luck, you saved us. Just get lucky again next time."

Inuyasha hmphs, only half-listening to Shippo, as he readies to swing his sword again:

" _Tessaiga!_ "

Once again, no results, other than making Shippo fear for his life, he jumping up to a higher branch:

"Owah! Are you trying to kill me, or what?!"

"Hm, I thought you said that it was all luck..."

"Listen: You're really pushing your luck with me today! Go test those sword powers of yours somewhere else, okay?!"

"Be quiet. Stop calling it luck, it's skill."

After a while longer, Inuyasha decided to call it a night, and is now sitting by a campfire with Miroku, as they discussed about the recent attack from Naraku:

"Naraku took the offensive with those demons. He's probably keeping a watch on us from somewhere. It would be very hard to make a move."

Inuyasha just smirks and replies,

"Keh, it'll save us time looking for him, the creep. Just try to attack us, anytime, anywhere."

Miroku chuckles a bit, causing Inuyasha to ask suspiciously,

"And what are you laughing at, Miroku?"

"Sorry about that. My Wind Tunnel can't be used for a while. I'm feeling vulnerable, and hearing you talk with such confidence is encouraging."

"Heh, chill out, monk. I gotcha covered. If Naraku comes slinkin' around, I'll take care of him with the Tessaiga."

Inuyasha adds in his mind,

 _Even if it is luck, if I can engage the Tessiaga's true power again, I know I can beat Naraku._

 _I vow I will master this sword._

 _The Tessiaga is mine!_

Coraline's POV  


"Well, Shippo?"

He turns to Sango and I from the treeline where the other two boys were:

"They're just in deep conversation." I smirk a bit mischievously:

"Excellent. (Turn) Then you and I can slip into the hot springs no problem, Sango."

"I know the monk would try to peek at us, but do you think Inuyasha might?" I frown indifferently:

"Doubtful. Inuyasha's not really the Peeping Tom type..." Sango looks at me confusingly:

"Do you want him to look?" I blush heavily and reply quick,

"What?! Hell no!"

Once we undressed, Sango and I would enter the hot spring...As she got in about knee-deep, a small breeze blew by, moving Sango's hair away from her back, and highlighting a large scar...

"Oh wow, and I thought I had a bad scar on my shoulder..."

"Yes. I-It didn't heal well."

As Sango lowered herself into the pool, I asked her a bit hesitantly,

"Who hurt you? Was it, a demon of sorts?"

"No...I got this scar...from my younger brother. If only I had realized some things earlier, I could've prevented his death."

I nod sympathetically:

"I used to feel the same regrading my father's death...Tell me: What was your brother like?"

"Kohaku was tenderhearted. He was always a very gentle boy. Perhaps he wasn't suited for the life of a demon slayer."

I frown sadly:

"Forgive me, if I brought back any painful memories. I understand that these things are hard to discuss..."

Sango smiles at me sadly:

"...No, it's alright. Before he died, Kohaku reverted back to his old self. I still mourn for him, but that thought helps ease the pain of his loss. We were both strong demon slayers. I'm proud of that. We all have our reasons for being here, don't we?"

She turns towards me and asks,

"Why are you gathering the Shikon-no-Tama Shards?" I was a bit taken aback by her question:

"Um, well...(Sigh) I suppose it's mainly to make up for what I did to it in the first place..."

I then told her about how I was the one responsible for shattering the Shikon-no-Tama, and how I'm the reincarnation (or surrogate of the true one) of the priestess, Kikyō...

Sango was now sitting on top of the rocks with one of the towels I brought wrapped around her body, amazed by my tale:

"So you're the one who broke the jewel?" I gave her a weak smile:

"Yeah, but not intentionally, I assure you. I was only aiming to destroy the carrion crow demon that seized it, but the arrow I shot had different ideas..."

"Hm, well I'm sure that your true intent was clear, so it wasn't your fault. (Smile) What's amazing is that you're the reincarnation of a priestess."

I frown a bit at that last remark:

"Technically, I'm a surrogate reincarnation, since the true one died in an accident five years ago. Her spirit then came to me in a dream, and passed the Shikon-no-Tama to me, along with Kikyō's Soul. Before that witch Urasue, I was the carrier of a Merged Soul...Now, my Soul is okay, but I also carry half of Kikyō's..."

"Hm, interesting...But why did the original reincarnation choose you as the next carrier of the priestess's Soul?"

"Mm, well that's the million yen question, isn't it? I don't know why...and, if I may be honest, there's a part of me that doesn't want to know."

I lightly grab the large shard of the Shikon-no-Tama around my neck to look at:

"One thing I do know, however, is that we need to gather these shards, and we do that best by joining forces. (Narrows eyes) Adding that bastard Naraku into the mix just makes this whole quest the more complex..."

As I sit on the rocks above the soothing spring water, Sango says to me seriously,

"In order to break the curse on the Shikon-no-Tama, we must destroy Naraku first."

"Right."

 _And in order for me to live on longer than most of my ancestors, I need to defeat Trinity, and destroy Bishop..._

I then hear Sango say as she picks up a rock,

"Did you follow the deeper points of our conversation, you Peeping Toms?!"

(Toss, tok)

...But we saw that the interloper, was only a harmless macaque...

"...A monkey."

"Sango, I could've told you if we were being spied o-"

I cut off my own sentence, as Inuyasha and Miroku come walking out of the bushes in front of us:

"Uh, hey, what's with all the ruckus?"

...I then realized,

 _Oh crap! I'm not dressed!_

Sango was quicker on the reaction than I was, and proceeded to pound the living hell out of the boys...

Once they were gone, Sango and I would dry off with our own towel each...I couldn't help but stare sadly at Sango for a minute:

 _Everyone has been sucked into the doom that's the Shikon-no-Tama...But I feel sorry for her most of all._

 _She was forced to watch her father and her brother Kohaku be murdered right in front of her..._

"Say, Coraline?"

"Hm?"

I snap out of my thoughts, and look up at said demon slayer who was occupying a curious look on her face:

"That combat knife that you carry...I was wondering if you know what materials were used to make it?"

"Uh, I'm not sure. That's actually a question I keep meaning to bring up with the guy who gave it to me."

I reach down to my clothing pile and grab said knife (which I brought incase someone _other_ than the boys came prowling), pulling it out to look at the blade:

"...I'm guessing that it could be made of steel, or even a mix of earthen metals. One thing I do know is that it must be strong material, since it can withstand stabbing through clay and demon puppet hide."

Sango comes over to me:

"...May I examine it?"

"Uh, sure."

I hand the knife to her, and she looks at it intently for a few minutes...Suddenly, her eyes widen in astonishment:

"What? What is it?"

"...Coraline. Do you know where the distributor got this knife?"

"No, and I doubt Shuji knows much himself. He likes to keep this kind of dealing as discreet as possible...Why do you ask?"

"...Because this knife, is not ordinary."

"Not ordinary?"

She looks at me seriously:

"Yes. I do not know how this is possible, given where you come from, but this blade is made from earth metal, and traces of demon bone."

"What?!"

"Whoever crafted this blade likely mixed in fragments of demon bone into melted metal, steel perhaps."

"...A-Are you sure?"

Sango nods, before smiling reassuringly:

"But I would call this a good thing: If this blade is reinforced with demon bone fragments, then it can come in handy during most combat situations. You could even dole damage to the stronger demon varieties."

"...Oh wow..."

As Sango goes to get dressed, I find myself staring at my combat knife in wonder:

 _Holy Hera. I had a feeling that this blade had more to it than it looked, but certainly nothing like that!_

 _...I can't help but wonder, though:_

 _How in the world did Shuji get his hands on a demon bone/metal mixed blade?_

Inuyasha's POV

I was now sitting by the fire again with a lump on my head thanks to that dang slayer...Lucky for me, Miroku looked worse than I did (even with that goofy smile on his face, the pervert).

Shippo then says to us while holding Kilala,

"This time, you actually were in deep conversation and rushed to help." I grumble to myself,

"Why'd they have to suspect me too?"

 _At least Coraline didn't use her fist against me this time..._

"It was worth the pain. That was a wonderful sight we just saw~..."

I smack the monk upside the head, and he asks me,

"H-Hey, what was that for?!"

"Keh, you know damn well what...idiot."

 _That damn monk's not going anywhere near Coraline, especially when she's under-dressed!_

 _...I'll protect her from him, and any other man who even has the nerve to think about taking advantage of her._

Next Morning, No POV  


Everyone was just about ready to hit the road again:

"Alright, time to go..."

Shippo tries to drag Coraline's satchel, but was finding the weight a bit excessive...

"Here, let me get that, Shippo."

Today, Coraline was wearing her form-fit blue t-shirt, a gray/white flannel shirt (unbuttoned, of course), green cargo pants, her combat boots, and was wearing her hair in two matching braids.

As she saddled the satchel over her shoulders, Shippo asks with disbelief,

"Coraline, what do you have in your bag, rocks?! It's way heavier than it was before. I dunno how you can carry it!"

Coraline smiles in amusement at the young fox demon and replies,

"It's not as bad as you think: I only brought an extra book or two in my bag, plus a notebook for a research project I'm working on outside of school. You see, I've been trying to continue some of my father's work that was left unfinished."

Shippo widens his eyes in amazement:

"Wow, really?!"

"Mhm. Just because he died, doesn't mean his work has to."

"Must be hard for you."

Coraline turns to Sango and replies,

"Not really: My school work schedule is pretty flexible, so I can make time for things like this. Plus, I can use some of it as extra credit incase I miss an assignment."

She smiles sadly and adds,

"And anyway, continuing my father's work helps me cope with his loss, and, I sometimes feel like, his spirit is helping me along, ya know?"

Sango nods in understanding...Shippo then says with his arms crossed,

"Miroku says you should just give up on school this year and flunk a grade."

"Hmph, well let him believe what he wants, but I'm lucky enough to be in the system I'm in. If I was in the regular school system, I'd be in big trouble."

"Why's that?"

"Because the work can pile up really quickly if you don't stay on top, plus it can get extremely demanding. I honestly think those teachers expect too much out of their students, and don't see that they need a break."

Coraline frowns in irritation:

"Of course, that hasn't stopped Souta from saying things like, 'If you flunk six times, then I'll be in the same grade as you and I can help you study and we can graduate together'. The little twerp..."

Sango smiles a bit at Coraline's description:

"...I bet he acts tough and pretends to be cocky, but he hates to be lonely and he cries easily. (Turn) He's a good boy, this little brother of yours."

Coraline smiles back at Sango:

"Yeah, that's my kid brother for you...It's strange, though: Ever since I was adopted by the Higurashis, I have seen him as a little brother, but, haven't really felt it. It's the same with Akari-sama; I can't even picture her as a mother-figure."

"Why not?"

"(Bitter smile) I guess after losing my mother at such a young age, I lost interest in having another mother-figure of any kind. As for Souta, well, I was born an only child, and lived like that for the first decade and a bit of my life, so I guess a part of me is still adjusting to having a younger person who looks up to me."

Sango and Shippo look at Coraline with surprise, before Sango asks,

"What about Freeman and Besa? You said that you see them as brothers too, do you not?"

Coraline's smile got brighter at the thought of the twins:

"Heh, that's true. It's more of a close-friends thing, but, Besa did once say that he and Freeman see me as the sister they wish they had."

The girls sigh a bit in their own worlds...Shippo then notices something up the path:

"Hey, look, somebody's coming."

"Hm?" "Huh?"

They look ahead, and slowly making his way down the path, was a villager who was grievously injured! He would take a few more steps, before falling face-down, succumbing to his wounds...

"Inuyasha! Hurry!"

Once everyone got over to the man, Miroku would examine him:

"He's not breathing...(Rise) He seems no more but a simple villager." Coraline wonders with a serious tone,

"Is it possible he was attacked by raiders?"

Sango notices something about the man's injuries:

 _Those wounds weren't made by a sword..._

"Well, whatever happened, he's not the only one who's been killed around here."

Coraline looks at Inuyasha:

"You sure?"

He nods, and looks towards where the man came from:

"The air is filled with a thick scent of blood...and the blood is fresh. There's been a slaughter."

Small Time Skip

After a good deal of running, Inuyasha and the others come across the village where the dead man came from. However, they would find that Inuyasha's deduction was right on:

The village was in shambles, smoke still spilling out of some homes, while the bodies of the villagers were all scattered across the area!

"A massacre!" Shippo wonders aloud,

"Is anyone left alive? Coraline, you can sense human souls, right? Can you see if anyone's alive?"

"Human Auras, but yes, I'll give it a shot."

As Coraline began using her Aura Sight to detect any forms of life, Miroku says to Inuyasha,

"Let's find out what happened. We'll split up and search."

"Good idea."

"Hold it."

Sango could sense something was off, and she picked up a rock, before tossing it at a door to one of the huts...Next thing they knew:

(Ka-BOOM)

As everyone cringed from the impact, Sango says,

"Don't move an inch. Traps are set everywhere. One step and your leg might be blown off." Shippo panics a bit on the spot:

"Owaaah! Traps are buried underground?!" Miroku asks Sango,

"Beside all the dead bodies?"

"Probably." Coraline curses:

"Damn, that's low." Miroku concludes,

"If you try to help or bury the dead, you get blown up too." Inuyasha wasn't anymore pleased than the others:

"This heartless bastard doesn't deserve to live. Let's find him before he makes another move."

Coraline turns to him and retorts,

"Uh, that's easier said than done, smart-guy! We're standing on an active minefield!"

"Huh, if he thinks I'm the kind of guy who's gonna stand still and take it, he's got another thing coming!"

(Dash, leap)

"Haaaaaaahhhh!"

(SLASH)

Inuyasha then brings Tessaiga down on another hut, and a figure comes dashing out, sending a chain sickle back at him:

(Rattle, clang)

But Inuyasha easily blocks it away, so the figure is forced to call it back to his hand...

"Is he the one?"

Getting a better look, we can see a young boy in a demon slayer uniform...Miroku was in disbelief:

"He couldn't have killed all the villagers, he's just a young boy!" Coraline agrees:

"...It doesn't seem possible..." _Hang on: That uniform, looks familiar..._

Inuyasha retorts to them both,

"Look at the chain that he's got and the blood on his body. He's covered in it! The kid's gone insane!" He then asks the boy,

"You massacred a whole village! Why did you do this? What're you after? Hey!"

The boy does not respond...Meanwhile, Sango was beginning to shake, recognizing the boy instantly:

 _...Ko-haku?_

Coraline then remembers where she's seen the outfit:

 _That's a demon slayer outfit he's wearing, just like Sango's!_

 _...Wait...is that boy...No. No way!_

Kilala mews, having a calm expression on her face as she stared at the boy, to which Sango would notice:

 _Kilala recognizes him...But how?_

"It can't be Kohaku..."

Coraline looks at Sango with worried eyes:

 _Did, Sango say what I think she just said?_

Suddenly, the boy demon slayer (supposingly the dead Kohaku) turns around and begins to run away from the scene:

"Huh? Get back here!"

But when Inuyasha tried to chase after him:

(Step)

He accidentally triggers a landmine:

(BOOM)

"Gyaaaah!"

Lucky for him, he only slides back on his feet:

"Aw, damn it..."

Meanwhile, Sango calls her two-tailed friend to her:

"Kilala!"

She hops into Sango's hand, before being tossed into the air in a spiral:

(Spin...Fwoooom)

Kilala then transforms into her full-demon form:

"(Growl)"

Sango leaps into the air, and grabs onto her companion's fur:

"Go!"

Kilala and Sango begin chasing after the demon slayer boy, and zooming in on said boy, we see a familiar gleam of pink fushia emanate from his back...He then passes through an area that had a barrier casted around it, with Kilala and Sango following not too far behind:

(Glow)

Inuyasha, who was also in hot pursuit, stops in his tracks when he sees the barrier:

"Huh? A Spirit Shield!"

As Kilala kept her speed true, Sango was thinking in astonishment,

 _...Kohaku. I thought you were dead!_

Meanwhile, Inuyasha circled back to get the others, and when he had them all on his back, he leaped back to the Spirit Shield:

"Alright, we're here. Get off my back!" As they did so, Coraline muttered sarcastically,

"Gee, you couldn't be anymore subtle if you tried..."

Inuyasha shot Coraline an annoyed glare, before focusing on Miroku's question:

"So you saw both of them enter the Spirit Shield and pass through?"

"Yeah...(Turn) Coraline, are you sure? Maybe you heard wrong, maybe she mumbled something else."

Coraline shook her head:

"I'm absolutely one-hundred percent sure that Sango whispered Kohaku, the name of her younger brother."

She forms a sad look as she adds,

"She told me last night at the hot springs that Kohaku had been murdered in the castle occupied by Naraku."

"Did you notice that he had a Shikon-no-Tama shard embedded in his back?" Coraline replies to Miroku,

"...Actually, yes I did, and I also know where you're going with your sentence."

"(Nod) We've experienced that one before." Inuyasha agrees with them both:

"It's Naraku's same old trick: He forced Sango to fight against her will in the same manner." Shippo asks,

"Do you think Naraku is manipulating Kohaku in the same way?!"

Miroku looks out to the Spirit Shield:

"...Sango's probably aware of what's going on. But then, why did the shield allow her to pass through? I've got a bad feeling about this..."

Sango's POV

Kilala and I keep moving through the area, until we finally catch up with, him...

I hop off, and walk to stand by Kilala's head, as we stared at the figure standing in the misty fog:

"(Whimper)"

I pet my companion, before I softly demand the figure,

"Let me, see your face..."

...He slowly moves his hands to the filter mask, and removes it, revealing himself to be, Kohaku!

"(Gasp) Ko-haku?"

I begin to slowly approach him, thinking to myself happily,

 _You're alive! Kohaku!_

Suddenly, the one voice I didn't want to hear, came ringing through the fog:

" _Are you happy to see your brother alive?_ "

I freeze, before the demon makes his appearance behind Kohaku:

"It has been, such a long time, Sango."

"Naraku!"

He chuckles a bit, before having the nerve to ask,

"Aren't you going to thank me?"

"Ha, for what?"

"I salvaged your brother's life after he was felled by those arrows at the castle."

I cringe, realizing what he was indicating:

"Kohaku's life should've ended right then and there as he laid bleeding, but I saved him. You of all people experienced this kind of salvation. It was through the power of the Shikon-no-Tama. When you harboured the shard inside your back, you were able to fight Inuyasha, and you were his equal in battle."

"Silence!"

"Now, Kohaku possesses that same power. He stands before you as an equal warrior because of the Shikon-no-Tama. If it is extracted from him, he will surely die. Do you understand, Sango? Think through your actions: _Kohaku's life is in your hands._ "

I shiver back, shocked by this turn in events...But Naraku was not done:

"Bring me the Tessaiga, Inuyasha's precious sword. Only then shall I let Kohaku have eternal life."

I don't miss the smirk on Naraku's face, and I instantly burst out in a rage:

"I won't be bribed!"

But just as I raise Hiraikotsu:

(Toss, tok)

I block an incoming attack from Kohaku's kusarigama!

"Kohaku! Why are you protecting that demon, Naraku?!" He explains why:

"I've erased all of Kohaku's memories of you and his former life in the village. A fighting machine has no room for feelings; they would only get in the way. He slaughtered an entire village by himself. You should be proud of your little brother; he has become a fine demon slayer."

I am only the more angered:

"Gh! DAMN YOU!"

I then try to charge Naraku, only to cringe back from a cloud of black smoke:

"Gah! Poison gas!"

The cloud then swirls into a tornado, and Naraku leaves with the following message:

" _You will bring me the Tessaiga!_ "

(Pow)

" _I will be waiting for you, Sango..._ "

...Eventually, I made my way back to where I last left the others, who where waiting for me with worried eyes:

"Hm?"

"Sango!"

Coraline is the one who approaches me:

"Sango, are you okay? Was, that boy slayer, Kohaku?"

I girt my teeth, before replying bitterly,

"That boy was not my brother!" She flinches back from me:

"...Sango..."

I felt bad for snapping at her, but I wasn't in the mood to talk...Miroku then says,

"Well, the important thing is that you've returned unharmed. Sango, this whole incident with the traps and the barrier...tell me, was it Naraku who was behind it all?"

I reluctantly nod...

"I see, then you must be exhausted from the encounter. Let's return to the village and get some rest, okay?"

"Wait, Miroku."

He stops, and I ask with a somber tone,

"I beg you, please perform a service to honour and commemorate the dead."

He looks at me for a moment, before nodding at my request.

Time Skip, No POV

Sunset would eventually appear over the horizon, and by this time, Shippo and Kilala would have gotten the last of the bombs out of the huts:

"That's the last one. You're amazing, Kilala! Growing up in the slayers village payed off. You managed to sniff out every single one of the traps."

He looks down into the basket:

"We'll give these to Sango to safely destroy them somewhere else later." Shippo smiles proudly and says,

"Now then, I'll go tell everyone about what you managed to do...Uh?"

But, Kilala was no longer with Shippo:

"Hey, Kilala? Where did you go? Kilala? Kilala!"

Meanwhile, Coraline was helping Miroku with digging out more graves for the dead villagers:

"So, what's your take on what's happened, Miroku?"

"What's that?"

"About Sango meeting up with Naraku...What do think was in their word exchange?"

"He probably told Sango that he was manipulating her brother like a puppet."

Coraline frowns angrily:

"I thought so. Naraku's trying to use Sango's memories of Kohaku against her...He's a despicable demon!"

Miroku agrees, but says,

"She can't slay her own brother. Let's leave her alone for a while. Leave her with her thoughts until she's ready to talk about it."

Inuyasha comes over to the hole that the to were working on to put in his insight of the situation:

"Well you can't just let him off the hook. So what if he's Naraku's puppet with a jewel shard in his back? Kohaku's responsible slaughtering an entire town! If Sango can't kill him, then I'm gonna have to take him down."

He looks up in Sango's direction (she kneeling in front of some graves in prayer) and shouts,

"Hey, Sango, you gotta problem with that?"

...She rises to her feet, sends an icy glare at Inuyasha, before walking away...Coraline calls Inuaysha out on his attitude:

"Inuyasha! How can you possibly be so insensitive towards Sango at a time like this?!"

She moves out of the hole...before letting out a breath and turning back to Inuyasha to say the following:

"Look: I'm not _completely_ disagreeing with you. If worst comes to worst and Kohaku can't be saved from Naraku's control...then taking him down may be the only humane thing to do. He's likely suffering from spiritual pain even despite being a puppet...But I'm still holding onto the hope that there's another way. And I'm disappointed that you don't seem to think so."

With that, Coraline rushed to find Sango, leaving Inuyasha speechless...Miroku then says,

"I don't know what we're going to do about him...(Turn) Do we kill him?"

"Of course."

"No matter what?"

"Yeah, think about it: Naraku sent Sango's zombie-shard puppet brother, because he thought we'd be too sentimental and wimpy about it to kill him off. And there's no way I'm gonna fall for that!"

"Hm...I can see that you're really torn up about it."

Inuyasha makes noises of protest, before spouting out quickly,

"Shut up, Miroku! Get lost!"

Miroku hms with a knowing smile, and does as Inuyasha demanded...Inuyasha thinks to himself lowly,

 _I'm in a lousy position: Nobody else will take care of this except me._

 _But I feel bad for Sango..._

Small Time Skip

Eventually, all of the mass graves were build and filled, and everyone would retire into a small hut for the night...

But one person would still be awake, with memories running through her mind...

Flashback

 _Kohaku is swinging his_ _kusarigama in the air, preparing to do target practice while Sango and a trainer observed...  
_

 _(Toss, cut)_

 _"Did it!"_

 _(Cut)_

 _"Ghh!"_

 _Unfortunately, Kohaku fumbled a bit on the rebound and accidentally cuts his hand, to which the trainer would rebuff him on:_

 _"Kohaku, you're not trying hard enough."_

 _Jump ahead, and we see Kohaku feeding a bird from his hand, that was now wrapped in gauze. Kilala then hops onto his shoulder and rubs his cheek:_

 _"(Mew)"_

 _"Hey, Kilala, come on now, cut that out." His sister comes on scene:_

 _"How is the wound?"_

 _"Hey, Sango." She sits beside him with a calm smile:_

 _"Rough training?"_

 _"Rough for me, that is. I have such a long way to go."_

 _"Father told me he's been watching you, and he thinks you're getting better everyday, Kohaku."_

 _"Really?"_

 _"Really." Kohaku's eyes light up in excitement:_

 _"That's the first time I've heard of Father praising me! Heh, makes me feel kind-a embarrassed."_

 _He then sends the bird away into the sky, and he turns to Sango with a happy smile..._

End Flashback

As she laid near the fire now, though, Sango couldn't help but recall Naraku's words earlier today:

 _"I made him forget. I erased all the memories of his life."_

Her eyes open:

 _Kohaku didn't react at all when he saw me. Has he truly forgotten everything about me? About himself?_

She forms a glare:

 _...No. He doesn't even know that Naraku is our sworn enemy._

 _I won't allow Naraku to manipulate Kohaku. I must rescue him from Naraku's evil grip._

 _"Bring me the Tessaiga, Inuyasha's precious sword. Only then shall I let Kohaku have eternal life."_

Sango rises to a sitting position, staring at a sleeping Inuyasha, while drawing this conclusion:

 _...I must steal the Tessaiga, in order to save my brother, Kohaku!_


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32: Tessaiga is Stolen! Showdown at Naraku's Castle**

 _Recap:_

 _After a failed attempt in destroying Inuyasha and company at Mushin's Temple, Naraku decides to switch tactics: Instead of sending an army of demons to overwhelm his enemies, he sends a single fighter that will strike not only a physical blow, but a mental one as well..._

 _Meanwhile, come a couple days later after the worm-charmer incident, Inuyasha, Coraline and the others come across a brutally massacred village, which was also laced with traps that explode on impact should anyone try to pay forms of respect for the dead. That of course, does not stop Inuyasha, and he slashes one hut apart, revealing the assassin: Kohaku, the 'dead' younger brother of Sango!_

 _Sango pursues Kohaku through a Spirit Shield, and Naraku appears before her, explaining that thanks to him and a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama, Kohaku has been re-shaped as a emotionless soldier that follows his command alone, and no longer carries any memories of his previous life.  
He offers Sango an ultimatum: Steal Inuyasha's sword, Tessaiga, for Kohaku's life..._

 _Later on that night, after performing a burial service for the massacred villagers, Sango thinks about Naraku's offer, and becomes conflicted on what to do:  
Should she betray Inuyasha and the others to save the last link to her old life, or refuse Naraku's deal to save herself and her new friends, at the cost of laying her old life to rest?_

 _Now..._

Sango sits up on her futon, and begins to slowly reach for the Tessaiga, deciding to save her younger brother, Kohaku, at the cost of losing her friends...

But:

"Uh...mm..."

She pulls her hand back, questioning her judgement once again:

 _What am I doing? If I give the sword to Naraku, who knows what he'll do!_

The fire crackles a bit, startling her, and she stares at the sleeping form of Inuyasha...Suddenly, he stirs awake:

"Hm? Sango, what's the matter?"

"N-Nothing's wrong. I just, couldn't get to sleep..."

As she turned away from his face, Inuyasha could tell that Sango was actually troubled by recent events:

"...I know I have to kill him, but I feel badly for you." Sango sternly replies,

"I already explained it to you, Inuyasha: He is not my brother. The little brother I know could never slaughter an entire village; that would go against his very soul. I will put an end to Naraku and the imposter."

Unbeknownst to the half-demon and slayer, Coraline's eyes blinked awake, but she remained silent, listening to their conversation...

"How can it be that simple? If Kohaku looks exactly the same, can you really forget everything and turn your heart against him that easily?"

"Don't underestimate me. I am a demon slayer! I won't fall for Naraku's tricks!"

As Sango huffed, Inuyasha replied in the strangely calm tone he was using,

"If I was in your position...I probably couldn't do it."

Coraline felt her eyes soften sadly, realizing the hidden topic Inuyasha was not saying aloud:

 _He asks Sango about turning your heart and memory away from someone even if their appearance has not changed..._

 _But I know what he was really thinking about: He was, speaking about his situation with Kiky_ _ō..._

 _It's no wonder that he would sympathize with Sango..._

 _And, if I can be honest with myself, mad as I am for what she's done...I feel pity for the priestess..._

"Inuyasha."

"Hm?"

Coraline snaps her eyes to Miroku, who was also awake:

"Best be on your guard. We're completely surrounded."

...Outside the small hut, a large cluster of demon spirits began manifesting...and Kohaku, was up front...

As soon as everyone got themselves ready, they all rushed out the hut to see the numbers. Sango sees her brother in lead:

 _Kohaku?_

She frowns, knowing that breaking into emotion sentiments will not help the situation she and her friends were in now...Meanwhile, Miroku reaches for the prayer beads around his cursed hand...but Shippo protests his actions from atop Coraline's shoulder:

"Miroku, what are you doing?! Don't even think about it! Your Wind Tunnel hasn't completely healed!"

"But...Alright." Inuyasha holds an arm out in front of the reluctant monk:

"Forget it, Miroku. Don't risk your life over this vermin. All I gotta do is take out their ringleader and the rest of them are toast."

Kohaku stares blankly ahead for another few seconds...before raising his right arm ahead, signalling the charge!

Inuyasha was the first to attack:

"Get lost you pack of rodents! Gyraaah!"

(Slash)

He begins slicing down a good number of demons, until a chain wraps around the blade of Tessaiga:

"Gh!"

Kohaku then charges and leaps at Inuyasha, the latter barely managing to block the incoming demon-bone kusarigama:

(Clang, clang, clang...)

Just as the brainwashed demon slayer swung his kusarigama again:

(CLANG)

Inuyasha blocks the attack more successfully, and begins pushing Kohaku back:

"You're gonna need to fight better than that if you're plannin' on tryin' to take me out!"

(Shove)

Kohaku leaps back, but Inuyasha saw that move coming, and pulls Kohaku back with the chain, sending him flying over the sword-wielder and face-first into the ground!

(Leap)

"It's, over!"

Coraline calls out in protest to Inuyasha's actions:

"Inuyasha, no, please, don't kill Kohaku!"

(...TOK)

...Tessaiga lands just a few centimeters in front of Kohaku's head...Just as the young boy looks up:

(PUNCH)

Inuyasha rains a few choice punches to Kohaku, knocking him backwards to the ground again! Inuyasha curses himself on his mercy:

"Damn it anyway, I don't know why I even caved in. It's okay to kill him: He's just another trap set up by Naraku. I should kill him! I have to!"

Kohaku rises to a stand again, and vocalizes the most unexpected and dead-ridden response:

"...You're right. You should kill me. I deserve to die."

Everyone was shocked, especially Sango...Kohaku wasn't done:

"I killed my own...Father, my friends, the villagers...I killed them. I murdered them one by one..."

He raises his head, revealing lifeless eyes:

"It's true: I shouldn't be allowed to live."

Kohaku then takes his weapon...turns the tip of the sickle to him...before:

(...TOK)

He drives his kusarigama into his back! As he falls to his knees, Inuyasha asks Kohaku incredulously,

"Hey! What are ya doin' hittin' yourself?! What're you tryin' to prove?!"

Kohaku then reaches a hand to his back, and towards the exposed Shikon-no-Tama shard:

(Sheen...)

Coraline realizes what he was doing:

"He's, trying to take the jewel shard out of his back! But, to go so far...!"

Sango thinks to herself,

 _But the jewel shard embedded in his back is what's sustaining his life..._

 _If the shard is loosened and taken out of his body...Kohaku will die instantly!_

Just as Kohaku's fingertips grasp the shard, Sango rushes to grab Hiraikotsu to stop her brother from committing suicide:

"Don't, do it!"

(Toss, spin...CLANG)

The giant boomerang hits Tessaiga dead-on, sending it into the air and forcing back into its dormant form, much to Inuyasha's confusion:

"Huh?"

As soon as Sango caught her weapon on the rebound, and Tessaiga lands blade-down in the dirt, everyone turns to Sango in shock for her action:

"...Sango?"

"Sango?" "Sango!" "W-What are you doing, Sango?"

...She does not answer...

Kohaku stares at her for a minute (holding a hand over his wound), before turning to run, hopping on top a demon to ride away from the area...Sango watches him go, before focusing on the Tessaiga:

 _...Is he testing me?_

 _Does he really believe I will steal the Tessaiga from Inuyasha and take it to him?_

 _...What do I do?_

 _...What do I do?!_

In the end, Sango takes hold of the sword's hilt, and hops towards her transformed demon companion:

"Kilala!"

Inuyasha tries to stop her:

"Hey, wait! Sango, what the hell are you doing?!"

But Sango and Kilala were already far enough from the others, and close enough to the demon horde:

 _I have no option. This is the only thing I can do..._

 _This is what I truly want._

With that set, she and Kilala are surrounded by the demon spirits, and vanish away to the awaiting Naraku...

Coraline's POV

 _...Sango...I can't let her do this...This won't help her, or her brother!_

I rush back into the hut to grab my bow and quiver, and call out as I come back outside,

"Inuyasha, guys, come on! Standing around like idiots isn't going to help anything! We need to move now!"

Miroku turns to Inuyasha and says,

"He has the Shikon-no-Tama shard." Inuyasha replies,

"I can still smell his blood. Yeah, that's him; Kohaku is still close by...I can follow it."

Shippo turns to Inuyasha and says a bit nervously,

"Naraku's calling him back, I bet."

"Exactly."

The men turn to me a bit surprised, but I add in a serious tone,

"Which is why we need to stop talking and get moving, otherwise we'll lose alot more than just a shard."

(Dash)

We were now heading off to find Sango, Kohaku and Naraku, I riding Inuyasha's back, and Shippo Miroku's. Said monk then says,

"I can't use my Wind Tunnel and the Tessaiga is stolen!"

"So?"

Miroku looks at me incredulously, and I ask with a determined smile,

"When have disadvantages like that ever stopped us?"

Inuyasha agrees:

"Yeah, who cares? I can still punch him out! I still have my fists! Huh..."

Sango's POV

Kilala and I are now floating through a mysterious space of light-purple mist and light, with no visible landing area...

Eventually, we come to an opening, and I widen my eyes at seeing the very castle I was at once before...We land atop one roof, and I look around the area:

"This, castle..."

I hear Kilala begin to growl low, and I knew that this was not going to be an easy deal to convey:

"Kohaku? Kohaku!"

...I hear no reply for a few seconds, until:

" _...First, put down your weapon._ "

"Naraku."

I clench my teeth, before complying to his request, if a little brashly:

(Toss, spin...Crash)

Down below from where Hiraikotsu landed, the baboon-cloaked demon shows himself...I hop down to the ground, and he says to me,

"Well done, Sango. Good work. You brought me Inuyasha's sword, the Tessaiga, as promised."

I keep my voice firm, making my point clear in this deal:

"Let me see Kohaku! I will only hand over the sword after I see him!"

...The inside of the room behind Naraku glows an ominous red, and I see a familiar silhouette standing behind the wicker screen:

 _...Kohaku..._

As the silhouette fades with the red, I point authoritatively at Naraku and shout,

"Naraku! Turn Kohaku back to his former self immediately!"

"Killing me won't help. You should know that already. This is the fault of the Sacred Shikon-no-Tama: Demons and evil humans desire the jewel, and out of that desire, demons attacked your village. That's why your father was killed. That's why your brother's Soul now wanders in darkness. It's all part of the curse of the Shikon-no-Tama."

"Stop lying! You're the one who killed my father and comrades! You coveted the stupid jewel! You're responsible for everything!"

"People die because of the power of the Sacred Shikon-no-Tama, and people live because of its power. There's no reason why you should despise the Shikon-no-Tama as much as you do. Remember: Kohaku was revived because of its power. You made a promise to exchange the sword for his life. So, what will you do?"

I spit out seething in rage,

" _I despise you!_ _I made no promise!_ "

(Leap)

" _You want my answer?! Here it is!_ "

I throw the Tessaiga his way, and I brandish my hidden arm-band blades, just as Naraku catches the sword's handle:

(Clang, clang)

He leaps back, as I charge forward:

(Slash)

I successfully cut open the baboon robes, revealing long, black hair...He lands back on the ground, and I turn to see,

"...It's you. The young lord of the castle!"

"Kagewaki was a noble lord...He gave all the demon slayers proper burials...(Smirk) Ah yes, and I was the one who ordered for your care after the massacre."

"You, killed him!"

"...Kagewaki's still alive...at least, according to those I fooled into thinking I was him."

(Leap)

"DAMN YOU!"

I soar down from the rooftop, and try to cut down on this demon bastard:

"DIE!"

(CL-CRACK)

...But, my blade shatters...

(Slash)

"Rgh!"

Naraku then cuts me across my torso with the Tessaiga, and I roll to the ground hard...I just barely prop up on my elbows, when suddenly:

(CHOMP)

Kilala dives down and bites Naraku's shoulder! However:

(Whoooosh...)

That proved to be a mistake, when a stream of mist shoots out of the wound, blinding and disorienting her:

"(Rowl)"

"Kilala!"

She falls on her side, and returns to her small form, writhing in pain...

"Oh no, Kilala, what's wrong?!"

"Nothing can withstand an attack from my poison gas. That also includes you, Sango."

Suddenly, the strands of hair that were cut off before my blade broke, wrapped around me:

"What?"

(Whooosh)

"Gah!"

I hold my breath as best I could, trying not to breathe in the poison...Soon, it dispelled, and I fell to my knees, gulping in air...

"Well, Sango, will you agree to be my servant here with Kohaku? I remember Kagewaki's last command: He asked you to, _return to the castle._ "

Once I got my breathing under control, I dart my head up and retort,

"Me, be your servant?! In your dreams! Don't make me laugh, Naraku, my only goal is to destroy you! _I will avenge my comrades! I will kill you!_ "

"Kohaku...come."

My eyes widen, and I hear the door behind me slide open...

(Step, step, step...)

I turn around, and see my younger brother stand before me...before raising his kusarigama in the air:

"...And now, Sango, sister...goodbye."

I take in a shaky breath, and softly reply,

"...Kohaku..."

Meanwhile, Outside the Castle, No POV

Inuyasha and the others had finally reached their destination:

"The castle!"

"This is it. This must be where Naraku is hiding." Just as Miroku finished his sentence:

"(Distant) Aaaaaagh!"

Coraline recognized the scream:

"Ah! Sango!"

Inuyasha curses, before leaping downward as fast as he could...

Inside, Kohaku shows no mercy, as he uses his weapon to attack Sango blow after blow, leaving her with deep cuts along her shoulders and arms!  
Sango goes down hard, and as Kohaku retracts his kusarigama, she tries to reason with him on his actions:

"Kohaku...Kohaku, resist Naraku!"

(...Glow)

Suddenly, Hiraikotsu begins emitting a strange red light, before moving on its own from the roof down to the ground a few inches from Sango:

(TOK)

...Sango stares at her weapon, before slowly reaching her hand towards it, just as Naraku's voice began to echo:

 _"Yes, Sango...Kill him. Kill your brother with your own hands. Slaughter him, and then burn with the desire to live. Pray to continue wandering the world, and vow to do whatever you can to survive. When you kill Kohaku, and are bathed in his blood, the Sacred Shikon-no-Tama will glow brighter with the power of the dark. The more sullied it is, the more beautiful the Shikon-no-Tama becomes."_

...But just as her fingertips were mere centimeters away, and Kohaku poises at the ready...Sango retracts.

She then laughs inaudibly, before saying,

"Kill you? What makes him think I am able to kill you?"

She turns away from her weapon, and begins walking slowly to Kohaku, a sad smile on her face:

 _...I can't...Kohaku..._

As her hand reaches to him, Kohaku's eyes suddenly dilate back to their original state:

"Uuh...uh..."

Sango falls...and Kohaku lowers his kusarigama, muttering,

"...My sister..."

By this time, Inuyasha leads the others into the stronghold:

"Sango?!"

"Sango, are you alright?!" Shippo comes to the poisoned Kilala:

"Oh no, Kilala, are you okay?!"

...Kohaku drops his weapon, and falls to his knees, his mind very slowly putting the pieces back together on what he has done...

Miroku says appalled,

"He made her brother do this to her?!"

Coraline felt anguished tears welling in her eyes:

"Disgusting...How could he..." Inuyasha then shouts with a growl,

"Naraku! Show yourself! Where are you?!"

Naraku's voice echos around the grounds, he confused on what just happened:

" _Kohaku killed his father and his fellow villagers. He massacred an entire town...yet his sister says that she cannot kill him. She loves her brother more dearly than her own life. How can this be? I do not understand..._ "

As he spoke, Coraline rushed over to the heavily injured Sango, placing her head on her lap...Sango then stirs awake, and sees her brother:

 _Kohaku?...He'll be able to gain full consciousness soon..._

Miroku then says to Inuyasha in realization,

"Inuaysha, this is what happened to you fifty years ago: Naraku tried to set you up against the one you love!"

"What do you mean?"

Coraline answers with a grim look:

"Naraku tried to force Sango to feel nothing but hatred for her younger brother, with the intent that she kills him. Then, the shard of the Shikon-no-Tama embedded in Kohaku's back would become all the more dark-ridden."

Her eyes narrow:

"He manipulated Inuyasha and Kikyō similarly, making them hate and back-stab one another so that they would fight...(Grit) _If that's not evil, I dunno what is._ Kikyō chose to succumb to death so that the Shikon-no-Tama would remain frozen in time...Sango, refused to fight Kohaku for the very same reason. (Sad smile) Naraku's a fool: Sango could never submit to his orders. She's a kind person, and no matter what, she will always love her little brother."

(...Whoooosh...)

Suddenly, a gust of purple mist begins to resonate around them! Shippo shouts fearfully,

"Aowaah! Miasma!" Naraku's voice then rings in:

" _Foolish mortals! Now you can all die in this sea of poison!_ "

As the gust of poison grew, Sango begins to lift her head from Coraline's lap:

"Ease yourself, Sango. Your injuries are great." Inuyasha agrees, if more harshly:

"Yeah, stay where you are and don't budge! I got a thing or two to chew you out on, so don't you die on me, ya understand that?!"

Yet, Sango's mind was focused on her immense guilt:

 _It's all my fault..._

She unwraps her filter mask:

 _But..._

She then gestures the mask to Kohaku with a faint smile:

 _But I can give you this..._

Kohaku was now wearing the filter mask, as Sango reached behind him, near where the Shikon-no-Tama shard was...Coraline sees the faint glow from the shard, and comes up with a plan:

 _Hang on...Naraku has more than that one shard he embedded in Kohaku..._

 _That means, I can find him!_

She uses her Aura Sight to strengthen her detecting ability, and:

(Gleam)

 _There!_

Coraline forms a determined glare, before taking one of her arrows to aim:

"Naraku...You're Dead!"

(Twok)

(Whizzz...BOOM)

Coraline's arrow hits dead-on, and as Inuyasha cringes back from the impact, he sees in the distance...that Naraku's left arm was damaged!

Said demon was shocked that the redhead was able to hit him:

 _What?!_

"Naraku..."

Coraline looks at Naraku dead in the eyes with a hateful expression:

"...You're a despicable bastard! You will die!"

 _She's only a young girl. Why does she have so much power?! She's rendered the vapors harmless somehow!_

 _This kind of power only belongs to the priestess,_ _Kikyō...Can it be?  
_

Coraline's eyes glow that icy blue, as she shouts,

"You're just like him, Bishop: You and he are one in the same, bastards who will use any form of ruthlessness and manipulation to achieve your goals! I won't stop, not until you're both destroyed!"

(Twok)

The arrow fired becomes wrapped in a mix of light pink and blue, before hitting Naraku straight in his chest!

"...This is exactly like Kikyō's enchanted arrow! Don't tell me this girl is...!"

Inuyasha and Miroku watch the attack in awe:

"...She did it!"

"Coraline purged the miasma and pierced Naraku!"

(...BOOM)

Naraku's body then splits apart, leaving only his head in tact, before becoming wrapped in a tornado of miasma...

"Coraline!"

Inuyasha grabs hold of her so that she remained ground-level, while Miroku held tight to Shippo (he holding onto Kilala):

"Don't let go of Kilala, Shippo, hang on!"

Sango cringes from the strong gusts, before turning to see, that her brother's body was floating into the air!

"Kohaku! Kohaku, KOHAKU!"

As Inuyasha pinned Coraline to the ground to prevent them both from flying away, the castle began to crumble around the group...!

Early Next Morning...

"...Mmm...Uh?"

Coraline awakes, and finds herself, Shippo, Sango and Kilala curled up together, safe from the storm of miasma!  
Shippo wakes up too, and would be the first to exclaim about the new change in their surroundings:

"The castle disappeared!" Sango would explain in a weary voice,

"...It was a phantom castle." Inuyasha and Miroku would rise a few feet away, before the latter says,

"Look."

"Huh?"

Inuyasha turned to where Miroku pointed...and saw that the Tessaiga was still here!

As Coraline picked up the fallen filter mask, Inuyasha asks her,

"Do you think Naraku escaped?"

"...Most likely, but not without some form of physical damage. Still...I don't sense any jewel shards near, so who knows where he could've ran to..."

"Damn it..." As Inuyasha sheathes his sword back where it belonged, Coraline says to him,

"...I'm sorry. I wasn't able to kill him, no matter how determined I was..."

Miroku replies,

"No need to apologize, Coraline. We should be thanking you. Without you, we'd all be dead right now."

Inuyasha kneels down beside her, agreeing with Miroku:

"Coraline, I've never seen you fight like that before. I mean, sure, there were those odd moments with your combat knife, but now...you were almost as good as me."

"...Inuyasha, we must pull together to destroy Naraku. No matter what comes our way, or how hard we must work, we must prevail against him as a team if we want a better tomorrow."

Coraline clenches her fist, as she mutters quietly,

"He must die... _both of them_..."

Inuyasha looks at her with surprise at how enraged she sounded, but remembered the last thing she said before firing the second arrow, and realized who else she was talking about...Meanwhile, Shippo tries to prevent Sango from rising to her feet:

"Don't try to move around, Sango! You're badly hurt!" Coraline turns to them and calls,

"Sango, wait!"

As the others move over to them, Shippo shouts worriedly,

"Somebody help me stop her! She's trying to get up and walk!" Miroku asks her gently,

"Sango, where are you going? Rest a while, we'll take care of you."

"...I'm sorry...I can't stay with you any longer."

"Sango, we understand that Naraku was threatening you with the life of your brother if you didn't hand over the sword."

"Exactly! (Turn) I'll end up betraying you again! As long as Naraku still controls Kohaku..."

Coraline chides to her,

"But Sango, please..." Miroku then asks,

"Sango, what do you intend to do? Go after Naraku on your own? You'll never succeed that way."

"I don't have any other choice, Miroku..." Coraline calls Sango out on her claim:

"That's bull! Sango, we'll all work as one to save Kohaku."

Miroku agrees:

"You need more than one person to handle that kind of an opponent."

Coraline then comes to kneel in front of Sango, placing a hand on her shoulder:

"Heh, there's no use in trying to get rid of us that easy, Sango. So come on, let's get those injuries sorted out, eh?"

"But, why would you still help me?"

Inuyasha had heard enough of Sango's downward spiral:

"Would you stop whining, Sango?! We want you to stick with us because you're not a half-bad fighter, and that's all there is to it!"

Coraline was surprised with Inuyasha's 'kindness':

"Inuyasha...Wow, that's real impressive of you to say..."

Miroku places a hand on the half-demon's shoulder and says to Sango,

"You see, even Inuyasha wants you to stay, and that's coming from a guy who's sword you stole so easily from."

Inuyasha barks at Miroku,

"Don't say that! It makes me sound like a stupid half-wit!"

"I'm just saying you're a very generous person, that's all." Shippo then asks Sango innocently,

"Sango, don't you like us anymore?" Sango replies with a catch in her throat,

"Of course I do. It's just all my fault that this happened...and I might end up doing something like this to all of you again...But-"

She then whirls around to hug Coraline around her torso, burying her face in her shirt, crying her eyes out...

Coraline holds her close, stoking her hair comfortingly:

 _Oh Sango..._

 _This has been an emotional roller-coaster for her..._

 _But, at least she has people she can turn to now. And we'll stand by her through and through until Naraku's dead._

 _(Smiles bitterly)_

 _Besides, I can understand all too well why she did what she did..._

"(Whisper) If it was me, and Kohaku was one of my own brothers...I would've done the same thing without a second thought."

"(Sniff) You...you would?"

Coraline's eyes widen a touch, realizing that Sango heard her...Nevertheless, she nods while looking at Sango straight in the eye with a sad smile:

"Yes. Like you, I believe in protecting the ones I care about deeply...no matter what the cost...even if my life is forfeit."

Sango gasps a bit...Coraline laughs a bit and says,

"I guess you and I have lived similar lives, haven't we? Losing what we once perceived as a normal life, and forcing ourselves to carry on..."

...Sango nods, a very faint smile appearing on her face, her eyes still glistening with tears:

"Yeah...(Sniff) I suppose so...And, you were right back then, too."

"Hm?"

"I...I can't let my pain and agony...consume me...I, have to find the strength to move forward, and, shape the pain into something I can use..."

Coraline nods encouragingly:

"Right...I'm glad you remembered."

"...How do you do it, Coraline? How do you take your pain, and use it to survive?"

"(Sad smile) I sometimes don't know myself...But, it's been five years since that day...so, I guess time does help to heal."

Coraline then frowns:

"Still...I don't think all the time in the world will be able to heal my wounds...Not yet, at least...Not while _he's alive._ "

"You mean Bishop, right?"

Coraline turns to Inuyasha, and replies seriously,

"...Yes. As long as he lives, and Trinity continues to seek me... _I have more then one enemy to think about._ "

Meanwhile, in Modern-day Tokyo...

Somewhere deep within the abandoned ruins of a once proud district, a pair of teens dressed in black stop behind a brick wall, before taking out a device of some sort...

(Ping)

"Your report?"

"Sir, we've been monitoring the Croft girl as you ordered, and we've begun to notice an odd pattern."

"...Explain."

"There's been a number of strange time gaps in which she has not detectable by our radar, and, she has been seen entering and exiting an old well-house within the Higurashi Shrine and Residence."

"The Bone-Eater's Well, as the elder of the residence calls it. We had another operative plant an energy fluctuation measure as close to the well-house as possible, and for the past few weeks, there's been odd spikes in energy for brief moments about the time she enters the well, and exits it."

On the other side of the line, Saki, the leader of Trinity's Tokyo base, hms in thought from this new information:

"...Interesting. Continue monitoring, and work towards finding a way to get a visual view of this anomaly."

"Yes, sir!" "Yes, sir!"

(Ping)

As he turns from the monitor he was speaking to, he says to his comrade,

"It would seem that Croft has made contact with a supernatural anomaly."

"Hm, I'm not surprised. The Croft Family has a history of supernatural encounters...It's to be expected with Aura Readers."

"Mm, yes."

...Bishop steps out of the shadows, and says to Saki,

"Even so, she will soon realize that there is no escape from the hands of Trinity." And he smiles menacingly, while quirking mentally,

 _She will either submit...or meet the same end as her father did!_


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33: Jinenji, Kind Yet Sad**

It's been a few days since the Inuyasha group encountered with Naraku at his phantom castle, and Sango was now resting under her kimono on a futon bed (she recovering from her injuries), while Kilala curled up by her head...

Unfortunately, our poor twin-tailed cat demon was feeling unwell, due to the miasma that was still lingering in her system. As Kilala lets out a whimper, Sango softly asks,

"Kilala, does it still hurt?"

"(Mewl...)"

"Naraku's poison is still in your system..."

Outside the abandoned shack, Inuyasha, Coraline and Shippo speak with Myoga on a grassy bank, learning that there was hope for Kilala to recover:

"An herbal antidote? So then there's a way to cure Kilala of her illness?"

"Mm, I have heard rumors of an herb garden not far from here. Unfortunately for us, there's also a rumor about, a demon."

Shippo is not discouraged:

"Then that's a perfect job for Inuyasha: After he beats up the demon, we can take whatever we need."

Inuyasha smirks a bit in agreement:

"Keh, well if it helps Kilala, I'll be happy to do it. After all, she actually helps in battle, _unlike_ Myoga."

Myoga makes an appalled noise, as Shippo adds similarly,

"We can actually count on Kilala, _unlike_ some people. Without her strength, we could be in serious trouble."

Both boys nod, while Myoga sputters incoherently...Coraline smiles exasperatedly at Inuyasha and Shippo, before deciding to try and defend Myoga:

"Hey, come on, don't belittle Myoga so quickly, you guys. Sure, he isn't much help in terms of physical confrontation, but he is a reliable source of knowledge. (Murmur) Well, random information, at least."

Myoga boils in anger for a minute...before shouting irritably,

"Okay, okay, enough with the feint praise! What's a flea to do to catch a break around here?! (Exasperated sigh) At least Coraline knows about brains before brawn, come on!"

And they all stare at Myoga's 'hopping-mad' form blankly...After a bit, Inuyasha and Coraline left to find the herbs for Kilala, while Miroku and Shippo stayed behind with Sango and Kilala:

"So they went to find the medicine, did they? Inuyasha and the others?"

Miroku replies to Sango,

"Yes, they did. And I shall stay here to protect and look after you, (Gentle smile) so no more talking and try to get some rest."

Sango blinks blankly at Miroku...

"Is something wrong?"

"It might be safer outside..." Shippo then chimes in from the wary Sango's other side:

"And that's why Coraline sent me, so that I can protect you from being protected by him."

Myoga adds,

"What he said," also staying behind for that reason...Miroku just sighs with an exasperated smile at their lack of faith in him to be professional...

Coraline and Inuyasha  


At the same time Sango was being informed of the efforts to find a cure for Kilala, Coraline and Inuyasha were already well on their way down a path to the place where the herb garden grew.

Today, Coraline had dawned a white crop-tank, a red-wash jean jacket, a pair of acid-wash jeans, and her black combat boots. As the two kept jogging down the stretch, Inuyasha says to Coraline in a somewhat bored tone,

"It be faster if I went by myself," to which Coraline would smirk a bit and counter,

"Oh yeah? Let's assume you did: How would you be able to tell the good herbs from the bad? Out of the two of us, I'm the one who pays attention to Kaede's teachings..."

Inuyasha yawns and says,

"Yeah, okay, whatever. You sure about joggin' all the way, though?"

"Why not? Plus, I think it'll be good for the two of us to spend some time together, alone..."

Coraline focuses up front and smiles as she thinks aloud:

"It's funny: Back in the beginning of this quest, it was just the two of us. But now, we've made friends with some wonderful people..."

She stops by a tree, and adds,

"These constant rumbles with demons can easily steal your energy, ya know? It's good to know we have strong friends who will gladly have our backs..."

(...Zzzzz...)

"Huh?"

Coraline then turns her head downward, and sees Inuyasha slumped against the trunk, fast asleep!

"Uh...He's sleeping."

She sits down beside him, and looks at Inuyasha's face, noting the peaceful expression on his face, albeit rather fatigued features:

"...Gee, he must be more exhausted than I thought..."

 _Guess this shouldn't be a surprise. That last battle we had with Naraku was crazy..._

 _It would make sense that Inuyasha would be so tired._

She smiles gently at the sleepy half-demon, and leans against the tree while whispering to herself,

"I'll just wait 'til he stirs awake again. Wouldn't kill us to take a small break..."

With that, Coraline reached into her pack, and brought out a notebook or two, deciding to do some schoolwork while Inuyasha slept on...

But while those two were able to catch a moment of peace, one poor soul was in dire peril:

"(Pant, pant) Ah!"

A young woman - wearing a blue kimono and green headscarf, along with a basket of herbs on her back - was being chased down a path in the forest by an unknown entity with red eyes...

She trips and falls to the ground, just as her pursuer closed in:

"(Turn) AAAH!"

(Slash)

...She was gone, her herb basket left behind...

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

After about fifteen-twenty minutes, Inuyasha woke up, and we were on our way again. For some reason, he didn't seem pleased that I let him sleep for that long...I try to reason with him again as we made our way up a hill:

"I don't understand what the problem is, Inuyasha. You were tired, so I thought it was best that you'd take a rest for a while. It's not like we were there for an hour, right?"

"Keh, maybe...Still, you should've woke me up sooner."

"(Sigh) Fine. How 'bout next time, you tell me how long you wanna sleep, and I'll make sure you don't go any longer than that. 'Kay?"

"Whatever."

When we reach the top of the hill, I found myself looking at Inuyasha with intent...He then asks,

"Now what?"

"Um...You, like spending time with me, right?"

"Depends, is that a trick question?"

 _Trick question? Does he...believe that I'm hostile or something?_

I suddenly felt insecure, and I turn away while letting out a small puff of air:

"N-Never mind. I dunno, why I even asked that..."

I keep walking, hearing Inuyasha call to me a bit irritably,

"Excuse me! Did I miss something?"

I smile sadly, realizing he doesn't understand what I'm feeling right now:

 _Which is fair...Even with all that I've told him so far regarding my life, I'm still closing myself off from him, and everyone else around me..._

 _(Frowns sadly)_

 _Maybe...maybe I am hostile..._

Inuyasha's POV  


"N-Never mind. I dunno, why I even asked that..."

I look at Coraline a bit strangely, noticing an odd look spread across her face before she walked away...

"Excuse me! Did I miss something?"

She doesn't answer...

 _What was with that look?_

 _She seemed...upset by my question...No, not upset...troubled, maybe?_

 _(Sigh) This is why I don't get girls: They've got too many moods to choose from..._

No POV  


As Coraline and Inuyasha kept moving along, they suddenly stop, when Coraline notices something off:

"What, is that?"

"What's what?"

Coraline points to where she's indicating, and both teens see about five village men carrying a wooden platform, with a wicker mat covering something...or rather, someone...

"I'm telling you, it's Jinenji!"

"Of course it is! Who else could it be but that demon?"

"Wh-What can we do?"

"Yeah, what?"

Inuyasha then steps in front of the path, blocking the progression of men while looking at them with a serious expression:

"So, who's this Jinenji? Some kind of demon?" Two of the men reply respectfully,

"Why should we tell you?"

"Another demon!" Coraline rushes to Inuyasha's defense:

"True, but he's not of the malicious variety, I assure you, sir."

The men back away a bit, still wary...Coraline tries again:

"Come on, please don't be so defensive. The two of us only wish to find a special medicinal herb that's not too far from here so that we can help another friend who's sick."

"What herb?"

"You mean Jinenji then."

"Jinenji's the one who done killed this poor woman." Coraline is baffled:

"I don't understand. Please explain."

"You'll want Jinenji, a big monster who lives at the edge of the village with his mother."

"Them plants of his sure work enough, but as of late, that is to say..."

"Lately, he's got himself a taste for human flesh, is what it is."

After leading them to the village, and dropping off the dead woman (the same one from before), the men lead Inuyasha and Coraline to the herb garden and home of the demon, Jinenji.

"It's him there. Big feller, ain't he?"

The demon Jinenji was rather large (likely about, eight to ten feet tall), had bulking arms and legs, orange skin, a tousle of black hair atop his head tied back, and very large blue eyes.

As they watched Jinenji tending to the fields from behind some boulders and bushes, Inuyasha scoffs a bit and replies to the villager,

"Keh, he ain't so big."

"Don't go makin' us no promises you can't keep now."

"I'm doin' it for the herb, not you. (Glance) Coraline, you stay here."

"Alright."

As Inuyasha leaped off, one of the men asks his companions,

"Do ya reckon he's strong enough?"

"Don' really matter, now do it? Not our problem now." A third then says,

"If we're lucky, maybe they'll kill eachother."

Coraline was not pleased by that last comment, but chose to bite back a retort, instead side-glaring at the men:

 _God, these men are prejudice..._

Inuyasha lands on the field not too far behind Jinenji:

"What'sa matter? Your mom didn't tell you about not eating people smaller than you?"

As he brought out Tessaiga, Jinenji turns around, confused by Inuyasha's presence...Inuyasha then sniffs the air, and becomes perplexed himself:

 _That's weird. I don't smell any human blood on him..._

(Toss)

Suddenly, a torrent of rocks come a-whacking on Jinenji (and to a lesser extent, Inuyasha), who covers himself defensively from the assault. The ones responsible, which would be the same five men, started jeering at Jinenji:

"Go on, get outta here!"

...Jinenji turns around, his eyes flashing a bit, and Inuyasha readies Tessaiga...only to become dumbfounded, when Jinenji starts bawling:

"Waaaah!"

He then retreats to his home, calling out fearfully,

"Aaaah! Maaa!"

"Huh? Hey, wait!"

"Maaa, help!"

Suddenly, an old woman with weather-beaten skin, gray hair tied in a green scarf, wearing a brown/black-striped kimono with tan skirt, comes rushing out of the home, waving a large log!

"Why yoooou!"

Inuyasha stops in his tracks:

 _A mountain witch!_

"Tryin' to take our land for yerself, are ya?!"

(Slam)

...But even though she lands a clean hit on Inuyasha's head, the log didn't do any real damage...It actually splits in two...

"Uuuuh?"

As Inuyasha stared at the elderly woman blankly, the men decide to scram:

"Well, so much for that plan..."

"Run away!"

Coraline watches them scramble off, muttering,

"Cowards," while Inuyasha mumbles with a frown (while having a bump on his head),

"Now I know I missed somethin'..."

The old woman pants a bit, before saying to Inuyasha,

"I dunno who put you up to this, or what you've been told, but this boy would never eat someone! You got that?! Who he is don't matter, whether half-demon or not!"

Coraline raised a brow of confusion:

 _...Half-demon?_

All three then turn to see Jinenji, still crying a bit while crouching in fear...

Once a few matters were cleared up, Inuyasha and Coraline would follow the old woman and Jinenji inside their home, with Jinenji prepping up the herbal cure for Kilala...

As the other three sat around a fire, it would be the old woman to speak first:

"Inuyasha, was it? You're half-demon too, but ya don't look it."

"So you can tell, can you?"

"Half-breeds are funny that way: For each one born pretty like you, there's another born but ain't."

Coraline glances at Inuyasha before saying lightly,

"I get what you mean. (Blush) Compared to other demons I've seen, full or half, I-Inuyasha is rather, good-looking..."

Inuyasha looks at Coraline funny, noticing the blush on her cheeks:

"...You think I'm good-lookin', do ya?"

"Um..."

Luckily, the old woman would cut in again, saving Coraline from any embarrassment that was rising:

"Just imagine what it's like for him: Bein' half-demon shouldn't matter, but, those villagers, they, they treat 'im like he's some sort of monster, or somethin'."

Jinenji sighs quietly as a form of confirmation...Coraline frowns sadly:

"So Jinenji's been subjected to bullying?"

"Kuh, tryin' to kill 'im, more like." Jinenji speaks up quietly:

"I'm sorry, Ma. If I weren't like this, I..." She turns to him and gently rebuffs,

"Stop that right now. Don'tcha apologize for bein' different. (Smile) Your father was different, but that never made no mind to me..."

Flashback

 _A darkened night in the mountains...A set of yellow orbs appear, floating towards a younger version of the elderly woman..._

"I'll never forget how I hurt my ankle, and I couldn't walk. It was your father who saved me. Ooh~, the man I saw, he was glowing..."

 _The lights cluster together, and manifest as a tall humanoid man with blue-silver hair, wearing a teal-blue kimono with dark-blue pants and a light-brown vest, had eyes similar to Jinenji's, and was carrying a tree staff of sorts..._

"And I knew he weren't real. No man was that perfect. I loved him. Him, and his demon light..."

End of Flashback

The old woman blushes fondly at her memories...Coraline giggled at bit at how flushed the woman was, while Inuyasha asks,

"Wait, so if that demon was the father, (Point) then the human half was you?"

"What did you think I was?"

Coraline thinks to herself,

 _Well, I knew she was human...Though considering how weathered her skin is, I can see why Inuyasha may be confused..._

"Hm?"

Jinenji then holds a small pouch out to Coraline:

"Here, for your friend. It's medicine for the friend that you said got poison in them."

"Oh, yes, thank you." She takes the pouch from Jinenji, then asks the old woman,

"How much?"

"Nothin'. It's the least I can do to make up for the clubbin' I gave earlier. Now leave, before I grind your bones and make our bread."

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

Inuyasha and I have left the hut and fields, and are now watching Jinenji and his mother from the tall grass afar...

After a minute, the breeze passes, and Inuyasha begins walking off...However, I was feeling rather apprehensive to leaving:

"Um, Inuyasha...Shouldn't we, I dunno, stick around for a bit?"

"Should we?"

"It's just, these villagers, and Jinenji...You and I both know that these accusations against him are false. So what if he's different? There's no reason to immediately call him guilty of anything."

"But that's what it does mean when you're different. (Glare) Nobody trusts you, you're always the first to be blamed, and it is always, always your fault!"

Inuyasha then begins walking off from his outburst, leaving me to my own troubled thoughts:

 _...Inuyasha...he knows how Jinenji feels... and_ _I...I know how both of them feel..._

Meanwhile, back in the Village, No POV

(Clatter)

Those same men from before begin gathering assorted weapons (from sharpened bamboo shoots to swords to spears), readying themselves to take matters into their own hands (misguided they may be):

"Gather every sword and every spear in the village!"

"This is plenty! Even he can't take on all of these." One old man holds a sword (shaking a bit) and proclaims,

"Tonigh's gotta be the nigh'. Kill, or be killed."

By this time, Inuyasha and Coraline had reached this area of the village, and the latter was not amused by their plans:

"How can you be so heartless?!"

"(Turn) Oh, it's you two again." Coraline comes up to the men to defend Jinenji:

"You can't possibly be serious about killing Jinenji, are you?!"

"Of course we are."

"(Glare) You have no proof that he's the one responsible for the killings! Can't you just-"

"How can you be so naive?"

"They hate us, the witch and her monster son!"

"They're cowards, is what they are."

Coraline growls at them in anger, while Inuyasha looks at the men with his own glare:

"Interesting. Because the way that I see it, _it's the other way around._ "

The men are taken aback, and Inuyasha adds,

"But right now, we've got bigger problems, like catching the real flesh-eater."

"What'd ya mean, 'real flesh-eater'? You plannin' on catchin' it?"

Coraline takes a step towards Inuyasha, and informs him,

"Inuyasha, I'm going back."

"Back where?"

She indirectly answers him by telling the men sternly,

"I'm going to be up at Jinenji's, so don't even think about attacking. If I'm to get hurt, Inuyasha will not be happy and will most likely kill you all in a fit of vengeance."

"I will?! Since when?!"

"I should think you'd avenge me! Not that I can't defend myself, but still!"

"Fine, I'll avenge you already."

The men begin conversing among themselves:

"Do ya think we can trust 'em?"

"Wouldn't hold my breath."

Small Time Skip, Inuyasha's POV

I'm now dashing through the forest, trying to hone in on the scent of the real demon responsible for the attacks on the village...

 _That murdered woman. I could smell demon all over her._

 _I smell it now. Really close._

(Leap)

Coraline's POV

I'm now speaking with Jinenji's mother in their garden fields about what Inuyasha and I overheard the villagers planning, as well as what he and I have done about it:

"They did, did they?"

"Yes, which is why I told them I'd be here while Inuyasha went to search for the real demon responsible for these attacks. I have strong hopes that Jinenji can be proven innocent."

"...Have it your way."

I decided to make myself useful in helping out in the fields, specifically, where Jinenji was working:

"Just pull weeds out, right?"

"...Yeah."

I knelt down and got to work...I noticed that Jinenji shifted a bit away from me, not that I could blame him...I am a human, after all. I turn my head in his direction, and noted the heavy scarring on his arms and body:

 _So many...Must have been the doing of those villagers..._

"Jinenji...has the thought of leaving this place ever occurred to you?"

"...This place is best."

"Hm?"

"My Pa built this farm."

"Ah..."

As I turned back to the weeds, I found myself smiling a bit at his courage:

"...You're alot braver than I am, then."

"Hm?"

"...I too have been subjected to prejudice attitudes, when I was young. You see, I'm not an ordinary human. I have this, gift; a gift that allows me to see 'the extraordinary among the ordinary'. In which case, the supernatural."

I frowned as I thought of Majora and its residents:

"Unfortunately, the people of my old village couldn't understand that my gift was not dangerous, especially the kids around my age...Some of the bolder ones even threw dirt in my eyes to try and blind me."

I sensed his eyes widened a bit:

"...They did?"

"Yes, among other physical abuse...and, after my Father died, I no longer felt any ties in my village anymore. I chose to leave just shy of ten years old..."

I turn to him and smile encouragingly:

"That's why I think you're the bravest out of the two of us. You can find the strength to keep living in your home...I couldn't."

Jinenji's POV

I turned back to the plants, yet found myself staring at this strange human:

 _I did it. For the first time, I talked to a girl, and she didn't scream..._

 _Not only that, but she called me brave..._

"(Humming...)"

"Mm?"

 _What is that?_

The girl turned to me, sensing my confusion:

"Oh. Heh, sorry. All of these events, has got me thinking about a song. It talks about taking away the words that affect a person negatively, and replacing them with positiveness..."

"...How, does it go?"

She seemed surprised by my question, but then smiled and began singing the words...

No POV

At Jinenji's soft request, Coraline began singing the first verse and chorus of _Kill A Word_ by _Eric Church_.

(Note: I do not know that music reference. I thought this song would be perfect for this chapter, so I recommend finding it to listen to.)

...Jinenji listened to the words, while Coraline worked away at some more weeds, her voice coming out soft but strong. In the distance, Jinenji's Mother listened too, thinking about the redhead:

 _This girl is somethin', alright: She's unafraid of Jinenji, and actually finds him braver than she is..._

 _Though based on her facial expressions as she told him about her own life, it sounds like she didn't have a good childhood either._

 _And yet...this song...It speaks a message of power: Finding the strength to change the way people look at you..._

A little while later, Coraline stands with Jinenji as the latter tosses some seed for a flock of birds to eat...One lands on Coraline's finger, and she holds it out carefully to Jinenji, who had a few resting on his body:

"Do you see? Even the birds know you're a good soul."

Jinenji nods, feeling something swell in him that for so long he didn't believe could be achieved:

 _Is this what it feels like to be happy?_

Meanwhile, deep in the forest outside the village...

(Step, step, step...)

Inuyasha sniffs the forest floor, finally pinpointing the source of the demon scent:

 _Right here. I'm sure of it._

He then brushes aside the leaves:

 _It's fresh. Like just buried._

(Whack, crumble)

"Gah! Aaaaah!"

As his fist connects with the ground, it loosens, and he falls into an underground cavern of sorts:

"Gh, aw man...Where am I? Where is this?"

As he rises to a stand, he begins scoping the place out, noticing an inordinate amount of bones...human bones, at that...

"Huh?"

Inuyasha then comes across a nest of sorts, with luminous-green eggs resting in a slime deposit...As he got closer, he sees that some of the eggs had already hatched:

"They're eggs, and something just hatched out of 'em too. This is definitely their nest...(Gasp) Uh oh. And if they hatched, their parents must've taken them out for training. And training for what? Eating humans, that's what. Giving them a taste for human flesh."

Inuyasha turn away, concluding the biggest problem (to him, at least):

"Coraline's in danger."

Small Time Skip, Jinenji's Home

As night falls, a larger group of the villager men from earlier are now approaching the area, with torches and weapons in hand:

"Maybe we shouldn't."

"Ah, don't torture yourself. That half-demon's got it comin'." Another fellow agrees:

"Why should we have to trust one half-demon to kill another anyway?"

Inside the hut, Coraline was slumped against the wall asleep, while Jinenji stared at the ongoing fire in thought:

 _This feeling...I can't explain it. Being with her, I feel so warm..._

Unfortunately, this moment of peace would be cut short:

(Crack)

A stone is thrown through the wooden-barred window, followed by the collective shouts of the men, startling Jinenji and stirring Coraline and Jinenji's Mother awake! Coraline curses quietly:

"It's those men again."

"I know. It's okay, stay here."

Jinenji's Mother then takes a garden hoe for protection and heads outside her home, cringing from some rocks thrown at her by the angry men:

"Old witch!" "We let you live here with us too!"

Coraline rushes out the home, shielding the older woman:

"Hey, knock it off, you cowards!"

The men stop, becoming a bit wary of her presence...Coraline then checks on Jinenji's Mother:

"Are you alright? They didn't injure you too bad, right?"

"Move, girl!"

"Why are you protecting them?!" Coraline glares at the men and replies,

"Why? Why, you ask? Because they've done nothing wrong, that's why! Unlike you lot, I believe in getting to know people before making any sort of judgements! Jinenji's a gentle soul, who would never hurt any human! And his mother only wishes to protect him from lowlifes like you!"

"Uh...Do you hear that?! She's as bad as them! Get her!"

"Anyone who loves half-demons much as her must be one! I bet she's guilty too!"

With those accusations in the wind, the men proceed to throw their torches onto the hut and around it!

Coraline was appalled, as was Jinenji's Mother:

"No, the hut!"

"No!"

Meanwhile, poor Jinenji was crouching inside, becoming all the more frightened...Jinenji's Mother went into action:

"You've gone too far!"

But just before she could try to attack, suddenly:

(Hiss...)

The men turn around, and they see another demon, the true cause of the recent attacks, and one of their own was being killed by it:

"T-That's one of our guys!"

They instantly begin retreating back, just as numerous of the demon's young (which looked like something between a caterpillar and a centipede) start eating at the fallen villager!

"It's young'uns are eating him!"

Next, they'll eat us!"

As Coraline and Jinenji's Mother cringe back a bit, the latter shouts to the men,

"There, ya see?! There's your flesh-eatin' monster right there!"

As the men begin fleeing every which way possible, Coraline leads Jinenji's Mother back a ways, muttering,

"Gotta do something, and fast..."

She then rushes back into the hut (which was increasing in temperature from the growing fire) to get her bow and arrow, as well as her satchel:

"(Turn) Jinenji! Your mother needs your help outside! The demons have come!"

Jinenji looks at Coraline for a moment...before moving outside to stand with his mother, as the young redhead drops her satchel to her side, and readies her first arrow against the largest demon:

"There's no way I can use my combat knife now...Hrrr-gah!"

(Twok)

(Tok, rip)

"Got it!"

Unfortunately, while she wounded the creature's neck, the demon was still able to fight:

(Swing)

"Uh!"

(Crash)

"Aaaaah!"

Coraline was then whacked by the demon's tail, and was sent flying backwards before crashing to the ground:

"Gh!"

...Miraculously, she was still conscious, but when she went to push herself up:

"Agh!"

She would fall back a bit, finding that her right wrist was throbbing pretty badly:

"D-Damn...I must've sprained it...Huh?"

She then looks up, and sees the demon leering at her:

"Oh, crap!"

Jinenji sees it too, and as the demon unleashes its long, red tongue to attack Coraline:

(Gleam)

Jinenji's eyes flash red, before rushing to sock the demon in it's mouth!

"(Pant, pant...)"

But the move would come with a cost, as the demon takes its tail, and constricts Jinenji by his throat! His mother calls out,

"Jinenji!"

Meanwhile, Coraline stared at him in wonder as she released her grip on her combat knife:

"Jinenji..."

"Hurry, get away! Hgh, only you, ever really treated me like a real person! Hh, i-if I let you die here, I wouldn't deserve being half-human..."

"...Oh, Jinenji..."

His mother was just as amazed by his proclamation:

"...Jinenji..."

Meanwhile, the villager men were becoming overwhelmed by the number of demon young:

"Aaagh!" "S-Somebody he-aaah!"

(Slash)

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

Lucky for them, Inuyasha had returned to cut down on the demons. Mind you, his concern was for only one human:

"Coraline! Where are you?!"

"Inuyasha!"

He turns right, and sees her standing by Jinenji's Mother as the other half-demon was trying to keep the monster back:

"Please, help Jinenji!"

"Whe-"

"Don't you do it!"

Inuyasha looks over at Jinenji's mother in surprise, as does Coraline:

"What?!"

"You mustn't help him. Jinenji must learn to fight for himself."

"...And this is the time?"

Inuyasha sees the look on Jinenji's Mother's face, and silently agrees with her:

 _This is the time..._

He then sees that the villager men were trying to walk away without being spotted, but he wasn't having that:

(Leap)

"Don't tell me you're leaving? (Smirk) And here the fun was just gettin' started. Who's the big coward now?"

The men finally admit it:

"We are, okay?! Just don't hurt us!"

"Help us! We're beggin' here!"

"Oooh~, I get it. Whoever is strongest is leader of your pack, eh?" He then shouts to the other half-demon,

"Jinenji! Show the cowards! Teach 'em who's boss!"

At that, Jinenji's eyes flash red again, and he rips away the demon's tail around his neck, before grasping it tightly around it's torso!

As he squeezes, his body glows a bright blue, unleashing a torrent of power and strength:

"Hrrrrrrraaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

And just when the demon was going to try and fight back:

(POW)

It's body explodes, leaving its head and open target for Jinenji to sucker-punch to pieces!

The villager men were in awe, as was Coraline:

"...Such incredible strength..."

Jinenji breathes heavily for a moment, before turning towards the men, causing them to cower on their knees...Inuyasha watches their antics and comments dryly,

"Well, I guess it's better late than never..."

"Inuyasha!"

Coraline comes over to his side and asks a bit uncertainly,

"Um, not that I don't agree with the overall point in this exercise, but wouldn't this count as going a bit over the top?"

"Maybe, but he's gotta. Otherwise they'll never respect 'im. Fat chance in teachin' these mangy dogs new tricks."

"Fair enough, but..."

(Step...step...step)

Jinenji was in front of the villager men now:

"We're sorry..."

"W-We're-gah!"

One men cowers again, thinking Jinenji was going to pound them:

"Please don't hurt us, please!"

"It's just..."

Jinenji opens his fist, revealing herbs:

"Lots of you are hurt. This will help you get better faster."

Coraline smiles a bit at Jinenji's kindness:

"Hm, I had a feeling he'd do that," while Inuyasha mutters,

"...All that for nothin'."

"No, Inuyasha, you were right the first time: Jinenji has shown them a thing or two that they'll think twice in their actions. However, this does not mean he has to become so aggressive twenty-four seven...He can continue to be the gentle soul he is. But now, he has the confidence to defend others, and himself."

"Hm..."

After giving them the herbs, Jinenji turns from the men to his mother:

"How are you, Ma? You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"Oh, Jinenji, you..."

"I know..."

Jinenji's Mother smiles proudly at her son and thinks,

 _If that's how thing are, that's how they'll be..._

Next Morning

"Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Oh, we'll be fine. You hurry and take that medicine to your friend, alright?"

Coraline nods, before directing her vision to Jinenji, who was assessing the damage to his home:

"See you again, Jinenji."

He turns and walks over in front of Coraline:

"(Sad smile) It's time for us to head out."

"Okay."

"Thank you, for everything, including the remedy for my wrist."

Her right wrist was bandaged now...Jinenji stares at her for a minute, before softly replying,

"...You're welcome."

As Inuyasha and Coraline set out, Jinenji's Mother remarks,

"Maybe we should be thanking them...Okay, that's enough of that: Too much work for tears...What?"

"Hm?"

The two then see the men from last night, but with tools and lumber in their hands:

"...We'll help."

"Huh?"

Jinenji's Mother was shocked, but then says,

"...Have it your way."

With that, everyone got to work on repairs and re-tending of the gardens...Meanwhile, Coraline and Inuyasha had left the village, and the former asks,

"So, Inuyasha..."

"Yeah?"

"...Forgive me for asking, but, were you also..."

"What?"

"...Subjected to discrimination? Did people harm you for no good reason?" Inuyasha replies offhandedly,

"Keh, yeah right...I don't roll over for anybody."

"Heh, no, of course not..." _But what he really means is that he was..._

"...I'm not one or the other."

"Pardon?"

"Not really a demon, not really human...I'm not either. That's all; there was no place for me. So I had to make one for myself. And then I realized, I had a place, but I was the only one in it. I didn't have any other way to live..."

"Inuyasha..."

Coraline smiles a bit in understanding:

"I'm just...happy to hear that." Inuyasha asks her suspiciously,

"Happy like what?"

"Well, you've never really spoken so openly before...And, I get the feeling. I too feel no place in normal society...Even when I stand in a crowd of humans today in downtown Tokyo...(Frown) I still feel like their judging me. (Small smile) But hearing this side of you, this part that can speak of the past, no matter how ugly it may be... (Smile) It makes me feel a bit braver."

"Really? That makes you happy and braver?"

"Mhm. But hey, don't feel that you need to show your softer side all the time. I don't need you to force what you don't want."

"Keh, you make it sound like I'm a pet that needs company."

"(Laugh) Inuyasha, you are far from being anyone's pet...And besides, what's wrong with not being alone?"

As Coraline begins walking ahead, humming the same song from before, Inuyasha thinks to himself on the subject:

 _...It's true. I'm not alone, am I?_

 _Somehow, without me ever noticing it, it felt so natural...having Coraline near._

 _...She gets me, too. Understands the need to put up your guard more against others, to protect yourself._

Inuyasha then catches up to her step, picking up on Coraline's humming:

"Huh? What's that you're humming?"

"Hm? Oh, it's a song from my time. It was, something I found myself singing softly while I was working with Jinenji and his mother in the fields..."

"...You sing?"

"Yeah. Every now and again. Music's become a good coping mechanism for me over the years. Helps me feel better when I'm feeling down...Actually, you might like this one. It talks about, killing the words that hurt us..."

"Killing words, huh?"

Things go quiet for a minute...before Inuyasha says,

"Alright, let's hear it."

Coraline nods, and as they continued down the path back to their friends, the silence would be filled in with her voice, and Inuyasha took in every word, smiling a bit from the encouraging message laced between each line...


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34: Miasma Mountain**

Come another day in Sengoku Edo, we find ourselves observing a group of men (farmers mostly), dressed in an odd assortment of makeshift armor, resting at a small shrine house after barely surviving a recent battle:

"(Groan) I'm so tired..."

"At least we're still alive."

"I'm a farmer, not a soldier..."

"Right now, I'm just happy to be breathing."

"Which we wouldn't be if not for that priestess..."

And who is this priestess of which they speak? Kikyō, of course...Once again, the priestess caught between life and death has come across those in need of healing, to which she would gladly give...

"Let's give thanks to her, eh?"

Suddenly, one man who was laying on a wicker mat with bandages wrapped around his shoulder and lower torso begins grimacing a bit, to which two of his fellows would note:

"Hey, look, I think he's waking up!"

"Good news, you're not dead, (Chuckle). Guess her medicine did the trick."

"Hey, priestess, look: Our friend here is alive!"

She turns from another soldier with a gauze over his eye, and smiles at hearing the news...However, as she gazed more intently at the man, Kikyō could see that his spirit was not out of the woods yet, as a small red-skinned demon imp appears on his skull...

She walks over to the man, and kneels down beside him, causing the imp to look at her:

 _...Still, evil seeks this man's life._

Using her purification powers, Kikyō touches the imp with her finger, causing it to burn to ash...

"Priestess...you okay?"

"(Small smile) Your friend will be just fine. He may even be up as early as tomorrow."

Suddenly, a progression of other soldiers comes walking to the area:

"We are seeking the priestess called Kikyō!"

They stop in front of she and the recovering man, and a vassal comes walking through the soldiers to address her:

"The men tell me of one who tends to soldiers injured on both sides of battle, whose strange magics can even revive those on the brink of death."

Kikyō says to the vassal calmly with a neutral expression,

"I am skilled in no such magics, but only in the Art of Healing."

"We shall hear more at the castle. Prepare to leave."

Small Time Skip

Seeing no other option, Kikyō decides to go with the vassal and soldiers peacefully, and is now sitting in a palanquin while the vassal tells her of the lord that has fallen ill:

"Lord Kagewaki, Master of the Hitomi Clan has been in delicate health since birth. Since his father's death and own succession, his health has worsened. Now he refuses both clan physician, and his nearest vassals..."

Eventually, they reach the castle of Lord Kagewaki (whom we all know is not who he appears anymore...), and one guard says to the arrivals,

"N-None may enter, I'm sorry." The vassal tries to reason with the guards:

"But I have brought the priestess who will cure Kagewaki."

"The lord has forbidden entry to anyone. Furthermore, he refuses all visitors..."

Kikyō then feels a chill in the air:

 _I sense a great wrongness...Almost, a veil..._

She then begins walking past the vassal and the guards, much to their confusion:

"W-Wait, where are you...?"

She ignores them, and continues on towards the young lord's room, brushing back the wicker door:

(Rattle...)

She gazes at the lord who's now sitting up in his futon bed:

 _So he is the one..._

 _He has no life in him...as though he is dead from the neck down..._

The lord Kagewaki, or Naraku, stares at the priestess with dotting eyes, recognizing her instantly:

 _Kiky_ _ō!_

The guards then come rushing to the room:

"We have failed, my lord. Forgive us. She has come, despite your orders."

"She claims she can heal you, my lord."

"...Be quiet."

The guards are taken aback, and Naraku orders,

"Leave me!"

"Yes, lord." "Yes, lord."

The guards back off, and as Kikyō approaches him, Naraku asks her,

"Tell me your name, now that you've disturbed me."

"My name is Kikyō."

 _Kiky_ _ō is alive...The woman I so trapped fifty years ago..._

 _The woman who died, taking the Shikon-no-Tama with her..._

 _But how can she be...?_

(Thunder crack)

...As Naraku began pondering as to how the priestess he killed years ago was once again in front of him, a village that sat near a mountainside was experiencing a problem:

"What happened?"

"I don't believe it!"

"Over here too, all dried up..."

Apparently, the fields that were once filled with fresh crops for the season, have mysteriously dried up to almost nothing. The three men investigating were baffled:

"But how could it happen? We had plenty of rain..."

"It started about a month ago..."

(..Drip, drip-drip-drip-drip-drip...)

"Uh? It's raining..."

But when one of the villagers looks more closely, he quickly figures out that this was no ordinary shower from mother nature:

"It's not water. It's red, like blood. (Looks up) What in the name of-?!"

If thing weren't already perplexing, suddenly, a huge amount of numerous demon parts came raining down from the sky, causing the men to flee!

Time Skip

Come the next day, Inuyasha and the others would have arrived at the devastated village, learning about this mysterious phenomenon:

"Raining demon parts, was it? How odd..." The headman explains the experience to Miroku:

"It was awful! Not just that, but completely ruined our fields!" One of the farmers adds,

"Would that it were only the fields. The old, the young, the weak, so many have become sickened."

Miroku replies seriously,

"I should think so. I am detecting an evil presence in this area. Leave it to me."

Once the agreement was made, everyone would then set out through the barren grass fields to investigate further. Of course, Inuyasha wasn't very enthusiastic:

"So here we come to save the day _again_. Do we have time for this? What about Naraku, huh, or does he not matter anymore?"

Miroku replies,

"Nobody's forgotten, Inuyasha. But, Coraline's arrow, it really did him some damage. Even Naraku would be down for a while after something like that...Besides, I've already accepted payments for services rendered, so..."

Coraline looks at Miroku confusingly, seeing the looped coins in his hand:

"Huh? Where'd that come from?" Inuyasha barks at Miroku,

"You haven't done anything! The paying part don't usually come until afterwards!" Miroku replies smoothly,

"If you wait, you'll get cheated on the tip."

"Taking bribes..."

"Not bribes, ties..."

Coraline shakes her head at the two with a tired smile...She then notices that Sango was staring at the faraway mountain intently:

"...Sango? Is something wrong?"

"The miasma. I think it's at the base of that mountain. (Turn) I was just wondering if someone other than Naraku could produce such poison."

Miroku asks,

"Someone, other, than Naraku?"

Coraline looks up at the mountain, wondering similarly:

 _Hmm...Whatever's going on, I got an eerie feeling about it..._

As she stepped forward, suddenly:

(Slip)

"Oh!"

Coraline slides her left foot a bit on a rock, and the shift of weight causes her combat knife to fall out of her sheath and into a puddle of demon blood:

(Splash)

"Aw, crap..."

Inuyasha looks at her funny and says a bit sarcastically,

"Keh, nice one, klutz."

"Oh, shut it." She then goes to pick it up, adding,

"I wonder how it could've fallen out, though. My sheath is usually pretty good at ke-What, the..."

Coraline suddenly pauses, her eyes widening when she saw, that the blade of her knife...was slowly absorbing the blood!

"How, the bloody hell...!"

"What is it?"

Inuyasha comes to look, as do everyone else, and they all become as shocked as Coraline is:

"Holy...!" "Huh?!"

"Owah!" "Unbelievable!"

After a few more seconds, the knife had finished doing...whatever the heck it did...Coraline carefully picked up the blade, and turned it over a few times to see,

"...I see no blood stains...It really did suck up the blood. But how?!"

Inuyasha then takes the combat knife to see for himself:

"Since when can blades suck back blood?! Coraline, what is this thing made of?"

"Um, well according to Sango, it's a mix of earth metal and demon bone."

"What?!"

Miroku was just as surprised:

"But you are from a time where demons have become lost to the ages, correct? How could such a weapon be produced?"

"Well, first of all, demons aren't really lost to the ages, per say. It's just not alot of humans are concerned about them anymore...or even believe in their existence. As for your second question, I couldn't tell you if I wanted to. The one who gave it to me, Shuji, usually doesn't ask questions like that when he does his dealings in weapon trade. He likes to keep it as discrete as possible, and only focus on getting the best when he can."

"Hm..."

Shippo then asks,

"Coraline, are you still gonna keep this knife?"

"...Yes. I know this new development is a bit creepy, but so far, this knife hasn't failed me yet in a fight, or given me any doubts in being useful outside battle. Still, I might try researching about this; maybe my blade isn't the first one of its make to absorb blood."

Everyone nods, though they looked a bit warily at the combat knife as Coraline re-sheathed it...She snaps them back on topic:

"Look, we can worry about this later. Right now, we should focus on heading towards that mountain and figure out what the source of that miasma is..."

Meanwhile, back at Naraku's Castle...

"Well, Kikyō? He's beyond your help then?" Kikyō replies solemnly to the elder vassal,

"Yes. I'm afraid there's not much I can do."

"Really? So it is no ordinary illness. You too will abandon him?" Kikyō calmly explains,

"I am merely a priestess. Mightened I be allowed to leave?"

(Shoom)

Suddenly, just as she bows, four spears aim at Kikyō, courtesy of the guards! The vassal replies,

"You may certainly not be allowed to leave this place. It is the lord's wish that you stay."

As a troubled and suspicious look formed on her face, Naraku lays on his futon, thinking about the priestess:

 _Kiky_ _ō ought to have died._

 _I'll kill her again, but not until I've discovered her true self._

 _Tonight, my dreams will become reality, and who better than she to see them..._

Scene Shift: Mountainside  


By this time, Inuyasha and the others have begun their ascend up the mountain cloaked in miasma, with he, Miroku and Coraline walking, while Shippo and Sango rode on Kilala's back.

The fox demon makes an observation regarding the potency of the toxic fumes:

"The poison's even killed the grass..." Inuyasha says to everyone,

"We're almost there. Whatever's going on here, I don't like it," to which Coraline would reply,

"Me neither."

Suddenly, they come across a cave entrance outlined with wooden planks, and Coraline hears a very low rumbling sound echoing from inside...

"That must be the source of this miasma...and that sound...Is that a demon?"

"(Cough, cough...)"

It was then that Sango began coughing and hacking from the poison, and falls off of Kilala:

"Sango!"

Coraline rushes to her side, as Shippo hops off of Kilala (now back in her dormant form):

"Sango, are you-Oh, of course, your immune system is still weak from before..."

Inuyasha then says,

"Sango, Coraline, you stay here. It's just a demon hum, no sense draggin' everyone along. Miroku, you coming?"

Said monk nods, then says to the little fox demon,

"You seem resistant to the poison, Shippo. Will you look after things?"

"Leave everything to me. (Glance) But promise you'll be careful: That miasma's pretty strong..."

Kikyō's POV

I am now in a cell that has a guard posted, and I sense that the foreboding feeling in this castle was about to get worse:

 _I can feel it. The strong pull of a miasma coming closer..._

I call upon my allies, the Shinidamachū, to surround the guard, and place him in a transient state...With that done, I ordered him to,

"Open up. After that, bring me a bow and an arrow."

Coraline's POV

As Inuyasha and Miroku go to investigate the inside of the mountain, I sat Sango down on a nearby boulder, and helped her get her filter mask on. Even so, she was still feeling unwell:

"Your state is getting worse against the miasma, Sango. Are you sure you can stick it out up here?"

"I'm okay, but what about you?"

"I'm fine. The worst I'm feeling is a slight burning in my chest, but nothing I can't handle..."

 _Which I find a bit odd...Maybe it has to do with my Soul energy and my role as Kikyō's reincarnation?  
_

Suddenly, there came another ring of that low rumbling, and I notice Shippo and Kilala moving a bit forward to the cave, though clearly not on their free will:

"W-What's going on in there? It's like I'm being pulled in! Something really bad must be happening..."

I frown in worry:

"If only Inuyasha and Miroku weren't going into the thick of it..."

Inside the Mountain, No POV

Inuyasha and Miroku have made their way well into the cave tunnel, the former using Coraline's flashlight to light the way:

"We must be getting really close now..."

"(Cough, cough...)"

As Miroku falls to his knees, becoming a bit overwhelmed by the thickening miasma, Inuyasha says to him,

"Aw, come on, suck it up. You said you could handle it. What's wrong with ya?"

"I can, and I will. It's just, I have to go a bit slower. Without my training, I wouldn't be able to do it at all..."

(Distant crash)

"Huh?"

Inuyasha and Miroku then pick up on a much louder rumble, coming from the end of the tunnel...

"Something's there."

As Miroku rises to a stand again, Inuyasha says to him,

"Let's go."

"Right, behind you."

Once they reach the mouth of the cave, they look down, and see a very large pool of purple ooze (likely a fluid form of the miasma), with numerous giant demon parts floating around inside!

"Wha...What is that?!"

"Pieces of, demons..."

...If things weren't already confusing enough, the ooze suddenly begins swirling around, before a large ogre demon splashes out of it!

"Raaaaah!"

(Splash)

Then out came another demon, which had the form of a giant lizard:

"(Roar)"

The two begin clashing against one another, causing Inuyasha to ask,

"But...why are they fighting eachother?"

(Crash, splash, rumble...)

As the giants rage on (the ogre in lead), Miroku says,

"There must've been a battle. Hundreds of them fighting and killing and dying...and the loser's body was thrown into here. What's left of their bodies, that is..."

"But...there's gotta be a reason..."

(Slam)

Eventually, the lizard demon's head is ripped off, it - along with its body - sinking into the murky ooze...It was then, that the ooze swirls up the demon parts again, only this time, the parts were directed towards the winning ogre demon who absorbs them!

Miroku and Inuyasha conclude respectively,

"So the last one standing..."

"Gets to keep all the parts."

We now see that the giant ogre now has another head where its stomach is, along with horns on its back like that from the former lizard demon!  
It then calls out,

"Rrrah, I'm still here! The promise was that the winner would leave this place alive! Why have I not yet moved on?!"

Miroku then realizes,

 _Oh no...then that means he..._

The monster's eyes glow, and it turns to see Inuyasha and Miroku:

"Unless I am not yet the final winner."

"Not yet, you're not." Miroku tries to hold his friend back:

"Inuyasha, wait!"

"Let go of me!"

Inuyasha shrugs off Miroku's hand, before leaping forward to where the monster ogre was...Miroku mentally prays,

 _I hope I'm not right, but...if I am, then Inuyasha will..._

"Grrrraaaaaahhhh!"

As the demon expels a cloud of poison, Inuyasha brings out Tessaiga while shouting,

"You will fight me!"

Back outside the mountain, Coraline becomes more worried:

"The boys are taking too long." Sango agrees:

"Yes. Let's go."

But as she rises wobbly to a stand, Coraline stops her:

"No Sango, don't." Shippo protests as well:

"You're still too weak from before! You'll die in there!" Coraline then says to Sango sternly,

"Come on. We need to move you down the mountain. The thickness of the miasma here is only worsening your health..."

But as she readied to move Sango down the path:

"(Soft gasp)"

...Kikyō suddenly appears from out of the smoky miasma, having long escaped the castle and followed her instincts to this place...Coraline stared at the priestess with a neutral expression, but her eyes showed that she was surprised by her arrival:

 _...Kiky_ _ō? What could've possessed her to come here?_

"So, Inuyasha is here..."

"Um, yes...?"

...Kikyō turns away from looking at Coraline, and walks past her coolly, moving into the cave tunnel...Shippo then says,

"Kikyō? Isn't that the name of the priestess?"

Fearing that something wasn't right with Kikyō being here, Coraline immediately grabbed her own bow and quiver, before moving towards the cave, much to Sango's protest and Shippo's confusion:

"Coraline, no!"

"You gonna follow her?" Coraline stops briefly and replies to Shippo,

"I have to, but please, stay here with Sango and Kilala, okay?"

"Coraline...was that woman..." She replies a bit grimly to Sango,

"Yes, that was Kikyō. I'm not sure why she's here, though. But whatever the reason, I have a bad feeling about it."

"Kilala."

"(Mew)"

"Take Kilala, and please, be careful."

"(Nod) Of course, thank you. If it becomes too thick of miasma in the next bit, begin moving back down, regardless if I or the others are back or not."

With that, Coraline began jogging into the cave tunnel...Meanwhile, as Kikyō moved down the tunnel path, her body began to glow:

 _...The dead souls inside me are trying to get out._

 _Are they drawn by the miasma?_

She manages to contain the spirits sustaining her own Soul, before focusing on ahead:

 _But there's another force at work. Could it be the one who lives in the castle?_

In the chamber of the cave, Inuyasha and the giant ogre demon had begun their battle, the former leaping off the latter, before coming at it with a swing from Tessaiga:

(Slash)

He hits it dead-on through the shoulder and chest, wounding him further:

(Land)

"Now to finish him off..."

But just then, a cloud of mist manifests, and surrounds the demon's wound:

"Wh-What's going on?! The wound is...closing back up!" Miroku calls from above,

"Inuyasha, no, stay your sword, don't fight!"

"Don't be stupid! I have to! If I don't, I'll be killed!"

"Listen: This is similar to a technique called Fuko! It's how you make a creature called Kudoku!"

"Fuko?! Kadoku?! What the heck are you talking about?!"

"It's a kind of sorcery, ah, you put together lizards, poisonous worms, whatever, then, the one that's left is a creature called Kudoku."

"Fascinating, and your point is?!"

The ogre demon then speaks:

"You're the only one left. Once I kill you, (Second head) I will be the winner."

(Fwooooommmm)

Inuyasha dodges the incoming shot of fire, before using Tessaiga to block and cut through it:

"Here's something else without a point!"

(Slash)

The attack sends the ogre demon into the cave wall, with numerous rocks falling on them...Miroku then realizes,

 _He's right, it is pointless._

 _Unless the spell cast is broken, Inuyasha will-_

(Glow)

"Huh? Who's there?"

It was then, that Kikyō arrives on scene, gazing down at the dog demon that was currently in battle:

 _Inu-yasha..._

Said half-demon feels her gaze, and turns around to see her:

"...Ki-Kikyō..."

Suddenly, the souls that occupied Kikyō's body, begin streaming out of her body!

 _The dead Souls are, leaving..._

As they fly into the ogre demon, Kikyō figures out what's going on:

 _This explains it: The miasma...where it's from..._

(Sway)

Kikyo falls forward before Miroku could catch her, as Inuyasha stares in disbelief:

 _But...but why?!_

Coraline would be close to finding them all:

 _I know I saw her go this way. I gotta hurry...  
_

Outside the mountain, a swarm of the Insects of Hell float among a waiting Naraku:

 _Soon they will come. The demons I sealed in there, beyond counting..._

 _One by one they killed eachother, until the one remained...The victor, will become my new body._

Back Inside...  


"Kikyō!"

Inuyasha begins rushing to the fallen priestess, but just before he could reach her:

"Hrrrraaaaaahhh!"

(Slam)

"Aaaagh!"

The hand of the ogre demon comes swinging against his body, sending him flying to the ground!

As he rose onto his elbows, he mutters the priestess's name again, with round two of the battle beginning...

Coraline's POV

As I ran down the tunnel path to where I hoped to find Inuyasha, Miroku...and Kikyō, the Shikon-no-Tama shard around my neck suddenly snapped off of my neck:

(Ping)

"(Mew)"

"What is it, Kilala? (Turn) Oh shoot, the jewel shard!"

Just as I went to pick up the fallen shard, I suddenly sensed something, off:

 _Huh? That's weird...I sense, another shard..._

 _There's more than one shard besides this one in this cave. The only question, though..._

 _Is who's the source?_

I picked up my pace, eventually reaching the mouth of the cavern, where Miroku was:

"(Cough, cough) The miasma's becoming thicker with Kikyō's deal Souls."

 _Kikyō? So she's in there, huh? Alright, Cora, better prepare yourself...  
_

I went to Miroku's side as he began coughing again:

"Miroku! The miasma's getting to you, isn't it? Damn...try to stay strong, okay?"

"Coraline..."

Suddenly, Kilala lets out a call, before leaping down below, much to Miroku's protest:

"Kilala, no!"

He manages to stop her by pulling her back by her tail, which only confused me more:

"Miroku, what's going on?"

"There's deadly sorcery at work here, and Inuyasha's about to become a part of the experiment if we don't stop him."

"What sort of dark magic? Hang on...I did sense another shard of the jewel a bit ago...Could this be a rouse of some kind?"

"The miasma's too powerful. We both know what that means: Naraku's involved."

I cursed quietly, before noticing that the giant demon's attention was directing towards an unconscious Kikyō:

"She is not human...She too must become a part of me!"

Luckily, Inuyasha rushed into action before the demon could grab her:

"You keep that filthy hand off of her!"

(Slash)

The demon's hand is sliced off, but then, it grows a new one, before slamming it into Inuyasha!

"Inuyasha, no! Stay calm!" But by no surprise to me, Inuyasha does not heed Miroku:

"No, I will not stay calm! (Turn) I am gonna protect Kikyō!"

He suddenly directs his eyes towards me, and we stare at one another for a moment, lost in eachother's gaze:

 _...Oh Inuyasha..._

Our moment of silence was interrupted, though, when the demon attacks him again, and Inuyasha cuts down with Tessaiga in a counter-attack!

Knowing that this battle was going to go on endlessly as long as Kikyō was down there, I decided to take action:

 _I gotta get her outta there..._

(Leap)

"Coraline! What are you doing?!"

"What else, Miroku? I have to rescue Kikyō!"

 _If I don't, this'll end like it did fifty years ago all over again for Inuyasha and_ _Kikyō._

 _And as much as the priestess irks me..._

 _I, I care about her..._

I climbed down to where she was laying, pulling her into my arms:

"...Kikyō. Can you hear me? Are you able to stand up?"

"(Blink) You little fool. By coming here, you risk Inuyasha losing you forever."

I was taken aback by her judgement, and as she rose to a stand, I asked her,

"What are you talking about? It's you he's fighting for, risking all that he has to save you, and yet..."

She turns to me and gives me a look that I couldn't read...

 _..._ _Kikyō._

"Inuyasha, no! Don't kill him!"

I look toward the pool of miasma, and see that Inuyasha was just about done with the demon, much to Miroku's dismay...But then:

(Twok)

"(Turn) Auh! Kikyō!"

She fired one of her sacred arrows, it wrapped in a pink ribbon of light:

(Clang)

It bounced off of Inuyasha's Tessaiga, and flew into the air out of the mountain...

(POW)

 _Kikyō...What did you do?!  
_

As Inuyasha lands on the ground, the ground suddenly begins to rumble, and a spectral wind shoots out from underneath us all!

"Gah! What's happening?!" I hear Miroku shout over the gust,

"The spell is broken! The miasma, gone!"

Just as he flinched back, I felt my body being shot out from the ground, along with Inuyasha, Kikyō, and the numerous demon parts!

...For a second, I was too stunned to scream...but then, as I rode the wind onto the body of the ogre demon, I found Inuyasha, and reach my hand out while calling out for him:

"Inuyasha!"

"Coraline!"

We managed to grip eachother's wrists, and he asks me over the wind,

"Are you alright?!"

"Hangin' in there...(Gasp) Oh crap, (Turn) Kikyō!"

I see her not too far in front of us, and I try to call her:

"Kikyō! Kikyō, are you alright?! Kikyō!"

 _Damn it, now she's really unconscious..._

Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get worse, I then see,

"...Oh shit, don't tell me that's...!"

"Naraku!"

As we approached the waiting demon, the giant ogre puts his hand out, intent on attacking him...But that proved to be a move in vain:

(Pow)

Just as the clawed hand was about to touch him, Naraku began sucking him, along with the other demon parts, into his body!

"Inuyasha! We need to get off, now!"

He silently agreed, and he wraps his arm around my waist, before hopping off of the demon part horde...As we turned to face the front, we watched, as Naraku metamorphosed the demon parts into a new body for himself! There was a big explosion of demon light...and Naraku was fully revived...

"You shot him with your arrow, remember? He needed a body, so he had those demons kill eachother and combine into a new one!"

"That son of a...!"

"The mountain of mist lured you. You took the bait, and I cast my spell. (Dark chuckle) You could've joined me in here, Inuyasha, if only you had the courage."

Naraku then turns his gaze downward to the unconscious Kikyō:

"So this is the woman who restored me to life. I might not have had this new body if not for her."

I glared hard at the demon:

"Bullcrap, you bastard! Her arrow was shot to save Inuyasha, not to help you, so you can wipe that dumb smirk off your face!"

He either ignores me or decided to retort indirectly at me, but either way, Naraku picks up Kikyō, and adds to Inuyasha,

"And yet, she is the same woman who followed you in death fifty years ago..."

Inuyasha's reaction was instant:

"No. Don't you dare! _Don't you dare touch her, not now, or ever!_ "

But even though his swing was dead on:

(Clang, bzzzzzt)

"Gah!"

Naraku was able to block Inuyasha's Tessaiga! He then releases a cloud of miasma that pushes Inuyasha back further, as he made his escape into the sky, Kikyō in his arms!

"Inuyasha!"

I see a look of pure hatred on his face, and I look to the sky, worried for the priestess's life:

 _..._ _Kikyō..._

 _Grr, Naraku...You're gonna pay for this, just you wait!  
_


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35: Kikyō, Captured by Naraku**

Standing proudly among the foreboding shadows of a darkened sky, was the Phantom Castle of the despicable demon, Naraku...

Suddenly, several orbs of light shone, belonging to Souls being carried by the demons known as Shinidamachū to the awaiting priestess, Kikyō, who was now secluded inside one of the sections of the castle.  
Unfortunately, they would fail in their mission, when each one is blocked away by a barrier...

Meanwhile, Kikyō was laying on a futon bed, as Naraku approaches her:

"I have erected a barrier. Those servants of yours may not enter."

...Kikyō's eyes open, but she remains silent. Naraku then comes to her side and says,

"Without those Souls of the dead, you remain helpless...(Whisper) Kikyō. What could you be thinking? There in the mountain, where the magic was broken, the demons whom were to create my new body. Inuyasha stumbled onto the scene, lured by the miasma, and begun to do battle with the one who would win...But then, _you appeared._ Your arrows have the power to break the spell of whichever one you choose...And yet, if you wanted to prevent that unholy fusion, you would've aimed straight at the demon. The demon would disintegrate, and the spell would be easily broken...But before the one complete, were you trying to see what laid beyond?"

"And there you were...(Glance) Your disguise is fine...Onigumo."

"...Heh, Onigumo. Now that brings me back. Fifty years ago, you saved me, took pity on me, and sheltered that fugitive in a cave. Onigumo offered his body to the demons, and they latched onto his evil Soul. And thus was born Naraku."

Said demon then pulls out a jewel fragment, which Kikyō recognizes instantly:

"That's..."

"Yes, indeed. The very thing you gave your life to erase from this world. A shard of the Shikon-no-Tama."

"They say that it was your desire which had brought you to kill me."

"...Discussing it with someone who is no more than a collection of Dead Souls is unseemly. But the search for the remaining fragments frustrates me."

Naraku then rises to a stand, and opens the barrier-cast window, allowing one Shinidamachū to enter...His eyes flash red, and he destroys the demon, leaving the Soul at his mercy to corrupt with the tainted shard:

(Shoom...Ping)

The Soul shifts from a silver-blue to red...

"That girl who is so like yet unlike you...A battle between those who can purify evil...If you yearn for this world, I bid you: Go after her."

Time Skip

Come the next day, we find the Inuyasha team resting by the riverside, having since left the mountain of miasma...

Sango (with Kilala in her lap), Miroku and Shippo were sitting in their own little group, discussing the latest behaviours of Inuyasha and Coraline:

"Well, Miroku? Wouldn't you say that those two have been acting strange?"

"Yep."

Speaking of those two, we see that Coraline was trying to talk with Inuyasha, who was sitting cross-legged close to the water with his cheek resting on his fist:

"Um...Inuyasha? Inuyasha."

"What?"

"Inuyasha, come on. We need to go and rescue Kikyō. It's only been since yesterday that the bastard Naraku took her, so they can't be that far away..."

"Hmph...I'll save her on my own."

(Bonk)

"Guh!"

Miroku suddenly comes over and lightly kicks Inuyasha on the noggin:

"Stop being such a stubborn fool." He shoves Inuyasha face-first into the ground and adds,

"You forgot who it was that kidnapped Kikyō. I want my own revenge: I wouldn't even have this hole in my right hand if it wasn't for Naraku."

Sango joins in:

"He's an enemy to all of us, remember?" Even Shippo adds his two-cents:

"What makes you so special?"

Coraline kneels down in front of Inuyasha while placing a hand on his arm, and says gently but sternly,

"Look, every one of us now understands what occurred between you and Kikyō those years ago, Inuyasha. But this doesn't mean you have to go it alone like a total loner."

Inuyasha springs up and retorts,

"I ain't a loner, okay?! I never once identified as one in my life!"

Suddenly, Miroku calls aloud,

"Inuyasha! Over there!"

He turns around, and sees a group of the Shinidamachū gliding though the sky!

"It's Kikyō's Soul-Gatherers!"

Coraline concludes,

"Guess this means she's closer by than we expected." Inuyasha turns to her and asks,

"You coming?"

"Always."

With that, everyone begins rushing to follow the Shinidamachū and hopefully to where the Kikyō was, with Inuyasha (carrying Coraline) and Miroku taking the lead on foot, while Sango and Shippo rode on Kilala.

As they continued their trek, Coraline found herself wondering,

 _...Should I even be this close to Inuyasha right now? I mean, considering where his mind is at the moment..._

She shakes her head, and tells herself sternly,

 _No, it's fine: We're friends, and friends are always there for one another no matter what._

 _I promised myself I'd be there for Inuyasha every step of the way, and I meant it._

 _Besides...I want to help her._ _Kikyō deserves peace...  
_

As Coraline reaffirmed herself of her personal morals, Inuyasha's mind was also thinking about the priestess:

 _Kikyō died because of him. I will not let Naraku have her!_

As they kept moving, Sango sees that the group of Shinidamachū was getting larger:

"Look, more gatherers!"

Unfortunately, these next round of the soul-gatherers were not as they appeared...

(Buzz...)

"Hang on...something's off..."

Coraline uses her Aura Sight, and saw a different shape in place of the demon:

"(Gasp) Oh damn. These aren't Shinidamachū, they're the Insects of Hell!"

Sango hears her, and signals Kilala higher, before leaping off and using her sword:

(Slash)

And just as Coraline warned, the soul-gathering demons are in fact revealed as Naraku's poisonous wasps!

"Look out, it's a trap!"

But it was too late: Everyone suddenly passes through a misty fog, and the area darkens, foreshadowing the danger that was about to show itself...

Inuyasha's POV

As I ran into the fog, a light flashes, and I see a weird orange glow in the distance:

 _What is that up there?_

I leap forward, trying to see it better:

 _I can't..._

But when I got there:

(Fwoom)

"Huh?"

I wound leaping atop a gateway, and I look around to see a huge fire spreading everywhere...

 _Where am I?_

"Hey, Coraline, got any idea where-Huh?"

I turn to see, that Coraline was not on my back anymore!

"Guh! Coraline? Coraline, where are you?! Coraline!"

 _Damn! Where did she go?! Wait...did that fog make her disappear?_

I then see black shadow figures hidden in the flames, who shout,

"That's him, the one who attacked us!" "Inuyasha! It's Inuyasha!"

"This place...I-I don't know where..."

(Rattle...)

"Huh?"

I look down to my hand, and see,

"...It can't be. The Shikon-no-Tama!"

"Inuyasha!"

I then hear a familiar voice, and before I could react:

(Twok)

(TOK)

"GYAH!"

I was shot off the gateway, by an arrow...! I fall to the ground, with the Shikon-no-Tama falling a few feet in front of me...I look up at my attacker with shock:

"Ki...Kikyō..."

I suddenly remember what this was:

"Of course. This is fifty years ago: The day that Kikyō killed me! And this is the village that I attacked so I could steal the Shikon-no-Tama."

I look up at her and try to explain:

"Kikyō, wait! It was all just a trap! Don't do it!" She does not hear me, and readies her next arrow:

"Kikyō, no!"

I ask myself in confusion and disbelief,

"Is this Hell? Is it a dream?! How did I get here?!"

Miroku's POV

I am now walking through a darkened part of the forest, trying to figure out what's going on:

"Inuyasha and the others, gone...Mm, and the wind has started to pick up..."

 _It's so close...Too close._

I raise my cursed hand to myself, wondering if that was the source...Suddenly:

(Shatter)

"Gah!"

The prayer beads break, and my Wind Tunnel activates, but with a strength that was uncontrollable!

"Uh! U-uh...Agh, ah!"

 _It's, pulling me in!_

Shippo's POV

It's only me and Kilala now, as the others have all mysteriously vanished. I notice that she looked tense, so I try to ease her worry:

"Look, Kilala, see, there's nobody behind us. What's wrong? Why are you so-"

(Shift)

"Auh-whah!"

Suddenly, Kilala fades away, and I fall to the ground:

"Ohhh..."

I get up, and look around scared and confused:

"What? Where'd Kilala go?"

I then see some familiar silhouettes in the distance:

"Ah! Coraline, Sango, wait up!"

But just as I run to catch up, they, along with Inuyasha and Miroku, vanish too! Except the weird thing was...

"They all left their clothes!"

I pick up one of Coraline's shirts, and ask aloud,

"Where'd everybody go? If here's where there clothes are, where'd the rest of them go?! Inuyasha! Miroku! Coraline! Sango!"

 _Aw man, what the heck is happening?!_

Sango's POV  


Once we all got into the fog, I found myself all alone. I'm now rushing through the area, trying to find everyone...only to stumble upon a stream of red...

Suddenly, the whole area begins glowing red! I take off Hiraikotsu, and when I stepped forward, I come across the most horrible sight:

"(Gasp)"

Inuyasha and Miroku, on the ground, both dead!

I then feel a presence behind me, and I turn to see, a bone sickle...

(SLASH, SLASH)

"UH!"

 _Ko-ha-ku?!_

No POV

As these mysterious albeit horrible circumstances were occurring, we then see Naraku and Kikyō, sitting in a tree with a Spirit Shield surrounding them from the fog as well as the Shinidamachū...

"The evil spell of illusory death. The Soul is such a fragile thing: Sadness, Fear, Confusion...if even slightest doubt exist, and is touched by the creepers in this world, that Soul will be consumed by the dark..."

In which case, what was really going on was that everyone had become ensnared by mysterious creeper roots, and are experiencing visions of their darkest fears...

Well, almost everyone...Somehow, Coraline has been left untouched by the spell, and was trying to find everyone:

"Something's wrong. I can't sense anyone near...Hm?"

She then felt a tap on her foot, and sees the creeping vines:

"What in the world...What are these?"

Her eyes flash blue, and she gasps when she senses,

"...Darkness..."

Her eyes narrow, before she reaches for her combat knife:

(Slash, slash)

Coraline cuts down at the vines, causing them to back off...Unbeknownst to her, Naraku was watching:

"Perhaps because she has the jewel shards, that girl alone is unaffected..." He then looks down at the resting priestess:

"She will be the only one to make it here. The stage has been set for you."

...Kikyō opens her eyes:

"Aren't you the clever one."

(...SLASH)

Suddenly, she cuts away Naraku's head, revealing he to be a demon puppet...

The second one is subsequently cut in half, back at Naraku's castle:

(Topple...)

"...So she's destroyed the golem. How dare she defy me."

Meanwhile, Kikyō burns the demon puppet figurine away, destroying the demon puppet altogether...

Coraline's POV

 _I have no idea what those vines were, but I have a bad feeling Inuyasha and the others may be experiencing their power...  
_

I continue on, cautious of my movements incase more of those creeping vines come to attack me again...When I reach the next clearing, I found someone familiar, but not who I was expecting:

"...Kikyō."

 _...She's okay._

Despite the situation, I found myself smiling in relief that she wasn't harmed. I then begin rushing to her:

"Kikyō, I'm glad you're alright!"

...What I didn't realize, however, is what her mood was regarding seeing me:

(Pull...)

I slow down to a stop a few feet away from the tree, looking at her with confusion:

"...Kikyō?"

(...Twok)

(Slash, TOK)

"UH!"

...Next thing I knew, she shot her arrow towards me, grazing my cheek, her arrow landing in the ground behind me...!

 _...Kikyō..._

If things weren't crazy enough, the ground where the arrow landed opened up, and I lost my footing, falling backwards into a gaping hole!

"Aaaaah!"

Lucky for me, I managed to grab onto a root to stop my fall...but, I lost my own bow and quiver...

"(Pant, pant...) Wh-What the hell...?"

As I hung on for dear life, Kikyō came to the edge of the hole, staring at me with a cold look:

"...Kikyō, why?"

"Naraku finds himself frightened of you. He tries to control me with the Shikon-no-Tama, hoping that I would be turned against you."

 _...She didn't kill me, but, she shot threateningly at me...What is she thinking?  
_

Suddenly, the real Shinidamachū come, and wrap around my waist, lifting me out of the hole...I looked towards the priestess, and notice the shard in question...and yet:

"...I can see that it's not corrupting you. The shard, I mean."

"Surely the priestess who wants to guard over the Sacred Jewel of the Four Souls, has not fallen so low as to be controlled by a mere shard?"

"(Narrows eyes) Well there's certainly no need to be so arrogant about it."

I watch as she places a hand over her chest, instantly purifying the shard within her...Then, before I could react fast enough, Kikyō reaches out to my neck, and yanks off my shard of the jewel!

"Uh!"

Next thing I knew, the Shinidamachū float away, only to be replaced by the creeping vines...As I'm pulled down to the depths below, the thought running frantically through my head was,

 _...Kikyō...how could you-Why would you do this?!  
_

Inuyasha's POV

I stare at the priestess before me in shock...when suddenly, she cringes, and falls to her knees!

"Kikyō!"

I then see, the mortal wound that killed her those years ago...I bring her into her arms, as her bow and arrow burn with the rest of the area...

 _She came to me in her pain...all alone._

"Kikyō, you'll never be alone again...I swear it. I will always protect you."

...Just as I made that promise, the fire is gone, and the scene becomes dark, with she and I under one light, and another empty area lit up...

 _What? But I don't...You mean, there's someone else that I need to protect?_

 _...Who, though? Who's this other person that I need to protect?_

...A figure with long red hair appears, and turns to me with a small smile...I recognized her instantly:

"...Coraline."

I pull back a bit frantically from Kikyō:

"Of course! How the heck could I have-?! (Glare) Where's Coraline?! Tell me!"

"Inuyasha!"

She shoves away from me, and I hear her voice echo:

" _Is she more important to you then I am?_ "

I then see, her body shifting into bark, vines where her arms are supposed to be...

(Fwoom)

"Grrh! It's all been an illusion, hasn't it?"

I take out Tessaiga, and cut away at the illusionary flames, stopping the trick instantly! Just as I return to reality, I hear someone yelling:

"Miroku!"

I leap over to where he yelled from, and see him trapped in a set of creepers, whimpering...

 _He must be trapped in his own illusion!_

Another set of vines begins shooting out to finish him off, but I wasn't gonna let that happen:

"Miroku!"

(SLASH)

I cut them away, before using my claws to hack off the ones around his cursed hand...Now that he was free, I lift him up, asking,

"Hey, you okay?"

"M-My arm...the Wind T-Tunnel..."

 _He's scared...really scared._

I decided to use a bit of physical force to wake him up:

"Wake up! Snap out if it!"

(Slap)

...It seemed to have worked, for he wasn't stuttering or shaking anymore:

"It was swallowing up my entire body..."

"It's those tree roots. Quick: Find Sango and Shippo! Betcha anything that they're under the same spell that got you and me. I gotta go find Coraline."

(Leap)

"Coraline! Where are you?!"

Small Time Skip, No POV

As Inuyasha searched for Coraline, calling out her name, she was lying on a pile of the creepers inside the deep hole, unconscious from the drag down...Hearing the half-demon, she suddenly stirs awake:

"I-Inu...yasha?"

It was then that he finally found her, and leaped down into the hole:

"Coraline."

He gently lifted her to a stand:

"Those roots caused some kind-of an illusion. Seems like you got away from it, though..."

...Coraline looks up at Inuyasha, her eyes suggesting otherwise, but refrained from telling him so, deciding to just nod. They leap out of the hole, and when Coraline looked forward, she cringed, seeing the one person she didn't want to see right now...

Inuyasha looks at her confusingly, before turning to see,

"Kikyō!"

He then sees the shards in her hand:

"Those are Coraline's jewel shards!" He turns to the redhead in surprise:

"...Coraline..."

She only breathed in and out fearfully in response...Inuyasha snaps back up to Kikyō with a heated glare:

"You did it! Don't tell me it was you!"

"What's wrong, Inuyasha? Tell me, why is it that I sense you are unhappy to know that I am well?"

"Answer me! Just what did you do to her?!"

"I tried to kill her. Just what do you plan to do about it? Will you kill me?"

Inuyasha growls angrily in response...Kikyō's face shifts from indifference to a cold smile:

"Tell me: When Naraku had you under his spell, what was it you thought about?"

She then laughs, and asks,

"Now, could you have said that if you had planned to kill me?"

The Shinidamachū gather, and surround the priestess, before floating away into the sky...Kikyō sends Inuyasha this last message:

"Embracing death together. Now that's a day I'll wait for..."

With that, she was gone...

After a moment passes, Inuyasha turns to Coraline to ask her seriously,

"Coraline, tell me: What did she do to you?"

"...She took the Shikon-no-Tama shard from me...I couldn't get it back from her fast enough..."

"That's not what I'm asking! Did Kikyō really try to-"

"Then don't ask me!"

Inuyasha was taken aback by her response:

"...Coraline."

She then says in a pained voice,

"...I dunno if it was her true intent...But, I don't want to think about it..."

It was then that Miroku arrived on scene, with an unconscious Sango, Shippo and Kilala on his back:

"So, uh...Are you two finished talking?"

Coraline's POV

 _To Kikyō...my life, has no meaning..._

I couldn't tell Inuyasha the truth about what really happened while I was in that hole...Not while I'm still trying to stabilize myself on what happened...

 _The Illusionary Death...Pain, Suffering, Fear...It put us all on the edge, including me...I saw, into my own heart..._

 _In there, I saw...Inuyasha and_ _Kikyō, in a lover's embrace...  
_

 _But that wasn't what truly rattled me: The vision suddenly shifted, and there was fire..._

 _There was a twin bang, and...I saw, them both on the ground, bullet wounds in their chests!_

 _...It was then...I, went back to the day my Father died...His body, was spotlighted beside Inuyasha and_ _Kikyō..._

 _Then, the scar on my left shoulder reopened anew..._

 _I was on the ground, bleeding out...but, instead of getting up, I was frozen..._

 _It was then, **he showed up, gun raised over me...**_

"(Knuckle crack) _Bishop..._ "

Naraku's Castle, No POV  


As Coraline's mind wandered in thought over what her heart carried, Naraku sits in his castle, deep in thought...

(...Step, step, step, step)

It was then that Kikyō came:

"You're careless, Naraku."

"So, Kikyō..."

"Once your puppet is broken, you see nothing. Remember that. Your petty feats of sorcery cannot affect me."

Naraku glares at the priestess...

"As for the barrier surrounding this castle, the one you erected to keep out Inuyasha, that was easy enough for me to break."

She then looks down at the jewel shard she took from Coraline...before tossing it and the one she was given by Naraku to him...!

"You wanted it, didn't you? I leave it to you to stand guard over. After all, who needs its power more than you, and you do need it, don't you? (Frown) Demon Naraku...or is it...(Smirk) _Half-demon_ Naraku?"

Something inside Naraku stirs...

"A mere half-demon, I, Naraku?"

"True, you disguised yourself well, but you're still that fugitive human. And the blood of what you once were cannot be erased...You seek the Shikon-no-Tama to become a full-fledged demon, do you not?"

"...If so, why give me the shards? Am I not the one you seek to avenge your death fifty years ago?"

Kikyō lets out a short laugh and replies,

"It was only my body that died. I may have left it behind me that day, but with this new one, I am even stronger. I don't trust that you would understand. I am returning to the temple. I will neither run, nor hide. Send a messenger if you need me."

With that, Kikyō departs the castle, leaving Naraku by himself...

Suddenly, he shucks off his robe:

 _It's appeared again..._

What does he mean? Well, apparently, he may have gained a new body, but the spider burn from last time, still remains...

 _No matter how often I change flesh...the burn marks of the fugitive Onigumo will not leave my back._

Meanwhile, Kikyō stands among the tall grass billowing in the wind, far off from the phantom castle...

 _Go, Naraku. Gather the shards of the jewel._

 _And once you've gathered them all, then I will send you to Hell._

 _...I am free to hate. My Soul is so much freer than it was then..._

 _Free to hate...Free to love..._


	37. Chapter 36

Hey all!

So, I have decided to give you all an update on my plans regarding my OC's future aid and the first visual appearance of Trinity and Bishop:

I'm thinking of bringing them in around after the first appearance of Koga the wolf demon, so there will still be a few chapters to go.

The details still need to be fine-tuned, but I'm hoping to incorporate a temporary change of location for our Inuyasha group, namely...Coraline's old home.

Like I said, still a work in progress. Also, I'm still going to keep the creature identity of the aid a secret (yes, I'm a sucker for suspense), but no, there will not be a white tiger. Sorry to disappoint anyone expecting such...

Anyway, keep reading and reviewing!

Enjoy the latest chapter, including the first appearance of Tōtōsai (lol - love this guy)!

* * *

 **Chapter 36: Tessaiga & Tenseiga**

(Mmmmoooooooooo...)

As the full moon shines over the dark skies of Sengoku Edo, we zoom in on a...bull, that was carrying a elderly man with gray hair tied back in a tight ponytail atop his head, very large eyes with dotting pupils, a pointed chin with beard and moustache, and was wearing a robe of dark-green with black stripes. He also carried a metal hammer with a very long handle.

As the bull kept moving, the elder asks his other travel companion,

"Myoga, my friend, you'd better not be deceiving me. Has this, Inu-something really mastered the Tessiaga?"

Said flea demon replies,

"His name is Inuyasha."

"Oh, that's right, Inuyasha. He's the son of the Great Dog-Demon who gave me his fang so I could forge a sword out of it. He's the runt of the litter, correct?"

"Yes, the younger brother, and you should learn some respect. I've seen him kill one-hundred demons in one swing with his sword...Mind you, I've only seen him do it once, and he hasn't been able to wield that power since..."

The old man stokes his beard as he ponders aloud,

"Perhaps it is because he does not deserve to wield the Tessaiga that I so forged. I suppose I will have to test his worth, somehow."

Meanwhile, Further up the Mountainside...

In a place where molten rock burns from the ground up, the demon imp, Jaken, comes walking up, albeit a bit painfully:

"Oh, uh, h-hot, o-o-oh..." He stops a moment and rants,

"What kind of hell-hole is this place? The rocks under my feet are red!"

(Sizzzz...)

"(Sniff) Mmmm, I smell roasting meat somewhere...hm?"

Jaken looks down, realizing the scent was in fact his own burning-hot feet! He jumps a few feet into the air, before sprinting away, only to trip and fall on his front...

(...Fwoom)

"O-Owaa-hah!"

He springs back up, and makes it to his destination: A hollowed out giant skull of a long-since dead demon, made into a cave of sorts...

"(Pant, pant, pant...) Hm? Oh, this must be it. Are you here, Tōtōsai? I hope you finished the sword were commissioned to forge! This is the promised date of delivery!"

...There's no response...

"Hm? Hey! Come on out, I'm talking to you!"

Jaken walks inside, only to find a message left on the bone wall of the cave:

"Huh?! What do you mean, 'you moved'?"

He rushes back outside, looking around frantically:

"Damn that sneaky badger! Where'd he go, where'd he go?"

(Step, step)

"Doh."

Jaken turns around, and sees his master, Sesshomaru, standing before him:

"So, Tōtsōai is gone..."

The imp servant immediately bows over and over in apology:

"Please forgive me, Master Sesshomaru. But that ever-cut swordsmith is known to be very temperamental, and he only forges swords if he takes a personal liking to the customer who ordered it."

"I see. He has no intention of forging a sword that suits my purpose, so he has escaped."

"You can't blame him for not liking you. Your resume has one long death wish...Dauh!"

Jaken realizes two seconds too late what he just said, and he looks up...seeing a small smile appear on Sesshomaru's face, which in his books, was not a good sign:

"Gaaah! You're smiling! Oh don't smile at me, Master Sesshomaru! Please get angry! You're always much harder on me when you're being passive-aggressive! Please be straight with me, pleeease...hm?"

He looks up, and sees Sesshomaru moving away...

 _...I think I've just shortened my life by a hundred years._

Next Day

We now zoom in on Inuyasha and the others, who are now walking down a path to their next destination, wherever that may be, after the attack from the Illusion of Death sent upon them by Naraku.

Today, Coraline chose the following for her outfit: A pair of dark-wash jeans, a light-green tank-top, and her combat boots. Basically, something simple...which would be a contrast to the thoughts running through her mind...

As she moved along step with Inuyasha, Coraline mutters sadly,

"I can't believe the jewel shards we worked so hard to get have been taken..."

Inuyasha looks at her with a mild glare:

"Stop worrying about it, Coraline." They stop, and Coraline replies meekly,

"But..."

"It's not like she stole all the pieces or nothin'. We just have to go and find some more, no big deal."

"I guess..."

As they talked, Sango whispers to Miroku,

"Why is Inuyasha being so understanding? It's so unlike him." Miroku answers,

"I suspect it's because it was Kikyō who stole the Shikon-no-Tama shards."

Shippo sighs in exasperation and comments,

"Well what can he do when the culprit is the woman he fell in love with?"

Inuyasha did not miss a word they said, and turns to bark at them:

"Alright, listen, you morons! If you think I'm protecting Kikyō, you got another thing comin', okay?!"

He feels Coraline staring at him, and turns to lash out at her as well:

"You think I'm goin' soft on her too, dontcha? Then speak up!"

Coraline only stares at him, before shaking her head, not wanting to provoke Inuyasha anymore than he already is...But he saw through the silent lie, and only gets angrier:

"If you got somethin' to say, then say it to my face!"

Coraline frantically shakes her head again, a look of fear appearing, causing Inuyasha to retract:

"Huh?"

 _Coraline...What's wrong with her? She looks scared..._

 _Hang on: She didn't actually say that those creepers didn't do anything to her..._

 _Did she lie?_

Before he could think on the subject further:

(Mmmmooooooooooo...)

"Huh?" "A cow?"

Shippo looks back and forth from atop Miroku's shoulder:

"Where is it? I don't see any cattle around here..."

He and the other two (Miroku and Sango) then look up, and gasp:

"In the sky?!"

Suddenly, a bolt of light crashes on the ground, causing everyone to flinch:

"What's going on?!"

Coraline comes behind Inuyasha:

"Inuyasha."

"Who the heck are you?"

By you, he means the old man from before, sitting atop the now identified three-eyed bull.

"My name is Tōtōsai. Now, draw your sword, Inuyasha."

Coraline looks at the elder, noting mentally,

 _Hm, I don't sense anything that suggests malicious intent...Still, I wonder what exactly this 'Tōtōsai' wants?  
_

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was wondering,

 _How does this old geezer know my name?_

Tōtōsai then shouts while waving the long-handled hammer,

"I'm coming at you, whether you pull out your sword or not!"

(Leap)

As he came down at Inuyasha, the latter says to his companion,

"Get back, Coraline!"

"Got it!"

As Coraline rushed to the side and out of the line of fire, Inuyasha draws Tessaiga, just as Tōtōsai comes down with his hammer:

(Bong)

Oddly enough, the latter's strength actually prevails over the former's, pushing Inuyasha back a bit...He notices that the blade even rattled a bit from the hammer's impact...

Sango and Miroku both exclaim,

"He thwarted the Tessaiga using a hammer?!"

As Tōtōsai lands, he comments,

"That sword is singing like an old saw dulled in residence. This kid can't be the right one to use it..."

"Rgh, tell me who the hell you are!"

As Inuyasha charges at Tōtōsai, the latter calmly pulls out a strip of leather, licking it...before:

(Swip)

"...Huh?"

Shippo and Sango comment respectively,

"He stopped the sword!"

"That's a piece of leather..."

Tōtōsai moves the leather up the blade, noting disapprovingly,

"Hm, you've been too rough with her, this blade's all nicked up. Have you been choppin' down trees? Hm..."

As he begins rubbing the blade down, Inuyasha asks him uncertainly,

"W-What do you know about it? Who are you?"

(Hop)

"I think that's enough, Tōtōsai."

"Huh? Myoga?"

After a few minutes, everyone was sitting on the grass (save Sango who chose to stand), and Tōtōsai reveals himself as the one who forged the very blade Inuyasha calls his own.

"So you're the one who forged Tessaiga?"

"Precisely. I'm the one who forged the Tessaiga from the fang that your father gave to me. Only certain circles of the finest blade-swinging demons, are acquainted with my work."

Inuyasha makes a confused face:

"Huh? 'Certain circles'?" Coraline turns to him and says with a awkward smile,

"I think that means he's more infamous than famous." Inuyasha forms an annoyed frown at Tōtōsai and says,

"Look, I don't give a rat's ass if you're famous or not, old man." He replies with a frown,

"Well now that I've seen the Tessaiga in action, I have to say it's being badly misused and abused. It sings a sad song indeed. To see my work like this, (Sad frown) oh, it breaks my heart."

"If you've come to pick a fight with me, then just say so!" Coraline says to Inuyasha with disapproval,

"Really, Inuyasha?"

Tōtōsai sighs before saying to the flea demon,

"This is useless, Myoga. The sword can't be entrusted with someone as short-tempered as this arrogant whelp."

"I see what you mean. It would probably be better if he just gave up the sword rather then going into battle with it, blindly trying to wield a power he doesn't have the self-discipline for."

"Yes, there's no use stalling. I'll have to take the Tessaiga back immediately and break it in half."

(Shoom)

"Aaah!"

"What did you say?"

Inuyasha was now on his feet, pointing his sword at Tōtōsai's mouth threateningly, not pleased with the latter's plans:

"I don't care who made the sword, you dried-up metal-bender. It's mine and I'll run ya through with it if you even try to break it!"

"I don't have to break it, it was only a thought!"

As the sword retracts, Myoga hops onto Tōtōsai's shoulder and says,

"Sorry. I forgot to warn you about his temper."

"(Whisper) Don't worry. I'll sneak it away when he's not looking and melt it into cutlery..."

And the sword's back up:

"Aaah! I-I'm only joking!"

Myoga tries to reason with the temperamental half-demon:

"Master Inuyasha. You haven't been able to unravel the mystery of the Tessaiga on your own. You've tried, but you can't figure out how to tap into the power that killed that killed the hundred demons in one sweep. But, Tōtōsai knows it's secret. I think if you both take the time to get to know one another and cooperate, you can unravel and wield Tessiaga's full strength!"

...Inuyasha puts his sword over his shoulder and replies dryly,

"There's no mystery. I'll get the hang of it, I just need practice." Tōtōsai then says,

"I understand that you've been collecting the Shikon-no-Tama shards for a while...Who knows how many demons have multiple pieces of the jewel. You know how difficult it's been to battle demons with more than one. Don't you want to awaken the Tessaiga's full potential, in order to defeat demons with that enhanced strength?"

Miroku comments,

"He does have a point, Inuyasha," and Sango adds,

"I think you should at least hear what he has to say."

"Kuh, I guess it can't hurt..."

Inuyasha sheathes the Tessaiga, before asking the old swordsmith,

"So tell me, what do I have to do, Tōtōsai?"

"First, I have to tell you that someone seeks my life."

Inuyasha and Coraline make sounds of surprised confusion, and Tōtōsai explains:

"A fool barged into my forge and ordered a sword that would rival the power of Tessaiga. He told me he'd kill me if I refused. I want you to protect me from him."

(Grip)

"Hhh!"

Inuyasha grasps Tōtōsai by his face, while replying in an irritated deadpan,

"Say please when asking for favours..." Myoga says to the latter,

"You never told me about this...What did he look like?"

"He has long, white hair, and he wears a cloak of something white and furry." Inuyasha asks sarcastically,

"What? Another old geezer?"

"(Raspberry) Guess again."

Coraline then comes over to the three:

"Wait a second...Young, white hair, dressed in fur, and wants a sword to rival Tessaiga...(Gasp) Oh crap, don't tell me it's-"

Tōtōsai interrupts when he looks behind them, a nervous sweat beginning to perspire:

"He...He's here!"

Everyone looks in his direct of sight, and coming out of the sky...was Sesshomaru, riding atop a two-headed, green-skinned dragon!

"Grh! Sesshomaru."

Though Inuyasha recognized his half-brother in an instant, Sango was not familiar with the new arrival:

"Who is that?" Miroku explains:

"Inuyasha's older brother."

Coraline grits her teeth and mutters,

"Crap, I was right. He's the one who's after you, Tōtōsai." Said swordsmith exclaims nervously,

"Exactly, so protect me!"

As Tōtōsai rushed behind Inuyasha's back, Sesshomaru addresses his half-brother:

"Inuyasha. Why have you conspired with Tōtōsai to plot against me?"

Tōtōsai offers a suggestion:

"Because you happened to be evil-incarnate?"

"Tōtōsai. It sounds like you're looking for an early retirement...in your grave." Tōtōsai ducks back and says in a stutter,

"I-I never said that I was talking about you, Sesshomaru! W-Why don't we discuss your sword after you battle with Inuyasha?!"

As Inuyasha growls at the swordsmith, Coraline rushes over with a glare and asks,

"What's with the change of loyalty? You trying to get yourself killed by one or the other?!"

"Uh...I don't remember."

"Oh, don't give me that senile ploy!" Sesshomaru smiles and says,

"Tōtōsai, your word's as good as a blood vow to me." He moves off the dragon:

"Did you hear that, Inuyasha? He will forge my new sword after I kill you off."

Miroku and Sango make the smart decision to get away from the battle area, and he calls back,

"Coraline, run for cover!"

She does so, with Tōtōsai running behind her...With that, Sesshomaru made the first move:

(Swipe, boom)

Inuyasha dodges the other's claws, before drawing out Tessaiga:

"Oh yeah?! We'll see who kills who! Hrrraaaahhhh!"

(Slash, boom)

Sesshomaru dodges the sword, it landing on the upturned dirt and rock...Tōtōsai comments on the sidelines,

"You can tell by their tempers that they're related." Coraline heatedly counters,

"Aren't you the one who fueled this situation in the first place?!"

"(Gasp) Did I really?"

Coraline sighs irritably at his 'clueless demeanor':

 _No wonder this guy's friends with Myoga. They likely taught eachother how to be experts of feigned ignorance..._

"Wait...Speaking of Myoga...Where'd he go? Myoga? Where are you?"

Turns out, he had hopped onto Miroku's shoulder, as Shippo pointed out:

"Coraline! He's on Miroku's shoulder! He always goes where it's safest, so it's dangerous over there!"

"(Facepalm) Of course..."

Just as she went to join the others:

(Grasp)

"Hey! Get off, Tōtōsai!"

He then grabs his hammer, lets Coraline's shoulder go, before rushing away to the 'safe zone'.

"Seriously?! You coward!"

By this time, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru have really opened up the ground, and were now going at eachother poison whip against sword. After blocking a few more strikes, Inuyasha charges at Sesshomaru:

"Hrraaaaaaaahhhhh!"

(Slash, boom)

...But as the dust clears, we see that Tessaiga only succeeded in leaving another scar in the ground...

"Huh?"

Sesshomaru had since leaped into the air:

"...Too slow."

(Dash)

(Pow)

Sesshomaru lands another attack, with for the most part is blocked, but Inuyasha was pushed back a bit, coughing from a release of poison gas...

(Dash)

"Huh?"

(PUNCH)

"Gyaaaaah!"

Sesshomaru then lands a fist into Inuyasha's torso, sending him into the ground hard...!

As everyone on the sidelines gasp, Tōtōsai comments,

"Inuyasha's so slow, he's pathetic! (Turn) Myoga, why'd you lie to me about his ability to use Tessaiga's full power?"

"He used it once, I promise!"

Coraline adds onto Myoga's defense:

"Myoga does not lie! Inuyasha always prevails over Sesshomaru!"

"...Are you sure you weren't dreaming when you saw him do this, young lady?"

(Bonk)

Coraline hits him square on the noggin with his hammer:

"Quite sure, thank you very much."

"My apologies..."

Sesshomaru turns to the old swordsmith and asks,

"Well, Tōtōsai...Don't you feel sorry for Tessaiga? That famous sword...is no better than a wooden club the way Inuyasha swings it around like a neanderthal. The sword can live or die, depending on its master."

"Hmm, a wise observation, I agree." Coraline barks at Tōtōsai,

"Can you please not agree with the likes of him?!"

As Inuyasha rose to his feet, he mutters ruefully,

"Don't give me that, swordsmith, or you'll really have somethin' to worry about. I'm only warming up! Don't be too shocked when you see what kind of power I really got!"

With that, Inuyasha began swinging at Sesshomaru with Tessaiga again. Unfortunately, none of the swings made contact, for Sesshomaru was just a bit too fast...

Myoga says with a sweatdrop,

"Oh great. The blood's rushed to his head. That's always bad news..."

Eventually, Sesshomaru found an opening to shoot his hand forward, gripping Inuyasha's wrist holding the Tessaiga, and begins corroding his skin with his poison claws:

(Siiizzzzz...)

"Well, Tōtōsai, tell me: Do you still refuse to make me a sword?"

Said swordsmith thinks for a moment...before shouting his reply:

"No way!"

He then leaps into the air, cheeks puffed out, before letting out a spiral of fire!

(Fwoooommm...)

While Sesshomaru dodges the flames, Inuyasha wasn't so lucky...He then walks over to Tōtōsai, burn marks evident, before punching his head while shouting heatedly,

"That was a big help!"

(Whistle...)

As Tōtōsai cools his inner fire, Sesshomaru lands back on the ground on the other side of the new path of fire and calls,

"So, you absolutely refuse?"

"Hmph! Be quiet, you ungrateful mongrel! You already know as well as I do that I made you an excellent sword!"

Iunyasha looks at Tōtōsai in confusion, as the latter adds,

"The famous sword that you now wear: The Tenseiga. I also forged it with a fang given to me by your father. He clearly instructed that the eldest brother would have the Tenseiga, and the youngest brother would have the Tessaiga. That was your father's last wish. It is a great sword of swords, no better and no worse than the Tessaiga! You should learn to respect and love it!"

Coraline comments on the side,

"So there was more than one sword commissioned by Inuyasha's father?" Miroku then says,

"Though come to think of it, I've never seen Sesshomaru unsheathe it in any of the battles yet, have you?"

"No, I haven't. Not even in mine and Inuyasha's first encounter together. Hey, Sesshomaru, what gives?!"

Said demon asks Tōtōsai,

"Do you dare imply that this useless sword is worthy of me?"

Something begins stirring inside Sesshomaru, with does not go unnoticed by Tōtōsai:

"Ooh, I made you angry, did I? Hahaha, time to take our leave!"

(Leap)

"Haaaaaaahah!"

(Bang, fwoooom)

Tōtōsai then uses his hammer to upturn a burst of fire from the ground up, heading straight for Sesshomaru! He of course, easily dodges the attack, but when landing on the now molten ground, he soon sees the ploy...

"...They've escaped."

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

"Nice job on the fake-out move, Tōtōsai!"

I'm sitting behind Inuyasha as he sat behind Tōtōsai atop the three-eyed bull, while Sango, Miroku and Shippo were riding Kilala, all of us having got away quickly from the area...Miroku then comments,

"I don't understand. Inuyasha should be asking you for protection, not the other way around."

Inuyasha immediately chews Miroku out:

"You tryin' to say that I'm a weakling?!"

I shake my head at the two, before hearing Tōtōsai sigh sadly:

"Sesshomaru called his great sword useless, and Inuyasha is useless with his great sword. How I overestimated both of them..."

"What's that?!"

Before I could stop Inuyasha:

(Hit-hit-hit, bonk)

He pummeled Tōtōsai, leaving a good deal of bumps on his head:

"Uhhh..."

"I am not useless!"

I decide to change the subject before things got more out of hand:

"Tōtōsai, I was wondering: Just what sort of power does the Tenseiga have?"

"The Tenseiga? It's abilities are unlike anything unheard of before. (Focus on Inuyasha) When your father first commissioned me to make it, I shuddered at the very thought of its immense powers."

Eventually, we landed by the river, and we learn about Tenseiga's strange abilities:

"It's a blade that doesn't cut? So how are you suppose to fight with a sword like that?"

Tōtōsai finishes starting the fire and replies,

"The Tenseiga is not a sword used against foes. To put it simply, it is a sword of healing."

I ask in surprise,

"A sword of healing? Is that even possible?"

"The Tessaiga is a sword that defeats the powerful, and the Tenseiga is a sword that has the ability to save the lives of the weak."

Sango asks,

"It saves lives?"

"If the bearer truly has kindness towards humanity, then the Tenseiga has the power to save a hundred in one sweep."

I mutter with a small smile,

"Kindness of heart, huh?"

"So the Tessaiga can slay a hundred demons in one sweep, and the Tenseiga can save a hundred in one sweep?"

Sango asks after Miroku's summary,

"But can you use that as a weapon?"

"It must have the ability to bring back dead souls. Such a power can be very useful in these feudal times."

Tōtōsai comments,

"I almost called the sword 'The Coffin-Cheater', but I opt it for Tenseiga instead. It sounded a little more classy. Actually, it was your father who suggested the name."

Inuyasha then says,

"I get it now: No wonder Sesshomaru wants a new sword. He can't use his! He's incapable of feeling kindness for others, let alone saving lives."

I agree mentally:

 _He's right: So far, I've only seen Sesshomaru as a ruthless tyrant with no disregard for anyone, least of all humans._

 _...And yet, I can't help but wonder:_

 _Could Inuyasha's father have done this on purpose?_

Tōtōsai confirms my thoughts:

"It's too bad this isn't working. It was your father's last wish, after all." Miroku comments to Inuyasha,

"Your brother is so black-hearted..."

I then say with a frown,

"It's like I said before: He has too many stone walls around his heart to even feel remotely sorry for humans. If he can't wield Tessaiga (minus that one time with the human arm), what are the chances he can wield Tenseiga?"

With that conclusion, Shippo notices that the wild boar that we caught was finished roasting:

"That looks good~!" Tōtōsai agrees with him:

"A well-roasted pig indeed. Let's dig in, folks!"

But just as we all move forward...Tōtōsai consumes the entire roasted boar in one gulp!

"Hey! Don't eat the whole thing, pig!"

"Huh? Where'd the roast go?"

"It's in your greedy gut!"

"Uuh, where am I now, who are you people...?"

(Bonk)

Miroku hits Tōtōsai with his staff...I sigh exasperatedly:

"And to think I shot down the boar for all of us, too...Alright, time to switch to Plan B."

Inuyasha asks me,

"What's Plan B?"

"Fish. I saw some swimming around in the water while we settled here, and I can use my knife to gut 'em. Won't be easy, but I'm not letting us starve."

I then unsheathe my knife, and turn to go down to the water...only to be stopped when Tōtōsai grasps my wrist holding it:

"Huh?"

He pulls himself up into a stand, looking at my knife intently:

"Hmm...This blade looks better cared for...Made from earth metal and demon bone, too, a unique combination...(Looks up) Tell me, young lady: Where did you acquire this blade?"

"Umm, from a mutual acquaintance of mine and my brothers. He does a bit of weapons trade, nothing too big, just knifes...Why do you ask?"

"Was this acquaintance aware of the materials used to forge this blade?"

"Likely not. He tends to keep that kind-of thing as discreet as possible..."

"I see...May I have a closer look at this knife?"

"Uh, okay..."

I let him take the blade, and watch him examine it for a moment...He then asks me,

"Tell me, young lady: Has this knife done anything unusual of late?"

I was taken aback by his question, but answered anyway:

"Uh...there was an incident not too long ago when it accidentally fell out my sheath, and into a puddle of demon blood...before sucking it in...Hang on: Is there a chance you might know why it did?"

Everyone was focused on Tōtōsai at this point, also anxious for his answer...

"Hmm...I would say it has to do with the demon bone that was used to make this blade. It's possible that there is a small residual power which allows this blade to absorb demon blood. And based on what I can see, it has actually made this knife even more durable."

"More durable? You mean, my knife is stronger now because of the demon blood it sucked in?"

"Precisely."

I and the others were amazed...Tōtōsai then says,

"Your knife likely has the ability to heal itself using the blood strength of demons that it cuts down on, but only if the blade has become worn or is threatening to shatter."

"Incredible." Tōtōsai nods, before saying seriously,

"However...I must caution you to be careful of what demon blood it does absorb."

"Why's that?"

"If your knife were to absorb too much blood from demons that are ridden with a particularly strong evil, there's a chance that your blade may turn against you and even try to attack you."

(Collective gasp)

"Right now, there is nothing to worry about. As I said, the only times this blade will use its ability is in a time of crisis, such as if it's about to break, plus it doesn't need to absorb much. But again, I must caution you to be mindful of these times in the future."

I nod seriously:

"I understand. I'll be careful."

"Good...I think Inuyasha here could learn a thing or two from you on how to care for one's own blade. You seem to understand that they should be well-polished and not used like a child."

Inuyasha wasn't pleased by that comment:

"Hey, watch it, old man!"

I just laughed, before turning to move to the river again:

"Alright, time to get back to work: Look out, fish, here I come!"

Time Skip, Marsh Area, No POV

As the Inuyasha gang and Tōtōsai settled by the riverside for the night, we now turn to a darkened marshland, an owl's hoot being the only sound echoing overhead as Sesshomaru and Jaken made their way deeper in:

"I didn't realize that your sword was your inheritance from your father. Why don't you use it, master? What kind of power does it have? It must be something remarkable!"

Sesshomaru stops:

"...You want to know, Jaken?"

"The idea of two swords forged from your father's fangs is extremely intriguing. It's like they are two brothers born from the same father, yet one is powerful and one is useless...Gah!"

Jaken realizes his mistake in his wording:

"I-I-I don't mean you're useless, Master Sesshomaru! I mean that your sword was, or at least I've never seen you use it, and yet that half-breed brother of yours can use his, which makes him more powerful-Oh! But don't take that personally! I'm sure tha-"

"Jaken."

"Y-Yes sir?"

Jaken slowly turns around to face Sesshomaru, just as the latter begins unsheathing his sword, Tenseiga...before:

(SLASH)

"M-Master Sesshomaru! Whyyyy?!"

Jaken falls backwards, a purple-glowing cut mark in his body...But then, the glowing fades, and we see, no signs of blood or trauma...?

"(Smile) Get up, Jaken. You're fine."

"...Huh?"

Jaken scrambles to his feet, completely unharmed, much to his shock:

"B-But that's impossible! Y-You just cut me in half, how can I be alive?!"

"You see now? This useless Tenseiga cannot kill."

As Sesshomaru sheathes his sword, Jaken asks,

"W-Well, what's it good for, then?"

...Before Sesshomaru could answer, the water in front of them begins to swirl:

(Whooosh...)

"W-W-What's going on?!"

(SPLASH)

And just like that, a giant water dragon shoots out of the water! As Jaken panics, Sesshomaru asks himself,

 _...Why did father bestow this useless Tenseiga on me, and yet bless Inuyasha with the Tessaiga?_

Just as the dragon's tail came down, Jaken flees for cover, while Sesshomaru leaps into the air, using his poison whip and claws to kill the dragon in no time flat!

With the upper body gone (including the head), Sesshomaru would take the advantage by taking one of its arms:

"This dragon has given me a gift. Now I can go back and get what is owed to me: _Tessaiga._ "

Next Morning

As the sun rose and everyone packed up, Tōtōsai would hop back up on his three-eyed bull, ready to set out.

"Farewell."

"Are you sure you want to be leaving us so soon, Tōtōsai?" He replies to Coraline,

"Well, Inuyasha's not much for protection for me..."

"Tōtōsai..."

Inuyasha calls back to Coraline,

"Let him go. Who needs him? The old geezer would only slow us down, anyway."

...Tōtōsai clamps a fist onto his palm, before moving to Inuyasha and grabbing the hilt of Tessaiga:

"Give it back. The Tessaiga is useless in your hands. It would be better off as scrap metal."

A few seconds later...Tōtōsai has a few bumps on his head...

"I told you: Don't touch my sword."

Coraline facepalms at Inuyasha's blunt response and physical conduct:

"Good lord..."

Tōtōsai then scrambles back onto his bull and calls back irritably,

"Don't say I didn't warn ya!"

He then signals the bull to get going, and they were dashing off...Miroku comments,

"Well, he's not afraid to speak his mind," followed by Sango adding,

"Either he's extremely brave, or he's extremely senile..."

Meanwhile, as his bull kept running, Tōtōsai muses to himself,

 _That poor, little runt of a dog demon is gonna get himself killed by Sesshomaru._

 _He hasn't even been able to see the Wind Scar that awakens Tessaiga's power..._

As Inuyasha and the others begin walking off in the other direction, Coraline asks him,

"Um, are you sure you don't want to go after him, Inuyasha? He is the one who made Tessaiga, after all, so he may know more about the power that you're seeking..."

"Keh, yeah well, that old fart is full of it."

(...Rumble...)

"Huh?"

Everyone turns around, and sees Tōtōsai charging towards them!

"...He's back?"

But getting a closer look, we see that the old swordsmith was not coming back by choice: There was a giant light orb chasing him!

(Crash)

"Daaaaah!"

The orb then crashes into the ground behind him, knocking Tōtōsai off the bull and into the ground!

And who was the source? Sesshomaru...

Inuyasha would be the one to rush over first:

"Sesshomaru."

"Stay where you are, or I'll tear you both to shreds."

Tōtōsai scrambles to his feet, before rushing behind Inuyasha:

"W-We're in big trouble now..."

"Listen, old man: You got no intention of making Sesshomaru a new sword, now do ya?"

"No."

Inuyasha calls out to Sesshomaru,

"Ya hear that? I had enough of this bad wrap over Tessiaga, and now I'm itchin' to use it and fight! So let's settle this once and for all!"

As he unsheathes Tessaiga, Tōtōsai backs away, while Seshomaru charges forward, using his new dragon arm:

"Have it your way, little brother."

(Clang)

"It will all end today. You will never have the power to defeat me! Not without the _Wind Scar..._ "


	38. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37: The True Owner of the Great Sword!**

Continuing where we left off, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru have gone sword to dragon arm in yet another battle. As they clashed, Sesshomaru taunts to the other,

"Is that all of the power you can muster?"

Inuyasha only grunts in response, focusing on holding his ground. Sesshomaru then raises his free hand, cutting across Inuyasha's face with his poison claws:

(Slash)

Inuyasha slides backwards, remaining upright, and says to his half-brother,

"I see you found another ugly arm for me to chop off, Sesshomaru."

"Go ahead and try. This replacement will act as a shield against the Tessaiga."

On the sidelines, Sango recognizes the origins of the arm:

"That's a dragon's claw." Coraline looks at Sango in worried confusion:

"Dragon's claw?"

"Yes. A dragon's claw will have a great deal more power than a regular demon's arm. I wonder how he's going to use that thing in battle?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Sango. But I got a bad feeling..."

Inuyasha scoffs a bit:

"Keh, a dragon's claw? Whatever. It doesn't look like it's gonna do any better than the last arm. I've already taken a good chunk out of it with my sword."

Sesshomaru's monotone frown shifts into a smile:

"...The Tessaiga is amazing. Despite not being wielded by its true owner, its power is still formidable. However, it refuses to reveal its Wind Scar to the one it has received as its master. Tessaiga, cut through the emptiness, and reveal your power."

Tōtōsai is in awe of Sesshomaru's knowledge:

"Aaah, Sesshomaru must be able to see the Wind Scar." Coraline asks the swordsmith,

"What is the Wind Scar? Is it a special sword technique of some kind?"

"In a nut shell, the Wind Scar is the secret to the Tessaiga's ultimate power. Slaying a hundred demons in one sweep would be virtually impossible without being able to see the Wind Scar. Sesshomaru must be able to see it."

"Can't Inuyasha be taught to see it as well?"

"It is impossible to teach. Inuyasha must discover it within himself. And if he does not discover it in time, he will surely die."

Coraline felt her blood run cold:

 _...Inuyasha...die?_

 _No...No! I won't let him die!_

 _If he can't find the power, then...I'll do whatever possible to make sure Sesshomaru regrets even coming here..._

As Coraline silently vows to herself, the fight begins again, with Inuyasha blocking swipes from the dragon arm:

(Clang, clang, clang...)

Inuyasha slides back from one particularly strong swipe, only to hear Tessaiga's blade begin rattling...He curses:

"Damn. All he's using against me is that claw's brute strength."

He then looks up, only to block another clawed attack from Sesshomaru just in the nick of time! So the continuous swipes began again, with each attack causing more strain on Tessaiga:

(Clang, rattle...)

Inuyasha is flown back by the attacks, much to everyone's worry, Coraline's especially:

"Inuyasha!"

That's when everyone began seeing the throbbing and rattling of the blade...Sango says,

"I think the sword's crying!" Miroku adds his observations:

"From what I can see, Sesshomaru is actually attacking the sword itself."

Tōtōsai becomes troubled:

"This is appalling! He keeps hacking away at the sword, sending mighty waves of power ringing throughout the blade! Even the great Tessaiga will break under this pressure!"

As he keeps blocking the dragon claw, Inuyasha realizes what Sesshomaru was doing as well:

 _Sesshomaru isn't fighting with me: He's fighting with the Tessaiga!_

(Swipe, crash)

"Gyaaah!"

Inuyasha is thrown back by the impact of the dragon claw uprooting the ground in front of him. It was then Sango decided to try and step in:

"Inuyasha!"

As she begins to rush over ready to throw Hiraikotsu, Inuyasha calls back to her:

"Stay back!"

Sango stops, and Inuyasha adds,

"Don't interfere. I will kill Sesshomaru, and I'll do it with the Tessaiga! (Turn) And Coraline, don't think I can't see you readying to get your knife out. You stay where you are, and don't even think about jumpin' in here!"

Coraline freezes, and slowly straightens up again, letting go of the knife handle...Inuyasha nods firmly at her, before focusing back on Sesshomaru:

 _He's hitting the Tessaiga over and over again to try and break it. As if I'm gonna stand by and let him do that..._

Miroku comes to stand by Sango, placing a hand on her shoulder:

"We have to remember that Inuyasha has tapped into the full strength of Tessaiga before. I know it was only once, but it proves that he is capable of doing it again."

He turns back to Coraline:

"Coraline. You understand that too, right?"

She nods, before directing ahead with worried eyes:

 _Maybe so, but if this battle keeps up, that one time may only be that one time..._

 _Inuyasha, please, be careful..._

Sesshomaru then says,

"I want to hear you roar, Tessaiga. Then you can die along with your weak master."

(Dash)

As he charges forward, Inuyasha swings forward, the blade then caught by the dragon's claw! Sesshomaru then brings his free fist against Inuyasha's skull:

(PUNCH)

"Gghh!"

...But as it turns out, that wasn't the original target area, so Sesshomaru was a bit taken aback:

"You...You're protecting your sword."

"(Smirk) Heh. Why would I let you bust the Tessaiga before I've learned how to control it?"

Sesshomaru's claws then release their poison, causing Inuyasha to flinch back, his eyes blinded by the toxic mist!

As Inuyasha rises, he rubs his eyes, but found his vision too clouded:

"D-Damn it all. I can't see!"

...However, his new-found blindness proved to be an advantage! As Inuyasha looked up where Sesshomaru leaped, he sensed something, different:

(Whoosh...)

 _I can see it._

It was then that Sesshomaru brought the dragon claw down on Tessaiga again, pushing Inuyasha back. But he was more focused on what he could now sense:

"The vortex of its power...I can smell the wind scrapping...It's against the fissure where the power flows through...I bet I can slice through the fissure and release its full power!"

As he slides back, Inuyasha readies to swing his sword at the wind vortex:

"I see it! Hrraaaaahhhhhh!"

(SLASH)

His hit was dead-on, and Sesshomaru would get the full impact:

"Rrrrhha-aaah...Aaaaahhhhhhhh!"

But just as it looked like the end for Sesshomaru:

(Pulse...)

The Tenseiga began to throb with power, before surrounding the dog demon's body in a strange, black/blue light...!

As everyone else ducked behind Tōtōsai's bull companion from the Tessaiga's impact of power, Inuyasha held his ground...And just like that, Tessaiga had done its duty, leaving a giant claw mark in the ground...

While Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kilala were looking at the aftermath of the Wind Scar, Inuyasha knelt on the ground, panting heavily from the use of power:

"(Pant, pant...) Is it over?"

"It is."

"Huh?"

He turns to Coraline's direction, she now standing beside him:

"Coraline? Is that you? I can smell you, but I still can't see."

"Yeah, it's me."

She kneels down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder with a proud smile:

"You did amazing, Inuyasha. I had no doubt, despite my fears."

"Keh, thanks."

Small Time Skip

"So that was the Wind Scar..."

Inuyasha was now by the river, washing his eyes clean of any remaining poison, while Coraline sat beside him with a beaming smile:

"You did it, Inuyasha. Now that you've found Tessaiga's true power, you can work on mastering it."

Meanwhile, everyone else was sitting on some boulders, watching as Tōtōsai worked on the Tessaiga. Shippo wonders,

"So does this mean that Sesshomaru's dead?" Miroku answers,

"Most likely. I dunno how he could've survived: He received a direct blow from the fully-empowered Tessaiga."

Tōtōsai did not agree:

"...I did not see Inuyasha make a direct blow. All he did was wildly swing his sword around because his eyes were blinded with poison."

As he wipes his eyes of any excess water, Inuyasha asks with a bit of edge,

"What are you tryin' to say?"

"Hmph. Listen, Inuyasha: You have discovered the Wind Scar, I'll give you that much. But all it means is that you now know what your brother knows. You are still not his equal, and now he is more formidable than he was before."

Miroku says,

"You refer to him as though he were still alive..."

"Sesshomaru is still alive. And even though he despises the Tenseiga, it protected his life."

That caught everyone's attention, with Sango and Shippo asking respectively,

"It protected his life?"

"You mean Sesshomaru is still alive somewhere?"

Tōtōsai blows some more fire onto Tessaiga and hammers some more as he asks its wielder,

"Inuyasha, when you used the Wind Scar against Sesshomaru, you didn't fell it strike him, did you?"

Coraline turns to Inuyasha in surprise:

"...Inuyasha?"

"Uh, well...It's hard to say. I was blinded; I felt his body like it disintegrated from the blast of Tessaiga. I didn't pulverize him or nothin'. He just sort-of disappeared, evaporated."

Tōtōsai explains:

"Tenseiga protected Sesshomaru against the power and light of Tessaiga. It acted on its own accord."

Coraline wonders aloud:

"Wow...So much like Tessaiga, Tenseiga has a will of its own, too." Sango adds,

"And here Sesshomaru called the Tenseiga a useless sword, and he despised it as his birthright," followed by Miroku:

"Tenseiga is a sword of life, and when Sesshomaru's life was in danger, and despite his dark soul, Tenseiga chose to save him, and that is what makes him invincible."

Tōtōsai asks,

"So, how do you defeat a foe like that? I have no idea; it's beyond me."

Soon enough, the old swordsmith was done with his work on the Tessaiga, giving it back to Inuyasha, before setting off on his own again:

"I've sharpened the sword to protection. Now you just have to train yourself to defeat Sesshomaru's Tenseiga, like when he was trying to defeat the Tessaiga."

As he rode away, Tōtōsai muses to himself,

 _So before he died, he gave each of his sons a sword. He gave the Tessaiga to Inuyasha, and the Tenseiga to Sesshomaru._

 _That cunning old hound must've made it so that it is futile for the brothers to fight eachother..._

"...I guess they'll learn that eventually."

(Mmmmooooooooooo...)

Time Skip

As the sun sets over the lush green forests of Edo, we zoom in on Sesshomaru, who despite being greatly injured from the Wind Scar, was still alive.  
He's now laying on his boa near a tree, slowly returning to consciousness...

(...Rustle)

Suddenly, a small figure came out from the bushes, and was now staring at the great dog demon...

Sesshomaru feels their presence, and snaps up, his inner demon on the defense:

"(Growl)"

"(Soft gasp)"

The figure is revealed to be a little girl with long black hair (a small bit tied at the side), big brown eyes, and was wearing a rather worn kimono. She looks at Sesshomaru warily, before gulping back her fear, and cautiously steps forward...

Soon enough, night falls, and we see a bamboo container of water now sitting near Sesshomaru, who only stares at it monotonously...The little girl then comes back, with a large leaf of wild mushrooms and fish. As she turns to leave, Sesshomaru finally addresses her:

"...Mind your own business, girl. Your generosity is wasted; I do not eat human food."

The girl stops, and turns back to look at the dog demon with a worried look...

Eventually, she decides to go and gather more provisions, and is now standing in a small water bank, trying to catch some fish with her bare hands:

"Ah, uh...Ah."

"I knew it!"

"Huh?"

The girl turns to the right, and sees several men carrying torches, looking at her with scorn:

"I knew that you were the dirty culprit, Rin!"

The men then proceed to kick and beat Rin as punishment for trying to take fish that is revealed to be a part of the village preserves.

"You're a lucky orphan to have the village take you in, but you must not steal fish from the preserve."

"Never do it again, you understand?!"

After receiving one more slap to the face, Rin is seen walking away calmly with a small limp, remaining silent through the entire ordeal.

The men comment,

"Damn, that is the freakiest child: She never shows any signs of remorse or fear."

"Disasters left her a mute. Her entire family was slaughtered by thieves and she hasn't spoken since, so can you blame her?"

Time Skip

Come the next morning, Sesshomaru would hear the tell-tale rustle in the bushes, and Rin, despite the beating she took the other night, would return with another offering.

"...No thanks."

Rin did not give up, however, and was brave enough to come closer to the dog demon, holding out the offering to him:

"Uh...Uh."

"I told you, I don't need anything from you."

"Uh...(Sigh)"

Rin becomes discouraged...Sesshomaru then asks,

"...Where did you get those bruises?"

"Uh...Huh?"

Rin looks up at Sesshomaru in surprised confusion...He replies,

"...You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Rin stares in wonder at the dog demon, and as he turned to look at her...she suddenly breaks into a smile, laughing a bit.

"What are you smiling about? I simply asked a question. I don't care, I'm just curious."

Later on, Rin is seen hopping on one foot down a path to her small hut near the riverside, her mood considerably brighter than it likely has been in a long time...But as she approached the entrance to her home, she would discover that someone else was there:

"(Slurp) Ahh, (munch...)"

The intruder, revealed as a short man with balding hair tied in a top-knot, pointed ears, a bloodshot eye (the other scarred), and was wearing a blue kimono with a fur vest over top. Sensing her presence, the man turns to Rin in confusion:

"Huh? What, girl? Does this old hut belong to you?"

Rin moves to grip the side of the entrance with a scared look, and shyly nods...

Suddenly, there came a chorus of shouts coming from the main area of the village, and the man comes out of Rin's hut, cursing,

"Damn it, they've caught up already," before turning to run out of the area while lightly pushing Rin aside...

We then see a pack of wolves bounding into the village, pouncing on the villagers, while the man tries swimming away across the river, only to be tackled by some of those wolves:

(Splash)

"Oh! Aaah!"

As the man is dragged out, we then see someone else step in from behind the pack, likely the leader of the wolves:

He was a young man with blue eyes, pointed ears, long black hair tied back in a ponytail, wearing a fur headband, brown-furred shoulder plates, silver/black armor, a fur pelt, and has a long, bushy brown tail. Clearly, his origins were that of a demon...

"Heheheh, I had to search high and low for you, you dirty thief."

The young wolf demon then grasps the man by his head and says with a menacing smile,

"Now hand over the Shikon-no-Tama shard, which you've stolen from me."

The man reaches into his robes, replying,

"A-Alright, I won't run away..."

He places the stolen shard onto the ground, to which the pack leader would take back with a toothy smirk. As he begins walking away, the man asks,

"Y-You're letting me go? Thank you for your mercy."

The young man stops, and hms...before:

(SLASH)

"Aaaaaagh!"

Rin watched fearfully from her hut, as the man is killed, while the young leader says with a smile,

"You fool. I would've forgotten."

He then turns to the wolves and says,

"Alright, I've gotten what I wanted. I'm going on ahead. You stay in the village and feast to your heart's desire, then catch up with me when you're done."

The wolves disperse, and Rin gasps, realizing that her safety as well as the other villagers, will soon be snuffed out...

Meanwhile, Back with the Inuyasha Gang...

As they moved on in their journey, Coraline suddenly slows to a stop, feeling something, off...

"Is something the matter, Coraline? You seem rather quiet today."

"Hold that thought, Sango..."

(Sheen...)

Coraline's eyes glow that icy blue, as she used her Aura Reader senses to help her confirm something...

"Just as I thought...(Narrows eyes) It's not very strong, but there's definitely a jewel shard close by."

Inuyasha and Miroku stop, and the former asks,

"Are you sure, Coraline? Which direction, can you tell?"

"Gimme a second...Got it: We need to keep going straight, then West."

Rin's POV

"(Pant, pant, pant...)"

I managed to get out of the village, but those scary wolves were still after me...As I kept running as fast as I could, I thought back to, that strange demon I met yesterday...

 _Oh...If only he were here now..._

As I began tearing up, I tripped on a tree root:

"Aah! Uh!"

Just as I turn around, the wolves leaped at me, and I let out a quiet scream...

Jaken's POV

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

I was now on top of the two-headed dragon, trying to figure out where my lord had vanished to:

"Lord Sesshomaru, where are you?! Please answer me!"

I sense him nowhere, and begin to wonder,

"Is it possible that Lord Sesshomaru was cut down by Inuyasha when he went to battle with him? Cut down...Speaking of being 'cut down': Hmph, why should I care if Sesshomaru was cut down or not? He used me as a guinea pig in his sword experiment, and hit me with the Tenseiga to see if it would cut me through or not! He said that he was testing his sword, but maybe he was just teasing me. He wouldn't have struck me down if there wasn't any hope of me being revived..."

I'm now sitting in a field, trying to settle the conflict of what my lord was really doing with the Tenseiga:

"He was testing...He was teasing...He was testing...He was teasing...He was testing...He was teasing..."

I stop at the last flower petal:

"He was testing. (Eyes bulge) He was testing?! Lord Sesshomaru! Would you have really risked my life to test your sword?! You ungrateful dog!"

(Toss, thwap)

"Daaaah!"

Suddenly, I'm knocked off the dragon by a small rock, and when I turn around, I see,

"(Gasp) Lord Sesshomaru!"

I jump onto one of the dragon heads to greet my master:

"Before I continue in your service, I must know, were you testing your sword on me?"

"...I expected a relieved welcome, Jaken. Not an interrogation."

My jaw drops, and I scramble to make up for my actions:

"Ah-heh, right, you're well! I thought you might be dead!"

(Thwap)

"Dooo-oh!"

No POV

As a strong wind blew pass, Sesshomaru suddenly picked up on a strong scent:

 _Blood. Blood and the smell of wolves..._

"...I recognize this blood."

He's then seen walking down a path to the source of the scent, and what he found, was Rin, having been slaughtered by the wolves from before...

As he stared at her body, Jaken comes up beside him:

"...What is that?"

Jaken then goes to look at Rin's body, cringing a bit from the blood and injuries:

"She's a goner, that's for sure. She must've been attacked by wolves. Look at the teeth markings. (Turn) Do you recognize this pathetic human?"

...Sesshomaru does not answer, as he thinks back to the selfless acts of Rin, and her little smile...He then grabs hold of the Tenseiga, much to Jaken's shock:

"Wh-What are you doing, sire?!"

As Sesshomaru held out the blade...suddenly:

(...Pulse...Pulse...)

"...Interesting."

He then looks up back at Rin's body, and sees several imp-like demons with scythes surrounding her:

"I can see them. They're from the Underworld...I'll do another test. I'll use the Tenseiga."

"(Gasp) Another test? W-What are you doing, sire? What are you doing?"

Ignoring Jaken, Sesshomaru raises his blade...before cutting away at the Underworld demons:

(SLASH)

...With that done, Sesshomaru moves to hold up Rin's body, staring for a moment...It was then, he felt it:

(Heartbeat, heartbeat...)

Sesshomaru takes in a sharp breath...as Rin blinks awake, alive and well! Jaken was amazed:

"She came back to life! Lord Sesshomaru...you resurrected that human girl with the power of the Tenseiga?!"

...He says nothing, and begins walking away once Rin was standing upright, much to Jaken's dismay:

"Uh, hello? Lord Sesshomaru? Lord Seshomaru saving a human life is surprising enough, but then again, more importantly, didn't Lord Sesshomaru just say that he was going to test the power of the Tenseiga once again?"

He then stutters in shock,

"Th-Th-That would mean I was cut down with no guarantee of survival! (Blubber) And to think I've devoted myself to you for all of these years!"

As Jaken kept crying in disbelief, Rin began to slowly walk forward, then bound after to Sesshomaru, having a new purpose in life...It was then that Jaken looked up from his sleeve, noticing that he was going to be left behind:

"Huh? Lord Sesshomaru, wait, I'm coming!"

As he continued to walk away, Sesshomaru thought to himself,

 _Humph, Tenseiga: You compelled me to save a human life today..._

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV  


Following my directions, which also corresponded to a scent that Inuyasha picked up along the way, we all came across a small village, which had been savagely attacked!

Miroku would be the first to comment vocally on it:

"A massacre!"

Shippo then called out,

"Hey! Is anybody left alive?!"

We then see a set of tracks, belonging to, wolves...

As Sango and Shippo commented on the tracks, I looked around at the area, noting the carnage, the tracks, and found myself flashing back to one of my father's lessons...

Flashback, No POV

 _"Father, what are these?"  
_

 _A young Coraline points to the ground, and Mathias Croft, a man in his mid-thirties, with short, thick red-brown hair and matching beard, and blue eyes, smiles down at the curious girl, as they looked down at a set of animal tracks on the forest ground._

 _"Those are deer tracks, young one."_

 _"Ah...How can you tell what animal it is?"_

 _"Well, some of it depends on the tracks, while the rest is on the surrounding area. For example, we're now in an area that deer primarily use as their feeding grounds, such as those berries over there, and the bushes here. Yet it isn't just deer: Other animals can share this area as well, such as birds, squirrels, and even the occasional bear."_

 _"Wow...Do special creatures use this area too?"_

 _"Haha, well, it's been a while, but I did see a dryad here once. The extraordinary are usually more hidden."_

 _"How come?"_

 _"Because they have secrets they wish to keep, and unfortunately, humans are not as well-trusted as they were back in the old days."_

 _"Oh..."_

 _Mathias comes to kneel in front of his daughter with a wise smile:_

 _"You see, Coraline, nature is full of secrets and mysteries. In order to navigate in a given environment, you must learn to read the subtle signs, and slowly earn the trust of others who dwell. Respect nature, and it shall respect you."_

 _"(Smile) Okay, father. I got it!"_

End Flashback, Coraline's POV  


"...Father..."

As I end my remembrance of one of my lessons with Father, Miroku then says,

"There must have been a great deal of them. (Turn) Do you think they were possessed by the jewel shard that Coraline sensed?"

Inuyasha nods at him and replies,

"Probably. This slaughter has demon written all over it."

(Growl...)

I then hear the sound of low growling, and I look up, to see dozens of wolves!

Shippo leaps into my arms in fright:

"Aaaah! Look out, that wolves are surrounding us!"

As I held him close, the rest us form a tight circle back-to-back...Inuyasha then cracks his knuckles and says,

"Keh, let's teach these wolves a lesson. They're strayed, it looks like their leader isn't even here. They're useless in a battle unless they're in a pack."

(Leap, dash)

(Slash, slash, slash)

"Grraaah!"

Inuyasha takes down a good bulk of the wolves with his claws, before several of them rush onto a hill, and begin howling:

(Aaaarrrrrrooooooooooowwwwww...)

"Awah, they're howling!"

"They're calling for their comrades."

As I stared at the wolves, I felt another flashback trigger:

(Flash)

 _...Storm..._

 _(Growls)_

 _...Footsteps splashing in puddles..._

(Flash)

"Gh!"

 _Damn...Why did that memory have to show up?_

It was then, I sensed something else, distracting me from my memories:

"(Soft gasp) There's a jewel shard coming, coming in fast, real fast!"

Everyone tenses up, and Inuyasha comes back in front of us, just as a whirlwind came out of nowhere! As the dust settled, a young man (obviously a demon) comes sliding out a few feet away from us!

Shippo exclaims,

"That guy just flew right out of the tornado!"

The wolves then come up to him, and seemingly inform him in the language of the wolves of what happened, before he steps forward:

"Just who are you? Explain yourselves: Why are you killing my wolves?"

I could see that he had more than one shard than I previously thought:

"He has, three shards of the jewel: One on his right arm, and one each in his legs."

Inuyasha says to the wolf demon,

"Feh, so you're the one controlling this bloodthirsty pack."

As we all stood and stared at one another, I think to myself frantically,

 _Wolves...Why did it have to be wolves?!  
_


	39. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38: Coraline Kidnapped by Kōga, the Wolf Demon!**

As the Inuyasha group and the wolf demon continue to stare at one another in midst of the wolf killings, the pack leader turns to look around at his fallen members, making him very angry:

"How dare you...Why did you slaughter my wolves?"

Coraline moves closer to Inuyasha to warn him of the power that the demon carries:

"Be careful, Inuyasha. This man has three shar-" He interrupts her to address the wolf demon:

"So you're the one controlling this bloodthirsty pack!"

"And you're their executioner? Damn you all for murdering my underlings. You will pay with your lives."

"Go ahead and try it! How many innocent people have you and your mongrels killed? You reek of human blood."

The leader replies casually,

"They needed to eat. Got a problem with that, mutt-face?"

Inuyasha sputters,

"Di-Did you just call me a mutt?!"

"No, you're right, that would be an insult to canines. You smell much worse!"

"Keh, (Smirk) don't like my smell? (Frown) Then how 'bout I solve your problem by slicin' off your nose and stabbin' some air into your belly!"

(Leap)

Inuyasha then makes the first move to attack with his Tessaiga, but the wolf demon was quicker, and leaped into the air, before spinning back down in a whirlwind, and landing a kick in Inuyasha's face in return:

(HIT)

"Gyaaah!"

Inuyasha slides back, leaving Miroku and Sango amazed by the wolf demon's skill:

"Unreal!"

"He's fast..."

Coraline then shouts to the half-demon,

"Inuyasha, be careful! This man has the power of the Shikon-no-Tama! The shards are in both his legs and right arm!"

The wolf demon looks back at her in surprise:

 _She can tell!_

Inuyasha mumbles as he rose to a stand,

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" He then calls to the wolf demon,

"I thought you were actin' tough, but it's only 'cause you have jewel shards. You don't got any power on your own, do ya?"

"Kuh, well you gotta know how to use that power, you whinin' whelp!"

"If only you can fight as fast as you can talk, then we can get somewhere."

"Shut up, ya runt!"

"You outta be put down for rabies!"

Miroku comments,

"They seem well-matched for foul behaviour," followed by Sango saying,

"He's, a wolf demon."

"You've encountered them before?"

The wolf demon then introduces himself:

"I'm Kōga, the new leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe, and your destroyer!"

As wolf and dog demon continue to battle, Sango gives Miroku an explanation about the tribe in question:

"I've heard about them from other demon slayers. They're demons who control wolves. Although they appear human, they're no different than the wolves they command."

Speaking of wolves, the ones that Kōga controls were beginning to creep up at the others, to which Shippo would fearfully point out:

"Awaaah, they're closing in!"

Sango calls her companion to action:

"Kilala."

The cat demon bounds up in front, and she growls with her fur standing on end, before transforming into her true demon form!

"(Roar)"

Not wanting to take their chances with Kilala, the wolves quickly run away from the area. Shippo watches them go from atop Kilala's shoulders:

"They ran off with their tails between their legs! Now the rest is up to Inuyasha."

Getting back to said dog demon, Inuyasha tries again to land a blow with Tessaiga, but misses, and gets pushed back from the impact of Kōga's kick, before pushing the latter into the air with his own legs, forcing the next blow from Kōga to destroy a hut instead:

(Crash)

Of course, Kōga was not fazed, and as the wooden planks fall around him, he smirks and jeers at Inuyasha,

"Tch, what a joke. You can barely manage to keep up on the defensive, let alone attack."

Inuyasha only grunts, before looking down at his sword in thought:

 _This would be the perfect time to test out the Tessaiga._

"...I'll blast it on this mangy wolf."

As Kōga begins dashing forward with tremendous speed and power, Inuyasha raises his blade to attack:

"Hraaaahhhhh!"

 _When the flow of dark energy collided with the wind, it created the fissure. I can pick up its scent; I can see the Wind Scar!_

 _Let the true power of the Tessaiga be known!_

But just as they were only a few feet from one another:

"Huh?"

" _Tessaiga!_ "

Kōga freezes, his senses picking up something off:

"Something's wrong!"

"Huh?"

...It would seem that the wolf demon's instincts picked up on what Inuyasha was about to do. In which case, Kōga would retreat back, landing on a roof, and call out to his fellow wolves,

"Let's retreat! This is too dangerous!"

With that, he takes off using his enhanced speed, the wolf pack not too far behind him...

Inuyasha was perplexed:

"...Did he, just run away?" Sango replies,

"He did," Coraline adding,

"Uh, I think he just waved the white flag at you, Inuyasha..."

Miroku then walks up to Inuyasha as the Tessaiga reverts back to its dormant form, and asks,

"Inuyasha, were you about to use the Wind Scar in battle with him?"

Inuyasha sheathes the sword and replies,

"Yeah, but the coward upped and ran away. I guess he was all talk and no action."

"Makes me wonder..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I wonder if Kōga sensed the power of Tessaiga before it would hit him? Maybe his instincts warned him he was in danger."

Sango then says,

"Well if that's the case, then it's not just brute strength we're up against."

Time Skip

As the sky fades to hues of red, orange and purple in the coming twilight, Inuyasha and the others will have finished laying the dead villagers to rest.

"Well, I think that was the last of them." Inuyasha complains to Miroku,

"Man, all we seem to be doin' lately is burying people. I'm becoming a professional gravedigger expect nobody's payin' me. I can't believe I got suckered into doin' another good Samaritan act..."

"It seems like every time we travel in the direction which Coraline senses the Shikon-no-Tama shards, we come across another village that's been completely annihilated."

Miroku then kneels in front of one grave and sends his prayers while adding,

"Battling to claim the Shikon-no-Tama shards has brought nothing but tragedy, and countless innocent villagers have lost their lives because of it."

A moment of silence passes, before Inuyasha asks,

"So what?"

"So, what? So while I believe it is a worth-while venture to take possession of the jewel shards before Naraku or before any other demon can, I cannot approve of your seeking the shards in order to become a full-fledged demon...That is all I'm saying."

"Kuh, don't start that up again. You're not winnin' points for persistence. I'm gonna become a full-fledged demon no matter what anybody says, so stop trying to stop me!"

With that, Inuyasha walks away with his shovel, leaving Miroku alone in the new graveyard with his thoughts:

 _...The power of the Shikon-no-Tama can be used for good or for evil, but think things through carefully, Inuyasha._

 _In all of our travels together, have you ever heard of anyone finding happiness while having the Shikon-no-Tama?_

 _No good will come from it. It is a power fueled through darkness, and blood..._

Small Time Skip

Night falls, and everyone has taken shelter inside a hut to rest. As Coraline and Shippo gather up some wood logs for the fire, she asks him about the Wolf Demon Tribe:

"So Shippo, what are your insights regarding the Wolf Demon Tribe? Have you encountered then before?"

"Oh yeah. They live in packs up in the mountains, and they think they're superior demons. They bully other demons off their land, and claim it as their own territory. Smaller demons like me were driven out, and had to find shelter elsewhere, because the Wolf Demon Tribe took possession of the mountains, and they guard then ruthlessly."

Coraline nods, curiousity shining in her eyes, along with another emotion that could not be identified:

"Fascinating...What about that Kōga figure? Is he a familiar face?"

"(Sigh) There are so many branches of the Wolf Demon Tribe. Kōga bragged to us that he was their new leader, so, maybe he caused an upstart and took control of the packs by using the power of the jewel shards."

"Hmm, that would make sense: He did come off as having a rather boastful personality...(Smile) Thanks for clearing that up, Shippo. You're pretty knowledgeable of those areas for someone so young."

Shippo blushes a bit and replies with a modest smile,

"Heheh, thanks."

They enter the hut where Sango was prepping the fire in the hearth:

"We brought more fire wood."

"Thank you. We have plenty of firewood for the time being. (Rise) You can put it over there, Coraline. By the way, have you seen Kilala anywhere?"

"Hm? Kilala? I think I saw her heading somewhere with Inuyasha a little bit ago...Though I'm not exactly sure why..."

"With him again? She's been following him around constantly lately. I wonder why?"

Inuyasha's POV

I lead Kilala to an area far enough away from the village so that we could practice the Wind Scar again. We're now standing a good distance away from eachother, as I pull out Tessaiga...Yet, I couldn't help but think of Miroku's words earlier:

 _(Flash)_

 _"...I cannot approve of your seeking the shards in order to become a full-fledged demon...That is all I'm saying."_

 _(Flash)_

I shake my head, focusing back on reality:

"Rgh, damn it, come on, concentrate..."

...Tessaiga transforms into its true form, and I shut my eyes, while I pull it back, and begin sensing the change in wind:

"Alright...I can see it: The whirlpool of dark energy...The flow of the dark energy collides and creates the Wind Scar. If I thrust directly at the Wind Scar, I can defeat my enemy with its true power."

I finish, and lower my sword, before steeping over to Kilala:

"Ha, how 'bout that, Kilala? Perfect form." I pat her on the back and add,

"It's been great using you for my training with the Tessaiga."

I then pick up on the scent of food cooking back down below:

"(Sniff, sniff) I smell dinner. Let's go back and eat."

As she and I begin walking back to the village where Coraline and the others would be, I sense that Kilala wasn't following me. I call over my shoulder,

"Kilala! What're you waiting for? Come on, it's chow time!"

A few seconds later, she comes up beside me, and we continue down...

No POV

...What Inuyasha didn't realize, however, was that there were skulkers in the bushes, who were watching he and Kilala during their training...Seeing all that they needed to see, they dart away...

Time Skip, Mountains...

The skulkers are then revealed as three of Kōga's pack members, who come up to him on a cliff peak to report what they had saw last night...

"I knew it. That sword of his uses some kind-a weird magic. Damn it, my fur's still standing on end thinkin' about it, (Shudder)"

He then smirks, before adding,

"But at least I know what to do next..."

He then thinks about Coraline:

 _That girl has the power to see the Shikon-no-Tama shards...I could put her skills to some very good use..._

Meanwhile, down below and further into the mountain valley, Inuyasha was on his hands and feet trying to hone in on the scent of the Wolf Demon Tribe...

"Alright: I've picked up the scent of the wolves. I'll be able to lead us right to them, no problem!"

 _(Flash)_

 _"No, you're right, that would be an insult to canines. You smell much worse!"_

 _(Flash)_

Inuyasha then angrily mutters,

"That cocky bastard, how dare he call me a mutt..."

As he continued sniffing the ground, Coraline comes walking up the mountain path with Shippo on her shoulder. Today, she was wearing green khaki pants, a tan tank-top, and her combat boots, while her hair was tied back in a low-ponytail.

As they watch Inuyasha, Shippo comments,

"I don't blame him for being upset over being called a mongrel, but when he's sniffing the ground, he sure looks like one."

Coraline chides in a scolding tone,

"Shippo, that's rude," but Inuyasha heard it clear as day:

"I heard that, Shippo! Come here and say it, I dare ya!"

He ducks behind Coraline with a yelp and says in astonishment,

"He can hear me from that distance?! What a bloodhound, talk about canine power."

"Canines are carnivorous! Remember that, ya little runt!"

Coraline facepalms and calls out in an annoyed tone,

"Boys, if we can focus back on our current objective, please..."

While they were at ground-level, Sango and Miroku were flying not too far behind on Kilala...It was then that Miroku senses something amiss:

"Hm, do you fell that? There's something very ominous in the air..."

"So you sense something too? (Turn) Kilala's been very restless lately..."

"I feel a very foreboding energy approaching. Seems different from the wolves."

"Do you think another demon is near?"

Just as Sango asks her question, Kilala's ears twitched, and she looks up, seeing a bird-like shape passing overhead...Eventually, they catch up with Inuyasha, Coraline and Shippo:

"It's about time you guys arrived. Can ya fly any slower?"

Ignoring Inuyasha's sarcastic greeting, Miroku asks him in a serious tone,

"Inuyasha, can you smell or hear anything unusual about this area?"

Still brooding from Shippo's comments and yesterday's insult from Kōga, he barks back,

"Oh, so I'm your faithful terrier all of a sudden? Wondering if I sniffed out a scent or heard anything with my little doggy ears? Damn, you guys piss me off, every single one of you!"

Miroku gets off of Kilala and tries again:

"Relax. I'm simply asking of you sense another presence in the area like we do."

Kilala then growls, looking upward, and Sango follows her direct of sight:

"Look everybody, up there!"

"Hm?"

They all do, and coming down fast was a pack of wolves, who pounce at Inuyasha, sending him over the cliff-side!

"Aaaaaahhhhh!"

"Inuyasha!" Miroku then points with his staff:

"Sango!"

They both then crack on the attacking wolves, while Coraline watches with worry:

"Miroku, Sango..."

Meanwhile, Inuyasha curses as he falls:

"Damn these wolves! What's goin' on up there?!"

(...Rumble...)

"Hm? Hey, what is that?"

Just when things couldn't get more confusing, Inuyasha then sees Kōga, running up the side of the chasm!

"See ya later, mutt-face!"

Coraline rushes over to the side:

"Inuyasha!"

(Whoosh)

"Agh!"

Coraline flinches back, as Kōga leaps into the air...Before she could get away fast enough, he goes in for the kill, and snatches her up by her torso!

"Aaah, hey!"

"Now she's mine!"

Miroku looms back with shock and worry:

"Coraline!" He punches away another wolf, before crying out,

"No, Coraline!"

Coraline's POV

 _Crap! How do I get outta this one?!  
_

That damn wolf demon Kōga is now carrying me away over his shoulder, and as he rushes away with me, I see that we're heading for the edge of the cliff:

"Wait...Oh, hell no, you can't be serious!"

 _He's gonna jump the chasm?!_

(Leap)

"This cliff is nothin' to me: I got Shikon-no-Tama shards in my legs."

I felt my voice get caught in my throat, too stunned to scream as he jumped from the edge, and over to the other side! Of course, he obviously couldn't jump high enough to reach the other side, but we did make it to the chasm wall, barely:

(Crash)

"Gggh!"

I cringe from the impact, and as we slowed, I shout to him in scorn,

"What the hell's wrong with you?! Are you trying to get us killed?! (Squirm) Let me go!" He retorts back,

"You're the one who's gonna die if I let go, so quit struggling and hang on!"

"Damn you...!"

Knowing that he was right, I stay still as he leaped up the rock face of the chasm and onto solid ground...

Inuyasha's POV

As I kept falling with the wolves, I shout irritably,

"Let go of me!"

Oddly enough, they did, and I fell into the river below:

(Splash)

I emerge, and mutter,

"They're gonna pay for what they did...Huh?"

I see them standing on a nearby cliff, and they just stare at me for a second, before taking off...

"Where are they going?"

Coraline's POV

He finally stops when we're on the path of the other side of the mountain, and gloats,

"Ha, he can't keep up with me. No one can keep up with as fast as I can."

I retort bitterly,

"Well no duh: You have jewel shards embedded in your legs, genius. If anything, you're cheating nature by using them!"

"What did you say?"

"What's your gambit, anyway? What do you want with me? (Squirm) Better yet, put me down so I can bitch-slap you for scaring the crap out of me with that daredevil jump!"

I kicked my legs lightly, trying to get off his shoulder, but he just hmphs, tightening his grip on me...

Suddenly, a huge shadow flew overhead, causing me to freeze:

"...Uh...Okay, I don't remember birds being that big...Wait, (Turn) don't tell me: There's more than just wolf demons like you in these mountains, isn't there?!"

I look up and around, to see several large bird-like entities flying past us overhead: They looked like two demons in one, the bottom representing a round, ugly bird with sharp teeth, while the top half had blue-skinned upper bodies with talon hands, pointed ears and black hair on the female varieties.

"What the hell are those, the ugly cousin of harpies?!"

"Dunno about harpies, but they're definitely not canaries, I can tell you that much, and I bet they want dinner. See if any of them have a jewel shard: Can you tell?"

"What?"

"I know you have the power to see jewel shards. Do those demon birds have any?"

I look back up, scrunching my eyes intently:

"...Nothing's on my radar."

"Take a good look. Not even the ones over the cliff?"

"(Turn) Nope."

"Fine then. I have no use for 'em."

(Dash)

I cringe from the pressure of wind in his speed dash, as he calls tauntingly over his free shoulder,

"See ya, buzzard-brains! We're outta here!"

Small Time Skip

Eventually, we reached the hideaway of the Demon Wolf Tribe: A large cave hidden behind a beautiful waterfall. As we approached the site, I hear two voices call out in greeting,

"Huh? Hey, it's Kōga! Kōga's come back!"

"Hey! Kōga!"

He slides into a stop, and calls back,

"Hey guys, I'm back."

I look up, and see dozens of wolves and wolf demons scattered across the landscape...

 _Oooh yeah, this is definitely their hideout...I better start comin' up with an escape plan, or I'm screwed!_

Inuyasha's POV  


After the wolves left, Miroku came down to help me out of the river using his staff. As I pulled myself up, I grumble,

"Man, I really got washed downriver..." Miroku then says something that made my hair stand on end:

"It seems that Kōga's plan was to kidnap Coraline all along."

"She's gone? That's why the wolves retreated: Their master got what he wanted, so there was no use staying."

"So it would appear."

 _...Coraline..._

I then hear Kilala's growl, and turn to see her and Sango fly down towards us. Miroku asks,

"Sango! Any sign of Coraline?" They land on the ground, and Sango replies,

"I almost caught up with them, but I ran into some heavy interference."

"With what?"

She then takes us over to where she killed some freaky-looking bird demon...

"What are these things?"

"Are they birds?" Sango answers both our questions:

"I dunno, but they weren't just ten or twenty of them: They covered the entire sky."

"So, these creatures explain the foreboding energy we sensed."

"I imagine these mountain peaks are their territory." Miroku then says,

"If Sango found these flying demons a challenge, then we may have more than just the Wolf Demon Tribe to worry about..."

 _Damn it, first wolves, now crazy birds..._

Suddenly, I heard something pop, followed by a wailing sound that kind-a reminded me of Shippo...We turn around, and see a mushroom to be the source, which Miroku recognized instantly:

"Those are Shippo's warning signs. That's right!" I add on,

"I noticed the little runt was missing. He must've been captured with Coraline."

(Pop)

"They're leading straight into those mountains."

(Pop, pop, pop...)

I began leading the charge:

"We've got no time to waste, let's go!"

 _Hang in there, Coraline. I'll save you!_

(Leap)

Coraline's POV

I'm now standing at the cave entrance, with Kōga holding my upper arm tight so I couldn't run off. He then begins leading me in, while all the other wolf demons stared at me:

"Hey, Kōga! Who's the woman?"

I frown in distaste at their lusty growls and menacing smiles, noting the surroundings of the cave:

 _Kind-a reminds me of some images constructed by Anthropologists of how our human ancestors may have lived:_

 _Animal furs, simple weaponry, and skeletons everywhere...(Shudder) I can't even tell if the bones are human, animal or demon..._

I'm then shoved onto a pile of hay, and I scramble to my knees, glaring at them all with a growl...One of Kōga's comrades then says,

"Nice-lookin' prey there, Kōga. Can I have one of the legs?" A second then says,

"I'm calling first dibs on the liver..."

I ball my fists on the defense:

 _Crap! Don't tell me I gotta fight my way past these hungry wolves?!_

Lucky for me, Kōga says to them sternly,

"This woman is off-limits. I'll kill anyone who tries to take a bite."

They all cringe back, nervous looks on their faces, obviously not wanting to challenge his authority...I think to myself,

 _Oh yeah, that's right: He captured me because of my ability to sense the Shikon-no-Tama, so I wouldn't be good for anything if I was dead..._

 _Well, I guess that means I won't be on the menu anytime soon..._

I then notice that three of the regular wolves were sniffing at Kōga's tail...He notices too, and pulls it over to his side, revealing a dizzy Shippo:

"Oh yeah, him. I forgot he grabbed onto my tail when I captured the girl. I assumed he fell off..."

 _Shippo!_

"Guess he didn't. Here, have an appetizer."

He then tosses Shippo to the ground, and dozens of wolves surround him!

"Uh-oh. Coraline, heeelp! Coraline, heeeelp!"

...Seeing the fox demon kit surrounded by those bloodthirsty wolves, I felt something in me snap:

"(Hard glare) OH HELL NO!"

It was then I did one of the bravest, albeit stupidest moves ever: I sprang to my feet, ran past Kōga, into the circle of wolves, grabbing Shippo with one arm, before bringing out my combat knife in a threatening gesture!

"Not another step, you flea-bitten bastards! One false move, and I'll start killing every last one of your wolves! I've done it before, and I can sure as hell do it again!"

All of the demons widen their eyes at me, with one of Kōga's comrades turning to him and saying,

"She's bluffing! There's no way this girl's crazy enough to actually try and fight us, let alone the wolves!"

The wolves start growling at me, to which I would growl back fearlessly in return, before looking up at Kōga with my nastiest glare...Give it another two minutes, and he replies to his comrade,

"...No. She's serious. I can tell."

"W-What?!"

Kōga then smirks at me and says,

"Well, you've got more guts than I thought..."

I then watch him move towards one of the wolves, seizing it around the middle:

"Come on, move! Whoa...you guys have packed on alot of weight again, you bunch of gluttons. You're not eating anything more for the next couple of days..."

He tosses the wolf aside, before walking up to me:

"There you go..."

I nod at him, and sheathe my knife, before moving slowly out of the circle, holding Shippo gently to my torso:

"It'll be okay now, Shippo..."

"Coraline...That was amazing what you did...if a bit crazy..."

I just smile at him, before turning to focus on Kōga with a neutral expression:

 _Well, that could've gone sideways real fast...But it seems he noticed the serious look in my eyes..._

 _I still say he's a jerk, but at least he's somewhat reasonable..._

"Move! Get outta the way, we've got injured! Make room!"

"Huh?"

I then turn to see a couple wolf demons bring two of their comrades on stretchers, both having lots of gauze wrapped on their bodies.

"What happened out there? Get 'im some water, come on, hurry up!"

While one of them is being feed some water, the other was wheezing in pain...I noticed that the second one had feathers in his hand:

 _...Oh no. It must've been those freak bird demons from before._

 _I wonder how long this tribe has been fighting them?_

Kōga asks his comrade,

"Was it _them_?"

"Yep. They attacked during the mid-day changing of the watch. Only these two managed to escape. Others fell to their death or were carried away."

Despite being held captive by these beasts, I couldn't help but frown sympathetically:

"How terrible..."

Kōga then turns to me and gives me a briefing of what these demons were:

"You saw them earlier, right? They called themselves the Birds of Paradise, but they're our archenemies and this is definitely their doing. They're brutal demons and we lost many to them. Without a warning, they swoop down silently and capture our comrades with their sharp, terrible claws."

I follow him back to the haystack:

"...I'm guessing they then eat them?"

"Correct. We've come across their nests before and found them littered with hundreds of wolf bones."

He then sits down, and I ask,

"You've been fighting them for a long time now, haven't you? Are you not a match for them even with those shards you possess?"

"That's just it: One of those birds possesses their own shard of the Shikon-no-Tama, and now he's even faster than we are. A few weeks ago, he came and killed fifty of our wolves in one fell swoop. It's gotta be the power of the Shikon-no-Tama. At this rate, I'm afraid our packs will be wiped out completely. (Turn) So we need to restore the balance of power somehow."

"I see. This is where I come in: You took me so you can have a way of narrowing down which Bird of Paradise has the jewel shard."

He nods:

"You'll scout out the bird with the shard, and then we'll attack 'im in its nest and steal it from 'im. Otherwise the fight will continue to drag on and countless lives will be sacrificed senselessly. So, you gonna help us out or what?"

I exhale a breath, and reply,

"...Alright. I'll lend a hand."

 _Not like I have any other options at the present:_ _If I don't cooperate, I'll become their next meal. Plus, I gotta protect Shippo from becoming wolf-bait too._

 _Until I can come up with a plan to get us back to Inuyasha and the others alive, I'll have to play nice..._

 _Still, if any one of these wolves makes any beelines to attack...I won't show mercy._

Shippo's POV

While Coraline spoke with Kōga, I hopped off her shoulder and stood behind her while quirking mentally,

 _String him along a little while longer, Coraline. The mushrooms are gonna lead Inuyasha and the others straight to us._

"Hey, what's this? Can you eat them?"

I look to the front of me, and yelp, seeing a huge pile of my mushrooms on top a rock being inspected by one of the other wolf demons!

"These are gross! Don't pick 'em if ya can't eat 'em!"

 _(Gasp) They picked all my mushrooms!_

 _Oh great, now how are they gonna find us?!_

Inuyasha's POV  


We followed Shippo's mushroom trail further into the valley, until we reach a fork in the road:

"That was the last of the mushrooms..." I complain,

"Aw man, which way they go? Shippo's stupid trail lead us to the middle of nowhere!"

Sango then says,

"The scent of wolves is all over this place, and I don't have Inuyasha's sense of smell." Miroku then asks me,

"Tell me, is the scent overpowering or can you pick up Coraline's scent from here?"

Unfortunately, I couldn't find Coraline's scent...but I did smell something else:

 _...Damn._

I stood up straight again, with Miroku asking,

"Inuyasha, what's wrong?"

"I'm startin' to smell bird, and I'll tell ya this much, it ain't no turkey dinner."

We look up to the sky, and coming through the clouds...were those ugly bird demons from before.

As they began swooping down, I shout,

"I don't have time for you right now! I have to rescue Coraline, so get outta my way!"

(Leap)

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(SLASH)

As I cut through one, I look at the others with a growl, thinking to myself,

 _And after these birds are dealt with, that mangy wolf is next. He's gonna pay for taking Coraline from me, just he waits!_


	40. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39: A Wolf's Unrequited Proclamation**

As Inuyasha began clawing his way through a flock of the Birds of Paradise, we turn back to Coraline, who was now kneeling on the pile of hay inside the den of the Wolf Demon Tribe.

She looked around at the various wolves and wolf demons lounging around, with a mix of indifference and distaste, thinking back to what brought her here:

 _...The Wolf Demon Tribe, and The Birds of Paradise._

 _Two warring demon groups who are reaching the tipping point in their latest squabble..._

 _Ugh, I so blame the Shikon-no-Tama on this one. While_ _Kōga has three of the shards, it seems that the one the main leader of those damn birds is favouring them in terms of strength and power._

 _Now thanks to my 'convenient abilities', I'm stuck here playing jewel detector for one side before they go after the other._

Coraline grits her teeth, shaking her head:

 _Out of all the demon types, why do I have to play nice with wolves?_

"...The ones who attacked me before sure didn't..."

"Attacked you?"

"Huh?"

Coraline looks down to her side, and sees Shippo looking at her confusingly:

"You've been attacked by wolf demons before? When?"

"Uh...(Sad smile) No, not wolf demons, just regular ones. And, it was about four years ago, before I came here to Japan..."

Looking forward, observing the wolves in the den, Coraline frowned bitterly as she added,

"And those wolves...They weren't just trying to attack me...They wanted to kill me, or at least the leader did."

"Why?"

"Well, the poor soul had this sickness called Rabies. It's a disease that can be transferred to alot of different animals, including humans. Basically, it makes the victim foam at the mouth, and causes their mind to get disoriented, more pent on aggressive or other odd behaviour that you don't see in healthy individuals."

"Ooh..."

"Yeah. The attack happened during a night I was running through the backwoods of France..."

Flashback, Four Years Ago...

 _An eleven-year-old red-haired girl wearing worn-out jeans, a t-shirt and a rain coat was running through the dark shadows of the deep woods...  
_

 _Dark storm clouds billowed overhead, with thunder rolling, rain streaming down in buckets, and the occasional lightning strike..._

 _"(Pant, pant, pant...)"_

 _(Splash, splash)_

"Looking back, traveling at night through the woods wasn't one of my wisest decisions, but I felt safer under the cover of darkness in those days...Or least, I thought I was..."

 _She stops by a tree to rest, when suddenly:_

 _(Growl...)_

 _"Huh?"_

 _She turns around, and in the distant bushes, stood several four-legged figures, the one in the middle stepping forward as a wolf with reddened eyes and slight foaming at the mouth, he growling more than the rest._

 _"(Gasp) Wolves..."_

"It's funny, though: According to history, most of the forests in France aren't suppose to be teeming with wolves due to over-hunting...Boy, did they ever get it wrong."

 _The eleven-year-old whimpers, tugging her leather bag closer to her...before turning around and bolting for it!_

 _The wolves chase after her, and the girl runs all the way to the next clearing where a river was..._

 _She stops, thinking she lost them...but:_

 _(Growl, bark, bark)_

 _"Oh no..."_

 _She turns around, only to get pounced at by the leader!_

 _"Aaah!"_

"At that point, it was dodge or die: I kept ducking and rolling away from each pounce of the wolves, barely dodging them each time...And then..."

 _(Slip)_

 _"Crap!"_

 _The redhead slides on the slippery grass, and falls backwards, giving the diseased pack leader the opening it was looking for:_

 _"(Bark)"_

 _(Leap)_

 _"Aaaah! Aaah!"_

"I used all the strength I could to keep the wolf's jaw away from my throat, but I knew the action would only last for a minute or two, before I would be wolf bait...That's when I saw it: A rock that was sharp enough to use as a weapon..."

 _Spotting the jagged rock, the girl reaches for it with one hand, before letting out a war cry, and stabbing the wolf in the neck repeatedly until it stopped thrashing at her..._

 _"(Pained howl...)"_

 _...The wolf dies, its body shoved off of the newly-triumphant redhead, as she rose shakily, breathing heavily, the wolf's blood drenching her skin alongside the rain, her eyes wide and somewhat crazed..._

"I must've looked pretty scary to the other wolves, 'cause they took one look at me, before running off with their tails between their legs."

 _The other wolves yelp and scamper off from the little form of life, while the girl stares...before collapsing to her knees, and letting out a cry of her own..._

End of Flashback

"...That was the first time I actually, killed a wild animal bigger than myself. It wouldn't be until the storm cleared an hour later, before the weight of the situation kicked in...Remorse being the strongest emotion."

"Remorse?"

"Yes...As much as the pack leader did try to kill me, they weren't thinking rationally thanks to the Rabies. Their mind was, gone...If anything, I likely put the poor mutt out of its misery that night. So, I did the wolf some kindness, and buried their body under some leaves and flowers..."

Shippo stared at Coraline in wonder...while she lets out a breath and says,

"That's why to this day, I can't really stand wolves. I don't, hate them...But I don't trust them."

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

After sitting for another twenty minutes, I decided on a plan of sorts:

 _Okay, when Kōga comes back, I should try to convince him to take us outside for a few minutes.  
_

 _That should be long enough for Shippo to escape..._

 _There's no way I can make it far on foot, but I know he can bolt for the others using his shape-shifting abilities..._

I then notice that said fox demon wasn't beside me anymore:

"Huh? Shippo? Crap, where is he?"

(Step, step)

"Hm? (Turn) Uh!"

Suddenly, 'Kōga' is back beside me:

"...Stand up."

 _Wait...that voice...Shippo?_

"Please, Coraline. Don't make it look suspicious, okay?"

 _Oooh, now I get it..._

Nodding, I get up, and Shippo (disguised as Kōga) begins leading us to the opening of the den, he holding my left arm so the act is more believable.  
Just as we make it to the waterfall, one of the wolf demons ask,

"Kōga. Where are you going with the human?" He turns and answers,

"The woman needs some fresh air. This place stinks, and I don't think it's the wolves."

I almost crack a smile at Shippo's dialogue:

 _Heh, nice touch, Shippo..._

As we continue out, I hear one demon say to another,

"Hey, Ginta, Hakkaku. Go and watch Kōga's back for him." One demon calls from up on a ledge,

"What're you talkin' about? Ginta and Hakkaku already left an hour ago with Kōga for guard duty."

"What'd you say? Then who the hell was that?"

 _...Oh damn!_

If that wasn't bad enough, we suddenly hear panting, and stop, only to see three regular wolves sniffing at Shippo's tail!

 _Oh no, oh no, oh no..._

All it took was one bite on his tail, and our cover was blown:

"Owaaah, that hurts, owaah!"

(Pop)

"Uh! Hey, you little thief! Tryin' to fool us, are ya?!"

I grit my teeth, before grabbing one of the spare spears lying at the entrance:

"Shippo, get ready...'cause we gotta bolt!"

I then whirl around and make a break for it, grabbing Shippo's hand before tossing him lightly on my shoulders:

"(Pant, pant) Hang on, Shippo!"

"I'm hangin'!"

The wolf demons chase after us, as expected:

"Get back here!"

I managed to get as far as the cliff-side, with every other direction blocked...

"Awaah, we're trapped, Coraline!"

"...No, not we, Shippo. I am, but you can make it outta here."

"Huh?"

I then take Shippo's hand...before tossing him off my shoulder and off the cliff! One of the demons tries to snare him with a long chain:

"You're not getting away!"

(Shoom, SHING)

But, I stopped the chain using the spear, both tumbling down below, while Shippo managed to pop into his balloon form...

 _Oh thank god...He made it._

"Shippo! Find Inuyasha and the others, fast!" I then hear the wolf demon growl at me:

"Conniving wench. I'll devour you alive!"

Just as I whirl around to retort:

(Toss, THUD)

A wild boar is thrown from up high, and lands on top of the wolf demon! The others look up:

"Hey, who did that?"

And surprise, surprise, it was Kōga with his two buddies back from patrol, and boy did he look pissed:

"Hey! What did I say about eating her?! I warned you!"

"Huh? Kōga?"

The friend on his right points to the sky where Shippo is:

"Hey, look, Kōga. The little guy is flying over there."

As another wolf demon lifts up the one who got thwacked by the boar, he offers to go after Shippo:

"Let me go after him, Kōga. It's the least I can do after letting him escape." The other says,

"I, don't wanna die, please!"

I turn to face Kōga with a glare, and we stare at one another for a moment...before I see him smirk while putting hand under his chin in thought:

 _What the...What's that wolf boy thinking now?_

(Leap)

I back up a step as he hops down in front of me, before saying something that threw me sideways:

"(Smirk) I'm gonna make you my woman."

"...I beg your pardon?!"

 _What the hell just happened?!_

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who was majorly befuddled:

"Huh? Kōga, I thought you were gonna eat her when you were done with her, not marry her."

"You don't want her. She's a human!"

He turns his head to them and replies,

"Idiots. This woman can see the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama. The Bids of Paradise aren't the only ones with a shard, ya know: With her ability, we'll be able to gather all of the jewel shards in the region."

They seemed to like that idea:

"That would make us incredibly powerful."

"Our pack would be unstoppable!"

"That's the idea. So you see, she's way more valuable to us than some female demon."

Kōga then turns to face me while putting an arm around me and pulling me to him:

"Your name is Coraline, right? Wolves mate for life, so you're mine now. You got that?"

 _...Is he kidding me? Does he actually think...Oh-hoh no, not happening!_

I glare heatedly at the wolf demon and shout seethingly,

"I don't belong to any man! Get your damn paws off me!"

(SLAP)

...With no shame, I backhand Kōga across his cheek, leaving him stunned stupid, while his pack members look at us in shock:

"That chick just slapped Kōga!"

"Honeymoon's over. She's dead now."

I shout at them,

"What? You men scared of a girl that has backbone?! Get over yourselves!"

As they slowly back up, I focus back on Kōga and say angrily,

"And you! Get this through your thick head well and good: I'm nobody's trophy wife, and never will be! I'm an independent woman who doesn't need any man in her life, especially one who seeks to control them!"

He stares at me for a moment, before replying,

"Hang on: This doesn't have anything to do with that mutt-face, Inu-trasha, does it?"

I facepalm with an annoyed groan and say,

"First of all, it's _Inuyasha_ : Get it right the first time. And second, he's got nothing to do with anything! He and I are best friends, nothing more, nothing less. I have no interest in being with any man romantically, him included."

 _And that's how it's gotta stay..._

"You're a stubborn woman, I'll give you that."

"Hm?"

I look back up at Kōga as he adds with a smirk,

"But that just makes you more desirable. I'll find a way to win you over, even if I have to get rid of that mutt first."

He then goes to toss the boar over his shoulder and adds,

"He won't be much competition after that. Just a pile of old bones."

 _...Ugh, men._

Meanwhile, Further down the Mountains, No POV

"Grrah!"

(Crash)

"(Rowl)"

(Crash)

Inuyasha and the others have been cracking down on the Birds of Paradise attacking them. As they land on the ground, Inuyasha asks Sango,

"Hey Sango, are these allies of the Wolf Demon Tribe?"

"I'm not sure."

"(Turn) Miroku, show a little effort and get off your butt!"

Said monk was deep in thought while sitting on a boulder...Suddenly, he gets an idea:

"Inuyasha, I think you should allow one of the birds to capture you."

"Say what?!" Sango was also confused:

"Why, Miroku? What are you thinking?" He explains while standing up again:

"If these are the hunting grounds of these bird demons, then there should be bones of their prey scattered everywhere. But I don't see any signs of wolf bones."

"So you're thinking they are in alliance with the wolf pack?"

"That's what I suspect, but I could be mistaken." Inuyasha then says,

"So if I get captured, I'll be taken to where their nest is, which is likely where the wolf den is, and I'll be able to save Coraline, right?"

With that, Inuyasha moves onto a rock mound, and stands still while adding,

"It's worth a shot."

(Swoop)

He's then swiped up by a Bird of Paradise...Just as he and the demon fly off, Inuyasha does a double-take on the plan:

"...Hey, wait a minute! Miroku, why couldn't you be the one who gets captured? It was your idea! I'm always the one doin' all the work, ya lazy bum!"

The monk calls back,

"You have a stronger constitution than I, therefore it makes tactical sense to send you instead of me."

Sango then comes to his side on top of Kilala:

"We should get going if we wanna follow," to which Miroku causally replies,

"Nothing wrong with a little distance between us."

Inuyasha then begins struggling in the talons of the bird demon, shouting,

"Miroku, you coward! Come here and switch places with me!"

Moving further up the path, we see Shippo running downward shouting,

"I need to find Inuyasha! I wonder where he is?"

He suddenly slides into a stop, seeing said dog demon being carried off by the Bird of Paradise:

"Inuyasha! You're suppose to be rescuing Coraline! Now you've been captured and we gotta rescue you too..."

He lets out a cry of frustration before knocking his head repeatedly:

"I let you out of my sight and this is what happens!"

By this time, Miroku, Sango and Kilala have caught up:

"Shippo, it's you! What's wrong, are you alright?"

Snapping out of his panic, Shippo turns to them and exclaims,

"Oh, Miroku, Sango! Look, Inuyasha's been captured!"

Soon they were flying off again, and both parties begin catching eachother up with the details of what's going on:

"Strategy?"

"Yes. We think that Inuyasha will lead us straight to the wolf den because they're allies."

"Who came up with that lame idea? The Birds of Paradise and the Wolf Demons are mortal enemies, and Coraline is in the wold den!"

"I see. I guess I should've looked further up the summit for their feeding grounds. This valley is filled with wolf bones."

Sango then calls to Inuyasha to inform him of the new information:

"Inuaysha! They're enemies!"

That did not serve to please him:

"Damn it! Right now, I don't care about the wolves or these stinkin' goose heads! There's only one person I wanna kill!"

(Flip)

"Let me go, buzzard!"

(Kick)

Inuyasha breaks free and falls down into the wolf bone pile, before shouting upward,

"You're gonna pay for this, Miroku! Be a man! Get down here and fight!"

Sango asks Miroku,

"Are ya gonna go down there and fight him?"

"We have to rescue Coraline. That is our first priority."

With that, they begin flying off, while Inuyasha calls back,

"Hey! Wait up, you guys! Don't you dare leave me here, Miroku!"

Coraline's POV

I'm now crouching down beside Kōga, as we and the rest of the wolf demon tribe close in on the nesting grounds of the Birds of Paradise...

"This is it! Are you ready, men?"

"Yeah!"

I ask him in a whisper,

"So this is the main nesting grounds of the Birds of Paradise, correct?"

"Yeah, and one of them possesses a Shikon-no-Tama shard. (Turn) You have to find out which one."

"Yes, I know, quit badgering me."

 _There's a shard here, alright. I can sense its power..._

"Hey."

"Hm?"

Kōga then asks me in a strange tone,

"...Is it, true what you told that fox kit?"

"What do you mean?"

"One of my guys said they overhead you talkin' about killing a wolf in the past when you were young...Is that true?"

I look at him in surprise...before turning away while replying in a monotone,

"...Yeah, it is. I was only eleven at the time, and during those days, it was kill or be killed. I did what I had to do to survive."

"I see..."

I smile at him bitterly and add,

"Which is why I think you should quit on me while you got the chance. I don't think your tribe would do well with a human girl who doesn't trust wolves and knows how to kill 'em."

It was his turn to look at me in surprise...Before he could make any sort of reply, we turn to the sound of a bird screech, and see that one Bird of Paradise is looking where we're skulking!

"Uh! They're onto us! (Turn) Okay men, you take on the grunts yourselves."

Kōga then moves to wrap an arm around my waist:

"Come on, Coraline."

(Leap)

"Gh!"

I brace myself as we begin ascending towards the approaching flock, with Kōga clawing and kicking his way through! As we kept going higher, he asks me,

"Coraline! Can you see which one has the jewel shard?"

"Hey, it's kind-a hard to pinpoint with you moving so fast and fighting!"

(Pulse...)

"Uh! Wait...(Looks up) There! The top of the cliff, not too far ahead!"

He nods, and we keep going...only for the mountain face to open up, courtesy of a giant Bird of Paradise!  
We retreat to a ledge a few feet below, and I cringe away from a few falling rocks:

(Crash, crash...)

I then look to see the full profile of the bird demon, noticing that unlike the others, this one had two blue-skinned bodies atop the giant bulk!

"We have been waiting for you. You have Shikon-no-Tama shards. My brother and I have been searching for them everywhere."

"How convenient that you've decided to make a home delivery. It saves us the trouble of hunting you down."

Kōga replies to the double-bodied Bird of Paradise,

"Heh, I got somethin' to deliver alright," before asking me in a whisper,

"Coraline, where's the Shikon-no-Tama shard?"

"Gimme a sec..."

I stare at the Bird of Paradise for a second...before spotting the shard's location:

"There! In the mouth!"

"Heheheh, and you'll get a good glimpse of the shard, as we swallow and devour you!"

It then opens its gargantuan mouth before closing in on us:

"A wolf and a human, delicious!"

(Crash)

We just barely dodge the Bird of Paradise, and Kōga takes me back to ground-level, handing me to one of his buddies, Ginta:

"Hey."

"Kōga?"

"Protect Coraline."

"Huh? Where are you going, what are you planning to do?"

He then goes to grab a spear with a u-shaped blade point, replying,

"I'll cut its stupid mouth wide open."

I ask him,

"Hang on: You're not seriously taking this one solo, are you?"

"I'm the only one strong enough to take that two-headed talking turkey on."

With that, Kōga dashes off:

"Here goes nothin'!"

Ginta then says to me,

"Don't worry, sister. We'll get you to safety."

"Huh? Sister? You talkin' 'bout me?"

The other one, Hakkaku replies simply,

"You're Kōga's woman, so we treat you like one of us now."

Obviously, that does not sit well with me:

"Were you two not paying any attention before? I ain't Kōga's nor any man's woman! Don't make me repeat myself!"

Suddenly, another Bird of Paradise comes barrelling at us!

"Watch out, sis!"

I duck, but Ginta was snatched away!

"Aaah, help!"

"Ginta! We have to save him!"

"It's too late! He'll be taken up to their nest and devoured!"

I wince at the thought, and look around...only to spot a bow and quiver...

"(Glare) No...No, he won't be devoured!"

 _Like I said, I don't hate wolves, so I can have a heart and save a wolf demon..._

I grab the bow and an arrow, and get ready to fire:

"Come on...Go!"

(Twok)

The arrow flies, wrapped in blue energy this round, before blasting through one of the wings of the Bird of Paradise!

(Pow)

"(Smirk) Gotcha!"

The bird demon falls, with Ginta tumbling on its body before hitting the ground...We rush over to him:

"Ginta, are you hurt?"

"Wow..." "She's one hell of a good shot!"

He looks up at me and replies,

"Th-Thank you, sis. (Eyes bulge) Look out, there's more!"

I whirl around, just as more Birds of Paradise come shooting down at us!...But before they could attack:

"CORALIIIINE!"

(SLASH)

Inuyasha came in with the Tessaiga, taking them all down in a few swings!

I stand up, staring at him in shock:

"...Inu...Inuyasha..."

I then rush over to hug him around the middle, happy tears in my eyes:

"Thank god you're alright! Thank you! You came in the nick of time..."

The others came shortly after, with Sango asking me,

"Coraline, are you alright?"

"Sango! Yeah, I'm fine. Miroku, Shippo, you're here too!"

"Coraline!"

Shippo hops towards me, and I catch him, he and I smiling at eachother in relief. Sango then asks me,

"Coraline, what's going on here?"

I get her and the others up to speed:

"War, Sango. The Wolf Demon Tribe and the Birds of Paradise are in all-out war, winner takes all. These ugly-feathered menaces need to vanish."

Miroku steps off Kilala, and positions himself to use his Wind Tunnel:

"Alright, then I'll take care of them. (Rattle) If you value your lives, stand back! _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whooooooossssssshhhhhh...)

In one quick suction, Miroku easily destroys the massive flock, impressing the wolf demons:

"Wow!" "Amazing! I've never seen anything like it!"

I scoff lightly to myself,

 _Clearly these guys have not been outside their den a whole lot..._

Kōga's voice snapped me out of my thoughts:

"I don't have time for dog-training today, so I'll let you escape! So go on, puppy, get outta my face!"

Obviously, Inuyasha wouldn't take that insult lying down:

"Shut up! Dream on, wolf! You're gonna pay for kidnapping Coraline!"

Kōga paused for a second, before turning back to Inuyasha again:

"Hey, dog-breath, take this chance to run, but keep your hands off my woman, got it?"

 _Oh no..._

I hear Miroku mutter confusingly,

"His woman?"

"She can see the Shikon-no-Tama shards, so she's perfect for me!" Inuyasha shouts incredulously,

"What?!"

As I begin to groan, Miroku asks me in a weird tone,

"Is there any truth to what he's saying, Coraline?" I snap back,

"Of course not! He's a deluded egotist! He's barking a load of nonsense!" Inuyasha replies,

"I knew it. He's living in a fantasy, ya fleabag!"

Yet, wolf-boy was insistent:

"It's not a fantasy. I've claimed her as mine. I'm in love with you, Coraline!"

"WHAT?!"

"You're far better off with me, and you know it! It's time you made a clean break and give up on that pathetic mutt-face! He's not good enough for you; forget about him. I'm gonna kill him off someday anyway! Once you've been with a real warrior like me, you'll never go back to scraps like him again!"

And he lets out a laugh while his fellows wolf-whistle in encouragement...I hear Shippo say to Miroku,

"He's pretty direct, isn't he?"

"I wish I had that kind of audacity."

Meanwhile, I crack my knuckles, before yelling in a rage,

"And that there is exactly why I can't stand wolves! You think you're so clever with your lofty claims and 'show of power', but all I heard was a load of crap that don't mean anything to me except that you seek dominance! I hate men who don't understand that No means No! I outta come up there and shove you straight to hell, you arrogant moron!"

No POV

...The area went dead silent, as everyone looked at Coraline in shock at her outburst, while she breathed heavily through clenched teeth while sending an icy glare at Kōga. Inuyasha stares at Coraline in amazement for a few more seconds, before turning to growl at the wolf demon in question:

"Nobody talks down to Coraline with me around! How dare you humiliate her! She's not your property!"

(Leap)

With that, he begins pursuing Kōga, while he continues upward, calling back,

"Stupid mutt. I told you, I'm too busy, go play fetch somewhere else!"

Meanwhile, Coraline watches them go, before feeling the power of the shard again:

(Pulse...)

"The Shikon-no-Tama...Inuyasha! The Bird of Paradise with two heads has a jewel shard, and its about fifty feet higher from where you and Kōga are!"

Inuyasha stops, and looks back down at Coraline:

"You sure?"

"Positive!"

Kōga stops too:

"Fifty feet more, 'cause there's nothing at the peak!"

"Then look at the sky, moron! Look towards the sky!"

Inuyasha does a double-take:

"W-Wait a second! She's helping _him_ too?!"

 _But she did call him a moron, so, maybe it's just the situation...right? It has to be!_

Suddenly, the Bird of Paradise comes swooping out from the cloud cover, and barrels straight at Kōga! Luckily, he dodges the attack, and begins leaping backwards as the demon kept up the charge...

"Chew on this!"

(Clang)

Kōga then sticks the spear into the creature's gaping mouth, but unfortunately, it wasn't strong enough to hold, and the bird demon's jaw clamps hard on Kōga's arm!

"Rrrrgh!"

"Thanks for giving us a hand! Now we will tear it off!"

As the Bird of Paradise soared upward, Kōga was forced to hang on for dear life, cringing in pain from the teeth burying into his arm...

"Rrrgh, d-damn it!"

(Kick, shatter)

He then breaks the monster's teeth with one swift kick, but as he drifted away, Kōga sees something fall out of his wound:

(Ping...)

"The shard in my arm!"

Kōga then falls to the mountain peak hard, and as the dust clears, he barely manages to get up from the crater he created, grasping his wounded arm:

"...I-It's comin' back for the jewel shards in my legs...Rggh..."

(Step, step, step, step)

"Rrh...Oh great. Why are _you_ here?!"

By you, he means Inuyasha, who does not answer for a second...before retorting seriously,

"Shut up and take some notes, fleabag. You're about to witness some real power now."

Meanwhile, the Bird of Paradise was gleeful about their new stance in the battle:

"He has two jewel shards left, brother!"

"I know! Think of the power we'll have when we take them!"

Both heads let out a laugh, before charging up their finishing blow...which was exactly what Inuyasha was waiting for:

 _Draw out the power now, Tessaiga. Don't fail me!_

"...There's the Wind Scar!"

Inuyasha brings down his blade:

" _Hrrrraaaaaaahhhhhh!_ "

(SLASH)

With that, the clawed energy cuts down on the Bird of Paradise instantly, sending the demon to its destructive end...

Small Time Skip

As twilight cloaked the mountain valley, we see many bodies of the Birds of Paradise as well as members of the Wolf Demon Tribe scattered across the ground, the war over...

(Leap)

Inuyasha comes back to ground-level, as Shippo exclaims,

"You killed that giant Bird of Paradise in just one swing!"

"You've certainly mastered the Wind Scar." Inuyasha replies to Miroku with a smirk,

"Keh, well..."

He then directs his attention to the remaining wolf demons, including the injured Kōga being brought back down on Kilala with Coraline and Sango:

"Now for them. I've single-handedly gotten rid of the pigeon from hell. Now there's just this fleabag wolf to deal with..."

But when he parted through the crowd:

"HUH?! She's, hugging him?!"

Well actually, Coraline was helping Kōga to sit down, getting Ginta and Hakkaku to hang onto him, before moving to a stand to look at Inuyasha sternly:

"There's not gonna be anymore fights today, understand? Kōga's already received enough punishment from those damn Birds of Paradise, not to mention my tongue-lashing from before, so you can put your salt away."

Kōga replies in a strain,

"Never, mind. This is nothin..."

"Oh no, don't you start either, smart-guy. Back off or I'll make you back off."

Inuaysha was shocked speechless:

 _Why's she taking his side?! I don't get it!_

By this time, Kōga was standing up again:

"T-Tryin' to get me while I'm down? But I'm still able to whip ya..."

"Heh, again with the insults...Hah, now you're dead!"

But just as he went rushing towards Kōga, fist raised:

"Inuyasha, stop!"

(PUNCH)

"GH!"

...Coraline took the waiting fist to her gut...!

(Thud)

(Collective gasp)

Inuaysha stopped dead in his tracks, staring at Coraline in disbelief:

"C...Coraline?"

Gritting her teeth, she manages to get back up, holding her stomach with one hand, glaring at both dog and wolf demon:

"Enough! Inuyasha, I'll use the S-word if I have to! (Turn) You two, get your idiot of a leader out of here, or the next fist flying his way will be mine!"

"U-Uh, right!"

Ginta and Hakkaku bend down to lift Kōga up:

"Kōga." "Take my arm."

Inuyasha shouts,

"Hey, come back! Cowards!"

But they already dashed off...A gust of wind passes, before Inuyasha asks Coraline heatedly,

"Why'd you do that?! Why'd you take my fist before letting them go?!"

Coraline whirls around and retorts,

"Because I've had it up to here with testosterone-fueled fights today! You and Kōga are a good example of why I think men are hopeless!"

Inuyasha walks up in front of her:

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means that at the rate I'm going, I'll be better off a single woman than dating any man at all."

"Huh?"

Coraline looks down with a pained expression:

"Didn't you see how pissed off I was at Kōga when he made that stupid claim? Didn't you sense that I just wanted us to call it a night?"

"...Coraline-"

"Save it. I just, want to rest, and sleep off the increasing pain that's rising in my stomach thanks to that punch you made..."

Inuyasha looks at her with an unreadable expression...before turning away with a grunt:

"Guh, this is stupid. Forget it."

Next Morning

Everyone was up on the mountain peak where the giant Bird of Paradise was, as Coraline bent down to pick up the two jewel shards left behind. Miroku comments,

"So those are the two shards that the bird had."

"Yes. One of them was torn out of Kōga's arm during battle." Sango asks,

"Won't he come after us in search for it?" Miroku replies,

"Probably," while Coraline says bitterly,

"Doubtful. Wolf-boy will probably snag himself a replacement soon enough...(Sigh) Yet I can't help but wonder if there will be more stupid contests between him and Inuyasha in the coming future?"

As she rises to a stand, she grimaces a bit, rubbing her stomach...Sango asks a bit worriedly,

"Are you alright? Does the bruise still hurt?"

"Like hell. But I'll be fine; believe it or not, I've had worse injuries than this..."

"Hm...Coraline, why don't you go and try to calm down Inuyasha?"

"Huh?"

"He is very protective of you, and this whole thing kind-of upset him." Miroku agrees:

"I feel bad for him, considering how bad things ended up..."

Coraline stares at Inuyasha's sitting figure for a moment...before letting out a breath and walking over to his side:

"...Hey."

He says nothing, and turns away from her face stubbornly...Coraline forms a sad smile:

"Inuyasha, I'm sorry for causing you so much worry. Thank you for coming to my rescue."

As she sits on her knees beside him, he replies bitterly,

"I bet you would've preferred it if I didn't show up at all."

"What?"

"The way you acted yesterday...I'm a bit surprised you weren't taken by those 'sweet words', and yet you blocked my fist with your own body. It, doesn't hurt bad, does it?"

"Oh, that...I was only sick of the fighting. I didn't want to see anymore bloodshed, and as for the bruise, I'll be fine...Hang on: Don't tell me you're actually jealous of that idiot's proclamation of love?"

Inuyasha growls before springing to his feet exclaiming,

"Why would I be jealous of that jerk? I don't care!"

Coraline looks at him skeptically and pained:

 _Riiiight, he's sooo not jealous..._

"If it wasn't clear enough yesterday, I'll say it again: I have no interest in dominant egotists like that moron Kōga. Plus, I can't stand wolves, period."

Inuyasha turns away with his arms folded and replies offhandedly in a grunt,

"Kuh. I wasn't askin'. I don't care what you do. Just forget it. I don't wanna talk about it anymore, so just spare me."

Coraline sighs, turning her gaze outward:

 _Oh Inuyasha, please don't let this event stiffen our friendship...I thought it meant more to you than this...  
_

"...So?"

"Hm?"

Inuyasha comes back down to Coraline's level and asks somewhat clueless,

"What exactly happened between you guys?"

...Coraline felt a tear go through her heart, before she bitterly replies,

"I slapped him for trying to claim me, and gave him the tongue-lashing of a lifetime while defending you! But now I'm starting to think it was all for naught! How can my own best friend not believe me when I say that I'm not, interested?!"

"Guh, w-well you don't have to bite my head off! I was just wondering!"

Coraline and Inuyasha were standing up by now, giving eachother nasty glares:

"I, I thought you had more trust in me than this, Inuyasha! Why do you still doubt me?!"

"Well if you think I'm too suspicious of you, then maybe you should stop taggin' along and gettin' in the way! I'm done with havin' to rescue you all the time!"

...Coraline felt her heart tear more, and with her lips in a straight line, she stiffly replies,

"I...I see."

She then turns to Sango, small tears ready to fall from her eyes:

"Sango."

"Uh, yes?"

"...May I please borrow Kilala?"

"Um, sure, but what are you gonna do?"

Inuyasha scoffs and says,

"She misses wolf-boy already, huh?"

Coraline's body shakes...before she lets out a small sob, tears falling from her eyes, causing everyone to get concerned:

"Coraline?" "Coraline, what's wrong?"

She whirls around at Inuyasha, and shouts with anger and hurt,

"I'm going back home, stupid! You happy now?! _I hate you, Inuyasha!_ "

With that, she takes off on Kilala...Shippo comments shakily,

"When she gets angry, she can be really scary..."

As for Inuyasha, he was propped back against a rock with a mix of shock and worry on his face:

 _...She...She said she hates me?_

 _And...she was crying...Coraline..._

But his stubborn pride gets in the way, as he shouted back,

"Fine, go back home again! See if I care!"


	41. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40: Two Hearts, One Mind**

We turn to the Higurashi Shrine/Residence, where our occupants were currently having breakfast together, including Coraline who had returned from the Sengoku Era yesterday...

However, it was clear by the expression on her face as she ate, that Coraline's mind was still brooding about yesterday's fight with Inuyasha.  
Even so, Souta would ask in a friendly tone,

"Coraline, pass the soy sause."

Unfortunately, Coraline's response did not hold a matching pleasant tone:

"Your arms are working fine, Souta. Feel free to use them on your own."

"Yeesh, forget it. I'll eat it plain."

As Souta went back to his rice, Grandfather Higurashi would call Coraline out on her bad attitude:

"Enough of your snippy attitude at the breakfast table, young lady. Maybe they don't have great table manners back in feudal Japan, but in this house, we do. This is the first time in a while that we've had breakfast together, so cheer up."

Souta says warily,

"Uuh, I don't think that's gonna happen," causing the elder to sweatdrop in confusion:

"Eh?"

(Scrape)

Both men flinch as Coraline abruptly rises from her seat, a closed-eye frown on her face:

"You're right. My apologies; I will remember my manners next time. Please excuse me."

With that, Coraline gathers her empty dishes and leaves the table...Both boy and elder exhale, and the latter asks Akari in disbelief,

"Good lord, what's wrong with her?"

She just smiles and replies calmly,

"She's a teenager. Bet any money it's boy trouble."

Small Time Skip

Eventually, Coraline leaves the house with a stack of books in her hand, as well as a list of ones she'll need in the next round of online schoolwork.

Today, she wore a brown long-sleeve shirt, gray jeans, and her hikers, while tying her hair back in a braid. As she approached the library, she thought to herself,

 _God, it's been a while since I last went to the library. I'm glad they have a long checkout policy here, otherwise I'd be screwed with late book fees..._

"Cora?" "Sis?"

"Huh?"

She turns around, and sees her brothers Freeman and Besa rushing over to her. Their attire was about the same: They wore matching red t-shirts and black/white converse, but Freeman wore black skinny jeans while Besa wore green khaki pants.

"Oh, hey guys, what's up?"

"Not much. We were heading out to grab a smoothie when we saw you."

"Anyway, you're not gonna believe what's happened while you were away in Edo."

After Coraline returned her books and got new ones, the twins take her over by the local school, where they see Hōjō getting off his bike in the distance...

"Hey, Hōjō, wait up!"

Suddenly, a young girl with long, curly dark brown hair tied back a bit with a pink ribbon, and wearing the girl's school uniform comes running up to the boy with a hopeful smile.

"Hey!"

"Good morning, Hōjō."

As they watched from the fences, Freeman says to the other two,

"There she is: That seventh-grader that's been tagging Mr. Nice Guy for a while now."

Besa says with a gentle smile,

"Her name is Yumi, Freeman."

"Whatever. All I'm sayin' is that it looks like Hōjō ain't complaining much regarding her company."

Coraline asks,

"What's the point in showing me this, you guys?"

"Well, aren't you sad that he may be charmed away by the girl?"

"Not at all. If she likes him and he likes her, I say 'remember to invite me to the wedding'."

Both boys look at Coraline's calm expression in surprise:

"Really? I could've sworn you liked him a little bit, even if he is somewhat clueless."

"Yeah."

"Like I said before: Hōjō's a nice guy, but he's too much of a pushover to be with a girl like me, especially since with my life he could easily get into trouble."

She smiles and adds,

"If he's happy, I'm happy. I'd rather he be with someone who won't flake out on him for something that can't be easily explained...(Frown) And won't get mad over something stupid that they didn't take the time to fully analyze."

Both boys look at eachother warily at that last sentence:

"Hmm..." "Hmm..."

They then focus back on Coraline, with Besa cautiously asking,

"Coraline. Did, something happen back in Edo that caused you to come home?"

Coraline stiffened a bit:

"Uh..."

"So something did happen then. What happened? Did, you and Inuyasha get into an argument?"

Before Coraline could answer:

(Bong, bong...)

"Oh, speaking of bells, I promised Grandfather I'd head downtown to look into that one shop for a replacement bell for one of the shrine-houses. Some stupid punks broke in and broke it before leaving a street tag."

The twins are not fooled by the fake smile on Coraline's face or the change of subject, but chose not to comment yet:

"Oh, I see."

"We'll come with you then and help."

"Sure. Let's go, guys."

With that, the three begin walking away from the school, as Coraline's mind wandered back to yesterday...

Flashback

 _"I slapped him for trying to claim me, and gave him the tongue-lashing of a lifetime while defending you! But now I'm starting to think it was all for naught! How can my own best friend not believe me when I say that I'm not, interested?!"_

 _"Guh, w-well you don't have to bite my head off! I was just wondering!"_

 _Coraline and Inuyasha were standing up by now, giving eachother nasty glares:_

 _"I, I thought you had more trust in me than this, Inuyasha! Why do you still doubt me?!"_

 _"Well if you think I'm too suspicious of you, then maybe you should stop taggin' along and gettin' in the way! I'm done with havin' to rescue you all the time!"_

 _...Coraline felt her heart tear more, and with her lips in a straight line, she stiffly replies,_

 _"I...I see."_

 _She then turns to Sango, small tears ready to fall from her eyes:_

 _"Sango."_

 _"Uh, yes?"_

 _"...May I please borrow Kilala?"_

 _"Um, sure, but what are you gonna do?"_

 _Inuyasha scoffs and says,_

 _"She misses wolf-boy already, huh?"_

 _Coraline's body shakes...before she lets out a small sob, tears falling from her eyes, causing everyone to get concerned:_

 _"Coraline?" "Coraline, what's wrong?"_

 _She whirls around at Inuyasha, and shouts with anger and hurt,_

 _"I'm going back home, stupid! You happy now?! **I hate you, Inuyasha!** "_

End Flashback

Coraline felt a tear coming to her eye, but immediately forced it away:

 _...Inuyasha...Why?_

 _Why can't you understand?_

Sengoku Edo, Bone Eater's Well...

"Hmm, it looks like an ordinary well...Yet, this passage leads to Coraline's world?"

At the same time Coraline and her brothers were cruising downtown, Sango and Shippo check out the Bone Eater's Well, the former having not seen it yet. Shippo replies,

"Yep. But the only ones who are able to travel through the well are her and Inuyasha."

He forms a frown at the thought of said dog demon:

"He's the only one who can go back and get Coraline, but that stubborn dolt is too proud to do that. He'd cut off his nose to spite his face."

Speaking of Inuyasha, we move down to the Goshinboku Village, as he sits on a fence, letting out a sneeze, and darting his eyes back and forth irritably:

"Everybody's taking a shot at me today. I can feel it; my ears are burnin'."

Kaede, who was sorting out some fresh herbs, replies simply but sternly,

"Inuyasha, stupid is as stupid does. Ye need to be more careful with your speech."

"Are you calling me stupid, ya old hag?! You don't know what happened, you weren't even there!"

"I know this, ungrateful dog: In order to find the shards Shikon-no-Tama, Coraline's spiritual power is essential. Yet ye made her upset with your words and sent her running home."

"That was her idea! She chose to go home; I never forced her. She said, 'I'm going home, stupid'."

"...Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, what?"

"That imitation was pathetic."

Inuyasha falls off the fence in surprise at the statement, before springing up and barking back defensively,

"I'm a demon, not a comedian!"

Moving inward, we see a line of various young women smiling hopefully and in anticipation, as Miroku begins his palm-reading:

"Alright, one at a time."

He lightly grasps the hand of one lady in a burgundy kimono:

"Mmm, this is a fine palm...(Beaming smile) You will live a long life and have many children."

"Thank you, monk. Are you sure?"

"I am sure that the first father of your children could be a man of the cloth."

Knowing where he was going on that description, the young lady blushes with a smile and lightly slaps his hand:

"Haha, what about your vow of chastity?"

Another woman in a dark blue kimono comes up and says with a smile,

"You just gave her the exact same fortune you gave me."

"True, but I don't have to make you fortunate at the same time. We can take turns; what do you say?"

Miroku forms a semi-serious look and adds,

"Think it over carefully. Denying your destiny now could throw you off course for the rest of your life."

Both girls blush and make noises of amusement:

"You're so naughty!"

Miroku just laughs with them, before feeling a stare, and turns to see Sango looking at him with a deadpan while Shippo sat beside her:

"He's acting like a dirty old man."

After a bit, Sango, Shippo and Miroku walk through the village discussing the current situation regarding Inuyasha and Coraline:

"I agree completely. I am just as eager as you are to continue our quest for the jewel shards. But we must not get impatient: Until Inuyasha cools down and goes after Coraline, we're stuck here at a standstill."

Shippo complains after Miroku's summary,

"Inuyasha's so stubborn sometimes! He's got enough pride to choke a horse, and he can never admit when he's wrong."

"That's exactly why the three of us should never be seen near the well."

"But, why not?"

Miroku explains:

"Think of Inuyasha's personality: Even if he wanted to go get Coraline, he never would if someone else was watching. (Turn, smile) He's nothing but a big softie underneath that hard-nosed exterior."

Sango watches Miroku continue on with an astonished look:

 _(Sigh) Appearances can be so deceiving._

Meanwhile, Shippo thought with a weird look,

 _I dunno who has the bigger ego..._

...A little more time passes, and we see a familiar red and white figure coming fast towards the Bone Eater's Well. Inuyasha stops at the structure, looking back and forth to make sure that he wasn't being spied on:

"Alright, nobody's looking..."

He looks down into the well with a somewhat aggravated look:

"Coraline's not getting off that easily without apologizing to me..."

(Leap)

Present-Day Tokyo...

"(Low whistle) Damn, sounds like things went really screwy for ya, sis."

"What I can't believe is that someone actually had the nerve to claim you as their woman! Who does that?!"

It was around noon, and our three teens decided to get lunch at one of their favourite hangouts, Wacdonald's. Coraline finally broke down and told the twins everything about her latest demon encounter, from Kōga and the Wolf Demon Tribe to the Birds of Paradise all the way to when she and Inuyasha spat at one another before she left in an angry huff...

She takes a sip from her soda and replies,

"Thank you! Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so. I mean, sure, Inuyasha did try and defend my honour, but I was so done with the fighting after that..."

"Well from the sounds of it, Inuyasha got pretty jealous of that Kōga having the guts to proclaim his love for you."

Coraline looks at Besa in confusion:

"What? Why would he be jealous?"

"(Knowing smile) I've seen the way he looks at you, Cor. He may not say it aloud, but I'm willing to bet that he's got conflicting feelings for you."

"...That can't be right. He's still harbouring feelings for Kikyō."

Freeman jumps in:

"Maybe, but who says those old feelings he has are binding? It's been fifty years since they last saw one another, and it doesn't sound like their encounters now are ending anymore differently like it did that time ago."

Besa nods in agreement:

"Good point, bro. What Inuyasha and Kikyō had then is gone, and sad as it is to say, there's really nothing they can do to get it back."

Coraline hms in thought:

 _Yeah. Besides, I've seen a couple times already that Kikyō's Soul is still holding onto those negative feelings.  
_

 _She just won't let them go, even if she does still have love for Inuyasha..._

 _And him...(Sigh) I dunno what to think anymore..._

"What about you, sis?"

"Huh?"

Coraline snaps back to attention, as Freeman asks,

"I said, what about you? I mean, I know you said that you and Inuyasha are best friends, but...is it possible that you're crushing on him and don't know it?"

Coraline felt her cheeks get rosy at the thought:

 _W-What, me?_

 _I don't, love Inuyasha...do I?_

Besa's knowing smile returns:

"The blush says it all in my eyes, Cor: You're developing feelings for him."

 _Me...and Inuyasha..._

 _Is it, even possible?_

Inuyasha's POV  


I enter Coraline's world smoothly, and dash over to a high window, sliding it open as quietly as possible...But when I look inside the room, I don't see her anywhere:

"Huh? What? Why isn't she here?"

I hop inside, and sniff around:

"I can smell Coraline's scent all around this room."

 _Oh! This must be her bedroom...But, where is she?_

I turn around to the window, when suddenly, the door opens:

"What do ya know, it's Inuyasha!"

"Waaah!"

I spring up to my feet, and whirl around, only to see some young boy eating those, 'potato chip' things, walking towards me with a calm smile:

"Don't you remember me from last time you were here? I'm Coraline's kid brother, Souta."

 _Oh yeah, Souta..._

I relax, and he asks me,

"Did you come to visit her?"

"Well, sort-of..."

"Oh good, 'cause I was worried maybe the two of you had a fight or something."

I form a look of confusion, and Souta adds,

"You know Coraline: When she's in a bad mood, you gotta stand clear."

I frown, and crouch onto the ground, causing him to ask,

"Hey, what'sa matter?"

But I was too busy thinking about Coraline:

 _(Groan) She's still angry with me?_ _Man, can she ever hold a grudge..._

I then hear a door open down below, and a muffled,

"Hi, I'm back."

 _(Gasp) Coraline!_

"Coraline's home. Hey sis, guess who just showed u-"

I immediately grabbed the kid and covered his mouth to shut 'im up, before I grasped him by his shirt and say frantically,

"Quiet, and don't tell Coraline that I came no matter what happens, you got that kid?!"

He nods nervously in response, and I let him go, leaping onto the windowsill sending this final message:

"It's a promise between us, man to man."

"Man to man? (Nod) Got it."

With that, I jump out the window...

No POV

Just as Inuyasha leaped away, Coraline came inside her room, noticing Souta sitting on the floor:

"Huh? Souta?"

"Hey, sis, how are ya?"

"Uh, fine...What are ya doin' here in my room?"

Souta stands up and replies quickly,

"U-Uh, I can't tell you, it's a man to man promise," before dashing out the door...

"...Well that was odd."

Time Skip

(Shhhhhhh...)

As Tokyo fell under the darkness of the evening, we find Coraline taking a shower to try and relax her tense muscles...and ease the strangeness in her current thoughts:

 _Now that I give it some thought...Inuyasha did give his all just to save me._

 _And what happened? I just get mad at him for reasons more directed at that idiot_ _Kōga..._

She pauses in scrubbing her hair, letting out a breath with a sad expression:

"...I guess I can't really blame him so harshly in getting mad like he did. I know how to let my mouth fly when I'm pissed, and I usually can't stop myself half the time..."

She then touches the bruise on her stomach, wincing a bit from the throbbing pain:

"Still hurts a bit...Blocking his fist was a pretty stupid move on my part, but...I didn't want to use the subjugation beads on him. That would've taken things a bit too far."

She lets out another sigh, before getting back to finishing her routine...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Bone Eater's Well, Inuyasha was sitting propped against the lip of the well, stubbornly saying to himself,

"I don't care if Coraline is angry. I'll drop dead before I apologize."

He then moves on all fours a few inches away, and begins kicking sand and dirt into the well with his foot...

Unbeknownst to him, Shippo and Sango were watching him from behind some bushes, the former commenting in a whisper,

"It doesn't look like he accomplished anything."

"There is no end to his trouble-making."

"Huh?"

The two turn to see Miroku was here too, using a large leaf as further camouflage:

"Miroku! I thought you told us not to go anywhere near the well incase Inuyasha sees us!"

Said monk replies with an amused smile,

"Yeah, I know, but I couldn't resist watching Inuyasha as he makes a total fool of himself."

Time Skip, Coraline's POV

It's about eleven o' clock in the morning, and I'm standing at the counter in that old shop I went to yesterday to pick up the replacement bell for Grandfather...

"Here we are: The order for Higurashi Shrine."

"Thank you, sir. I got it from here."

I take the bell from him, and put it in the wagon I brought with me to carry it:

 _It's a good thing Akari-sama held onto this from Souta's childhood..._

Just as I began making my way to the door, Sensei Yoshi suddenly comes in:

"Oh! Croft-san, good morning."

"Ah, Sensei. (Bow) Good morning to you as well."

"I'm guessing that Higurashi-sama sent you to pick that up for the shrine?"

"Yes. One of the bells got vandalized by some street punks a few days ago, so Grandfather asked me to special order a new one."

"Ah, I see. (Frown) It's a shame that today's youth can be so careless in causing trouble for the sake of relieving boredom, unaware of the true damage they do in the process."

I nod in agreement, a depressed frown forming on my face:

 _Speaking of careless and damaging...Inuyasha still hasn't come, and I haven't screwed up enough courage to go back myself._

 _I dunno what to do: Should I try to go to Edo after getting the bell back?_

 _...He might still be mad at me..._

"Croft-san?"

"Huh?"

Sensei looks at me with a concerned expression:

"You seem troubled by something. Is everything alright?"

"Um, well...(Sigh) No, not exactly. I, had a bad argument with a friend a few days ago."

"Oh dear, that's not good."

"Yeah, and I haven't tried to talk to him again yet. I'm, worried he might still be mad at me..."

Sensei hms in thought...before he places a comforting hand on my shoulder:

"Croft-san...If you're not in a big hurry to return to the shrine, would you like to come back to the dojo with me and have some tea?"

I look at him with surprise at his offer...before breaking into a small smile:

"...I'd love to, Sensei. Thank you."

Soon enough, we're back at Master Yoshi's dojo, and after sitting down with some tea, I tell him about Inuyasha and what happened with Kōga, careful in leaving out the parts about both of them being demons from the Sengoku Era...

"I see, so you and your friend parted on quite a bitter note, it seems..."

"Yeah...Thinking about it now, I probably could've held back some on my temper, but I was so angry after the multiple proclamations from Kōga, I was ready to lash out at anyone coming my way."

"Hmm...Anger and Rage are well-known monsters in the realm of emotions that can cloud one's judgement. It sounds like you have a bit of trouble controlling such, as does this Inuyasha fellow."

I laugh a bit dryly:

"No kidding. I've seen him blow up more than the bad-mouth drivers on the streets of Tokyo...But, I know he was trying to come from a good place this time. He didn't like seeing me humiliated."

I feel a sad look form on my face:

"I'm worried that if I go back now, we'll only fight again. And, that's the last thing I want to do. He's my best friend..."

A tear runs down from my eye, and I wipe it away stubbornly:

"(Sniff) I care deeply for him. I, don't want to hurt him, like he doesn't want to hurt me...(Looks up) Sensei, what should I do?"

He sips his tea and ponders for a moment...

"You want to make up with him, correct, but are afraid to face him?"

"Yes."

"(Smile) Then perhaps for now, you should wait until your fears quell more. I can see that you are still rather overwhelmed, so going to talk to him now may not be best. Besides, it is likely that Inuyasha feels similarly: He is worried that you are also still too mad to talk, and does not know what course of action to take."

"You think so?"

"Yes. If you and Inuyasha truly are so close, then everything should work out for the better sooner than you think."

I smile gratefully at Sensei's kind words:

"...Thank you, Sensei. I shall take your advice."

"Good. Now..."

He puts his teacup down, and stands up while saying,

"If you are willing, I would like to check up on your sparring skills. It has been quite a while since you last attended my classes with your brothers, and I would like to make sure you are not forgetting my teachings."

I put my teacup down, and stand up with a small smirk on my face:

"Of course I haven't forgotten your lessons, Sensei. I have been practicing diligently; I will not fall prey to loftiness as you so drilled into our heads."

He lets out a hearty laugh:

"I should hope not, Croft-san. You are one of my more disciplined students. Now, if you will follow me in the following drill..."

"Lead the way, Sensei."

Inuyasha's POV

I'm back at the well, staring into the darkness down below, as I thought of what the kid said when I went there yesterday:

 _(Flash)_

 _"You know Coraline: When she's in a bad mood, you gotta stand clear."_

 _(Flash)_

I sigh in discouragement:

 _Coraline..._

Suddenly, Shippo pops up beside me, scaring the living daylights out of me:

"Inuyasha!"

"Aaaaah!" I fall onto my back before springing back and shouting,

"Don't pop out at me like that, you scared the life outta me!"

He just frowns at me and says,

"Swallow your pride and go back for her. I'm sure she's forgiven you by now."

"What're you tryin' to say, that this is all my fault? She's to blame too, ya know."

"Yeah, but you're the one who accused Coraline of being involved with Kōga!"

I flinch back to a stand, thinking back to what Coraline said in the aftermath of the Bird of Paradise battle:

 _(Flash)_

 _"There's not gonna be anymore fights today, understand? Kōga's already received enough punishment from those damn Birds of Paradise, not to mention my tongue-lashing from before, so you can put your salt away."_

 _(Flash)_

I sit down again with a sigh, as Shippo says to me patiently,

"I know that in some respects, Coraline did protect Kōga and allowed him to escape. What I don't understand is why she protected him after he kidnapped her, especially since she made it clear she wants nothing to do with him? She even told me about a time when she killed a crazy wolf that was trying to kill her when she was only eleven."

I snap my head up at that last sentence:

"Whoa, what? She's killed a wolf before?"

"Yeah. It had some kind of disease called Rabies that made it more aggressive and bloodthirsty, and chased her down before almost ripping her throat out! Luckily, she got her hands on a sharp rock, and killed it, while scaring off the other wolves."

 _...Whoa..._

Shippo then says,

"She said that since that day, she can't stand wolves...but, she also said she doesn't hate them...Say, you don't think there's a chance that Coraline could still fall for Kōga, even though she hates him right now?"

I growl at the thought, before snapping frantically,

"What're you asking me for?! Are you out of your mind?! There's no way Coraline could ever love Kōga, especially after what she shouted before!"

I then grab the runt and add before tossing him far away,

"If you're gonna reason with me, come up with somethin' reasonable!"

Small Time Skip

I'm now walking by the river and fish preserves, still fairly mad and upset about everything, as the runt keeps tailing me and trying to talk to me:

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha. You're right: There's no way Coraline could ever love Kōga. She's just kindhearted when needing, and really knows how to yell at a man."

"Shut up already! You never change your tune, do ya? I know what you're tryin' to do: You want me to go after her, but I'm not gonna! Forget it!"

"But you want to go after her, and you know it. So just hear me out: You don't know about the mind of a woman, and neither do I. So maybe we should seek out the advice of someone older and wiser, like Kaede. It can't hurt."

"Keh. Like this is any of her business..."

I begin walking again, but Shippo wasn't giving up:

"Just relax. I won't tell her this is about you and Coraline. I'll pretend that I'm asking advice for a friend of mine, okay?"

I stop, and look back in slight interest to his idea:

"Huh...Do you think it'll work? I guess it couldn't hurt to hear her out as long as she doesn't know it's me."

 _I'm getting sick of waiting around not knowing what to do, anyway..._

 _I want Coraline to come back..._

"Right on, let's go!"

He then jumps up and grabs my arm before dragging me to Kaede's hut:

"But only for a few minutes!"

Kaede's Hut, No POV

"Kaede...Do you have any experience with...dogs?"

Said priestess sips her tea before looking at Shippo with a perplexed expression:

"Dogs?"

She then glances at Inuyasha, who flinches back and says defensively,

"This isn't about me, okay?"

"Alright then: Tell me more about your dog friend."

Shippo begins his 'discreet' tale:

"Here's the deal. (Whisper) It's a little complicated..."

Shippo then takes a set of paper and crayons that Coraline brought him a while back to use for a visual aid:

"There once was a dog. He happened to be friends with a cat. But then a wolf appeared, and fell in love with the cat..."

(Image: Dog Inuyasha and Cat Coraline come across a Wolf Kōga, who looks at Cat Coraline with heart-shaped eyes...)

(Flip)

"The dog was very protective of the cat, and fought with the wolf constantly..."

(Image: Dog Inuyasha and Wolf Kōga rolling around in the dirt with angry expressions while Cat Coraline observes with a worried look...)

(Flip)

"One day, the wolf stole the cat and whisked her away..."

(Image: Cat Coraline being taken away by Wolf Kōga, the latter blowing a raspberry at a furious Dog Inuyasha...)

(Flip)

"But then, some big ugly bird swooped down from the sky, and pecked at the wolf, and hurt him really badly..."

(Image: Bird of Paradise beats Wolf Kōga silly, while Cat Coraline stands defensively aside glaring at the bird...)

(Flip)

"Meanwhile, the dog came to rescue the cat, but when he got there, he noticed all these ugly birds! So he killed them..."

(Image: Dog Inuyasha bites the Bird of Paradise, causing it to break into a wail, while Wolf Kōga is still dizzy and sprawled on the ground...)

(Flip)

"The dog wanted to kill the injured wolf next, but the cat practically scratched his eyes out, and even took a hit from the dog so that the wolf could escape..."

(Image: Wolf Kōga is being held up by two other wolves, while Cat Coraline stands between he and Dog Inuyasha, she glaring back and forth at them, while Dog Inuyasha glared at Wolf Kōga...)

(Flip)

(Image: Cat Coraline takes a punch in her stomach from Dog Inuyasha...)

(Flip)

(Image: Cat Coraline stands against Dog Inuyasha while Wolf Kōga makes a break for it...)

(Flip)

"You see, the cat didn't want there to be anymore fights after what had happened, but the dog had suspected that the cat had actually fallen in love with the wolf..."

(Image: Cat Coraline and Dog Inuyasha give eachother seething glares while lightning cracks between them...)

(Flip)

"So the dog was a real jerk about it, and the cat hissed at the dog, and ran down a well, back home."

(Images: Cat Coraline hops towards a well; she's then diving down it with a bristled expression...)

With his tale done, Shippo puts the paper down:

"So you see, that's the basic story, Kaede. I wanna know how we can get the cat and dog back together as friends again."

Kaede hms in thought:

"Well, first the dog must acknowledge that he made a mistake."

Inuyasha springs to his feet, fist in the air and glare on his face:

"What mistake?"

"Why are ye whining? This is about Shippo's dog friend, is it not?"

Inuyasha realizes what he was doing, and immediately went back to sitting on the floor:

"(Disgruntled growl) Fine, continue."

Kaede then says,

"Cats are coy: She is probably longing for the dog to come and make amends. The cat and the dog have misunderstood one another. That is why they will be at heads until the air is cleared. Hence, the dog must go and see the cat, and they must speak about the matter frankly. That, is the most expedient solution..."

...Inuyasha suddenly stands up, and calmly begins walking out of the hut, while Shippo and Kaede look at one another with knowing smiles...

Present-Day Tokyo, Higurashi Shrine

Coraline is now in her room working on some homework, while Souta sits on her bed playing with Buyo...He then asks her,

"Coraline, how long are you gonna stick around this time?"

"(Sigh) I don't know, Souta. I mean, this is my home, isn't it? I do have other priorities besides Sengoku Edo: There's schoolwork I need to catch up on, not to mention exams..."

She then rubs her shoulder:

"Agh, and after that workout that Master Yoshi put me through today, I need to step up on practicing my sparring...(Frown) Even if I wanted to, I don't think I can go back to Edo just like that, not now..."

"Well, that's never stopped you before."

"I'll know for sure when Inuyasha comes to at least talk to me."

"Maybe he won't come."

(Snap)

Coraline's pencil breaks...She takes a deep breath in, before turning to Souta with a pained expression:

"Souta, please don't say things I haven't already considered...Just, give me some privacy, please..."

Souta looks at Coraline's expression with worried eyes...before nodding, and getting off the bed to leave, but not without giving her a hug first:

"I'm sorry if I upset you, sis."

"...No, I'm sorry, Souta. For the other morning: I shouldn't have been so stiff with you at breakfast."

"It's okay. I understand..."

Before he leaves, Buyo walking with him, Souta turns to Coraline and adds,

"But think about this, sis: If he isn't back by tomorrow, you should be the first to talk."

"...I'll, keep that in mind."

With that, Souta leaves the room, closing the door behind him...Coraline turns back to the desk to look at the math problems in front of her:

"...I should be the first to talk, huh?"

Shaking her head, Coraline closes her textbook, and puts the papers on top, before moving to lay on her bed:

"Damn it, it's no use: I can't think straight. I'll sleep on it and try again in the morning..."

 _Of course, that's assuming I don't have any bad dreams...again..._

 _This wouldn't be an issue back in Edo, but that's likely 'cause Inuyasha was near._

 _I hope he's getting some decent sleep under the stars tonight..._

Small Time Skip  


A few hours later, the bedroom window slides open again, and Inuyasha comes inside, only to discover the redhead was fast asleep:

"Damn, she's asleep already..."

Suddenly, Coraline mumbles under her breath,

"...Inuyasha..."

"Huh?"

 _She's talking in her sleep. Is she dreaming about me?_

He then hears a whimper, and watches as Coraline turns to her other side, her face contorting into one of fear:

"I-Inuyasha..."

 _What's going on? She, looks scared..._

"Inuyasha...K-Kikyō...No...D-Don't, hurt them..."

"Uh...She's having a dream about, me and Kikyō? And, someone's hurting us?"

Coraline then starts calling out a bit louder, tears beginning to form in her closed eyes:

"No. No, Inuyasha! Kikyō! Someone, help!"

 _...She's having a nightmare!_

Inuyasha took hold of Coraline's shoulders, and began shaking her a bit:

"Coraline...Coraline, wake up. It's me, Inuyasha. You're having a nightmare!"

"No...No! Father! Father, please don't die! Not like them!"

 _Now her father?!_

"Please, Father, help me...it hurts! Please, someone, anyone, help me! Trinity's here! He's here! He's gonna kill me!"

 _Trinity?!_

"Coraline! Snap out of it! It's not real, you're dreaming! Wake up!"

(Jolt)

"UH!"

Coraline snaps awake, and Inuyasha jumps back as she bolts to a sitting position, he landing on his backside:

(Thud)

"Ow..."

He then looks up, and sees Coraline grasping where her heart was, breathing heavily, her eyes wide and partially bloodshot...

"...Coraline?"

She snaps her head to Inuyasha's voice, and calms down a touch at seeing his face:

"In...Inuyasha?"

Coraline wipes her eyes hurriedly, before asking shakily,

"Wh-When did you get here?"

"Um, just a few minutes ago...Are, you okay?" She turns away from his gaze and replies,

"(Sniff) Well...I am now that I'm awake..."

Inuyasha rises to his feet, and slowly moves to sit beside Coraline's shaking form:

"Are you sure?"

"...No."

Coraline feels more tears fall down her cheeks, as she curses to herself quietly,

"Damn it all...Why did it have to come back?"

"Come back? You mean this isn't the first time?"

She snaps her head up, realizing Inuyasha's canine ears picked up on her whisper...She says nothing, and only avoids looking at Inuyasha, who looks at her worriedly:

"...Coraline, wha-"

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"For, snapping at you and leaving like I did. It was wrong of me: I was just so pissed at Kōga, and I didn't want you to get hurt in another fight because of me...But instead, we had a fight with words, and..."

She looks up at him with teary eyes:

"Can you forgive me?"

Inuyasha gapes a bit in shock...before replying softly,

"...Of course. But...I should be the one apologizing."

"What?"

"For doubting you. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like I did...I know that you would never leave me for someone like him. And, I'm also sorry, for hitting you in the gut with my fist. It was lucky of me that I pulled back on power at the last second, or I could've seriously hurt you."

"...Oh Inuyasha. I could never throw away our friendship for an idiot like him. And as for the punch, that was all on me: I chose to get in the way."

"I still shouldn't have done it...So, can you forgive me?"

"Yes. Of course I forgive you, Inuyasha." She then gives him a watery smile:

"Right now, I'm just really happy to see you're alive."

"...Because of the nightmare you just had?" Coraline casts her eyes down with a sad frown:

"Mhm..."

"Hang on...Coraline, you remember when we all got tricked into going into that area with the Illusionary Death Spell, right?"

"...Yes?"

"I don't remember you actually saying that the vines didn't do anything to you...Did they do something?"

Coraline begins shaking again, and nods...

"...Coraline, what did you dream? What happened?"

"I...I dunno if I..."

Inuyasha takes her hands into his, and looks at her with a mix of seriousness and concern:

"Coraline, I can't help you if you don't say anything. I, heard you calling out for me and two others..."

"(Sharp intake) You did?"

"Yes...Coraline, please, tell me what your nightmare was about."

"...I-Inuyasha..."

Feeling overwhelmed, Coraline suddenly springs herself at Inuyasha, hugging him tightly:

"Uh!"

Coraline then bursts into tears, and begins telling him about the nightmare she had:

"I-It started, with just you and Kikyō, hugging eachother, and then...there came two gunshots, and b-both of you fell to the ground dead. I-I tried to run to you both, but, I was blocked by, a-a wall of fire...Then I heard another gunshot, and...F-Father came out of nowhere, falling to the g-ground dead too. I screamed, b-but no one came to help. And then, m-my shoulder wound re-opened, causing so much pain, I fell to my knees, then face-down. I couldn't move, no matter h-how much I wanted to, and...then _he came_. Bishop came out of the flames, the symbol of Trinity glowing in the background, his gun raised at me...Y-You woke me up just as he p-pulled the trigger again..."

Inuyasha felt his blood get colder and colder with each word:

 _...Coraline..._

He then snaps back to reality to the sound of Coraline's sobs, and does his best to calm her down:

"Coraline...Coraline, it's okay. It was just a bad dream..."

He began rubbing her back soothingly, feeling her shaking still:

"Shh, it's okay...I promise that nothing like that will ever happen to you, or me. If I can undo what happened to your father, I would, but I can't. But I can promise you that as long as I'm here, you have nothing to be afraid of."

"(Sniff) A-Are you sure?"

"Positive. Besides, you're braver than this, Coraline. Look at how far you are now: It's been five years since you went on the run, and you managed to make it all the way here from your old home, and have made a new life for yourself. Plus, there's the twins who you met and befriended, who've had your back for a few years now before you and I met. You don't let anyone tell you down, and are ready to stand up for what you believe is right, no matter what."

Inuyasha pulls back a bit, and looks at the teary redhead with a small smile:

"You're the bravest girl that I know, Coraline. Don't let some stupid nightmare prove me wrong."

...Coraline stares at the dog demon in awe for a moment, before she returns with her own tiny smile:

"(Sniff) Y-You're right. I am braver than this. I need to be strong. Thank you, for reminding me."

"No prob."

"Um, Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

Coraline's cheeks get a bit rosy as she asks with a stutter,

"I-If it's not too much trouble, can you...please stay with me for the rest of the night? I'm, still a bit too scared to fall asleep..."

It was Inuyasha's turn to blush a bit:

"U-Um..."

"You, don't have to if you'd rather not..."

Seeing how vulnerable Coraline looked, Inuyasha sighs before saying,

"Alright...Move over a bit."

Coraline looks at the dog demon with surprise, before nodding, and shifts over to the right, allowing Inuyasha to lay down on the left side of the bed...They stare at one another in silence for a moment, before Coraline says quietly,

"Thank you, Inuyasha...I really appreciate this."

"Yeah, you're welcome. Now go to sleep, okay? I'll be here when you wake up."

"(Nod) Goodnight."

As Coraline closed her eyes, Inuyasha whispers back,

"...Goodnight," before he too shuts his eyes, feeling slumber take over him as well...

Time Skip, Coraline's POV

A couple hours later, my eyes flutter awake as I felt the sun streaming in through the window glass...

"Mmm...mh?"

 _That's weird...I feel something over my torso...  
_

I turn my head a bit from the pillow...only to come face-to-face with a sleeping Inuyasha!

"(Soft gasp)"

 _He's still here!_

 _Which, means...that weight must be, his arm..._

I look downward, and my prediction was proved correct: Apparently, at some point during his sleep, Inuyasha wrapped his arm over my torso, and...my hand enclosed into his!

I felt my face get hot:

 _...Oh wow...This is definitely new..._

 _I, haven't been this close to him since, the Spider Head Incident..._

 _But, it's not like we did anything last night, other than talked...No, this is fine._

"(Smile) It just means, he cares, like I do..."

Just as I whisper that, I feel a stir on my left:

"Mmm...Mm-huh?"

I turn back to Inuyasha, as his eyes slowly begin opening, showing me those mysterious amber eyes I've grown to admire:

"Cora...Coraline?"

"Heh, morning, Inuyasha."

"...Are we, still in your era?"

"Yep. You stayed the night with me, in my room, on my bed, remember?"

He sits up, and looks around, gradually becoming less groggy from tiredness:

"Oh yeah...Wait, we slept in the same bed?"

"Uh-huh. You, actually put an arm around me at some point in your sleep..."

...I notice Inuyasha's face erupted in a huge blush, and I giggle a bit at this new timidness:

"It's okay, Inuyasha. It was just us here; no one else knew, and if they did, who cares? We're best friends, right? There's nothing wrong with sleeping next to one another once in a while."

 _Even at the risk of teasing or red faces in the morning..._

Inuyasha cools down a bit and replies,

"Right. Of course, you're right."

He then turns to me and asks,

"Did you sleep okay?"

"Yep. No nightmares."

"Good...So, any chance that you're ready to come back to my era?"

I smile big at him and reply,

"...I was waiting for you to ask me that question. And, yes."

He smiles back:

"Cool."

I then get up from my bed and stretch while saying,

"But first, I gotta get dressed in something other than sweats, so...could you please step out of the room for a moment?"

"Uh, right."

After a few minutes, I was dressed in my attire for the day: A white tank-top, gray long-sleeve unbuttoned shirt, blue jeans, and my hikers. I also tied my hair back into two ponytails.

I then grab my satchel out of my closet, slip my math homework inside, and saddled up:

 _Heh, lucky for me, I developed a routine of having my stuff ready to go for when I head out..._

 _And I'm really glad to go back._

"You can come back in, Inuyasha. I'm ready."

He enters the room, and looks at me for a moment with a raised eyebrow:

"That was quicker than I thought."

"(Laugh) Well, unlike most girls in my era, I don't take half an hour to decide on stuff like my outfit and how my hair or face should look. I have a pretty easy style, and I like to keep it natural."

"Ah..."

"Plus, I've subconsciously developed a routine so that my satchel is ready to take when I head out to Edo or when you come get me. Saves time."

"...Wow, you've really got it all figured out, huh?"

"Mhm. I have to in order to keep up with you."

"Oi, what's that suppose to mean?"

I begin heading out my room and down the stairs, replying lightly,

"Nothing bad, I assure you. You just have one of those, 'less talk, more action' outlooks of life, while I tend to analyze the world around me more."

"Keh, whatever..."

"Before we head out, I just need to add some food provisions, alright?"

"Fine."

Once Inuyasha and I got downstairs, it would be a quick greet and goodbye with Akari-sama, Souta and Grandfather, then filling up my satchel with the provisions, before we set out to the Bone Eater's Well...

Sengoku Edo, No POV

One travel through the mysterious portal, and both teens would pop up on the other side of the well...

"So, there's something I meant to ask ya."

"What's that?"

"Shippo said that you once took on a pack of wolves, and killed the leader that had somethin' called, Rabies, scaring off the others...Was the runt makin' that up?"

As they pull themselves out, Coraline replies,

"Nope. I really did get hunted down by wolves in the French backwoods when I was eleven. If it hadn't been for that rock I grabbed at the last second, I would've gotten my throat torn out."

"...Geez. And I thought I was the only one who had it rough on their own."

"We all have our scars to bear, Inuyasha. It's just how life works sometimes...Some scars just don't always show."

"No kidding."

As they set out towards the Goshinboku Village, Inuyasha says,

"Hey, listen...Thanks for coming back, and, for what we talked about last night."

"Of course...and, thank you, for coming to my era. I was, actually beginning to fear that...you wouldn't."

Inuyasha slows to a stop, lightly grabbing Coraline's arm to slow her too:

"Well, don't be...I..."

"You what?"

Before he could answer, he suddenly darts his head towards some bushes:

"Hang on..."

"(Turn) What is it?"

Inuyasha then lets out a growl and shouts,

"Really?! Can't a guy get any privacy around here, ya bunch of spies?!"

"Spies?"

And surprise, surprise, out came Miroku, Sango and Shippo, sheepish smiles on their faces...

"Uh, it's not what you think?"

Coraline facepalms and replies with an exasperated smile,

"Really, Miroku? Because I think this looks like three friends who were too concerned about mine and Inuyasha's temporary strain, that you would go as far as skulking in the cover of green to make sure that Inuyasha went to me as you so hoped."

"...Your intuition is spot on as usual, Coraline."

She smirk-glares at the monk and replies,

"I have to be to keep up with life, especially when it comes to your crazy schemes, Miroku."

Just she finishes that sentence, Inuyasha bursts in a exasperated rage,

"You damn spies!"

He then proceeds to chase all three of the 'skulkers' all around the area, with Sango shouting,

"Please, forgive us, Inuyasha!"

"Neveeerrrr!"

Shippo follows in his own reasoning:

"We we're just worried for you guys, is all!"

"It's none of your business, stupid!"

As Coraline darts her head back and forth watching the action, Kaede comes on scene:

"Don't worry, Coraline."

"Oh, Kaede."

"He's just happy that ye returned with him, but does not wish to admit it aloud to anyone but you."

"Yeah, I know."

Coraline just smiles while sighing in content, thinking,

 _Man, I'm glad to be back here with him, and the others, chaos and all..._


	42. Chapter 41

Hey fellow readers and writers!

Finally, the next chapter is ready. I'm so sorry for the delay: This one took alot longer to do, and I have a feeling the same will be for the next two coming. That's what happens when you begin creating chapters specific to your imagination and going off the original storyline...

Plus, I'm a detail-oriented person, soooo...yeah.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next installment of my adventure!

* * *

 **Chapter 41 (Special): Trinity Strikes**

"Sirs. We have just finished the final testings for our new dimensional transport system."

"And?"

"It was a complete success. We're ready to move into the next stage."

"Excellent. Contact the main tactical division and inform them to be ready in the next hour."

"Yes, sir." "Yes, sir."

(Slide)

A metal door closes on a large laboratory, and we watch as Saki and Bishop move down a hallway to another room within the secret headquarters of Trinity's Tokyo Base...

"I assume you'll be leading in this mission, Bishop?"

"Indeed, Saki. It's time that I finish what I should have five years ago...and this time, _Croft will conform, or fall._ "

Goshinboku Village, Sengoku Edo...

"Ah, I see that you've been putting the crayons and paper to good use, Shippo. You could have a career as an artist someday if you keep up the skill."

"Heh-heh, thanks!"

We now turn to Kaede's Hut, where Coraline was packing up some medicinal herbs that the elder priestess so generously provided her with for the new trip she and the others would soon embark on, and Shippo decided to show her his drawings while scribbling away on some blank sheets.

As she holds up one drawing, she laughs a bit and comments,

"These anthropomorphic animals are cute! Are they anyone I know?"

"Yeah! The cat is you, Coraline, and Inuyasha's the dog, and the wolf is Kōga. It's a love triangle between a two-legged dog, a wolf-man, and a cat who hightailed it home."

Coraline looks more closely, and clues in on the resemblance:

"O-Oh! Goodness, how did I not see it sooner? Um, Shippo, did you show this short story to anyone besides myself?"

Shippo smiles innocently and replies,

"I showed it to Granny Kaede earlier, and she said it was really well-done."

"Sooo, she knows the details as to why Inuyasha and I haven't been talking until now?"

"Yep, but Kaede isn't the only one who's seen my drawings: I was so proud of them, I ended up showing the whole village! I got lots of compliments..."

Coraline rubs the back of her head with an embarrassed smile and laugh:

 _Oh boy. I'm not gonna hear the end of this one from the villagers for a while..._

 _But I won't blame Shippo's innocence: He's just a curious child._

 _Besides, I'm not so much worried about my reputation...It's Inuyasha's that might be taken down a peg for the next while._

"Oi, Coraline! Shippo! Are you two ready to go yet?"

 _Ulp, speaking of which..._

"One second! I just need to put Shippo's crayons in my pack!"

After tucking away Shippo's art supplies, he and Coraline rushed to meet Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango and Kilala to head out of the village, and move on to their next destination in their search for more jewel shards and Naraku's whereabouts...

As they begin moving out, Coraline asks,

"So, where are we heading to this time?" Miroku answers,

"Well, I spoke with a villager who had just returned from Kyoto, and she said that she heard rumours of a jewel shard sighted in the area."

Sango looks at the monk warily:

"Are you sure that you're taking her word seriously, and that you did not take this information because she was pretty?"

Miroku holds up his hands defensively and replies with a nervous smile,

"Of course not, dear Sango. I would never jeopardize the group based on where our leads come from, especially if they happen to be a young woman."

"Riiight..."

Coraline sighs while shaking her head at the two, before thinking aloud about the place ahead:

"Kyoto, huh? That's about a four-day travel on foot. (Smile) I've been there once with the Higurashis in my world, so it'll be interesting to see what everything looks like now before the huge changes that'll come later in time..."

Shippo hops up on Coraline's shoulder with a curious look:

"Really? You've been to Kyoto before? What does it look like in your world?"

She smiles at the fox demon and replies,

"Well, unlike future Edo, Kyoto will still have a number of prewar structures, even as it continues to reform for more modern design. There's an abundance of cultural heritage sites from this time and even further back that are well-preserved, including the soon-to-be complete Nijō Castle."

"Wow! You've seen what Nijō Castle's gonna look like when it's finished?!"

"Yep. It's seen some wear and tear in recent years due to typhoon storms, but other than that, it's standing well and has been open to the public since 1940."

Shippo nods with a hum, and Sango asks,

"How is it that the public can enter?"

"The castle is no longer being used by anyone of royal blood, so it's been donated to the city as a cultural landmark, and basically anyone can enter it and explore...

"You see, by the twenty-first century, the government will have formed into a Constitutional Monarchy, which means that the Emperor is a ceremonial figurehead, while the main source of power comes from someone called a Prime Minister and his Cabinet, a group of people who act as advisers to he. The choice of who's in power is decided by the public through a mass voting system...That's the simple explanation, at least. There's no longer an Absolute Monarchy, where power is in the hands of Emperor; the country is run by a collective body of different minds, and even the citizens have a say in what's going on."

"Interesting..."

A couple hours later, the group stops to rest and eat on a grassy hillside, including some Irish Scones that Coraline made and brought with her...

"Mmm, this bread that you brought is really good, Coraline. And you made it yourself?" She smiles at Miroku and replies,

"Yep. It's one of the recipes I used to make with father all the time when I was little."

"Really? I was wondering...what sort of person was your father like? I know that you've mention he was an arch-ae-ologist, but what kind of person was he in terms of personality?"

Coraline lowers her scone, and ponders his question...

"(Fond smile) He was one of the wisest men that I knew; he always seemed to have an answer for everything. Kindhearted, too, ready to aid anyone who needed it. Father always believed in talking first before taking action, and was never really one to hold a grudge...If anything, he felt pity for the people who were set in their ways, not ones to open their minds and hearts to the world around them. He was also protective of me, like any other father would...He, loved mother unconditionally, and when she passed away from sickness...it hurt him deeply."

She sighed as a small sad frown appeared on her face:

"At one point, Father spent most of his time in his room, just laying on the bed staring off into nothingness...I was too young to fully understand why he felt that way, but I knew that mother wasn't coming back, so I had to become his main emotional support. Eventually, he found a form of distraction, and that was his work in investigating the unknown and unexplained...Even so, we would always find time to spend together, even if it was just me hanging out in his study while he worked on some papers. Just, being with one another was enough."

Shippo hopped onto Coraline's lap, a slightly worried look on his face:

"Coraline...are you okay? Your eyes are tearing up."

She lightly gasps, and touches under her eyes, feeling a familiar dampness:

"Oh. I guess I am. But don't worry, I'm fine. I'm just, getting a bit sentimental, is all..."

"Mm, well if you're sure..."

"Positive."

Just as she finishes wiping her eyes, suddenly:

(Pulse)

"Huh?"

Coraline felt something...off:

 _What was that? That wasn't the Shikon-no-Tama. But, it had a strong energy reading..._

"Oi, what's up, Coraline?"

She stands up, turning towards a set of old ruins that was once a proud castle:

"...I sense something. It's not the jewel, but...I feel a strong burst of energy. It's making me uneasy."

Everyone else stands to their feet, and Miroku asks,

"Could it be Naraku?"

"No, it's not him...It's, something else. Something that shouldn't be here..."

Sango suggests,

"Perhaps we should go down and see what it is."

Coraline nods, and snatches up her satchel before quickly moving down the hill, everyone else following close behind...

Coraline's POV

After a couple minutes, I reach the bottom where the castle ruins were, and began looking around:

 _Something's wrong...I can feel it._

Using my Aura Sight, I pick up on several humans skulking nearby, but for some reason, I couldn't pinpoint where exactly they were:

"What, the..."

Inuyasha comes up beside me:

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I can sense several humans here, but, I can't sense where exactly they are in these ruins. It's like, something's blocking me for zeroing in on them..."

Inuyasha hms, and we suddenly hear Kilala growl lowly...Sango asks her,

"What is it, Kilala? Is there danger near?"

Next thing we knew:

(Bang)

"(Gasp)"

A bullet shot at the ground just a foot away from me!

"Coraline!"

Inuyasha pushes me behind him, tensed up:

"Stay behind me! Grr, where'd that come from?"

 _Good question..._

(Gleam)

"Huh?"

I then notice some metal shining in the distance...That's when it hit me:

 _...Impossible. A gun in this time period couldn't shoot from that far._

 _Which means...could it, be..._

"...Shit."

"What?"

"We need to get out of here, now!"

But before Inuyasha could ask me why:

(Bang, bang, bang...)

"Ah!" "Uh!"

Shippo cries out fearfully,

"Owah! Where are these bullets coming from?!"

The area was filled with the sound of multiple guns shooting our way! Inuyasha pulls me onto his back, and as he leaped away, I turned around and shouted,

"Guys, get out of here! It's too dangerous!"

They nod, and begin rushing out of the area not too far behind us. As we kept moving, I think to myself frantically,

 _No way...This can't be...They can't be here!_

 _How could they have found a way into this world? It's impossible...isn't it?_

Just before I could ponder any further, I spot an object heading our way:

"...Oh crap! Inuyasha, look out!"

(BOOM)

"Aaaagh!" "Aaaaah!"

The bomb explodes, and the impact sends us straight to the ground:

(Crash)

...Luckily, we were fine, or at least I was, since Inuyasha took most of the blow, and even though he has a strong body, that doesn't mean that the bomb's impact didn't hurt in some way:

"Rrgh...C-Coraline, you okay?"

"Yeah...And you?"

"I'm fine..."

We rise to a stand again, and I look around, only to spot a piece of the bomb laying near:

"Hmm..."

I walk over and pick it up, recognizing the make:

"...This...This is a grenade. But, how could there be a grenade here?"

"Inuyasha!" "Coraline!"

I turn to the right and see the others coming towards us:

"Are you guys okay?"

Inuyasha answers for us:

"Yeah, we're alive. But that was one heck of an explosion. And what was up with those bullets? I've never heard of a gun that can shoot from that far."

Miroku agrees:

"Yes, that was odd..."

Shippo then looks up, and cringes when he sees some shadows coming from the dissipating dust cloud:

"Uuh, I think we're about to find out why! Look!"

We follow his direct of sight, and as the dust clears, I see at least a dozen men, wearing a mercenary uniform that would be more familiar in my world, and armed considerably. But what really struck a chord, was the insignia I saw on one of their vests:

 _...No._

 _It, it is them!  
_

"Who are these men?" Miroku answers Sango's question with a serious tone,

"I don't know, but they look more well-armed than the samurai armies I've seen before. Everyone be on your guard."

...I step forward, much to everyone's surprise:

"Coraline?"

I ignore them, and ask with a strong voice and glare,

"Who are you?"

One man steps forward, and I recognized his appearance instantly:

 _Bishop!_

"You're a smart woman. I think you already know." I growl,

"Trinity..."

Inuyasha asks me,

"Wait, hold on: This is them? This is Trinity?"

"Yes...And that man, is the one who killed my father, before almost killing me."

"...Bishop..."

It was Inuyasha's turn to growl, and I focus back on the bastard:

"How the hell is this even happening?! How did you get here?"

"We used a teleportation technology that we've perfected for the very purpose of finding you, based on the energy fluctuations we studied from the Bone Eater's Well at the Higurashi Residence. You must've noticed that there have been eyes on you for the past few weeks, have you not?"

 _Damn, so I was right: They have been watching me since the squabble with those street punks._

"...Why are you here, Bishop? What do you want?"

He smirks a bit:

"Heh, I think the answer is pretty obvious, Croft: While you have resisted, Trinity still sees you as a potential ally. With the knowledge you possess, and ability to sense the supernatural, our goals could be reached at a more efficient pace. Of course, this would require your compliance. Why continue to run? We will find you no matter where you are. Make this easier for both our sides, and come with us willingly."

"To hell with that!"

"Huh?"

I turn to look at Inuyasha with surprise by his outburst, noting how angry he looked:

"There's no way that Coraline would ever join up with the likes of you, especially after the pain and suffering you've caused her!"

Shippo chimes in afterward:

"Yeah! You killed her father, and forced her to leave her home! Plus she's told us what you people do: There's no way she'd join forces with evil humans like you!"

 _...Inuyasha...Shippo..._

I turn to glance at Sango and Miroku, who nod in confirmation...I smile at them, before turning to look at Bishop again with a smirk:

"Hate to break it to you, Bishop, but they're right: I've got the scar that proves you and Trinity are no good. And thanks to Father, I know exactly what you people are capable of: You gain what you want at the cost of many lives without so much as an eye roll, and that's just sick! I'd rather die than join up with the likes of you, and you can tell your higher ups to suck it!"

Bishop frowns at my words:

"I see...I was hoping that it wouldn't come to this, but if you refuse to come willingly, then I have no choice but to take you by force."

I ball my fists in anger, while Inuyasha moves in front of me:

"You'll have to go through me if you want her." Miroku and Sango stand by his side:

"Same here."

"Me too."

Shippo rushes to join them:

"And me! None of us will let you take Coraline away!"

I was touched by how protective they were:

"...Guys...Thank you, but remember that this is my battle to fight. Trinity is my enemy..."

"Which makes them our enemy as well."

"Huh?"

Inuyasha turns to look at me seriously:

"Anyone who dares to threaten you is automatically an enemy to me, or all of us for that matter. This may have been your fight for five years, but now you got backup who will protect you and fight with you, like what you've been doing for us."

"Inuyasha..."

 _He's talking about Naraku..._

Miroku nods in agreement:

"He's right. You've been fighting for us against Naraku, Coraline. Now it is our turn to fight for you against Trinity."

"...Alright. Thank you, everyone, but please be careful: Trinity will be using weapons from my time, so this won't be as easy as fighting a group of bandits."

They nod, and we turn forward, ready to begin the fight...Bishop notes our stance, and turns to address the men he brought with him:

"You know your objection: We must capture Croft, even if it means casualties on either side. Now, (Turn, gesture) attack!"

At that, the battle began, with some of the men firing at us with guns, while others brandished out blades and batons to use for hand-to-hand combat!

Inuyasha found himself up against four:

"Hrrah!"

(Leap)

(Bang, Bang...)

Luckily, the robes of the fire rat protected him from the bullets, and Inuyasha would kick all four of them down:

(KICK)

"Aaagh!"

Meanwhile, Sango and Miroku teamed up against five:

"Hiyah!"

"Hah!"

Sango used Hiraikotsu as a club against the men, while Miroku used his staff. While they did produce some admirable strength, the mercenaries weren't giving an inch either:

(Clang, shove)

"Gh! They're a lot stronger than I anticipated!"

"Yes. They seem rather prepared for this sort of combat! Keep up the pressure, Sango!"

"Right!"

Shippo and Kilala were fighting too, taking on the last of the soldiers themselves:

"(Rowl)"

(Pounce)

"Watch out!"

The men dodge Kilala, just as Shippo uses some of his illusionary magic:

" _Fox Fire!_ "

(Foom)

"Auh!"

As that went on, I found myself against Bishop one-on-one:

"Your plan won't work, Bishop! You and your men are gonna wish you never came here!"

"Is that so?"

With that, we charge against one another, I blocking his incoming fist, before trying to kick him in his side:

"Hah!"

He dodges, before grabbing my leg, and sending me to the ground:

(Thud)

"Rgh..."

I get up, and rush at him again, landing a fist in his chest, but not doing much:

"Damn..."

"Ha, it will take more than that to take me down, Croft."

We keep up the pressure against one another, until I finally found an opening:

"Hiiiyah!"

(KICK)

"Uh!"

That kick to his side finally sent him back a bit, and I smirk while quirking,

"That enough power for ya, Bishop?"

He grits his teeth while straightening up, looking around to see that my friends were starting to get the upper hand on his men:

"Hmph. You have quite the allies with you...Perhaps Trinity could find a place for them as well, especially the half-demon fellow..."

"(Glare) You leave my friends out of this! And how do you know Inuyasha is a half-demon?"

"We used a scanner before sending that first wave of bullets earlier in those ruins to find out what we were up against. Two humans, a half-demon, and two full demons, one of them being a child...You Crofts certainly know how to acquire help from the supernatural side of the world."

"You say that like humans and non-humans can't coincide. Is that what Trinity believes then?"

"In a sense, yes: Our goal is to ensure the superiority of the human race by using supernatural amenities to strengthen our constitution."

"What about the humans that you've killed in the process?! What's the deal about that, making the innocent suffer for the sake of your cause?"

"They were heretics. Misguided people who could not be reasoned with, which would lead to their demise."

I crack my knuckles in anger at his unsympathetic response:

 _They really don't care about their actions...They'll kill anyone who dares stand against them._

 _Bastards!_

"You, son of a bitch...You'll pay!"

I then charge at him with a war cry, pulling out my combat knife...But just as I reach him:

(TOK)

"UH!"

I felt something shoot into my arm...I stop, and look to see,

"...A dart?"

 _Oh, crap!_

"Good work, Samuel."

I turn to see a soldier pop out from behind a bush, holding a tranquilizer-style gun...

"D-Damn it..."

I start to sway, and drop my knife, holding my head from an oncoming headache:

"Ggh...You, bast-ugh..."

I hear Bishop approach me, and the last thing I heard before passing out was,

"Your fight ends here, Croft..."

Next thing I knew, everything went black...

No POV

Just as Inuyasha knocks another charging mercenary to the ground, he hears Coraline yelp out in surprise:

"Huh?"

He turns, and his eyes widen in shock, seeing a dart lodged into Coraline's arm!

"Coraline!"

The others stop what they're doing at Inuyasha's shout, and watch, as Coraline drops her knife, before collapsing to the ground...

(Thud)

"Oh no! Coraline!" "Coraline!"

Bishop steps forward to her unconscious body, and lifts her up by an arm, looking at her with a mixed expression of pity and indifference:

"Hmph...She should count her blessings that Trinity has not declared her life forfeit...yet."

"Don't touch her!"

"Hm?"

He looks up, and sees Inuyasha staring at him with a look of scorn:

"Grr, you coward...You're gonna pay for that!"

(Leap)

"I won't let you take Coraline away!"

The others formed similar expressions, and began charging in Bishop's direction...Unfortunately, this was a move he predicted:

"(Smirk) Fools. Samuel, you know the call."

"(Salute) Yes, sir. All of you, at arms, set to stun!"

(Ca-chang)

The mercenaries all aim their guns at Inuyasha and the others, setting them to a different setting that would not fire bullets...but something just as painful:

"Fire!"

(Pow) (Pow) (Pow)

(BZZZZZTTTTT)

"Aaaaaagggghhhh!"

"Raaaghh!" "Aaaaaah!"

"Uuuuuugh!" "(Rowl)"

All five of them were blasted with multiple bolts of energy, shocking them down to the bone!

...A few seconds later, they all fell to the ground, their bodies twitching a bit from the pain, but were otherwise alive. As they fell unconscious, it would be Inuyasha who tried to hang on and crawl in Coraline's direction:

"Ghh, C-Cor...Cora-line... _Uhhh_..."

But even he couldn't stay awake, and he too would fall into darkness...Bishop orders his men to grab each one, two of them to activate the portal technology out of here, while he himself snatched up Coraline:

"...Heh. It seems your sacrifice was in vain, Mathias. Your daughter will now either submit to Trinity... _or will join you in the afterlife._ "

Meanwhile, in Present-Day Tokyo, Downtown...

"Hey, Besa?"

"Yeah?"

"You think Cora's doin' alright?"

"Well, if she left for Edo, I'd say so. Inuyasha and she must've made up with one another."

The twins were walking down the busy streets, taking in the local sights, while wondering about their sister...Today, Freeman was wearing a black leather jacket over dark-green t-shirt with black jeans and black/white converse high-tops. Besa chose to wear a red jacket with a white t-shirt with blue jeans and full black converse high-tops.

They stop over at one corner, waiting for the light to change, and Besa looks over to see that Freeman had a troubled expression:

"...Is somethin' wrong?"

"I just, have this feeling that something's wrong. Like, Cora and Inuyasha are in danger...(Shakes head) I dunno, maybe I'm just being paranoid."

The light changes, and as they moved across the street, Besa replies,

"Well, actually...I'm getting the same feeling."

"Really?"

"Yeah...Although, it's not just today: Lately, I've been feeling like someone's, watching us, especially when Coraline's here with us."

"No way! So have I! Come to think of it...Didn't Cora once mention something about some dangerous people who came to her old home a couple years ago and killed her father?"

Besa puts a hand under his chin in thought, pausing his step by a lamppost:

"She did...Funny thing though, is that she never went into any major details about it, not even saying who they are..."

"Hm..."

As the boys began pondering this new thought, Freeman suddenly sees something odd up a few blocks:

"Huh?"

"What is it, bro?"

"Look, there."

Besa turns around, and both boys watch...as two teens dressed in black talked to eachother, one of them having an odd symbol on their arm.

"Who are those dudes?"

"Not sure..."

Suddenly, one of the teens feels their stare, and turns to stare back at them...Freeman feels a familiar shiver run down his spine:

"Hang on...I, feel like I know them, but don't..."

"Yeah, same...and I think I know why: We just talked about feeling invisible stares for the past few weeks, right?"

"Right...(Widens eyes) Wait, are you saying-"

"Yeah...(Narrows eyes) I think these guys might be the source, and there could be more of them than those two."

As if they could hear his suspicion, the teens in black turn to one another, nod, and start speeding off to another direction!

"Wha-Hey! Hold on!"

Besa and Freeman begin rushing after the mysterious teens, dodging any pedestrians in their way, determined not to lose them:

"(Pant, pant) I gotta feeling that these weirdos have something to do with why we're suddenly worried about Sis!"

"Me too! (Pant) Let's be careful, though: They might be armed."

"Right."

After a persistent twenty-minute chase, the twins had tailed the black-clothed teens to a quieter part of Tokyo's busy streets, watching from behind a store sign as the two teens make their way into an alleyway...

Nodding to one another, the twins slowly peer around the corner, careful to not make any noise and compromise their position...It was then that one of the teens pulled back their sleeve, revealing an odd-looking watch:

"(Whisper) What the heck is that?"

"(Whisper) No clue, but shh."

The teen points the device in the direction of the blank brick wall...before:

(Beep...Pow)

"(Gasp)" "(Gasp)"

A bolt of energy shoots out, before manifesting as a six-foot portal! The black-clothed teens nod at one another...before stepping through...

"...Besa...is, that...?"

"Yeah, I say that's a wormhole or somethin' along those lines...And, I think we should go in."

"What?! Are you sure? There's no way of knowin' what could be on the other side!"

"I know...but, my gut's telling me we should go anyway, that whatever's on the other side, will answer the question of who these guys are and why they were spying on us and Cora..."

Freeman looks at his brother in surprise:

"Besa...(Nod) Okay, I'm in. But if we get killed on the other side, I blame you."

"Heh, right. Come on, let's go!"

"Lead the way!"

With that decision made, the twins began charging towards the portal, that was slowly beginning to close...

(Leap) (Leap)

They make it in, and the portal closes...

Unknown Location, Besa's POV

(Leap) (Leap)

"Uh!" "Whoa!"

Freeman and I made it through the strange portal, and when we landed on the ground, we looked up, seeing...a forest?

"What the...Where are we?"

Wherever this is, I could tell that it wasn't anywhere near the larger populace of human life: We were now somewhere deep in a forest clearing, where a large building stood at least seven stories tall, along with several vehicles, and multiple giant crates. Then of course, there's the structure that stood behind Freeman and myself, that looked like one of those fictionalized transporter pads from sci-fi...

As we stood up, Freeman asks me,

"Got any clue where this is, bro?"

"No...but I don't think this is anywhere near Tokyo..." Suddenly, I heard the distant sound of a man talking to someone:

"(Muffled) So Bishop and his team are back, huh?"

"(Gasp) Oh crap! Freeman, this way!"

(Grab)

"Gah!"

I pulled by brother behind a stack of those crates to hide, and after a minute, we see two men come around the corner, wearing some sort of mercenary uniform, with that same symbol I saw earlier plastered on their vests:

 _Huh? It's that insignia again...Who are these people?_

"Yeah, he returned, and brought back the target, along with five others that were with her."

"Why's he so interested in this girl, anyway?"

"Apparently, she's suppose to have this freaky ability to sense the supernatural, and the higher-ups in Europe want to put that to use."

 _Wait...a girl that can sense the supernatural..._

 _(Gasp) No...No way. Are they talking about-_

"Ha, well I'll say this much: That Croft girl's in for the shock of her life when she wakes up!"

As the men both laugh, I felt my brain freeze:

 _...Coraline!_

I turn to look at Freeman, and he had his eyes as wide as mine probably were...He then whispers in a slight stutter,

"Di...Did he just say..." I whisper back in a serious tone,

"Yeah, I heard it clear as day...Which means our guts weren't lying: Coraline's in big-time trouble."

"They also said something about five others...You think, they got Inuyasha and those other four friends that Cor mentioned too?"

"Probably...I dunno how the hell they did, but, I'm thinking that transporter has something to do with it."

Freeman nods, before asking in a low tone,

"So what do we do now?"

"Good question..."

I then turn my attention to the building:

"But I think, no, I know that Cora's somewhere inside that building, along with Inuyasha. We need to get in there somehow..."

I then notice an air duct entrance:

"(Smirk) And I know just how we can do that..."

 _Hang in there, Sis. Wherever you are, we'll bust you out of this place!_

Coraline's POV  


"Mmm...Rgh..."

 _God, my head is killing me...So's my arm..._

My eyes slowly blink open, and I find myself staring upward at...a florescent light...

"Huh?"

I sit up, cringing a bit from sore muscles, and saw that I was inside a small room with white walls, one metal door with no knob, and I was sitting in a cot bed...

"What the hell? Where am I?"

 _It's like solitary confinement in a mental institution...(Gasp) Wait a minute!_

"I, was in Edo...but then, we were attacked...by Trinity...(Gasp) Then that means...!"

 _I must be locked up in one of their homebases!_

 _But...the others...Where are they? Are they safe?!_

(Ping)

"Huh?"

I dart my head towards one corner of the room, and see a large television screen...The image being captured, was a laboratory of sorts, and Inuyasha and the others were inside, trapped in glass casings!

"Inuaysha! Sango, Miroku! Shippo, Kilala!"

 _Damn it! Bishop must've ordered their capture as well...but why?_

"(Wavy) Ah, I see that you five have awoken..."

 _And speak of the devil..._

 _Damn you, Bishop! If you hurt any of them, I swear I'll kill you with my bare hands!_

Trinity Headquarters (Japan Division 2), Laboratory, No POV  


"Mm...mrrh...huh?"

Inuyasha arouses from unconsciousness, only to find himself inside a cage of likes he's never seen before...

"What the heck is this? Glass?"

"Inuyasha! Are you okay?"

"Hm?"

He looks to his left, and sees Shippo and Kilala trapped in one as well!

"Shippo! Yeah, I'm fine. How are you and Kilala?"

"Okay, I guess. I dunno what that energy blast was, but it hurt. Where are we?"

"Not sure..."

"I have a feeling this is where Trinity resides..."

Inuyasha turns to the right, and sees Miroku and Sango were awake too:

"Miroku...Sango..."

Miroku replies reassuringly,

"Don't worry, we're fine too. But what really concerns me is that I don't see Coraline here with us."

"Uh!"

Inuyasha darts his head back and forth, but does not see the redhead anywhere in the room:

"You're right, she's not here! Those bastards must've put her somewhere else..."

(Fwwwip)

The five turn frontwards to the sound of a door opening, and see Bishop walking in, along with three other mercenaries:

"Ah, I see that you five have awoken..."

Inuyasha growls at the gray-eyed man:

"You...Where's Coraline? What did you do with her?!"

"Calm yourself, half-demon. Croft is fine...See for yourself."

Bishop walks over to a large computer monitor, and presses a button, turning on the screen:

(Ping)

(Collective gasp)

The five captives then see Coraline appear on screen, sitting on the cot with her head in her hands:

"Coraline!"

Her head darts up, and she looks towards their direction:

"(Wavy) Guys!"

"We just felt it best to keep her separated from you five for the time being in solitary confinement. She can also see you on her own screen."

Bishop then turns to address them:

"You'll also find yourselves stripped of your weapons and any other items deemed too suspicious to be left on your person. They are now stored within the weapon depository."

Inuyasha feels down at his side, finding no sign of his signature sword:

 _Crud! They even took Tessaiga!_

"(Growl) You bastards aren't getting away with this, you hear me?!"

Bishop chuckles and replies,

"Big words, coming from someone currently confined."

"Ha, you think some lousy glass will contain me? You're dreaming!"

Inuyasha brings out his claws, and tries to cut down the cage:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash, bzzzzt)

"Aaagh!"

Unfortunately, though the hit was dead on, the glass did not break, and the contact caused a shockwave of energy to pass through Inuyasha, sending him backwards to the floor!

"Inuyasha!"

"Grgh, what the hell was that?"

Bishop chuckles a bit and explains:

"I'm afraid you're no longer in a world where those of demon blood have the advantage. Here, we have the technological advances strong enough to keep someone as strong as you contained. For example, the glass dome you're in right now, is also built with a deflector shield that will send a shockwave of energy throughout your body if you try anything foolish with your claws."

Inuyasha growls deeply, as the others become defensive, realizing that the glass domes they were in likely had a similar function...

"(Wavy) Damn you, Bishop! You already have me; why drag my friends into this?!"

Bishop turns to the screen, addressing Coraline who had her fists balled and fury written on her face:

"You should know how our organization works by now: We cannot have any loose ends in our missions, and that includes witnesses. Of course, if you swear yourself to Trinity, perhaps we can discuss sending your friends back safe to whence they came."

"(Wavy) Bullcrap! It may have been more than five years, but I know your gambit, Bishop: You won't let them go, whether I join Trinity or not. So how 'bout you let me out of this room, and I'll show you how fast I can beat you black and blue!"

"Hmph. Continue to be stubborn if you wish, Croft, but I've broken others with stronger wills before. It's only a matter of time...and the longer you refuse, the longer your friends' lives will hang in the balance."

Coraline forms a worried look at that last sentence, but Inuyasha wouldn't let her be blackmailed:

"Don't listen to him, Coraline! He's just trying to manipulate you!"

Miroku and Sango chime in after him:

"We'll be fine, so long as you stay strong!"

"We've faced tougher situations than this, and we won't give in as long as you don't!"

"(Wavy)...Guys..."

Coraline smiles and nods. Bishop frowns at the sound of the encouragement, and decides the cut the connection:

(Ping)

"Auh! Coraline!"

"Perhaps some silence between the groups will be best for now..."

With that, he leaves the laboratory, leaving the five captives to start brainstorming ideas of how to get out of here, as well as worry for Coraline's safety...

Coraline's POV

(Ping)

"Rgh, dammit. He turned off the screen! Now what?"

I sit back down on the cot, running my fingers through my hair, trying to calm down and come up with a plan:

 _Okay, Cora, pull yourself together: Panicking isn't gonna solve the problem..._

 _There's gotta be someway to get out of this room and find the others...but what?_

(Thump, thump)

"...Huh?"

 _What was that?_

I look up to the ceiling, hearing a faint banging sound echoing behind the walls:

"...Was that, the air ducts?"

 _Hang on a second...There must be an entrance to the air ducts around here..._

After peering around the room for a couple seconds, I spot a large vent cover under the cot:

"Aha!"

I crawl underneath, and look inside to make sure that this duct didn't lead directly to a fan or something else:

 _Looks clear...Yeah, yeah this'll work!_

I gripped the sides of the cover, and begin to pull:

(Rattle...)

"Rrrgh..."

After a few minutes of forceful tugging, I managed to pry it off!

(Clang)

"Gotcha!"

I put the cover down on the floor, and begin shimmying inside, thanking my lucky stars that I was born skinny:

"(Pant) Alright, here goes nothin'..."

I crawled down to the end, and pulled myself upward to the next path:

"Okay...This will be a challenge, but I can do it..."

I spread my hands and feet on the metal walls, and began shoving myself upwards as slow and careful as I could, making it to the next floor:

"Ha. That wasn't too hard. Now, let's see where this leads..."

...I traveled down the new floor path for a good couple feet, before my ears picked up on that thumping sound again, only it was slowly getting louder:

"...Where is that coming from?"

I shake my head, focusing on trying to find the others, using the vent covers I come across to see what part of the building I was in:

"...Still nothing...Damn it, where are they keeping Inuyasha and the others?"

I turn around the next corner, and the next thing I knew, I crawled into someone:

(Bump)

"Ah!"

"Gah!" "Whoa!"

 _Wait...those voices...No way. It can't be-_

"Cor? Is that you?"

I look up, and saw my twin brothers looking back at me with shocked expressions that likely matched mine:

"...Freeman...Besa..."

I felt a huge smile form on my face, happy to see some friendly and familiar faces:

"Guys! I can't believe you're here!"

I move to hug them (well, tried to; it's not an easy thing to do in a cramped space like this), they hugging me, all of us keeping our voices low so that they didn't echo, and laughing at the craziness of meeting eachother inside an air duct!

Small Time Skip, No POV

Soon enough, the three teens were moving along in the air ventilation system, trying to find Inuyasha and the others to break them out. Along the way, Coraline finally reveals her past with Trinity and her grudge against Bishop, while Besa and Freeman tell her about how they got here...

"So, you guys followed a pair of the spies through a portal to this place?"

"Yeah. It was crazy: One of them used some kind of weird futuristic watch to blast a portal open on a brick wall."

"We followed them initially because we had this gut feeling they had something to do with why there's been invisible eyes watching us for the past few weeks. When we heard those two soldiers talking about you...we knew something was wrong."

Coraline stops for a moment, forming a guilty look on her face:

"...I'm so sorry that I never told you two about Trinity. It's been five years since I last saw any signs of them, and I honestly thought they thought I was dead...I should've warned you after that encounter with those street punks, but I, didn't want to endanger either of you."

Freeman turns his head to her and replies,

"Don't apologize, Cora. This isn't something you could've predicted, like what happened with the Bone Eater's Well and Inuyasha. I mean sure, it would've been nice that you said something more about why you came to Japan in the first place, but we understand the secrecy."

Besa nods in agreement, flashing a soft smile at her:

"You just wanted to protect us, and we get that. We probably would've done the same thing if we were in your shoes...Just remember that secret-keeping can lead to trouble, especially ones like this."

Coraline nods quickly:

"Gotcha. I promise I won't make this same mistake again. I want you two to be safe, but, not ignorant to the dangers of my life before and now."

They each reach a hand out, making a three-way handshake:

"No more secrets,"

"And we look out for one another,"

"No matter how tough life gets."

With that promise made, the teens focus back on reality:

"Alright: Bishop had Inuyasha and the others held in a laboratory of sorts according to what I saw on the television monitor of my cell."

Besa goes into thought:

"Hmm...well, we're on the third floor of the building now, and I saw on a wall map that the labs in this joint are on the fifth floor."

"Which means we need to find a duct path up."

"Right. Let's keep going."

The twins lead the way, and after taking a few lefts and a right, they find a path leading up:

"Aha, here we go!" Besa elbows Freeman in the ribs:

"Shh! Not so loud, or our voices will travel..."

"Sorry."

They climb upward, and reach the next floor...As they crawled along the new path, they come across an duct cover:

"...What's that? Looks like a, giant boomerang?"

Coraline's head snaps up at the description:

"What? Giant boomerang? Let me see!"

"Hang on, hang on..."

The boys move down and over so Coraline could look down into the room below:

"...Oh my god...It's Sango's weapon, Hiraikotsu!"

"That's a weapon?!"

"Yeah...And, I think I see Miroku's staff in there too...along with, some crates of other weapons...Oh! Tessiaga! This must be an armory...so they must've stored everything that belongs to me and others in there."

Besa nods:

"Then let's remember to come back to the fourth floor once we bust everyone else out."

With that thought in the back of their heads, the three keep going...Eventually, they find another upward path, and climb up to the next floor...

"(Pant) Huh, weird...this is more spacious than the other floors..."

Apparently, this part of the ventilation system was much larger: It was spacious enough that Coraline and the twins could stand up, and had a few control boxes in random areas, along with multiple vent covers...Coraline comments while looking around,

"This must be the main part of the vent system for this place." Freeman nods:

"Yeah...(Gasp) Guys, over here, look!"

Coraline and Besa rush over to where he was:

"What is it, bro?"

"I see Inuyasha and the others."

He points to one large vent cover, and the other two look inside, and gasp, seeing the laboratory Coraline was talking about, as well as its current captives:

"Inuyasha..."

"What the hell are those things they're in? Looks like something out a bio-genetics special..."

Coraline narrows her eyes:

"I dunno...but I remember seeing Inuyasha getting blasted with some kind of energy when he tried to claw his way out, so the material must be pretty powerful to stave off a demon."

"All the more reason to get him out of there, and everyone else...Hmm, question is though, how are we gonna get there without being spotted? I can see at least four, no, five guards roaming around..."

Coraline hums, before spotting a vent cover that was hiding behind a giant computer:

"(Point) That vent is in their blind spot. We just have to go around right a couple feet and we can drop down...Then there's just the problem of taking them out..."

"One step ahead of ya, sis."

"Huh?"

Coraline and Besa turn to Freeman in confusion, who was standing near another vent cover with a knowing smirk:

"I can see some smoke bombs down there. We just have to sneak over, snatch one up each, and let 'em fly. They can't hit what they can't see, right?"

The other two look at one another for a moment...before forming their own smirks, and nod at Freeman...

Down in the laboratory, Inuyasha was becoming restless and irritated in being trapped:

 _Damn it, this sucks. If I try clawin' my way out, I'll just get electrified again._

 _And god forbid if the others try breaking out too, only to get hurt in the process..._

 _Coraline...I hope you're okay, and I promise to keep thinking until I come up with something to bust out of here and save you..._

What he didn't know, however, is that he and the others would be the ones getting rescued in the next few minutes...

(Crick-clang)

"Huh?"

His ears suddenly picked up on a strange sound:

 _...What the hell was that? Didn't sound like one of these weird contraptions._

He turns around to the back right...before his eyes bulge out at the sight of Besa, Freeman and Coraline crawling out of the air ducts!

 _Coraline! And the twins?! How'd those two get here?!_

 _How'd she get here?!_

Coraline feels a stare, and turns to Inuyasha's direction, sending a salute, followed by a finger over the mouth to signal silence. Inuyasha tilts his head in confusion, until Coraline points to the guards...He understands immediately, and nods...

Coraline smiles and nods back, before turning back to the twins, keeping her voice as low as possible:

"Okay, Inuyasha knows we're here now. Let's get those bombs, then split up to cover more ground." Besa nods:

"Right," followed by Freeman saying,

"I'll go get the smoke bombs; you two stay here."

"Be careful."

Freeman nods, before turning around and beginning his way over to the crate where the bombs were sitting on, using every available object large enough to hide behind to keep invisible to the guards...He makes it, grabs three bombs, before crawling his way back as quietly as possible...

"Got 'em."

"Nice stealth, bro. Okay, I'll go over where Shippo and Kilala are, while Besa, you go behind Miroku and Sango, and Freeman, take the entrance to the lab. We'll box these bastards in."

"Good plan." "Gotcha."

With one quick nod, the three teens split up, and steal themselves over to their stations...When Coraline reached where Shippo and Kilala were, the fox demon was ecstatic to see her:

"(Gasp) Coraline!"

"Shh, yes, it's me, Shippo, but stay quiet, okay? My brothers and I are gonna get the jump on these guards, then we'll bust you all out."

"Oh, right. Okay...wait, your brothers?"

Coraline points over where Besa and Freeman were...

"Oooh...how'd they get here?"

"Long story. We'll explain in a minute."

Meanwhile, the twins made their way behind Miroku and Sango, who were quite surprised to see them:

"...Huh? Who are you two?"

Besa shushes them, before signaling Freeman to keep going to his station, then turning back to quietly say,

"We'll explain in a minute, but in the meantime, act like we're not here."

"Uh, okay..."

"(Point) If you look over there, you'll see Cora..."

"...Oh! Then you must be-" Besa interrupts Miroku:

"Hold that thought: The guards are coming into position. Like I said, we'll tell you who we are in a second..."

He then focuses on the area where the guards were standing, as do Freeman and Coraline...Coraline holds her fingers up, counting down from five:

 _Five..._

 _Four..._

 _Three..._

 _Two..._

 _One!_

At her thumbs-up, all three teens throw a smoke bomb, catching the Trinity guards completely unawares:

(BOOM, Foooosh...)

"(Cough) What the hell?!" "What's going on?!" "Ambush!"

Coraline calls out to her brothers:

"Now!"

They all then charge in with determined looks, and with the guards disoriented by the smoke, they had a pretty good advantage:

(Punch, kick, kick...)

"Agh!" "What the-?!"

"Uhh!"

Inuyasha and the others couldn't see the action at first, but as the smoke cleared, their eyes widen in shock, as Coraline roundhouse-kicks one guard to the ground, while Freeman and Besa team up against the last one standing:

(Kick)

"Aaaag-"

"Hrah!"

(KICK)

"Uuuhhhh..."

(Thud)

...With all of the guards down for the count, Coraline and the twins cheer in triumph:

"Yes!" "Alright!"

"And who says teenagers can't kick ass?"

They all laugh at Freeman's cheer, before focusing on everyone else, with Coraline waving at everyone with a smile:

"Hey guys. Miss me~?"

"Coraline!" "Coraline!"

Shippo broke into his own cheer alongside Kilala's mewls:

"That was awesome! You three totally kicked their butts!"

"(Giggle) Thanks Shippo. Now then...let's get you all out of those things."

Coraline walks up to Inuyasha, while Freeman walked over to Shippo and Kilala, and Besa to Miroku and Sango:

"...Dang. Whatever happened to labeling these things 'On and Off'?" Besa agrees with Freeman:

"I know, right? Hey Cor, any ideas of what button to press?"

"Still looking..."

"...You came here to rescue us."

"Hm?"

Coraline looks up at Inuyasha's astonished expression, and smiles while replying,

"Of course I did. I would never ever consider leaving you guys behind. You're all precious to me, especially you, Inuyasha."

"...Coraline..."

"Hey, Cora, Freeman! I think I got it!"

Coraline turns to Besa's direction:

"You sure?"

"Yeah: I see something labelled 'Energy Fail-Safe Disabler'. I dunno if it'll get rid of the glass, but I'm pretty sure this controls the force-field lining it."

"Hm, alright, that should be enough. (Turn) Inuyasha, do you think you can get out of the glass that way once the barrier's down?"

"Keh, piece of cake. Just push the button already and get me outta here."

Coraline half-smirks at his cockiness:

"As you wish, oh mighty dog demon. You heard the man, bros, let's try it."

"Right!" "Right!"

(Click) (Click) (Click)

The buttons are pushed...and in a stroke of luck, the deflector shields begin powering down!

"Yes!"

Once they completely vanished, Coraline backs up a bit and says,

"Alright, Inuyasha: Give it a whirl!"

(Leap)

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash, shatter)

The glass breaks, and the twins rush to pull Coraline away from the flying shards:

"Watch it, sis!"

"Whoa!"

They pull her to the left and away from the glass, as Inuyasha lands smoothly on the ground:

"Ha, finally I'm out!"

He then turns to smile at the three:

"Nice job, you guys."

They nod with big grins on their faces, and Inuyasha quickly makes work of the other glass domes, freeing Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kilala...Once everyone was out, and got a big hug of relief from Coraline each, Miroku would then ask the question about the twins:

"Sooo, are these two gentlemen friends of yours?"

The twins walk up to either side of Coraline, as she puts her arms around their shoulders and answers,

"Brothers, actually. Inuyasha's already met them, but I guess now the rest you can: Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Kilala, I'd like you to meet my twin brothers, Freeman and Besa Brownlee."

Said twins shake hands with Miroku and Sango:

"Hi." "Nice to meet you."

Shippo hops up on Coraline's shoulder to get a closer look:

"Wow, I've never seen humans with that kind of skin colour before!"

The twins laugh lightly at the comment and say,

"Yeah, we get that alot in Japan."

"It's because we're of African-American descent that we have a darker skin pigment. We have ancestors from Africa, but originally, we come from North America in a country called the United States. Blood travels, ya know what I mean?"

"Uuuh, I think so..."

Inuyasha then asks them with a raised eyebrow,

"So how'd you two get here anyway?"

"Long story short, we followed some spies into a portal that sprouted downtown and came here."

"Once we heard Cor's last name, that's all we needed to know something bad was going on..."

Coraline folds her arms with a frown:

"Then this means that Trinity's teleportation technology isn't just for time travel: They can travel anywhere here in this world too...That's not good..."

Miroku replies in a serious tone,

"Indeed, that is quite troubling...but right now, we need to focus on getting out of here before any other guards find out what happened in here."

Inuyasha retorts,

"But we can't leave here without our weapons! I'm sure as hell not leaving Tessaiga here with these stupid humans!"

"Actually...We know where it's being stored."

Inuyasha whirls over to Coraline:

"What? Where is it? Where's Tessaiga?"

"Calm down: There's an armory room a floor down from where we are. I saw Hiraikotsu, Miroku's Staff, and Tessaiga inside, so I'm fairly sure everything that was taken from us is in there..."

"...Alright. So how do we get there without getting caught?"

Freeman answers with a shrug,

"Same way we got here: The vent systems."

Small Time Skip

(Thump, thump, thump...)

"How much further 'til we're there?"

"Not far. Just need to keep going down this end, then make a right."

The group was now on the fourth floor of the ventilation system, crawling along and trying not to make too much noise and arouse suspicion...

"What?! What do you mean Croft and her allies are gone?!"

Everybody freezes to the sound of Bishop's furious voice echoing from an vent cover a stone's throw away from Besa, who was leading the charge...He signals everyone else to be silent, as they listened to another Trinity soldier nervously explain the situation:

"I-I dunno how she did it, but Croft escaped! And one of the others found the guards in the lab knocked out cold, and the glass domes were smashed open!"

"Damn it...Put everyone on alert! Destroy the others if necessary, but Croft is to be captured alive!"

"Yes, sir!"

...Once the sound of footsteps died off down below, Coraline curses:

"Shit. So much for escaping unawares..." Freeman replies matter-of-factually,

"Nobody said this was gonna be easy, Cor. Let's just get to the armory and get out of here."

Everyone gets moving again, and eventually, they reach the vent cover that lead to the armory room:

"Okay, we're here."

(Kick, clang)

The vent cover falls to the ground below, before Besa drops to his feet, followed by Freeman, Coraline, Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, Shippo and Kilala...

Looking around, the room was filled with crates and containers of weapons, some standard, some unusual, some labelled 'Danger'...

Freeman lets out a low whistle:

"Holy crap, are they planning for World War Three?! There's more guns and blades here then they can use!"

Coraline replies with a scoff,

"I doubt that all of these are made by Trinity. Some of them are likely stolen contraband..."

"Ah, Hiraikotsu!"

Coraline turns to see Sango happily take back her weapon, along with Miroku grabbing his staff:

"Thank the gods, I've got this back."

Shippo then spots his illusionary trick pouch:

"Yay! My fox tricks!...Huh? Hey, Coraline, I think I found your satchel!"

"What? Where?"

Coraline rushes over to Shippo's position, he standing on top a crate:

"(Point) Here."

She peers over the stack, and sees her brown satchel:

"Good eye, Shippo!"

Coraline pulls it out from the crevice of crates, and does a thorough check to make sure everything is still inside:

"(...Deep sigh) Oh good, everything's exactly how I left it, and nothing's missing."

 _It's lucky I chose this round of packing not to include any of Father's research. No way is Bishop getting his hands on that..._

"Aw come on, seriously?! How am I suppose to get past this?!"

Coraline turns to where Inuyasha's complaint came from, and sees him brooding over the fact that his sword was, not within easy reach...She walks over to where he stood (as do everyone else), and sees the problem:

"Shoot. This wasn't here earlier. It must've been recently activated."

By 'it', she means the newly-formed laser gird that was surrounding the display stand that Tessaiga was resting on...and guess what was sitting below it?

"Auh! My combat knife's in there too! (Facepalm) Great...Now what?"

A Few Minutes Earlier, Freeman's POV

As everyone scrambled to find and steal back their weapons/items, I decided to take a look around:

"Hmm, this is pretty advanced technology. I wonder if the government knows about any of this? Likely not..."

As I moved down one isle, I came across something familiar:

"Hm?"

It looked like those weird transporter watches that those mercenaries and spies wore, except simpler: It was mainly a leather strap, a round metal base, with a crystal shard lodged comfortably in the center...

"Hey Besa, check this out." He comes over to my side:

"What is it, Freeman?"

"I think I just found the prototype to those transport watches...Oh, there's a second one here too."

I pick them up, and hand one to Besa so he could get a closer look:

"Huh, weird...The crystal kind-of looks like those jewel shards that Coraline's been hunting, only different..."

"Yeah. It's more quartz-like..."

I stare at the prototype for a minute, having this, strange feeling:

 _That crystal...It's faint, but, I can feel an energy calling to me...Like I was suppose to find it._

"...Besa. I think we should take these with us."

"...Yeah. I was just thinking the same thing."

We snap the prototypes on our wrists, just as we heard Inuyasha exclaim,

"Aw come on, seriously?! How am I suppose to get past this?!"

We rush over to where he was, and see a laser grid covering the area where Tessaiga was standing:

"Oooh, that's a problem..."

Coraline then exclaims,

"Auh! My combat knife's in there too! (Facepalm) Great...Now what?"

I stepped forward to look more closely at the laser grid:

"Hmm...The holes between the lasers aren't too small...I think we might be able to slip the blades out."

I turn to Coraline, and compare her arm size to the holes in the laser grid:

"...Yeah. Yeah, this should work as long as we do it carefully. Cora, you up for a bit of burglary stealth?"

She gives me a deadpan:

"Really? Burglary stealth?"

"What? It's kind-of what we're doin', and your arms are skinny enough to reach inside."

"(...Deep sigh) Fine, I'll do it. But I'm gonna need a boost up so I can get the Tessaiga's handle."

"Leave that to us, right, bro?"

Besa nods, and we go behind Coraline, before hoisting her up on our shoulders:

"(Grunt) Ready?"

"Yeah, start easing me in, slowly..."

I walk forward with Besa, and Coraline eases her arm carefully inside...

"Rgh...a little more, guys..."

We edge a bit further, and Coraline stretches as far as she can...before:

(Grasp)

"Got it!"

"Okay, slowly tilt it forward, and ease it out one of the holes that way. Inuyasha, stand by to grab."

He nods, and Coraline begins tilting Tessaiga, fumbling a bit before catching it:

"Yipe! Phew..."

"Oi, careful with my sword!"

"Sorry, Inuyasha."

"Calm down, dude. This is delicate work..."

"Whatever..."

Coraline gets it down to a hole around the middle of the lase grid, and very carefully starts sliding it through:

"...Almost, there...Okay, Inuyasha, go ahead and grab it, but be careful of the laser edges."

"Yeah yeah."

He takes it by the upper sheath, and slowly pulls it out, while Coraline pulls back her arm...

"Yes!"

"We did it!" "Way to go, Coraline!"

"You guys are a good team!"

We set Coraline down on her feet, and she remarks lightly,

"Hoo, that wasn't so bad. Now, I just have to grab my knife. That should be easier to pull out..."

She turns back to the grid, and once again puts a careful arm between the lasers, successfully grabbing her combat knife:

"Ha!"

She pulls back, a big grin on her face:

"Heh, guess Trinity should rethink their security measures."

Her smile then vanishes, replaced with a serious look:

"Okay, now that we all got our stuff back, let's find our way outside. I don't think we can take the vent system now without making too much noise, so we'll need to take the halls."

I fold my arms in thought:

"Hm, that's gonna take some major stealth. The place is bound to be filled with guards runnin' around the floors lookin' for us...We should try to find the stairwell: It'll be less likely that they'll find us there."

Everyone nods in agreement, and we begin walking over to the door out of here:

"Aw crap, it's locked! How are we-" I interrupt Coraline and reply calmly,

"Relax. I got this one covered."

"Huh?"

Everyone looks at me confused...before I brandish out a key card with a cheeky grin. Besa asks me,

"How the heck did you get that?"

"Stole it off a guard from the lab."

"...Sometimes I worry for you, Freeman."

I just chuckle at my brother, before swiping the card into the slot:

(Beep)

No POV

The door to the armory slides open, and Freeman pokes his head out, looking back and forth to see if anyone was coming...

"Okay, coast is clear..."

Everyone slowly steps out into the corridor, and Besa says in a low voice,

"Okay, based on what I remember from the wall map, the staircase entrance for this floor wasn't too far away from here in the armory. We just have to go right, then left, and right at the end of the hall should be the door."

Coraline nods:

"Sounds good, bro. Okay everyone, let's move fast, but silent. And keep your senses sharp for any guards."

They begin rushing down the right of the hall, and following Besa's directions, they find the door to the staircase:

"Ha! Got it. Do your thing with the key card, Freeman."

(Swipe, beep)

The door unlocks, and they enter the stairwell...Shippo then asks,

"Should we go down or up?" Miroku answers,

"It's more likely there will be guards posted below, so we should head for the roof of this place and escape from there."

Freeman bugles his eyes a bit at that suggestion:

"Uh, this place is at least seven stories high! How do you propose we jump from that high to the ground?!"

As they begin rushing up the stairs, Inuyasha says with a scoff,

"Don't be a scaredy cat, man. We've got that covered: I can take two plus Shippo down on my own, and the rest can ride Kilala."

"Kilala?"

Coraline turns her head to the twins and says,

"Oh right, you guys haven't seen her true form yet: Kilala's more than capable of carrying a few people at a time."

"...You sure?"

"Positive. You'll see once we're on the roof."

Eventually, they reach the door leading to the roof...but when they opened it, the group sees three guards skulking around:

"Damn. Should'a known there'd be a few soldiers here..."

As Coraline curses to herself, the twins spot a pair of crowbars on the ground:

"Hmm...you thinkin' what I'm thinkin', Besa?"

"Yeah...Stay here, everyone. We got this one."

The twins then rush over to where the crowbars were, much to Coraline's protest:

"Wha-Besa, Freeman, what are you doing?"

They ignore her, and snatch the bars up, before sneaking around slowly behind the guards, much to Miroku's and Sango's surprise:

"...Looks like they're going to try a sneak attack."

"Your brothers are brave, I'll give them that, Coraline."

As the guards dart their heads around, slowly walking across the roof grounds, looking for any signs of Coraline and/or the others, suddenly:

"Yo, wiseguys!"

"Huh?"

(Swing, CLANG)

"Uh!"

Freeman makes the first move against one guard, knocking out their weapon with his crowbar, before landing a kick in his gut:

"Agh!"

As that Trinity soldier falls, the other two point their weapons at Freeman:

"W-Why you-?!" "Who the hell are you?!"

"(Smirk) Your worst nightmare. Now, Besa!"

(CLONK, CLONK)

"Owhuh!"

"Rrrrgh!"

Besa then swings in with his crowbar on top their heads, and knocks them out...Unfortunately, the first guard was not down for the count yet:

"(Widens eyes) Freeman, behind you!"

"Huh?"

(Punch, dodge)

"Whoa!"

Freeman barely dodges an incoming fist, before swinging one back:

"Hyah!"

(Punch)

"Urgh!"

Besa comes in with a kick, before both hit the guard at the same time:

(Kick)

(KICK)

"Aaagh!"

(Thud)

...Now the soldiers were down...Freeman and Besa turn to eachother with triumphant grins:

"Ha, yes!"

"Way to go, bro!"

As they highfive eachother, the others come out with their own smiles:

"Nice work, you guys."

"That was excellent teamwork."

"You knocked 'em out cold. I'm impressed."

They rub the back of their heads with modest smiles:

"Thanks." "Thanks."

They then turn to the edge of the roof, looking down below at the ground and the treeline for a large forest:

"Sooo back to the whole 'getting down' issue..."

Coraline laughs a bit and says,

"Hang on...Sango?"

"Right...Kilala, you know what to do."

Said cat demon mewls, before surrounding herself in flames, and transforming into her larger true form:

"(Rowl)"

The twins gape at Kilala in awe:

"Whoa..." "Whoa..."

Coraline laughs again:

"Yeah, I know, pretty mind-blowing, isn't it? Okay, so who's going with who?"

In the end, it would be Inuyasha taking Coraline, Shippo and Freeman, while Kilala took Sango, Miroku and Besa...

(Leap) (Leap)

They all land on the ground safely, with Freeman and Besa exclaiming excitedly,

"That was so cool!"

"Amazing!"

Coraline smiles at the lit-up expressions on their faces...before noticing something on the back wall of the building:

"Hm?"

"What is it, Coraline?"

"I see...a label on the building...I think it has the place name."

Coraline walks over to the wall where the plaque label was, and reads,

"Trinity Headquarters, Japan Division, Section 2. Location: Aokigahara Forest..."

The twins widen their eyes at the location name:

"Aokigahara? As in 'The Sea of Trees' Forest near Mount Fuji?"

"Aw jeez, that's way far from Tokyo!"

Coraline curses:

"Damn it. And knowing Trinity, this is likely one of the lesser known areas of the forest far off from human activity..."

Besa then remembers,

"Hold up...We're at the back of the building now, (Turn) and left is where that transporter pad that Freeman and I came out of when we first got here. If we can get to that, maybe we can use it to get to Edo."

Freeman adds,

"And maybe these prototype watches we swiped can help." Coraline looks at him in confusion:

"...What prototypes?"

The twins pull back their sleeves, revealing the transporters with the crystal centers:

"We found these in the armory, and for reasons we can't really put into words, we decided to take them."

"It's weird, though: As I was looking at it, I felt this, strange pull, like the crystal was calling to me, and Besa felt it too."

Coraline and the others come over to take a closer look:

"Huh...strange. They, sort-a remind me of the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama, but they aren't...Wait a sec: I think I know what they are!"

"What?"

"I remember Grandfather once told me about this other infamous jewel that had a strange power, but was more abundant like a normal crystal. I, think it was called 'The Crystal of Seven Lights'. It was mostly spoken in ancient texts as a healing crystal, but hidden between the words, scholars have rumoured the jewel to have more power than that."

Everyone hms in thought...Miroku then says,

"Well, whatever the case, if these work the same way as the devices used by Trinity to travel to our world, then we should be able to use them for our own purposes."

Inuyasha nods in agreement:

"Yeah, so let's quit standing around and get movin' to that trans-porter pad thing, or whatever. (Turn) You guys know where one is, right, Besa?"

"Yep. Follow us."

With the twins leading the way, everyone starts rushing for the transporter pad...But when they turned the corner:

"(Gasp) Ah crap!"

There was a large group of Trinity soldiers already there, including Bishop! Hearing the exclaim, Bishop turns around and sees the group:

"There they are! Get them!"

As the soldiers cock their weapons, Coraline shouts,

"Run for the forest!"

(Bang, bang, bang...)

As the guns begin firing, our group begins running towards the deep tree cover as fast as they could...

Small Time Skip

"(Pant, pant) Have we lost 'em yet?"

"Not even close! They're still a good couple feet away!"

After about half an hour, Coraline, Inuyasha and everyone else was still on the run from Trinity, dodging the incoming gunfire and trying to put as much distance between them and themselves as possible:

(Bang, pow)

"Ah!"

Coraline is startled from a gunshot that hit a tree a few inches away from her, and Inuyasha became concerned:

"Coraline, are you okay?!"

"Yeah, I'm good! The shot missed, but I dunno how long we can keep going like this!"

Inuyasha suddenly spins around, and scoops up the redhead, putting her on his back, before doing the same with Besa:

"Ah!"

"Whoa, dude, word of warning!"

"Trust me, this'll be faster and easier. So shut up and hang on!"

Kilala follows Inuaysha's example, and gets everyone else to ride on her, before both demon and half-demon pump up their speed...As they got more distance from the pursuing soldiers, Inuyasha smirks and says,

"Ha, those idiots can't catch us now."

"Maybe not for a while, but what are we gonna do?"

"Huh? What're you talkin' about, Coraline?"

"We're not in familiar territory, and the only way to really get outta here is all the way back at the headquarters. I doubt Bishop will leave it unguarded too..."

Sango calls out in agreement:

"She's right. We're literally and figuratively not out of the woods yet."

As they stop in a small clearing, Inuyasha says with a small scowl,

"Hey, at least I'm trying to stay positive about this." Coraline replies with a patient smile,

"I know, Inuyasha, and I'm glad for that, but we need to keep in mind of the situation: Positive attitude is good, but we can't afford to get cocky."

He hmphs while folding his arms, and Coraline just sighs with a head shake:

 _Boys..._

"Alright: At this point, we need to pick a direction, and hopefully find one of the main hiking trails that can direct us to some help. (Turn) What do you think, bros?...Bros?"

The twins weren't listening; their eyes were more focused on the prototype transporters they stole, specifically on the crystals:

"...Do you feel that?"

"Yeah...It's pulsing again, but stronger..."

They dart their heads towards the northeast:

"That way." "That way."

They suddenly broke into a run for that direction, much to everyone else's confusion:

"Huh?" "Freeman, Besa!"

"Where are you guys going?!" "Wait up!"

The twins keep running forward in the direction, with everyone trailing behind them...Eventually, they come to another clearing, only this one held a large gathering of craters:

"...Whoa. Must've been alot of volcanic activity in this area."

"Yeah...Now, where is that-"

"Freeman! Besa!"

Coraline and the others catch up, and as she pants in exhaustion, she asks,

"(Pant) What, the heck, was that about?"

"It's the crystals: They started pulsing again, only we felt a pull in this direction..."

"What? That's weird...Wait: Maybe this area has another transporter pad set up, and the crystal shards detected it somehow."

"Hm, could be...Let's look around for anything that looks out of place."

Everyone splits up, and starts combing the crater-filled clearing, looking out for anything unusual...

"Hey! I found it!"

Everyone darts over to Freeman's shout at one giant crater, and looking down below, there was a transporter platform sitting at the bottom!

"Nice one, Freeman!"

"Let's go see if we can activate it!"

The group bounds down the wall of the crater to the transporter pad, but when they got there, they ran into a little problem:

"...Damn it. Looks like they have a specific location code system. Without knowing it, we can only use it on Lottery."

Shippo asks Coraline,

"Lottery? What's that mean?"

"Short version, it means that when we go through the portal...there's no way of knowing where we'll come out."

Everyone cringes at the thought...But they had little time to worry about the consequences, when suddenly:

"Sir! I'm picking up signals from this area! Croft and her cohorts must be here!"

"Everyone spread out and start searching!"

Inuyasha curses, and says,

"We have no other choice now: We'll just have to risk it and hope we don't end up somewhere we'll be blown apart."

Everyone reluctantly nods, knowing he was right:

"It looks like we just need to hold our watches over this module here. Freeman?"

"Right, bro. Everyone else, get on the platform."

As Coraline and the others step up onto the metal platform, the twins hold the wrist watches over the module, waiting for it to activate the portal:

"...Come on. Turn on!"

"Hold it right there!"

"Crap, they found us! Come on, crystal, work, work!"

(...Sheen) (...Sheen)

(Bong)

The module lights up green:

"It worked!"

As soldiers began circling the crater edge, a portal slowly begins to open behind the group! Coraline shouts,

"Guys, hurry! Get on!"

The twins run fast to the others, just as the portal enlarges and begins swallowing their bodies, and Bishop calls out,

"Fire!"

(BANG)

(WHOOSH)

...But his call came too late: Our group escapes through the portal, leaving the platform empty, and Bishop to shout to the sky in a fury,

" _Crooooooft!_ "

Unknown Location, Coraline's POV

"Mmm...h-huh?"

 _Where...are we? Did we make it back to Edo, or Tokyo?_

My vision focuses back to normal, and I sit up while holding my head, noting the others who were laying in different positions on the ground unconscious...

I look around, seeing that we were on a grassy hill filled with...Bell-Heather?

"...That's strange. How could Bell-Heather be in Japan? It's a European native plant."

I get up, and when I look down below, I feel my eyes go wide as saucers from one sight I haven't seen for years: A familiar-looking village nestled near the ocean...

"...Oh. My. God. This is-"

"Rgh...aw, my head..."

I turn back to see Inuyasha rising to a sitting position while gritting his teeth a bit:

"Inuyasha!"

I rush over to his side, placing a concerned hand on his shoulder:

"Are you alright?"

"I think so...What about you?"

"Fine...sort-of."

He looks at me with a confused scowl at my hesitance:

"Fine, sort-of? What's wrong?"

"Um, Inuyasha...I dunno how I can put this, but, I think we're in-"

I was interrupted by the sounds of everyone else softly groaning and getting up:

"Wh-What happened?" "Did we made it?"

"Whoa, what a rush..." "I think my head got turned upside-down..."

When their minds clear from the muddle, it would be Shippo to notice after me that this place was not on our original radar:

"Huh? Where is this? This doesn't look like Edo..."

He then goes up to sniff and look at the Bell-Heather:

"These are pretty, but, I've never seen these flowers before..."

"That's cause they're not native to Japan, Shippo."

Everyone looks at me in confusion:

"How do you know that, Coraline?"

"If not, then whe-Hang on, are you saying we're not in Japan anymore?"

I nod grimly, looking down at the village again, the others coming to stand beside me:

"This is one place I never thought I'd return to...One place I thought I left behind for good..."

Inuyasha looks at me questionably, looking back at the village, before he puts two and two together:

"Gh, wait: Coraline...are you saying..."

"Yes...We're no longer in Japan, Inuyasha. We're in Ireland, and this, is Majora Village, _my old home._ "

* * *

Whaaaat?! The gang has landed in Coraline's old village?!

How did that happen? Are they still in her time? And are they safe from Trinity?

Find out in the next chapter to come. Stay tuned!


	43. Chapter 42

Alright, next chapter!

Once again, apologies for the wait: I did warn you in the last chapter that these latest pieces may take longer to write, plus there's my other story I've been working on...

I'm sure my fellow writers have had this kind of problem before: You have the scenario in your head, but for some reason, you don't know how to describe it aloud.

Anyway, I've already did a disclaimer at the beginning of my story, but I'm gonna do it again for this chapter specifically 'cause I'm paranoid:

I do not own any references related to _Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask_ ; those rights belong to _Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka and Nintendo._

...Okay then, that's enough from me. Enjoy the latest in this adventure!

* * *

 **Chapter 42 (Special): New Friends & Old Legends**

Everyone sat down on the grassy hill filled with Bell-Heather, trying to wrap their heads around the new change in location, with Inuyasha asking aloud,

"So, we're not only not in Tokyo or Edo anymore, but we're in a whole new country and on a different continent?!"

Coraline holds the side of her head in disconcerted thought:

"How did this even happen? Why would the transport lottery choose this place of all places?"

Besa offers a suggestion:

"Maybe there's some kind of spiritual reason as to why we came here, or at least for you, sis: Perhaps fate wanted you to come back to your old home..."

Freeman looks at his brother with a skeptical brow raised:

"Fate? Don't tell me you believe in that sort-a thing, bro."

"I do. I believe that fate is real, and comes to us during those pivotal moments when life hands us a test, to see whether or not we have the strength in heart, mind, body and soul to continue on. Of course, some think that fate controls our destiny in life, but I think it's the other way around: We have the free will to choose how to walk through life, and fate is merely a teacher who can guide, or step aside."

Everyone looks at the boy with black cornrows in surprise, with Miroku commenting,

"My, Besa. That's quite a wise observation."

Besa smiles bashfully, and Freeman puts an arm around him while saying,

"Yeah, that's my bro for ya: He's the thinker, and I'm the action-taker."

Coraline smiles a bit at her brothers, before looking down below at the village with an apprehensive expression:

 _I dunno if fate has anything to do with this, but either way, I'm not comfortable being here..._

 _I never thought of coming back here again..._

"Coraline? Coraline!"

"H-Huh?"

She snaps out of her thoughts, and looks to her left at Shippo:

"Are you okay? You look really nervous...Is it because we're here in your old village?"

"(...Sigh) Yes, I'm feeling a bit nervous being here...I, don't have alot of good memories of Majora: Too much prejudism...and then, there's of course..."

Coraline couldn't finish her sentence, and everyone knew why:

"Losing your father..."

Coraline nods in conformation to Miroku...She then takes a deep breath and says,

"But, despite the scars on my heart, I need to try and move forward in the present, not dwell in the past...Plus, not all of my experience in Majora was ugly: I did have some fun moments with the mysterious creatures that live in the woods, like the Will O' Wisps and the occasional Dryad."

"Will O' Wisps?" "Dryad?"

"(Smile) Yeah. Will O' Wisps are these orbs of light similar to what we've seen already to that of a wandering Soul, except, they carry a similar mannerism to faeries. Depending on where you are in the UK, their reputation is either malevolent or benevolent. Here in Majora, it's said that Will O' Wisps are guides, and are rumored to have the power to change one's fate. They're also good playmates: I remember running through the woods with several Will O' Wisps when I was little, carefree and, just feeling like I had a place somewhere..."

"So when you couldn't make friends with humans, you turned to the supernatural?"

"That's right, Miroku. Now as for the second creature I mentioned: Dryads are tree spirits that act as guardians of forests, protecting them and others who call the woods home."

"So they're spirits, and not demons?"

"You got it, Sango...The portrayal of demons in Europe is rather different than in Japan, including one belief that depicts demons as Angels fallen from grace."

Inuyasha makes a face at that description:

"Angels fallen from grace? That sounds stupid..."

"(Laugh) Hey, that's just one religions' opinion. I'm not saying it's necessarily correct...The world is full of cultures that have different beliefs and their own supernatural creatures of good and bad."

"Keh, right..."

Coraline lets out a breath, before standing up to her feet:

"Alright, enough sitting around: We should, start heading down and see if we can find someone willing to help."

Small Time Skip

After a bit, Coraline leads everyone down into the village: The area was rather rural in terms of structure, with various stone buildings, including a local tavern, the road made of packed dirt, and people walking through the streets, wearing rather modern clothing...

"Okay. It looks like we're still in the twenty-first century, and I call that a good thing. I'd rather not try and navigate us through a younger Majora..."

Shippo looks around the area from Coraline's shoulder, noticing some people were staring at the group with suspicious looks:

"U-Uhh, I don't like the looks on these people..."

Coraline pats him on the head soothingly:

"It's just the normal hum of the villagers, Shippo: This place has a pretty controversial history of supernatural encounters, some good, some bad. Because of that, the humans of these parts have either become resentful, or partially fearful of anything strange. Only a scarce few groups are willing to accept it...It's not you, it's just their way of thinking."

"Okay..."

"You think that someone might recognize you after all these years, Cor?"

Coraline turns her head to Freeman and replies dryly,

"I doubt it, but it's possib-"

"Well well well, look who decided to come back from the dead! If it ain't the freak, Coraline Croft!"

"Huh?"

Coraline turns back to the front, and she along with everyone else look forward to see a young lady standing a couple feet away: She was average height, had short ginger-blond hair cut into a bob, green eyes, and wore a long-sleeved purple shirt, blue-denim skirt, and brown sneakers, occupying a menacing smirk on her face.

Coraline groans inwardly with a frown:

"Dammit, not this bitch again..."

"You know her?"

"Unfortunately. She was one of my tormentors from my childhood. Name's Bridget...Damn, and~ here comes her posse..."

There would be at least three other girls (two blonds and a brunette) who would come to join Bridget's side, as said girl asks,

"Why are you back, Croft?" Said redhead narrows her eyes at the ginger-blond:

"What's it to you? This is a free country, isn't it?"

"Maybe so, but I could've sworn you vanished from here for good, likely to join your father who was crazy like you to believe in faerie tales."

Bridget and her cronies laugh mockingly, as Coraline clenches her fist in anger:

"Damn her..."

Inuyasha places a protective hand on her shoulder, as her brothers Freeman and Besa call out respectively,

"Oi! What's your problem?"

"Yeah, we're just walking here. There's no need to stir up any unnecessary hate..."

Bridget stops laughing, and looks at the twins up and down, along with the rest of the group...

"Huh, I see your tastes in friends haven't changed: That's gotta be the saddest mix of misfits I've ever seen! Especially those two, the white-haired guy and the tiny tyke on your shoulder. What are they, more monsters that your father haven't found?"

Coraline grits her teeth:

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me clear as day, freak: That's all your so-called gift's been known to do, attract the abnormal. (Smirk) Although considering your family background, I shouldn't be surprised..."

As Coraline growls, Shippo calls out with a glare,

"Hey! You leave Coraline and her family alone!"

"And what if I don't, pipsqueak? Look around: There isn't anyone in Majora who isn't thinking similar."

Shippo cringes back with a defensive growl, before forming a look of confusion when he's lifted off from Coraline's shoulder:

"Huh?"

Coraline hands Shippo over to Besa:

"Take him, please."

"Sis?"

Coraline slowly turns back to face Bridget with a seething glare:

"You can insult me all you want, but I will not allow you to hurt the people I care about!"

Bridget glares back with a sneer:

"Oh really? And how are you gonna stop me? By cringing on the ground as a bunch of us beat you like when we were young?"

Coraline's eyes narrow into slits...before widening as she shouted,

"Majora's Thorns! I challenge you to Majora's Thorns!"

Bridget's eyes go wide, as her friends gasp dramatically, and a stir of murmuring went through some passersby:

"She called out the Majora's Thorn challenge..."

"Oh boy, Bridget's in for it now."

"That Croft's crazy making a call out like that."

"I dunno; she don't look the same like when she was a tyke. This could turn out to be one heck of a rumble..."

Inuyasha and the others peer around at the crowd, occupying confused looks:

"Huh? What's up with these people?"

"They seem tense..."

"What's Majora's Thorns?"

"Heheh, oh dear. This is quite a comeback for the young Croft..."

They turn to see an old man with graying nut-brown hair, a long beard, and wore a white shirt, dark-green pants with suspenders, and brown hiking boots. Miroku steps up and asks the elder,

"What do you mean, sir? What exactly did Coraline do?"

"Well now, she done challenged Bridget to a fight, basically. See, Majora's Thorns is an old tradition that was started a long time ago by the first generations of Majora Village. Long story short, there were these two men who got into an quarrel over a young woman they met at the edge of the forest, and decided to settle it with their bare fists. Heh, 'course, what those poor fools didn't know was that the lady was actually a dryad, and after seeing them fight, she rejected them both before leaving into the forest for good, but not before cursing them to Hell in a sense. As the story goes, the dryad cursed the area in which they fought, and even today, nothing grows in that area, so it's become a fighting circle, mostly for the dumb boys runnin' around."

The elder man turns to look at Coraline's form:

"Mind you, there's nothing that prevents girls from fighting there too. And Coraline's not the first heated redhead to do it either: Ole Amelia was as much a firecracker as she is."

"Amelia? Who's she?" The old man stands up, and says to Inuyasha before he left,

"...Amelia Evans, was Coraline's mother."

The gang widens their eyes, and watch the old man walk away, before turning to stare at the returning Coraline in wonder:

"...Coraline..."

She takes in a big breath, and faces everyone with a calmer look:

"I'm sorry you all had to see that, but there's no way am I taking back what I just did."

She glances back at Bridget, who was leaving with her girlfriends with a flustered glare...

"(Narrows eyes) I'm through with taking their bullshit. This stops now, even at the cost of the bruises I'm gonna get."

Inuyasha's POV

Just shortly after Coraline made that challenge with the ginger-blond, she lead us into a small tavern that apparently was open to minors...We're now sitting at a table in the back, each of us having a glass of that fizzy stuff she sometimes brought in her satchel, 'soda'.

"It's a good thing I can access my bank account here from that ATM Machine..."

"Yeah, no kidding. Nice job with that glare you sent the barkeep when he tried to stop us from entering."

"Thanks, bro. It's a free country, after all: Shouldn't matter what you look like, as long as one of us is paying for the drinks."

She and Freeman laugh a bit, before the table went quiet, except for the sounds of sipping...Sango breaks the silence by asking,

"Coraline, are you really going to go through with this fight?"

"Of course I am."

"But, doesn't this seem like an unnecessary exercise? I understand that she and some others have hurt you back then, but is violence really going to make things better?"

Coraline doesn't answer, and looks down at her glass with a scowl...I decide to throw in my thoughts:

"I don't think it's unnecessary."

Everyone looks at me with some surprise, others with looks that suggested they expected such an opinion:

"You don't?"

"Why's that, Inuyasha?"

"Well, think about this for a second: These brats have done nothing but viciously antagonize her all through her childhood, and she wasn't strong enough to fight back until she was eight. Now she has the opportunity to show them that she's not the same little girl she was back then. Coraline's stronger, smarter, and wiser than they ever will be. Sure, maybe this fight's a bit too over the top, but if it'll send the message, I say, why not."

...Coraline looks at me in shock from my words:

"Inuyasha...(Smile) Thank you. That's really kind of you to say."

"Keh, hey. Even I have my moments."

After taking another swig of that bubbly water, I ask,

"So when's this fight goin' down?"

"Well, it's eleven-fifty now, and we set the time for high noon. So if everyone's done with their drinks, we should start heading for the Majora's Thorns Circle."

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

The gang and I are now close to the fighting circle, and as we come over the next hill, I can see a crowd of teens and smaller children already gathered:

"Hm, guess that's one thing about Majora that'll never change: Word about any type of disruption to the peace will travel fast, mostly through the younger generation grapevine..."

The crowd sees us, and makes enough room for us to pass, allowing the others a good look at the ring. The area's pretty much what you would see when you leave a truck over a patch of grass for too long: Barren, dry dirt that has no future of growing anything again, shaped like a big circle twenty feet in diameter. What makes this circle particularly different, however, is the thorns that grew sticking up around the edge, the colour being a mix of purple and green.

"Are these thorns a part of the curse that was made by the dryad woman?"

I turn to Sango and reply,

"That's what the locals theorize. Some people have tried to remove them, but with no success."

Miroku takes a closer look:

"Hmm...I sense a strange dark energy from these thorns, but it doesn't seem, dangerous..."

"That's because it's dormant right now. It only activates when someone tries to pull them out, leaving the person feeling a bit ill for the next day or two. It's not really an evil, but more of a warning: Don't mess with nature, or it comes back with a vengeance."

"I see..."

I then hear the voices of the crowd pick up, and parting through, was Bridget and her cohorts, she now opting her skirt for some denim shorts.

 _Huh, she actually dressed smart for this..._

Getting a better look at her face, I could see that while she smiled at the encouragement of her friends, her eyes shined with a hidden nervousness:

 _Hmph. Guess all that talk earlier was just talk. She's not prepared properly for this..._

I felt a smirk come to my face:

"Heh, she has no idea what's coming for her..."

"What do ya mean, sis?"

I turn to Freeman and reply,

"Look at her facial expression: She may appear boastful and confident, but her eyes tell a different story. She's afraid, and in no way prepared for the ass-kicking she's gonna get."

Freeman looks more closely, and catches the brief moment of jitters that passed over Bridget:

"Uh! You're right; she's only bragging!"

"Exactly. And you know what happens when you're overconfident before a fight begins..."

Shippo finishes my sentence:

"You set yourself up to get your butt kicked."

"Right you are, Shippo."

I hear a kid's watch alarm go off, signalling high noon:

"Okay! The Majora's Thorn Rumble between Bridget Maron and the returning Coraline Croft will now begin! Fighters: Step into the circle!"

I nod, and turn around to move into the circle, but not before handing Besa my satchel:

"Can you hold onto this for me, bro?"

"Sure. And, Cora...?"

"Yeah?"

"...Be careful." Everyone else says similarly:

"Yes, be careful, Coraline."

"We'll be cheering for you, of course."

"You can do it, Coraline!"

"You got this, sis."

Inuyasha places a clawed hand on my shoulder, looking at me with an oddly serious expression:

"Coraline...Be careful in there, okay?"

"(Nod) Don't worry, I will."

"Good. (Smirk) Now get in there and show these people what you're made of. Show them how strong you've become."

I gape a bit, before nodding with a small grin, and moved into the circle, shucking off my long-sleeve shirt in the process...Bridget follows shortly, and before we part to opposite ends, she turns to me with, a pleading look?

"Um, listen, Croft. I've been thinking, and, maybe this isn't a good idea. I mean, what's this gonna prove? I, can tell you've beefed up since we last met, and, well..."

She kept stumbling over her words, and I just sneered at her half-ass attempt to back out:

"Tch, nice try, Bridget. But you're not getting out of what you've started."

"(Widens eyes) Me?!"

"Yes, you. Mind you, there are other guilty parties who've done similar or worse, but you, _Bridget_ , are the one who kept up the repetition in your slandering, and made me feel worthless when we were young. And sure, maybe this is a bit extreme, but I'm not backing out: You made your choice accepting the challenge, and now, you're about to receive the consequences for it, and every insult, hair tug and dirt throw in my eyes you made to me."

She cringes, and I add with a menacing smirk,

" _Hell hath no fury like a scorned woman, indeed._ "

We part, and stand at opposite ends of the ring, giving eachother the nastiest glares we could muster...It would be a few seconds, before the boy who announced the time, would ready his arm to signal the battle to begin:

"Alright, everyone remembers how this works: Now weapons allowed, no hair-tugging, no biting, no dirty play like throwing dust or dirt, and no hitting 'below the belt', if you catch my drift. The fight ends when either one fighter is still upright, or someone forfeits...All clear?"

Bridget and I nod firmly, and the boy shouts,

"Now..."

He swiftly brings his arm down:

"Begin!"

With that, battle began, with Bridget making the first charge, fist raised:

"Haaaaaah!"

I easily duck from the incoming punch, and spring forward, grabbing her by her torso, and shoving her to the ground:

(Thud, slide)

"Gggh!"

"Not falling for that, bitch!"

Everyone in the crowd's getting fired up:

"Yeah!" "Yeah!"

"Bridget, shove the freak off!" "Come on, Bridget!"

"Go, Croft!"

I feel Bridget grip my upper arms, before rolling me to the ground, and slapping my face:

(Smack)

"Rgh!"

I wince from the sting, and shove her off me completely, and try to kick her, only for her to dodge, and punch me in the shoulder:

(Punch)

"Agh!"

I punch her back, hitting her in the stomach, and it's a series of punches and the occasional kick, before we wind up shoving eachother backwards at the same time, sliding back to the edges of the circle:

"(Pant, pant) That all you got, Croft?"

"(Pant) You wish!"

We spring at eachother again, and I land a punch in each shoulder, before she swings her foot into my gut:

(Kick)

"Aaaagh!"

 _Auh, that smarts!_

I drop to my knees, leaving me open to a series of punches and kicks from Bridget:

(Punch, kick, kick, kick, punch, punch...)

I block as best I can with my arms, but she still managed to get a few good hits, luckily nothing too harsh:

 _Rgh, a-at least, she's not hitting any, harder than she did, b-back then. I just, need an, opening..._

"Come on, Coraline! Get up!"

I turn my eyes outside the ring on my right, and see Inuyasha looking at me:

"Don't let this bitch get the upper hand! Tackle her to the ground if you have to! Just fight, dammit!"

 _Inuyasha..._

The others smile encouragingly:

"Yeah, Coraline! You're way stronger than she is!"

"You're a warrior, Cora!"

"You can do it!"

 _Everyone...they're, all cheering. Cheering for me..._

 _I can't let them down. Not after all I've been through with them..._

With a new determination set, I wait until Bridget pauses her antics, before:

"Hrrrah!"

I jump up, and start ringing in my own kicks and punches against her...After a few more minutes, I pinned her to the ground on her front, with me digging a knee into her spine, and my hands holding hers behind her back:

"Aaaagh!"

I bend down to her ear, and hiss,

"You want this to go on until you're black and blue? I won't stop you, and neither will I be merciful...(Smirk) But if you'd rather save yourself an extra beating, say it. Say, uncle."

She grits her teeth, and mutters,

"No way! I'll never surrender to a freak like you!"

"Oh? Alright~, if you wanna prolong the inevitable..."

I release her, and as she shakily rises to a stand, I crack my knuckles, before landing a swift fist to her cheek:

(Punch)

"Aaaah! My face!"

She stumbles back, and holds her cheek, an angry red and purple bruise already beginning to form. She shoots a seething glare at me:

"You bitch! How dare you mess up my face!" I retort,

"Oh please! It's just a bruise; it'll be gone in three, five days tops! Besides, it's your own fault for not blocking fast enough!"

She lets out a screech, before sprinting at me, and trying to punch me, key word, try:

(Swing, swing, swing...)

But every fist that came flying at me, I dodged, but it didn't seem to matter to Bridget anymore. She just kept swinging blindly, like a three-year old trying to learn how to dance:

 _Must be in a blind rage...Hmm, maybe if I keep dodging long enough, she'll tire herself out, and I can pin her again._

I roll with each punch, ducking, side-stepping, and even bending over backwards...Eventually, after about five to seven minutes, she gradually loses her stamina:

"(Pant, pant, pant...)"

(Swing...swing...swing...)

After swinging feebly one more time, I grasp her arm, before twisting it behind her back, and pinning her down on her knees:

(Thud)

"Rgh-gah!"

I keep my hold firm, and stare at the ginger-blond before me with indifference:

 _...She's got enough bruises and scratches. As much as it may prove something to beat her senseless..._

 _(Sigh) I'm not that cold-blooded. Plus, it's not like I'm out for murder: I'm just making a point._

I bend down to her ear again, and whisper a bit less harshly,

"Bridget, it's over. You're panting like a dog, and don't have a comeback move. You have two options at this point: Either let this continue to it's final bloody punch, or, you can make this a bit easier on yourself, and make the call."

She freezes for a second...before letting out a reluctant but defeated breath:

"Fine...You win, Croft."

Birdget then shouts with a rueful and embarrassed tone,

"I call uncle! I surrender!"

The crowd gasps, and the boy who's acting as our referee calls,

"U-Uh, in that case, the winner of Majora's Thorns, is Coraline Croft!"

There's a murmur that passes through the crowd, before it's silenced by the cheers of Freeman and Shippo:

"Yeaaah, alright, sis!"

"Yaaaay, Coraline!"

I turn to see the others join in too, smiles on their faces:

"Well done, Coraline!"

"You did it!"

"Good job, Cor!"

I release Bridget with a slight shove, as some local teens began cheering similarly, clapping their hands...But my eyes were on one person only: Inuyasha. I stand up, grimacing a touch from my new bruises, and grab my shirt from off the ground before walking over to him. He looks at my form for a second with an unreadable expression...before breaking out a proud smile:

"Keh, you did good out there, Coraline." I smile a bit and ask hopefully,

"Really? You think so?"

"Yeah. Heh, for a second, I almost mistook you for a demoness with the way you were fighting...you know, minus any clawing and biting..."

I laugh at his description, as he claps a hand on my shoulder:

"I'd say you got back what those brats tried to take from you years ago: Your inner fire. And...I'm proud of you."

 _H-He's, proud of me?_

...I smile big at him, and hug him around his torso:

"Uh! C-Coraline?"

"Thank you...for, saying you're proud of me..."

"Umm, you're welcome?"

I giggle a bit at his unsure tone, and as I part from him, I feel some familiar hands gently clap my shoulders:

"We're all proud of you, sis."

"Yeah! You totally kicked ass!"

I look at my brothers, then at Sango, Miroku and Shippo, seeing their smiles and nods. Even Kilala mewled and nodded, before rubbing my leg affectionately. I was touched:

"(Smile) Thanks everyone. I appreciate this, really..."

"Hey, Croft?"

"Hm?"

We turn to see a different boy and two of his buddies, who occupied wary but non-threatening expressions:

"Um, I dunno what your plans are, but, you might wanna think of seeing Old Sonya before doing anything else crazy. Ya know, get patched up?"

I tilt my head in surprised confusion:

"Old Sonya's still around?"

"Yeah. She's at the same recluse hut not too far from here. She doesn't let us teens go near, though: Says we're hopeless youths or some other old mumbo-jumbo. But you might have better luck, seeing as, well...you know, you're not, as judgy about the strange."

I hm in thought:

 _Sonya...I haven't seen her in years..._

 _But maybe...maybe she can help us find a way to get back to Edo!_

I nod at the boy:

"Right. I'll look into that. Thanks for the tip."

He nods back, before he and his friends walk off...Once they were gone, Besa asks,

"Who's this Sonya person, Coraline?"

I turn to him and answer,

"She's an old healer that lives in a hut not to far from here. Although, most people know her as a Wiccan."

"A Wiccan? You mean, like a witch?"

"Kind-of: Wiccans don't practice actual witchcraft, per say. It's more, using the power of nature to heal the spirit, or at least that's what Sonya does."

Sango hms in thought:

"Sounds similar to the powers of a priestess." I nod at her description:

"Yeah, in a way, I suppose Wiccans could be compared to priestesses, minus the purification powers. Plus, Sonya knows alot about the supernatural that dwells in Majora, even more than my Father did."

I form a serious frown:

"It's possible she may even know of a way for us to return to Edo."

That caught everyone's attention:

"Really?!"

"Yes, but that's a maybe. I can't guarantee, but it's a question worth asking."

I turn towards the west:

"I think I remember the route to her home. Follow me."

Small Time Skip, No POV

Come about an hour later, and Coraline would've lead the group far into the outskirts from the village, to an area near a cliff-side that had a large, old hut with moss covering the roof. There was also a small herb garden nearby, wildflowers scattered across the grounds, and some strange charms posted in random spots carrying a curious symbol that resembled a mask...

"Wow...It's been more than five years, and yet Sonya's place looks about the same as it did when I was little."

Sango takes a look at one of the posts that held a charm:

"...I see something on this charm that looks like, a horned mask..."

"That'll be resembling the creature that this village is named after: Majora."

"Majora?"

"Yeah. Majora was a powerful tree spirit that's said to still dwell in these woods. They crafted a beautiful mask that contained a power that was supposed to have control over the shadows."

Everyone looks to Coraline in surprise and interest:

"Power over the shadows?"

"How's that even possible?"

"No one knows. It's one of the many secrets that's still secret...Anyway, as the legend goes, one day, the mask gained sentience and took over Majora's mind, and sent them to basically attack anything that moved. No one could escape Majora's wrath...But then, just when things were about to take a turn for the worst, a Wiccan by name of Saoirse came and used a special charm that sealed the power of the mask, freeing Majora from their fate. After that, Majora vanished, taking the mask deep into the forests to hide away forever, never to be used again by wavering hearts."

"Wavering hearts?" Miroku answers Shippo's question:

"I believe that's suppose to indicate anyone who falls prey to evil and darkness."

Coraline nods in confirmation...Suddenly, there came an odd progression of noises, that sounded like soft, muffled moaning...

"Huh?"

"What is that?"

Shippo then turns around to the forest edge, and his eyes bulge out when he sees,

"Owaaah! What are those?! Souls?!"

Coraline and the others turn to where he was pointing, and see several orbs of light floating towards them. Although, unlike the Souls of the Dead seen in Edo, these orbs were at least half the size or less, and seemed more...alive.

The redhead of our group recognized them instantly:

"(Laugh) Don't worry, Shippo. Those aren't Souls; they're the Will O' Wisps."

Said creatures float towards Coraline, seemingly recognizing her:

"Hey there. Been a long time, hasn't it? It's me, Coraline; we used to play together when I was little."

The creatures float blankly in front of Coraline for a moment...before breaking into happy-sounding soft moans, and swiftly flew around her body, causing her to giggle:

"Hahaha, hey, that tickles! Hahahaha..."

The gang watches the jubilant redhead in wonder:

"Wow..."

"They really like her, don't they?"

"I guess they really are childhood friends..."

The Will O' Wisps calm down after another two minutes, and Coraline catches her breath from all the laughter:

"(Pant, giggle) Sorry 'bout that, you guys. I haven't felt their presence in so long, I guess, I just got carried away in reminisce."

Freeman waves his hand causally with a smile:

"Aw, no worries, Cor. It's good to hear ya laughing like that."

Coraline smiles and nods, before turning her head to the floating orbs:

"It's good to see you lot again. (Gesture) I'd like you all to meet my new friends, my brothers, Freeman and Besa, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kilala."

The orbs slowly approach the others, who look at them in a mix of wariness and wonder:

"Um, Coraline?"

"Heh, it's okay. They're just getting a read on your energy, is all, trying to determine what sort of Auras you have."

"They can sense Auras?"

"Yep. It was actually them who helped me train my abilities as an Aura Reader, along with my Father, of course."

"Hehahah, and boy did they give him a workout like they did you!"

"Huh?"

Coraline turns to the east, and coming out of a clearing, was an elder woman with long, grey-red hair tied into a braid, hazel-brown eyes, wearing a simple, forest green dress with multiple leather pouches tied around on a belt, a grey cloak, and wore black rain boots.

"Uh! Sonya! It's you!"

Smile on her face, Coraline rushes to greet the elder woman, hugging her around her torso, to which the latter would wholeheartedly return:

"Ah, Coraline, it's good to see you've finally returned to Majora. By god, it's been years!"

They back up from one another so Sonya could get a better look at the teenager:

"Look at how you've grown. To think ye barely came up to my elbows last time I saw you, and now, I have a grown woman standing before me."

"(Laugh) I dunno about a grown woman, but I'm definitely not a little girl anymore. I see that age remains kind to you, Sonya. You don't look like you've aged at all."

Sonya lets out a hearty laugh:

"That be kind of ye to say, lass, but I've come to terms with growing old a long time ago. The trick is to do it with grace and a smile, and it doesn't feel as bad as some may argue."

Sonya turns to look behind Coraline, peering at the rest of the group:

"I trust these other youngsters are with you?"

"(Turn) Hm? Oh, yes, they are."

Coraline gestures everyone over, and once they were gathered, she makes introductions:

"Everyone, this is Sonya, a family friend from way back. Sonya, these are my friends I made in Japan: My brothers, Freeman and Besa, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kilala."

Sonya looks at each one with a thoughtful expression:

"Hmm...I see you've acquired quite an array of friends, young one. Though I shouldn't be surprised: (Smile) Ye always had a knack for making connections with people...Though what's this about Japan? And why do you have all of these injuries?"

"It's a long story, Sonya. Actually, we came here hoping you could help us with a problem."

"(Nod) Aye, I figured there was a serious reason for ye to have returned after all these years. Alright, how about we all head inside, and ye can regale your tale to me."

Small Time Skip

As soon as everyone settled inside, Coraline began telling Sonya everything that has happened to her in these last five years, and even felt confident to mention Inuyasha and company's origins from Edo, their mission to obtain the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama, and eventually confronting Naraku...Then of course, there was the recent activity with Trinity and their unplanned trip here to Majora, and the recent Majora's Thorns Challenge she fought against Bridget in...

Once her tale was done, Sonya lets out a low whistle:

"Good lord, child, you really haven't caught a break in these last years, have ye?"

Coraline smiles faintly:

"No, Sonya. I'm more than convinced that the universe has made a new sport in messing with me every chance it gets."

"Hm, well, I don't think it helped yer luck by making that challenge against that stubborn fool of a girl, Bridget. Though based on your conversation, I suppose I can't really blame ye for getting so fired up. You're lucky I just finished making refills for some of my healing remedies."

Coraline's arms now had some bandages wrapped around them for her minor scratches and some bruises, plus a bandage wrapped around her left knee from a scab she got from sliding in the dirt.

"Yeah, I know it was stupid, but I'm not here to take anymore bullshit. Pardon my language."

Sonya nods, and Coraline adds,

"Insulting me was one thing, but I'm not letting anyone here badmouth my friends. And if that means going into a rumble, then that's just how it's gonna go down. Plus, Bridget could've backed away, but she didn't: She chose to fight me. In the end, she was overconfident, and lost not only the match, but likely a good chunk of her pride."

"Mm, fair enough. I'm glad ye were at least smart when you went into the fight, unlike some of the brats who just go charging at one another with no real thought attached."

"That's appreciated, Sonya."

Suddenly, a Will O' Wisp comes zooming in, floating around in a dizzy circle, letting out those soft cries. Sonya looks up at it with a amused eyebrow raised:

"Ah, I see you've returned, Lumos."

"Lumos?"

"Yes. I suppose you and he haven't met enough times that ye would remember him. Lumos has come and gone from here many times in the last twenty or so years, and has become a good companion."

Lumos stops circling around the room, and comes floating beside Coraline, another soft ghostly moan emanating...

"(Chuckle) It seems he recognizes you, though."

Coraline smiles at the Will O' Wisp:

"Um, hi, Lumos."

The little orb floats up and down in short bursts, before settling onto her shoulder...Miroku then looks to Sonya in mild astonishment:

"I am surprised that you are able to take in our story so easily, ma'am. Though I suppose occurrences like these are not new for you..."

"Not at all, young monk. I have experienced enough strange circumstances in my many years to have a strong constitution to almost anything that dares come my way. Plus, this old village teems with the unknown and unexplained. To have a monk, demon slayer, a fox demon, cat demon and half-dog demon be here, and from the Edo Period of Japan, mind you, is nothing too new. Just different."

Shippo comes up to the elder woman:

"So, you're not scared?"

"(Gentle smile) Of course not, child. I may not have encountered demons myself, but I can sense that ye have a good Soul."

She glances at Kilala, then Inuyasha:

"The same goes for the cat, and the young gentleman over there."

Inuyasha stares at Sonya eye-to-eye for a moment...before looking away indifferently.

"Heh, not much for conversation, are you?"

He says nothing...Coraline shakes her head exasperatingly, while Besa asks,

"So, do you know of anything that can help us return home, or at the very least Edo?"

Freeman adds somewhat jokingly,

"Yeah, I don't think we'd be able to pass airport security to fly back to Tokyo, and even if by some miracle we did, we can't be sure if the Bone Eater's Well will work for everyone besides Coraline and Inuyasha."

Coraline narrows her eyes in thought:

"Plus, there's the factor of Trinity. We may have escaped them for now, but...who knows for how long..."

Sonya forms a frown of distaste at hearing the name of the organization:

"Trinity...Now there's a name I haven't heard for a long time. But I had a feeling they would eventually return to cause trouble."

"You know of them?" Sonya nods at Sango:

"Aye. They've actually come to Majora Village many times in these last couple decades, drawn to the secrets and supernatural activity that dwells. The last time they came was...when they were harassing ole Mathias about sharing his knowledge and joining them."

Coraline darts her head to Sonya:

"You knew that Father was being targeted? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because he asked me not to."

"Uh."

"(Sigh) You see, child, he wanted to protect ye in any way he could from these people, and that included asking me to keep my knowledge a secret...Unfortunately, the outcome was not as he wished."

Coraline looks down in her lap with a bitter look:

"Yeah, no kidding. I managed to survive, but Father, he...he died, to protect me, and to protect his knowledge."

Everyone looks at Coraline's form with concerned expressions, her sadness almost palpable...But that would soon vanish, as Sonya clears her throat to inform Coraline something she never thought she would have to:

"Listen, Coraline. It was not just the intelligence of the mysterious and unexplained that your father possessed that he sought to protect from Trinity...There was something else he also meant to take to his grave: A secret that he, along with your ancestors, have been protecting for centuries."

Coraline snaps out of her depression in an instant:

"A secret?"

"Yes...The only reason I know of it is because the Will O' Wisps, who also guard this secret. They trust me because of my Wiccan blood, and do not see me as a normal, misguided human like most who walk Majora today...And of course, Mathias trusted me to tell you this secret when you were old enough, but when you disappeared..."

"Right..."

"But, I suppose you've experienced enough and have reached an appropriate age that I can tell you. (Deep breath) The Crofts are not just known as Aura Readers. At one point centuries ago, they were also Celtic warriors that kept the peace here in Majora, wielding a mystical weapon that has the power of channeling one's Aura Energy into a power to clash against another."

Coraline's eyes bug out, as do the others in the hut:

"Seriously?!"

"Aye."

Coraline asks,

"What was it called?"

"...It is known, as the ShatterSoul Sword."

"The ShatterSoul Sword..."

Freeman shivers a bit from the name:

"Yikes. That sounds pretty eerie."

Coraline then asks,

"So, my family were not just Aura Readers, but Aura 'Warriors' that wielded a sword that could channel that energy into an attack?"

"That's another way to describe it, but yes...And child...ye are its next wielder."

Everyone shouts,

"What?!"

Coraline sprang to her feet in shock:

"M-Me?! Wielding a sword?! You must be joking, Sonya! I'm already having a trial handling a bow and arrow, and combat knife! How can I possibly handle a sword?! I'm no Celtic Warrior!"

"Calm yourself, child. I know this is alot to take in, but destiny does not lie: I even suspect that the sword may have called to your spirit somehow when ye and your friends were traveling through that portal to escape Trinity."

"...Called to my spirit?"

"Aye."

Sonya stands up, and walks over to a bookshelf to grab an old text of sorts from the middle shelf:

"This book has a passage that speaks of an old legend about a warrior from long ago wielding a sword that staved off dark spirits. I am certain that this is a last record of the ShatterSoul Sword being used by your ancestors..."

Sonya opens the book a little more than halfway in, and places it on top a wooden table, directing Coraline to look at the right page:

"...Uh! Is, that..."

"Aye. Looks familiar, doesn't she?"

The image presented in the book, was a young woman with long, red hair the same shade as Coraline's, her eyes aglow in ice blue, wearing a fine-detailed patterned dress with red, green and blue mixed in, a leather belt, brown leather shoes, and was standing atop a hillside, arm raised with a long sword in hand against a giant shadow with many gleaming eyes...

Everyone else comes to take a look at the image too:

"Whoa..."

"That woman looks like an older version of Coraline!"

"And look at that sword!"

Shippo narrows his eyes in confusion at the word caption underneath:

"What's that suppose to say? I can't read it."

Coraline smiles at the curious fox demon:

"That's Gaelic, Shippo. It's one of the native languages here in Ireland."

"Oooh...Can you read it?"

The redhead nods, and reads the passage:

" _'The Last Warrior of the Sword that Challenges Soul': The unknown maiden went into a great battle with darkness unleashed by fools who tampered with that they shouldn't. The warrior maiden prevailed, but would soon fall after, having used all of her spirit to protect those she loved. Before succumbing to death's waiting arm, the warrior called upon the allies of the forest, the Will O' Wisps, to take the blade to seal away for the next warrior to come. With the last of her strength, she then drew the symbol that was depicted on a shield of the fools who unleashed the darkness, warning her allies of the danger that would come again..._ "

Coraline hms, and looks at the image again:

 _A symbol of the enemies..._

In the corner, she sees a very small impression in a patch of dirt...

"Wait..."

She turns around and grabs out her magnifying glass from her satchel, and hovers it over the tiny impression in the image...

"(Gasp) Oh my god..." Inuyasha asks,

"What? What is it?"

"...That's...Trinty's symbol. It was Trinity that unleashed the darkness, forcing the warrior to use every ounce of her strength to save her people..."

(Collective Gasp)

Shippo exclaims with a glare,

"That's horrible! Why would they do something like that?"

"It's possible that these Trinity soldiers were after a source of power here in Majora, but screwed up and released a power that would've destroyed the village if not for this warrior. (Glare) Or perhaps, they did it on purpose, as a test of sorts..."

Sonya hums in agreement:

"They may have even discovered where Majora's Mask was at the time, but were unaware of what exactly they stumbled across. By the time the mask was contained, its power grew into something nasty, something that could take a person's spiritual power, and turn it into shadow energy for itself to use."

Miroku asks,

"So this cloud of darkness depicted may actually be a burst of power from the mask?"

"Aye. Of course, those fools likely died from the burst of dark power: The mask doesn't take kindly to humans, especially ones who wish to harness its power for their selfish gain. It may be a sentient menace of what its original purpose was, but it's not dumb enough to trust greedy hearts."

Sonya turns to Coraline with a serious look:

"Even so, there's no guarantee that Trinity won't eventually have found out some sort of inkling about the ShatterSoul Sword. That's what your Father was concerned about, at least, for he knew that the sword would become dangerous in the hands of those like."

"So that's why he didn't say anything to me?"

"That, and he had suspicions that ye were its next wielder, and did not want to burden you with the knowledge until he thought ye were ready...He, wanted to be the one to reveal it to you, but..."

"He never got the chance..."

"Aye. Coraline, whether you accept or not is up to ye. But, ye are and will remain ShatterSoul's next master."

Time Skip, Coraline's POV

It's now sunset, and everyone decided that we'd crash here at Sonya's, either sleeping in the hut, or camping out by the structure using some thick blankets she generously provided...

I'm now sitting at the cliffside, looking out to where the ocean was, watching the waves roll against the jagged rock formations and sandy beach...

"(Quiet sigh) I can't believe this...My family's been protecting an ancient sword with the capability of channeling Aura Energy into a power...I, guess I understand now why Father didn't tell me...but, I wish he could've been the one to do it."

Sonya has given me enough of an explanation about the ShatterSoul Sword, and how the Will O' Wisps are the only ones left that know of its location. They of course, have not revealed such information to her: Because I'm the only Croft left alive, I'm the only person they can tell...But, I'm reluctant to wanting to know.

 _Me. A Celtic Warrior...Heh, can I even pull such a role off?_

 _I'm already having enough problems being the surrogate reincarnation of a Japanese priestess..._

 _Then again...I suppose this sort-of makes more sense..._

 _Still..._

"It's so much responsibility...Plus I've never pictured myself to be wielding a sword in my life at all. Heh, then again, the same goes for the bow and arrow and my combat knife. And here I thought the rifle was gonna be the only weapon I'd learn?"

I let out another sigh of discontent:

"So much for living life as normally as possible..."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Huh?"

I turn my head behind me, and see Inuyasha standing a few feet away, a confused frown on his face.

"Oh. Hey, Inuyasha. I didn't hear you coming. Is everyone settling okay for the night?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

He then walks towards me, and drops down on my left, sitting Indian-style...Everything goes quiet for a moment, before he asks,

"So...are you gonna do it?"

"Do what?"

"Kuh, you know what: Seek out that sword that's been in your family for generations...Are you thinking about, finding it?"

"(Sigh) I don't know. I'm still undecided...On one hand, I'd be reclaiming something that's been in my family for centuries, and learning more about my ancestors...But on the other hand...I'm, not sure if I'm capable for the role."

I let out a bitter laugh:

"I'm already having a difficult go at filling the role as the Shikon-no-Tama's guardian: I screwed up bad by shattering the damn jewel, and now I'm scrambling with the rest of ya to find the shards before they all end up in Naraku's hands. And what happened? I allowed Kikyō to snatch that large piece from my neck, leaving us back to practically square one. And even though my aim with the bow and arrow's getting better, I'm only just reaching average, mostly 'cause I'm now holding it the same way I used to hold a rifle..."

"Is that right? I wondered why you've been holding it so strangely..."

"Yeah, well it helps me relax more. I know it's not standard, but that's just how my brain works: I'm always doing the opposite of what others do. While most girls my age are thinking about boys, shopping and getting their assignments for school done on time, I'm the bookish tough girl thinking about research, helping out around the Shrine, and exploring the unknown and unexplained...I'm, not normal."

I clench my fist, before relaxing my fist in defeat:

"...I thought I've come to terms with being the one in a million in a crowd, but, sometimes I still wonder what would happen if I wasn't an Aura Reader, and just a regular girl with a non-crazy life...But, that fantasy doesn't last for long, 'cause I know it isn't meant to be...(Sad frown) Though lately...I, sometimes wish I could be a better use to the team other than the once in a blue moon lucky shot."

Inuyasha turns to be with an incredulous expression:

"What? What the hell is that suppose to mean? Are you saying that you think you're useless?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying. I know my primary role to the group is being able to fully sense the Shikon-no-Tama, which is extremely useful...But other than that, I've only really helped in causing trouble. I mean, look at us now: Thanks to my war with Trinity and Bishop, we're a long ways away from both our homes, with no real way of returning as of yet. If anything, I've been a charm of bad luck, and if I can barely keep up as a surrogate for a priestess, what are the chances of me being a Celtic sword-wielder?"

I turn away from Inuyasha's face, and cast my eyes towards the orange-red hues of the sunset, trying not to think about tearing up...

"That's gotta be the stupidest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth, Coraline!"

I jump from the shout, and turn to see Inuyasha scowling at me disapprovingly:

"Where the hell is even coming from, anyway? You're usually confident about yourself and don't take bull from no one, not to mention the way you kicked that bitch's ass a few hours ago...And now here you are belittling yourself! What's the deal?"

I glare back and retort,

"I can't be so sure about myself all the time, Inuyasha! I have to have some doubt!"

"No you don't! You shouldn't be so self-doubting all the time, and you wanna know why? 'Cause you're not her!"

"Huh?"

Inuyasha takes a few calming breaths, before continuing in a less angry tone:

"You're basing your roles off of the fact of being Kikyō's reincarnation. But...that doesn't automatically make you her. You're Coraline: A strong, stubborn, independent woman who doesn't take everything lying down. Okay, so your arrow make the jewel break, but it was an accident. I know that by now, and so do you. Plus, you're not just a jewel detector: You help us stay on track, always bringing items from your era that make traveling from place to place less of a pain, and you're not half-bad a fighter either. You just haven't had enough open opportunities to show off your skills, mostly 'cause...well...I made a promise to protect you, and that means I want to keep you out of the line of fire as best I can."

"...Inuyasha-"

"Hang on, I'm not finished yet. I don't say these kind-a things often, and, I wanna get this out before I lose my shot again."

I nod, and he continues:

"Losing that large shard was not your fault. It was all Kikyō...I, don't know why she did it, or why she threatened you, but, what's done is done and there's nothing we can do except get it back when we get the chance. And Trinity...that's not your fault either: It was all them for attacking. I'm, actually half-glad we got to fight them, 'cause now I know what you've been up against, and who's face I gotta break next time I see him. I'll leave the main battle to you, of course, but I wanna get at least one swing at that bastard Bishop before your war's over."

...I was speechless at what Inuyasha said to me, and I guess he could see it too, for his mouth curved into a knowing smile:

"Keh. You got no argument against me, do ya?"

I shake my head, a small blush of embarrassment on my face...

"(Chuckle) I didn't think so."

He then reaches his hand out, placing it gently on my shoulder:

"You're no screw-up, Coraline. You're doing alright as you...which means finding and learning to wield a sword shouldn't be a problem for ya."

"...Inuyasha..."

I felt a smile creep up onto my lips:

"Thank you...for setting me straight, again. This is the second time you've helped me remember that being me is just fine..."

"You're welcome...So, what are you gonna do now?"

I look back at the woods, seeing some Will O' Wisps floating around the branches...

"I think...I'm gonna accept my destiny: I'm gonna seek out the ShatterSoul Sword."

Time Skip

Come the next morning, after a good night's rest, the gang and I have breakfast with Sonya, and I tell them about my decision. They were all quite surprised, but understood...

So a few hours later, I'm preparing myself for the journey ahead, lacing up my combat boots as tight as I can. I'm also wearing a clean pair of jeans, my white tank-top, and green jean-jacket. I also tied my hair back into a high ponytail, and strapped on my combat knife.

"Are you sure about going through with this, Cor?"

I finish lacing up, and stand up straight again to look at Freeman and Besa, who were giving me cautious expressions. I smile and reply,

"Positive. I think this will be good for me: I'll be getting back to my roots...Plus, who knows? Maybe the sword can help us in some way to get back to Edo. There must be more to it than just using Aura Energy as a weapon. And, I feel like I'm honouring my Father and my ancestors by reclaiming our family heirloom..."

"Hm, yeah, I think I get that...I wish you weren't going on your own, though. It seems a bit dangerous doing that."

"Well, it's not like I'm gonna be going completely solo: The Will O' Wisps will be guiding me, or at least Lumos will be. Plus, I think it'll be better if you guys stay here since you don't know the territory like I do."

Both my brothers hum and nod, but still looked wary...I sigh, and walk over to hug them:

"Guys, I'll be fine, really. This isn't too different from what I've been doing these last few months. It may have been five years since I last saw these woods, but my memory's real good at recalling details of what to watch out for. It's not like I'm wandering on air blind. I'll be back before you all know it."

"Alright, we get it."

"Just keep your wits sharp, okay?"

"I will. Promise."

Just as we part, everyone else comes from the hut to see me off:

"Coraline."

"Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Sonya walks in front of me, and hands me a charm similar to the ones she's posted around her place:

"Take this with you. It will help stave off any dark spirits that may be lurking within, though I doubt the Will O' Wisps will lead you to such areas."

"Thank you, Sonya."

I slip the charm into my left jean pocket, just as Lumos comes floating towards me, making that same ghostly moan:

"Hey, Lumos. You all fired up?"

He floats up and down swiftly, indicating 'Yes'. Just as I straighten up, Shippo hops up to hug me:

"Coraline, be careful in there, okay?"

I smile gently and pat his head:

"I'll be careful, Shippo, I swear. You be good for everyone while I'm gone, okay?"

He nods, and hops onto Freeman's shoulder, as Sango gives me a hug:

"Take care of yourself, Coraline, and good luck."

"Thanks, Sango."

I felt Kilala nuzzle me from up on Sango's shoulder, and I give her a pet, before Miroku gave me a hug (and yes, he behaved himself this time - haha):

"Safe travels, Coraline."

Then came Inuyasha, who had a conflicted frown on his face:

"...Inuyasha, please don't worry. I'll be fine."

He doesn't say anything...but suddenly envelops me into a tight hug!

"Uh!"

 _Inuyasha...He's, hugging me like, he did after that crazy battle with Sesshomaru when we got hit with the Tessaiga's Wind Scar..._

"...Don't do anything stupid, okay? Just find that sword, and come back safe."

"Uh...(Smile) You got it."

I squeeze him back, and after a few more minutes, he finally lets me go. I take a breath, and turn to walk towards the edge of the woods. I stand still, and look up towards the other Will O' Wisps that were present, before making the call:

"My friends: I am Coraline Croft, daughter of Mathias, and I seek your aid in finding the tomb, where ShatterSoul waits for me! Lend me your wisdom, and help me find my family's tomb!"

...All is quiet for a moment, before I hear the ghostly moans of the Will O' Wisps get louder, and they barrel down towards me, circling my body, before forming a path into the dark of the woods...!

I turn to Lumos, and nod, before beginning my journey...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, No POV...

(Whoosh...)

A portal opens up on a large tree trunk, and the person that hopped out of it...was Bishop!

"Hup!"

After landing smoothly on the ground, the portal vanishes, and Bishop does a quick check-in with his fellows in Trinity Headquarters, Japan Division:

(Beep...Ping)

"Bishop. You made it to Majora Village, I take it?"

"Yes, Saki. And according to my scanner, Croft has already entered the forest."

"...I'm assuming you know why?"

"Yes...She's heading for a tomb that holds an artifact her family's been protecting for generations: A blade, known as the ShatterSoul Sword."

"Interesting...How is it you know of it?"

"My ancestor was the one who unleashed the darkness of the fabled mask said to still exist in these parts against one of the last Crofts to wield the blade...My family has worked with Trinity since the old days when they were once known as a group of knights in Europe before expanding into what is known as Trinity today."

Bishop clenches his fist:

"If Croft reclaims the sword, Trinity will be slandered, and my ancestor's efforts besmirched again."

"So what will you do?"

"...There is no other choice: Croft must be destroyed."

"I see...Good luck in your mission, Bishop."

(Ping)

Bishop refocuses on the woods, and after staring in for a few minutes, he begins running in:

 _You've lost all your chances, Coraline Croft. Now, you will feel the full wrath of Trinity, and will join your defiant father in death!_

* * *

Wow, lots of good stuff, eh?

So now what?

Will Coraline find the fabled sword her family's been protecting for centuries, or will Bishop stop her before she even reaches it?

Will Coraline and Bishop meet in battle for the last time?

And will our group find a way back to Edo/Tokyo?

Find out in the next chapter to come!


	44. Chapter 43

Alrighty, here we are!

The moment you all have been waiting for: The third and final part in this latest turn!

What will happen?

Will Coraline reclaim the fabled ShatterSoul Sword that's been used and protected by her ancestors for centuries, or will Bishop stop her before she even reaches the tomb?

And will Coraline and the others finally return to Edo/Tokyo?

Read on and find out!

* * *

 **Chapter 43 (Special): Croft versus Bishop - The Five Year Endgame**

Continuing where we left off, we zoom in deep within the forest of Majora, as Coraline walks over some old tree trunks and roots, following the trail of Will O' Wisps to her destined location: The Tomb of the ShatterSoul Sword. Accompanying her was Lumos, a Will O' Wisp that had been Sonya's companion for several years.

"Hmm..."

Coraline looks around at her surroundings, noting the old tree growth, moss, beds of clover, and the peaceful silence that clouded the atmosphere:

 _Wow...it feels like I've gone back in time: Back to when I found happiness in the beauty and mystery of the forest when I was a child..._

 _Not much seems to have changed._

"(Ghostly moan...)"

"Hm?"

Coraline turns her head to Lumos:

"What is it? Are we close, or is it something else?"

Lumos floats a couple feet ahead, and suddenly switches from his silver-blue glow...to red!

"Uh! Lumos?"

 _Wait...I know that glow: He's saying that danger is near. But where?_

She decides to use her Aura Sight to check:

(Sheen)

 _...Up ahead, about, twelve feet...there's a dark presence. Could it be...a dark spirit?_

"(Soft gasp) Or maybe it's a follower of the mask?"

Using caution, Coraline slowly walks forward to the source, bringing out the charm Sonya gave her for protection...As she comes over the small hill, she sees,

"Whoa!"

There was a dark shadow-like entity standing at the bottom, crouching at a pedestal, that held a small crystal orb...

"That looks like, a Shadow Being. Father once told me about them: They're manifestations of dark energy that are attracted to sources of power...I wonder...that orb down there..."

She tiptoes her way down the hill, and ducks behind a large rock, getting a closer look at the symbol on the pedestal:

 _...That symbol...a Phoenix, and, the letter C..._

 _(Gasp) That's the Croft Family Crest!_

 _Does that mean...I need to get that orb to find the tomb?_

Coraline looks to her right at Lumos, who floats up and down in a nod, confirming her thoughts. Nodding back, Coraline puts her satchel down, and pulls out her combat knife at the ready along with the charm:

 _Okay...if I remember correctly, Sonya said that I only have to press the charm on a dark spirit, and it will immediately fall back to where it once came..._

 _I just have to creep up behind it, and shoot the charm onto the beast before it turns and swings at me._

 _But...if all goes to hell, I got my knife out._

"(Whisper) Here we go..."

Coraline slowly comes out from behind the rock, and begins to silently creep up behind the Shadow Being, careful to not step on anything that would give her position away:

 _Almost, there...Just a little bit closer..._

The Shadow Being lets a low growl out, causing Coraline to freeze:

 _Crap, crap, crap!_

Just as the beast begins to turn around, Lumos comes floating in, making his ghostly moans and distracting the Shadow Being!

 _Uh, Lumos!_

 _(Smirk) Nice one. Okay, just keep it preoccupied a little longer..._

Taking the opportunity, Coraline continues her stealthy approach, before:

"Hah!"

(Thwack)

She pushes the charm onto the Shadow Being's back:

(...Pow)

The charm glows, releasing a burst of purple light, and the Shadow Being lets out a pained howl, before shrinking into a smaller entity, slithering away from the area as fast as it could...!

Coraline watches it go, before looking down at the charm in astonishment:

"Wow...That worked better than I thought. (Turn, smile) Thank you for the distraction, Lumos: You were a big help."

The Will O' Wisp circles around Coraline, chirping with happiness for helping, before moving to circle the small orb a couple times...

"Alright, I gotcha: I'll get the orb."

Coraline moves to grab the crystal orb off of the pedestal, and as she does, the top of the pedestal glows a bit in a similar manner to that of her eyes when using her Aura powers...

"Uh!"

She then feels a warmth coming from the orb, and looks down into the crystal, seeing an image fading in...

"Hm...That location...I think that's, the thorny vine hedge not too far ahead...But, isn't it suppose to be impossible to pass through? Unless..."

 _Maybe this orb is the key...Well, only one way to find out._

After gathering her satchel, and sheathing her knife, Coraline heads onward again, with Lumos flying alongside her...

Come about forty minutes later, Coraline reaches her next stop:

The area was fairly clear, but up in front, stood a very large hedge over thirty feet tall, and unlike a regular hedge that would be made with thick bushels of leaves, this one's branches held sharp thorns, coloured similarly to that of the thorns surrounding the fight circle located at the forest's edge...

Coraline steps over to examine the hedge:

"...According to the legend, this was the last location that Majora's Mask resided before it was sealed away. Hm...doesn't look passable, but then again, things aren't always what they seem."

She looks down at the crystal orb in her hand:

"This has to be a key of sorts...But how do I use it?"

 _Maybe a change in sight will help..._

(Sheen)

 _...Still don't see anything...Wait, there: That branch over to the far right down!_

 _It doesn't have any thorns on it...and, deep inside, there's a hole. I think it's big enough for the orb._

"I knew it! It is a key!"

Coraline smiles in excitement, before moving quickly down right a couple feet to the spot:

"Alright...there are a few thorns in the way, but I should be able to squeeze it inside."

Coraline extends her left hand out, slowly slipping the orb inside...Her wrist is scratched a touch by the thorns:

"Ouch..."

 _It's okay. Just breathe; the cut isn't deep, you can wrap it after..._

 _Just a, little bit more..._

She manages to slip the crystal orb into the hole, and retracts her arm with a triumphant smile:

"Got it!"

(...Gleam)

The crystal orb glows ominously, before the ground around Coraline starts to rumble:

"W-Whoa! What's going on?!"

As Coraline tries to steady herself, the vines around the orb begin to retract, forming a tunnel of sorts, leading to a stone structure far ahead...!

"...Oh wow...(Turn) Lumos, is this it? Is that the tomb entrance ahead?"

The Will O' Wisp 'nods', and Coraline turns back to the vine tunnel:

"(Deep breath) Okay, let's do this."

...But just as she begins to enter the tunnel:

(Bang)

"Uh!"

A bullet is shot just inches from Coraline's left foot, causing her to freeze:

"Wh-What the hell?!"

"Not so fast, _Croft._ "

"Huh?"

Coraline turns around...and coming out of the trees, was Bishop!

"(Gasp) You! But, how?!"

"You didn't actually think that I wouldn't find you just because you and your friends used the Lottery on our transport system, did you? I was able to narrow down your location using the GPS function."

"Shit..."

"I know what you're after, Croft: You seek the blade your ancestors have been using for centuries."

"(Glare) And how do you know about it?"

"My family has worked for Trinity for generations, back when the organization was only a rebel knighthood in the old days. It was my own ancestor who released the energies of the fabled Majora's Mask to lure your ancestor into using the blade. Unfortunately, what he and his fellows did not anticipate was that the mask's darkness would be too strong to handle, and perished shortly after your ancestor...but not before recording his witness of the sword being carried off by the creatures that sided with your family..."

"...If what you say is true, why continue to chase me? You may very well end up repeating the same mistake your ancestor did centuries ago."

"I cannot allow you to obtain a blade that will pose a threat to Trinity, as well as slander the memory of my ancestor. You have been given chances to surrender and join us, but you chose to defy."

"Because Trinity is on a conquest that will destroy us all! Humans are not meant to rule the globe with an iron fist! There have been countless examples of such an authority, and they all ended in bloodshed and agony for the ruler and its people! Surely you have enough common sense to see that, Bishop!"

But Bishop would not see reason, he set in his ways:

"The only sense I see now, is that the Crofts must be destroyed. It's a shame to have to eliminate someone as young as you, but it cannot be helped."

He raises his gun again:

"If you choose to turn away from reclaiming the sword now, I may consider making your demise less painful."

Coraline grits her teeth, moving into a defensive position:

 _Damn it...Now what?_

"(Ghostly moan...)"

"Hm?"

She glances behind her to the right, seeing Lumos circling the area where the orb sits...

"Wait...(Gasp)"

 _I get it!_

Coraline then smirks, and slowly backs over to the orb...before quickly snatching it out of the hole, and running into the tunnel!

"Come on, Lumos!"

The Will O' Wisp floats after her, and Bishop calls,

"Stop!"

(Bang, bang)

Luckily, Coraline was already far enough in that the bullets missed, and continued to run through the tunnel, as the vines slowly begin closing...

"(Pant, pant, pant) Come on, legs, faster, faster!"

 _If I don't reach the end, I'll get crushed and skewered!_

She pumps her legs on, and after a few minutes more...

(Leap)

"Aaaah!"

Coraline jumps out of the tunnel, rolling forward, just seconds before the vines closed!

...She then sits up, rubbing her head:

"Damn...wait, did I-?!"

Coraline darts her head behind her, and doesn't see the tunnel anymore, but she was in the clear!

"Ha! Yes, I made it!"

She springs to her feet, and pumps her fist in the air in excitement:

"Take that, Bishop!"

She calms down, and peers into the vines to be doubly sure:

"...I don't see any signs of the bastard...Must've chose not to follow."

 _Still...if I know him, he'll find a way to get here. Either that, or-_

"He could end up, going after Inuyasha and the others...Oh man, I better get a move on, or I may not have anyone to return to!"

She whirls back around, focusing towards the tall, stone gateway, which was attached to a tunnel leading underground...

"Oh wow...I actually expected more wear and tear, but this place almost looks like it was just built..."

She then feels a stinging sensation coming from her wrist:

"Gh, oh, right. Better take care of that before I head in."

After applying rubbing alcohol and wrapping some gauze around her wrist, Coraline tugs her satchel securely to herself, and takes a calming breath in, determination set:

"Okay...No turning back now."

 _Look out, ShatterSoul Sword, 'cause here I come._

With that, Coraline began her descend into the tomb entrance, with Lumos as her guiding light...

Meanwhile, Back at Sonya's Hut

Everyone else was making themselves busy, trying not to worry too much about the redhead who was on her solo journey:

Sango was doing some training with Hiraikotsu; Miroku and Besa were looking through some of the old texts on Sonya's shelf, using a Gaelic-English dictionary for the parts they couldn't read (and Besa would end up translating the English for Miroku); Shippo and Kilala were playing with the Will O' Wisps while Freeman watched; and Inuyasha was lounging up in a tree, he having the hardest time not thinking about the danger Coraline could end up facing in her journey...

Sonya looks up from her herb garden, observing the half-demon up in the tree:

 _Hm, how peculiar: He is half-dog demon, and likes to lay on high tree branches..._

 _Perhaps this is a part of his personal security: He may feel safer when he is able to see everything that could come his way._

"Hey, Miss Sonya?"

"Mm?"

She turns to see Shippo jog up to her, and the latter asks in an innocent tone,

"How long do you think Coraline will be gone for?"

"It is hard to say, lad. Depending on how well one's intuition and memory of the forest is, a journey such as this could take hours or even a full day."

"Oh..."

She then smiles and adds,

"Though Coraline is a smart child, who comes from a long line of wise humans: I doubt she'll have too much to worry about as long as she keeps her wits abound."

Shippo forms a hopeful smile:

"Really?"

"Aye, lad. As long as ye stay positive, I'm sure that Coraline will return before you know it."

"(Nod) Mhm, okay. Thank you."

"Yer welcome."

Shippo dashes off to play with Kilala, and Sonya shakes her head lightly with an amused smile:

"Such a young curiousity, that one. Almost reminds me of Coraline when she was little..."

 _I do pray that ye will be alright, child. Remain focused, stay strong, and all shall come to you without fail._

Coraline's POV  


I'm now inside the tomb, and I have to say, the architecture is spectacular: The walls were made of beautifully-foliated garnet and quartz, standing at least forty feet tall, and the floor's made of cobble-style stone, each piece carved to perfection.

The walls also had messages carved into the rock, using what looks to be an old dialect of Gaelic, Ogham, that went back as far as the fourth century...!

"Incredible..."

I kept walking down the darkened hall, the only light being Lumos, peering around to try and make some sense of what I was seeing:

 _To think, this was something my family was protecting for centuries, and I never knew...until now._

I then hear Lumos let out a few cries, and face back to the front:

"Hm?"

He had stopped a couple feet ahead of me, at a door of some sorts, with more writing carved in. I step up to it so I could get a better look:

"Hmm...I can't read it in full, but from what I can translate, it looks like I need to give an offering of some kind in order to pass...But what?"

I look around the area of the door to try and find a clue...before spotting an impression in the stone about five inches to the left of the door.

"...Looks like, a hand-print."

I reach my own hand out, and place it on the impression...Nothing happens. I sigh in light frustration:

"Dang it. What am I doing wrong?"

Lumos comes floating down to where the impression was, and circles my hand, before sitting on it while making his glow throb:

"Huh?"

 _What is he trying to tell me?_

 _...Hang on...Maybe, I'm suppose to press my hand here, while using my Aura Sight._

"...Let's give it a try."

(Sheen)

...As soon as my eyes began to glow, the spot began glowing too, and I felt a force that was draining my energy!

"Ugh...ah..."

 _O-Okay, now I understand the offering part! Damn, I hope I don't get drained dry..._

Lumos settles himself on my shoulder, sending his ghostly chirps into my ear in a softer tone than earlier:

 _Oh...he must sense my discomfort..._

I close my eyes, and block out the draining feeling, my ears listening for Lumos:

"T-Thank you, Lumos...You know I'll be okay, don't you?"

About half a minute longer, the draining stops, and I hear the stone door begin to open:

(Rumble...sl-slide...)

I open my eyes again, and see the entrance was clear:

"(Pant) That wasn't too bad. At least now I can go in..."

As I stand up again, I stumble a bit, a grogginess stirring in my head:

"Rgh...Okay, I'm still standing. I'll be fine; I just need to shake it off and keep going."

Once my vision cleared up, I took another reassuring breath in, and began walking inside...What I saw, left me in awe:

"(Gasp)"

The main chamber was even bigger than the passageway, the ceiling reaching heights twice as tall, and was rounded out with sparkling crystal quartz and other minerals...

The rest of the area was also rounded, pillars towering around the room, with a large mosaic floor depicting an image of what I'm guessing to be my ancestors: They were all redheads with various long hairstyles, wearing ancient Celtic attire, some of their eyes were painted as glowing like mine do, carrying books, staffs, spears, herb baskets, and stood outside what looks like a smaller Majora Village...

"Wow..."

I step down the stone staircase, my eyes wide with wonder:

"This is amazing. It's like something out of a dream: I've always wanted to explore a place like this..."

I look up ahead, and see a stone pedestal...where the object of my quest sat:

"...The ShatterSoul Sword."

Despite it being centuries since it was last wielded, the sword looked like it was just made yesterday: Hard to say how long it was, but based on the image I saw in the book, I would say the blade is at least two and a half feet long. The hilt is made from what looks to be animal bone, carved in an anthropomorphic style, with Celtic knot designs on the middle part in amber, and the Croft Family Crest in the dead center. The blade is double-edged, with a thin blood groove going down the left side, and the guard made with iron.

I walk up to the pedestal, my face alight with amazement:

"...So beautiful, so well-crafted...How it's still looking pristine after so long is a mystery."

I watch as Lumos floats around the blade, and I smile before adding to myself,

"But, perhaps the Will O' Wisps have something to do with it."

I look down, and see an impression that looked similar to the hole for that vine back at the thorn hedge:

"Hm...I guess the orb must go in there like before...Oh, there's another one next to it, but it's smaller...and flatter..."

 _...Wait: The charm that Sonya gave me. Does it work here too?_

I take off my satchel, and reach in to grab out the crystal orb and charm:

"Well, I guess the only way to be sure is trial and error."

I turn back to the pedestal, and place each item in their respected spots, before stepping back to wait for what comes...

(...Gleam)

The items glow, and the indent where the sword sat began to shine with an ethereal light!

Lumos floats swiftly down to me and circles around my body, before flying back to the sword making the same gesture:

"Right, got it, Lumos! I'm on it!"

I quickly step up onto the pedestal, and grab the hilt of ShatterSoul, before using all the strength I could muster to pull it out:

"Rrrrrrrgh..."

 _Come on..._

Give another three minutes, and I could feel the blade beginning to loosen!

"Ha! Okay, here we go..."

I shift my hold so I gripped the hilt with both hands, and put all of my upper body strength into this next tug:

"Hrrrrggghhh..."

 _Almost...g-got it..._

And after another painstaking couple minutes...it happened:

(Clang)

"Uh!"

The blade came out, and I stumble back from the force of my pull, before steadying myself once more:

"(Pant, pant) I...I did it..."

I gaze down at the sword, admiring the craft-work in full:

"...Amazing. This is Celtic swordsman craft at its finest. It's gotta be at least several centuries old, perhaps, sometime after the Roman Occupation of England...forth, fifth century?"

 _If my guess is correct, then that means my family history goes back more vastly than I thought._

 _...My ancestors must've taken good care of the blade for it to look as well as it does now._

"(Ghostly moan...)"

"Hm?"

I snap out of my thoughts, and look up to see Lumos floating around in a fast-paced circle, sounding frantic:

"What? What is it, Lumos? What's wrong?"

He floats towards the way we came in...and glows that danger warning red!

I ask no more questions, and use my Aura Sight to see what's the matter:

(Sheen)

"(Gasp) Someone's coming...A human. But who, and how?"

 _Unless...Oh, cra-_

(BOOM)

The stone door is blown open, and I cringe from the explosion impact:

"Agh..."

...When the dust clears...I see Bishop, giving me one of the coldest glares I've ever seen appear in his eyes! But, I wasn't afraid...I stood my ground and glared back fiercely:

"Bishop! I should've known. How did you get through the vines?"

...He says nothing, and steps forward, a dark energy emanating from his body:

"...Bishop?"

 _Something's not right...He seems, different..._

He looks up at me again, and that's when I saw it: His eyes flashed a deep, poisonous purple, like the eyes of,

"A Shadow Being!"

 _Oh man: The same beast I defeated...did it find Bishop somehow?_

"(Frown) You allowed the Shadow Being to poison your mind for increased strength, didn't you?"

"Yes...I was hesitant at first, but after the beast transferred its power into me, I felt an incredible power flow through my veins, like I could crush anything in my way!"

He then rips his right sleeve off, before...

(SHING)

"UH!"

A shadow-hued blade came shooting out of his skin from his wrist!

"Using this new power, I thrashed my way through those thorn-covered vines, and made my way down here. The same goes for that blatant door: Nothing can withstand my strength, not even stone!"

He then lets out a dark, booming laugh, sending shivers down my spine as it echoed through the room:

 _...My god...He's even more crazed than before._

 _The poisoning from the Shadow Being must've been that potent._

 _Even his Soul seems darker than before!_

Once his laughter was through, he focuses back on me with a straight face:

"But now's not the time for boasting. My mission is more clear than before: You must be destroyed, along with that sword in your hand."

I call back,

"Bishop, hold on: You're not thinking rationally! The poison of the Shadow Being's taken over your senses! You're setting yourself up for total destruction!"

"Silence! My eyes have been opened: The only way to rid heretics like you is to join with creatures who carry immense power! I shall demonstrate in full, by ridding you first!"

Next thing I knew, he came charging at me with the blade in his skin outstretched to attack:

"Auh!"

(Swipe)

I duck from the attack, and somersault a few feet away, before he came at me again:

"Hrrah!"

(Swipe, CLANG)

Out of reflex, I swung the sword at the incoming shadow blade, and successfully blocked Bishop!

"G-Gh..."

 _Alright, you can do this, Cora. Just push...back!_

(Shove)

"Uh!"

Bishop is thrown back a couple steps, and even stumbles, as the blade in his arm lets some electric current run over his body:

"Rrrrgh..."

 _Looks like he's having trouble controlling his new power. Figures: The fool has no idea what he's got himself into..._

 _He's become the one thing that he's been fighting against for years..._

 _A freak._

I didn't have much time to think on the subject, before I was engaged into battle again, dodging and clashing ShatterSoul against Bishop's new Shadow Powers:

(Clang, clang, swipe, dodge...)

After about fifteen minutes, I dodge another swipe, before Bishop lands a kick to my abdomen:

(KICK)

"Aaaagh!"

It was a powerful one too, sending me flying across the room, all the way to the other side of the mosaic!

(Thud, slide...)

"Ugh...That hurt..."

I hear Bishop chuckle, and as I look up, I see his body glowing that ominous purple again:

"What's wrong, Croft? Having trouble?"

I growl at his arrogant tone:

 _Damn it. There's no way I'll be able to get past him now that he's got enhanced abilities..._

 _If only the others were here-No!_

 _This is my fight, and I have to do this on...What am I saying?_

 _I'm sounding just like Inuyasha when Kiky_ _ō was taken by Naraku..._

"...I do need them. Just because Bishop's been my enemy for years, doesn't mean I can't have help, or moral support at least. But, I brought nothing I can use to send a message to them. Damn it: What do I do?"

Just as I rise to stand, I see Lumos fly to my side, making ghostly moans in a fashion akin to concern:

"(Grimace, smile) I'm alright, Lumos...Wait, I got it! Lumos: Fly back to Sonya's and warn the others that Bishop is here fighting with me!"

Lumos shakes a bit, indicating shock...I shake my head and urge,

"I'll be fine: I can take this bastard on! I just need to believe in ShatterSoul, and in myself. But, the others need to know that Bishop is here. Please, Lumos, go back and bring them here!"

...Lumos 'nods', and starts his journey out of the tomb. I call,

"Good luck, Lumos! Fly as fast as you can!"

 _Besides, I'd rather have you out of the line of fire..._

"Sending your ally away, are you?"

I focus back on Bishop, and walk back to the center of the room, my heart pounding, but I showed no fear:

"The only one you should be focused on is me. I can see that there's no use in reasoning with you now that the Shadow Poison has entered your mind. There's no other choice: Only one of us will walk out of here alive."

He grinds his teeth at me, but nods in agreement all the same:

"For once, you and I are on the same page. Now..."

(Dash)

"Die, Croft!"

I begin running at him as well:

"You're going down, Bishop!"

(Swing) (Swing)

(CLANG)

"Hrrrrrr...!" "Grrrrrr...!"

 _Only one..._

Sonya's Hut, No POV  


At the same time Coraline and Bishop began what could very well be their final battle, everyone else was inside the hut having lunch, their thoughts clouded by their friend who has been gone for a couple hours now, wondering if she was alright...

As Sonya stirs some stew in a pot over a wood stove, Freeman lays back on the wool rug on the floor and sighs:

"Wonder if sis has reached the tomb yet? Is it suppose to be hard to find, Sonya?"

"Not for a Croft, it shouldn't."

Freeman hms, furrowing his eyebrows in worry:

"...I hope she hasn't ran into any trouble." Shippo plops down beside him:

"Me neither."

As both let out a worried sigh, Besa flashes a reassuring smile down at them from the small table he was sitting at with Sango and Miroku:

"Hey, cheer up, you guys: This is Coraline we're talking about. She'll be fine as long as she's careful. Plus, she's got her knife, her Aura Reader abilities, and Lumos is guiding her. I doubt she'll be caught unawares."

"Ya think so?"

"I know so, bro. Don't get me wrong, I'm worried for her too. We all are. But we can't let our worries consume us, otherwise we might accidentally send bad vibes in her direction."

Shippo gasps, and hops on Freeman's shoulder to exclaim,

"I don't wanna send bad vibes to Coraline! I'll start sending good thoughts right now! Freeman, will you help me?"

"(Small smile) Sure, kiddo."

Besa shakes his head at the two, before turning to look at the doorway, where Inuyasha was leaning, gazing into the distance with an unreadable expression...Of course, Besa could read him easy:

 _Inuyasha's the most worried out of all of us, and I can't blame him._

 _Based on the stories that Coraline's told Freeman and I, it sounds like he's been acting as her main shield from danger..._

"Poor guy. He must be fighting hard not to go leaping after her as we speak..."

Miroku and Sango nod in agreement:

"Yes..." "Yeah..."

"Hey, Inuyasha: Come sit at the table with us. Your legs have gotta be stiff by now."

...Inuyasha turns his head in Besa's direction, before looking back outside and replying softly,

"In a minute..."

Besa nods reluctantly:

"Alright...just remember: Staring aimlessly isn't gonna make her come back faster. Just have faith."

Inuyasha stiffens...but nods without facing the other boy...

After a few more minutes, Inuyasha finally turns away from the door to sit with everyone and eat...But just as he reaches the table:

(Ear twitch)

"Hm?"

Inuyasha turns back to the door, a confused expression on his face, causing the others to ask,

"Inuyasha?" "What is it?" "Something wrong?"

Sonya watches his movements, specifically, his ears, before asking,

"What do ye hear, young man?"

"...I think, it's a Will O' Wisp. I'm no expert, but they sound...panicky."

Just before everyone could make sense of Inuyasha's description, Lumos suddenly came zooming in, his ghostly moans indeed sounding quite distressed!

"Lumos!"

As he flew around the room in dizzying speeds, Sonya asks,

"Lumos, what is the matter? What's wro-Wait...He has returned, but Coraline has not."

Everyone gasps, and as Lumos finally screeches to a halt, Inuyasha steps up and asks in a calm but serious tone,

"Lumos, what's going on? Where's Coraline; is she in danger?"

Obviously, Lumos couldn't use words to express his message, so he decided to use actions: The Will O' Wisp flew over to a ripped shirt that belonged to Coraline, circling it a couple times...Freeman gets the meaning quick:

"Alright, Coraline; something about Coraline. What else?"

Lumos then flies over to the bookshelf, and on top was the opened text that showed the image of Coraline's supposed ancestor. The Will O' Wisp looks at it intently for a moment...before floating up and down over the symbol traced in the ground, glowing on and off red!

Sonya gasps:

"I know that glow: Red means danger..." She walks over to see what Lumos was indicating:

"...He's floating over...the symbol...for Trinity!"

Everyone gasps, and Freeman glares before wondering aloud,

"Hang on...We may have escaped from Bishop through that portal, but...what if, he somehow found a way to track where we came out?"

Miroku thinks on the matter with his own glare:

"If that's true...then he must've gone after Coraline."

Shippo asks with a scared tone,

"B-But why Coraline? Why not come after us?" Besa answers,

"Because there's no point in going after the larger group when it's just the one person he's after."

Inuyasha heard all he needed to:

"(Growl) We have no time to waste then: We gotta find Coraline and fast!"

"(Ghostly moan...)"

Lumos floats from the book and over to the doorway, bobbing up and down frantically. Sango says,

"It looks like Lumos is ready to act as our guide. But, (turns to Sonya) is it alright for us to enter the tomb?"

Sonya nods:

"It will be fine, child. Ye are allies of the Crofts: The Will O' Wisps will know that by now. Now hurry!"

Everyone nods firmly, and run out the door, with Kilala transforming into her full-demon form, taking Sango and the twins, while Miroku and Inuyasha ran on foot, Shippo riding Miroku's shoulders.

Lumos lets out another cry, and flies straight into the woods, with Sango calling,

"Lead the way, Lumos!"

As everyone began their journey, Inuyasha thinks to himself,

 _Coraline...hang in there. We're coming!_

Come about twenty minutes of fast-paced travel, and our group reaches the thorn hedge that Coraline had passed through earlier...However, true to Bishop's word, the Trinity soldier had left his mark with his new-found power...

"What the heck happened here?"

They walk over to the path that Bishop had cut to get to the tomb entrance, with Sango remarking,

"The branches here are broken and cut away," and Freeman adds,

"Yeah, like a really bad weed-hacker job..."

Lumos floats at the start of the path for a minute...before moving down to the tomb, with everyone following close behind. Once they were there, Besa lets out a whistle at the entrance:

"Wow...this is quite impressive."

Inuyasha suddenly picks up a scent, and growls a bit before remarking,

"I can smell that Bishop bastard. He's definitely inside there somewhere."

Miroku replies,

"In that case, we better double our pace and get to Coraline."

Everyone nods, and enters the tomb, Lumos floating ahead to guide...Once they got to the doorway, they see the damage done by Bishop:

"This has some extensive damage, like it was blown open...I also see...a slash mark?" Miroku wonders aloud after Besa's observation,

"Could Bishop have done this?"

Before anyone could answer:

(Clang, clang)

"Huh?"

Everyone darts their heads to the sound of metal clashing, and then hear an outcry from Coraline:

"Aaah!"

"Coraline!"

Inuyasha hops out first, and what he saw, left himself and the others speechless:

Coraline, now sporting a few cuts on her body, was going head-to-head with Bishop with the ShatterSoul Sword, he also having some physical damage, trying to stave her off with his own shadow blade!

"C...Coraline..."

Coraline shoves Bishop back again, and turns her head to the doorway when she feels more presences in the room:

"Hm? (Gasp) Inuyasha! Everyone!"

She didn't have time to be relieved to see them for long, because Bishop came charging at her again:

"Rrrrrah!"

(Slash)

Coraline ducks and rolls away from Bishop's attack, and rushes over to the others:

"I'm glad you're all here. Did you run into any trouble?" Freeman asks back,

"Never mind us! Are you okay, Cor?!"

"I'm hanging in there. But Bishop, he's gone berserk: A Shadow Being has poisoned his system, giving him a new strength and power he's barely got under control."

Everyone shouts,

"What?!"

There then came a dark chuckle, and everyone turns to focus on Bishop, who stands straight again, his body glowing that deep purple, a sinister smile on his face:

"So, your allies have come, have they, Croft? They shall bear witness to your destruction then, before I destroy them as well."

As he lets out another laugh, his eyes flash purple again, before returning to their natural grey, causing a shiver to pass through Shippo:

"Owah! Wh-What's with him? He's acting creepier than before!" Freeman agrees:

"I'm with you, kiddo. His screw's gone real loose; he almost sounds like one of those sleeper agents in the military when they're triggered."

Besa then narrows his eyes in thought:

"Hang on...Shadow Being poisoning...I remember reading about this earlier in one of Sonya's books. The poison gives you enhanced abilities, but it comes with a heavy price..."

Miroku nods, having also read the passage:

"Yes, I remember as well: The darkness of the victim's Soul becomes more potent, and takes over one's reasoning, replacing it with one's innermost dark desires. It's possible that Bishop's dark desire to bring suffering to Coraline has been turned into a desire to kill."

Inuyasha finishes the pondering:

"Then that means he's likely not gonna stop attacking until Coraline's dead."

Coraline grits her teeth, and raises the ShatterSoul Sword at the ready:

"All the more reason for me to take him out. Even if the Shadow Being didn't poison him, I know he's not gonna stop chasing me until he gets what he desires. I could see it in his eyes before I reached the inside of this place. His mind was made up before he came here...just like mine is now: Only one of us will come out of here alive."

Everyone looks at Coraline in shock, before Sango focuses more on the weapon in her hand:

"Uh! Coraline...is that...?"

"It is. The ShatterSoul Sword is now in my hands..."

She glances behind her and adds in her most serious tone,

"Everyone, I need you to stay here where you won't get caught in the crossfire...I do need your support, though: Can I count on you all to cheer me on as I end this war once and for all?"

...The others were hesitant at first...before reluctantly nodding, not wanting to argue with Coraline.

"Good. (Small smile) Thank you for coming."

Coraline then focuses back up front, and twirls the blade once in her hand, before calling out,

"Bishop...Let's end this!"

(Dash)

"Raaaaaaahhhhh!"

As the young redhead charges, Bishop does the same, and the fight continues:

(Clang, clang, swipe, dodge, slash...)

As they stood on the sidelines, everyone watched in amazement as Coraline fought considerably well against Bishop's attacks:

"Whoa..."

"She's not doin' half-bad." Freeman and Shippo call out at the same time,

"You can do it, Coraline! Tale that crazy bastard down!"

Inuyasha was in awe:

 _Holy-She's doin' pretty good for a human girl. It's like she's had the skill in her the whole time..._

"...Almost reminds me of when you go into battle, Inuyasha."

"Huh?"

He turns to look at Miroku in confusion, who smiles and adds,

"You obtained Tessaiga from your father's tomb and took to learning how to wield it like a professional. And it seems Coraline is doing similarly: She had no prior experience to wielding a sword, or at least as far as we know, she hasn't, but she's able to skillfully wield ShatterSoul like it was made for her, like Tessaiga was made for you."

"Hm..."

Inuyasha turns to focus back on the fight, and thinks to himself while watching Coraline,

 _...Miroku's right. I haven't really wielded a sword before I obtained Tessaiga, and yet I'm able to take on my enemies with it like I had it in me the whole time._

 _And...it looks like the same's happening for Coraline..._

 _Maybe it's a family trait, though: By the sounds of things, her ancestors have been wielding that sword for a very long time._

 _...Could the skill be in her blood, then?_

Unbeknownst to Inuyasha, as Coraline kept fighting, she was pondering similar questions:

"Hg-gah!"

(Clang, shove)

 _This is strange: I've never held ShatterSoul until now, but I'm sword-fighting almost as good as Inuyasha.  
_

 _...I wonder...could, what Father and Grandfather Higurashi have said back when be true?_

Flashbacks

 _We zoom in on the outside of the Croft family home, when it stood as a quaintly narrow, three-story home nestled by the forest of Majora Village...  
_

 _Outside, we see a seven year-old Coraline, dressed in a red t-shirt, denim overalls and sneakers running around in the back, giggling as she chased the Will O' Wisps. Sitting on a chair against the house wall was her Father, Mathias, reading a textbook while watching his daughter play with a smile:_

 _"Having fun, Coraline?"_

 _"Lotsa fun, father!"_

 _As she kept running around, Coraline comes across a large branch that was shaped somewhat like a sword sitting near the forest edge:_

 _"Hm?"_

 _She picks it up, and swings it down once, a smile appearing on her face:_

 _"Heheh, cool! It's like a sword!"_

 _Coraline moves back closer to her home, and starts swinging the branch around, pretending she was a swordswoman:_

 _"Ha! Ha!"_

 _She does a few swings, adding a somersault and thrust, and giggles as she calls,_

 _"Father, look! I'm a warrior!"_

 _He looks up from his book, and widens his eyes in amazement at his daughter's skill:_

 _"...Coraline..."_

 _He gets up and walks over to his daughter, an impressed smile on his face:_

 _"Well~, aren't we the little expert. Do you like what you're doing?"_

 _Coraline stops and looks up at her father with an innocent smile:_

 _"Uh-huh. I feel like I can take on an army!"_

 _Mathias laughs, and pulls his daughter into his arms:_

 _"My little warrior. You definitely carry the family talent for swordsmanship."_

 _"Really? Our family has swords-people?"_

 _"Yes. It goes back quite a ways, but Crofts used to be well-known in Majora for wielding swords...one sword in particular."_

 _"What sword?"_

 _He ruffles Coraline's hair and replies,_

 _"I'm afraid that's one tale that you'll have to wait on, but I promise, young one, I shall reveal our family history to you in time."_

 _"Okay."_

 _(Flash)_

 _Come about six years later, we zoom in on the Higurashi Shrine, as a thirteen year-old Coraline plays with a six year-old Souta in the courtyard:_

 _"Haha, can't catch me, Cora!"_

 _"Oh yes I can!"_

 _They let out a laugh, while Grandfather and Akari watch them play from by the door:_

 _"(Sigh) It looks like Coraline's adjusted well to living here with us...but I worry sometimes. It's been three years since her father was murdered, and she hasn't spoken about the incident much."_

 _"I wouldn't worry, Akari. As long as she's content, she'll be fine...I am disheartened that Mathias is gone, though. He was a good colleague who understood things that couldn't be explained with just the physical truth. But, he wouldn't want me to grieve forever. He would want me to move forward in life, just as Coraline is. I'm just glad she made it here safe, and can start a life with people who will look after her."_

 _Akari nods, a solemn smile on her face...Meanwhile, Coraline and Souta come across some broken branches that got knocked off a tree:_

 _"Hey, look at these."_

 _"Yeah. Must'a fallen from the wind and rain last night..."_

 _They pick one up each, and smile mischievously at one another:_

 _"...Wanna play 'Samurais'?"_

 _"Yeah!"_

 _And in less than fifteen seconds, the young teen and child began going at one another with the branches, laughing and pretending they were samurai warriors engaging in battle:_

 _"Take that, Souta of the Plain!"_

 _"No, you, Cora of the...um...oh, Cora of the Scroll!"_

 _"Scroll? Hahaha, what kind of warrior name is that?"_

 _"Well, you read all the time!"_

 _They keep at it, as Akari and Grandfather focus back on the children, widening their eyes a bit at what they were doing:_

 _"Children, be careful!"_

 _"We'll be careful, Mama!"_

 _"Yeah, no worries, Akari-sama!"_

 _The young woman lets out a sigh with a mildly-worried smile, as Grandfather puts a hand under his chin in thought:_

 _"Hmm..."_

 _"What is it?"_

 _"Coraline's skill...Unlike most of those hooligan children out there, she's actually putting a serious effort into her swings..."_

 _"Really?"_

 _Grandfather nods at Akari, just as Souta trips backwards and falls on his back, dropping his stick:_

 _"Wah!"_

 _Coraline steps up to the boy, and pokes his chest lightly with her branch:_

 _"Ha! I win!"_

 _Souta holds his arms up with a playful smile:_

 _"Okay, okay, you win! I surrender!"_

 _They both giggle, and as Coraline helps Souta to his feet, Grandfather comes over to ask,_

 _"Wherever did you learn skills like that, Coraline?"_

 _She turns to the elder man and replies with a shrug,_

 _"I dunno. It just, comes to me, I guess. Father...he said that our ancestors were once warriors of the blade."_

 _"Interesting...Perhaps you're a prodigy."_

 _Coraline tilts her head in confusion:_

 _"Prodigy? What's that?"_

 _"It means when someone has a natural talent for something, like how the males in the Higurashi Family are gifted in Priesthood."_

 _"Oooh...You think I'm a sword prodigy?"_

 _"It's possible..."_

 _Coraline looks down at her branch in thought:_

 _"Wow..."_

End of Flashbacks

 _...So then maybe this is in my blood. Maybe I am meant for ShatterSoul._

Coraline focuses back to reality, as Bishop comes charging at her again:

"Hrrrrah!"

(Slash, clang)

"Gggh!"

 _Well, gift or not, if I don't step it up, I'm as good as dead!_

She shoves Bishop back once again, but he was prepared for such a move this round:

"Grh, not this time, Croft!"

He slides back a step, before springing at her with an unmatched speed, and cuts across her torso:

(SLASH)

"Aaaaaagh!"

Coraline is thrown back, and crashes on her back, her torso bleeding a good deal, shocking everyone on the sidelines:

"Coraline!" "Cor!" "No!"

"Aw man, that's gotta hurt!"

...Fortunately, it seems the attack wasn't lethal, and Coraline was able to slowly albeit painfully rise on her elbows:

"Gr-gh..."

 _D-Damn, what I wouldn't give for Inuyasha's endurance right now..._

 _I'm not feeling anything inside, so the cut must still be outside the inner skin tissue, thank god..._

She moves to stand up, and grimaces from the new pain, placing a hand on one knee:

"Crap...come on, Cora: Pull yourself together..."

"Coraline! Are you alright?!"

She looks over to her friends, and smiles bitterly before calling back in a strain,

"No, worries! I'll, be okay!"

 _Even though I feel like I got hit by a wrecking ball..._

Inuyasha doesn't buy the smile:

"Bull! You're bleeding real bad, and you look like you're gonna collapse any second! Just say the word, and I'll jump in to kick this bastard to hell!"

Coraline shakes her head:

"No, Inuyasha, don't! I got this! Please...I don't want you getting hurt next, and that goes for the rest of you!"

"...Coraline..."

"Setting yourself up for death, Croft?"

Coraline darts her head back to Bishop, who looks at her with a menacing smirk:

"It's smart to not let your friends get involved: Why sacrifice their lives to prolong the inevitable end?"

"Shut up! The only one who's meeting their end is you!"

Coraline holds the ShatterSoul Sword up with some difficulty, but determinedly:

 _This is getting ridiculous. No matter how much I strike, I can't land a blow against Bishop._

 _There has to be another way to use ShatterSoul than just as a blunt weapon...but what?_

Suddenly, just as Coraline lets out a frustrated growl:

(Heartbeat...heartbeat)

"Huh?"

She looks down at the long-blade, feeling a strange yet somewhat familiar pulse:

 _What is this? It, kind-of feels like, the energy pulse I feel before I switch to my Aura Sight..._

 _Hang on: My family consists of Aura Readers, whom have wielded this blade...and, in the book image, the woman holding ShatterSoul, had their eyes aglow..._

"...Maybe, if I try using my Aura Sight while holding the blade..."

(Sheen)

 _Whoa...Bishop's darkness has really taken over his body...And it looks like, it might even be killing him._

 _(Narrows eyes) He has no idea, that his new power basically signed his death certificate._

 _...The fool._

Just as she made that discovery, the ShatterSoul Sword began to glow as well in the same ice blue as her eyes:

"(Gasp)"

 _The sword's...! Okay, what's going on?_

 _"The blade has fully expected ye as its master, young one."_

 _...Wh-Who said that? Who's there?  
_

 _"Peace, young one. I am one of yer ancestors. I cannot reveal me identity as of yet, but ye, are me reincard."_

 _...S-So, I'm your reincarnation, and you're, like a past me?  
_

 _"Aye. But that is not why I be here: Young one, ye must look within to fully unleash ShatterSoul's power."_

 _How?_

 _"Simply focus. Imagine the energy of your Soul, is flowing into the blade like blood through one's veins. Become one with ShatterSoul, and the rest shall come with ease. Ye can do this, reincard. I believe in ye, as does yer Father."_

 _F-Father? He's with you?  
_

 _"Aye. Unfortunately, he cannot reach here, but he has been watching over ye since that fateful day, sending his encouragement and love. He still worries over ye like any father would, but knows ye have the spirit to face life with yer head held high."_

 _...O-Oh wow...  
_

 _"I must go now, but we shall meet again, reincard. For now, just breathe, and gather all yer courage. Ye can prevail over this heathen! Ye, are a Croft!"_

With that, the mysterious voice was gone...Coraline takes a deep breath, and does as the voice advised:

 _Okay...focus..._

Still using her Aura Sight, she closed her eyes, imagining her spirit was flowing into the sword...Suddenly, the blade began emitting rings of blue light!

The bystanders gasp, and even Bishop was beginning to get wary of the new development:

"What? What is she...?"

 _Unless...No...No, she's tapped into the sword's power!_

"Bishop."

"Huh?"

He focuses back to reality, just as Coraline opens her eyes again, her eyes aglow:

"Your end is near. You and your ancestors have caused my family nothing but pain...Now, you shall pay!"

She raises the sword single-handed, and traces two diagonal slashes of ice blue light into the air, creating an X...All is silent, until she shouts,

" _Soul Shatter X!_ "

She then slashes across, and makes a shoving motion, releasing the energy:

(POW)

The x-shaped energy shoots from her stance, and zooms across the room, before hitting Bishop full-blast:

(BOOM)

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"

His body is shocked to the core by the Soul Energy...before dropping face-up:

(Thud...)

...The only sound in the room is Coraline's heavy breathing, as the spectators stood frozen to their spots from what they witnessed...That is, until Shippo sees something wisp out of Bishop's body:

"Owaaah! Look!"

Everyone turns to Shippo's direct of sight, and see a ghostly mist begin to rise out of Bishop! Miroku realizes,

"That must be, Bishop's Soul! (Narrows eyes) But it's unlike any Human Soul I've seen: So dark-ridden..."

Getting a closer look, we see that the Soul of Bishop had pockets of dark purple mixing with the normal white, and was throbbing red...Besa wonders,

"Perhaps this is the aftereffect of the Shadow Being's poison..."

(...Step, step, step...)

"Hm?"

Attention is then directed at Coraline, who begins to walk over to the Trinity Soldier's body, her eyes still aglow, and blade at the ready:

"What is she doing?"

"Dunno..."

Coraline stops in front of the body, staring at the Soul, that was now shooting some electric red currents, barely maintaining stabilization:

"...Goodbye, Constantine Bishop."

She raises the sword, before:

(SLASH)

She cuts right through the Soul, splitting it in half!

As the energy fades away into non-existence, Freeman asks aloud with a stutter,

"Wh-What just h-happened?! Did Cor seriously j-just, destroy a Soul?!" Besa replies just as stunned,

"Looks that way...Either that, or she just guaranteed his entrance to Hell..."

...Coraline then drops to her knees, her eyes returning to normal, as her mind slowly processes what she had just done:

 _...Bishop...is dead. I...I killed him. I really killed him._

 _I, sliced his Soul in two..._

"Coraline!"

"Huh?"

She turns her head right, as the others came rushing down to meet her:

"Are you okay?" "You look like hell, dude!"

"How the heck did you do that?" "That was incredible!"

"I knew you'd prevail!"

 _...Everyone...I, I'm glad they're alright. At least with Bishop dead, he can't do them any harm anymore...or me._

She smiles faintly and says,

"...I'm alright. Just, trying to process all of this...I can't believe I actually did it. It's, all over now..."

Inuyasha crouches down to her level, and places a hand on her shoulder:

"...You sure you're okay?"

"I'll hang in there. But, I think we should all get out of here."

As she struggles to stand up, Coraline adds,

"One of you, see if you can find, Bishop's transporter on him. I know, it's a bit crude to rob the dead, but he might have the code for, getting back to Edo..."

Just as she straightens up:

(Sway)

"Ah!"

Inuyasha swiftly catches her around her torso as she stumbles:

"Coraline!"

"I'm, fine...I...gh-uh..."

Unfortunately, her last wind had come to pass, and Coraline would fall unconscious...

Inuyasha's POV

"I'm, fine...gh-uh..."

Coraline's body shakes a bit, before she goes limp in my arms...

"Coraline? Coraline!"

 _Damn it! Please be okay!_

Besa walks over in front of me, and checks Coraline's pulse:

"(...Relieved sigh) It's okay. She's just unconscious...But, her pulse is a bit slow. We better get her back to Sonya's, and quick!"

I nod, as do the others, and Freeman rises to a stand over Bishop's corpse:

"I got the dead bastard's transporter. We can come back for the body later if we have to, but sis comes first."

I pull Coraline into my arms:

"I've got her. Let's get a move on!"

"Right!"

With that, we rush out of the tomb, and hurry as fast as we can back to Sonya's Hut...When we got there, her eyes went wide at seeing Coraline's injuries:

"Good lord! What happened?!" I answer straight up,

"Bishop happened."

She nods, and waves her hand to her home:

"Say no more, young man. Quickly, set her inside!"

...A while later, we're all sitting inside the hut, with Coraline now laying on the couch, a blanket over top of her body, having been treated for her injuries, including that nasty cut across her torso. She's still unconscious, but isn't looking as bad as earlier...Even so, everyone was worried...including me:

 _...Coraline..._

As I watch her, I hear Shippo ask Sonya,

"Is Coraline going to be okay?"

"She'll be alright, child. Luckily, that cut on her torso was shallow, and didn't touch anything vital. Still...with that injury, plus the other scratches and bruises on her body, the young one has definitely taken substantial physical damage. Coraline will need lots of rest in order to recover."

"It's hard to believe she was still standing after that attack she did. It must take a lot of spiritual energy to unleash such from the sword..."

Sonya replies to Miroku,

"Aye, monk, but the Crofts have been known to have immense Spiritual Strength...I do not find it surprising that Coraline was able to remain conscious for the amount of time she did. She carries the strength and endurance her ancestors once did...And it seems that even ShatterSoul can sense her potential."

I turn to the old woman in confusion:

"Really? The sword can sense that Coraline's got what it takes?"

"Aye...I imagine ye are asking because your own blade has done similarly?"

I was taken aback by her question...and just turned away, saying nothing:

 _But she isn't wrong...Tessaiga seems to know that I'm its master._

 _And based on what I and the others witnessed...ShatterSoul senses the same for Coraline._

"(Ghostly moan...)"

"Hm?"

I look up to see Lumos, who floats in front of me for a moment, before settling himself by Coraline's head.

"Keh, you're worried about her too, huh?"

"I think his actions may be more than simple worry, young man..."

I and the others look at Sonya in confusion:

"What do you mean?"

She smiles and replies,

"The Will O' Wisps are rather curious creatures, and have allied with the Crofts many times in these past few centuries. They trust their Auras...In this case, I believe Lumos may have chosen Coraline as his new human partner."

We all widen our eyes at Sonya's words:

"Whoa..." "Seriously?!"

"Incredible!"

I then pick up on a soft mumbling, and look down to see Coraline scrunching her face in irritation, before settling down again. I realize we must've been too loud, and turn to everyone to shush them:

"Keep it down; Coraline needs sleep, and it won't help if we're yackin' too loud."

Everyone looks at me in surprise...before smiling knowingly in their own ways.

"What? Why are you all giving me those looks?"

Miroku answers,

"Oh, it's nothing bad, Inuyasha," with Sango adding,

"We just think it's nice to see you caring so openly about Coraline."

The twins nod in agreement, and Shippo giggles a bit, causing me to blush lightly and retort,

"Kuh, I dunno what you lot are talkin' about..."

 _...You better wake up sooner than later, Coraline. I dunno how long I can go with everybody lookin' at me like I'm a big sap..._

 _But, I guess I can deal with it for you._

Time Skip, Coraline's POV  


"Mmm...m...hm?"

 _What...What happened?_

I slowly open my eyes from my dizzy spell, and found myself staring at...a wicker-woven ceiling mixed with brick...

"Wait...Am I, back at Sonya's?"

"Coraline?"

"Hm?"

I turn my head to the right, and see Inuyasha, staring at me from the floor.

"Oh, Inuyasha...(Smile) Nice to see you."

"Same...How are you feeling?"

"A bit groggy in the head, and my muscles are aching, but other than that, not bad...How long have I been asleep?"

"About two days. You're actually awake sooner than we all expected."

"Ah..."

It was then I remembered,

"Uh, ShatterSoul...Where's the sword? Is it safe?" Inuyasha stops me from sitting up:

"Take it easy. I got it sitting next to Tessaiga over there against the wall..."

He points across the room, and I see that ShatterSoul was on Tessaiga's right...I relax and lay back down on the couch:

"Oh good...Where's everyone else?"

"Sonya went to get some special stones from a pond clearing not far from here, and Shippo decided to tag along. Sango, Kilala and Miroku are sitting out by the woods, and the twins are checking out the cliff view while trying to find that code on Bishop's transporter watch."

"Heh, I had a feeling my bros would take the initiative on that project...What about Lumos?"

"Look next to you."

I turn to the left, and see Lumos sitting by me:

"Hey there. Have you been here the whole time I was sleeping?"

"(Ghostly moan...)"

"(Slight giggle) Thought so...You were an asset through this entire experience, Lumos, and...I thank you."

I face upwards again, as my mind goes over the details of what has happened these last few days:

"...To think...after all this time, I finally deal Bishop what he deserves, and I got to learn more about my family's history...But, at the same time, it all feels bittersweet: That bastard may be gone, but his mark won't be, and...revenge can't bring back the dead..."

I frown sadly and add,

"I dunno what Father could be thinking right now: Is he proud of me, or is he sad that I had to go down a dark road, just to see tomorrow?"

"Well of course he's proud of you. Don't be stupid."

"Hm?"

I turn to Inuyasha again, who's looking at me with a serious expression:

"This may not have been the path your old man envisioned for you, but who says parents get it right all the time? If he's got anything to be proud of, it's how strong you've become."

"...You think so?"

"I do."

I crack a small smile:

"...I hope you're right. Thanks, Inuyasha, for not just this, but for standing by me through this whole ordeal, along with everyone else."

"No problem..."

I lay my head back against the pillow, and just stare off into space for a few minutes...before asking,

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"...As soon as I have the strength to stand up again, I...want to take you and the others to see them."

"See who?"

"...My parents."

 _May as well visit them before I leave Majora again..._

Time Skip

Come another day of recovery, and my muscles finally permit me to move again. I could feel everyone's relief when they came back from their respected activities the other day and saw I was awake, especially from Shippo's tackle-hug...

Sonya's healing salves did the trick: My injuries were still a bit tender, but weren't shooting pain into my nerves anymore. I can now stand without my knees buckling on me, like they did yesterday, earning me more couch time by a stern dog demon.

Now, I was preparing myself to show everyone to...my parent's graves. I'm wearing my blue jeans, a white t-shirt, my grey button-up shirt, and my combat boots, but with the laces tied a bit looser so I don't agitate my calves.

Once I tugged on my shirt, I begin to walk out of the hut, where everyone else was waiting. Sango asks me,

"Are you sure you're able to walk all the way, Coraline?"

"No worries, Sango. I'll be okay; I need to get walking sooner than later anyway, otherwise my legs will stiffen up something fierce."

"Well, if you're sure..."

I smile reassuringly at her and everyone else:

"Positive. If worse comes to worse, I'll just ask that we take a small break. No big deal."

I move up front, and take a deep breath in:

"Well, if everyone else is ready...Let's get going."

I lead everyone from Sonya's hut, and after about an hour, we reach our first destination: The remains of my old home. Surprisingly enough, there's still a good deal of the framework standing after all this time, the wood blackened from...the arson.

"Is, this...?" I nod in confirmation to Freeman's question:

"Yes...This is all that's left of my old home. I'm, actually surprised that there's anything left. I would've thought it all...rotted away by now."

I slowly walk up to the area, and stopped by where the mailbox would've been, a feeling of anxiety beginning to bubble within:

"Mph..."

 _...It's okay. Just breathe...The past, can't hurt me anymore._

 _This place has too many good memories to be bad anyway..._

"Coraline?"

"Hm?"

I turn to my right, and see Inuyasha standing by me, looking at me in concern:

"You alright?"

"(Deep breath) I am...Just, being here again, brings back alot of memories...(Sad smile) Lots of them are good, though."

I move over to the spot where my old room used to be:

"...I remember, this is where my room was. (Turn) And over down that way, would've been the library...Then Father's Study. When I was little, and Father was busy with work, I sometimes grabbed a book from the library, and went into the Study, just sitting and reading while listening to Father write and shuffle papers...It was one of those, nice quiet moments we shared..."

I walk over to the place where the study once stood, and see the small trap door was still in tact:

"Here is the secret compartment, where inside, I found Father's old bookbag, containing his original work, along with some other valuable items...They're in my room in Tokyo now, and I keep Father's work in a secret spot, just to be doubly sure, it's safe."

I sigh, before turning out to the woods:

"...The graves are in a clearing out that way."

I lead on again, and come to the clearing where Father and Mother were buried: It looks about the same as it did years ago, the weeping willows standing as proud as ever, and the wildflowers growing abundant and beautiful.

My focus was on the two headstones, which have gotten a bit worn and have some moss growing on the tops, but not so much that the writing isn't obscured.

I make my way over, reading the following inscriptions from left grave to right:

 _In Memory of_

 _Mathias Croft_

 _Born August 10th, 1978, Died March 13th, 2012_

 _"The extraordinary is in what we do,_

 _not who we are."_

 _In Memory of_

 _Amelia Croft_

 _Born April 21st, 1979, Died June 5th, 2006_

 _May her spirit find peace and love in the next life  
_

 _as she did with her husband and daughter._

I kneel down in front of the graves, and stare for a few minutes, before saying softly,

"...Hey Father, Mother. Been a while, hasn't it? I never thought I'd return to see you both again...I, thought that when I left Majora five years ago, it was for good, but I guess the universe had different plans, eh? (Sad smile) I have no doubts you've been watching over me, and, I just want to thank you, for doing so."

I glance behind me at everyone, and say,

"The people you see behind me, are friends I've made along the way. You both remember Sonya, of course, but the others are Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Kilala, and the twins, Freeman and Besa. I've had alot of unimaginable experiences with them all already, and have become real close..."

I caress the gravestones, Father being the second:

"...I miss you both, you especially, Father. I could've really used your guidance a couple times...But, I guess having your spirit watching me is enough. You know doubt know what I've done: Bishop...is no more. I dunno if this means Trinity will no longer cause me harm, but, at least that bastard is gone."

Tears begin to pool into the corners of my eyes:

"...I, love you both very much, and won't ever stop thinking about you, even when I leave again. You'll always be in my prayers..."

I couldn't think of anything else to say, and start crying softly, my tears falling into the dirt...

I feel a hand on my shoulder, and turn to see Sonya, smiling sadly at me:

"It is alright, child. Ye have come so far, and no doubt they are incredibly proud of you."

"(Sniff) Mhm..."

I dry my eyes, and stand up from the graves, moving back over with the others, to watch Sonya place a set of Irish Roses on each of the sites, causing me to tear up again from the sentimentality.

I feel my brothers hug me, and I bury my face into Besa's shoulder to cry more...I also feel a familiar clawed hand go on my shoulder:

 _...Inuyasha._

After a couple minutes, my tears were gone, and I pull myself from the twins, to see Miroku paying his respects to my parents graves, along with Sango...

I smile a bit at their gestures, before Shippo hops up on Freeman's shoulder to look at me worriedly:

"You okay?"

"...Yeah. I'll be alright, Shippo."

He nods in understanding, and after a while more, we all leave the area, with me looking back one more time:

 _...Goodbye Mother, Father._

 _I hope you both are happy and safe with eachother in the afterlife._

Small Time Skip, Sonya's Hut, No POV

After returning from Coraline's Parent's gravesites, our group was now focused on one thing: How to get back to Edo.

"So, have you two managed to figure out how to activate the location code for Edo yet?"

Freeman replies to Coraline,

"I think so: This thing has like, a history list of all the location codes Bishop used before he died. If we just select the one he used before returning to headquarters with all of you during his attack, I'm pretty sure it will lead right back to Edo."

Inuyasha raises a skeptical brow:

"Pretty sure?"

"Well, we can't really guarantee anything, but we based this on the timeline of Bishop's last moves before the final code here. (Turn) Right?"

Besa nods firmly:

"Right. Um, speaking of Bishop, shouldn't we...that is, do we need to head back to the tomb and...you know, remove his body?"

Sonya replies from by the stove,

"I doubt the corpse is still there. The Will O' Wisps have likely taken care of that problem already. They've been keeping the tomb pristine for so long, they wouldn't want the body of an enemy to remain inside and tamper with the peace."

Everyone nods, before Coraline steps over and hugs Sonya around the middle:

"Thank you for everything, Sonya."

"Ye are most welcome, young one. It's just good to see you after all this time...It is sad that ye will soon leave yet again, but I suppose this is how fate intended it. Majora may have been your birthplace, but it's not necessarily your home."

"Yeah..."

As they part, Sonya then directs her eyes over to the bookshelf, where some material laid:

"Take those items with ye. It is the best leather I was able to get from down in the village, along with some strong thread. Ye should be able to create a fine scabbard for ShatterSoul using those."

Coraline's eyes light up, and she walks over to take the leather and thread into her hands, a grateful smile on her face:

"Thank you so much, Sonya. This is perfect!"

"I thought ye'd like what I have to offer."

Sango steps over to get a closer look at the materials:

"This leather looks quite durable. What sort of animal does it come from?"

"The red deer. It is a widely common animal here in these parts, and their hide is tough and resistant to water."

Coraline then notes,

"I see that the fur is still on the hide..."

"Aye. That side is intended for the inside of the scabbard. As long as ye keep that part well-oiled, it will help to prevent the sword's blade from rusting and provide a smoother draw."

"Wow..."

Inuyasha looks to Sonya with a raised brow and asks,

"How do you know so much about swords and scabbards?"

"(Laugh) Well, ancient weaponry was a specialty topic of Coraline's Father, and he often came by in his youth to tell me about some interesting facts. I suppose me memory picked up a thing or two..."

Inuyasha looks to Coraline in surprise:

"...Your father researched weapons?"

"Mm, more so the theories of how one is crafted and what the uses of the more ceremonial types were, but yeah. He wanted to understand the reasoning behind why humans would need weapons, you know, besides the more obvious explanations like hunting and war..."

"Hm..."

"...Actually, some of Father's research expands to as far as Japan. That's how he and Grandfather Higurashi met and became colleagues."

Freeman asks curiously,

"Your dad and Mister Higurashi knew eachother?"

"Yeah. I think they first met about...three or four years before I was born, during a time when Father was engrossed with the histories of ancient Japan...including Edo. He was mostly interested in the mysteries and legends, and he came to hear of Grandfather after chatting with a historian at the Tokyo National Museum. After a couple letter exchanges, Father went to visit Grandfather about a year before I was born, and they really hit it off. (Laugh) They each finally found someone who understood their views on the mysterious and the unexplained...I think Grandfather even came here to Majora once."

"No kidding."

"Yeah, but I was only four at the time, so I don't remember too much...except...Hang on."

Coraline stands up, an enlightened expression on her face, walking over to the window to stare blankly into nothing...

"...What is it, Coraline?"

"I...I can't believe I didn't think of this until now...Grandfather, and Father...they-I think they were talking about, the legend of the Shikon-no-Tama."

Everyone's reaction:

"What?!" "No way!" "You're kidding!"

Coraline runs a hand through her hair, trying to recall the memory:

"Lemme think...They were in the Study...Oh! That's right: I saw an old scroll on the desk, and got curious..."

Flashback

 _"Oooo..."_

 _A little four year-old Coraline, wearing a red jumper and jeans, her hair tied into a small braid, climbs onto her Father's desk-chair to get a closer look at an old scroll that was laid out: It contained a scripture of Japanese Kanji, so she couldn't read it, but the pictures she saw left her all the more curious. There was an image of a priestess, holding out an orb of sorts, it shining a bright ethereal light, while several monster-like beings were drawn to look like they were about to spring at her...  
_

 _"Wow...Wonder what kind-a monsters those are? And who's the lady?"_

 _It was then that Mathias, and Grandfather Higurashi come walking back in from the library:_

 _"I really appreciate your assistance in reconstructing this scroll, Mathias."_

 _"Of course, Higurashi-san. I am simply honoured that you would ask of me to help..."_

 _They then see the little girl who was standing on the chair, peering at the scroll while leaning on the desk on her elbows:_

 _"Oh, Coraline! When did you get here?"_

 _She looks up, and smiles brightly at seeing her Father:_

 _"Hi!"_

 _She gets down from the chair, and quickly adds,_

 _"I didn't touch the scroll; I was just looking."_

 _Mathias laughs at his daughter's antics and replies,_

 _"I had a feeling that you would be in here before long. Good on you for being careful."_

 _Grandfather Higurashi sighs in relief:_

 _"Finally, a child who actually knows respect for artifacts. Your daughter truly is one of a kind, my friend."_

 _"What can I say? Coraline has such a wide curiousity, and is an eager learner."_

 _The little girl walks over to the two grown men and asks while pointing to the desk,_

 _"What's that scroll for? And who's the lady with the circle in her hands that the monsters want?"_

 _Mathias looks towards Higurashi:_

 _"...Is it alright to tell her?"_

 _"(Laugh) Why not? I like her attitude, and her eyes have that intelligence you don't usually see in children her age."_

 _"(Smile) Well alright. I'll let you take lead."_

 _"Thank you."_

 _The three walk back over to the desk, and Coraline hops up onto the chair again to get a better view of the scroll, as Grandfather Higurashi begins his explanation:_

 _"Ahem. To answer your questions, young lady, this ancient scroll depicts a legend from the Sengoku Era, which would be more than four hundred and fifty years ago today."_

 _"Whoooa, that's really far back!"_

 _"Indeed. Though according to this record, the legend may have actually been known for longer than that, as far back as the Heian Period, which is roughly twice as far back. The image you see captured there is of a miko, or priestess in the English language, whose name has become lost, holding a jewel known as the Shikon-no-Tama, or 'Jewel of Four Souls'."_

 _"Four Souls? I thought people only had one..."_

 _Mathias cuts in to explain for the confused redhead:_

 _"He's referring to the Shint_ _ _ō_ Philosophy in which four spirits unite as one to form a strong balance within the Human Soul, like a four-way scale."_

 _"Ooooh...Where did the jewel come from, and what was it for?"_

 _Grandfather continues:_

 _"It isn't entirely clear how the jewel was created, but it was rumoured to have immense power, which depending on the possessor, could be used for good, or dark purposes. The monsters you see surrounding the priestess are actually yokai who sought its power for their own selfish gain."_

 _"Yo-kai...Is that another word for, demons?"_

 _"Correct. These are of course only a few examples of what demons in my country look like. They can come in a variety of forms, and some stories even depict them as good beings."_

 _"Huh...What happened to the jewel? Did a demon get it from the lady, or did the lady save it?"_

 _"Hm, that's where the story becomes a bit complicated: From what I and your father understand, the jewel had been passed through scores of parties, both human and demon, but not a one had the jewel for very long...Then one day, it suddenly vanished, forgotten to time."_

 _Coraline looks to her father for further clarification, and Mathias adds,_

 _"There is one fragment that we've recently put together, depicting a fire, but it isn't clear what the meaning is...The Shikon-no-Tama may very well remain what it is now: A mystery..."_

 _"Hmm..."_

 _The little girl looks back to the scroll, narrowing her eyes when she sees the fire symbol:_

 _"A jewel, monsters, and a fire...hm..."_

End of Flashback

"...That's it. That's all I can remember, surprisingly. It's possible that the scroll is in the Shrine somewhere for safekeeping, but I wouldn't know where. Grandfather's always a bit secretive with artifacts like those..."

Inuyasha asks in amazement,

"So, your father was helping to uncover more details about the jewel?"

"I guess...Another one of Father's specialties in his line of work was restoration, especially anything relating to parchment."

Everyone hms, thinking about the details of the scroll that Coraline remembered from those years ago:

"The priestess captured...I wonder if, that could've been Kikyō?"

"Or Midoriko...Are you sure the name was lost, Coraline?"

She nods at Sango:

"Positive, and Grandfather didn't sound entirely certain if the scholar who wrote the scroll was referring to recent times or was trying to recreate the legend's details from back in the beginning. Although...the image of the flames...I can't help but think, of how Kaede mentioned that Kikyō asked for the jewel to be cremated along with her body. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if the battles back in Midoriko's hay day caused a number of fires too..."

Coraline begins rubbing her temples in frustration:

"Agh, it's all so confusing..."

Miroku then says,

"Well, whatever the case, it seems that knowledge of the Shikon-no-Tama had traveled to you before you even knew of its importance later on...And for your Father to have known about it..."

"Yeah, I'm just as shocked as you are, Miroku. (Weak smile) I guess my family has had a somewhat deeper connection to Japan after all, and I never really realized it until now..."

"How could you not remember this until now?"

Coraline turns to Inuyasha and replies simply,

"The mind has a funny way of storing away memories. Some of them are easier to recall, and others are so deeply encased, it takes a specific trigger to get 'em back. I was only four, so the legend was only an interesting story from another country to listen to...I had no idea that it would become so important until these recent months..."

Inuyasha hmphs, and mutters,

"Could've done well with the info sooner, though I guess it doesn't matter much now that we all know..."

Coraline shakes her head at the half-demon, before looking over at the ShatterSoul Sword:

 _Now when I return to Japan, I'll be bringing a little piece of Celtic History with me..._

 _The Irish Warrior fighting a Japanese Priestess's war. Ha, who would've figured?_

Time Skip

Come the next day, our group was packed and ready to try out the transporter watch stolen from Bishop, and head back to Edo...

They made their goodbyes to Sonya, and the twins prepared to activate the device:

"Okay, everybody stand back: We're gonna try and aim for that thick trunk over there, and as soon as the portal is open, be ready to run and jump in."

"We got it, Besa."

"Just push the button already and let's get this show on the road!"

"Inuyasha!"

"What?"

"(Sigh) Never mind..."

Freeman rolls his eyes at the banter, and scrolls down the code list, before finding the one used to travel to Edo during Coraline and company's capture:

"Okay, got it. (Looks back) One last check: Does everybody got what they need, not what they don't?"

Everyone else shouts back,

"Yes!"

...Coraline then picks up on a familiar ghostly moan, and looks behind her to her satchel, where Lumos was resting in the front pocket:

 _I can't believe that Lumos is coming with me, but based on what Sonya said to be last night, it seems he wants to continue to lend me a hand on the road ahead..._

 _(Smile) It'll be interesting to see how he'll react to Japan, both past and present, and I'll have to give the Higurashis a word in advance about his nature..._

 _Among other things._

By that, she was referring to the mysterious sword in her left hand...Coraline looks to the hut one more time, smiling at Sonya who was standing in the entrance:

"(Mouthing) Goodbye, Sonya. Take care."

"(Mouthing) You too, child. Good luck in your adventure ahead, and take good care of Lumos."

Coraline nods, and turns to face the front, as the twins point the watch towards the thick tree trunk:

"Here,"

"Goes..."

"Nothing!"

(Beep...Pow)

The watch sends a bolt of energy towards the tree, and just as it happened in downtown Tokyo, a portal manifested onto the bark!

The twins fist-pump, before gesturing everyone to come over to them...

"Alright, this is it. Next stop: Edo."

...Everyone was a touch hesitant at first, but then Miroku steps up to the plate:

"I'll go first."

"You sure?"

"Yes...(Turn, smile) I'll see you all there."

He then breaks into a run, before leaping into the portal!

Next, would be Sango, then Shippo and Kilala...the twins decide to hop in together as well like they did the first time:

"See you two there, Cor, Inuyasha."

They then hop into the portal...leaving Inuyasha and Coraline the only ones left (plus Lumos who was safely stowing away inside the latter's stachel).

The young redhead turns to the dog-demon with a smile and says,

"...Shall we jump in together, like with the Well?"

"Keh, sure, why not?"

They walk over close to the portal, before Inuyasha wraps an arm around Coraline's waist, and both hop inside together...

(Pow)

And just like that, our group was gone, leaving only the portal to shrink into nothingness...

Sengoku Edo

(...Leap)

"Hah!"

Our last pair hops out of the portal to meet the others, before that end closes off...Everyone looks around, checking to make sure that this was the correct destination:

"Did we do it?" "Are we back?"

Shippo then spots the old castle ruins in the distance southwest from where they were standing:

"(Gasp) Look! That's where we were before we got captured!"

Everyone looks to where Shippo was pointing, and aside from the twins, they all recognize the location:

"It is!"

"Then that means we're back in Edo!"

"Yes!"

Everyone begins to cheer in happiness, and Freeman says to Besa,

"Phew, and a good thing too. The watch had only enough power for the one trip."

"Yeah..."

Inuyasha heard their conversation clear as day, and stopped cheering in an instant:

"Wait, what? You guys knew that device was only good for the one trip? Why didn't you say something?"

Everyone else stops, and turns to look at the twins, who smiled and replied,

"Because it was more important that we got you lot back to Edo."

"Even if it means we can't go back home..."

Coraline then widens her eyes, realizing,

"...Oh my god...you guys sacrificed your chance to go back to the modern era...Unless..."

She walks over to the boys, and takes Freeman's wrist with the transporter prototype into her free hand:

"...It's a long shot, but maybe...that crystal..."

Freeman clues in on what Coraline was pondering:

"Sis...are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"Only one way to be sure."

She turns to the others and says,

"Guys: We need to go back to the Bone Eater's Well, right now. I'll explain on the way."

The group was now traveling via Inuyasha (he carrying Coraline and Shippo) and Kilala in full form (she carrying everyone else) back to the Bone Eater's Well, as Coraline explains her theory...

When they reach the Forest of Inuyasha, said namesake asks,

"Okay, so lemme see if I understand this: You think that those Seven Light Crystals in Freeman and Besa's prototypes might actually have the power to help them travel through the well?!"

"It's more of a theory, but yes: The crystal has been rumoured to have secret powers besides the ability to heal...Look, I know this sounds crazy, but what other options have we? There's no way of knowing what sort of power source that the watch we stole from Bishop uses and if it's rechargeable, and I'm not risking a break-in to Trinity headquarters to steal another...(Smirk) Unless you want me to risk my skin to do that?"

"Kuh, not on my watch, you crazy woman!"

"We're with Inuyasha, sis. Don't you go lookin' for trouble just for the sake of us."

As they approach the Well, Coralie holds her hands up defensively and replies to the three disapproving males,

"Alright alright, I'll be a good girl. I won't play burglary on Trinity." They reply at the same time,

"Good."

Sango laughs a bit at their conversation, and says to Miroku,

"Talk about overprotective..."

"Indeed, Sango, though it is to be expected with older brothers and 'good friends'..."

They smile knowingly at the last description, as they all stood around the Well, looking inside:

"Sooo, how are we gonna do this, or how do you do this, Cor?"

"(Shrug) I just hop down, and the portal opens automatically." Inuyasha adds,

"Same here. There's no real thinkin' to it: You just do it."

The twins hm in thought, before nodding:

"Alright."

"Let's give this a shot and hope for the best."

Freeman and Besa then move to sit on the lip of the Well, deciding to jump down together. Coraline asks,

"You two ready?"

"Ready as we'll ever be. Oh, and incase this is the last we'll see eachother, it was good to meet you four in person, Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kilala."

"Yeah. I'm crossing my fingers this isn't the last time, though."

Said demon slayer and monk reply in kind,

"Same to you two."

"It was a pleasure to meet you both."

Shippo hops up to hug the twins around their middles:

"Take care, you guys! I really hope this isn't the last time!"

Kilala then rubs her head against each of their fingers, before they look up at Inuyasha:

"We know we'll at least see you again sometime."

"Yeah, don't be a stranger, Inuyasha."

"Keh, whatever."

The twins chuckle at his reaction, before focusing downward:

"Okay, here we go..."

"Next stop: Hopefully home..."

(Slide) (Slide)

They drop from the lip...before:

(...Glow)

The Well floor lights up the same way it does for Coraline and Inuyasha during their travels, indicating that passage was granted!

"They did it!"

 _See you soon, bros..._

Present-Day Tokyo, Besa's POV

(...Glow)

"Hup!" "Hup!"

 _That was...incredible!_

Much to our shock (and likely everyone else's back in Edo), Freeman and I actually made it back to modern Tokyo!

As soon as our footing was stable, I turn to my brother with a look that most likely matched his:

"...Did we..."

"I think we did."

Just as we begin to smile triumphantly at our success, suddenly:

(Pulse...)

"Huh?"

I feel that odd pulse from a few times before, coming from my wrist, and look down...to see the crystal lodged into the prototype, was glowing in a similar manner to that of the lights I saw while traveling through the Well's portal!

"What, the..."

"Mine's doing it too."

I turn my gaze up a bit, to see that Freeman's crystal was emitting the same glow...

 _What does this mean? Why are the crystals acting like this?_

"...Say, Besa..."

"Yeah?"

"...Do you think, maybe we can not only come back here, but, we can travel through the Well like Cora does now?"

I dart my head up in surprise:

"...Maybe. Maybe we can!"

He then smirks knowingly at me and asks,

"I guess there's only one way to find out, eh bro?"

I smile back and reply,

"Guess so. We better climb up first."

We pull ourselves up to the top, and sit on the edge the same way we did a minute ago:

"Ready?"

"Ready."

 _If this works...I wonder...maybe we could...(Shakes head) Focus, Besa: That question can come after you make it to the other time._

(Leap) (Leap)

(...Glow)

Back to Sengoku Edo, No POV

"...Looks like the twins made it."

"Yeah..."

(...Glow)

"Huh?"

"No way..." "It can't be..."

...Once the light passes, two familiar boys appear at the bottom of the Well! They quickly turn to one another, and shout excitedly,

"It worked!"

"Freeman! Besa! Is that really you two?!"

They look upwards, and reply to the shocked spectators,

"It is!"

"We honestly didn't know if this would work, but we're glad it did: That portal was awesome the second time 'round!"

Using the vines to climb back out, the twins stand up with the others, before explaining what made them do what they did. Needless to say, everyone was quite amazed by this new development:

"Amazing!"

"So, does this mean you guys can travel through the well like Coraline and Inuyasha now?!"

Freeman smiles at Shippo and replies just as happily,

"Looks that way, kiddo."

"Awesome!"

He and Besa laugh, before the latter pulls the former aside for a quick chat:

"What?"

Besa then whispers his idea to his brother's waiting ear...Once he was done, Freeman breaks out a grin:

"I like it! But I'm shocked, Besa: This is usually the type of plan I would come up with."

"I know...I'm just as surprised with myself, but then again, you've talked me into alot of crazy adventures over the years, so it was only a matter of time before I did you."

"What are you two talking about over there?"

They focus back to reality upon Coraline's call, and nod at one another, before walking back over:

"Well, you see..."

"Now that we can come back here, we were wondering..."

The twins take a deep breath, before asking at the same time,

"Can we join the team?"

Everyone was taken aback by the question:

"What?"

Besa then says,

"We know that our strength is more average when it comes to combat, but we're quick learners, and don't back down from anybody."

Freeman adds on,

"Plus, we're really good at finding out information on things from people. All in asking the right questions, ya know? Look, we know we're asking alot, but it looks like your fight against this Naraku bastard's gonna get harder with how sparse the information of the Shikon-no-Tama shard locations are, so the more allies you have the better...What do you say?"

...Coraline would be the first to respond:

"You guys do realize that if you two join the battle, it'll mean going into combat with demons, right?"

"Yes." "Yes."

"And, that doesn't freak you out? They aren't gonna be like the Noh Mask or the Soul Piper, either."

"Nope." "Nope."

The redhead turns to the others for their opinion:

"What do the rest of you think?" Sango replies,

"Well, we've seen them engage in hand-to-hand combat, as well as using a blunt object for a weapon. They aren't too shabby, but there's room for improvement. (Turn) Miroku?"

"Hm...It certainly wouldn't hurt to have more allies, and they seem to know how to handle themselves...Still, I am a bit concerned about their potential vulnerability."

Shippo chimes in with his opinion:

"I think it'd be great to have them join up! I like Freeman's fun attitude, and Besa's real smart!"

Coraline smiles down at the enthusiastic fox demon, noting Kilala's nod, before turning to the last of the group:

"...I'll leave it to you, Inuyasha. What do you think: Are Freeman and Besa cut out for the team?"

"Hm..."

Said dog demon walks over to the twins, and gives them the once over before asking the following:

"You two sure about wanting to do this?"

"Yes." "Absolutely."

"Keep in mind that you'll have to pull your own weight: I don't wanna hear any complaining from either of you because of long travel."

"Not gonna happen."

"Dude, we come from America and currently live in the hustle and bustle that is downtown Tokyo: We've mastered long travel."

"Then there's the possibility that you two will have to go into combat: I'm not sayin' you'll be completely on your own, but you better be ready to contribute, as well as look after yourself."

"We understand."

"Yeah, we're no pushovers to this sort-of subject."

...Inuyasha stares at the twins for a bit longer, before letting out a breath and saying,

"Alright. You're both in."

Freeman and Besa's eyes widen before they both exclaim,

"S-Seriously?!"

"Yeah yeah, seriously. Just don't make me regret this, okay? I wanna see you two give your hundred percent, got it?"

They nod:

"Of course."

"We promise. Thank you so much!"

Coraline gapes a bit, before rushing over to hug her brothers in excitement:

"You guys, wow! (Laugh) I can't believe it!"

"Yeah, we know!"

"We're just as shocked!"

Shippo hops onto Freeman's shoulder, just as happy that he and Besa will be coming along in these next adventures:

"Woo-hoo! You and your brother get to join up! I'm so glad!"

"Haha, me too, kid, me too."

Sango then comes over to Coraline, she too smiling from the excitement:

"You look really happy from this, Coraline. Are you not worried about the trouble they could get into?"

"(Nervous smile) Maybe a bit, but then again, my brothers have technically been in danger from the first moment I met them thanks to Trinity...At least this way, I won't have to constantly regale the events of 'What the heck happened while I was here', 'cause they'll get a first-hand view. (Smile) Plus, I have faith they'll give it their all."

"Hm, that's good...Of course, we'll need to consider getting them weapons that will work better than those...what are those pieces of metal called again?"

"Haha, crowbars. But yeah, I see your point; they might last in combat against bandits, but probably not against a demon. Only question is where are we gonna get such weapons?"

"(Smile) You leave that to me. I have an idea or two..."

Meanwhile, Miroku clapped a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder with his own smile in regards to the latter's decision:

"This was quite a decision you made, Inuyasha. I wasn't sure if you would let the two join up with us or not."

"Keh...well, they're not half-bad fighters, and they got that spirit we need for takin' down that bastard, Naraku...Coraline also seems happy that her brothers are able to come along, so why not?"

"Aah~, so this is not just for the group, but also to please Coraline..."

"Aw, don't go into anything sappy, monk! It's not like that!"

"Whatever you say, my friend."

"Feh."

Inuyasha scowls at Miroku's knowing smile, before turning to look at everyone else, stopping last at the animated faces of Freeman and Besa...and he couldn't help but smile himself:

 _I guess it doesn't hurt to have two more people on board..._

 _Freeman. Besa. Welcome to the team._

* * *

...Phew. That was a long one. Had lots of fun writing this chapter.

And cheers: My OCs Freeman and Besa are joining the gang for the journey ahead! Yay!

Alright, so from here on, we'll be going back to the original Inuyasha anime storyline. If you've been following in accordance to such, I think most should know which antagonist will be introduced next.

Hint: Their name begins with a K and ends with an A.

Anyway, be prepared for more adventures and stay tuned!


	45. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44: Trapped in a Duel to the Death!**

It's been about a week since everyone returned from Majora Village and the chaos that was Trinity, and we zoom in on the hillside next to Kaede's Hut, where Coraline was currently sitting, as she began the final sewing of her soon-to-be scabbard for the ShatterSoul Sword...

Now usually there isn't this long a pause before the group would begin their next trek in their quest, but after all the events that occurred in their latest adventure, even Inuyasha was convinced that everyone needed a break. And while he wouldn't dare say this aloud due to maintaining his pride, he wanted to be sure that Coraline's injuries from her duel with Bishop healed properly.

Not to mention, there were two new members of the group that needed time to prepare themselves for the next adventure ahead...

"Hey, sis! We're back!"

"How's the sewing coming?"

Coraline pauses in her work, and looks up to see her brothers, Freeman and Besa, who have returned with Sango and Kilala from the abandoned Demon Slayer Village...You see, due to the worry that the twin brother's crowbars might not be strong enough for the heavy combat lying ahead, Sango decided to assist them by taking them back to her old home, and salvage some slayer weapons for them to equip themselves with and learn to wield.

The redhead smiles at the small group and calls back,

"Welcome back, you guys! And to answer your question, Besa, I'm in the final stage for the scabbard."

It was then that Shippo pops out of Kaede's Hut, and bounds over to the returning twins, slayer and cat demon:

"Hey, you guys!"

"Hey, Shippo!"

The little fox demon hops onto Freeman's shoulder and asks curiously,

"Did you and Besa find something you can use?"

"Yeah. Took a while to pick the right one, but we each found a weapon we can wield without lookin' like idiots."

Besa bops Freeman in the back of the head:

"Dude!"

"What? No offense, bro, but you looked ridiculous trying to swing that giant mace."

"Like you looked any better?"

"Oi! You guys are back, finally!"

The twins snap out of their mini argument, and turn to see Inuyasha and Miroku coming over from the other direction. They smile and wave:

"Hey, Inuyasha, Miroku!"

Coraline rolls her eyes at their quick change of focus, and goes back to sewing while quirking mentally,

 _Boys will be boys..._

 _I still can't believe my brothers are actually able to be here in Edo. Now they're back from Sango's old home with demon slayer weapons..._

 _(Smile) It feels good to have them here, and everyone else seems to be taking them in with open arms too._

As Coraline finished her thoughts, Inuyasha asks,

"So, you guys find something you can use or what?"

Freeman holds a finger up:

"One sec..."

They then walk over to Kilala's back, and pull down a rolled up blanket each...They set them down near Coraline, and Freeman goes first in the reveal:

"I chose, a long hammer..."

He unwraps his cloth, and inside, we see a hammer that was of similar build to Tōtōsai's, except the metal was more copper-coloured, and held pieces of demon bone wrapped around the base and the end of the handle.

Miroku was the first to comment:

"Well, this is a rather, unique weapon choice." Freeman grins and replies,

"Yeah, I know, it's a bit weird, but I have a good arm for bats and bars, and from the second I picked this baby up, I just knew it was for me."

Inuyasha scratches his brow and says,

"Kind-a looks like that old metal-bender's weapon...You sure your swing can handle somethin' like this?"

"Heck yeah! Just holdin' it feels right, and I feel like I can take on a whole samurai army."

Besa shakes his head in amusement from the glint in Freeman's eyes, and does his big reveal:

"Well, here's my new weapon: I decided on a twin set of combat sickles..."

Getting a closer look, we see that the blades of these sickles were made of demon bone, thick but cut to be sharp, and had wooden handles.

Sango comments with a impressed smile,

"Besa was quite a natural with these based on what I saw during our basic training."

Said teenage boy blushes a bit bashfully while rubbing the back of his head:

"Haha, I dunno about a natural; I'm just glad I didn't cut your head off during our sparring."

Coraline looks up briefly from her work to glance at the weapons, and smile at her brothers before saying,

"You guys made some good choices."

"Thanks, sis." "Thanks, sis."

She nods, before getting back to work on the scabbard...About fifteen minutes later:

"Hah, finally, I'm done!"

Coraline puts the sewing needle back into her tiny travel kit, and stands up to hold out her completed work:

"Looks great, don't you think so, Lumos?"

Said Will O' Wisp comes down from the tree he was sitting in, and slowly circles the scabbard...before chirping in praise:

"(Giggle) Glad you approve."

 _I also have to thank Souta next time I see him for the contribution he did..._

When she returned to the Higurashi Shrine and regaled to the family what had happened to her and the others (By this time, Souta and Akari have finally been told about Trinity and Coraline's Aura Reader abilities), the family was in shock and awe, before just being happy that the young redhead was safe...

The appearance of Lumos did cause a minor scare (mostly with Grandfather Higurashi mistaking him as a haunting spirit), but once Coraline explained the nature of the Will O' Wisps, everyone calmed down and welcomed the little orb creature with open arms, especially Akari, who thought he was adorable...

Souta got particularly animated by the new information about Coraline's family consisting of Celtic Warriors, and was more than eager to help in some shape or form in making the scabbard for the ShatterSoul Sword. His contribution would include getting the special oil for the furred inside so that drawing the blade would be smooth, and help in painting two symbols on the scabbard with long-lasting, multi-coloured inks.

Looking at the scabbard now, it was of perfect size for the ShatterSoul blade, the leather shining a deep red-brown, the end tipped with metal fashioned by a blacksmith in the Goshinboku Village, and a thick leather strap from top to bottom so it could be worn on her back.

As for the symbols: The first one was created as a replica of the Croft Family Crest (A bright-red Phoenix with a black letter C over top), while the second (suggested by Grandfather Higurashi) was a drawing of the Goshinboku Tree (coloured green) with the Higurashi name 'carved' into the tree bark (coloured blue).

"...That the finished product?"

"Hm?"

Coraline turns to see Inuyasha walking over to check out the scabbard:

"...Looks good."

"Thanks. I'm especially proud of the symbols that have been painted on, with Souta's help, of course. He's got a hidden talent for calligraphy, (Giggle) not that he'd admit it."

Inuyasha looks a but closer at the symbols:

"...That first one at the top: What kind of bird is that?"

"That's suppose to be the legendary Phoenix, or fire bird. They represent resurrection and life renewed. When a Phoenix goes old, their bodies combust into flames, before rising from the ashes reborn."

"What? No way!"

"Yeah way, or at least that's how the story goes."

"...Weird. How 'bout the other symbol? Is that suppose to be..."

"The Goshinboku Tree? Yes. It was Grandfather's idea, and Souta was the one who wrote the Higurashi name into the trunk with blue ink."

Coraline smiles distantly and adds,

"I decided to incorporate these, as a way of honouring my origin family, and my adopted family. You know, bringing two pieces of my life together to help guide me on my continuing journey to find out who I am."

Inuyasha eyes her oddly:

"Find out who you are?"

"Mhm. I'm still searching for my place in the world, trying to find what truly makes me me..."

"Kuh, well I got your answer for that first part: Your place is with me."

Coraline darts her head to Inuyasha in surprise:

"Huh?"

He quickly adds,

"Uh, and everyone else too. Your place is with all of us, as a friend and teammate."

"Uh...(Smile) Right."

 _...I have the strangest feeling that he was hinting at something else...but never mind._

 _That can wait another time...and I don't mind waiting._

Scene Shift: Eastern Mountains

At the same time our group was relaxing in the Goshinboku Village, we turn to the hidden-away den of the Wolf Demon Tribe, as one member, Ginta, returns from some scouting:

"Alright, men. This side's all clear...Hm?"

He looks down below from his vantage point by the top of the waterfall, and sees his friend, Hakkaku, snoozing on the job...

"Look at 'im down there..."

He decides to teach his buddy a lesson about staying alert during guard duty, by sneaking up on him, before shouting,

"The enemy!"

Hakkaku immediately jumps awake, darting back and forth while frantically responding,

"What, where?! Where's the enemy?! Is it the Birds of Paradise?!"

In his haste to appear alert, Hakkaku slips on the grass, before falling down to the pool below:

"A-Aaaah!"

(Splash)

Ginta laughs at his companion's response and calls down below,

"What're you talkin' about, Hakkaku? The Birds of Paradise are all dead! But you looked funny flying over that cliff! Hahahaha..."

Hakkaku pulls himself out of the water, not pleased by Ginta's prank:

"Shut up! That was a dirty trick!"

"That's what you get for slackin' off and sleeping on guard duty!"

Hakkaku curses to himself, knowing Ginta was somewhat right...His attention is then focused on some new arrivals, namely, five unfamiliar wolf demons:

"Huh? Hey, who are they?" Ginta explains:

"They're our brothers from the Northern Caves."

Once they meet up with the small group and lead them inside the den, two of the wolves from the Northern Tribe speak with Kōga about some interesting news they recently found out:

"There's someone who possesses a huge Shikon-no-Tama shard."

"He's a lord of a castle. I know it's hard to believe, but we're not jokin' about this guy."

"Let's combine our forces and join the Northern and Eastern Tribes together. Then we can storm the castle, steal the shard and divide it up equally."

"Well, Kōga? You wanna join us?"

...Said Eastern Tribe Leader's reply was blunt:

"Sorry. Not interested."

"What?!"

"Why the hell not?"

"I have something else to take care of before I do anything else."

The Northern Wolves were taken aback, but understood:

"I see...Well, no sense of forcing the issue."

"(Whisper) He's got an injury. Do you see that?"

Kōga's eyebrow twitches in annoyance, and we see that his right arm was still scarring over from having its jewel shard ripped out by the Bird of Paradise a while back...

As the Northern Tribe members exit the cave, one of the Eastern members asks,

"You sure you wanna turn them down, Kōga?" Another member tries to reason with him:

"If we don't join them, than the Northern Tribe will get all of the Shikon-no-Tama shards."

"...Let them go. It doesn't matter."

Kōga's unenthusiastic response does not sit well for some:

"Well, it matters to me! I'm gonna go with them!"

"Me too!"

"Go ahead, I could care less. If you wanna leave, I won't stop you."

Taking the hint, those two wolf demons call out to the rest to see if anyone else felt the same as they:

"We're gonna go join the Northern Tribe!"

"If anyone else wants a piece of the Shikon-no-Tama shard, you better follow us!"

In the end, at least a dozen or more wolf demons charge out of the den to catch up with the Northern Tribe members and get their chance at obtaining a jewel shard...

But Kōga didn't seem to care much, as he looked down at his healing arm, his mind still stuck on the events that caused the injury to begin with:

 _...Damn._

 _I never thought that the Bird of Paradise would be able to steal the Shikon-no-Tama shard out of my arm, but I'll get it back, just wait._

 _...But first, I have to take care of, that dog._

 _Rgh, I can't believe that he was able to kill that Bird of Paradise with just one sweep of his sword...and the jerk: I won't be satisfied until I wring his stupid neck with my bare hands._

 _...Mph, this injury isn't healing as quickly as I want it to._

Time Skip

Moving away from the brooding wolf demon, we now turn to the deep canopy of the forests, as Coraline emerges from behind a large bush, leading the group to the location of a jewel shard she just picked up in their new start:

"I'm definitely getting a strong reading this way. The Shikon-no-Tama shards shouldn't be too far ahead now..."

Today, she was wearing a white crop-tank with a blue and black-checkered flannel shirt, her olive-green jeans, and her black combat boots. We also see that her newly acclaimed ShatterSoul sword was sitting across her back in its new scabbard behind her satchel, her bow and quiver over her left shoulder, and her combat knife strapped to her thigh.

Following behind was the rest of the group, including Freeman and Besa, who were dressed in similar outfits of blue jeans, high-top sneakers and white t-shirts. But while Freeman wore a black leather jacket over top his t-shirt, Besa chose to wear a black sweater. They were also carrying their own satchels (remembering to pack as light as possible so they weren't slowed by unnecessary weight), and their new weapons, with Freeman's hammer slung over his shoulder, and Besa strapping his sickles to his waist.

Freeman comments to Besa,

"Man, this is wild, traveling through Japan's landscape before heavy industry took over, eh?"

"I'll tell you what's really wild: Following our sister who's tracking down a jewel shard that's only about the size of the crystal fragments in our bracelets."

Yes, the twins still held onto the prototype transporters stolen from one of Trinity's Japan homebases, but are now calling them bracelets since their original intended function is no longer needed...

Miroku builds onto Besa's observation by saying to Inuyasha,

"You see how helpful Coraline is? She's the only one with that ability."

Shippo chimes from the monk's shoulder,

"Yeah, Inuyasha! So don't start anymore fights with her again, okay?"

Coraline sighs with an exasperated smile and calls over her shoulder,

"Guys, you can knock it off with the badgering. That fight was a week and a half ago, and we already reconciled like adults. Let's focus back to the present situation at hand, alright?"

Inuaysha fehs, but mutters,

"Yeah, what she said..."

Miroku and Shippo warily nod, as Sango speaks up on the current topic:

"So we're hunting for a demon bear that attacked a village?" Miroku answers,

"According to one of the survivors, yes...He said that it started as just a mischievous cub before it suddenly grew large and attacked the village."

Miroku then sees the closed-eyed scowl on Inuyasha's face:

"Inuyasha. You seemed displeased about something."

"Keh, that's the understatement of the year: Sure, we gotta seek out the jewel shards that Coraline senses, but why should I waste my time on a bear hunt when I could be hunting down a wolf?"

Coraline turned to glance at Inuyasha warily on that last bit:

 _Wolf? Oh, damn, he must be thinking about that idiot K_ _ōga..._

"We already know that Kōga the Wolf Demon has two of the shards jammed into those skinny little hairy legs. (Sniff, sniff) I'd feel more like fighting if I smelled the reek of wolf on this mountain and not the stench of bear."

 _Yep, called it. Ugh, nice going, Miroku and Shippo, you had to remind him of those events, didn't you?_

Miroku smirks knowingly at Inuyasha and replies,

"So your first priority now that we've returned from Coraline's old home is to butcher Kōga..."

Shippo blankly comments,

"...He's his arch-rival in love."

(Bonk)

"Aaawah!"

That earned a fist on the noggin from Inuyasha, and Shippo falls to the ground with a bump on his head, before jumping to his feet to ask heatedly,

"What'd you do that for?!"

Inuyasha just hmphs stubbornly with his arms folded and head turned away, and Miroku tries to reason with the bristled fox demon:

"Shippo, if you bug Inuyasha, you'll only feel his fist..."

Freeman turns to his brother and asks in a whisper,

"What the heck is Shippo talkin' love rivals for? (Chuckle) I mean, sure, that picture book he showed us was hilarious, but I don't think it's paying homage to what's really going on in Cor's head when it comes to Inuyasha and Kōga..."

"Yeah, I know. If anything, it's more likely that Coraline's gonna beat that Kōga character up before Inuyasha does."

They laugh a bit, before Besa looks ahead, spotting some impressions in the path:

"...I think I see some bear tracks, so adding onto Cora's shard detection, we're definitely heading in the right direction."

Snapping out of their respected focuses, the other boys turn to Besa in surprise at his deduction, with Shippo asking curiously,

"How can you tell they belong to a bear?"

"(Nervous smile) 'Cause back where Freeman and I are originally from, bears were an occasional neighbourhood problem, especially in backyards with lots of fruit trees."

"Really?"

"Mhm. That's why you gotta be careful when you live close to or in woodland areas: You're not just living in nature's space, but you're sharing with the other creatures who call that place home too."

...Suddenly:

(Rustle)

"Hm?"

Everyone turns towards the bushes a few feet in front, as several bandits come walking into view, occupying menacing smiles on their faces.

"Owaah, is that the bear?!" Miroku calmly replies to Shippo,

"Not to worry, they're just ordinary thieves."

One of the bandits calls Miroku out on his description:

"Who are you callin' 'ordinary', you arrogant bastard? And by the looks of it, you ain't got no money on ya, so why don't you just leave us the women and we'll call it even!"

Inuyasha replies,

"Ya know what? I don't wanna waste anymore of my time, so if you don't wanna get hurt, you better leave."

"Grr, what did you just say to us?!"

...It was at the same time Sango tenses up, grasping Hiraikotsu, that Lumos pops out of Coraline's satchel, letting out warning moans while blinking red!

"Coraline."

"Yeah, I know. I can sense the shard heading for here, and Lumos detects danger."

Freeman and Besa move to either side of Coraline, feeling their brotherly instincts rise:

"We got your back, sis."

"Yours too, Sango. Just say the word."

The girls nod, as Sango readies to unleash her boomerang:

"Get back."

The bandits are confused by their rise in hostility:

"What're you-" "What's she talkin' abou-" "What's going-"

(Rumble, crash...)

"Huh?"

(...CRASH)

It was then a giant clawed paw came swinging from inside the thick tree cover, slamming a trunk out into the clearing, and causing the bandits to scatter before they got hit!

Sango makes her move:

"Hrr-gah!"

(Toss, Spin...SLICE)

Hiraikotsu cuts the incoming trunk down the middle, the twin pieces landing on opposite sides of our group!

"(ROAR)"

The demon bear then finally makes its entrance: True to the description, they were massive in size, with a slate-grey body and head, black fur lining the arms and a tousle at the top of the head, bumps going down the spinal cord, and red eyes!

As the bandits run away like the cowards they really were, Coraline spots where the jewel shard laid:

"The shard is embedded in the beast's forehead!"

Inuyasha smirks and says,

"Huh, he would make one hell of a bear rug. (Frown) He might be huge, but he's still got the brain of a bush-pig!"

(Leap)

"Hrrrrr-rah!"

(SLASH)

Inuyasha then lands a good hit to the demon bear with Tessaiga across its middle...But when he lands in a treetop, his ears pick up on another sound:

(Buzzzzzz...)

"Huh?"

He turns around, and looks towards the sky, spotting some very familiar and unpleasant pests:

"Naraku's poison insects!"

He leaps down back to everyone else, and Miroku calls,

"Inuyasha, look!"

He follows his direct of sight, and everyone watches as the Insects of Hell swarm on the demon bear...While the main bulk distracted the beast, one insect focuses on the forehead, and uses its legs to extract the Shikon-no-Tama fragment!

"They're taking out the jewel shard!"

...Lumos didn't seem to take this tactic kindly, and shot into the air after the one insect, much to Coraline's protest:

"Uh, Lumos, wait!"

Seeing the direction he was going, Besa realizes,

"Uh! I think Lumos is gonna try and get the shard from the wasp!"

The Will O' Wisp did reach the wasp, and grabbed the shard, before trying to tug it out of the insect's grasp!

...Unfortunately, the other's grip held fast, and before Lumos could dodge quick enough, he was suddenly getting pelted by some of the others in the swarm!

"(Ghostly moans)"

Shippo points to the sky and exclaims,

"Auh! That's not fair: The insects are ganging up on Lumos!" Miroku remarks in a bitter tone,

"Seems they share their master's interest for not being merciful..."

Coraline and Inuyasha call up,

"Lumos! Turn back!"

"Don't be a hero, stupid! Let the shard go if you have to!"

But the Will O' Wisp remained stubborn...Luckily, the stingers missed, for the main focus was creating pressure against Lumos to let go...which come one minute later, would work:

(Slip)

"(Ghostly moan...)"

Lumos lost his grip, his stamina exhausted out, and began drifting downward, along with the newly dead demon bear!

"Lumos!"

Coraline rushes to catch the beaten Will O' Wisp, as the flesh of the fallen demon bear disintegrates, and the Insects of Hell begin flying away with the Shikon-no-Tama shard to who knows...

As they watch the swarm leave, Miroku wonders aloud,

"Is it a trap?" Sango replies,

"...Probably."

Inuyasha isn't worried:

"Huh, fine with me. And this time, Naraku won't manage to escape."

He then turns to Coraline, and glances at the resting Will O' Wisp in her palms:

"...Is he alright?"

"I think so. I don't think their stingers penetrated him, but he definitely got bombarded. (Looks down) I think Lumos is mostly disappointed in himself that he couldn't get the jewel shard..."

Said Will O' Wisp lets out a discouraged chirp, and Shippo says to him with a reassuring smile,

"Don't be sad, Lumos. You tried your best, and that's what really counts."

Freeman agrees:

"Yeah. Crazy as that move was, it was pretty gutsy too. So we'll go after that swarm, and make those pests pay for pummeling you."

...Lumos makes a sound of appreciation, and floats up from Coraline's hands, feeling empowered by the caring words. He then floats up front, and bobs up and down in anticipation, causing Coraline to giggle a bit:

"Well, you don't take much time sulking, do ya? You're ready to find those insects and pay 'em back double, huh, Lumos?"

Time Skip, Naraku's Castle

Inside the illusionary stronghold, we see a new figure, a woman, walking silently down the hall...

She stops in front of a wicker screen door, behind which sat Naraku:

"Well, dear. You've decided to watch this from a distance, have you? Let me do all the dirty work? Well, that makes things easier for me in the long run..."

Using a fan, the unknown woman (whose origins were likely that of demon) parts the screen door away some, and walks in to look over at a small pedestal, where the recently stolen jewel shard resided.

"The Shikon-no-Tama shards make demons even stronger, don't they? What an utterly enticing opiate. (Frown) You're planning to lure them all over here with this?"

She then bends down to reach and grab the jewel shard...But:

(Bzzzt)

Her fingertips are blocked by a barrier...Retracting slowly, the woman then asks,

"But why? You couldn't conquer them without all of this. I dunno if you're being extra careful or if you're being cowardly. Or perhaps it's simply your insatiable love for clever entrapments...(Turn, smirk) Which is it, _my master?_ "

...Moving outside, as the stars come gleaming out for the night, we see a large number of Wolf Demons from the Northern Tribe (along with some Eastern members) gathered at the front of the castle, preparing to attack:

"Alright, this is it, brothers: The castle that is full of Shikon-no-Tama shards! When the castle guards appear, don't hesitate. Kill them all!"

Some cheer in agreement, but one member from the Eastern Tribe was confused by the castle's actual lack in security:

"What castle guards is he talkin' about? I don't see anyone..."

(...Glow)

Suddenly, they see a red-glowing figure in the wicker screen door up ahead:

"Look, someone's there!"

"Let's get 'em!"

The wolf demons begin to attack, with four of them throwing spears into the screen to knock it down and expose the woman from before. As the army begins to charge, we take a moment to get a better look at the woman's profile:

She was of average height, had a pale complexion, wore a multi-coloured kimono (with the left part being a mix of blues, the right red and pink) with a simple yellow belt, barefoot, had short black hair clipped back (a few feathers woven in) with bangs over her forehead, wore long beaded earrings from her pointed ears, and red eyes matching her ruby lips.

(...Swip)

The woman showed no fear to the charging wolf demons, and brings out her fan, before sending a gust of wind at them, which was strong enough to rip them off the ground and into the air!

As the wolf demons cry out in shock from the quick turn in events, the woman mocking mutters,

"Is that all they got? They're pathetic..."

She then smirks, and takes a few steps forward to address the pack on the other side of the demon wind:

"You'll have to do better than that!"

She fwips her fan out again:

"Bring me someone worth my effort..."

(...SWIPE)

She then sends a series of attacks through the air which mimicked blades, cutting down swiftly on the wolf demons!

Meanwhile, back at the Eastern Wolf Demon Tribe's Den...

Hakkaku comes back from his tour of duty with two wolf companions...only to find Ginta sleeping on the job this time!

Smiling mischievously, Hakkaku decided to pay Ginta back for that earlier prank, and hushes the wolves before beginning to sneak up on his friend...But then, the wolves let out a warning growl, much to Hakkaku's confusion:

"Huh? I told you to be quiet..."

When he turns around, however, he's suddenly startled by the sight of one of the Eastern tribe members who left with the Northern Tribe, coming back with grievous injuries!

"Aaah!"

Hakkaku's cry startles Ginta awake:

"What? What's the matter?!"

Once he sees what's what, the pair lead the injured member into the den, much to the confusion of the other wolf demons:

"What's going on?"

"Didn't he leave with the Northern Tribe?"

"Yeah..."

Kōga pushes through the crowd to speak with the injured member:

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"I was only able, to get one..."

...The wolf demon holds out his hand...and presents Kōga with a Shikon-no-Tama fragment!

"(Gasp) That's a Shikon-no-Tama shard...!"

"Hurry, to the castle, Kōga...If you don't, everyone, will be slaughtered..."

Taking the shard, Kōga wastes no time, and begins dashing off for Naraku's castle:

(Leap)

"A jewel shard...I'll put it to good use!"

He then jams the shard into his arm, before doubling his speed...Back down below, Hakkaku says to the returning wolf demon,

"Come inside and rest," while Ginta asks,

"That's amazing. How did you make it back with all of those injuries?"

He claps the wolf demon on the back...

...only for he to suddenly split apart at the large gash on his torso, spooking Ginta and Hakkaku!

"Aaaah!"

"He's dead...!"

Small Time Skip, Naraku's Castle

At the same time the wolf demons of the Eastern Tribe received that unpleasant surprise, Inuyasha and the others had followed the Insects of Hell right back to their place of origin:

"Hrrrrah!"

(Crash)

Inuyasha punches the doors down, and as the dusts clears, he comes across a rather unseemly sight:

"What's all this?"

Unfortunately, by this time, all of the wolf demons who came to pilfer the Shikon-no-Tama shards have been killed, their bodies spilling blood all over the grounds...

Coraline recognizes their origins:

"They're wolf demons!" Sango wonders,

"Are they of the Wolf Demon Tribe?"

"...I recognize a few of the faces from Kōga's pack, but most of them are unfamiliar...They must be of another."

Miroku asks,

"What were they doing here at the castle? More importantly..."

Besa answers,

"Probably for the same reason we're here: The jewel shards..."

...Inside the castle, we see the demon woman kneeling on the ground, before rising to a stand, and sending another gust of wind with her fan, aiming for the fallen wolf demons...

Who would not remain fallen for long, as Shippo and Freeman would point out:

"Owaaah! That's impossible; they can't still be alive!"

"What the hell is this: The Zombie Wolf Uprising?!"

As the newly moaning corpses begin to slowly move towards the group, Miroku says,

"I don't sense any life left in these men; their Souls have left them!" Sango calls after,

"Which means your characterization was correct, Freeman: They're undead!"

With that, the corpses began to attack, and Sango staves some off with her Hiraikotsu, Miroku his staff, and Inuyasha takes a bulk of the army down with his claws and feet:

(Slash, kick)

...Even so, since dead bodies can't feel pain, it wouldn't be more than a couple seconds before the bodies rose to their feet again, as pointed out by Miroku:

"Do you see that? Even if you knock them down, they'll revive right up again!"

Shippo wonders aloud,

"How can they even come back to life if they're already dead in the first place?"

Coraline narrows her eyes and quirks mentally,

 _...I sense dark necromancy at work._

Inside the castle, we see the woman with the fan continue her re-animation spell:

 _If a man loses his head, I'll put it back on._ _If he's cut down to size, he can still take a blow._

 _He's simply dancing with my undead death song._

"(Opens eyes) Ah. He's here already? Too bad. I wanted to play a little while longer..."

By he, the woman was referring to Kōga, who was closing in on Naraku's Castle...At that, the demon woman switches tactics, and using her power, she sends the wolf demon corpses into the air over Inuyasha:

"What?"

...They then shoot against the dog demon's body, and the woman closes her fan, cancelling her spell, causing the wounds on the bodies to foam and spill their blood!

Inuyasha looks down at his newly bloodied hands and robes muttering,

"What's goin' on around here?"

Everyone else watches as the undead wolf demons drop, and Shippo asks aloud,

"What's makin' them all collapse like that? I don't get it."

...Besa puts a hand under his chin in thought, and Freeman turns to see the expression on his brother's face:

"...I know that look: That's your thinkin' look. What's running through your head, bro?"

"It's just...this is obviously a trap, but I'm not sure if it's just us that are the targets."

Besa turns to Coraline and asks,

"Hey, sis? You said that this Kōga guy is a leader of one of the tribes, and I heard you say you recognize a few of these bodies belonging to some of his pack members, right?"

"Yeah, why do you...Hang on. Besa, are you thinking..."

"Yes. And if my hunch is correct, then we should be seeing one more wolf demon arriving any second now."

...And right the dark-complexioned boy was:

(Leap)

Kōga has now arrived on scene, and was shocked frozen by the sight before him from atop the wall barrier:

"Huh?!"

From his perspective, it looked as though Inuyasha was the one responsible for the slaughter of the wolf demons...and he would not take to the image sitting down:

" _It's, him._ "

Sensing the other's presence, Inuyasha turns around to see the now appalled and angered Kōga:

"Inuyasha!"

Everyone else turns around to see the wolf demon, and Miroku calls out,

"It's Kōga of the Wolf Demon Tribe! Your hunch was right, Besa!"

Coraline stares at the demon with a mix of shock and bitterness:

 _Crap, Kōga! Ugh, one of the last faces I ever wanna see, except this time, the situation couldn't be anymore badly-timed...  
_

"Inuyasha...how dare you." Remaining calm, Inuyasha calls back to Kōga,

"Before you jump to conclusions, your pals here were already dead by the time I got here to the castle."

"Shut up! You can't lie to me: You're covered head-to-toe in their blood!"

Inuyasha looks down at his hand again, and realizes,

 _...Damn it. I've been set up!_

As much as Coraline's thoughts on Kōga were towards a more negative outlook, she nevertheless knew that she had to try to set the records straight:

"This is not what you think, Kōga! It's all a trap! We came here looking for a demon named Naraku, only to find these wolf demons slaughtered! The corpses then reanimated, and tried to attack us, before springing at Inuyasha and bursting their blood on his body! Naraku is obviously trying to set us against eachother!"

"Coraline..."

"I'm serious, Kōga! Don't be a fool and take things in by first sight!"

"Coraline, don't even try protecting that cur! Already dead before I got here...(Focuses on Inuyasha) How stupid do you think I am, you bloodthirsty mutt?!"

Coraline curses to herself, and Freeman looks up at Kōga while muttering,

"Does he really wanna hear the answer to that question?"

Besa looks to Miroku and says,

"It's as I said: This was a setup by Naraku."

"Indeed. It was his poisonous insects that lead us here. The wolf tribes were somehow enticed here too, and then were quickly slaughtered."

Sango continues their thoughts:

"Kōga came to rescue his comrades; he rushed over just in time to find Inuyasha covered in their blood."

Miroku remarks seriously,

"Kōga won't be reasoned with: The sight of this slaughter has put him into a fixed rage of vengeance. They'll fight to the death."

Shippo confirms the monk's judgement:

"You're right: The blood's gone straight to Kōga's head, and I don't think there's anything that'll get him to back down."

Coraline stares up at the enraged wolf demon, then down at the defensive dog demon:

 _...There has to be a way to prevent this senseless fight...but what?_

With that, Kōga leaps off the wall and straight at Inuyasha, determined to avenge his fallen comrades:

"Hrrrraaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

Inuyasha jumps out of the way in time from the incoming fist, but Kōga's enhanced speed made the time break between attacks incredibly short:

(Swing, crash)

Inuyasha dodges again, and Kōga's punch lands in the ground, upturning dirt and rock, and shooting energy in a straight line across the area, before stopping to explode on impact in one of the castle sections:

(Boom)

As the dust clears, we see a newly formed crack in the ground, causing the twins to shiver:

"Yikes..." "That's some burst of power..."

Inuaysha lands back on the ground a couple feet away from Kōga and calls out,

"You got your strength back, Kōga? I see that you managed to find another jewel shard for your arm!"

Kōga pulls his fist back up with a growl and replies,

"Yous stole my original jewel shard the last time that we met. But I warn you: This new one's even better!"

(...Glow)

We then see that the area where the shard resides begins to glow in a mix of red and black, suggesting that there's something sinister afoot with its power...Coraline and the others rush closer to the action, and she catches the gleam:

"...That light...That's not the regular glow of the Shikon-no-Tama..."

Everyone looks at her confusingly, while she uses her Aura Sight to get a better look:

(Sheen)

"Uh! The energy...it's incredibly dark-ridden, almost reminding me of Shadow Being poison!"

She cancels out her Aura, and mutters,

"...Which means that can't possibly be a fragment of the jewel. It has to be a dark imitation of sorts."

As Coraline makes this discovery, Kōga continues his assault on Inuyasha, the latter barely dodging three more punches:

(Boom)

...Kōga rises to his feet again after a third failed attempt to land a blow, and Coraline tries to reason with him again:

"Kōga, stop! This fight will go nowhere! It's all a trap!" Freeman and Besa add their own shouts:

"Yeah, listen to her, man!"

"Use your common sense for a second: Can you really believe Inuyasha to be this bloodthirsty?! The only one capable of such an atrocity is Naraku!"

Kōga growls back at the three,

"Shut up! Words are cheap! I only believe what I see with my own eyes!"

The three teens glare at the wolf demon and bark,

"Your eyes are blind then!"

"You're setting yourself up for death with that thinking!"

"Face-value's a horrible liar, Kōga: Can't you get that?!"

"Forget about it, you guys."

"Hm?"

They and the others turn to look over at Inuyasha in surprise, who adds on somewhat seriously,

"He's got a block of wood for a brain so he can't grasp anything too complicated...There's no reasoning with the moron: All he understands is a few punches to the head!"

Shippo partially agrees with Inuyasha:

"The demon wolf tribes live in packs, and they cherish their comrades like family. Seeing so many of his comrades dead at once would make him insane with grief."

Miroku adds on,

"I thought he might listen to you, Coraline...but I was wrong, and it seems that your words didn't work either, Freeman, Besa. He's too far gone."

Sango then says in a reasonable tone,

"You can't blame Inuyasha for fighting back: He's only trying to defend himself against Kōga's attacks."

Coraline nods grimly:

"I know...I don't blame Inuyasha: I blame Kōga's ignorance."

As Inuyasha looks over at the increasingly angry Kōga, he muses seriously to himself,

 _Naraku's trying to make me fight with Kōga. He's pitted us against eachother with this setup, and he's sittin' back watching the show in some hideout close by...  
_

 _I can smell him from inside the castle..._

Kōga notices that Inuyasha's focus was being lost:

"Pay attention if you wanna live. What the hell are you lookin' at, (SWING) You cowaaaaard?!"

...While Inuyasha focused back on his current problem, Sango turns to everyone else and asks,

"What do think we should do? Should we try and help?"

Miroku replies,

"Inuyasha came here looking for Naraku, the one who set this whole stage."

"Do you think Naraku's inside the castle somewhere?"

"Charging right into the enemy's trap is generally not a wise strategy..."

Before Sango makes a reply:

"(Ghostly moan...)"

"Huh?"

Lumos pops out of Coraline's satchel pocket (where he ducked into during the action temporarily), and begins floating towards where Inuyasha glanced at a moment ago, making circles at the entrance!

Coraline then widens her eyes, realizing,

"Oh! I think Lumos is saying that's where Naraku is!"

Sango readies to throw Hiraikotsu:

"Then I shall follow in his direction. Here it, goes!"

(Toss, spin...)

The boomerang flies, and Lumos quickly moves to the side to avoid being hit, as it lands directly where the woman stood earlier...

Sango and Miroku head inside, and Lumos stops over by Coraline briefly, before she tells him,

"Go with them to help, Lumos. I'll be fine: I have a feeling they'll need your assistance at this present."

Lumos 'nods', and darts after Sango and Miroku...As said slayer and monk stand still, looking around for the source...another spotlight pops into view, illuminating the demon woman on the other side of a screen door.

Miroku and Sango dash in, with the former asking in an authoritative tone,

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"...You want a formal introduction? (Turn, smile) Good evening. My name is Kagura. You must be Sango, and you Miroku, am I right?"

"(Glare) Yes, and you must be one of Naraku's minions. Tell us where he is!"

"He's not in right now. But he left you a little something to keep you entertained. Naraku hopes that you find his little gift amusing."

(...Spark-Pow)

A wooden doll with a hair strand wrapped around it pops into view before dropping to the ground, to which Miroku recognized instantly:

"Demon Puppet!"

"Now then, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to see to the outdoor entertainment. Kōga and Inuyasha, hm? Neither of them take my fancy, so I don't care which of them wins the duel."

With that, Kagura vanishes...

The Demon Puppet doll then stands upright on its own, before glowing, then manifesting into a Naraku copy with massive tree roots for limbs!


	46. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45: The Deadly Trap of Kagura the Wind Sorceress!**

 _Recap:_

 _Following the events of this last while, the Inuyasha gang have experienced plenty of eye-opening action:_

 _Trinity had finally made their move against Coraline, resulting in her capture along with Inuyasha and the others, before escaping the modern-day Aokigahara base, with help from Freeman and Besa who came after following some Trinity spies through a portal. After running for a good bit, the gang's only option for escaping completely was to activate the lottery of the transport system, and hope for the best..._

 _When Coraline woke up, she discovered that she and her friends had arrived in her old home, Majora Village! After a misadventure or two, Coraline leads the gang to an old family friend, Sonya, a Wiccan who lives in the outskirts...What she didn't expect, was the big secret that Sonya had to reveal: Coraline's arrival was not purely coincidental, for she was the next wielder of the ShatterSoul Sword, a blade which her family has been protecting for the past centuries!  
Though reluctant at first, Coraline accepts her destiny, and sets out the next day to seek out the tomb, accompanied by Lumos, a Will O' Wisp who had taken a liking to her...Unfortunately, Bishop, a soldier from Trinity who's been hunting her the past few months since finding out she was alive, managed to track her down, and upon Coraline's drawing of the fabled blade, he and she would engage in a final battle that would settle their score once and for all!_

 _In the end, Coraline was victorious, and Bishop was killed by the power unleashed from the ShatterSoul Sword...After recuperating, Coraline would pay her respects to her parent's graves, before the gang would use the stolen transporter watch to go home to Edo..._

 _It would be during their return that another surprise was revealed: Apparently, the Seven Light Crystal shards in Freeman and Besa's bracelets they stole previously from Trinity's weapons depot had activated an ability while they traveled back to modern Tokyo, and they now had the power to travel through the well like Coraline and Inuyasha! So with that, they asked if they could join in the mission of obtaining the Shikon-no-Tama Shards and defeating Naraku. The answer? Yes!_

 _A week later, the gang would be found in a forest, tracking down a demon bear that had obtained a jewel shard. They find it, but then Naraku's Insects of Hell interfere, and steal the shard for their master. Obviously, this was going to lead to another orchestrated trap, but everyone agreed to follow the swarm anyway...  
At the same time, the Wolf Demons of the Northern Tribe stop by Kōga's den to see about joining forces to storm a castle that was suppose to carry a large jewel shard (aka Naraku's Castle). When Kōga turns them down due to another issue he's currently dealing with, some of his pack members leave to join in the raid..._

 _But this of course, was all part of Naraku's latest plan: He sends his newest agent, Kagura, to dispatch the wolf demons, just in time for the Inuyasha Gang's arrival. She then uses a spell to reanimate the corpses, and toys with them for a while, before sensing Kōga's presence closing in. Kagura would then cancel her spell, but made certain that Inuyasha became coated in wolf demon blood...Come Kōga's arrival, the main trap was set: Kōga would believe that Inuyasha was responsible for his comrades deaths, and go into a homicidal rage!_

 _With help from Lumos, Sango and Miroku would discover Kagura inside the castle, who leaves them with a Naraku demon puppet to handle while she sits back and watches the trap unfold..._

 _Now:_

As the demon puppet surrounds Sango and Miroku with its roots, the latter comments,

"Naraku certainly has a love for these elaborate setups..."

"(Ghostly moan...)"

"Hm?"

The two look up behind them, and see Lumos zoom over the roots before settling beside them:

"Lumos! What are you doing here?"

The Will O' Wisp bobs up and down with intent, and Miroku asks,

"...Did Coraline send you here to assist us?"

Lumos 'nods'...

"(Smile) Alright then. Thank you."

Sango remarks bitterly while drawing her katana,

"Naraku has the short-tempered ones fight outside and then he has the both of us dealing with this demon puppet? What does he take us for?!"

Miroku replies,

"We mustn't let our guard down: We're in Naraku's Castle. Who knows what traps might be set."

"It's been one trap after another...I grow tried of all these deceptions!"

Sango then leaps into the air, just as a few roots of the demon puppet shoot at her from the ceiling:

(Shoooooom)

(Slice, slice)

Her katana cuts through them easily, and as she lands back on the ground, Miroku replies to Sango,

"Shall we teach them a lesson?"

As he dodges some roots, Sango says with a determined smile,

"This is but a measly demon puppet: We'll show them how easy it is to defeat against our strength!"

Using their staff and katana respectively, Miroku and Sango begin engaging the Naraku Demon Puppet in battle, with Lumos lending a hand in aiming when he could...

Meanwhile, back outside, the battle between Inuyasha and Kōga was becoming all the more intense, as the former is chased on the rooftops by the latter, and dodges another powerful, crater-creating fist:

(Boom)

Inuyasha lands back down on the ground, and looks up where Kōga landed while asking himself,

"Damn it. Where the heck is he gettin' all this power from?"

...The dust clears, and Kōga pulls his fist out of the broken wood, glaring down at the object of his rage...On the sidelines, stood Coraline, Shippo, Kilala, Freeman and Besa, who watch the action with wide eyes. Shippo exclaims,

"Did you see that?! The roof was blown off! His right arm possesses some kind of superstrength!"

Coraline says,

"There has to be a way to stop Kōga. His anger is being directed at the wrong person: Naraku was responsible for this senseless slaughter, not Inuyasha."

Besa nods:

"Yeah. Question is though: How do you stop a homicidal revenge seeker?"

...Kōga looks around at the sight of his fallen comrades again, before directing back at Inuyasha:

"That filthy mutt...You won't live long enough to regret this!"

(Leap)

He then hops off the roof, fist raised, and Inuyasha is forced to retreat backwards as fast as he could to dodge the power of Kōga's right arm!

(Boom, boom, boom...)

What Kōga didn't realize though, was that one of his latest attacks would manifest into a ground charge, heading straight for Coraline and the others! Said redhead shouts,

"Oh, shit!"

Freeman and Besa act fast, and hop on Kilala, before grabbing Coraline's arms, and signal the cat demon to jump out of the way:

"Hang on, sis!"

"We gotcha!"

"Guys!"

(Boom)

...Thankfully, the attack misses, as Kilala lands swiftly and smoothly on a high rooftop. Coraline is carefully set on her feet by her brothers, while Shippo compliments the cat demon's quick action:

"Nice work, Kilala!" Coraline smiles and adds,

"Yes, thank you for getting us all to safety, (Turn) and thanks for saving my hide, you two."

"No prob, Cor."

"We got your back."

Kilala growls in appreciation, before directing her eyes back down below where Inuyasha was standing...

Inuyasha's POV

I look up where Coraline and the others were, thanking Kami that they were safe, especially her:

"...Coraline..."

 _Good thing her brothers were quick to react...I'll remember to thank 'em later._

I focus back to reality, and glare hard at the reckless wolf:

"Stay away from her!"

I watch him stand up before he replies,

"Grrgh, you're at fault for trying to escape. If Coraline is harmed, it should be on your head."

 _...Man, he's really gone into a rage: He doesn't even realize he could very well hurt Coraline in his quest for vengeance._

I move to grip Tessaiga's hilt:

"He really intends to fight me to the death...Huh, Naraku's laid the trap and Kōga's forged his own fate."

(Shing)

"You've pushed me far enough! I'll take you on!"

"Prepare to die...(Leap) IN THE NAME OF MY COMRADES!"

(Dash)

 _He's fast!_

(Clang)

I barely meet Kōga's fist with Tessaiga just in time, but that didn't help me for long:

(Clang)

"Guh!"

Tessaiga is knocked out of my hands, so I had to use my claws for a counter attack:

" _Iron Reaver...!_ "

(Slash)

...I dunno if my attack did anything to him, but his fist definitely did something to me:

"GH!"

As we slid back to opposite sides of the battlefield, Kōga grins and mocks me by saying,

"Heh, 'fraid I may have scratched you in passing..."

I move to grip my right arm, not able to make a comeback on that insult, for he did do some bad damage:

 _He's serious. He shattered the bone in my arm..._

Before I could move fast enough, Kōga charges at me, and takes this opportunity to land a good suckerpunch in my face:

"Hrrrrrah!"

(PUNCH)

Come another kick, and I'm scrambling back trying not to get any more of my bones shattered by Kōga's fist...But I should've paid attention to his legs too:

(KICK)

"Guuuuh!"

I fly back and roll in a backward somersault to the ground, just as the blind bastard comes leaping in with another attack, which I would not dodge:

"...This is it. REVENGE IS MINE!"

(PUNCH)

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

(BOOM)

Coraline's POV

As Kōga lands a heavy punch to Inuyasha's gut, the impact sends out a wave of power, to which I and the others cringe from:

"Rggh..."

...I look back down once the rumbling stops...only to see a huge crater, with Inuyasha laying on the ground, not moving, as Kōga withdrawing his fist from the other's chest!

"...Huh, at last. The murderer's finally dead."

 _...No. No, Inuyasha! Hang on: Don't go into a panic attack yet, Coraline._

(Sheen)

I use my Aura Sight to see into Inuyasha's Aura...and let out a sigh of hope, to which the others would ask about:

"What is it, Cora?" "What'd ya see?"

"Is Inuyasha okay?"

"...Yes. He's only unconscious."

The others widen their eyes, before letting out their own sighs of relief...But that moment of hope wouldn't last long, when I see a figure emerge from the dissipating dust cloud:

"Huh?"

 _Who, is that?_

"...Now what, Coraline?"

Answering Freeman's question, I point down to where I was looking, and the others look to see the figure as well, stiffening on alert like I was:

 _The fight's only just beginning..._

No POV

Moving down to the ground, the figure, Kagura, approaches Kōga, who turns to address her:

"Huh? Name yourself."

"(Smile) Well done, Wolf Boy. With the score all settled, you're able to die without any regrets."

"What do ya want with me?"

"My name, is Kagura...I will see that you have one final dance."

She then fwips out her fan, and casts her reanimation spell over the fallen wolf demons again, only this time, their target would be Kōga, who stares at the sight with startled confusion:

"What's the meaning? I thought they were all dead. Why do they rise again?"

Kagura replies to Kōga's whispers,

"To attend your final dance. It would _kill them_ to miss this..."

The Wolf Demon Leader finally begins cluing in on what was really going on:

"You, sorceress! Was it you then who slaughtered my friends?!"

"I wonder~. It slipped my mind."

Flapping her fan down, Kagura commands the undead wolf demons to charge at Kōga the same way they did Inuyasha, but luckily, the living wolf demon was faster, and jumps out of the way, sending a few punches to some of the corpses and knocking them to the ground.

Now aware of the truth, Kōga directs his anger to Kagura:

"I'll kill you, sorceress!"

...But just as he begins charging at her:

(Gleam)

The 'jewel shard' in his arm emits a nasty glow, and he slows into a stop, dropping to his knees from a new, paralyzing pain:

 _I, I can't, move!_

 _What's, happening to me?!_

Seemingly reading his thoughts, Kagura chuckles a bit before explaining what was happening to Kōga:

"The 'jewel shard' in your arm has finally released its poison. (Smirk) Now it's time for you to die."

(SWIPE)

She then sends her wind blades against Kōga, before one cuts right into his body, leaving life-threatening injuries!

"GGH! Guh...uh..."

Kōga falls face down to the ground, barely holding onto life...

"You are unable to move. That Shikon-no-Tama shard in your arm is an imitation, made from a crystallized poison and a paralyzing miasma. That leaping around made your blood pump faster, and sped up the spread of the poison."

"Wench! Uuh-uh..."

"Now that you're paralyzed, I shall help myself to your true jewel shards..."

(...TWOK)

Suddenly, an arrow wrapped in a blue/pink ribbon of light comes zooming down in Kagura's direction, and she uses the wolf demon corpses to block the attack:

(POW)

...Looking up at the roof, we see Coraline glaring down at Kagura hatefully, readying to grab another arrow. Kagura comments,

"So, that must be a Sacred Arrow."

(SWIPE)

She then sends her wind blades in Coraline's direction, and her brothers would grab her again, shouting,

"Hit the deck!"

(Crash)

...Once again, Kilala was quick to act, and managed to get herself and everyone else out of danger. The boys ask the redhead (who was being held off the ground by Freeman and Besa's arms around her torso),

"You alright, Coraline?" "You're not hurt?"

...Shaking off her shock, she turns to them and replies,

"No, I'm good, thank you...again."

As she wipes her brow of some sweat, Kagura comments from down below,

"Not very impressive. Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to continue interfering."

After setting Coraline steady on the roof, Freeman retorts while waving his hammer,

"Oh yeah? Just try that again, wind witch! I'll knock you out of the area like a bat does a baseball!"

Besa yanks his arm back down:

"Freeman, cool it! Don't draw attention to yourself!"

Kagura smirks in amusement at the heated boy, before her attention is directed behind her, when she hears the clinking of a blade...The source: Inuyasha!

"I won't let you hurt Coraline...I'm the one you should be comin' after, not her."

"Still alive, are we now? Wolf Boy, it appears you didn't complete the job."

The paralyzed wolf demon looks over in surprise to see his rival was still standing:

"...Inuyasha."

Said dog demon scoffs at Kagura and replies,

"You're kidding yourself if you think that puny wolf cub can do me in with his meager attacks."

"Oh, please forgive me. So you are up for a duel with me?"

"Kuh, I'll take you on, but I warn ya: You're not gonna die quickly. Tainting me with the blood of the wolf demons, and setting that fool on me was unforgivable...But even more infuriating, is the reek of Naraku that _cloaks you._ "

Kagura smiles menacingly, while Kōga looks over in confusion from the name uttered:

"...Naraku?"

Inuaysha takes Tessaiga into his working hand, and cringes a bit from his injuries, before muttering lowly,

"Just the thought of that _beast_ is enough to give me the strength to move my wounded body."

(Leap)

"Hrrrraaah!"

(CLANG)

Inuyasha swings his Tessaiga at Kagura, who blocks it with a swing from her fan! He jumps back, and looks down at his blade while thinking,

 _That small level of wind was enough to push back the Tessaiga!_

 _With just one able arm, I'm only able to draw out half of Tessaiga's power..._

"I, am the Wind Sorceress. The wind in this castle is entirely under my control."

Kagura then makes a half-circular motion with her fan:

" _Dance, of the Dragon!_ "

(Whoooosh)

A spiral of wind is then created from Kagura's stance, causing Inuyasha to wince, before leaping back to dodge a few skinny cyclones!

(Crash)

Inuyasha continues to avoid the spirals of wind, and lands back on the ground safe, while analyzing the new situation:

 _Her wind attacks are created from her demonic power._

 _The point where the winds collide is the Wind Scar, and that's where Tessaiga can obtain its greatest power! I can destroy her!_

 _If only I can slice through the Wind Scar..._

Inuyasha begins searching for the trigger fissure inside the wind...but does not see it!

 _I don't understand. What's wrong? I can't see the Wind Scar around Kagura!_

He then shields himself from more cyclones, before he remembers Kagura's words from earlier:

 _"I, am the Wind Sorceress. The wind in this castle is entirely under my control."_

"If what she claims is true, then my wind is also under her control!"

...Back up on the roof, Shippo comments,

"Something's wrong: Inuyasha's right arm isn't moving!" Freeman comments,

"It must've gotten broken during his fight with Kōga. Crap, now what?"

Coraline moves in with her next arrow drawn:

"Stand back, you guys. I'll nail her this time!"

(Sheen)

"Hm?"

 _Wait a second...The Wind...I, can see a negative energy charge..._

 _Right! Because Kagura is controlling it...I wonder...yeah. Yeah, maybe that might work better!_

(Twok)

Another blue/pink ribbon arrow shoots through the sky, but instead of hitting Kagura, it lands a few feet away from her!

Kagura looks up where Coraline was and says,

"Unfortunately, your aim is pathetic."

Coraline smirks and replies,

"...Is it? Look again, _witch_."

(...Sheen)

"(Gasp)"

Inuyasha comments in surprise,

"That's Coraline's Sacred Arrow! Kagura's demon wind is being driven off!"

He rises to his feet and adds,

"Excellent: There is a way to create the Wind Scar then!"

Up on the roof, Besa looks to Coraline with curiousity and asks,

"Sis...did you do that on purpose?"

"Sure did: You see, Kagura's wind has negative energy mixed in caused by her demonic power. And what's the best way to counteract a negative?"

"...Positive!"

"Exactly. And positive energy is what my sacred arrow's packin'!"

Freeman comments with a grin,

"Nice one!"

"Um, I don't get it." Freeman whispers a simple explanation to the confused fox kit...

"Ooooh...That's genius!"

"Right?"

Inuyasha then calls from the battlefield,

"Coraline! Shoot me with your arrow!"

"...Come again?!"

"Ask questions later! Just hurry up and shoot!"

Coraline furrows her eyebrows...before cluing in on what he means:

 _Oh, right!_

 _I just better pray hard that the arrow does what we're hoping for, and not what I'm dreading it could do..._

(Twok)

(...ZING)

"Grh!"

Lady Luck was on their sides, as Coraline aims just over Inuyasha's right shoulder, the intended target being the wind surrounding him! With that done, plus the other arrow that was still working its magic, Kagura's Demonic Wind would lose power:

"(Gasp)"

 _Impossible! Coraline's Sacred Arrow is purifying my wind powers!_

The arrows then explode into little fragments of light, and Inuyasha remarks,

"Just as I thought: The Wind has disappeared!"

"Such a fool. I only need to create more!"

(Swipe, whooooosh...)

However, this was what Inuyasha was hoping for:

"When the two winds appear once again and meet, then I will see the Wind Scar!"

(Step, slide)

Using all of the strength in his one good arm, Inuyasha swings Tessaiga at the waiting fissure, creating the sword's ultimate attack!

(SLASH)

"DIE!"

(RUMBLE)

The three-clawed slash is released, throwing Kagura back into the air, her eyes wide as saucers:

 _...The Wind Scar!_

Her kimono begins evaporating, so Kagura acts fast, using her wind power to push herself out of the Wind Scar's line of fire, before tossing out one of her feathers from her hair:

"Hrh!"

(Whoosh)

The feather grows in size, and Kagura kneels on top, before flying away, knowing that her life would be forthwith should she remain...As Kagura escapes, Inuyasha notices a familiar spider-shaped scar on her back:

"...That scar...It, can't be..."

Meanwhile, back inside the castle, the battle between Sango/Miroku/Lumos and the Naraku Demon Puppet was just about done. Miroku jams his staff in the head of the puppet, then Lumos circles the area where the heart is, before Sango leaps into the air and slices her katana from shoulder to torso:

"Hrrrrah!"

(SLASH)

The Demon Puppet splits apart, and the wood doll with hair evaporates...!

...With Kagura's departure and the puppet's defeat, the illusionary castle begins to fade away! Kilala launches into the air with Coraline, the twins and Shippo on her back to avoid the rubble:

"The castle's disappearing!"

"Yet another illusion casted by that scheming bastard..."

"Whoa..."

"...I guess this means Naraku's making a tactical retreat..."

...Now that the castle was gone, all that remained was a barren battleground, with Inuyasha standing stock-still at the starting mark of his Wind Scar, his endurance exhausted out. Miroku and Sango come running towards him, asking respectively,

"Inuyasha, are you hurt?"

"Where's the sorceress gone?"

Lumos comes over as well, circling Inuyasha in concern, before settling on top of the Tessiaga's hilt...Inuyasha stares at the Will O' Wisp for a second, before turning to the other two to answer,

"I let her get away. My right arm was practically useless, and that's why I wasn't able to finish her off..."

"Oh, shit! Kōga!"

They look over to see Kilala land by the crater where the barely alive Kōga was, his arm now discoloured purple from the poison/miasma crystal! Coraline, the twins and Shippo hop down from the cat demon's back, the latter exclaiming,

"His skin is changing colour! The poison from the counterfeit shard is spreading!"

Coraline cracks her knuckles, while bitterly remarking under her breath,

"...Damn...As much as I'm gonna kick myself later for doing this...my conscious is screaming 'Help the Idiot'."

She crouches down to examine the arm with her Aura Sight:

(Sheen)

"Hmm...I'm picking up a strong negative barrier, which means I probably can't touch him with my own hand..."

"Mm-rgh, l-let me be, Coraline. I tried, to murder Inuyasha..."

She glares mildly at the weak-smiling wolf demon and retorts,

"Shut it. While I'm mad at you for letting your instincts cloud your judgement...I know that technically it was more Naraku's fault for pitting you and Inuyasha against eachother. Now save it for after I save your sorry life."

(...Step, step...)

"Hm?"

Coraline turns to the left, and sees Inuyasha coming over to where she was:

"Inuyasha..."

His eyes were fixed on Kōga:

"Seems we were both deceived by Naraku's scheme. If you can hang onto life, then there is a way to save you. Hold out your arm: I will cut it and the counterfeit jewel off!"

Freeman and Besa widen their eyes at Inuyasha and exclaim:

"Whoa whoa, isn't that a little extreme?!"

"Dude, there's gotta be another way than that!"

"...There is."

"Huh?"

They and Inuyasha look over at Coraline, who's face fell into a grim but serious expression, as she took out her combat knife, and one of her arrows:

"I can't touch the barrier, but the Sacred Arrow can...But first, I need to make an incision with my knife so the arrow can pierce the poison crystal. Kōga, brace yourself, 'cause this won't be painless."

(Cut)

"Rrrgh!"

Coraline manages to cut into Kōga's arm with her combat knife, before bringing the arrow down on the fake jewel shard:

(Pow)

Kōga lets out another cry of pain, as the sacred arrow's energy pierces the crystallized poison, before evaporating into nothing!

...Coraline stands up, and mutters in a partially cold tone,

"There. That's my good Samaritan act to you, Kōga. So don't be an idiot and waste it...Everyone, let's go."

With that, Coraline begins walking away, as everyone else shakes off their stupors from how cold but merciful she was, and follows after her...Eventually, Kōga found enough strength to stand upright again, as he thought about the one who was responsible for this whole charade:

 _...Kagura murdered my comrades._

He slowly begins leaving the area, vowing to himself,

 _I swear, I shall take her life with my own hands...and, that of Naraku._

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV  


We got out of the area where Naraku's Illusionary Castle once stood, and I look down at my combat knife with some disdain over the events that transpired:

"God, that was a freak show..."

...I then feel Lumos settle on my shoulder, sending his soft moans into my ear as a form of comfort. I smile a bit and hover my hand over the Will O' Wisp:

"I'm alright, Lumos. Just letting everything sink in...You did very well today."

I glance over my free shoulder to Inuyasha, who winced a bit from his injuries before petting Kilala with a halfhearted smile...

 _He fought especially hard...though I guess we all did our own tours of duty today._

"Say, sis?"

"Hm?"

I turn to Besa as he asks,

"Shouldn't you, I dunno, clean off the blood from your knife?" I reply simply,

"Don't need to."

I then hold it up, and show him that the blade was already clean:

"The demon bone that's mixed in the metal grants the knife the power to absorb demon blood, which in turn makes it stronger."

"...Holy crap."

"Mhm. But I gotta be careful that it doesn't suck back too much evil demon blood, or it might turn against me. But who knows? Maybe that idiot wolf's blood'll give this knife some decent karma."

Freeman grimaces a bit from my description:

"Yeesh, that's a bit cutthroat, sis..."

"Yeah, well, I still don't care for that wolf boy...Even so, my goody-goody part of me wouldn't let me abandon him. That would've been too dark."

"True...How long do you guys think it'll be until Kōga's up and movin' again?"

Miroku replies,

"He does have a strong will. He's likely glad that we let him be." Shippo then comments,

"Unlike any of us, I don't think Kōga has even been deceived by Naraku before."

"True. Now let's see how strong the other's will is..."

I follow Miroku's direct of sight to Inuyasha, who was now sleeping against Kilala's side...

"It seems he has fallen asleep."

Freeman comments,

"Well, can ya blame him? He fought like crazy today," followed by Shippo remarking,

"Even someone as strong as Inuyasha would be fatigued by such a battle..."

Miroku suggests,

"Let's let him rest and regain his strength..."

I nod, and bend down in front of Inuyasha's resting form, a sad smile on my face:

 _Oh Inuyasha...I'm glad you made it out of the battle alive._

 _I wonder if how I'm feeling now, is how he felt during the aftermath of my final fight with Bishop...?_

 _...Only difference is that today's battle, is a part of a much bigger war._

Feeling bold, I reach out my hand to one of Inuyasha's, and give it a light squeeze...only to feel a small squeeze back. I felt a small breath of air escape me, before smiling gently and whispering,

"You did great today, Inuyasha...Get the rest you deserve."

I stand back up, as Sango wonders aloud about the Wind Sorceress, Kagura:

"The sorceress had a spider mark on her back as does Naraku. What strange connection could those two have?"

Miroku ponders on the subject as well:

"Perhaps she shares a secret with Naraku. Mysterious..."

I put a finger under my chin in thought:

"...I remember catching a glimpse into her Aura as I targeted her demon wind, and...it had similarities to that of Naraku's."

"It did?"

"Yeah...I dunno for sure what that means...but I have a sneaking suspicion their connection, _may be more sinister than we realize._ "

Unknown Location, No POV

As our group begins brainstorming about Kagura and Naraku's connection, the Wind Sorceress (now dressed in new robes of dark-blue with a dark and light purple-patterned kimono over top) was traveling on her feather with a scorned expression on her face:

"Naraku...Where, are you?!"

Eventually, she reaches the main illusionary stronghold where Naraku resides...Inside, the dark-souled demon was deep in thought, before sensing Kagura's arrival, glancing at the screen door:

(Flap)

"Naraku!"

"Kagura...So, you survived the battle, did you?"

Kagura quickly steps closer to Naraku, and calls him out on his scheme:

"How dare you...You deceived me: You never told me about the power of Inuyasha's sword!"

...Naraku rises to his feet, before replying calmly,

"Ha. The sword that slices through the Wind Scar. I wondered how powerful it was: Seeing as you came back, it couldn't have been all that powerful."

Kagura hisses,

"You admit, deceiving me then? You audacious fool!"

(Fwip)

She unfolds her fan, and swipes out some wind blades against Naraku, which cut through the top half of his robes, as well as the barred window:

(Crash)

...Naraku shifts his stand, causing the ripped shirt to slip, revealing the spider-shaped scar on his back. He then slowly turns to Kagura, before holding out his left hand, the palm manifesting a dark red glowing orb, which Kagura recognized:

"T-That's..."

Naraku squeezes the orb, and Kagura lets out a pained gasp, before collapsing to the ground, clasping her chest with a paralyzing expression on her face!

"...Do not forget, Kagura: _I hold your heart, right here in my very hands._ "

"N-Naraku...Damn, you..."

...Peering over up at a wall, we see a shelf that housed at least two elaborately-decorated jars, the insides containing a foreboding red ooze that seemed to, _throb with a heartbeat_ , adding to the chilling warning that Naraku gives to his servant:

"It would be simple to turn you back into your original form. Never forget this, Kagura: _You were created from a part of me._ _You are nothing more than my essence..._ "


	47. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46: Kagura's Dance & Kanna's Mirror**

It's another late night in Sengoku Edo, and as the moon shines over the landscape, we find the gang settled in an abandoned shrinehouse. As Coraline finishes applying a gauze patch on Inuyasha's torso injury from yesterday's fight, she asks Miroku with interest,

"So you're suggesting that this Kagura woman may have actually been born from Naraku?"

"I'm saying that we have to consider it a possibility."

Coraline hms with a frown, not necessarily in a skeptical way, but in an uncertain way...Shippo then replies,

"Come on, that's impossible! Naraku's a man. How could a man give birth to a woman?"

Freeman nods in agreement:

"I'm with Shippo. What you're suggesting sounds way too freaky."

Miroku then says,

"Naraku himself was created from a host of various demons. What if one of them was torn from his body?"

Coraline widens her eyes a bit:

"...That would make sense. It didn't seem she knew too much about us, so she couldn't be Naraku in the guise of a woman."

Besa adds,

"And didn't you say that you could sense Kagura's Aura had only 'similar' qualities to that of Naraku, Cora?"

"Yeah...There were hints of the same darkness, but at the same time, it was different, which means while Kagura may be connected to Naraku in that fashion, she's still her own person."

Miroku crosses his arms with a frown of distaste and replies,

"In any case, whatever her story might be, if she's been created from Naraku, I am not interested in her."

...Coraline and Shippo look at Miroku weirdly:

"It's not like she was flirting with you or anything, so why give energy to that thought?"

"Could you try to stay focus please, Miroku?"

Inuyasha slips his shirt and robe back on, as he puts in his thoughts on the subject:

"The woman had the same scent as Naraku...and the burn scar on her back was just the same as his. Still, don't you think it's strange? For a woman, this Kagura possessed unusual strength. If Naraku could create someone like her..."

Sango sees where his pondering was going:

"Right: Why wouldn't he have done so much earlier?" Miroku answers,

"That's the point: It's not that he didn't choose to do it..."

"He wasn't able to before..."

Besa wonders,

"Does this mean, he's gotten a new power recently...?" Freeman shivers:

"If that's true, god who knows what else he could send our way besides Kagura..."

Scene Shift: Naraku's Castle

As our group rests and discusses the new situation that was Kagura and Naraku's new gain of power, we turn to the inside of the said demon's illusionary stronghold, he speaking with Kagura over the recent encounter with the enemy:

"With the blows that you've received from Tessaiga, I was able to comprehend the power of Inuyasha's sword...(Glance) Go forth now, Kagura."

She glares hard at Naraku, her anger still running high from the latter's careless dispatch of the former into battle, but chose to hold her tongue after yesterday's warning...

"...Your sister, Kanna, has already been dispatched."

Moving away from the castle, we zoom in on a path further into the valley, where a young girl with white hair reaching just past her shoulders and twin white lotus flowers on either side of her head, wearing a simple white kimono and sandals, moves slowly down the stretch in the company of the Insects of Hell, carrying a small, mysterious-looking mirror, her face set in a dead and vacant expression...

Time Skip

Come the next day, our view changes to a quiet, mist-covered marsh...However, the peace was being disturbed by the following:

"Where did that wench get to?!"

"How dare she resists the Keeper of the Oil's young master!"

Coming out of the mist, were about three men, carrying bamboo staffs as they searched for a woman who had apparently ran off to hide in the marsh from the son of a oil merchant. Said man was traveling on horseback, his head wrapped in a gauze and his right arm in a sling:

"Once you find Koharu, I expect you to beat her."

"We'll consider it an honour."

...Unbeknownst to them, a couple feet away hidden in the reeds, was the girl in question: She had a young complexion, long black hair tied into a bun and headscarf, and wore a light blue kimono with short black stripes decorating, with a yellow wrap over the skirt.

Koharu wraps her arms around herself, frightened expression abound:

 _What course do I have?_

As the men kept skulking along in the marsh, they come across a figure kneeling by the river several feet in front of them:

"...Over there!"

"It's her."

"We have found Koharu!"

One guard charges at the figure...who's revealed to be Sango! She of course, sensed the man coming, and immediately turns to dodge his staff, before clonking the attacker on his head with a bamboo water container:

"Hr-gh!"

(BONK)

"Aaah!"

The man falls back into the water, while Koharu watches from a distance ins surprise...The other three men quickly rush over, the Oil Keeper's Son asking,

"What manner of being are you, wench?"

Sango stands up while gripping Hiraikotsu, glaring at the other:

"That's exactly what I would ask. You seem to be no more than ordinary men."

The man who tried to attack Sango peers more closely at her and says to his master,

"She is not Koharu, my lord."

"...Such beauty. Bring her with us."

"Yes, sire!"

The guards begin closing in on the demon slayer:

"You will come with us."

"Resist and you shall regret it."

Koharu begins coming out of the reeds:

"She is in danger. I must help!"

But just as she begins charging out to stop them, two others beat her to the punch:

"Sango!"

"Hey! Leave her alone, you cowards!"

Freeman and Besa suddenly burst out of the reeds behind Sango, the first brother quick to defend:

"Take, this!"

(Swing, SPLASH)

He slams his long hammer onto the water, making the area shake and the men lose their footing:

"W-Whah!" "Auh!" "What the-"

(Whack, whack, whack)

Freeman then shoots the head of his hammer into each of their torsos, knocking them flat on their backs!

"Besa!"

"I'm on it!"

Besa charges at the Oil Keeper's son, and spooks the horse by swiping his sickles in the air in front of their eyes:

(Slice, slice)

"(Whinny)"

The horse bucks up before running off in fear, causing the man to fall off, just as Besa lands a swift kick to his gut mid-fall:

"Hyah!"

(KICK)

"Gaaaah!"

(Splash)

...With that done, the guards rush to their master and past the twin brothers:

"Are you hurt?!" "Master!"

"Forgive us, sirs!"

They hoist him up and begin retreating from the marsh:

"You shall be treated."

"The young lord's ribs have cracked!"

...Once they were gone, Besa turns to walk over to the others:

"...You alright, Sango?"

"Yes. Thank you both."

"Of course."

Freeman glares confusingly in the distance where the men ran to:

"What I'd like to know was what the heck that was about?"

"Same here."

"Huh?"

Inuyasha comes out of the reeds, and says to the twins,

"You guys were quick on the action. Nice job."

The brothers smile in appreciation and reply,

"Eh, no sweat."

"Yeah. To be honest, I wasn't even sure I was gonna land that kick at the creep on the horse..."

"Thank you."

"Huh?"

They turn around, to meet the eyes of Koharu, who held a grateful expression on her features. Sango asks,

"Was it you they were after?"

"I'm afraid so."

It was then that everyone else came running to see what was going on:

"Sango! Guys!"

Miroku asks,

"Something wrong?"

As Freeman casually replies,

"Nothin' me and Besa couldn't handle," Koharu gazes at the monk...before recognizing him:

"(Soft gasp) Miroku!"

"Mm?"

"It is you, Master Miroku! You've returned!"

Koharu then rushes to embrace Miroku with a happy smile:

"Miroku, how I've missed you!"

Everyone looks in their direction in confusion...and it seemed Miroku wasn't as familiar with Koharu as she was with him:

"Uh, I take it we met in the past?"

"I am Koharu."

"Koharu?" Miroku thinks for a minute...before remembering the name:

"O-Oh, you don't say?"

"For three long years, I have waited." Miroku smiles and replies,

"Koharu! I almost didn't recognize you! How very, providential meeting you like this..."

Inuyasha moves to stand by Coraline and asks,

"That young girl is a friend of Miroku's?" She replies in a whisper,

"That might be what he thinks, but Koharu must be thinking otherwise. And considering how he usually speaks towards pretty girls..."

Shippo nods in agreement from Coraline's shoulder:

"Oh-hoh yeah..."

Meanwhile, Besa notices the change of expression on Sango's face:

"...Hm? Hey, Sango? Are you alright?"

"O-Oh, um, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine..."

"You sure? You look, unsettled..."

"(Fake smile) Don't worry about me, Besa. I'm okay."

Besa nods, but frowns in suspicion:

 _...She's trying to pull that same phony smile Coraline does when she doesn't want us to know she's troubled by something._

He turns to his brother, who nods while glancing at Sango, also aware of the mask...They then focus with everyone else as Koharu tells her story:

"I lost my parents and siblings in the war. The Keeper of the Oil took me under his care, but worked me day and night..."

Flashback

 _A younger Koharu (with shorter hair and wearing a worn kimono of green with short sleeves) carries a large barrel of oil over by another few barrels with some difficulty..._

"I was weary from my duties, and wept each night..."

 _She sets the barrel down, and wipes her eyes of oncoming tears..._

"Then, a wondrous day..."

 _A younger Miroku is seen offering Koharu some rice outside during a sunny day:_

 _"Here, eat up."_

"A kind gesture from you, when you happened by our village to perform an exorcism."

 _Koharu takes the rice, and she and Miroku sit by one another on the grassy hill as she eats..._

 _"So your name is Koharu. And how old are you?"_

 _"I'm eleven."_

 _"Are you? (Smile) Koharu, would you consider having my children?"_

Pause Flashback

Everyone cringes back with faces of disbelief and disgust, as Miroku asks innocently,

"Um, is something the matter?"

Coraline and Sango are quick to bark at the monk in heavy anger:

"Are you serious, Miroku?! Leading an innocent girl on like that?! How could you?!"

"You lech!"

And yet, Koharu sighs blissfully at the memory:

"The happiest day of my life."

...The girls fall over in shock, before Coraline grasps Miroku by his robes and sternly orders,

"You better step up like the man you claim to be and take responsibility for your actions, or you'll have my fist to answer to!"

"U-Uh, right."

On the sidelines, Freeman asks Shippo (the latter now on the former's shoulder) in a low voice,

"Is this a regular problem for Miroku?" Shippo sighs and replies just as low,

"More so than you think..."

Miroku lightly blushes in embarrassment as Coraline releases him, and he adds,

"Look, would it change the matters if I told you I hadn't laid a hand on the girl?"

Sango replies with some bitter skepticism,

"That seems hard to believe..." Miroku argues,

"Well, she was still a child."

Koharu then finishes her tale:

"Miroku had to take leave of our village shortly afterword..."

Continue Flashback

 _We see Miroku waving goodbye to Koharu, before turning to leave..._

 _Koharu watches him go with sadness in her eyes, but the rest of her face as straight as possible...  
_

"I knew that one day, he would return to me. I believed it with all my heart."

 _Three years later, we see Koharu working in the Oil Keeper's house, and feels a stare, before turning to see the keeper's son gazing at her from behind the doorway..._

"As of late, I've noticed that the Keeper of the Oil's Young Lord leering at me..."

End of Flashback

Everyone was sitting at this point, as Koharu clenches her hand in front of her torso with a tortured expression:

"My fears were realized last night when he tried to force himself on me."

The twins gasp, muttering,

"He tried to-?!" "That's just wrong!"

Coraline forms a serious expression and replies to Koharu,

"So that's why you ran off: To avoid being raped."

"Yes. I struck him with some firewood until he laid motionless."

"(Nod) Good call."

Koharu then moves on all fours towards Miroku, and kneels in front of him with her hands folded in a pleading gesture:

"Please, Miroku. Won't you take me with you?"

"Koharu..."

"I have no where else to go. Besides..." She clasps his hands into hers with a smile:

"I am an adult now: I am able to bear your children."

Everyone else makes wary noises while Miroku chuckles nervously.. _._

Freeman and Besa come over to Coraline and ask about the subject quietly with wide eyes:

"She can't be any younger than a year before you, Cor, and she's already thinkin' about kids?!"

"Doesn't that seem a bit too early?"

Coraline smiles sadly and replies,

"Keep in mind where we are, you two: Sengoku Edo's expectations of women are alot different than in modern Tokyo. Men had to do most of the work and went off to war, so marriage and children came pretty early so there would be a better chance of an heir for their bloodline. Unfortunately, teen motherhood was more common during this time, and girls here are almost always forced to grow up faster than they want to."

"Huh..."

Freeman's eyes then narrow when he realizes something:

"Hang on...I just thought of something: Does this mean when you said Miroku threw that 'bear my children' line at you, he really did do that?"

Coraline's eyes widen, before smiling nervously:

"Uhh...Maybe?"

Both brothers gasp:

"What the he-?!" "We thought you were joking!"

They then glare hard at the monk and shout,

"Miroku!"

He turns to them in confusion, before his eyes widen at the scorned expressions on their faces:

"Uuuh, gentlemen? Is their a problem?"

They spring to their feet and reply loudly,

"Damn right there's a problem!"

"What the hell were you thinkin' when you made a move on our baby sister?!"

Coraline blushes red at the nickname:

"Guys!"

Miroku slowly rises to his feet with a nervous smile and sweatdrop:

"N-Now, there's no need to get worked up. That was months ago..."

Freeman cracks his knuckles, and glances at Besa:

"...We're gonna beat him up, right?"

"Oh yeah."

Next thing everyone knew, the twins began chasing Miroku out of the marsh, shouting,

"Get back here, you moron!"

"You've got some answering to do!"

...Coraline facepalms at their antics, while Sango side-glances her and comments,

"...Your brothers seem extra violent today."

"(Deep sigh) Actually, that's just them being the overprotective idgits they really are..."

Small Time Skip

Eventually, everyone returns to the abandoned shrinehouse, with Sango sitting on a rock in front of the structure by Besa, Miroku on the stairs (rubbing his arm from one of the new bruises courtesy of the twins), Freeman laying on the grass with Kilala, and Shippo sitting on the porch.

Inuyasha comes out of the house and sits directly behind Miroku:

"(Sigh) I hope you understand our position, Miroku. We can't take that girl with us."

"I know."

Sango says,

"Still, we cannot simply abandon the orphan child."

"True enough...Perhaps she can simply accompany us until we can find a suitable family that can take her in."

Sango's face forms a deadpan:

"At the least, seeing it was _you_ who asked her to bear your children."

Besa places a hand on her shoulder as a way to keep her calm, while Miroku smiles and replies while rubbing the back of his head,

"Oh, that: I ask that same question every single time I meet a new girl."

Freeman calls from the ground with a somewhat irritated smile,

"Which is why I'm amazed you hasn't received an answer like the one Besa and I gave you a couple minutes ago. Word to the wise: Don't flirt with a girl that has an older brother or two who can kick your ass!"

Miroku frowns but nods, while Inuyasha and Shippo snicker in amusement from watching the twins beating on the monk earlier...

Sango then says in answer to Miroku's reply,

"Hmph, you've said it to every girl except _one_ maybe."

Miroku looks at her in confusion...before widen his eyes in realization, and moves to clasp her hand into his to 'make up for missing her':

"Sango, would you consider bearing my-" Sango interrupts and spits,

"Spare me, would ya?!"

Freeman sighs and scratches behind Kilala's ears while saying,

"And Besa says I need to work on my flirting skills..."

"(Mew...)"

...Speaking of, the other twin moves to take Sango by her shoulders, and guides her back to the boulder to sit again:

"Come on, Sango. This isn't worth the energy, trust me..."

She turns to stare at Besa for a minute...before quietly sighing and muttering,

"Fine."

She moves to sit with him again, a small smile directed at Besa, and for some reason, the entire gesture causes a small frown to appear on Miroku's face:

 _...What just happened? How did he calm her so easily?_

 _And why do I, suddenly feel like, a Wind Tunnel just opened in my chest?_

Meanwhile, Coraline was by the river with Koharu, watching Lumos glide across the water while talking about the monk:

"So Miroku's your first love, huh?"

"He is. I remembered him every day that passed. I knew we'd meet again...and that helped me through the hard times."

"(Smile) Love is a beautiful thing to hope on..."

"I'm so happy. So happy I could die..."

...Little did Koharu know, someone was watching her making such a proclamation from deep inside the forest canopy through a vision in a mirror...That someone, _was Kanna._

Small Time Skip

We jump over to a new village, with many huts occupied by large farm fields sitting on rolling hills, as Miroku speaks with the headman about Koharu's situation:

"Such a pity. Poor young child..."

"So, would you be willing to take this young girl into your village, elder?"

"I would be honoured. Leave the girl with me, young monk."

While Miroku was away from the group, Koharu tries desperately to convince everyone to let her journey with them:

"Please, I promise not to be a burden! Let me come!"

Inuyasha and Coraline reply respectively,

"No chance."

"I'm sorry, Koharu, but coming with us would put your life in jeopardy."

"Stop arguing and stay behind."

Sango and Shippo add,

"It is in your best interest."

"She's right."

The twins nod seriously in agreement as well, causing Koharu's face to fall in sadness...It was then Miroku returns:

"I have spoken to the village elder."

"Miroku..."

"(Smile) Koharu. Come with me, would you?"

Placing an arm over her shoulders, Miroku leads Koharu down the hill a ways, and she turns to him with a beseeching expression:

"Miroku, I cannot bear to be parted away from you after such a short time."

They slowly lower to the ground on their knees, as Miroku replies as gently as possible,

"Try to understand, Koharu..."

He wraps his arms around her and guides her head to his chest:

"I cannot always guarantee that I would always protect you in the times of battle. You see, the demon that I am pursuing is more devious and formidable than any other. Parting like this is difficult for me as well..."

Koharu lets out a quiet whimper, burying her face into his robes...Up above, the others watch, Inuyasha asking,

"Does it look like he's setting her straight?" Coraline replies,

"Hard to say...I'm just crossing my fingers he's not accidentally seducing her..."

Sango bitterly comments,

"Lecher, he's all over the girl. A parting like that will make her fall deeper in love..."

She then sees that Inuyasha was looking at her oddly:

"...Why are you staring?"

"I might just be imagining it, Sango, but is there a little jealousy thing goin' on here?"

Her glare hardens:

"It's your imagination!"

Inuyasha winces behind Coraline...as Besa puts a hand on Sango's shoulder:

"Hm?"

"What we see isn't always the truth. Miroku likely does have his head on straight, Sango, so don't get bristled over something we don't know from every angle."

"Uh...mm..."

Sango's anger suddenly drops, and she turns away from Besa's gentle smile with a tiny blush...

Time Skip

Night falls, and it was time for everyone to set out...But Koharu wasn't ready for Miroku to leave quite yet:

"Miroku, I'm begging you: Won't you stay with me one last night?" The elder then says,

"You heard Koharu. Won't you please stay the night with us?"

Miroku remains firm:

"No. I fear that postponing our departure will only make it harder for her."

Koharu's eyes begin pooling with tears...before she turns to run back inside the elder's home. Sango suddenly says a bit begrudgingly,

"Stay for her sake. One last night won't make that much difference."

Freeman folds his arms with a frown and replies,

"I disagree: Coming from experience, the longer you delay your departure from a love interest, the harder it becomes to leave."

Everyone looks at him oddly...

"There, was this guy I hooked up with last year who was in town for only a week before he had to go back to Kyoto. Long story short, he got real clingy and emotional when the days were up, and I made the mistake of being lenient to his desperate behaviour, which made our eventual parting real bitter."

Coraline rolls her eyes a bit at her brother before saying,

"Still, it would help her since we're the only people she's come to know..."

Miroku forms a closed-eye frown:

"I must decline. If reason gave way to passion and Koharu were to become pregnant, she would be burdened for the rest of her life for my likeness."

Sango flinches and Coraline facepalms, while Freeman whispers to Besa and Inuyasha with a wry smile,

"That's where he and I differ: As a gay man, I don't have to worry about pregnancy scares."

Besa replies,

"Maybe not, but you wouldn't be harsh and kick someone to the curb without so much as a 'later, dude' after leading them on too strong, right?"

Freeman's eyes widen before saying more seriously,

"Of course not, but I gotta keep in mind of the realism and what my chances of keeping commitment are. I'm not someone who can make long-distant work, and neither was that Kyoto-bound guy."

Inuyasha looks at Freeman in surprise and says,

"...Huh. In that case, you're smarter than Miroku at controlling yourself."

"Haha, well, I dunno about that. You might think otherwise if and when you see my own flirting techniques..."

As that conversation went on, Shippo then asks innocently from Coraline's shoulder,

"Reason gave way to passion? So what does that mean, Miroku?"

"Delighted you asked..."

Coraline slams the breaks on Miroku's cheeky smile:

"Oh-hoh no, you're not filling his innocent head with that nonsense, so shut your yap!"

Inside the village elder's home, Koharu begins to sob softly, her heart cracking at the thought of Miroku leaving so soon...Inuyasha's sensitive ears would of course pick up on it:

"...Damn it, she's crying."

"Hm?"

"Who is? Koharu?"

Inuyasha walks towards the hut, ignoring Freeman and Besa's confused expressions:

"She shouldn't waste her tears on that creep..."

Everyone watches the half-dog demon, Coraline tilting her head in surprise:

"...Inuyasha..."

He walks over in front of Koharu's crouching form, and reluctantly says in a blunt tone,

"Fine. We'll stay here the night and set out in the morning. But no tears in the morning, alright?"

Koharu stops crying, and looks at Inuyasha with shock...before smiling big and nodding:

"Yes!"

Outside, Coraline thinks to herself,

 _Heh, Inuyasha...He doesn't like seeing any woman sad and crying...the tough softie._

So with that decided, everyone settles into the village elder's home for the night, and Koharu would offer Miroku a hot bath, with he would gladly oblige to...

Right now, she adds more wood to the waiting outside hearth, before calling into the bathing room:

"Miroku, how is the bath temperature?"

He calls back with a relaxed tone,

"Perfect. Nice and warm."

"After you finish your bath, I shall do my best to prepare the finest dinner for you and your friends."

"Thanks for going to all of this trouble."

Koharu stands up and begins rushing off to start preparations for the meal with a smile on her face...But then, about halfway back to the main house, she is stopped by the appearance of Kanna!

(Step, step, step)

...Kanna holds up her mirror, and the glass begins to glow:

(Sheen)

"Huh?"

Koharu freezes, and her body glows a faint light, before a ghostly mist begins to flow out of her body and into the mirror!

(...Thud)

Koharu collapses, while Kanna stares at her form, face void of emotion...

Small Time Skip

Inside the elder's home, everyone begins eating a meal prepared for them, Shippo commenting with a grin,

"This stew is incredible!" Freeman nods and says,

"It is good, isn't it? Really fills the hole..."

Besa elbows him with a mild glare and smile:

"You can do to show a bit more manners than that, brother."

"What's wrong with saying hole?"

"Oh never mind..."

Coraline shakes her head at her brothers before saying,

"Easy, you guys...Oh, and by the way, I meant to say this earlier but I'll say it now: Just because you two are older than me by a year does not automatically make me the baby of our sibling trio!"

The twins stop glaring playfully at eachother to look at Coraline with matching cheeky grins:

"Oooh~, was our baby sister embarrassed?"

"You're just worked up 'cause we called you our baby sister in front of everyone here, aren't ya? Admit it!"

"Oh, shut up!"

Everyone laughs at Coraline's reddened face, and as her blush cools down, she changes the subject to the one who made the meal:

"Anyway...Koharu is definitely a sweetheart. (Glance) I'd say she really put in her efforts to please you with her cooking, Miroku..."

...Suddenly, Inuyasha picks up his Tessaiga, his face set in a suspicious glare towards the outdoors. Coraline asks him,

"Inuyasha? What is it?"

He does not answer, but Miroku does:

"...We're surrounded."

"What do you mean?"

"...I fear that the meal that Koharu took so much effort to prepare will go cold."

"Yeah...Strange that there's no scent of demons in the air."

"(Ghostly moan...)"

Lumos then pops out of Coraline's satchel, and floats to the doorway beside Inuyasha, circling three times...before glowing in and out red.

Freeman says to Inuyasha,

"Well, your nose may not be pickin' anything up, but Lumos is definitely sensing something off."

Miroku grabs his staff and says,

"Let's go out and survey the area," before standing with Inuyasha...

The two move to the outdoors, only to find that the danger, was that of a group of men carrying torches and simple farming equipment for weapons coming towards the elder's home!

...But getting a closer look, we see that their movements were somewhat on the sluggish side, their voices strained and robotic:

"Get theeeem, hurry..." "Uhhh..." "Uhhh..." "Get 'em awaaay..."

Nevertheless, Inuyasha retains an authoritative front:

"Identify yourselves!"

Kilala comes to stand with he and Miroku, her fur standing on end as she growls...The men do not seem to heed them, so Inuyasha tries again:

"Are you from the village?" Miroku notices the army's condition:

"They seem to be under some sort of spell..."

One man holding a short-handled sickle sends a signal, and they all begin charging to attack! Inuyasha makes his first move:

(Leap)

"I don't think so!"

(Punch)

He takes down three of the men with one swing of his fist, and easily dodges a fourth's swing of a farming hoe. But Inuyasha was just getting started, dodging and shoving the village men away, while Miroku shoves two down with his staff. He calls to his companion,

"Inuyasha! They are only mortals, not demons!"

As he knocks another man down, Inuyasha calls back to Miroku,

"Yeah, I can figure that much out!"

(Punch, kick, shove...)

The fight goes on, and Kilala joins in, knocking some men aside in her full demon form...

Coraline's POV

I'm sitting by the door with Shippo, Sango, Lumos and my brothers as we watch the action outside. Shippo asks,

"What's going on out there?" Besa replies,

"Looks like some of the men from the village. But something's up: Why are they here attacking?"

Sango comments,

"Their numbers are great. I shall assist them," Freeman adding,

"I'll come too."

Just then, Koharu comes into the room from the other side:

"Something dreadful has happened!"

I ask her,

"What's wrong, Koharu?"

"A demon got inside and attacked the elder and his wife!"

I suck in a sharp breath, before wondering,

 _Hang on...A demon? If that's true, why didn't I pick up on a dark Aura?_

 _...Besa's right: Something fishy is going on here._

Even so, I grab my quiver and sword, while Sango grabs Hiraikotsu, Freeman and Besa snatching up their respected hammer and sickles, and we all head down the hall to where the elder and his wife are resting...

We reach the room, and Sango peers around the corner first, before we all enter inside, coming across the dead elder and wife!

I hear Freeman wince, while Shippo asks aloud,

"A-Are they really dead?"

Koharu mutters,

"The poor elder..."

I flash my eyes ice blue, and widen them when I sense,

 _...No Auras. How? That doesn't make sense: When a death is recent, I can usually pick up on the residual Aura Essence as it lingers on the body..._

 _It's like, their Souls...vanished...  
_

Sango asks in a wary tone,

"A demon did this?"

I turn to question Koharu in a gentle but stern tone,

"Koharu, think carefully: Did you happen to see what this demon looked like?"

"Not exactly. I, only caught a glimpse of it."

I furrow my eyebrows in thought:

 _None of this adds up: Neither Inuyasha, Miroku or I could sense anything that would suggest a demon was behind this..._

 _But then again, Lumos was on edge...Does he sense something we don't?_

Speaking of Lumos, my Will O' Wisp companion begins emitting frantic moans again, zooming towards the door to the next room, bobbing up and down in intent...

"...Is the threat in there, Lumos?"

He 'nods', and I turn to the others, before we silently decide to investigate. Sango opens to door, and as we slowly step inside...a white-clad girl appears in the doorway on the opposite end!

 _...Who is that? And, that mirror...I'm getting a bad vibe._

Sango exclaims,

"There it is!"

But before she could throw Hiraikotsu...the girl fades out of focus!

"Uh, she vanished!"

We all dart our heads around the room, before Besa calls out,

"Behind us!"

"I got her!"

Freeman then tries to swing his hammer at her, but she disappears again before the head could make contact, causing him to fumble:

"Gah, crap, I missed!"

He steadies himself, and we search for the girl again...who reappears on another end of the room!

"Grh, _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...)

Sango's boomerang travels straight for the demon girl...but:

(Shine, pow)

Her mirror glows, before a thin but powerful shield generates around her area, deflecting the weapon back at us!

(Spin...WHACK)

"Aaaaaagh!"

Sango's hit dead-on by her own weapon in her torso, and as Shippo gets knocked to the ground by her body, Besa rushes to catch her around her middle:

"Sango!"

He succeeds, but falls back from the force of impact, hitting his head against the door frame, and was now laying unconscious face-up with Sango sprawled across his stomach and legs, while Freeman moves to pull Koharu and I out of Hiraikotsu's path:

"Look out!"

(Crash)

...We come out safe, and I hand Freeman Koharu while I kneel down to check up on everyone else:

"Sango, Shippo, Besa!"

 _...Damn, they're out cold._

"...Hm?"

I feel a stare, and look up to meet the emotionless eyes of the white-clad demon girl:

"...Coraline."

I stand up on the defense:

 _...She knows who I am?_

(Crack)

"Ugh!"

I dart my head around, and see Freeman fall to the ground, knocked out by his own hammer, courtesy of Koharu!

"Freeman! Koharu, what the hell?!"

She then comes at me (dropping the hammer), and before I could lay a hand on her, she suddenly seizes me around my underarms, fixing me to the direction of the demon girl:

"Rgh, h-hey! Get off!"

 _Where'd this upper body strength come from?! What's wrong with-Wait..._

 _That girl must've put Koharu under a spell of sorts...Oh crap!_

(Glow)

"...Look into my mirror. Give me your Soul."

I try to look away, but no matter how much my instincts told me to, I found myself frozen to the spot by an unworldly force!

 _S-Son of a, bitch!_

I watch helplessly, as my Soul is slowly and steadily pulled into the mirror!

 _Someone...h-help!_

Inuyasha's POV  


After fighting with these men for a while, Miroku and I decide to switch up the strategy a bit, leading them down the hill and as far away from the elder's home as we could...

Once that was done, we began fighting them again:

"Hrrgh!"

I hold back on my strength, and just knock the zombified villagers down, throwing a few punches here and there. As Miroku takes down another few, he says to me,

"Inuyasha, use restraint! The villagers are under someone's spell: We must not harm them!"

 _Tuh, try telling them that, genius!_

I dash behind two more farmers and and kick 'em down, Miroku using his staff, while I shout in frustration,

"We aren't getting anywhere!"

 _This is worse than fighting those corpse wolves: At least they were already dead..._

 _Wait, come to think of it, this is alot like that spell Kagura used a few days ago._

 _Damn it, how did I not see this sooner? This is her doing again!_

And just like that, my thoughts are confirmed by the following jeer:

"You fools are so pathetic."

...We stop, and turn to see that damn wind witch standing on a small hill nearby, staring at us with a mocking smile:

"You would've done well to slay them all. That way, they wouldn't keep coming after you."

Miroku and I address her in bitter tones,

"Kagura..."

"Not you again."

"Then again, I suppose if you were capable of slaying them, you would've already done so."

 _Cold-hearted bitch._

I ask her,

"Are you the one who's possessing these villagers?"

"I am. A mortal with no Soul is no different from a dead man."

"...'Mortal with no Soul'?"

"(Cruel smile) Your friend Coraline is having the Soul sucked out of her as we speak."

I felt my blood turn to ice:

"You, witch!" Miroku then says,

"That must mean that there's a second demon here with Kagura...That must have been what Lumos was trying to warn us about."

 _...No!_

Kagura fwips out her fan, and calls to me with an evil smirk,

"Inuyasha, unsheathe your Tessaiga! This time, victory shall be mine!"

But I was barely listening, my mind stuck on one person:

 _...Coraline!_

Kagura seemed to notice my expression of worry:

"What ails you, Inuyasha? Don't tell me you're afraid?" I growl at her lowly, before glancing behind me and saying,

"Miroku, go back to the house and help the others."

"Course I will, but what about you?"

"You know what..."

I pull Tessaiga out, and add with gusto,

"I'm stayin' here to finish this witch off!"

Kagura's smirk widens a bit, before she unleashes her wind attacks:

" _Dance of Blades!_ "

(SWIPE)

I use Tessaiga to block the wind blades, and call back,

"Go now, Miroku!"

"I'm on my way!"

I hear him take off for the house, as Kagura jeers,

"Your help will arrive too late!"

(SWIPE)

(Clang, clang, clang...)

I block the blades again, and think to myself,

 _Coraline...Once I defeat Kagura, I'll come to help you too, I promise!_

 _Stay, strong for me!_

Miroku's POV  


I rush back to the village elder's house as fast as I can, and Kilala knocks a few of the spell-bound men aside to clear a path for me:

"Thank you, Kilala!"

 _Hang on, everyone...I'm coming!_

I rush into the home, and down the halls, only to find,

"Koharu!"

I quickly rush to her side:

"Koharu, Koharu! Say something, Koharu!"

I pull her into my arms...and she stirs awake just a few seconds after:

"(Whimper...) Mm, ngh!"

 _Oh thank Buddha, she's okay..._

She retracts back and stares at me in shock for a second, before embracing me in fear:

"Miroku, it was horrid!"

"I'm here for you. You're in safe hands now."

 _But...where is everyone else?_

Shippo's POV

"(...Ghostly moans)"

"Hm...mm?"

I wake up from my knockout, and find Lumos bouncing against my head frantically:

"Whoa, Lumos!"

I sit up while rubbing my head, only to bug my eyes out, and turn to see that demon girl using her mirror to suck out Coraline's Soul!

"Stop! What are you doing to my friend?!"

I charge and leap at the demon, only to be thrown back by a barrier!

(Bzzzzt)

"Aaagh!"

I fall back against the door, and the last thing I see before I black out again, was Lumos hovering over me with worry:

 _H-Help, Coraline, Lumos..._

Besa's POV

"Rgh...r-huh?"

 _What the hell is happening...?_

 _Uh, Coraline, Sango, and-?!  
_

I struggle to raise my head, my vision a bit blurry from the knockout I got when Sango slammed into me:

"D-Damn, come on..."

I found myself staring into the next room...where Miroku was embracing Koharu!

 _Miroku?_

 _...Inuyasha must still be outside...Wait, what's that in Koharu's-_

"(Gasp)"

 _A knife!_

I try to sit up, my body stiff, and called out in a strain,

 _"M-Miroku, look out! She's got a knife!"_


	48. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47: The Wind Scar Fails**

 _Recap:_

 _As the Inuyasha group continues their travels through Sengoku Edo, they come across a girl caught in a bad situation:  
Koharu, a young teen who had lost her family to war as a child, and was forced to work in an oil keeper's warehouse in order to survive, her days dismal and miserable...One day, Miroku came to perform an exorcism on her village, and shared both food and a fond memory that Koharu would keep for the next three years until his return... And the arrival couldn't have been better timed, as the young lord of the oil keeper has been relentlessly pursuing her as of late, and she barely escaped losing her virginity, hiding in the marsh where the gang had stopped by..._

 _Of course, Miroku knew that Koharu would not be safe if she were to travel with him, and decides to help her settle in another village instead. She is saddened to have to part from him so soon, so he pulls her aside to speak with her about the reality of life:_

 _"Miroku, I cannot bear to be parted away from you after such a short time."_

 _They slowly lower to the ground on their knees, as Miroku replies as gently as possible,_

 _"Try to understand, Koharu..."_

 _He wraps his arms around her and guides her head to his chest:_

 _"I cannot always guarantee that I would always protect you in the times of battle. You see, the demon that I am pursuing is more devious and formidable than any other. Parting like this is difficult for me as well...Koharu...listen: You are about to commence a new life in a new village. I know you must be afraid."_

 _Koharu nods..._

 _"Life itself is a frightening image for every human being."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"In my right hand, is a hole, capable of drawing everything in its path into the void. A Wind Tunnel, if you will...A curse was placed upon my family in my grandfather's time. He, and my father, were eventually sucked into the Wind Tunnels in their own hands. In time, I too will be drawn into the terrible nothingness of my own hand. Despite that, I made up my mind to use this terrible curse as my strength..."_

 _Miroku smiles bitterly, his eyes covered by his bangs:_

 _"The Wind Tunnel allows a mere human such as myself to take on demons...so I've come to think my curse is also my greatest strength to battle against evil."_

 _Koharu looks at Miroku in awe, noting the way his eyes shone with the hidden fear he keeps inside:_

 ** _Miroku is trembling...Is Miroku's tale nothing more than a deception?_**

 _"Being strong in life...It's not easy...Overcoming uncertainties, is difficult..."_

 _...Settling into the village elder's home for the night, Koharu slowly begins accepting that Miroku and his friends will be leaving the next day, and chooses to make the best of whatever time she's got with him._

 _However, the night's peace would be interrupted, when a group of men from the village begin attacking the gang! Of course, given that their Souls were stolen from their bodies, they weren't acting on their own accord, but on that of Kagura's...and her sister, Kanna, a new demon created by Naraku, with a mirror that has the capability of sucking a Soul out of a person...!_

 _Kagura would keep Inuyasha, Miroku and Kilala busy outside long enough for everyone else to be attacked by Kanna, with Sango knocked out cold by her own weapon, Shippo and Besa accidentally knocked down by her in the collision, and Freeman taken down by Koharu (her Soul also being pilfered by Kanna) as Coraline tries to wake the others up. The zombified Koharu would then seize Coraline, and force her to focus on Kanna's mirror, beginning the process of the redhead's Soul being stolen out of her body!_

 _It would be then that Miroku arrives to help, but is distracted by Koharu, feigning being unconscious for a short time...Shippo wakes up briefly courtesy of Lumos, only to get knocked out again by Kanna's shield when he tries to attack..._

 _But just then, Besa arouses awake, and turns his head to the next room to see Miroku embracing Koharu, unaware that she has a knife in her hands, ready to kill him!_

 _Now..._

Coraline was on the ground at this point, body paralyzed, her eyes dilating out of focus, as Kanna continues to suck away her Soul:

"Hh...h..."

 _...N...No..._

...Suddenly, the process stops, and we see that the misty light bound for the mirror, begins fighting to stay out of the glass:

"...How strange. I cannot subdue the Soul."

Kanna begins to walk over to Coraline:

"Still, you are unable to move, are you not? I desire the shard of the Shikon-no-Tama that you possess..."

...Just as Kanna begins reaching her hand towards Coraline:

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Hm?"

The white-clad demon pauses, as Lumos comes barreling over, floating over Coraline...before releasing sparkles of light to fall over her:

(Twinkle...)

"...What is this?"

Lumos finishes his job...and Coraline's eyes focus back, before she sits up and readies an arrow to shoot Kanna!

...In the back of the room, just as Koharu raises the knife, Besa, who had stirred awake, shouts,

"M-Miroku, look out! She's got a knife!"

Miroku hears the warning, and looks to see the weapon in Koharu's hand, before acting fast, gripping her wrist and moving to stand up against the girl:

"Koharu!"

"Rgh..."

Miroku's strength prevails, and he slaps the knife out of Koharu's hand, before punching her gut, knocking her unconscious:

"Gh! Uhhh..."

He catches her, and asks himself,

 _What is going on?_

"Are you alright, man?"

He focuses back to the front, seeing Besa struggling to stand up:

"I'm fine. Besa, what's happening, are the others okay?"

"I'm, not su-Uh: There was a girl, all white, I think she's still here! She had a mirror that was real powerful!"

Miroku gently places Koharu on the ground, before rushing over to help Besa stand up, and both turn around to see,

"Uh, Sango, Coraline!" "Freeman, Shippo!"

Miroku focuses on Kanna:

"She's the other demon!" Besa nods, holding his head from a headache:

"Yes, rgh. Be careful: She's able to create a shield from her mirror."

As Coraline sits up, drawing all of her strength into her draw, as Kanna looks at her in surprise:

 _How is she able to move still?_

 _...That orb creature...did they give her strength?_

Meanwhile, the struggling redhead thinks,

 _I, gotta remember, to thank Lumos in, a minute..._

Kilala arrives, growling at Kanna, and the latter decides to retreat for now...Once she faded away, Coraline lowers her bow, and tries to stand up, only to fall on her front:

"Grh...C-Come, on..."

Miroku rushes over to help her:

"Coraline, are you harmed?! What has she done?!"

Meanwhile, Besa and Kilala try to wake up the others:

"(Whimper...)" "Freeman, Sango, snap out of it!"

Only two out of three would rouse from the calls, namely, Shippo and Freeman:

"...Oh, Kilala, it's you!"

"Rg-guh...uh, Besa! Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, how 'bout you?"

Freeman sits up and replies with a groan,

"I think so, but the back of my head is killing me...Oh, Koharu: Where's-"

"She's unconscious in the other room, thanks to Miroku."

"Gotcha..."

At the same time, Shippo springs to his feet, remembering earlier:

"Awah! Coraline!"

Miroku asks all three of them,

"Shippo, Freeman, Besa: What exactly happened here?"

Shippo replies,

"Miroku, didn't you see the white demon?! She was trying to draw Coraline's Soul into her evil mirror!"

"Coraline's Soul?"

...Speaking of Coraline, she weakly shakes her head, before calling out in a raspy voice,

"L-Lumos...I need, your help again."

Said Will O' Wisp floats over to her, and performs that same ability from before:

(Twinkle...)

The others watch with interest and confusion:

"Huh?" "What's he doing?"

"Coraline?"

...Lumos finishes, and much to everyone's surprise, Coraline gingerly rises to a stand, breathing a bit heavily, but was otherwise better than before:

"(Pant) Thank you, my friend. But I fear I may need, more energy in the next bit, so be ready."

Lumos 'nods', and settles himself on Coraline's shoulder, wanting to be close incase the action was needed...

"Coraline?"

"Hm?"

She turns to the others, who walk over with curious expressions:

"You can stand..." "Thank god you're alright!"

"Are you okay?"

"What did Lumos do to you?"

She smiles faintly and replies,

"I'm, hanging in there...To answer your questions, Lumos, gave me a burst of energy, to keep whatever amount, of Soul I have left in me steady...That demon, whoever she is, wasn't able to steal away all of it."

The boys widen their eyes, as Coraline forms a serious frown and adds,

"But, this won't last long: I can, already feel my boost wearing off. We need to, find the demon fast, so I can destroy that damn mirror."

Outside

As everyone in the elder's home begins to ready themselves for Kanna, Inuyasha was continuing his fight against the zombified villagers, knocking them flat off their feet with his fists...Of course, he also had to deal with Kagura, and her wind attacks:

" _Dance of Blades!_ "

(SWIPE)

Inuyasha sees the wind blades coming, and jumps out of their path, only for the trajectory to continue forward and cut down against the men:

(Boom)

"Aaagh!" "Argh!" "Gaaah!"

Inuyasha flips back on his feet, directing his eyes at Kagura:

"What is wrong, Inuyasha? You do nothing but flee from me!" She then smirks and adds,

"This leads me to one belief: You have not yet recovered from your injuries."

Inuyasha grits his teeth, and thinks to himself (confirming Kagura's suspicion),

 _I only need one good attack on her. If I can get one good swing, my arm can handle it..._

 _When I fought that fool K_ _ōga, who had been deceived by Naraku, my right arm was wounded by the power of that fake Shikon-no-Tama shard._

 _My arm has not yet recovered. Still, if I can cut through the Wind Scar in one move, I can bring her down!_

Just as Inuyasha finishes his thoughts, Kagura calls upon the 'Dance of the Dragon', creating the large spiral of wind that surrounds her body as the eye of the storm, while sending some small cyclones at Inuyasha:

(Leap)

(Crash)

He dodges them, of course, before leaping away from more cyclones, as Kagura thinks to herself about the events of their first encounter:

 _I never imagined that such a young upstart would try something as elaborate as the Wind Scar to battle me..._

 _When we first met in battle, a Sacred Arrow dispelled my Wind Song and created a Wind Scar..._

 _The Wind Scar is created when the demonic winds collide...I control all Wind!_

 _If not for that arrow, a Wind Scar would never had formed!_

...As the winds pick up speed, Inuyasha struggles to find the fissure required for Tessaiga's attack:

 _No good. It won't work: A Wind Scar won't form within the winds she has created!_

The two opposing enemies stand still for a minute...before Kagura hms, and folds her fan a bit, her wind control decreasing enough for the fissure to become visual!

"Wait...That was a Wind Scar! How can that be?! What does it mean? Is her control over the wind weakening?"

Suspicious though it was, Inuyasha decides to seize the opportunity:

"This is my only chance..."

(Shing)

"I can slay her now, with the Wind Scar!"

Just as he draws his Tessaiga, decision met, Miroku and Shippo come running down the hill close to the battlefield, with the twins holding Coraline up in a stand with their arms around her shoulders, and Kilala carrying the unconscious Sango and Koharu on her back.

Shippo would be the first to exclaim,

"Guys, look: Inuyasha is wielding his Tessaiga! He will cut through the Wind Scar!"

Miroku replies,

"I must stop him. He does not know of the second demon, the one with her thieving apparition. Sango's weapon was thrust back at her...and the Wind Scar will be thrown back at Inuyasha!"

Besa and Freeman nod at one another, before handing Coraline over to Miroku:

"We can run down there easy."

"Keep Coraline upright in the meantime."

"What?"

The twins bring out their weapons, and begin running down the hill, calling to add,

"We can handle it!" Miroku tries to protest:

"Wait, no! It's too dangerous: Neither of you have enough battle experience against demons! Come back!"

Meanwhile, Inuyasha focuses on the Wind Scar:

"...I see it."

"I _allowed_ you to see it."

"I see the Wind Scar."

"You want to slice through it, I imagine?"

(Step, step)

A pair of white-sandaled feet come in, just as Inuyasha readies Tessaiga:

"You're, mine!"

Besa and Freeman make it halfway down, shouting,

"Inuyasha, stop!" "It's a trap!"

But they were too late:

(SLASH)

Kagura lets out a laugh, and uses her winds to switch her position with Kanna:

"Now, perish!"

...Kanna's mirror gleams, and just as the Wind Scar is thrust at her...it reflects, and begins charging backwards straight for Inuyasha!

"What?!"

(SLASH, CRASH)

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Inuyasha was hit full blast, his body cut by the clawed energy!

...Once the Wind Scar dies down, he is seen face-up on the ground, his body bloodied, and laying over the giant cut marks in the dirt...

"Inuyasha!"

The twins rush over to his side, and Besa kneels down to shake his shoulders:

"Inuyasha, can you hear me?! Inuyasha!"

Freeman joins in:

"Come on, man, wake up! Inuyasha!"

...Suddenly:

(Rumble...)

"Huh?"

They look up, and see the sky beginning to darken over...A cloud of black-purple mist flows down into a spiral, and they cringe from the gust of wind, as do Miroku, Shippo and the weakened Coraline...

More spirals of pitch-black wind join in, and land directly behind Kagura and Kanna...before Naraku appears behind them!

"Gh, is that...!" Besa replies to Freeman,

"Yes...(Glare) It's safe to say that _he's_ _Naraku._ "

The twins stand up on the defense, as Naraku lets out a laugh and remarks,

"That was indeed simple enough...I came to ask in person how it felt to have your power turned against you, and very easily I may add."

Coraline mutters to Miroku,

"I know, you want to head down there. Go. I'll be alright."

Miroku hesitates...but nods, and moves down quickly to join Freeman and Besa, addressing the demon:

"I am indeed honoured by your presence, Naraku. I rather expected a demon puppet."

His grim smirk shifts into a glare and frown as he exclaims,

"You are a coward who never sullies his own hands, who knows only how to lay traps. You must've been vastly confident, otherwise you wouldn't have thought to dare show your face!"

He unwraps his beads from his right hand with a growl, and says to the twins,

"Both of you, stay behind me, alright?"

"Got it!"

"No arguments, dude: Suck back the bastard!"

Naraku's smile grows a touch:

"The Wind Tunnel: You are free to draw anything into your void..."

He glances down at Kanna:

"But surely, even you could not be that foolish, young monk?"

Miroku thinks to himself,

 _The Souls of Coraline and the villagers are locked away in that mirror..._

Knowing what would happen if he were to unleash the black hole in his hand...Miroku had no choice but to contain it with his beads again.

Besa frowns, also knowing the consequences:

"That's right, bad idea: A good chunk of Coraline's Soul is in there, as well as Koharu's and the villagers...If Miroku uses his ability now..."

Freeman finishes in a low voice matching his brother's:

"It's game over."

Naraku continues:

"My plan was simple: I created Wind and Void as incarnations of myself, and yet witness the damage I was able to inflict."

Miroku narrows his eyes:

 _Incarnations?_

 _...So my suspicions were correct: Naraku's power has increased drastically if he is capable of this level of sorcery:_

 _We've fought Kagura, the Wind Sorceress before, and this, other...she is Void?_

 _That's why we could not sense it's evil: It has no presence! It's no wonder the situation went unnoticed until it was too late..._

 _But, then how did Lumos sense her?...Does he have sensory beyond the level of humans and demons?_

As he began wondering about the Will O' Wisp, Freeman bends down to Inuyasha's side to try and wake him again:

"Inuyasha!...Damn, I can barely hear his heartbeat. Come on, wake up! Don't give up now!"

Coraline's POV

I'm standing between Kilala and Shippo, as I pant heavily and try to stay awake:

 _Damn...Inuyasha's not moving, and my brother's are gonna get themselves killed down there with Miroku!_

 _...I've got to get, down there, while I'm still able to.  
_

I slowly begin moving forward, and stumble a bit, my energy levels dropping some, causing Shippo to get more concerned:

"Coraline, are you in pain? Don't force yourself to move if you can't!"

"I'm, fine...I can't, stand by, and watch this. I need to help..."

 _...And I think I know just how I'm gonna do it._

I reach to my back, and pull out ShatterSoul from its sheath. As if reading my mind on what I was planning to do, Lumos makes a cry, before releasing another burst of energy for me:

(Twinkle...)

"(Pant, smile) Thank you, Lumos. I know you probably, won't be able to do that in the next bit, so save your strength for when I tell you next, okay? I should have enough in me to make it down the hill..."

Lumos chirps softly, understanding my request, and I face forward with a determined expression, gripping my sword tight:

 _This ends now._

"Shippo. Kilala. Walk with me. If I stumble, just help me straighten, and keep me moving, no matter what."

The little fox demon gapes at me uncertain...but then nods firmly, and moves to my left side, as Kilala positions herself on my right, and we all begin making our way down to where everyone was:

 _Inuyasha...I'm coming, and I will make these monsters pay for hurting you!_

No POV

As the weakened but determined Coraline starts her slow trek down the hill with Shippo and Kilala, Kagura waves her fan out and asks Naraku,

"Have we not spoken long enough? Shall we take Inuyasha's head along with us as a trophy?"

"Not gonna happen!"

"Hm?"

Kagura glances down at Freeman, who glares hard at the wind sorceress while moving to stand up, hammer gripped tightly in his hands:

"The only way you're getting his head is through us...right, Besa?"

He nods at Freeman, turning to look at the three demons with his own glare while bringing his sickles out from their holsters:

"Absolutely!"

Kagura sneers at the twins, Freeman in particular:

"And how exactly are you going to stop me, boy? I can see it in your eyes: You have fire, but not enough battle experience. You and your brother are the most likely to fall first after Inuyasha."

Freeman grinds his teeth in anger, as Kagura turns to Naraku again:

"Well?"

...His stare said it all:

"No? Did you not want to tell that woman that Inuyasha had been slain? I was under the impression that this is what you had desired..."

Naraku directs his eyes back up to where Miroku, Freeman and Besa are, and replies,

"...True enough. It was only through her cooperation that I was able to create you and Kanna. What emotions were to shine on her face if I showed her that Inuyasha's dead, I wonder?"

As he said this, he brandishes out...the close-to-completed Shikon-no-Tama!

Besa asks in astonishment,

"Miroku...is that...?"

"Yes, but how can that be? Naraku's Shikon-no-Tama fragment is nearly whole!"

Naraku replies,

"You suggested earlier that I do everything to avoid sullying my own hands...Even the mightiest are inferior to someone. A woman attempted to use me so I would murder Inuyasha for her."

"A woman..."

Miroku then flinches back:

"You don't mean...!"

"(Chuckle) She is some piece of work, that Kikyō."

The twins wince and curse, remembering what their sister has told them regarding the wandering priestess:

 _She gave Naraku the fragment?! But why?!_

Upon hearing her name, Inuyasha's eyes snap awake:

 _Ki...Kiky_ _ō!_

He begins wincing from his severe injuries, and Besa turns around to see the half-dog demon was conscious:

"(Gasp) Inuyasha, you're alright! Thank god!"

 _But without proper medical, he might not be for much longer...We need to wrap this up someway, or we're all done for!_

Naraku adds,

"Kikyō personally handed me the Shikon-no-Tama shard to me of her own free will."

Inuyasha grimaces more, his eyes dilating in sadness and betrayal:

 _...Kiky_ _ō..._

With Naraku through, Kagura readies her fan:

"She wishes to gaze upon your face, after you're good and dead!"

(SWIPE)

Miroku rushes in front of the twins:

"Stay behind me!"

He then tries to deflect the wind blades with his staff, but is overwhelmed by their numbers and strength:

"Aaaaah!"

"Miroku!"

"Besa, incoming!"

"Now give me your head!"

(SWIPE)

Just as Kagura lets a few more wind blades loose:

(...Sheen) (...Sheen)

"Huh?" "What?"

The crystals in their bracelets begin to glow, before the twins subconsciously raise their wrists into a cross-shape, and the light bursts out, before surrounding them, Inuyasha and Miroku in a large dome, deflecting the blades:

(Pow, bang-bang-bang...)

Kagura stares at the large dome shield in disbelief:

"What?! Impossible!"

Naraku narrows his eyes slightly at the dark-skinned twins, he too surprised by the power:

 _Those boys...That power...It is not of the Shikon-no-Tama, but is close to being as powerful..._

...Once the purpose was fulfilled, the shield fades away, leaving Freeman and Besa to look down at their bracelets in shock:

"...How did we-"

"...I have absolutely no idea...but I'm glad we did it!"

"As, am I."

"Hm?"

They turn around, and gasp, seeing Coraline standing a few feet away, sword in hand and ready to fight!

"Coraline!" "Sis!"

"(Weak smile) Nice job with the shield, you two. I'll take it from here."

"What?"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive...Protect Shippo, Miroku, and Inuyasha for me, okay?"

...The twins nod, and Coraline begins moving forward towards where they were standing, as Shippo rushes to hug Freeman:

"Freeman!"

"Shippo! It's gonna be okay, I promise..."

Besa goes over to Kilala, who was nudging Miroku:

"(Whimper...)"

"(Pat) Don't worry; he's only knocked out cold, Kilala. But be ready to take him and Inuyasha out of here if things turn worse then they already are."

Kagura, meanwhile, watches the approaching redhead with a glare:

"Her again? (Turn) You failed me, Kanna! Why did you not steal her Soul?"

"Actually, she did."

Kagura whirls back to Coraline:

"What?"

The young redhead pants a bit, but her stare was serious and strong:

"I can't feel the half of Kikyō, I possess in me anymore...but I still hold at least half of my own, while mine and hers, are struggling to get out of Kanna's mirror...(Glance) See for yourself if you don't believe me."

Naraku turns to look at Kanna, and sees the light that was struggling to be contained:

 _Her Soul is spilling out of the mirror. Does this girl possess such an enormous Soul?_

Coraline looks back over her shoulder, and asks,

"Shippo, Freeman, how is Inuyasha?"

"Well, he's alive, but he's so badly wounded, he's unable to move."

"He needs serious medical..."

"(Nod) Alright. Keep him awake. Don't let him fall unconscious."

Inuyasha tilts his head a bit, and sees Coraline:

 _...Coraline._

She smiles sadly and whispers,

"I'm happy to see you alive, Inuyasha. Stay strong for me, okay? I'll take care of things from here."

 _...Kiky_ _ō. Has she really given into her darkness so much that she would rather Naraku have the shards that I and everyone worked so hard to collect?  
_

 _Does she wish for Inuyasha's death so bad that she'd be willing to make a deal with the devil?_

 _...Even if all is true, I can see it in Inuyasha's eyes: No matter what his lost love will do, he can't forget her._

"Woman. Pass this message on to Inuyasha: If he must hate someone, than hate Kikyō...for the only thing she desires, is Inuyasha's death."

Coraline glares hard at Naraku, the words adding to a rage beginning to surface:

"...You'll regret that taunt, Naraku."

She steps closer to the demon and his servants, positioning her left arm with the ShatterSoul sword at the ready:

"You will feel my wrath through this attack!"

Shippo and Freeman try to protest:

"Don't do it, Coraline! It'll fire back at you exactly like the Tessaiga did!"

"Plus, doesn't an attack from ShatterSoul require alot of spiritual energy? Why do that instead of an arrow?"

"...Because I have the confidence to do it. Lumos, now's the time."

The Will O' Wisp floats off of Coraline's shoulder, and moves over her head, before giving her an energy boost:

(Twinkle...)

Coraline breathes deeply, before making her eyes glow:

(Sheen)

 _I don't think I have enough in me for a full attack, but I know I can at least destroy Kanna's mirror._

 _Doing that, will give us a fighting chance. Don't fail me, ShatterSoul!_

The blade begins to glow in similar, not as strongly as before, but potent enough for the wielder...Coraline makes the call:

" _Spirit Slash!_ "

(SLASH)

She swings her blade across the air, and a blinding ice blue slash mark is released, flying straight for Kanna!

...The demon holds up her mirror, and catches the attack, only to find herself pushed back a few inches from the impact:

"Uh!"

As Coraline looks on, breathing heavy from the loss of spiritual energy going into the attack, Miroku stirs awake, and sees,

"The energy...!"

(Shing...)

Shippo shouts,

"The sword slash is starting to pierce the mirror!"

The slash is drawn in...and the mirror begins throbbing harder...before:

(...Crick)

Kanna looks down, and notes,

"The attack, went through. It did not deflect...and, it cuts into the glass." Kagura asks,

"What's going on?! Why did it not strike back at her?!"

"I understand: The slash, carries Soul Energy...The mirror is entirely full, and was damaged by the cut. Unless the Souls are released, the mirror will burst."

(Crick...)

Seeing no other option, Kanna reverses the power of her mirror, and releases the Souls captured:

(POW)

The streams of spiritual light shoot outwards, and return to the villagers, Koharu...and Coraline!

She holds out her sword, and the missing part of her Soul that shone blue and pink bounces onto the blade, swirling downward and into her body again, filling her with strength once more:

"Rgh...ahhh..."

Naraku watches Coraline lower her arm, his eyes fixed on the weapon she held:

 _...This woman. She did not use a Sacred Arrow, but that blade instead._

 _She channeled her very spirit into an attack. How can this be?_

"...Just what is she?"

Once Coraline was re-energized, she looks around to see that the other Souls have returned to their respected bodies:

"Glad that part's over. (Glance) Miroku, now's the time to unleash the Wind Tunnel!"

Miroku shakes his stupor off and calls back,

"Right!"

As he rushes to stand again, Koharu awakens:

"Mmm...huh? What happened? (Gasp) Miroku!"

Coraline moves over to Inuyasha, the twins and Shippo, as Miroku unleashes his cursed power:

" _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whoooooooosssssssshhhhhhhhhh...)

Koharu watches with wide eyes, remembering Miroku's words from before:

 _"Life itself is a frightening image for every human being."_

 _ _"In my right hand, is a hole, capable of drawing everything in its path into the void...__ _ _ _In time, I too will be drawn into the terrible nothingness of my own hand..."___

 _ _ _ _"Being strong in life...It's not easy...Overcoming uncertainties, is difficult..."____

Kagura acts quickly, using her wind power to upturn the ground, and block Miroku's Wind Tunnel with rock and dirt...It would be then that she, Naraku and Kanna turn to leave, vanishing with the mist...

"Rrrrgh..."

Miroku cancels his power, and mutters,

"Curse them, they've escaped."

...Suddenly, Naraku's voice booms through the air:

" _We shall allow you to live for a while yet. The Shikon-no-Tama will continue to bestow me with more and more power. Let us all relish the immeasurable power of the Shikon-no-Tama, shall we?_ "

...With that, Naraku's presence was gone, leaving our group with the aftermath to sink in...

Time Skip

Come the sunrise, the villagers awake in the battlefield, with no memory of what had occurred last night:

"How is it that we all awoken in the fields?"

"I'm finding it hard to remember anything at all."

"Same for me..."

...Koharu, meanwhile, was standing on the grass, as she looks down at the message in her hand left by a certain monk...Her eyes dilate with sadness, before she forms a determined frown, and holds the message close to her heart, vowing to never forget.

...As for our group, they've since moved on to an abandoned shack a ways away from the village to recover from last night's battle. Shippo and Kilala were sitting outside the door, Miroku leaning against a tree, and Sango resting under a blanket by another...

Sick of the silence, Shippo hops to his feet and exclaims,

"Hey! Cheer up, would you?! (Sad frown) But I suppose it's not that easy, not after everything that we've been through...Naraku possesses nearly all of the Shikon-no-Tama shards..."

He shakes his head in disbelief from his own tone:

"What am I thinking?! I can't give up at a time like this! I've got this thing all wrong: We must possess incredible powers ourselves considering we survived such a conflict with the nearly invincible Naraku, and lived to tell it."

Kilala mews in agreement, just as Freeman comes out the door with a smile, hearing all his words:

"That's the spirit, Shippo. It's always better to look on the bright side of the worst of times, and we've got something that Naraku will never have."

"And what's that?"

The dark-skinned boy glances over at Miroku and Sango, before replying simply,

"...Something worth fighting for."

Shippo gapes at Freeman...before nodding firmly. It was then that Coraline pops her head out with them:

"Hey, Shippo."

"Coraline. How's Inuyasha doing? Any better?"

"The herbal remedies are starting to do their work. His fever dropped and he's sleeping more comfortably."

Freeman looks at Coraline and says,

"If you'd like, I could go and see about gathering more herbs. I should be able to ID the right ones thanks to that old almanac Besa and I read a while back."

"(Smile) I'd appreciate that, Freeman. Thank you. By the way, how's that bump on the back of your head feeling?"

"Eh, just aching a bit, nothing serious. It's just annoying if anything else."

Coraline nods, and Shippo says,

"Kilala and I can go with you, Freeman, 'cause besides Coraline and Besa, we're the only ones here with enough energy."

"(Mew)"

"Alrighty then. We'll be back in a bit, sis."

"Thanks, you three."

So with Freeman, Shippo and Kilala going to find more herbs, Coraline moves back into the hut, where Inuyasha laid on a bed of straw, bandages around his torso, left shoulder, and arm. Besa was sitting nearby on a mat between his, Freeman's and Coraline's satchels, as well as Hiraikotsu and the ShatterSoul Sword.

"Hey."

"Hey...Freeman, Shippo and Kilala are off to get more healing herbs, 'case you didn't hear...How's your head and elbow?"

Besa had a small gauze around his elbow from scabbing it on the floor thanks to his fall...

"Not bad. I didn't hit my head as hard as Freeman's hammer hit him...What about you? Are you okay?"

Coraline sits down beside her brother and replies,

"(Sigh) My mind's racing, and my muscles are still stiff as a board, but other than that, I'm coping."

"Hm..."

As the siblings let out matching quiet breaths of unease, Inuyasha stirs awake, his mind fixed on what was learned last night:

 _...Kikyō handed over the Shikon-no-Tama shard to Naraku...Kiky_ _ō who had died once...then rose again in that body made of clay.  
_

 _Kiky_ _ō who despises me, who tried to murder Coraline...  
_

 _Where are you, my, Kiky_ _ō?_

His thoughts would be temporarily interrupted by the following conversation between Coraline and Besa:

"Say, Cora?"

"Yeah?"

"...Now we're out of harm's way, I wanted to ask something that I'm sure everyone else is wondering: Why did you use ShatterSoul instead of drawing a Sacred Arrow to defeat Kanna's mirror? Wouldn't the other have been more effective?"

Coraline smiles sadly and replies,

"...Because I didn't think that with the condition I was in at the time, I would be able to draw a Sacred Arrow with ease...not without Kikyō's half of the Soul I possess."

"Huh?"

"You see, every time I use a Sacred Arrow, I can, feel Kikyō's half of Soul pulsing within me, forming a connection with my whole Soul...With that, the knowledge and spiritual skill that comes with drawing such a power is given to me, and that's how I can perform such an act with ease...I'm not saying I couldn't create a Sacred Arrow on my own strength, but, it would be extremely difficult seeing as I'm a self-taught novice of the bow and arrow."

"Hm..."

"Also...wielding the ShatterSoul sword just felt, more natural."

"More, natural?"

"Yeah. It felt more like me when I focused with my blade and thrusted an Aura attack at Kanna. I had the best confidence, that ShatterSoul wouldn't let me down."

Coraline's smile suddenly becomes more bitter:

"Besides...I don't think with my own Soul, I'll be able to make up a pure-enough energy to defeat demons like Kikyō can."

Besa furrows his brows in confusion:

"What? Why not?"

"Because even with what she's been doing as of late, compared to how I've lived until now...I'm less of a saint than Kikyō is."

"Uh...Coraline..."

She shakes her head, and adds,

"But whatever. That's just my thoughts...I could be wrong about most of it..."

Besa stares at the solemn redhead for a minute, before pulling her to his side, she leaning her head on his shoulder, both choosing not to say anything more...Unbeknownst to them, Inuyasha heard it all:

 _...Coraline..._


	49. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48: Tessaiga Breaks**

The sun shines through an overcast of white-gray clouds over the green hills of Edo, with our view taking us to yet another village nestled discreetly between the forest greenery...

Zooming in on one shrinehouse, we see several men of various warring experience (soldiers to farmers) being care for by Kikyō. Finishing up on one man's arm, she pivots her sitting body to reach for more medicinal herbs...only to feel a presence:

"Hm?"

Excusing herself, Kikyō walks into the forest to investigate, her face set in a suspicious glare...She stops on the path once she's moved in some ways, and calls out,

"Show yourself. I know that you've been following me."

...A dark chuckle resonates, and we see Naraku (dressed in his baboon fur cloak) fade into view within the darkness of the tree canopy:

"Kikyō. Inuyasha feels, bitter towards you. He lies close to death, and it is all thanks to my newly found power from the Shikon-no-Tama fragments you gave me."

He fades out with another laugh, while Kikyō stares with anger and disdain...

Scene Shift: The Abandoned Shack

At the same time the wandering priestess receives the taunting message from Naraku, our group is still recovering from the battle with the latter and his agents...

Inuyasha continues to lay on the straw pile, drifting through an uneasy sleep, remembering Naraku's words:

 _"Soon...Very soon, the jewel will be whole once again...Kikyō personally handed the Shikon-no-Tama shard over to me of her own free will."_

 _Why, Kikyō? By giving Naraku the Shikon-no-Tama, his evil powers have grown stronger._

 _What were you thinking? Kikyō, do you really hate me that much?_

 _...Kikyō...Kikyō..._

(Jolt)

"Uh! Ggh..."

Inuyasha awakens, grimacing from his injuries, just as Shippo and Besa return from outside:

"Inuyasha! Are you in pain?!"

"Inuyasha..."

Shippo moves by Inuyasha's head, and says,

"I guess that's to be expected: Tessaiga protected you, but you still took the full blunt of the Wind Scar."

"Yeah, and Sango's not really doing much better..."

Shippo and Inuyasha turn to see Besa directing his eyes at Sango's resting form with concern:

"She took a pretty hard hit from Hiraikotsu thanks to Kanna, and even though she's tried to shake it off as just a bad bruise, it's better if she does not move for a while."

Inuyasha finally speaks, his voice coming out a bit strained:

"...And Coraline?" Shippo answers,

"She went with Miroku and Freeman to search for medicinal herbs and food."

Besa then picks up on Sango whimpering in pain:

"...Sango?"

Kilala mews at her partner with concern, and Besa pats her head while chiding,

"Don't worry, girl. She'll be okay...(Turn) Shippo, can you go get some more water, please?"

"Sure."

Shippo heads outside, and grabs a bucket to scoop up some water some a small waterfall flowing by the shack:

"Both Inuyasha and Sango have broken arms, and two terrifying incarnations of Naraku are roaming about. (Sigh) I wonder how we're gonna get ourselves out of this one?"

...Unbeknownst to Shippo, a small group of the Shinidamachū emerge from the treetops...

As Besa leans back against the wall of the shack, he sees small circles of translucent light appear on the walls near the door:

"What, the..."

The Shinidamachū then float in, hovering over Inuyasha, causing Besa to scramble to his feet shouting,

"W-What the hell?! Inuyasha!"

"...Hm? Uh! Soul Collectors."

...Once their presence was made known by their intended target, the demons exit the shack, and begin flying back to where they came...Inuyasha grabs his Tessaiga, muttering,

"Kikyō must be somewhere close by," before pushing himself to stand up.

Kilala growls warily with her fur standing on end, while Besa quickly moves to the half-dog demon to steady him and try to reason with his mindset:

"Inuyasha, hold on: Your injuries are still great. Even if she is near, you shouldn't push yourself just for her sake."

"Rgh, sh-shut it. Just, stay out of my way, Besa..."

...Besa sees the stubborn determination in Inuyasha's amber eyes, and lets out a puff of air before saying,

"Alright, fine. If you're gonna be like this...at least let me be your crutch instead of your sword."

Meanwhile, two of the Shinidamachū ensnared Shippo, and were holding him up in the air:

"Hey, let go of me, you slithering demons!"

He then sees Inuyasha and Besa come out of the hut, the former being held up with an arm around the shoulders of the latter, and vice-versa:

"Inuyasha, Besa, watch out!"

Inuyasha urges forward, muttering,

"...Kikyō..."

Shippo protests with a glare:

"She'll kill you! Don't go, Inuyasha! Besa, stop him, don't _help_ him!"

Besa calls back over his shoulder,

"It's no use, Shippo: He won't be talked out of it! But I have my sickles with me; I won't let him get hurt, I promise!"

Shippo stares at the dark-skinned boy with shock:

"...Besa...(Nod) Okay. But be careful; if she does attacks him, get Inuyasha back here no matter what!"

"Got it!"

The little fox demon watches the pair go, mentally praying,

 _Please, Besa: Don't let Inuyasha be killed! Both of you, come back safe!_

Besa continues to move forward with Inuyasha, following the Shinidamachū away from the shack, and towards a hill with the ground turned up. As they slowly move down, Inuyasha thinks to himself,

 _...Kikyō. I have, to see you._

Meanwhile, Besa is thinking,

 _He's got a strong will, I'll give him that. Almost reminds me of Freeman when he's fighting a cold..._

 _But I have to be vigilant: God who knows what Kikyō has planned for Inuyasha._

 _I can't let him get hurt...or Coraline will never forgive me._

About halfway down, Inuyasha slips on some loose dirt:

"Gah!"

Luckily, Besa grasps him around his middle to steady him:

"I gotcha!"

...They move on again, and Inuyasha asks Besa,

"Why, are you doing this?"

"Because I'm your friend, and I've had my share of stubborn moments with my brother, so I know you're not gonna give up until you see to your goal...Now come on, let's take it a bit slower."

They make it down the rest of the hill without sliding, and when they reach the bottom, the Shinidamachū float up to a tree branch...before:

(Glow...)

Kikyō cancels her illusion spell that cloaked her, and turns to look down at the half-dog demon:

"...Inuyasha."

"...Kikyō."

"You're still alive, I see. I'm glad."

Inuyasha growls a bit, and the priestess turns her eyes to Besa:

"...And who might you be, young man?"

"...Besa. Don't mind me; I'm just acting as his crutch for the moment...(Frown) But I'll easily become a bodyguard if you plan on doing anything to hurt Inuyasha worse than he is."

Kikyō nods firmly, and Inuyasha speaks up again:

"Kikyō, tell me what's going on! Is it true that you gave Naraku all those shards of the Shikon-no-Tama that you stole from Coraline?"

"Yes, I did, to cast Naraku into oblivion."

Inuyasha forms a confused look, as does Besa:

"What's that suppose to mean? Naraku is already alot stronger than he used to be."

"Not to mention he now has the power to create incarnations of himself. Right now, he has Kagura of the Wind, and Kanna of the Void."

...Speaking of said wind sorceress, Kagura was skulking nearby from behind a tree:

"...Hm."

 _So then Inuyasha and that Kikyō woman know eachother..._

 _(Flash)_

 _"Kagura: Follow Kikyō and find out what she's up to. She cannot be trusted."_

 _(Flash)_

Kagura continues to spy, as Besa sets Inuyasha down on the ground per his request, before the latter asks,

"You want me dead...Isn't that the reason you gave Naraku the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama?"

Kikyō narrows her eyes from the accusation, and replies,

"...I would never allow someone such as Naraku to take your life. Take heed, Inuyasha: Naraku is our most bitter enemy."

Besa tilts his head in bewilderment at her words:

 _...Strange. Does that mean she's playing as a double agent, or, does she maybe not care for either side, if she is to meet her own goals?_

On the other hand, Kagura was becoming bored rather than enlightened:

 _...How dull, merely spying on these three._

 _Inuyasha is close to death: He hasn't even picked up on my scent, and that boy he brought with him is a weak protection._

She flips out her fan:

 _I shall kill both Kikyō and Inuyasha!_

It was then that the priestess picks up on Kagura's presence, and just as the latter unleashes her demonic wind:

(Swipe)

(Twok, zwing, TOK)

"Uh!"

Kagura was immediately stopped by a Sacred Arrow, that landed in the tree trunk just centimeters beside her head!

Kikyō readies another arrow, and Inuyasha and Besa look over to where she fired:

"Kagura!"

"Damn..."

Kikyō says to Kagura with a cold tone,

"...Your head will be next."

Seeing no alternative, the wind sorceress takes a feather from her hair, and makes her escape:

"Hah!"

(Whoosh)

...Kikyō mutters to herself,

"Hm...she escaped."

As Besa puts his sickles back into his belt holsters, the priestess says,

"Inuyasha, Naraku will only grow stronger and stronger."

"Huh?"

"(Turn) You mustn't allow him to kill you. Until I'm able to cast him and the Shikon-no-Tama from this world...your life belongs to me. No one else will have you."

With that message in the wind, Kikyō calls on her demon agents...before fading away from view.

"Huh?" "She's gone..."

 _...Kikyō._

Coraline's POV

When Miroku, Freeman and I returned to the shack with the herbs and three rabbits we caught for food, we found out that Inuyasha and Besa had left following the Soul Collecting demons that Kikyō travels with!

I called on Lumos to help us track down their Auras, and we're all now running behind him, as I ask,

"(Pant, pant) Shippo, are you one-hundred percent certain?"

Miroku asks further,

"Was it Kikyō's Soul Collectors that you saw?"

"I'm positive! And they lured Inuyasha away from the hut! Besa did go with him, but I'm worried..."

Freeman replies,

"Yeah, so am I: At least he was smart to remember his weapons and not let Inuyasha go alone..."

 _Inuyasha...please be alright. I don't care if you did meet with her, as long as you're still moving..._

As we come to the next hill...I see Inuyasha and Besa coming out of the foggy mist, the latter holding up the former!

 _Oh thank goodness, they're both okay!_

"Inuyasha!"

They both stop, and Besa eases Inuyasha to kneel on the ground, while Lumos circles them both, before I drop down in front of my injured friend:

"...Are you alright? (Glances up) Thank you for getting him back safe, bro."

"No prob."

I turn back to Inuyasha, who was looking away with a distant look in his amber eyes...I place a gentle hand on his shoulder, and ask softly,

"Inuyasha...did you see Kikyō?"

...He doesn't answer, and only grunts reluctantly while casting his eyes down from mine, just as Miroku, Shippo and Freeman come up:

"Besa, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I only went with him just to be sure he didn't strain himself, as well as protect him."

Freeman nods, clapping a hand on his shoulder:

"Good call...but next time, maybe leave a note or somethin'? I was worried."

I roll my eyes a bit at Freeman's halfhearted but relieved smile, before focusing back on Inuyasha:

"...Please, Inuyasha, I must know: Did, she say anything, that we don't already know had happened?"

He looks at me with surprise, before muttering,

"...No. She, did elaborate a bit on her reasoning."

"Oh?"

"...But I don't wanna talk about it."

"I...I understand." I look down sadly:

 _This must mean she really did hand over the shards willingly to Naraku..._

 _Oh,_ _ _Kikyō...why go so far down the dark road if it will only end more bitterly than it did years ago?  
__

Miroku then says seriously,

"So it's true then: She made a pact with Naraku."

Inuyasha immediately snapped on the defense:

"Never!"

We flinch back a bit, and Inuyasha adds more calmly,

"I can't say what Kikyō intends to do, but, I think that..."

"She might be acting as a double agent."

"Hm?"

We all turn to Besa in surprise, he folding his arms with a closed-eyed frown:

"I could see it in her eyes as she spoke: She doesn't want anything to do with Naraku anymore than her motives will allow. I believe she intends to use his new-found strength against him somehow, and Inuyasha is viewed as her main ally in this whole endeavor...She, said that until the jewel and Naraku are gone from the world...his life belongs to him. So it's fair to say that she wants Inuyasha to continue living, but only until her obstacles are destroyed."

 _...That, actually makes sense._

The others hm in thought, and Inuyasha looks at my brother in astonishment:

"...So, you don't think she's a traitor?"

"Not in the traditional sense, at least...But, Inuyasha: I would be careful if you decide to meet with her again in the future. While I did see her burning with hatred against Naraku...she's obviously holding onto her old anger towards you. I dunno what your, feelings are at this point, but all I ask is that you don't let them blind you from reality."

"Uuh...mm, right."

I smile at my wise brother:

 _...Besa..._

Miroku and Shippo then say respectively,

"It was still rather dangerous for you both to go out."

"Yeah, Inuyasha: You're still badly wounded, and Besa's not as skilled in combat as you!"

Inuyasha shakes his head and replies,

"Alright, I got it! (Turn) Besa...I'm, sorry I dragged you along for the walk."

"Don't be. I made the choice to be your crutch, and if I could do it over again...(Smile) I would."

Inuyasha looks at him in surprise, while Freeman wraps an arm around Besa with a sweatdrop:

"(Sigh) I think you might be too protective for your own good, bro..."

"Tch, you say that like you're not."

They both chuckle a bit, while I focus back on Inuyasha with a worried frown:

"...Inuyasha?"

"Hm? Yeah?"

...I lean forward and hug him, careful not to aggravate his injuries:

"Uh! C-Coraline?!"

My voice catches a touch as I say to him softly,

"Please, don't scare me like that again, okay? I...If you do wish to see Kikyō again in the future, just be in better physical shape first...I don't want you to hurt yourself, just to see her..."

I hear Inuyasha breathe in with surprise..before wrapping an arm around me:

"Keh, fine...If it'll keep you from getting sick with worry..."

I smile gently and whisper,

"Thank you...and, don't be afraid to talk to me about what you and she may or may not exchange. I can handle it...That's all I ask."

I feel him nod, and we part, before I stand up and extend a hand to him:

"Come on. Let's head back to the shack and see if Sango's awake so we can all eat. We managed to snare some rabbit to cook up."

...He reaches to take my hand, and replies as I lift him up,

"Rabbit, eh? How'd you catch 'em?"

"Heh, Freeman and I tag-teamed: He used his hammer to create some vibrations on the ground and spook 'em towards me, before I shot them with my arrow."

We all begin walking back, Inuyasha commenting,

"Huh...Almost wish I could've seen that."

"Well, you never know. The opportunity could come again."

Freeman adds with a goofy grin,

"Yeah! Maybe we might get lucky with something bigger next time, like a boar or a deer."

Besa lightly slaps Freeman's arm and scoffs jokingly,

"Ha, keep dreaming, brother! _You're_ more likely to get hunted by a deer or a boar before you hunt them!"

"Oi! Who's side are you on?"

We all laugh at Freeman and Besa's banter, and as we kept on our trek, I think to myself while side-glancing Inuyasha,

 _I want to help you both..._

 _You...and_ _ _Kikyō. I don't care if she hates me...I'll put any bitterness I have aside, if it means I can help her reach peace.  
__

 _ _Doing that...I hope it will bring you some peace too, Inuyasha.__

Time Skip, No POV  


As the afternoon rolls in, the sky clouding over, we turn our attention to the next village away from where Inuyasha and the others are, the mist rolling around the area...All seems normal...until:

(Stomp...Crash)

Something smashes a horse's stable, and the sound of the crumbling building and distressed whinnying from the steeds catch the attention of the villagers:

"Huh? What was that?"

"Something is in the horse chorale!"

"Uh, let's go!"

Two men rush to investigate, and we see that one horse was trapped under the splintered wood, while another was currently being eaten by what can only be assumed as a demon...

"Guh!" "Uh!"

The two men come across the scene, and we see a large figure with purple skin on all fours (the front appendages each carrying a jagged bone sticking outward), with white-gray hair flowing in a skinny mane from it's lizard-like horned head, and a long tail.

...It senses the men, and looks up with an animalistic growl while flashing its red eyes:

(Gleam)

"It's a demon!"

"Devouring the horses!"

The men retreat to warn everyone else, but then the demon bares its sharp teeth, before dashing after them, ripping them apart!

...It was then that Kagura appears by a tree, looking at the demon with disgust:

 _That demon is pathetic. Nothing more than brainless glutton!_

The demon turns to her with a chuckle...and replies,

"Sister...You were just thinking that I'm a brainless glutton, weren't you?"

 _...He's toying with me. This demon is able to read my mind!_

Back at the Shack 

(Sizzle...)

"(Humming...)" "(Humming...)"

Freeman and Besa were finishing up with cooking up the rabbit meat for everyone over a fire just outside the structure...Shippo comes out to check out their progress:

"Wow, looks good, guys!"

Freeman ruffles the fox demon's hair and replies,

"Thanks, kiddo. How's everyone inside?"

"Alright, I guess. Sango just woke up, and Miroku's beginning the next round of treatment on Inuyasha's wounds, as per Coraline's order."

Besa chuckles and says,

"You sure it was Cora's order and not Sango ordering through Cora?"

The three laugh, before the twins cut and divide the meat into portions for everyone, giving the first bit to Shippo:

"Here, you eat first. That way you're not fighting tooth and nail with Inuyasha."

"Thank you!"

Shippo gobbles down his share, while Freeman and Besa take the rest and move back inside, their earlier humming shifting into soft singing...As they move to sit down, Coraline looks up from her medical kit and quirks,

"That's, _Renegades_ by _X Ambassadors_ , isn't it?"

(Note: I do not own that music reference.)

Freeman hands a portion of the rabbit meat to Inuyasha and replies,

"You got it. We couldn't help but relate the lyrics to our current situation...I mean, that's what we've all become at this point, right? Renegades waiting for their chance to make their move again."

Coraline hms in thought, nodding solemnly:

"I guess so..."

She then turns to the demon slayer and asks,

"Anyway, Sango, you sure you're able to move?" She helps her sit up:

"I'll, try...rgh!"

Sango grimaces from her injuries and Shippo chides,

"Don't push yourself too hard..." Coraline asks,

"...Do you need more painkillers? I can grab out the Motrin if you need something stronger than the herbs."

"I'll be fine. It's too dangerous to stay here."

Besa moves over to them to give her and Coraline their shares of the rabbits:

"At least have something to eat."

Sango nods, and both girls take the meat as Miroku turns from dressing Inuyasha's wounds to say,

"Kagura is close, so we had better move on..."

Besa gives some rabbit to Kilala while replying,

"I agree. I also wrapped the rest of the cooked meat to take with us. We should have enough for today and tomorrow."

"Good."

Sango then asks after swallowing the rest of her share,

"Why don't you forget about me for a while and tend to Inuyasha's wounds, Coraline?"

"(...Nod) Alright. Besa, I leave Sango to you."

Besa salutes:

"Roger that."

Coraline then switches places with Miroku so that he could get some of the meat from Freeman:

"Here, Miroku. You haven't eaten yet."

"Thank you, Freeman. You and Besa roasted the meat rather well."

"Heh, thanks."

Coraline plasters a gauze patch onto Inuyasha's arm:

"Here. This'll help speed up the healing process on that cut...It looks like your wounds are finally starting to scab over."

"Keh, you expect anything less with my blood?"

Coraline smiles a bit from Inuyasha's boastful question:

"Of course not...but be careful you don't overdo it. There's a chance they could reopen."

"Right...Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Uh, me?"

"Yeah...You're, not feeling winded anymore, right?"

Coraline was taken aback by the question, but then replies with a faint smile,

"I appreciate the concern, but I'm good. It was mostly spiritual exhaustion..."

Inuyasha nods...Meanwhile, Miroku tries to persuade Sango into letting him check up on her:

"If you'd like, Sango, I could look at your injuries..."

Sango stares at him with a serious deadpan:

"...Keep your distance, monk. That smile on your face says you'll be doing more than needed."

Miroku makes a dejected noise, and Freeman claps his back while saying,

"Swing and a miss, my friend. Better luck next time..."

Coraline rolls her eyes as she finishes re-wrapping the bandages around Inuyasha's torso:

"There, that'll do it."

...Suddenly, Inuyasha's head snaps up:

"What, what is it?"

"...The scent of a dead man."

Everyone tenses up, and Sango asks,

"A dead man?"

Miroku is the first to move outside, with Freeman right behind him, and Inuyasha standing in the doorway with Coraline, peering at a man with no shirt who slowly approaches the vicinity, his breath wheezy and spacious:

"A demon has come. (Wheeze) It devoured the entire village!"

Besa holds up Sango as they exit the shack next, with Shippo and Kilala not far behind. Coraline asks,

"What sort of demon?"

"On its back, was the mark of the spider..."

Everyone instantly knew where the demon's origins laid, with Inuyasha and Miroku mentally quirking,

 _A spider?_

 _Another incarnation of Naraku._

"Please...h-help...uh!"

Once the message was sent, the man burned to ash!

(Collective gasp)

Freeman asks aloud,

"S-So, that guy's been dead this whole time?!" Miroku replies,

"Kagura must have been controlling his body with her Dance of the Dead. It has to be a trap."

Inuyasha agrees:

"Yeah. A trap set up to force me to face the third demon."

Coraline turns to him and asks,

"Please tell me you're not considering to go anyway! Your wounds are still too severe for any real combat!"

"...I don't have a choice."

Sango then says,

"She sent the dead man to us...which means that Kagura knows where were hiding."

Besa replies,

"In which case, trap or no trap, it isn't safe for us to stick around...but if she found us this quickly, I doubt we'll be able to get far."

Miroku nods:

"Yes. There will be no chance of fleeing."

Inuyasha states,

"I'll go after him. Huh, the demon was bound to attack us here sooner than later."

"...No. We'll go after him."

"Huh?"

Coraline looks at Inuyasha with a serious expression:

"I'm not going to stand by and watch when I know I can lend a hand."

"...Coraline..."

"She's got the right idea."

Inuyasha turns to Freeman, who says just as seriously,

"Strictly speaking, with the condition we're all in collectively, it's better we stick together."

Besa nods in agreement, as does Shippo, Sango, then Miroku...Inuyasha was taken aback, but then sighs and says,

"Alright. Let's do this."

Scene Shift: The Village near the Shack

As everyone decides to take on the demon, we find it still causing havoc in the village, his latest target being a chicken coop:

(Crash)

Kagura says to him with annoyance,

"It's just a few children. Let them go."

"Naraku commanded me to devour the entire village, so I will kill every last human, and every single cow, chicken, and horse."

"Hmph. Do as you wish. I can't bear your company any longer."

With that, Kagura walks away, leaving the demon to continue his search for the last survivors of the villagers...Zooming inside a barn, we see two young children (a boy and girl) huddling tightly together under some straw...

The boy looks down at his whimpering younger sister:

 _Don't cry, Yuki. The demon will never find us if we stay hidden under the hay._

(...Stomp, stomp)

(CRASH)

"Aaaah!"

Unfortunately, luck wasn't in the boy's favour, and the demon slams his fist onto the barn, before upturning the straw, revealing the hidden children!

Yuki utters,

"He found us..." The demon says to them,

"You thought you could escape me by hiding among some straw, didn't you?"

Yuki and her brother cry out in fear, as the demon mocks them further:

"And you cried out for your mama and papa to save you. They can't help you now, because I devoured them both. I speak the truth: Look inside my belly and see!"

The demon opens his jaw and charges at the frightened children...But before he could devour them both:

(SLASH)

Inuyasha comes to the rescue with his Tessaiga!

" _Iron Reaver...!_ "

He sends the demon back with his claws, before turning to the boy and Yuki:

"Get outta here!"

They heed his urging, and Yuki's older brother carries her off as fast as he can...Inuyasha then focuses back on the demon, just as everyone else comes on scene (Sango and Shippo were riding Kilala). Miroku would be the first to comment on the demon's appearance:

"Look at that!" Coraline mutters,

"The demon..."

"With a spider mark on it's back!" Freeman comments,

"Yeesh. He's definitely more monstrous-looking if anything else," with Besa replying,

"All the more reason to be on our guard," as they both ready their respected weapons...

Inuyasha approaches the demon and says,

"You must be Naraku's third incarnation."

"(Chuckle) You're thinking, 'I dodged the Tessaiga'. You were surprised at my speed despite my enormous size."

"Huh?"

 _He knows what I'm thinking!_

The demon chuckles again and says,

"Just as you suspect: I am able to read the minds of others, Inuyasha. My sisters Kagura and Kanna were merely the opening act...Now, Goshinki makes his debut!"

"Kuh, your big speech is over, demon! (Leap) Time to take you off the stage!"

(Boom)

...However, Goshinki proved to be too fast for Inuyasha, and the latter would only strike the dirt with his Tessaiga!

"Huh?"

"Hrrrrrah!"

Inuyasha rolled out of the way just in time to dodge Goshinki, who slammed his fists to the ground...As he pauses, Inuyasha grasps his chest and breathes a bit heavy, his injuries beginning to act up...

"I told you: I know every thought that crosses your mind...You seem to be suffering greatly: Tell me, could this be the end of you?"

Inuyasha stands up and replies with a grunt,

"Not very likely. I'm gettin' tired of you..."

(Leap)

"Hrrrrrraaaaaaaahhh!"

(Swing, miss)

"What?"

(Crash)

Once again, Inuyasha does not meet his mark...

(Dash)

Goshinki then sneaks up behind him:

"I can predict every move before you make it."

(Swing, slam)

"Gah!"

Inuyasha is knocked off his feet by Goshinki's clawed hand, and falls to the ground hard...Coraline calls out,

"Inuyasha!"

Miroku decides to step in and help:

"I'll go. He's still too weak to fight. (Rattle) _Wind Tun-_ "

"Stop!"

Miroku pauses at Sango's urging, and Besa points out,

"The Insects of Hell are here!"

Seeing the dreaded wasps buzzing around Goshinki, Miroku re-wraps his prayer beads, and the former chuckles before saying,

"You were thinking you would suck me into your Wind Tunnel, monk. You can't, 'cause you see, I know all of your weaknesses."

He then focuses on each other person here:

"Coraline...don't even consider shooting me with your arrow or even using one of your blades. I'll kill you before you draw either weapon. Sango, you are unable to battle. You still can't move since you were struck with your own weapon...As for you two, Freeman and Besa: You seem to be smart enough to know that neither of you will be fast enough to hit me with your hammer or sickles. You are not skilled enough for such a battle."

The twins cringe with glares, Freeman muttering,

"I'm startin' to get real tired of being pointed out for experience..."

Goshinki then looks at Shippo briefly, the latter sweating up intensely:

 _M-M-Me next..._

...He then turns his back to move on with his battle against Inuyasha, and Shippo becomes bristled with being brushed off, hopping onto Miroku's shoulder and shouting,

"Hey, you! How dare you try to ignore me like that!"

"Don't worry, Shippo, he's just toying with you."

"Huh?"

Freeman then comes over and adds,

"Miroku's right: He's just doing to you what he did to me and Besa just a few seconds ago. Best to let it slide off your shoulders and move on."

"Mmm...okay."

...Deep in the rolling mist, Inuyasha rises to his knees, before looking over to see,

"Huh? The children from the stables...I told you to escape: What are you doin' sti-"

He stops himself, when he sees what they each had in their hands...

"Oh...Those clothes...(Rise) Do they belong to your parents?"

"Uh-huh..."

Inuyasha hms with a grim glare, and turns his eyes to the approaching Goshinki...He moves protectively in front of the children, as Goshinki stops a couple feet away, reading Inuaysha's mind again:

"'Despicable. I'll kill this demon once and for all.' That's what you were thinking, correct, Inuyasha? Don't, make me, laugh...you are half-demon, are you not? You have demon blood coursing through your veins, yet you take pity on humans."

"Get off my back!"

A newly-formed anger gleams in Inuyasha's eyes, and he raises Tessaiga into the air:

"I'll slice you in half!"

...He then searches for the fissure in the demonic winds:

 _The technique that will bring the Tessaiga's ultimate power...The Wind Scar!_

"Inuyasha...you're trying to slice through the Wind Scar and blast me away, are you not?"

"If you can figure that out,"

(Leap)

"You know you're gonna die!"

...Suddenly, Goshinki charges his head through the fissure, cancelling the Wind Scar!

"The demon has destroyed the Wind Scar!"

But Sango's observation does not faze Inuyasha:

"Okay...then I'll just slice your head in half!"

...But that proved to be a great mistake:

(Swing, CHOMP)

Goshinki clamps his jaw right on the Tessaiga's blade!

"Your precious Tessaiga is nothing more than a dog fang now!"

(Crick...CRACK)

...THE TESSIAGA IS THEN _BROKEN IN HALF_ BY GOSHINKI'S TEETH!

Everyone, from Inuyasha to our bystanders froze in shock, before Coraline and Freeman shout respectively,

"No! The Tessaiga's been shattered!"

"Aw man, not good!"

Goshinki then spits out the piece of Tessaiga from his mouth, and comments,

"I suppose this proves a demon's fangs are stronger than the Tessaiga."

...But Inuyasha wasn't listening, his gaze fixed on the other end of his sword that was left in his hand:

 _He...he bit it in half! He destroyed my Tessaiga!_

And before he could focus back fast enough:

"Hrrrrraaaah!"

(SLICE)

"Aaaaaaaargh!"

"Inuyashaaaa!"

Coraline screams as Goshinki claws at Inuyasha, reopening the latter's wounds and creating new ones, blood spilling, before he lands face-down on the ground, his half of blade returning to its dormant form...

"Hehahaha, Inuyasha, it appears that your mind has now gone blank. Your sword is broken and so is your spirit... _or are you dead perhaps?_ "

Lumos pops out of Coraline's quiver, and zooms over to Inuyasha, hovering frantically over the half-dog demon...Coraline uses her Aura Sight, and saw into Inuyasha's Aura:

 _...No...his Aura is fading..I've got to get over there!_

"Inuyasha!"

Miroku stops her from getting far:

"No, stay back, Coraline!"

(Dash, slam)

"Gaaaah!"

Miroku is then backhanded away by Goshinki!

"No, Miroku!"

"And you, monk, you were prepared to draw me into your Wind Tunnel, even if it meant sacrificing your own pathetic life."

Sango and Shippo rush to help him:

"Miroku!"

"Please, say something..."

The twins turn to eachother, and nod, before running over to Coraline's sides:

"Sis!" "Cor!"

"Guys!"

"Don't rush to your death. Be assured I plan to devour each and every last one of you humans. (Chuckle) And you, _Coraline_ , shall be my first, along with your foolishly selfless brothers."

The twins hold their sister close, as Coraline prays while inching her hand to her combat knife, preparing herself to fight to her last breath with her brothers if she has to:

 _Inuyasha...Please, Inuyasha, wake up..._

"Foolish girl. Inuyasha is already-Uh!" Goshinki freezes...when he senses,

 _What's this? Inuyasha's heart: It's-_

Just as he turns around:

(Leap, SLASH)

"Yaaaaagh!"

His arm is cut off...by Inuyasha!

...

...

However, there was something seriously off about the half-dog demon:

"(Knuckle crack) Is there something wrong, Goshinki? I thought that you were able to read my mind..."

Miroku arouses awake, and sees his companion was alive:

"I-Inuyasha..."

But...Coraline could see the change:

 _...Something's wrong._

 _Inuyasha...his face has altered. I can, see facial markings where they weren't before..._

 _And, his eyes...they're red. Where are the amber irises I know?_

The twins felt their sister beginning to tremble:

"...Cora?" "What's wrong?"

"...Inuyasha...He's not himself. Look."

They peer over more closely, and quietly gasp, seeing the physical change on Inuyasha:

"Whoa..."

"What's, happened to him?"

It would be Goshinki who was the most confused:

"I don't understand. Why have you transformed?"

Getting a closer look, we see a purple stripe mark on each of Inuyasha's cheek bones, his injuries healed and non-existing, and his eyes were red with cat-like black irises...He replies with a darker tone than usual,

"Keh, how would I know that? You should be less concerned about me, and more concerned about Judgment Day."

Goshinki bares his teeth and says to himself,

 _What is this? His heart is completely different now._

 _He has none of the indecision or sadness or fear of before: I sense only anger, and a delight in the thought of killing me!_

(Dash)

"I will rip you apart with my fangs, you half-breed!"

(Leap)

"The demon blood that flows through my veins..."

"Silence!"

"Is unlike yours!"

"You half-demoooon!"

"I am in a class of my own!"

(SLASH)

...With just one swipe of his claws, Inuyasha completely tears Goshinki to pieces! As the head falls beside Inuyasha, he says with a dark grin,

"Goshinki...I enjoyed that."

Coraline stares at him with wide eyes, her heart beating with worry:

 _...Inuyasha...what's happened to you?_

Inuyasha looks down at his bloodied claws:

 _...I can feel the blood rushing through my body. Why do I feel this way?_

 _I feel the need to kill more..._

(...Step, step)

Coraline begins to slowly approach the confused dog demon:

"Inuyasha?"

He darts his head at her and growls, causing her to flinch a bit, as he says roughly,

"Rgh, stay away from me! I can't say what I'm going to do next..."

As Coraline tries to contemplate what to do, Shippo grasps Miroku's side and asks,

"What's going on? What's wrong with him?!"

"The demon in him...It's gotten stronger!" Sango adds after,

"Yes. He's almost like a full-blooded demon now."

...Despite the tenseness, Coraline chooses to not give up, and smiles sadly, while slowly walking towards her troubled friend:

"Inuyasha...it's okay. You've destroyed Goshinki. It's over now..."

"I said stay away!"

"No."

Shippo and Miroku try to call her back:

"Coraline!"

"Don't go near him! Coraline!"

Her brothers watch, knowing their sister would not be persuaded, and that she could help Inuyasha:

"...Be careful, sis."

"We know you can bring him back..."

Coraline was now within hugging distance of Inuyasha:

"...Inuyasha..."

He snarls, but only flinches from her...

"Coraline!"

"Be careful!"

The redhead stares at her friend, sadly saying to herself,

 _I can sense it: The inside of his soul is fighting light to dark...He's struggling..._

In one swift movement, she hugs him tight, before whispering,

"...Inuyasha, Sit."

(Gleam...Wham)

Both he and she go down, Coraline landing back-first from the impact!

"Grh!"

The others gape in shock from her action:

"Coraline!" "Wha-?!"

"She allowed herself to be taken down with Inuyasha!"

"Dang, that's a gutsy move!"

"Talk about a true blue friend..."

Coraline grimaces from the pain in her back and the weight on top:

 _Now I know, how he feels when the beads effect him...All the more reason I can't abuse them..._

 _I'll share the pain, if it means he'll be okay for another day._

Inuyasha's body shudders, before he snaps up (his facial features back to normal) and shouts,

"Will you stop doin' tha-Huh?"

He doesn't see Coraline staring downward from a few feet away as he expected...He then feels something shift under him, looks down, and his eyes go wide when he sees,

"C-Coraline...!"

"Hey. Glad, you're back..."

Shippo is in awe, and Sango mutters,

"He's back to normal..." Miroku comments,

"Incredible..."

Inuyasha lifts himself off of Coraline, still gaping at her, as she sits up and rubs her back while muttering,

"That's definitely gonna bruise..."

"...Coraline, why did you-what's going on?!"

She focuses on him, confused by his question:

"What do you mean? Inuyasha...do you not remember?"

"I...I dunno..."

She shakes her head, and hugs him anyway:

"I guess the important thing is that you're okay...That was scary..."

Inuyasha looks down at her, noticing she was shaking a little:

 _She's trembling...Coraline..._

...He puts an arm around her, and watches as Lumos hovers in a slow circle around them, his mind muddled and uncertain of what just occurred.


	50. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49: Kaijinbō's Evil Sword**

It has been a couple hours since the battle with Goshinki, and as night falls over the barren village, we see two figures rushing out of the fog: Rin (now wearing a new kimono of light orange and pale yellow in a checkered pattern with a brown belt) and Jaken.

They were heading over to where the flesh and head of the dead demon was, with Jaken muttering between pants,

"These old legs can't keep up..."

Once they stop, Rin cheers with a double fist-pump,

"I beat you!"

"Doh, you fool, we weren't in a race!"

Rin then focuses on Goshinki's remains:

"Look at that, Master Jaken: It's a slain demon, just as Lord Sesshomaru explained to us."

"Who on earth could've done this?"

"Inuyasha."

"Huh?"

The imp and young girl turn around, as Sesshomaru emerges from out the mist:

"O-Oh, Lord Sesshomaru!"

"Inuyasha did this, though I doubt he managed to escape unscathed."

Sesshomaru then picks up the head of Goshinki by the horn, causing Rin to scream. His focus, however, was on the scent he was picking up:

 _I can smell it on the demon's fangs: The scent of Tessaiga..._

 _...Hm, so I was right: These fangs broke the sword in half._

A plan begins to form in his mind, as Sesshomaru slings the demon head over his shoulder and begins walking away:

"Come with me."

Jaken asks while Rin screams dramatically,

"We're taking the head with us?"

Ignoring Jaken's question, Sesshomaru then says calmly to Rin,

"Enough of that, Rin. Stop it."

She obeys without any hesitation:

"Yes, my lord."

Sesshomaru goes into thought over what had caused the demon currently in his hand to die:

 _The scent in the wind tells me what transpired here, but one thing baffles me...The scent of Inuyasha's blood has changed._

 _...It is not the smell of half-demon._

 _Inuyasha's blood has the same scent as my own blood, and of our father's._

Time Skip

Come a new day, we zoom in on a riverside, as Shippo digs into some cooked fish on a stick, sitting between Coraline and Freeman as they, Sango, Miroku, Kilala and Besa huddle around a small fire...

The odd one out is Inuyasha, who's sitting closer to the river with his broken Tessaiga laying on a small blanket...

 _When Tessaiga was bit in two, I was certain I was gonna die. My entire body was suddenly filled with the desire to live._

 _Next thing I knew...I killed Goshinki._

 _That's when I felt something strange. Something I never felt before..._

He looks down at his hand:

 _Pure pleasure for killing Goshinki..._

"...Inuyasha?"

"Huh?"

He then turns to see Coraline offering him something to eat:

"(Smile) Grilled fish. This one's all yours."

"Yeah? Thank you."

Shippo was there too, holding his own, and waves it while saying,

"Oh, snap out of it, would you? Quit moping over your broken sword!"

Before Inuyasha could retort in some way, Freeman came over and scooped up Shippo:

"Whah! Freeman!"

"Come on, little dude. Don't kick a man while he's down. Let's go back by the fire, 'kay?"

And he walks back with the fox demon in his arms, as Coraline hands Inuyasha the fish while commenting,

"...Huh. Freeman's a good Shippo distractor."

Inuyasha bites into his fish and replies,

"Keh, well, he's definitely keeping the runt in line, I'll give 'im that."

...Suddenly:

(Rumble...)

The sky darkens...before a lightning bolt crashes onto the ground!

"Uh!" "What the-?!"

...The dust clears, revealing a very familiar three-eyed cow:

(Mmmmooooooooo...)

Everyone steps over to get a look, Miroku identifying the animal:

"The bull that belongs to Tōtōsai, the swordsmith that forged Tessaiga." Sango wonders,

"It came alone?"

(Hop)

"Master Inuyasha!"

It was then that Myoga the Flea comes out from the bull's fur, and jumps onto Inuyasha's nose, sucking some blood...

(Slap)

He's then hit by the palm of an irritated Inuyasha, and floats down into the hand, Coraline saying,

"Myoga? You found us!" Miroku then asks,

"It is him. You were hiding out at Master Tōtōsai's place this whole time?"

"How rude! Making me sound like a coward!"

Inuyasha comments with a deadpan,

"Well you did run away..."

Coraline sighs, as Freeman and Besa step over to get a closer look at the newcomer:

"Huh, so you're Myoga?"

"Wow, Cora told us about you, but I wasn't sure what to expect..."

Myoga turns to address the twins:

"Hm? Oh, new faces! Heheh, and Coraline has told you two about me? Good things, I hope..."

"Mhm. My name is Freeman, and this is my twin brother, Besa."

"Nice to meet you, sir."

"Likewise, young man." Myoga then turns back to Inuyasha:

"Now where was I? Oh yes: Tell me what happened to Tessaiga!"

He then glances over where the broken blade laid:

"Gah, what's that?!" Inuyasha explains:

"A demon called Goshinki bit it in half while fighting him."

Myoga thinks to himself,

 _Just as I suspected. That explains why the scent of Inuyasha's blood has changed..._

"My lord, please: You must take the pieces of the sword and go to Master Tōtōsai, Tessaiga's swordsmith!"

Inuyasha forms a confused look, but Coraline's face grew a hopeful smile:

"Are you saying that Tessaiga can be repaired?"

"Yes, yes! Now hurry, please, there's no time to lose! Mōmō the bull will take you to Master Tōtōsai's home!"

Inuyasha replies,

"Riiight..."

So with no hesitation, he gathers the Tessaiga's pieces and hops aboard Mōmō to seek out the swordsmith:

"Bye for now."

Time Skip, Coraline's POV

It's now nighttime, and we're all sitting around the fire as we finish informing Myoga of everything that's happened to us since we last connected...including what had happened to Inuyasha recently...

"My goodness, alot has happened to you all since we last chatted! To think, you traveled to Coraline's old village in her era..."

Freeman nods and replies to Myoga,

"Yeah, and if Besa and I hadn't taken that chance downtown, we probably wouldn't be here with everyone now. And sis has her own sword to learn how to handle."

I unsheathe ShatterSoul so Myoga can get a closer look:

"Here it is."

"Amazing...The craftsmanship is unlike anything I've seen before. I'm assuming this is how the humans of your origin country made them?"

"Mhm, or at least this is how Celts crafted a sword in the old days. I estimate that ShatterSoul was made sometime between the fourth and fifth century, during the Roman occupation of Britain, which would be about...I'd say roughly eleven or twelve centuries before now."

Shippo widens his eyes at the number and exclaims,

"Whoa! Does that mean your sword's older than Inuyasha's?!"

"There's a good chance. Anyway, it's not only used as a blade on its own, but by concentrating my Aura Energy to flow from myself into the sword, I can actually project an attack with my own Soul."

"Interesting...And this was how you killed this Bishop character, correct?"

I nod at Myoga:

"Yes...The attack left such a devastating impact on his body, that his Soul erupted out, and...I sliced it in two."

My eyes sharpen a bit from the memory:

"...A part of me is still, processing what I did. I had the scenario run through my head many times these last couple years on how, I would put Bishop to an end...but to do it in such a, destructive way...I don't regret killing him, of course. He needed to die, for not only causing my family pain, but the countless other victims he's dealt a wrong to...And yet, that moment, was when I felt so incredibly cold-blooded, I was worried I wasn't gonna recognize myself the next time I looked in the mirror."

Everyone looks at me in wonder from my words...I then add,

"I, saw that same look in Inuyasha's eyes in the aftermath of killing Goshinki: On the surface, it may have looked like he enjoyed it, but, there was a part of him questioning his judgement..."

Myoga hms, before asking me,

"And you were certain that Inuyasha went through this transformation?"

"Yes. Not only that, but, I could even see a change within his Aura...Tell us, Myoga, did this have to do with Tessaiga's shattering?"

"Yes, it does. As you are aware, Tessaiga was an heirloom that was left to Inuyasha by his father...The sword protects him from his enemies, but it has a second purpose: Keeping the demon inside locked up."

I widen my eyes, and Miroku and Besa ask,

"It keeps the demon locked inside Inuyasha?"

"What do you mean, sir?"

"Inuyasha's death is inevitable, once Tessaiga is broken...His strong desire to live, awakened the demon blood that flows through his veins..."

 _...Strong desire to live, awakening a monster...That sounds like, my night, with the wolves..._

 _And when I killed Bishop..._

Myoga continues:

"And even after Tessaiga is repaired, that demon part of Inuyasha, will be even harder to control, because now he has tasted the pleasure of brutally slaying a demon enemy."

 _...Could that mean, that the darkness of his Aura is beginning to brutalize on the light within him?_

 _...Oh, Inuyasha..._

I felt the bruise on my back act up, and I suck in some air through my teeth while rubbing my muscles a bit...

"Your back buggin' you again, Cor?"

I look up towards Freeman and reply,

"A bit, but not as bad as yesterday..."

"Mm...That was a real crazy thing to do, sis: Taking the bulk of the 'Sit' Command like you did."

Miroku nods in agreement:

"Yes. You could've seriously hurt yourself. It was lucky you wore enough layers of clothing, otherwise you may have ended up with worse than some bad bruising."

Myoga turns to look at me from my shoulder with surprise:

"You did what?! I don't remember that part of the tale...Coraline, why did you-"

"Because his Soul was in enough pain."

Everyone looks at me in confusion from my somewhat harsh statement, so I elaborate, my voice heavy:

"As I said already, I could see into his Aura as I approached him: Usually, it shines with a bright core, with essence spreading outward throughout the body from that center...But, yesterday...the darkness and light in his Aura, were clashing against one another, creating a pressure against the core, making it smaller and smaller..."

I shake a bit, and add in a softer tone,

"It, felt like I was watching a star die..."

Everyone's eyes dilate with concern at my form, Sango chiding my name...Lumos floats over and settles on my free shoulder, sending some soft moans to comfort me as I felt a few tears threatening to fall. I wiped them away, and continued:

"(Sniff) He was suffering spiritually, and I couldn't let him suffer physically too. I, I knew that I probably wasn't gonna be able to coax him with my voice alone...But, (Glare) I've come to hate using the Subjugation Beads on him. I know he has demon endurance, but that doesn't mean he can't feel some sort of pain when he drops to the ground face-down...I've, even been considering taking them off."

That caught everyone off-guard, and Shippo asks,

"Really?"

"Mhm. (Faint smile) But for now, I'll leave them alone. I know that in a twisted way, they've been keeping him in line...Still, I don't want to abuse their power. That's why you've all probably noticed that I've been trying ways to avoid using the 'S word' on him...Anyway, I knew that a jolt from the spell would help snap him out of it...but, I didn't want to hurt him. I know it was a dangerous idea, but it was the right one to me: I wanted to keep Inuyasha from feeling anymore pain, and if it means sharing the pain of those beads...I'd gladly do it over again. Plus, I think the experience has taught me a good lesson on how Inuyasha feels every time I do that to him, so I'm gonna work harder to find alternate ways of keeping him calm."

Everyone gapes at me in awe...

"Damn, Cor: You're amazing. A nutcase, but an amazing nutcase."

I laugh at Freeman's words, and Besa says to me with a serious look but small smile,

"Still, I'd avoid doing something like that again. Inuyasha's body may be able to take a punch from the beads, but I don't think your body can handle a second round."

"(Nod) Got it. I'll be smarter."

"Good...'cause while I applaud where your heart's coming from in your actions, you gotta remember your own health too. Need I remind you what happened during that guerilla raid at the docks?"

I cringe, as does Freeman, remembering the beating we took during our rescue mission with those other teens to save Rikona and some other children...

"What guerilla raid? What are you talking about, Besa?"

I look to see a confused expression spreading from Shippo all the way to Myoga, and I let out a puff of air before saying with a tired smile,

"Oh, that's right: I haven't told you guys the full story about what I did during my temporary eviction out of Edo in the aftermath of that battle with Sesshomaru. Well, bros, mind helping me tell our tale?"

They nod, and for the rest of the night, we tell that story, starting from them introducing me to Shuji, finding and returning his younger cousin Rikona, all the way to when we rescued her and how I was attacked for revenge by the same gangster leader...

Scene Shift: Tōtōsai's Cave, No POV  


As everyone at the camp settled down for the night, we turn to the active volcanic mountainside, where Tōtōsai was wailing over his prized work's pieces, tears falling to the heated floor:

"O-Only a simpleton would allow this to happen!"

Inuyasha is sitting near the swordsmith, looking at him with a scowl...

"What has this fool done to you, my precious Tessaiga?!"

"Yeah yeah...Now can you stop bawlin' and start fixin' my sword?"

Tōtōsai glares at Inuyasha and retorts heatedly albeit seriously,

"Listen, youngster: It's not quite that simple!"

"H-Huh?! You mean, you can't fix it?!"

The swordsmith picks up the half of Tessaiga with the hilt with a humph:

"I am a master swordsmith: I can repair it over the course of three days. But, I'll require something to bond it."

"Like what?"

...Tōtōsai picks up a pair of clamps and asks,

"Open your mouth, won't you, Inuyasha?"

"Hm? (Opens mouth) Ho's thas?"

(...Yank)

Inuyasha's scream howls through the mountainside, after Tōtōsai pries out one of his own fangs!

"Well, this fang will have to do..."

(Whack)

Inuyasha slaps Tōtōsai's head and asks angrily,

"What'd you do that for?!"

"Quit your whinin'! Your tooth will grow back in a mere half a day!"

"Good. You're gettin' to be a real pain in the neck, old man. You've got three days to bring me my repaired sword!"

"Hm? Why do I have just three days?"

Inuyasha replies in a strain to the swordsmith's senile demeanor,

"Because that's how long you said you'd need to fix it!"

...Tōtōsai clamps a fist on his open palm when his memory jolts:

"Aaah..."

Inuyasha then takes his leave out of the cave:

"Yeah. I'm countin' on ya, old man. Later."

"Goodbye. I promise not to let you down."

Meanwhile, in an Unknown Location...

We see Sesshomaru and Jaken (Rin was not with them due to the area being too dangerous for her) walking through a dark forest filled with barren trees, bubbling ooze-filled pools that contained random skeletal remains, their specific destination being a hut situated in the middle...

Inside, we see a man with tanned skin, bushy eyebrows and balding black hair, small horns on the top of his head, sharp teeth, and wearing a dark blue kimono with a necklace of skulls around his neck, slurping some sake from a bowl while laying on his side...

He then senses the presences of the travelers:

"Hm?"

The door flaps open, and Sesshomaru enters with Jaken close behind. The man asks,

"Who are you?"

"...You are Kaijinbō, I take it? The smith who forged too many deviant swords, and was banished by his master, Tōtōsai."

"Tōtōsai, you say? The sound of his name is still enough to make my blood boil."

(Thud)

Sesshomaru lightly tosses the head of Goshinki onto the ground in front of the swordsmith:

"How 'bout it, Kaijinbō? I would have you forge a sword for me, with the fangs of this demon."

Kaijinbō takes a closer look at the head, before glaring up at Sesshomaru:

"Don't take me for a fool. I cannot make a sword from something that is already dead."

Sesshomaru then unsheathes Tenseiga, and Kaijinbō backs a bit, while Jaken wonders,

 _Is Lord Sesshomaru willing to use Tenseiga, the Sword of Healing?_

...Sesshomaru casts his eyes down at the head, and the power of his sword grants him the second sight to see the imp demons of the dead:

 _I can see the messengers from the Netherworld._

(Slash)

He cuts down on the demons, and a few seconds later...

(...Gleam)

The eyes of the demon head glow red!

There's also a brief glow of spectral blue that lined the head, before disappearing as quickly as it came...Kaijinbō was impressed:

"The demon's head has come back to life!"

"Allow me to explain something, Kaijinbō: This sword, Tenseiga, was forged by the same master who banished you some time ago, and the fangs of the demon laid before you broke Tessaiga, a sword that was also forged by Tōtōsai."

That's all Kaijinbō needed to hear:

"Incredible. Yes, these fangs will form a powerful sword..."

Time Skip, Inuyasha Camp

About two days pass, and Inuyasha has been waiting with everyone else for Tōtōsai to come by with the hopefully repaired Tessaiga. In the meantime, Coraline and her brothers have spent their time doing some training with their weapons, as well as improve their skills at hand-to-hand combat by practicing drills from their martial classes back in Tokyo...

Now, as the stars come out for another clear night in Edo, Coraline (wearing a black tank-top, blue jeans and her combat boots, her hair tied back in a low ponytail with a blue scrunchie) was gathering some more water in her canteen with Shippo:

"You and your brothers were on fire today, Coraline!"

"Haha, thanks, Shippo. I definitely felt the burn during our hand-to-hand combat: Freeman almost kicked my arse a few times..."

The two laugh, and Coraline lets out a puff of air before remarking,

"To think it's been two days since Inuyasha came back from Tōtōsai's. From what I understand, Tessaiga should be fixed by tomorrow."

"(Sigh) This couldn't have happened at a worse time. It's gonna be a looong night..."

And why would Shippo make such a characterization? Well, not only would this be a cloudless, star-filled night, but it was also the night of the full moon...Which means that sitting by the fireside tonight, would be a black-haired, human Inuyasha:

"Damn him. I wish Tōtōsai would hurry up and bring me the sword..."

Sango was staring at Inuyasha's form with bewilderment:

"My. He looks like an ordinary human now..."

Miroku smiles at Sango and replies,

"I guess you didn't know this about Inuyasha: I heard this happens to him, but this is the first time I'm actually seeing it myself..."

He then gets up and walks behind Inuyasha for an explanation:

"You see, half-demons like Inuyasha lose their powers on one given night and are rendered mortals..."

He then stretches Inuyasha's mouth open:

"Look here: No fangs, as you see. Very interesting, wouldn't you agree?"

Inuyasha shakes Miroku off and barks,

"Could you get your kicks somewhere _other_ than in my face?!"

"My apologies."

Inuyasha huffs and turns his head away, and Miroku adds,

"If he were to be attacked on such a night, his life would be in danger. So nights when Inuyasha loses his powers must be kept strictly secret."

Freeman and Besa (the first wearing a black muscle tank-top with gray cargo pants and high-tops, while the second wore a green t-shirt with black cargo pants and high-tops), who were also sitting by the fire and listening intently, nod firmly before saying,

"Our lips are sealed."

Inuyasha then turns to Miroku and asks with a suspicious tone,

"And how is it that you know, Miroku?"

He then looks over...and sees Shippo peeking out from behind a boulder upon returning with Coraline from the river with a guilty look on his face...

"Shippo, it was you!"

Inuyasha then pins the fox demon to the ground by his head:

"Let, go, that, hurts!"

"You blabbermouth! I should'a known that you'd go around telling everyone!"

"I didn't, mean to do any harm!"

"That should go without saying, isn't it?"

He finally stands up, letting Shippo go, and curses to himself:

"Damn, this is great. Every time I turn around, more people know about my little secret."

"So?"

"Hm?"

He looks to his right and sees Coraline with the full canteen in her hand, flashing a small smile:

"At least the people who do know are good people you can trust, friends you can count on."

"...Hmph."

Inuyasha decides to head away from the fire for a while, and settles at a hillside with wildflowers growing in moonlight, and do some hard thinking:

 _When I turn mortal like this, I'm overcome by strong human emotions._

 _It'll be good riddance to those feelings once I become a full-fledged demon..._

(...Step, step)

"Inuyasha?"

He turns to see Coraline approaching with two small bottles of soda...

 _Then again, if I do become a full demon, how will I react to Coraline and the others?_

"(Extends hand) Here. It's your favourite flavour too."

She and him were then sitting beside one another, and after a few minutes, she asks casually,

"You sure you wanna be wanderin' far from camp tonight?"

"Kuh, spare me. Everybody needs a little time to think, and I'm no exception..."

He then turns to see Coraline looking at him with a small frown:

"...What's with you?"

"Inuyasha...are you, still intending to become a full-fledged demon? I mean, I still stand by your decision when the time comes, but...(Sigh) I, got scared by what was happening to you the other day..."

Inuyasha replies with a scowl,

"You should've been scared of the demon! If I hadn't transformed like I did, you all would've been slaughtered by Goshinki!"

"...That's, not what I mean. It wasn't your physical changes, or how dangerous the situation was..."

Inuyasha wonders to himself, noting the fear in her eyes,

 _...Did I really look that terrifying?_

"It's just...from what I saw, in both sides of my vision, it looked like you were being pulled away from me...Like, you were forgetting who I was, and who you were..."

Inuyasha stares at Coraline, as his mind wanders to what he felt during his transformation:

 _When I transformed the other day, my heart was..._

He tries to brush it off:

"Come on. Don't be so stupid. I'm still the same guy no matter what happens to me. I wouldn't forget about you, Miroku, or the others..."

...Coraline half-smiles and nods a bit:

 _I sure hope so...Please, Inuyasha, hold onto us in your heart, as tightly as you can..._

"...So, how's that bruise on your back?"

"Hm?"

She snaps out of her thoughts to Inuyasha's asking, seeing the hidden concern in his brown eyes:

"Oh, um...(Smile) I'm doin' alright. It just acts up a bit if I stretch too hard...Heh, although with what my bros and I have been doin' these past two days, it can't be helped if I'm gonna end up with sore muscles."

"Right, you guys have been training your fighting skills...Why did you do that, Coraline? Why did you go down with me on that 'Sit Command'?"

Coraline looks down for a minute...before replying in a soft tone,

"Two reasons mainly: One, you were under enough stress with your transformation, and I didn't want you to feel anymore pain, so I decided to share the bulk of the impact this time...and Second, (Bitter smile) I've come to hate the power of the Subjugation Beads, and I've been trying to come up with alternate methods to avoid using the 'S Word'...I guess, this time was just a bit more physical."

Inuyasha looks at Coraline with wonder:

 _She, didn't want me to feel more pain? And she hates the beads?_

 _...Coraline..._

"...Damn it, woman. I'm suppose to be protecting you from pain, not the other way around."

Coraline counters,

"Why does it have to be the one way? Why can't we both protect eachother?"

"Because...because...well, um..."

Coraline smirks a bit at Inuyasha's response:

"Havin' trouble forming a sentence there, hotshot?"

"...Shut up."

She laughs a little, before saying quietly,

"...But seriously, I have come to despise those beads on your neck, Inuyasha. They might've been, a good precaution in the beginning of our adventure with how, rocky, our relationship was...but now...I dunno..."

Coraline turns to face him with a sad expression, but with a hidden anger directed at the necklace:

"Maybe, I should take those things off..."

"Uh..."

Just as she reaches to remove the beads:

(Grasp)

"Stop."

"Huh?"

Inuyasha gently takes her approaching hands into his, preventing her from her plans...Coraline looks at him in confusion:

"...Inuyasha?"

"You...don't have to do that...They, can stay on, for now."

"...Why would y-"

"It's been a while since you actually said the incantation, and...(Sigh) I guess in some respects, these damn beads have been keeping me somewhat grounded and from doing anything too crazy..."

He then looks up at her with seriousness shining in his brown irises:

"But you on the other hand, have been goin' a bit far in avoiding using the 'S Word'. Coraline, while I appreciate the care in these, alternate methods, you could really hurt yourself one day, and that would be more painful for me to watch than the change of view when I drop from the force of the incantation."

"...Inuyasha, I..." He lets her hands go and lets out a puff of air before saying,

"Coraline. Just, promise me that you won't do that again, okay? You got lucky walking off with just a bad bruise, but who knows what could happen next time..."

Coraline was taken aback by how serious and worried Inuyasha sounded...before smiling and nodding:

"I promise. Not again."

"Good."

Both bodies turn to look up at the stars, and Coraline's hand reaches to lay on top of Inuyasha's, as they settle into a more comfortable silence...

Jaken's POV

I come back on my lord's behalf to retrieve the sword of the demon head that was promised to him:

"Kaijinbō! Three days have passed!"

I begin entering the home:

"Have you completed the sword forged from the demon's fangs?"

...Next thing I knew:

(SLICE)

No POV

Jaken's body falls into two halves, as Kaijinbō replies a bit darker than usual,

" _Yes..._ "

We see that the blade forged (double-edged straight with a wide tip and narrow base, and a yellow cross guard with a yellow round pommel tied with red thread) had a red glow abound, and the swordsmith's eyes gleaming similarly:

" _This is a magnificent demon sword..._ "

...After a while, Sesshomaru comes by to find out why Jaken had not returned to him...only to find the latter's body inside the swordsmith's home:

"...This must be the work of Kaijinbō."

He then unsheathes his Tenseiga, narrowing his eyes at the sight of the imps clinging to Jaken's body...before:

(SLASH)

Once swipe of the sword destroys the messengers of the dead...and Jaken's eyes blink back to life!

"Uuh...I'm alive. But, how can that be? Wasn't I drawn in half?"

He looks over his shoulder, and sees the lower half of his body not attached to him:

"I-I-I knew it...!"

"...Let's go, Jaken."

"Guh?"

"Pull yourself together quickly."

As Sesshomaru sheathes Tenseiga, Jaken asks,

"M-My lord, is it possible that you revived me with your Tenseiga?"

"Who other is capable of bringing back someone from the dead?"

Jaken's eyes shine with happiness as he replies,

"N-No one, my lord."

"Has Kaijinbō completer my sword?"

"Yes, my Lord Sesshomaru. He has forged a sword from the fangs of the slain demon...But I must add that his eyes have become most fearful, as if, as if he had been possessed by the sword itself..."

"...Hm, interesting."

Back at the Inuyasha Gang's Camp

While Coraline, Shippo, Sango and Kilala have settled into sleep in their respected pairs, Inuyasha, Miroku and the twins were still awake...

"Inuyasha."

Said half-demon turns to Miroku who adds,

"Perhaps you should get some sleep."

"Miroku...Aw, come off it: Leave me alone, I've never once gone to sleep when I've transformed into a mortal."

Besa raises an eyebrow:

"Really? That doesn't sound very healthy for your sleep cycle..."

Freeman waves his hand at his brother:

"Oh, leave the man be. It's just one night, Besa. It's not like he goes long periods without sleeping like soldiers in the trenches during the war."

"I guess so..."

Miroku then asks Inuyasha teasingly,

"Too sacred to go to sleep~?"

Inuyasha makes a face, before smirking a bit back at Miroku while replying,

"Right, I'm scared. So what?"

"As long as you're being honest..."

"...We can relate to the feeling."

"Hm?"

Inuyasha and Miroku turn to Freeman and Besa, occupying small smiles of bitterness as they spoke:

"Nighttime vulnerability is something we still combat, even now that we're living in Tokyo."

"The neighbourhood we occupy isn't one of the safest places to live: Lots of gangster traffic and, there was even a murder or two near our apartment during our first two years..."

Inuyasha widens his eyes a bit, as does Miroku:

"And you two are still living in an area like that?"

"Have you considered finding another place to live?"

Freeman and Besa reply,

"That's just it: Housing isn't cheap in Japan anymore, especially for two teenagers trying to make it on our own."

"We were lucky enough to get the apartment room for a decent price that didn't run our money dry, thanks our friend Shuji...I'll admit, sometimes I wish we lived somewhere like Cora's nieghbourhood where the people aren't so hostile, but that's just the way the ball bounced for us."

The twins then shiver a bit as they thought back to before they came to Tokyo:

"It's no more different than where we used to live: People made questionable life choices, like smuggling illegal substances or going into scam artistry, and it sometimes rebounded on them and others, making the area unsafe to walk through without using the buddy system, especially after the sun goes down...At least now we only have to worry about strangers and not, angry family members."

Freeman's frown became a bit pained:

"...To this day, I still can't sleep without knowing Besa's next to me thanks to, our old man combing into my room when I was little and beating the crap out of me for, reasons that can't be rationalized by any decent person..."

"Mostly 'cause of you liking men and not women, right?"

Freeman nods at Inuyasha, and both the latter and Miroku look at the twins with surprise...Besa wraps an around Freeman in a brotherly fashion with a faint smile and muses,

"But nighttime vulnerability isn't as bad when you got good people with you. Makes you feel like, you got a safety bubble that won't pop until morning..."

Inuyasha hms, then sits back and says with a more serious look,

"I think I get what you mean...But still: A lot of enemies are after me. If any of them attacked me when I'm human like this, I don't stand a chance in Hell."

Miroku replies,

"There might just be a lesson to learn from all this..."

...It was then that he and Inuyasha pick up on something in the atmosphere, and Kilala emits a growl, before Sango blinks awake:

"Miroku? Something in the air..."

Miroku nods, and Sango sits up:

"An evil Aura..."

Coraline snaps awake, and darts her head up, her eyes aglow as Lumos pops out of her satchel, blinking red in warning:

"...Dangerous energy. I sense, vengeance, resentment...and a lust for blood."

...There then came a series of slashes throughout the trees, and just as Miroku and Inuyasha rush upfront to the action...Kaijinbō appears, his body surrounded by a blinding red light for a split second, before it fades away, leaving a shallow crater...

"Which one is Inuyasha?"

Everyone was on the defense by this point, and Inuyasha asks back,

"Why? Who wants to know?"

"(Chuckle) My name is Kaijinbō. I'm a swordsmith."

"A swordsmith?"

"I forged this sword, the Tokijin, and now it cries for the taste of blood from Inuyasha."

Inuyasha glares at Kaijinbō and asks himself,

 _Why has this smith come after me?_

...It was then that the sword throbs a ring of the red light, to which Coraline and her brothers noticed:

"...Did you see that?"

"Yeah, the sword throbbed..."

"It's like, the sword has life..."

Kaijinbō directs the blade's point towards Inuyasha:

"So _you_ are Inuyasha. The sword has told me so. How disappointing: I was expecting a demon, yet instead I'm faced with a mere mortal."

Miroku asks,

"Inuyasha, have you ever wronged this swordsmith that you know of?"

"No."

"(Turn) You heard the man."

"(Chuckle) As I have said, it is the sword that thirsts for his blood. Tokijin was forged from the fangs of the demon that broke your Tessaiga, the sword that was created by old Tōtōsai."

Inuyasha's eyes widen:

"He used Goshinki's fangs? The same monster that bit my sword in half?"

Coraline then says,

"This explains why I sensed that strong resentment and vengeance in the demon Aura...And why it felt so familiar..."

Sango adds to Inuyasha,

"That means that the sword is filled with Goshinki's hatred of you."

"Huh, I've heard all that I need to. Prepare yourself, Kaijinbō!"

Inuyasha begins running in a charge towards the smith:

"I'll hack you to pieces!"

But he's stopped by the head of Miroku's staff, who would reply after Sango,

"Escape while you can, Inuyasha."

"Sango and I will take care of this demon."

As slayer and monk charge to attack, Coraline, Shippo and the twins come over to Inuyasha:

"You don't stand a chance right now!"

"Inuyasha, please, don't charge into a battle that'll get you killed."

"They're right, man." "Just stay back."

Inuyasha curses, but does as they urge, as Sango makes the first move:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...)

Though it does hit the blade, it does not knock it out of Kaijinbō's hand:

"Ah. Pity about your poor aim."

(Spin...)

Just as Hiraikotsu comes back on the rebound...

"Hrah!"

(Raise, TOK)

Tokijin cuts it right down the middle! Sango was stunned, and Coraline mutters in surprise,

"Sango's weapon...!"

Kaijinbō chuckles and jeers in a mocking tone,

"You fool..."

It would be Miroku's turn:

"I'll admit your sword is formidable, which is why I'll have to resort, to this!"

(Toss)

Miroku then sends out a sutra, which plasters to Kaijinbō's head, stunning him, just as the former leaps forward with his staff:

"Farewell!"

(Whack)

His hit is true, and the sutra's power leaves a devastating head injury:

(...Thud)

Shippo and Freeman cheer,

"He did it!" "Way to go, Miroku!"

Coraline says with an impressed smile,

"Hm, his sutra work's definitely better than Grandfather's. I never expected his spiritual powers to be that great."

...Unfortunately, the battle wasn't through yet:

(...Pulse)

Tokijin throbs...and the hand wielding it twitches, before the rest of the body follows, to which Inuyasha would warn about:

"Behind you, Miroku!"

Miroku whirls back around, just as Kaijinbō rises to his feet, sword at the ready:

"Raaaaaarhhhh!"

(Swing)

Luckily, Miroku was faster, and dodges the slash attack, retreating back a couple feet. Kaijinbō speaks:

"(Laugh) Tokijin is invincible! No enemy can match it!"

Inuyasha focuses on the pulsing sword:

 _My enemy isn't Kaijinbō: It's the sword!  
_

As the sky begins to lighten, the night wearing thin, Kaijinbō laughs again and boasts,

"Playtime is over!"

Shippo exclaims,

"He's acting as if nothing happened even though his head has split open!"

Coraline realizes,

"...Because Tokijin is in control: It harbours the remaining Aura Essence of Goshinki, and that Aura is screaming for retribution!"

"Come for me, Inuyasha! Or are you completely paralyzed by fear? Will you run and hide like a child?"

Inuyasha growls, and Shippo and Besa urge,

"Inuyasha, don't let him lure you into battle."

"Kaijinbō's not in his right mind: That blade has obviously taken away his senses."

"Well, I'm not gonna fall for any tricks like that. But the thing is, I'm the only one he's come after..."

Inuyasha then removes Shippo from his shoulder, and hands him to Besa with a small shove, before charging forward:

"And I'm not gonna run and hide!" Coraline tries to call him back:

"Inuyasha, wait!" Shippo mutters from Besa's arms,

"Why does he have to always be so stubborn?"

...Suddenly:

(Crash)

There came a bolt of lightning that hits the ground between Inuyasha and Kaijinbō, revealed as Tōtōsai riding on Mōmō:

(Mmmmooooooooo...)

Sango and Miroku address him:

"Tōtōsai..."

"Have you repaired the Tessaiga?"

"I should've known you would have somethin' to do with all this commotion..."

Inuyasha hops on top of Mōmō to get his sword:

"You're late, or maybe you haven't noticed. (Grab) Thank, you."

(Leap)

But just as he readies to draw, Myoga hops onto Inuyasha's shoulder and says,

"Master, don't do it!"

"What?"

"The sword will not transform for you when you're in your human form without your demonic powers!"

Meanwhile, Tōtōsai turns to speak with his former pupil:

"It's been a long time since we met, Kaijinbō."

"I took you for dead, Tōtōsai."

"(Glare) You've been busy crafting another wicked sword, haven't you, Kaijinbō?"

"(Chuckle) Tōtōsai, I shall prove to you without a doubt which one of us is the better swordsmith."

Miroku asks,

"Tōtōsai, tell me: Are you familiar with this Kaijinbō person?"

"Yes. He was once my disciple. I managed him a long time ago. He was most unorthodox: He killed ten innocent children for his sword. What a retched beast. He covered the blade in human blood and oil in order make it seethe with hatred."

Kaijinbō points Tokijin towards their direction:

"Draw your sword, Inuyasha! I shall crush Tōtōsai's creation before his very eyes!"

Inuyasha unsheathes Tessaiga:

"Huh, I won't waste any time doin' you and that sword of yours in."

(Leap)

Everyone else comes over to where Tōtōsai and Miroku were, and Shippo says,

"Master Tōtōsai: I hope that you've made Tessaiga even stronger than it was before..."

"Perhaps a little."

Coraline and Sango urgently reply,

"A little might not be enough!"

"Kajinbō's sword, Tokijin, is full of hatred forged from the fang that broke the Tessaiga."

Tōtōsai turns to focus on the battle, as Inuyasha comes swinging at Kaijinbō with Tessaiga:

"Hrrraaaaahhhhh!"

(Clang)

The blades meet, and energy sparks from the impact, before Inuyasha is thrown back from the power:

"Aaaah!"

(Thud, slide)

"Inuyasha!"

He manages to rise to his feet somewhat, using Tessaiga to steady himself, as Kaijinbō charges at him:

"I may as well put an end to you! Hrrrah!"

(Clang)

Inuyasha blocks the Tokijin, and there's a struggle of opposing strengths, before Inuyasha shoves Kaijinbō back!

They swing their sword points at one another, before Kaijinbō hops back a few feet. Inuyasha then comments,

"Well that's a relief, Tessaiga. You seem even more powerful than before..."

Shippo exclaims,

"It didn't break!" Tōtōsai replies,

"Nope. Didn't expect it would."

But Coraline notes,

"Still, even with Tessaiga's new endurance, Inuyasha can't wield his blade properly while he's in his human form."

Besa replies,

"That might not be a problem for much longer. (Point) Look at the sky."

Coraline, Shippo and Freeman do, and softly gasp, seeing that morning was almost here:

"The sun...!"

"It's going to rise!"

"Inuyasha still has a chance...!"

Meanwhile, Kaijinbo laughs mockingly and says to Inuyasha,

"Your body will give in long before your sword does." The latter retorts,

"Sorry to disappoint you, Kaijinbō. That sword of yours may be pretty strong, but you're not nearly skilled enough to wield it."

...The sky lights up even more, and a mysterious wind passes through Inuyasha's black hair:

"You should've killed me while you had the chance..."

His nails then extend back into claws, and his hair shifts from black to silver-white:

"Before I became a demon again."

Shippo and Freeman say with smiles,

"He's transforming back!"

"The sun's finally shining!"

Now that he was back in his demon form, Inuyasha readies for round two:

"I'm gonna test out Tessaiga's new blade, and you're first!"

He calls on the sword's power to transform into a fang again...but suddenly:

(Sway)

(Tang)

Inuyasha's arm tips downward with the weight of the sword, causing it to hit the ground. He turns his head back and asks,

"Hey, Tōtōsai, what the hell did you do to my sword, ya old conger?"

Coraline tilts her head in confusion:

 _Huh, that's strange. Inuyasha's usually able to hold the blade upright no problem..._

"Answer me, old man! What did you do to my sword?!"

Tōtōsai scratches his head and asks back,

"Hm, what, are you havin' some kind of problem?"

"Incase you hadn't noticed, why is this thing so heavy?!"

"Oooh. It must have something to do with that fang of yours I used. Pay it no mind."

Kaijinbo chuckles and comments,

"No good having a sword you can't even hold. I'll slice you in half, Inuyasha!"

He then begins charging blade-first at the struggling dog-demon, and Tōtōsai calls,

"Ya might wanna raise your sword!"

Coraline retorts,

"Well, duh, but that's easier said than done!"

Inuyasha mutters in a strain,

"Damn that old man," and manages to pull the sword over his shoulder, before charging at Kaijinbō:

"Aaaaarrrrgghhh!"

And the blades meet, beginning the next round...


	51. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50: Sesshomaru Wields Tokijin**

Picking back up on the action, we find Inuyasha and Kaijinbō clashing blade to blade, neither side giving an inch, much to the shock of our bystanders, with Miroku and Freeman exclaiming,

"It's a draw!"

"How's that even possible?!"

Once the sparks of power die down, Inuyasha shoves Tokijin back, before leaping away from Kaijinbō's next swing...

(Tang)

The weight of Tessaiga overcomes his arm, and as he grips the hilt with both blades, he stubbornly says to himself,

 _I'm not gonna stand for any draw. Tokijin is strong alright, but Kajinbō doesn't know how to handle it._

 _I could've done 'im in already if Tessaiga didn't weigh so much...What the hell was Tōtōsai thinking, making it so bloody heavy..._

"Pathetic. You don't even have the strength to wield your own sword, hehahaha..."

Inuyasha curses, as Kaijinbō calls,

"Prepare yourself! This time you'll meet your maker!"

"Not if I can help it!"

(CLANG)

Both swords meet in a contest of strength again, and as they continued to push against one another, Kaijinbō calls out from the battlefield in a jeer,

"Pathetic, Tōtōsai! I would've expected much better from your-"

But before he could finish:

(SHRED)

...His body tears into pieces, leaving the sword to land in the ground a couple feet away!

Miroku remarks in awe,

"Incredible..." Tōtōsai comments,

"Yes. The sword held up, but Kaijinbō himself was unable to withstand its power. The very sword he forged overpowered him. (Glare) The retched fool deserved it."

Inuyasha takes in some deep breaths, having used a good deal of his own strength just to swing his sword, as Tessaiga transforms back into its dormant form...He then leaps and rushes back to the group to call Tōtōsai out on his work on the blade:

"Tōtōsai, I wanna talk to you."

"Somethin' about the sword you don't care for?"

Inuyasha lightly taps the swordsmith's head with the flat side of Tessaiga while asking,

"How in the hell do you think I can carry around such a heavy sword? One thrust and I need to stop and rest!"

"Do you wish to know how to handle the heavy Tessaiga?"

Coraline tilts her head in confusion, and Inuyasha asks,

"You mean there's a way to do it?"

"And it's simple..."

The smith and sword wielder stare at one another for a minute...before the latter claps a hand on the former with a fake smile and asks,

"You aren't gonna tell me the answer is in building up my own strength, are ya?"

"Uh..."

(Bonk)

"I should'a known!"

Coraline facepalms and mutters,

"The old timer really needs to think before he speaks..."

Shippo nods in agreement...The focus then turns to Tokijin, which was still emitting that dangerous red glow. Miroku comments as he (with Shippo on his shoulder), Inuyasha and Tōtōsai approach for a closer look,

"Strange how the Evil Aura around the sword still hasn't dissipated..." Tōtōsai agrees:

"Indeed..."

He walks closer to the sword, only to flinch back from the power:

"Auh, the Evil Aura won't allow me to extract it! Who could've commissioned Kaijinbō to forge such a sword?"

Miroku decides on a course of action:

"We'll have to construct a barrier around Tokijin to contain the Evil Aura, otherwise, we won't be able to control its evil."

Shippo asks,

"Miroku, can't you put some kind of sacred spell on it?"

"The Aura is too strong. I'm not sure of any of my spells will be able to seal it completely."

"What about your idea to create a barrier then?"

"Easier said than done: We'll need to hire men to build it, and that requires money, which we're sadly lacking."

"Then make some money with your fake fortune-telling."

"I make an honest living, I'll have you know!" Shippo counters,

"Your living as a monk is to help others, so how about helping us?!"

"Point taken. If I do agree to do this, I'll need to keep some of the money to entertain myself with the ladies. I may not make as much as we need, hm..."

"Couldn't you forget the ladies just this once?!"

Inuyasha finally cuts in:

"I've heard more than I need to. We're wasting time here! I'll use Tessaiga to smash it to bits!"

He readies the blade over his shoulder, before leaping up to swing:

"Hraaaahhhh!"

(Clang)

"What?"

(Pow)

"Gaaah!"

However, Tokijin proved to be stronger this time, projecting a barrier at Tessaiga and forcing Inuyasha backwards!

As he stands up, Inuyasha asks,

"Is Tokijin unbreakable?"

He and the others decide to back off from Tokijin for the time being to come up with another plan. Sango and Shippo comment on the energy:

"Its power is awesome..."

"It's like it's alive..."

Coraline puts a hand under her chin as she ponders,

"Who in the world could've wanted such a blade to be created?"

Miroku replies,

"We can talk about that later, but right now, we should distance ourselves from it."

Inuyasha asks incredulously,

"You mean you want us to run?" Tōtōsai replies matter-of-factually,

"Anyone capable of drawing a sword of such evil would have enormous power. You're no match at present."

Inuyasha hmphs and crosses his arms with a stubborn scowl, before proceeding to sit down on the ground:

"I'm waiting here."

Coraline groans,

"Oh come on, Inuyasha, you can't be serious..." Shippo says,

"If you stay by the sword, you'll be in danger," with Sango adding,

"He's right. It's wiser to distance yourself for now."

But Inuyasha was firm in his decision:

"No. Do what you want, but I'm not gonna move a single muscle."

Coraline frowns at Inuyasha's attitude, as Miroku approaches her for a private word:

"Coraline, come here a moment: Knowing Inuyasha's character, he really isn't likely to move away from the sword. I suggest we stay near and keep watch over him."

"(...Sigh) Right."

"We'll wait for one full day, when he's calmed down somewhat. Tomorrow morning, if he's still staying by the sword, then you can use your command on him and make him 'Sit', and then I'll sneak up behind him, and strike him hard with my staff, knocking him unconscious. And that's when we'll gather him up and leave from this place."

"...I dunno, Miroku. That sounds a little extreme."

"Perhaps, but drastic times call for drastic measures."

"...Okay. I don't like it, but if it'll get him out of danger, I'll do what I must."

"(Nod) 'Til tomorrow morning."

Miroku then sees the conflicted look in Coraline's eyes, and places a hand on her shoulder while gently adding,

"I know that you've said that you no longer enjoy using the beads, but keep in mind that sometimes a little pain is necessary to move forward. Plus, this wouldn't be for a selfish reason."

"(Nervous smile) I know. I just hope if worst comes to worst, Inuyasha will understand."

"I'm sure he will."

Tōtōsai wonders to himself clueless,

"I wonder if I said something I shouldn't have said?"

...Unbeknownst to our group, Kagura was watching from afar in the forest treeline, smirking before disappearing to who knows...

Meanwhile, the twins share a look between eachother, before looking down at the crystal shards in their bracelets:

"...You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"

"Yeah...but would it work?"

"Wouldn't hurt to try..."

They then turn to the rest of the group, and Besa asks,

"Miroku: You said that we don't have the resources to erect a barrier, right?"

"Yes."

"...What about an energy shield?"

"Hm?"

Besa holds out his bracelet with his Seven Light crystal shard alongside Freeman's, and the latter asks,

"What we're askin' is if it's possible to use our crystals to make a shield around Tokijin the same way we made one to protect us from Kagura's wind blades a while back?"

Everyone widens their eyes at the thought, and Coraline steps over in front of her brothers to ask,

"Hang on: You two aren't thinking of-"

"We are."

"...That's insane!" Besa replies calmly,

"Maybe so, but unless we do something now, Tokijin's Aura will only grow, and god forbid what'll happen then. We know that this is a risky plan, but it doesn't hurt to at least try."

Coraline stares at her brothers in awe for their seriousness:

"...Freeman...Besa..."

She then nods:

"If you two are sure about this...then I won't stop you. But if either of you get hurt from this, it's on your backs."

"Gotcha." "We get it."

The twins then turn towards the direction of Tokijin, and with determination burning in their eyes, they begin to walk over...

Sango wonders,

"Will they be able to do it?" Coraline replies,

"Who knows...(Smile) But I have faith that they'll give it their all."

Tōtōsai hms and says,

"Faith may not be enough if they aren't careful: It's one thing for a demon to try and approach a sword with that kind of Evil Aura, but for two humans with hearts like theirs? It'll be a miracle that the power doesn't cause them bodily harm."

Everyone makes noises of worry, while Inuyasha stares at the distant dark-skinned forms standing on either side of Tokijin:

 _...Be careful, you two._

Freeman's POV

Besa and I are now a couple steps away from the Tokijin, and I was already beginning to feel queasy:

"Rgh...Do you feel that, bro?"

"Yes...Mmph, the Aura's obviously trying to stave us off. We need to do this as quick as we can."

"Right."

I move to the right side of the sword, and Besa stands on the left, before I close my eyes and breathe deep:

 _Okay, focus...Just think back to when we were protecting Inuyasha and the others from Kagura..._

 _I, wanted to shield my friends from pain..._

I begin to feel a pulsing from my wrist, and I breathe in again, before opening my eyes to meet Besa's:

"Ready?"

"Ready."

We make that cross-shape with our wrists, crystals facing one another, before:

(...Sheen) (...Sheen)

A light brimming with all the colours of the rainbow begins to shine!

(POW)

The light shoots outwards, and makes a circle on the ground around Tokijin, before extending from the line into a shield like the one from last time!

 _It's working!_

I hold my position with Besa a little longer, he grinning as big as I probably am...Then as soon as we were sure, we uncross our wrists, and the light fades from the crystals, leaving the shield in place!

"(...Laugh) We did it, bro!"

"Yeah, we did...Come on, let's head back."

No POV

The twins walk to eachother's sides, before making their way back over to the group, who were in awe over what just transpired:

"...Did they-"

"They did it..."

"They made a shield around Tokijin!"

As soon as Freeman and Besa were just a few feet away from the main group, suddenly:

(Sway)

"Uh!"

"Rgh!"

They both stumble their footing, and shakily steady themselves, gripping their heads with their free hands while occupying pained expressions...

"Guys!"

Coraline rushes over to them with Miroku and Shippo, and the first two help steadies the twins, while Shippo asks frantically,

"Are you two okay?! What's wrong?!"

Freeman and Besa reply in a strain,

"Rgh, I-I think so. I just got a killer headache..."

"S-Same, here. Agh, I can barely see straight..."

As they sit down over by Mōmō the bull, Miroku comments,

"That was an incredible feat of power. But it looks like it's taken a toll on the both of you..."

Sango comes over and asks,

"Are you gonna be alright?" Freeman replies casually with a weak wave of the hand,

"Yeah yeah, we'll live. We just, need to sit for a few minutes..."

Besa adds,

"I think it just took a bit more strength this round because we're not running on a rush of adrenaline."

Everyone nods, and Coraline hugs both boys:

"That was amazing and brave of you two..."

"Thanks, sis."

"Don't worry. We'll be fine...I just hope the shield will last."

Small Time Skip

As night falls over the forest and valley, we turn our attention to a lone campfire, occupied by Rin, who sighs and wonders aloud,

"What could be taking Lord Sesshomaru so long?"

...She then felt a change in the atmosphere, and turns around to see three familiar figures coming out of the fog. As she happily gasps, Jaken complains while pulling the two-headed dragon demon alongside Sesshomaru,

"That fool Kaijinbō! Where in the world could he have gotten to with your sword?"

Rin gets up and begins running over to them, exclaiming cheerily,

"Lord Sesshomaru! (Giggle)"

...He suddenly stops, sensing something off, and calls out,

"Stop, Rin. Do not move."

She freezes mid-step, and Jaken hms in suspicion, before Sesshomaru leaps over Rin and the fire, narrowing in on the danger he picked up:

(Slash)

He cuts away some trees, exposing Kagura, who jumps out of the line of fire and lands a couple feet away...

"...A woman."

Jaken sniffs the air, and says,

"I know that scent: She smells much like the strange beast that offered to lend you the severed arm. (Glare) The demon that disguised himself with the baboon pelt...His retched plan took us to Hell and back! Curse him! You were almost shot down by that damned redhead's arrow, then your arm was almost burned off...and I was beaten to a pulp by that monk!"

Jaken shivers and adds ruefully,

"Simply recalling that incident makes me ill."

Sesshomaru replies,

"I recall this scent. It is the scent of the beast that tried to trap me, the one who is known as Naraku."

Kagura speaks:

"So...you must be Inuyasha's older brother, Sesshomaru. You're very clever. I am Kagura, the Wind Sorceress, an incarnation of Naraku."

"An incarnation?"

"Correct. Sesshomaru, the fangs you delivered to Kaijinbō to make your sword were those of a demon called Goshinki. Like me, he was also created from Naraku."

"...All very interesting. But did you search me out to simply tell me this?"

"Hmm...Can you not detect its scent? Tokijin reeks of Goshinki's Aura. It is closer than you think."

(Whooooosh)

Using her wind sorcery, Kagura takes her leave upon her feather...

"You are the sword's rightful owner..."

With that, she was gone...As the winds die down, Jaken comes to his Lord's side and comments,

"I am not sorry to see her leave so soon. I don't believe I've seen such an arrogant woman."

Sesshomaru then turns his head behind him to address the stock-still Rin:

"...Rin. You are free to move now."

She replies with a smile,

"Yes, my lord," and stretches her limbs with a relaxed sigh...Sesshomaru then directs his attention to the sky in thought:

"...Tokijin..."

Jaken's focus was on the playful Rin:

"Speaking of strange women..."

Time Skip, Coraline's POV

It was now morning, and we're all still hanging around near Tokijin, with Inuyasha sitting the closest to it out of stubbornness. Luckily, Freeman and Besa's shield has managed to hold out, but I've noticed it beginning to throb out a bit earlier, so it likely won't last for too much longer...

"Damn, the shield's beginning to weaken. I was hoping it would last longer than this..."

Besa replies to Freeman,

"Well what did you expect? That sword has an incredibly powerful demon Aura, so there was no guarantee that our energy shield would last forever. I call it a miracle that it even lasted until morning."

Shippo hops over to sit on Freeman's shoulder and says with a smile,

"Besa's right. Plus, it was really cool watching you two do that for a second time!"

"(Smile) Thanks, little dude. I'm glad that we could help in some way, even if it's only temporary."

Sango asks curiously,

"Have either of you discovered any other abilities with those crystal shards besides shield projection?"

"Nothin' yet, but it's only a matter of time. I wouldn't mind finding a way to do something that involves healing."

Besa nods in agreement to the idea:

"Yeah. That would be a real asset to our group."

"Would you get off my back?! Stop saying the same thing over and over!"

We suddenly turn our attention from the fire to Inuyasha's direction upon hearing his outburst, and I wonder aloud,

"Is he...talking to Myoga?"

Inuyasha's POV

For the past few hours since the sun began to rise, Myoga hasn't shut up about me keeping a better vigilant on my sword:

"I will not stop until I have you promise! You must vow never to abandon Tessaiga again!"

I just hmph and turn my head away from the annoying flea...yet I can't help but wonder,

 _What's with him? Why's he suddenly so frantic about me and Tessaiga?_

 _It's not like I don't use it on purpose: There are just some fights where using my claws is faster..._

 _...Does it have to do with my transformation into a full demon?_

Coraline's POV

As I stared at Inuyasha's form, I hear Miroku ask me,

"So, what do you think we should do, Coraline?"

"Hm? About what?"

"I've been thinking: Perhaps I should come right out and tell Inuyasha the truth."

 _...The truth? Oh!_

"You mean about Tessaiga's role as not only a weapon, but a shield against his inner demon?"

"Yes. He doesn't know that, which is why he abandons it sometimes."

 _Hm...I suppose it wouldn't be right to keep this a secret..._

"I believe you're right. We should tell him about his inner demon's connection with Tessaiga."

Just as I come to that decision, Myoga quickly hops over and onto Miroku's shoulder, protesting against our collective thoughts:

"You must not tell him!"

"Myoga, it's you."

I stand up to look at the flea demon in confusion, and Freeman asks,

"Why shouldn't we, sir? Doesn't he have the right to know?"

"It's not that simple, young man. You know what Master Inuyasha is like: If he learns of the secret, he'll surely abandon the sword, and come to rely on his transformed claws and fangs!"

Miroku puts a hand under his chin in thought:

"Yes...I suppose he'll find them addictive," and Besa adds,

"And if so, then all his work to master the sword will be for naught."

"Of course. After all, Inuyasha is a simpleton, remember?"

Miroku hums in agreement with Myoga:

"Mhm, without a doubt."

I hm with a sad and slightly guilty look on my face:

 _Put it that way, and maybe it's best to keep it under wraps...for now._

 _But I don't want to keep this a secret forever: Inuyasha has the right to know...and I will be the one to tell him._

Just as I come to that conclusion, I notice Tōtōsai approaching Inuyasha...

 _Tōtōsai, what are you doing now?_

No POV

As Inuyasha stands by Tokijin with his arms crossed, Tōtōsai walks over to him while remarking,

"You certainly keep yourself busy, changing into a human one minute, (Sits) a goblin the next."

"I'm a demon, not a goblin."

Inuyasha takes his sword from his belt to sit down again and adds,

"It's not exactly like I have any idea what's goin' on here."

"Don't you know what's happening? You really are dimwitted!"

Everyone from the camp back some ways darts their heads up, with Coraline wondering,

 _Is he..._

Miroku wonders similarly,

 _What is he going to say?_

Myoga whispers,

"Not the secret...!"

Tōtōsai says in contrast to what everyone else thought he was going to say to Inuyasha,

"Myoga told me that you transform into a full demon when you're on the verge of dying. That's not too surprising really seeing as you're a half-demon. But if you ask me, your strength doesn't lie in your demon nature. As I explained to you, the weight of your Tessaiga comes from the fang I used to forge it."

Inuyasha hms, and Tōtōsai continues:

"Originally, the Tessaiga was forged from your father's fangs alone. In other words, you are relying on your father to protect you. But now, Tessaiga is different: Now you must rely on your own fang, and you must protect yourself."

Inuyasha feels a look of enlightenment spread on his face, and Tōtōsai concludes,

"Once you have managed to freely wield this new Tessaiga, you will have truly discovered your own strength."

"Hmm..."

There then came a collection of clapping, and Inuyasha turns to see the others have come over, with Miroku saying,

"Yes, it is just as you said, Tōtōsai," Shippo adding,

"Mhm, exactly."

Freeman and Besa chide,

"You've got the willpower to do it, man."

"Yes. Just reach down into your perseverance, and Tessaiga will be easy to master."

Inuyasha replies uncertainly from their looks,

"Uh, yeah, I guess so."

 _Why do I get this feeling I've been conned?_

The only one who wasn't as cheery, was Coraline, who held a small smile on her lips, but conflict in her eyes:

 _They are right: Mastering Tessaiga will be a way of reassuring Inuyasha's will against his inner demon..._

 _Still, not telling him of Tessaiga's hidden purpose feels...wrong._

Sensing her discomfort, Lumos comes over to float onto her shoulder, sending his ghostly moans into her ear softly...

Unbeknownst to her, Inuyasha caught the guilt in her eyes:

 _...I thought so. There is something the others aren't telling me. And Coraline...I think she wants to, but seems, afraid._

 _What's being left out? Maybe, I should see about pulling her aside for a private chat later..._

Before Inuyasha could think further on the subject, attention was suddenly turned to the skies, as they shifted in an unnatural speed from sunny with fluffy clouds, to dark and storm-ridden...

Everyone tenses up, just as a flash of light green light comes crashing in, revealing Sesshomaru aboard the two-headed dragon demon!

The right head of the dragon then shoots an electric attack down on Tokijin, hitting the shield Freeman and Besa created earlier, causing it to throb...before shattering:

(Crack, pow)

"Aw crap!" "The dragon took down our shield!"

Sesshomaru then hops down to the ground, staring at the now crater-surrounded Tokijin, as Inuyasha mutters in some surprise,

"Sesshomaru..." Tōtōsai panics before darting behind Inuyasha while muttering,

"O-Oh no, not him...!"

Inuyasha asks his half-brother,

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Just what I would ask you. I merely come for this sword. It seems the demon you killed was so bitter, it desired revenge even after its remains were forged into the sword."

"What?" Sango asks aloud,

"How does he know that Tokijin was forged from Goshinki's fangs?"

Miroku concludes,

"It must mean that...!" Sesshomaru confirms:

"I was the one who commissioned Kaijinbō to make this sword."

Coraline and Inuyasha quietly gasp, and Tōtōsai calls in warning,

"Sesshomaru, you must not touch Tokijin! Even you will be possessed by the sword's Evil Aura! It was a miracle that these twin boys were able to approach close enough to forge the shield that surrounded it previously! Heed my warning, I implore you!"

Sesshomaru narrows his eyes a touch, glancing briefly at Freeman and Besa who tense up on the defense...before stepping over to Tokijin, and grasping it by its hilt to extract it no problem!

"Pathetic fool. Just who do you take me for?"

...And just like that, the red energy emitting from the demon blade, begins to die away, much to Miroku's shock:

"The Evil Aura! It's...dissipating!" Tōtōsai remarks,

"The Evil Aura was overtaken by Sesshomaru. (Mumble) I don't even care much for him..."

Sesshomaru glances down at the blade:

"Hm. I see the sword has chosen me as its master..."

He then turns to his younger half-brother:

"Draw your sword, Inuyasha. There's something I wish to verify."

"(Growl) Something about me?"

As Lumos flies off of Coraline to bop up and down in front of Inuyasha in warning, she grasps Inuyasha's arm and implores seriously,

"Don't let him draw you into battle, Inuaysha. It's not worth the energy!"

"Would you let go of me?"

Tōtōsai asks him,

"Do you honestly think you can defeat him?"

"Kuh, I can't exactly tell him to come back when I'm finished training."

Having heard that, Sesshomaru replies,

"Precisely. Come at me, little brother. I'll make it easy: I shall come for you."

(Dash)

He begins charging with Tokijin at ready, while Inuyasha charges back, pulling out Tessaiga:

"Ha, you're gonna regret this, Sesshomaru!"

 _(Growl) This thing's way too heavy!_

Sesshomaru leaps up, before soaring back down with Tokijin's blade aimed at Inuyasha, who barely blocks it with Tessaiga:

(Clang)

Of course, even though he manages to save himself from the blade, the power was still a challenge to stand against...Coraline watches the battle while commenting with worry,

"The best he can do is block Tokijin..."

Shippo says from atop Freeman's shoulder,

"His sword is too powerful for him!" Tōtōsai mutters,

"This isn't looking good," and Freeman retorts,

"Oi! Show at least some positivity: It won't help looking at it all negative!"

Miroku asks Tōtōsai,

"Is there any chance that Inuyasha can defeat him?"

"Yes, well he still doesn't know how to handle the Tessaiga. Besides, he's up against Tokijin, a dangerous sword in anyone's hands. And now that it's being wielded by Sesshomaru..."

Inuyasha is now crouching on the ground, after the power from Tokijin nearly drives him off his feet if not for Tessaiga:

"Rgh, damn it to hell..."

He gets back up, and Sesshomaru stares at him while remarking mentally,

 _Just as I thought: His scent is but that of a half-demon..._

 _When he defeated Goshinki, his blood changed to be sure...What could that mean?_

 _I must witness his transformation with my own eyes._

As Sesshomaru concludes his plans, Inuyasha thinks to himself,

 _I'll have to finish him off in one blow otherwise I'll be killed._

As Sesshomaru readies Tokijin, he asks,

"What, have you altered your combat strategy? Usually you charge at me blindly with no haste."

"Huh, whatever you say."

Inuyasha then hoists his Tessaiga over his shoulder before charging at Sesshomaru, and swinging the blade as hard as he can:

(Clang)

But, this time the opposite occurs, and Tokijin blocks Tessaiga, with power sparking on both sides before dissipating to just the bare blades...Sesshomaru feels the weight change:

"Ah. Tessaiga has become heavier, I see." Inuyasha bitterly replies,

"It's alot heavier, you stupid jackass!"

"Hmph. The sword is too heavy for you. (Shove) You're better off without it!"

(SHING)

Sesshomaru's strength prevails, and he disarms Tessaiga from Inuyasha's hands, leaving the latter to be thrown back by the power!

(...Tok)

The fanged blade lands a few feet away from Inuyasha, before transforming back into its dormant form...Miroku and Besa exclaim,

"Look at Tessaiga!"

"He's been overcome!" Coraline calls out,

"Inuaysha!" Shippo says with worry,

"He doesn't stand a chance against his brother!"

Inuyasha growls in frustration and curses, before Myoga hops over and urges,

"Master Inuyasha: Hurry and take hold of Tessaiga!" Inuyasha groans,

"Myoga, you again?"

He glances at Tessaiga, then over at his half-brother, before deciding,

"Don't need it!"

"Stop! I'm warning you!"

But Inuyasha does not heed Myoga, and runs at Sesshomaru with the intent of using his own claws...Coraline calls in protest,

"Inuyasha, no!"

Shippo and Freeman exclaim,

"He's gonna fight 'im with his bare hands!"

"Damn, that's not gonna go well...!"

Myoga pleads,

"Please stop! You mustn't be so rash!" Inuyasha replies,

"I can't use that lug of a sword, now can I?"

"I'm begging you!"

"Shut up and stay back!"

He then smacks Myoga off of him, before focusing back on Sesshomaru, the latter shifting position with Tokijin pointing straight at the former, throbbing with power...before:

(POW)

A bolt of light green and purple energy shoots from the blade's tip, hitting Inuyasha full-blast:

"Aaaaaaarrrrrrgggghhhhh!" Sango calls out over the gasps,

"He's been thrown by the power of the sword!"

...Somehow, he manages to remain on his feet, sliding back several feet in a crouching position, his head pointing downward while he takes in some deep breaths, before darting back up with a seething glare:

 _You...bastard!_

...As Inuyasha rises to a stand, Sesshomaru says,

"I've seen all that I've needed..."

Not finding the change he was looking for, Sesshomaru decides to switch to an all out offensive attack:

(Dash)

"Die!"

Miroku shouts,

"Look out, Inuyasha, he's coming for you!"

...Inuyasha's head dips down, his bangs billowing over his face, as he kneels down again...Just as Sesshomaru comes closer in his charge:

"Uh!"

 _That scent again!_

...The winds shift the other direction, and zooming in on Inuyasha's form, we see his eyes were now red with the green-black irises, and the purple stripes were forming on his cheekbones!

A feral growl bubbles in his throat, and he grips the ground with his extending claws, teeth bared...

Coraline sees the shift of appearance, and becomes scared for his life:

"Inuyasha..."

 _No...He's, transformed again! The light and darkness in his Aura are going into war!_

Lumos begins making cries of alarm while circling around the group, knowing that something bad would happen should they remain. Tōtōsai takes a step forward and says to everyone,

"You people take Inuyasha out of here."

"Hm?"

He then puffs his cheeks, before shooting a blast of fire from his mouth:

(Fwoooooom)

The fire blast travels down through the grass and cuts between Sesshomaru and Inuyasha before the former could reach the latter:

"Uh!...Tōtōsai..."

Over the fire, he hears the following:

"Inuyasha!" "Coraline, now!"

"Sorry, Inuyasha! Sit Boy!"

(Wham)

"Gah!"

Peering past the flames, he sees everyone running from the area with the unconscious Inuyasha in Miroku's, the twins and Sango's arms...

After a bit, the fire dies off and leaves only a burn mark on the ground...Jaken then approaches Sesshomaru and asks,

"But my lord, why did you not go after him? He was in the palm of your hands...Um, Master Sesshomaru?"

Said dog demon was deep in thought over the events that transpired:

 _...To think that he made me, Sesshomaru, tremble with fear for even a moment._

 _...Inuyasha, in that instant..._

As another breeze blows by, we zoom several feet away from the silent dog demon...and spot Kagura spying from the treeline:

 _...He's strong. He might be able to kill Naraku._

She smiles, before embarking over the wind upon her feather...As she flies off to wherever her next destination is, her thoughts were of the following:

 _Naraku holds my very life in his hands, but I have no intention of remaining a servant forever to the likes of him._

 _...I am the wind...and one day, I shall be free!_


	52. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51: Jarōmaru & Kagerōmaru**

"Sure is quiet and peaceful out."

"Yeah. Definitely a nice change from the recent string of chaos..."

It's been a few days since the battle with Kaijinbō and Sesshomaru, and our group was now traveling along a mountain path to new territories in their continued search of jewel shards and the demon Naraku.

Today, Coraline's attire consisted of a red crop tee with her camouflage jean jacket, blue jeans, and her brown hikers, while wearing two ponytails styled to frame her face. Meanwhile, Freeman wore a dark-blue tank-top with his black leather jacket, black jeans and his hightops, while Besa wore a gray tank-top with a green vest, light-blue jeans, and his own hightops.

...Suddenly, Coraline stops, sensing something:

"Uh! There's a jewel shard near." Inuyasha asks over his shoulder,

"What?"

"And it's comin' in fast!"

(Whoosh)

Everyone winces from a whirlwind that suddenly came shooting passed, and it stops, before dying down to reveal Kōga!

"Yo!"

Coraline groans lightly and remarks,

"Crap, it's wolf-boy..."

Freeman chides,

"Take it easy, sis. Let's just find out what he wants."

Kōga approaches the group and says,

"I picked up on your scent, Coraline, so I came to see ya. Hope you've been well?"

Coraline replies stiffly,

"Fine."

Inuyasha moves in front of her in a protective manner and asks,

"What do you want, ya mangy wolf?"

Kōga growls at Inuyasha, and Coraline puts a hand on the latter's shoulder while saying gently,

"He's not worth your effort, Inuyasha. Please..."

"Stay out of it. I might just have to kill him, or worse..."

"Tch, you haven't changed one bit, mutt. You think you could lose some of the arrogance once in a while...Coraline, don't you get tired of being with this guy?"

"Why you..."

"Actually, I don't."

Both males look at Coraline with surprise, and she adds with a cool stare,

"If anyone's acting arrogant, it's you. I've said it once and I'll say it again: I have no interest with runnin' off with a cocky wolf."

Shippo hops onto Inuyasha's shoulder to add his own defense:

"Yeah! Don't be so rude to my poor friend, Kōga! You see, he's not always like this: He just gets uptight when you come around, 'cause he thinks that you're gonna steal Coraline away."

(CLONK)

"Save it!"

Inuyasha clocks Shippo on his noggin, and Coraline pinches the bridge of her nose while muttering,

"That's not really helping matters, Shippo," while Kōga comments,

"You really need to grow up, muttface."

"Kōga!"

"Huh?"

Everyone directs their attention to where the wolf demon came from, and see Ginta, Hakkaku and a few regular wolves rush over, the first two panting heavily after stopping:

"(Pant, pant) Finally, you stopped!"

"About time you two caught up!"

"What do you expect?! You have jewel shards in your legs for crying out loud! We can't keep up with that speed!"

Besa looks over at the new arrivals:

"Hm. Must be close friends of Kōga's...Can't help but wonder how they put up with his antics, eh, bro?"

Freeman nods blankly, but his eyes were on one wolf demon in particular, a tiny blush creeping onto his cheeks:

 _...That guy...I think that's, Ginta, if I remember Cora's description correctly._

 _...He's cute._

Once everyone calmed down, they all sat down on some boulders, as Kōga asks about where a certain evil demon may be lurking...

"You want me to tell you where Naraku lives?! If I knew that, I wouldn't be wasting my time battling his demons!"

Coraline places a calming hand on Inuyasha's shoulder, as Ginta asks,

"Does that mean you don't know?"

"It's almost impossible to find: Naraku's projected a barrier around his castle! Let us avenge the death of your comrades. All I ask is that you hand over those jewel shards in your legs."

(...Click)

"Then hightail it back to your den!"

(Crash)

Kōga dodges the incoming blade of Tessaiga, and asks casually after landing a few feet on Inuyasha's right,

"Somethin' the matter, muttface? You're swingin' your sword awfully slowly."

Inuyasha growls, and Shippo comments,

"The Tessaiga's still too heavy for him," with Miroku adding,

"And it won't get any lighter overnight..." Inuyasha calls,

"Come back and fight!"

But Kōga chooses to leave with his buddies:

"Sorry, dog-breath, but I don't have any time to waste sparring with you."

"Coward! Come back here!"

"Now you take good care of my Coraline while I go waste Naraku! Don't you dare lay a finger on her!"

"What?!"

(Dash)

With that, Kōga takes off, as Coraline shouts heatedly,

"I am not yours, ya idgit!" Sango comments,

"He sure is cocky for someone who just ran away from battle..." Coraline groans in irritation, before saying to Inuyasha calmly,

"Please calm down, Inuyasha. Don't let that moron rile you up."

His ear twitches, and he whirls at Coraline while shouting tensely,

"Who said I was riled up?!"

"Your tone does."

"Huh?"

He retracts a bit, and she smiles at him while adding,

"That wolf's all talk and no real action. He flirts, but isn't a dependable guy, like you are."

Inuyasha relaxes completely, and he blushes a bit from Coraline's words:

 _...She, thinks I'm dependable?_

Watching the action, Sango whispers to Miroku,

"Is it my imagination, or is Inuyasha's face a bit redder than before?"

"(Smile) I think so."

And he wasn't the only one: All through the talk with the wolf demons, Freeman kept stealing peeks at Ginta, he giving a few glances in return, causing them both to look away with light blushes on their cheeks...

"Hey, Freeman. You alright there?" He replies to Besa,

"H-Huh? Oh, um yeah, I'm fine. I was just, thinking about that friend of Kōga's...Ginta..."

"Oh? What about hi-"

Besa pauses, when he sees the dreamy look in his brother's eyes...

"Oooh~, I see...You got a crush on him or somethin'?"

"I-I dunno about a full crush...Maybe an inkling...I think he's cute."

"Who?"

The brothers look over at Coraline, who had heard the tale end of their conversation:

"Who do are ya talkin' 'bout, bro?"

"Uh..."

Besa smiles cheekily and replies for Freeman,

"One of Kōga's friends, Ginta."

Freeman punches Besa's arm in embarrassment:

"Dude!"

"What? There's nothin' wrong with having a crush!"

Coraline widens her eyes a bit, before laughing a little and commenting,

"Oh man. I guess I should've known 'this' was gonna happen in our travels sooner than later..."

Inuyasha asks her,

"What?"

She whispers in his ear...and he breaks out a teasing grin at the end of the message:

"No way!"

"(Giggle) No lie!"

Miroku catches onto the topic, and smirks at Freeman's blushing face adding,

"I suppose this would explain why you kept eyeing Ginta during the conversation. I must say, you certainly know how to be subtle..."

"At least I can make it subtle, unlike you! You gaze dreamily at any pretty girl at the drop of a hat!"

Everyone laughs at Freeman's comment, causing Miroku to glare mildly at him with his own blush of embarrassment...

Time Skip

Moving to another part of the mountainside as night falls, we see Kōga and his friends pausing in their travels at a cliff...As they rest, Ginta feels a small blush dust his cheeks as he thought about Freeman and their mini staring contests:

 _That dark-skinned boy...What was his name? Oh, Freeman!_

 _...He was, kind-of good-looking...W-Wait, what am I thinking?!_

 _He's human! I shouldn't be-Then again, Kōga's been pining after sister Coraline, so it must be okay to like humans..._

 _Still, he and Hakkaku don't know, that I like..._

Before he could finish his thoughts, he and the others feel a change in the atmosphere:

"Huh? What is that?"

...Suddenly, a drone of Naraku's Insects of Hell came buzzing over towards them, and Kōga narrows his eyes at them:

"Looks like, insects..."

He then picks up a scent, and begins dashing down the cliff face, much to Ginta's protest:

"Wait, Kōga!"

"This is the same scent as Kagura's! No mistaking it!"

He reaches the bottom, and leaps into the forest...Coming out of the shadows of the trees, we see Naraku (dressed in the baboon fur) riding a carriage pulled by a skeletal horse, the back containing something covered by a red blanket...

Kōga slides into a halt a couple feet in front of the exit where Naraku was coming from, and the latter stops the carriage before hopping down to address the former:

"The young leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe. You picked up my scent before Inuyasha."

"I know you...You're Naraku!"

 _His scent is identical to Kagura's! He must be Naraku..._

 _You slaughtered my comrades, and now, I will avenge their deaths!_

"(Chuckle) Pity for you, but I'm afraid you shall become fodder for my new incarnation."

A breeze passes, fluttering the red blanket, and we see an eye piercing out from the blackness behind the bars of a cage...

"A cage? (Smirk) Fuh, I dunno what kind of beast you brought, but the timing couldn't be better. I'll gladly get revenge for my men!"

Naraku laughs, before replying,

"Kōga, meet your opponent."

(Flap)

"Emerge from your cage, Jurōmaru."

...There's a gleam from a pair of eyes, and the cage door opens, leaving a figure free to crawl out on all fours...Getting a closer look, we see they are a man of considerable height, chains clamped around his wrists, wearing a set of light-green pattered robes with dark-green overtop, long pink hair, a metal filter mask over his mouth, and cold, dark-blue eyes.

Kōga raises a wary brow at Jurōmaru:

 _What's the deal with him?_

Nevertheless, he calls out,

"Have it your way, Naraku! I'll take him out first, then I'll mash you both into the ground! What's the hold-up here? Hurry up and release his shackles so I can get my hands on him!"

"No. He'll be enough of a challenge just as he is."

Kōga didn't expect that response, but only growls a bit and replies,

"Alright. It's his funeral!"

He then charges forward, and balances on his hand while dishing a spin-kick to Jurōmaru:

(Whoosh)

But, the incarnation ducks, before grabbing the wolf demon swiftly by his throat, and pinning him to the ground:

"Gg-gh! Get, off me!"

(Kick)

Kōga tries to kick Jurōmaru, who jumps off and lands on all fours a few feet away, letting the former back up a bit while getting his breath back...

 _He's, fast! Maybe even faster than me..._

 _Wait...what's that chill in the air? It's coming from that bit in his mouth._

"Gh!"

No POV

"I can smell Naraku!"

Just as our main group continues on through the forest-mountain path, Inuyasha suddenly makes off into the tree canopy after picking up the scent of said evil demon. Coraline was now riding with Sango and Shippo on Kilala, while Miroku and the twins run alongside them.

Coraline shouts,

"Wait up, Inuyasha!" Miroku and the twins call,

"Don't go running off on your own!"

"You still haven't mastered Tessaiga's new strength yet!"

"This ain't the time to go lookin' for trouble!"

Inuyasha calls back,

"Spare me!"

 _It's more than just Naraku's scent: The stench of that pesky Kōga's comin' through too._

 _I'm the one who's gonna bring down Naraku: I won't let that mangy wolf get 'im first!_

(Dash)

It was then that the said wolf demon pops out from some trees a couple feet in front of Inuyasha:

"Kōga!" Inuyasha begins catching up with him and asks,

"What do ya think you're doin'?"

"Leave me alone! Can't you see I'm busy?!"

"What'd you say?!"

(CRASH)

Suddenly, Jurōmaru comes barreling through some tree trunks, and Kōga asks himself disbelievingly,

 _How'd he catch up with me?!_

The incarnation then dashes over beside Inuyasha, before trying to swipe the other with his hand!

Inuyasha dodges, and says sarcastically,

"Nice job, escaping as usual, Kōga."

He turns left and sees that the wolf demon had already used his whirlwind ability to take off:

"He's gone! Huh?"

(Crash)

He then barely dodges Jurōmaru's fist, it connecting with the ground instead...

"You finally show up, have you, Inuyasha?"

Said half-dog demon tenses, as Naraku fades into view from behind his incarnation...

"Naraku."

By this time, everyone else has caught up:

"Naraku!"

Said demon comments,

"Kōga must've fled when he saw he had no chance of victory. (Chuckle) He's more intelligent than I took him for."

Inuyasha retorts,

"Huh, who cares about him? I'm in a whole new class altogether."

Miroku then says while looking over at Jurōmaru,

"Wait a minute: Is that another one of Naraku's incarnations?" Besa replies,

"Must be...but there's something about his stare that seems, different from the others."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure...He's got that, trigger look, (Narrows eyes) like a bomb waiting for the button to be pushed..."

Naraku says to his incarnation,

"...Jurōmaru, I shall remove you from your shackles. Go forth and fight to your heart's content."

(Bzz-crack, crack, crack)

The mask and chains break off...but instead of rushing to attack Inuyasha and company:

(SLASH)

Jurōmaru cuts down on the Naraku demon puppet, causing everyone to flinch back in shock!

...Looking closer, we see something sparkling from his mouth, while he makes an eerie cry like a howl from the dead...Inuyasha wonders in a similar fashion to Kōga's first impression of the incarnation,

 _What's with this guy?_

Oddly enough, Naraku wasn't mad about the action, seemingly predicting such a move:

" _(Laugh) Jurōmaru is unstoppable now that his mask has been removed. He will slaughter everything in his wake._ "

With that, the head of the demon puppet disappears, and Jurōmaru hisses again, while Inuyasha thinks,

 _I don't like the looks of this Jurōmaru. He's makin' my skin crawl..._

Miroku comments,

"Even if Naraku was a demon puppet, it's hard to believe he just beheaded his own ally."

Sango wonders in a grim tone,

"Perhaps no one is his ally."

Coraline concludes,

"Then that explains the restraints from before..." Freeman nods:

"Yeah. This guy's gotta be the berserker-type: All brute and no reason."

With that, Jurōmaru makes his first move against his new opponent:

(Dash, crash)

Inuyasha jumps back from the fist, and lands his own back at the other:

(Punch)

...It isn't clear if there was any damage done, but the incarnation demon does slide to the ground. Inuyasha remains unsettled, however:

 _What's with this guy? He didn't even try to dodge my attack...Is this a trap?_

 _...No. Freeman had the right of it: This demon's all brawn. He couldn't think of complex battle plans._

"Alright. (Knuckle crack) I'm gonna have to finish you off here and now!"

(Leap)

" _Iron Reaver, Soul..._ "

(Dash, swipe)

"Huh?"

Everyone gasps, and Miroku exclaims,

"He blocked it...!"

Inuyasha was in shock, and before he could move fast enough, another swipe came at his face:

(Slash)

"Aaaagh!"

Coraline calls out,

"Inuyasha!"

He rubs the side of his face, trying to process that latest counter:

 _How the hell...Did his arms just grow? Can he transform or something?_

Kōga's POV

I managed to get away from that freak demon and back to Ginta and Hakkaku, and I'm now sitting with them by the mountain cliff...

"Well? Did you find Naraku?"

"Yeah, how come you came back?"

"Don't tell me you ran away..." I scoff lightly at Hakkaku and reply,

"No chance. That Naraku brought another stupid-looking sidekick along with him. (Frown) But that guy gave me a bad feeling, and I've learned to trust my instincts."

I smirk as I thought of mutt-face:

"Heh, bet Inuyasha wishes he'd done the same. He's probably getting beaten to a pulp by Jurōmaru even as we speak."

"You mean you saw Inuyasha?"

"Yeah."

My friends make sounds of worry, before Hakkaku says cautiously,

"Um, Kōga? I could be out of line for saying this..." Ginta finishes for him:

"If he's in danger and Coraline's with him, doesn't that put her in danger as well?"

 _...Oh crap!_

I shot to my feet and beat them both while shouting frantically,

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier, you clowns?!"

I run off back to where I came from, as they call back in a retort,

"Why didn't you notice it first?!"

 _Damn it! That mutt better not put Coraline in the line of fire before I get there!_

No POV  


As Kōga runs back to help for Coraline's sake, Inuyasha continues to dodge and block Jurōmaru's blows, before bringing out his Tessaiga:

"Got you!"

(Slash)

The sword makes 'contact' with the demon's arm, and the other part flies into the bushes!

Shippo cheers,

"He did it!"

However, Coraline wasn't as ecstatic:

 _Wait...Something's wrong. I didn't see any actual contact of blade to flesh...Could that mean..._

Inuyasha was having similar thoughts:

 _What the hell? Why didn't I feel his arm sever? It's almost like it separated from Jur_ _ōmaru..._

Before he could think on the subject further, Inuyasha snaps back to reality to leap back from the charging Jurōmaru:

"Daaah!"

(Crash)

As the dust settles, everyone else sees the suspicions of Inuyasha and Coraline to be correct, Shippo commenting,

"His arm's still on!"

Inuyasha tenses up:

 _Uh! I knew it! That wasn't his arm I hacked off...  
_

...Behind him, the ground begins to upturn, before:

(SHOOM)

"Aaaaaaaaaaghhhhhh!"

Something shoots through Inuyasha's torso from back to front! Miroku and Coraline exclaim,

"Look! From the ground!"

"Inuyasha!"

Said dog demon grimaces as he falls to his knees from the pain, and looking a couple feet ahead, we see a new demon sitting in front of Jurōmaru: It had a grotesque body that resembled a white-skinned snake with a spinal cord, two arms with razor-sharp scythes for hands, and their head had the same features to the first incarnation, only smaller!

Sango and Besa cringe from the sight as Miroku and Freeman exclaim,

"What the hell is that thing?!"

The head dips up to address Inuyasha, licking his lips:

"Thanks for the meal. Your innards were simply delicious."

"Damn it. So there were two of you all along? Rgh...Who the hell are you?"

"(Chuckle) I am Kagerōmaru, and I have been lying dormant inside Jurōmaru's belly."

Everyone comes to stand protectively around Inuyasha, and Coraline wonders,

"Hang on...That mask Jurōmaru was wearing...(Gasp) Of course: That was...!" Miroku finishes,

"That bit seems to be the only thing keeping it inside!"

Kagerōmaru laughs and says,

"Jarōmaru obeys no one but me. Not even Naraku."

Sango stutters,

"W-What?" But Freeman saw it clear as day:

"I get it: These freaks must represent the wilder and more brutal parts of Naraku! But the smaller one's obviously the brains of the two..."

"And now, let us feast on the others, shall we, Jarōmaru? We'll engorge ourselves!"

With that, Kagerōmaru makes his charge, and Miroku readies to unleash his cursed power:

" _Wind Tunnel!_ "

However, just before he could get the beads off, the beast shoots straight past his hand!

"Miroku!" Besa readies his sickles and warns,

"Sango, incoming!"

Jarōmaru begins charging next, and Sango tosses her weapon at him:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...SWIPE)

But Jarōmaru uses his brute strength to knock it into the ground! It was then that the other demon comes shooting down from the air:

(...Zip)

"Sango!"

Miroku seizes Sango and pushes her out of the way, just as Besa swings his sickles to block:

(Clang)

"Gggh-aaah!"

He's thrown back with the other two by the strength of Kagerōmaru, and as they rise up, Sango says,

"Good block, Besa. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm just glad I was fast enough to protect you and Miroku...(Turn, glare) But the fight's just getting started..."

His glare was directed at Kagerōmaru, who looks at the three with a chuckle. Miroku tries to suck the demon in again:

" _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whooooooossssssshhhhhhhh...)

While he's successful in opening the black hole in his hand, Kagerōmaru somehow dodges the attack, and jeers at Miroku's attempt:

" _(Laugh) What are you hoping to eliminate?_ "

"Gh, (Turn) over there!"

" _Too late! Do you honestly hope to defeat us with such sluggish speed?!_ "

And before Miroku could move fast enough, Jarōmaru rushes him at his side:

(Shove)

"Aaah!"

Coraline widens her eyes, and Inuyasha mutters,

"Miroku!"

He then gets off the ground, and tries to hit Jarōmaru with Tessaiga:

"Hrrraaaaahhhhh!"

(Swing)

He misses both demon and monk by a hair, but was more concerned by the latter's condition:

"Miroku, you alright?"

"(Pant, pant, pant) Yeah. Your sword scared me more than anything."

"Kuh, then pull up the covers and don't watch this part. (Turn) He's mine this time..."

Coraline starts running over with Shippo on her shoulder and Freeman running alongside her, protesting his action:

"Don't do it, Inuyasha!"

"You've got a hole in your gut for starters!"

"Let me take care of that creep! I can throw him off balance with my hammer!"

Inuyasha replies,

"So what? It's not like I've never been wounded befo-Uh!"

He stops mid-sentence, when he sees Kagerōmaru stalking up behind them!

 _This girl's life belongs to me now, and the boy will make a good second helping..._

...Just as Lumos comes flying in making chirps of warning, and Inuyasha shouts,

"Coraline!"

(Shove...SLASH)

"Aaaaaaaarrrrrhhhhhh!"

Freeman rushes in front of Coraline and takes the hit to his back!

(Collective gasp)

"Freeman!" "Freeman, no!"

"Brother!"

Said boy falls on his front, and cries out in pain, his back sporting a deep slash mark:

"D-Damn...Gah!"

Coraline screeches to a halt, and shouts with Shippo,

"Freeman!"

Kagerōmaru slides to the ground a few feet away, and chuckles before saying,

"What a fool's move. But if you insist on getting in the way, boy, then I'll feast on you first!"

(Zip)

Just before he could attack again:

(KICK)

"Grrrah!"

Kōga comes to the rescue, and kicks away Kagerōmaru! Mind you, there wasn't any real damage done, and Kagerōmaru zips away after being hit back, with Kōga cursing,

"Damn!"

Inuyasha was stunned, and Besa snaps out of his stupor to rush over to his brother:

"Freeman! Are you okay?!"

"Rgh...Back hurts like hell, b-but I'm still breathing, so I call that a good sign-Agh!"

"I've gotcha, bro. Just breathe deep..."

Besa shucks off his vest and presses it to Freeman's wound, turning his head to where Coraline and Shippo were:

"Shippo! Help me stem the bleeding!"

"Okay!"

As Shippo rushes over to help Besa, Coraline turns to address the new arrival:

"Coraline..."

"Kōga...Thank you for saving my brother." He nods, before turning to call Inuyasha out:

"What do ya think you're doin', dog-face?! How dare you put my Coraline in danger!"

Inuyasha counters,

"Who are you to talk, runnin' off with your tail between your legs? I will thank you for saving her and Freeman, ya mangy wolf."

Coraline was surprised by Inuyasha's somewhat mature attitude:

"Wow. He's actually being serious around wolf-boy...(Turn) Freeman, I'm so sorry, I should've sensed that bastard coming."

"N-Not, your fault, sis. I-I'll be okay..."

She nods, before glaring hard at Kagerōmaru's form:

 _...That demon's gonna pay for that move._

Meanwhile, Kōga asks Inuyasha,

"So what's the deal with this strange-looking demon?"

"He came out of Jarōmaru's gut, or so he claims..."

Kōga stares at Kagerōmaru's form and quirks mentally,

 _Figures. No wonder I was sensing a chill from Jarōmaru...It was him.  
_

Miroku, who was sitting up with Sango's help, remarks seriously,

"I can see that Kagerōmaru's much too fast for even the likes of us to keep up with him."

Hearing that, Kōga retorts,

"Pfh, why don't you speak for yourself, monk? There's no one who's capable of escaping from me."

Kagerōmaru chuckles and jeers,

"Words are your only true weapon."

"I'll call you on that one, after I twist your head off!"

But just as Kōga makes a move to dash at the demon:

"Out of my way, wolf-boy!"

"Huh?"

He and Inuyasha turn around, and widen their eyes at seeing Coraline, her eyes aglow and her sword at the ready:

"That spinal cord freak's mine..."

"Coraline?"

She steps in front of the wolf and dog demon, and calls out with a growl,

"You, bastard! You almost killed my brother! Now I'm gonna kill you!"

She then charges right at the demon, sword in air, much to Inuyasha's protest:

"Coraline, wait!"

"Raaaaaahhhhh!"

Her blade glows, and she swings it at Kagerōmaru, only for he to dodge the blade, and land a few feet away:

"(Chuckle) You think you can take me on, little girl? The wolf has a better chance of keeping up than you do!"

Coraline grinds her teeth, before unleashing one of her Aura Attacks:

" _Spirit Slash!_ "

(SLASH)

The ice blue energy cuts into the ground, but Kagerōmaru dodges again, and Jarōmaru comes leaping behind Coraline:

"(Turn) Uh!"

She readies to block, just as Inuyasha comes swinging in with Tessaiga:

"Jarōmaru! I'm your only real opponent here!"

He and Coraline hop out of Tessaiga's path, with Jarōmaru riding on the blade for a moment, before lunging at Inuyasha and grasping him by his jaw:

(Shove)

"Hrrgh!"

"Inuyasha!"

As Kōga hops over to Coraline's side, he scoffs,

"Puh, shame on you, mutt-face! That lame excuse of a demon should be easy prey!"

"Rrrgh, what?! (Slap) Get off me!"

He then runs over to stand back-to-back with Coraline and Kōga, retorting,

"Who are you to criticize? I don't see Kagerōmaru lying face-down."

"Tch, don't compare yourself to me!" Coraline groans inwardly and barks,

"Guys, focus!"

She then hears Lumos making his ghostly chirps, and turns to see him bobbing frantically at the treetop!

"What is it, Lu-Auh, Kagerōmaru!"

Kōga looks up on instinct, as a white blur zips in front of him, before stopping a few feet away!

(Dash)

"(Smirk) Heh, I'm startin' to get the hang of this! Hrrrah!"

(Crash)

His fist connects with dirt, but Kōga is not discouraged, and keeps up his speed:

"Ha, I gotcha!"

Shippo notes from his place by Freeman and Besa,

"He's predicting his moves!"

Besa comments,

"Speed and anticipation are good, but how long can he do it? (Turn) But never mind, we should focus here. Freeman, how are you holdin' up?"

"B-Been, better..."

Besa lifts the bloodied vest to check on the wound:

"(Wince) It's deep, but not so much that it's gonna kill, thank god. I think the bleeding's stopped for now."

 _Unfortunately, there's no real time to grab out bandages and salve. There's gotta be another way to stem the wound..._

 _Wait!_

Besa looks down at his crystal shard in thought:

"...It's a long shot, but maybe..."

He takes off his bracelet, and hovers the crystal over the wound:

 _Cora did say that these crystals are rumoured to have healing powers...It may be a shard, but it should still do something..._

 _Please, please work. Please heal my brother!_

Just as Besa begins trying to activate a healing ability from his Seven Light shard, Kōga does a hand-stand on one hand, dodging Kagerōmaru before kicking him to the ground!

"You're dead!"

(Crash)

He pounds his fist into where the demon fell, upturning dirt and rock! Sango smiles and says,

"Got 'im."

...However, when the dust clears, we see no signs of Kagerōmaru!

"Huh? He's gone! He got away on me!"

(...Rumble)

We then see a path traveling through the dirt, heading straight for Inuyasha and Coraline! Coraline senses the demon first courtesy of her Aura Sight:

"Watch it!"

(Clang)

She manages to use her blade to block Inuyasha's arm from Kagerōmaru! Kōga was stunned by the demon's craftiness:

"What? He came out of the ground!"

(SWIPE)

"Gaaah!" "Aaaah!"

It was then Jarōmaru throws Inuyasha and Coraline back, he crashing through a tree trunk, and she falling into a bush!

"Inuyasha!" "Coraline!"

The redhead pushes herself to a stand, and looks over at the dog demon:

"...Are you alright?"

She then gasps, seeing Inuyasha was unconscious:

"Oh no!"

Kōga tries to land another punch at Kagerōmaru, but misses again, making another small crater in the dirt:

"...He got away on me again!"

(Zip, slash)

"Grrrh!"

He's then hit by Kagerōmaru in a surprise attack...On the sidelines, Miroku says,

"No. There's no way he'll ever win with an injured leg..."

Sango looks over to see that Coraline was trying to wake Inuyasha up:

"And Inuyasha's still unconscious!"

As Kōga whimpers on the ground from his injured leg, Kagerōmaru looks over at Coraline and jeers,

"(Chuckle) Perhaps I should eat your liver next, little girl, or maybe I should finish off that other boy while he's down?"

Coraline grits her teeth on the defense, and Inuyasha snaps awake:

"What?!"

Kōga lifts himself up some and says,

"Kagerōmaru, don't lay a hand on her!" But the demon begins to charge at her:

"I'll eat her bones and all!"

Coraline darts up, sword in hand, as Kōga rushes to try and stop Kagerōmaru:

"No you won't!"

But he's blocked by Jurōmaru!

"Too late!"

" _Spirit Slash!_ "

(SLASH)

...Coraline's attack was successful, and she leaves a cut mark across Kagerōmaru's body, plus cuts off one of his bladed arms!

"(Smirk) Ha! How's that for keeping up?"

Everyone was amazed at her success:

"She did it!"

At the same time, Besa's crystal finally activates:

(...Sheen)

"(Gasp) The shard...Auh, and Freeman's cut! It's beginning to seal!"

As he and Shippo cheer over the healing powers beginning to do their thing, Inuyasha snaps out of his daze and charges past Coraline to finish the job:

"Good one, Coraline! I have 'im from here!"

"You got it!"

(Leap)

"Now die!"

(Slash, swing)

He then leaves another injury on Kagerōmaru, before making another successful swing, yet misses contact...What amazed Sango, was how well he was handling his sword:

"What just happened? Did the sword just become lighter? He wielded Tessaiga with one hand!"

Miroku replies,

"He's so simpleminded, that when he got angry, he forgot how heavy the sword was."

Inuyasha retorts from afar,

"(Pant, pant) Simpleminded, huh?"

"He heard that?"

Ignoring Miroku, Inuyasha asks,

"Is he underground?" Coraline comes to his side and replies dryly,

"Looks that way...Nice add-on with Tessaiga, by the way."

She holds his shoulder as he replies,

"Thanks...You alright? I can smell your blood."

"It's just a few scrapes from Jarōmaru's attack before; I'll be fine. I'm more concerned about you, though. You're seriously hurt."

Meanwhile, Kōga says to himself while dodging some consecutive attacks from Jarōmaru,

 _So dog-breath's still alive, is he?_

The two sword-fighters watch, and Coraline remarks,

"He's not gonna be able to dodge for much longer with that bum leg..."

"Feh, like he'd be of any use to me...You're a better partner than that wolf cub."

Coraline was taken aback by the characterization, but smiles appreciatively:

"...Really?"

Inuyasha half-smile back and replies,

"Yeah. (Turn, frown) But I can get 'im. Stand back and watch the master; I can take out Jarōmaru by myse-uh!"

(Thud)

But just as he made that boast, the weight of Tessaiga got the better of him...Sango and Miroku comment from the sidelines,

"Did the Tessaiga get heavy again?"

"So it was his desire to protect Coraline that made it lighter."

As Inuyasha struggles to lift his blade from the ground, Kōga jeers,

"Coward! Lost your nerve, huh?!" Coraline glares at him and counters,

"Tch, that's rich coming from the demon who doesn't use his sword! (Smirk) What? Is that letter-opener on your hip for decoration, or a last resort when you're backed into a corner like a rabbit?"

Everyone gapes at Coraline, and Inuyasha laughs as he lifts his blade over his shoulder with both hands:

"Nice. She's got a point, wolf! Anyway,"

(Dash)

"I'll finish you off while I'm at it!"

(Zip)

"Guh!"

He screeches to a halt dodging Kagerōmaru, and Kōga dodges him and Jarōmaru, with the second mentioned incarnation dashing onward to Inuyasha:

"You're a dead man!"

(Swing)

Jarōmaru hops on and off the Tessaiga, and Kagerōmaru erupts from the ground to lunge at Inuyasha before diving underground again! Coraline then sees Jarōmaru coming back for another hit:

"Not this time, you freak!"

(Slash)

She unleashes an Aura Attack at Jarōmaru, hitting him dead-on, and throwing him back to the ground!

"Yes!"

But, upon standing up again, Coraline doesn't see any physical damage:

"Aw come on, what the hell?!"

Inuyasha pulls himself up with Tessaiga and says,

"That's weird: Your last attack did damage to Kagerōmaru..."

"Yeah, I don't get it either...Duck!"

They both drop down as Jurōmaru comes barreling at them again, but when he landed on the ground...

(Bzzzt)

Charges of ice-blue energy spark up around his body, which based on his pained expression, was causing some form of discomfort.

"Huh?"

"Okay, so it did do something...But what?"

There then came a series of spasmodic movements from Jarōmaru's arms, before he settled down again...

"Hey, Coraline: I think I know what's going on! These guys are suppose to be parts of Naraku, right?"

Coraline turns her head to where Besa was, and calls back,

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, wouldn't that mean they technically have only a fragment of a Soul, or something else that allows them to live? And your attacks are based on Soul Energy, right?"

"...Oh! I see what you're getting it: As incarnations, they can't be affected by Aura Attacks the same way a normal demon can!"

"Exactly! As for why his arms were moving so out control a moment ago...I think you might have screwed up his motor functions a bit!"

"What?"

Coraline looks at Jurōmaru with her Aura Sight, and sees,

 _(Gasp) His Aura Essence is sparking in his muscles! He's losing control of his normal function!_

Just as she comes to that realization, Jurōmaru charges at her, and she dodges his fist, which came flying towards himself, and he dips backwards to dodge his own fist!

"Whoa!"

Inuyasha hops over to Coraline's side and asks incredulously,

"Did he just seriously almost hit himself?!"

"Yeah...My Aura Attack caused his Essence to spiral out of control: He's slowly losing the ability to use his motor skills properly. Which might be good or bad..."

"Why bad?"

"Because that means his movements may become more unpredictable than earlier..."

They then split up to dodge Jarōmaru again...Sango watches from outside the battlefield and comments,

"If this battle goes for any longer, even Inuyasha won't be able to hold out." Miroku adds,

"And there's no way of knowing where Kagerōmaru will emerge from next..."

By this time, the twins were able to move over to where the other two were, albeit carefully to mind Freeman's back. Said boy groans and says,

"If only I could move. I could whack my hammer onto the ground and force the bastard out with some seismic vibrations..."

Sango thinks on his words...then softly gasps with a smile and replies,

"Wait...That gives me an idea! Miroku, give me your staff please."

"Why? What do you have planned?"

She takes out a small clam shell with purple powder from her holster and presses the end of the staff into it:

"Watch: This poison won't last long, but it'll at least get Kagerōmaru out of the ground."

Hearing her plan, Lumos dives from the trees where they were and stops at around the middle of the battlefield, bobbing up and down intently.  
Besa watches and says,

"I think Lumos is saying that's the spot to throw the staff."

Sango nods at the Will O' Wisp and tosses the staff to the spot:

(TOK)

It connects with the dirt...and the powder takes effect, discolouring the dirt into a rust shade. Kōga stops to stare...before:

(Crash)

"Gyy-aaah!"

Kagerōmaru shoots out of the ground to get away from the poison! Miroku and Freeman were impressed:

"It worked!"

"Wow! Just like what I had in mind, only sneakier!" Sango then calls over to the others:

"Now capture Kagerōmaru! He's going to be slowed down by the poison!"

The demon hops up a few tree branches, cursing Sango:

"Damn you!"

Kōga then tries to punch him, but misses, and Inuyasha goes in with Tessaiga:

"You're mine now! Hrrrah!"

(PUNCH)

"Gah!"

But he's hit by Jurōmaru from behind, and flies into Kōga before crashing with him to the ground! Kōga does land on his feet, however, and says to Inuyasha sarcastically,

"Oh, that was just great, dog-boy. Now are ya gonna die this time 'round?"

Coraline calls back with worry:

"Inuyasha!"

She then hops back from Jurōmaru, and somersaults back to where the wold and dog demon were, before moving to help the more injured into a crouching position:

"I've got your back, Inuyasha. Don't strain yourself..." Kōga says to her reassuringly,

"Don't worry, Coraline. I can handle both demons on my own."

She glares at him while Inuyasha growls, and Kōga adds,

"Now that Kagerōmaru can't do his little underground trick, I'll take him out!"

(Dash)

"But you're going down first!"

As Kōga charges towards Jurōmaru, Inuyasha darts his eyes back and forth, sensing something off:

 _Why can't I sense Kagerōmaru? Is he hiding in the shadows somewhere?  
_

"(Gasp) I know where he is...!"

Zooming in on Jurōmaru's face, we see him opening his mouth a bit, revealing the shine from the beginning of the fight...

"Fool! Stay away from him, Kōga!"

"Take your own advice, why don'tcha?"

Inuyasha rises to a stand, and Coraline says to him in protest,

"Wait, don't go: You're too weak! Let me go and smite the demons!"

But Inuyasha shakes his head at her offer, before raising Tessaiga into the air:

"You stay here!"

Jurōmaru begins opening his mouth, just as Inuyasha leaps into the air with his sword at ready:

"Move it, or you're goin' down with those demons!"

Kōga glances behind him briefly, just as Kagerōmaru shoots out to attack:

"See you in Hell!"

"What?!"

"Your fate is sealed now!" Inuyasha retorts,

"We'll see about that!"

(Swing, SLASH)

Inuyasha brings down Tessaiga, and Kōga scrambles out of the line of fire, leaving Jurōmaru and Kagerōmaru wide open:

(BOOM)

...And just like that, the demons were destroyed! Coraline smiles at the success:

"Alright, Inuyasha!"

Shippo comments from the side,

"Nothing but ashes," with Miroku following in kind:

"He did it..."

Sango and the twins smile with relief, and Inuyasha remarks,

"It's over...despite someone getting in my way."

(CLONK)

"Gh!"

He's then bonked on the back of his head by a seething Kōga:

"You, fiend! Were you actually gonna kill me too?!" Inuyasha says nothing and sheathes Tessaiga...

"That's a good enough answer for me!"

"There you go."

"I'm gonna waste you!"

"Not on my watch you're not!"

Coraline sheathes ShatterSoul, and rushes over to the two, pushing them away from eachother, before standing protectively in front of Inuyasha:

"No more fights, you hear me?" Kōga then says to Inuyasha,

"Nothin' sacred to you when you're swingin' that thing around, isn't it, dog-boy?"

Coraline isn't pleased by his continuance to act bitter:

"(Glare) Stop it, Kōga. I won't let you hurt him. Besides, with your enhanced speed, it was obvious you were gonna get out the way in time."

Inuyasha says to her,

"Don't bother explaining anything, Coraline. It's not worth your trouble."

He then shoots a glare at Kōga and says,

"Listen: If you ever get in my way again, next time I really will kill you."

"I'd like to see you try it, you lame excuse for a half-dog!"

"Pardon?"

Coraline had all she could take, and snapped:

"That's it!"

(Swipe)

"Guh!"

She then brings out her combat knife, and points it threateningly at Kōga's throat!

"Auh, C-Coraline!"

"Shut it. You've got two options: Back off and leave, or I slash your throat and coat my blade in your blood!"

Jaws dropped from the sight, before Freeman and Besa comment together with spirited smiles,

"That's our sister for ya."

Kōga then glares mildly at the heated redhead and asks,

"Coraline: You're my woman. Why should I leave your safety in the hands of that incompetent mutt-face?"

Inuyasha growls, but then Coraline counters,

"Firstly: I ain't nobody's woman, least of all yours. And second, unlike you, Inuyasha sticks around while you leave. What kind of message do think that sends?"

"Uh...uh..."

"No answer? Thought so. (Sigh) Kōga, you need to move onto another girl that's not me: I'm not about to fall for someone whose only gonna constantly pop in and out of my life. That's not screaming dependable. If anything, it makes you a deadbeat hero."

Kōga gasps, Inuyasha was shocked, and the twins snicker while whispering,

"She's got a point there."

"That must've stung..."

...Once his shock wore off, Kōga huffs, before turning and leaving without another word, much to Miroku's and Sango's surprise:

"Huh?"

"He left her..."

Inuyasha shakes off his stupor and calls at the retreating form:

"Get back here, you coward!"

Coraline turns to him and places a hand on his shoulder with a calm expression:

"Don't waste your energy on the idgit, Inuyasha. Now come on, let's see to your injuries, eh?"

Inuyasha looks at her funny, before asking,

"...Did you mean what you said?"

"Hm?"

"You think he's a deadbeat hero?"

"...Well, yeah: He pops by and saves the day, before leaving just as quick. What the hell kind-of dependability is that?"

She then smiles softly and adds,

"You, on the other hand, have been with me since the beginning, along with everyone else here. That makes you the better man than that wolf-boy will ever be."

Inuyasha was taken aback...before grinning a bit from her words:

"Keh, damn right I'm the better man."

Coraline giggles from his quick change of mood, as Miroku and Sango watch from afar with smiles:

"Well, things seem to be ending a bit more peacefully than usual. (Nervous smile) I'll certainly need to remember this incase I accidentally set Coraline off in the future...Shall we be off, Sango?"

"Sure. We should see to your wounds, (Turn) and make sure Freeman's back wound is okay."

He's lifted from the ground to his feet by Besa and replies,

"I'm holdin' up fine, Sango, but thanks for caring-ouch!"

"Sorry, brother."

"It's cool, just move your hand over a bit."

As they all make their way out of the area, Shippo says to the remaining pair with his own smile,

"You two really aren't fighting as much anymore...and I'm glad."

He scampers off to catch up, as Inuyasha and Coraline look at one another...before glancing away with matching light blushes:

"(Cough) U-Um, shall we head out with the rest?"

"R-Right...We need to address your scrapes too, after all."

Lumos comes floating to their sides, settling on Coraline's shoulder, and she wraps a caring arm around Inuyasha's torso, he placing an arm over her shoulders, before all three begin making their trek out of the forest...


	53. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52: Onigumo's Heart Still Beats Within Naraku**

Zooming into the interior of Kaede's Hut back in the Goshinboku Village, we find everyone in our group safe and content, with some receiving more medical treatment from their battle with Jurōmaru and Kagerōmaru...

"Alright. That should do it for that scar in your stomach and back...(Mutter) Shoot, and that's the last of the salve too."

Coraline puts the squeeze bottle down, and wipes her hands with a small towel, before re-wrapping Inuyasha's bandages around his torso and over his shoulder. She glances over her shoulder at Besa, who was applying a clear solution to Freeman's wound, which was starting to seal and scar over:

"Besa. Can you add the herbal salve to the list too?"

"Sure. I'll add it after 'Silver Shield'."

"Thanks."

As she turns to cap the empty bottle while moving to stand, she grimaces a bit from a scrape on her leg and knee. Inuyasha turns his head to her and asks,

"You okay?"

"Yeah. My scrapes are just actin' up a bit...All the more motivation to head back to my era and restock on first aid supplies."

"Hm..."

Inuyasha felt a small frown come to his face at the thought of Coraline heading back to her time, but knew that it was necessary...Coraline repacks the empty bottle into the first aid container, before packing that into her satchel and hoisting it over her shoulder. She then walks over to the left wall of the hut where her brothers were sitting, and holds her hand out to the less injured of the two:

"I can get everything myself, and you can stay here with Freeman."

"You sure?"

"Mhm. Plus, I have some homework assignments I need to hand in, so this is as good time as any."

Besa nods, and lightly tears out the list from his small notebook:

"Here."

"Thanks."

She then places a hand on Freeman's shoulder with an apologetic smile:

"I'm still sorry you got hurt, bro. But thank you for protecting me. Don't strain yourself while I'm gone, okay?"

"I won't, and no apologies necessary. I made the decision to be your human shield, and I'd do it again."

Coraline nods, before turning to address everyone else:

"Okay, I just need to get more first aid supplies and do some updating for school. I should be back by the late afternoon, evening at latest if I'm delayed."

Inuyasha almost smiles at the thought of Coraline not being gone long, but did not express it in full, instead turning to look at her with intent and reply dryly,

"Keh, alright. You better not be late, or you'll be hearing from me."

Coraline does a mock salute and says jokingly,

"Yes, sir."

Everyone laughs a bit, before she waves and exits the hut:

"See ya all soon. Stay out of trouble 'til I return."

"Bye, Coraline." "See ya soon, sis!"

And she was gone...Besa returns his focus to Freeman's back, and re-wraps the wound:

"Alright, brother. You're done. Be careful not to pull your muscles too much or lean hard against the wall."

"I got it."

Kaede looks towards them and remarks,

"Tis quite miraculous that yer injury is not any worse than it is at present, young man. If not for the healing crystal ye and yer brother each possess, yer life may have been in jeopardy."

Freeman carefully pulls on a loose gray t-shirt, and replies with a weak smile,

"Yeah, I know. I'm just as thankful, Lady Kaede. Now my wound's probably lookin' only as bad as Inuyasha's...At least after this experience, Besa and I can start figuring out how to activate that healing ability with better ease."

Miroku, whose arm was in a sling, smiles and replies,

"It would be a tremendous asset to our group if you two can heal severe injuries, even if it's only to the point of resealing."

"Right. I think it's because these are only shards of the original Seven Light Crystals that they can only heal so far...Still, better somethin' than nothin', right?"

Miroku nods, and Inuyasha scoffs,

"Feh, well even if you guys can find a way to do it, _I_ definitely won't need that with my blood."

"That, and you prefer our sister taking care of you."

Inuyasha darts his head towards the twins, who were snickering with teasing smiles, and he barks back with an embarrassed blush,

"D-Don't be stupid! That's not it at all!"

"Suuuure it isn't..."

As Inuyasha sputters from the twins and their accusations, Coraline was approaching the Bone Eater's Well while thinking,

 _I'm glad that Inuyasha isn't in a bad mood. I was worried that the aftermath of that battle we just came from would have left his temper more riled than before..._

 _Mostly 'cause of that stupid wolf._

 _(Flash)_

 _"Coraline: You're my woman..."_

 _(Flash)_

 _Ugh, that guy...though it looked like I may have broken through his insistent badgering this time..._

 _Heh, I probably could've held back my tongue a bit on that threat, but I was ready to blow my stack at that point, and...I wanted to protect Inuyasha..._

As she sat herself on the lip of the well, a smile came to her lips as she thought of the ending to that adventure:

"...But I guess my flaring temper did do something good in the end: Inuyasha remained calm, and, I felt like we became closer...We were fighting alongside one another, like an unstoppable duo."

Coraline's cheeks became a bit rosy as she remembered,

"And, t-then we, held eachother while walking away from the fight...(Shakes head) No, Cora, don't go daydreaming like a ditsy schoolgirl...Besides, he's my best friend, and, I don't want to change that."

Letting out a breath, she pushes herself into the well...

Scene Shift: Shrine Village

At the same time our group was resting up, we find the wandering priestess Kikyō hanging some laundry on a clothesline, while several soldiers of various warring experience sat and stood around the area...

Suddenly, a trio of small birds sense something amiss, and take off...Kikyō senses the change too:

"Hm?"

She walks over to the forest edge, and addresses the source of the atmosphere shift:

"...Naraku, I know you're in there."

(...Rustle)

" _Hmm, sharp as usual, Kikyō._ "

"How could I not notice you? And not only today, but you've come to spy on me quite often recently."

" _Hmph..._ "

Kikyō smiles knowingly and remarks,

"You seem to be quite interested in me recently..."

...She then holds a hand to her mouth as she lets out a laugh, and Naraku asks,

" _Something amuse you?_ " She smiles smugly and replies,

"Come now: It's obvious that the reason you're so interested in me, Naraku, is because...you still have Onigumo's heart beating strongly within you."

...There's no vocal response, before a stronger gust of wind blows through the trees, causing Kikyō to wince a bit...Once the wind dies down, she says to herself,

"Hah, now he's gone," before walking back to the shrine...

Present-Day Tokyo, Coraline's POV

I made it back to my era no problem, and after climbing out the well, I made my way to the sliding glass entrance of the house:

(Slide...)

"Hey all! I'm back!"

I came into the dining room/kitchen, seeing that everyone was just about to have breakfast. Grandfather would be the first to respond:

"Eh? I-It's Coraline!" Souta looks up from his bowl of rice with a similar expression of surprise:

"Hiya, Cora."

Akari-sama smiles at me and moves to stand from her seat while greeting me:

"Oh, welcome back, darling. Did you want a bath or something to eat first?"

"That's kind of you to offer. (Yawn) I think I'll just take a quick shower before I head out to get some supplies."

"(Nod) Of course. Oh, dear, your knees..."

"Mm?"

I looks down at where she was looking, and smile weakly before replying,

"Oh these? Don't worry, they're just scrapes. The others have it worse; Freeman almost got his back torn out thanks to a demon we fought a few days ago. If not for Besa...(Shudder) I don't wanna think about it."

"Say no more, dear. I understand. (Smile) I'm assuming they're still over there resting with everyone else?"

"Mhm."

She begins leading me out the kitchen while chiding,

"Just put your bag down and I'll get some clean clothes and band-aids for you while you shower."

"Thank you."

On the way out, my ears caught Grandfather and Souta commenting,

"That didn't sound like a typical conversation between mother and daughter..."

"More like a chat between a husband who returned from a trip and his wife."

I almost let out a laugh, while I thought on their words:

 _...I feel more like a samurai returning from war, but whatever floats their boats._

Once I was done showering, I wrap a towel around my body before I begin pat-drying my hair in the bathroom. Grandfather and Souta pop their heads in for a moment, and the former asks,

"So Coraline, how long are you going to gift us with your presence this time?"

"Just a couple hours, Grandfather. I have a list of first aid supplies that I need to restock on, then when I come back, I have some updating to do for my online schooling. (Turn) Souta, while I'm out, could you please help by pulling up my assignments due list?"

"Sure."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

I get dressed, slipping on a pair of jeans, t-shirt, jacket and my hikers, before heading out the shrine with a reusable shopping bag and my wallet...

As I made my way down the stairs, I say aloud to myself,

"Inuyasha, everyone...Hope you're all getting the rest you deserve."

Come about a half-hour of jogging, I reach my destination: Hōjō's Herbal.

(Ding)

"Oh, Coraline, hi!"

I look over to the counter and see said boy working the register while his mom was writing in the big logbook they had:

"Mm? Oh, Hōjō, hey. Been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, a few weeks. Have you been well?"

I walk over to the counter and casually reply,

"Mhm. I've been doin' well. Just need to pick some things here for some, friends of mine."

Hōjō's Mother, who like her son knows nothing of the true details to what's really going on with my life, but has welcomed me as a regular customer, looks up with a smile and replies,

"Ah, I see. Anything in particular this round?"

"I brought a list, actually."

I hand it over to her, and she gives it the once over...

"Ah yes, we should have everything here. I can grab it all if you'd like."

"That'd be great. Thank you, ma'am."

"Of course, Coraline dear."

As she walks over to some shelves, Hōjō turns to look at me with a raised brow:

"Why all these medical supplies?"

 _Shoot...I'll need to dig deep for a good cover. Nothing too wild, but more convincing than Grandfather's old excuses._

"Well, my friends and I have been traveling around Japan for a couple weeks now to some of the more, unique hiking areas. We like to explore the more treacherous regions, you see: Really challenge ourselves. We of course go in prepared, hence the medical supplies."

"(Smile) Oh wow, that sounds exciting."

"Yeah, it is."

 _Phew, that was close...That lie was actually remotely close to the truth..._

I then hear a phone ring, and I glance by the register to see what I'm assuming to be Hōjō's cellphone go off:

"That you?"

"Oh, yeah. That's probably, Yumi..."

"Yumi? Oh, right: My bros mentioned that you and she have been seeing eachother as of late. How's that going?"

"Good...well, for the most part..."

I see an uncharacteristic frown appear on his face, like he was frustrated about something. I decide to ask out of the sake of conversation and curiousity:

"...Is everything alright?"

"Well, actually...(Sigh) We got into a fight a few days ago, and we're having trouble making up."

"Oh. That's not good."

He nods, before looking at me with a sad expression:

"I do want to make up with her, but, I just don't know how."

"Was the fight that bad?"

"Mhm..."

I felt a sympathetic expression rise onto my face:

 _Poor Hōjō: A sweet guy like him deserves to be happy with the girl he loves...  
_

I glance at the store clock and note the time:

 _...You know what, I don't have to be back for a while yet. Maybe I'll detour for a moment and help a good heart out._

I turn to look at Hōjō's dejected form with a small smile:

"Say, Hōjō: I don't have to go home right away. If you'd like, we could head to the cafe a few blocks away, and you can regale what happened between you and Yumi. Maybe I can give you some advice that'll help."

He breaks out a hopeful smile:

"Really? You'd do that? I don't want to take up your time."

"Not at all."

"Thank you so much, Coraline!" He looks over at his mom and asks,

"Mom, is it okay if I take my break after she's done paying for her things?"

"Of course, dear."

"Great!"

I shake my head a bit with a inaudible laugh at the boy's eagerness:

 _Almost reminds me of Shippo whenever I present him with candy and crayons..._

 _Speaking of, I wonder what everyone's doing back in Edo?_

Once I make my purchases, I begin heading out the door with Hōjō while thinking somewhat warily,

 _I just hope Inuyasha's keeping busy...and doesn't find out about this._

 _Getting jealous over K_ _ōga is bad enough, but god forbid if he learns about H_ _ōjō._

Sengoku Edo, Naraku's Castle, No POV

Shortly after his encounter with Kikyō, we find Naraku pondering over what she had said to him:

 _...Ha. I could finish off a woman like that anytime I want to._

 _...But maybe the reason I can't, is that the heart of Onigumo still beats within me, and he coveted Kiky_ _ō's love above all things in this world.  
_

He clenches his fist:

 _Onigumo's heart...hmph._

 _Such a shallow, evil criminal man: He was unable to move and yet yearned for Kikyō at such a degree, that he offered his body up to a host of demons, to be reborn as myself.  
_

...The sky outside the structure darkens, channeled by the resentfulness that was brewing in Naraku:

 _It's that fool of a mortal's heart that which aches for Kikyō...and it has begun to affect me._

(Lightning crack)

...He then smirks to himself, trying to reassure himself of his goals:

 _Nonsense! You completely underestimate me, Kikyō, for I am Naraku, and nothing like Onigumo._

He looks down at the jewel fragment in his palm:

 _Now that the Shikon-no-Tama is nearly restored to its glory, I find Onigumo's heart useless and rather unnecessary._

(...Sheen)

The large fragment begins to glow...

Down some ways away from the illusionary palace, we see a swarm of the Insects of Hell buzz over a marsh inland through the stormy downpour, before:

(...Splash)

A giant red-skinned Shinidamachū shot out from the water!

Scene Shift: Shrine Village

As Naraku broods over his human origins and Kikyō's accusations, we turn to the shrine where the latter is temporarily residing, as everyone begins noticing the weather beginning to change:

"...What's that dark cloud?"

"It's been hanging over the temple for some time now."

"...It's sure ominous-looking."

Kikyō observes the rolling cloud cover...before noticing several dozen orbs of light beginning to manifest:

 _...Those lights are Souls. Something is devouring Souls._

It was then that the red-skinned Shinidamachū showed itself from up high in the sky, causing everyone to become more on edge:

"W-What is that thing?!"

The priestess recognized the creature right away:

 _I know what it is. Naraku's coming after me!_

She ran into the shrine and snatched up her bow and quiver, knowing that staying here wasn't a good idea. One soldier asks,

"Lady Kikyō, what's wrong?" But she answers,

"I must borrow your horse," before running back out.

"Lady Kikyō!"

(Clop-clop-clop-clop-clop...)

Kikyō was now riding as far away as she could from the village with her Shinidamachū allies, as the giant red one came charging towards her, devouring all the Souls in the area it could get!

"(Gasp)"

 _That, demon! Does it intend to consume all of the Souls in this region?!_

 _I won't allow it!  
_

Hearing the silent order, her Shinidamachū allies fly upward to attack the giant, but were unable to deal any real blows...Soon, Kikyō had run out of forest canopy, and stopped her horse at the edge before dismounting to try and take the giant demon down with her arrows:

(Twok)

Her sacred arrow flies, but does not make contact...The giant red Shinidamachū then circles down towards her, as her allies lose their strength and are destroyed, before it opens its mouth to suck away the priestesses Souls!

"Ah!"

 _No! It's stripping me of my own acquired Souls!_

She tries to shoot the demon again, but misses, and readies to fire her last arrow, only to lose grip on the arrow due to more of her Souls being taken! Seeing no other option, Kikyō mounts the horse again to escape:

"I...I can't!"

She rides fast away from the demon, but its speed proved too much, and as Kikyō shouts,

"Curse you," she looses her grip on the reins, and falls off the cliff-side!

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!"

Scene Shift: Goshinboku Village

As the wandering priestess received an unpleasant response from Naraku, our group back at Kaede's Hut was about to feast on some stew for dinner. Sango was sitting on Kaede's left, with Besa and Freeman kneeling beside her, while Miroku sat on the elder priestess's right, with Shippo sitting on his left, and Inuyasha laid on his side propped on one elbow in front of all of them.

Sango asks,

"Miroku, how is your wound doing now? Is it still hurting you?"

"No, it's fine now, thanks to the care I received from you and Lady Kaede."

He looks over where the twins sat and asks,

"And how are you two?"

"We're fine: My back's finally stopped throbbing,"

"And my shoulders aren't as stiff as earlier..."

Miroku nods, before going into thought over the events that brought about the collective injuries:

"...Naraku has many incarnations."

"You're talking about Jarōmaru and Kagerōmaru?" He nods at Sango:

"Yes. The fourth incarnation, Jarōmaru, is the younger sibling of the two. He lives only for the thrill of battle, and seems to pay no heed to Naraku's orders."

Besa jumps in with his thoughts:

"That didn't seem to matter in terms of the overall goal: Naraku obviously wanted to strike a major blow this time...Even so, his struggle to control Jarōmaru begs the question of just how much authority he really has over his subordinates..."

Sango then ponders over the second incarnation they all faced:

"And then there's Kagerōmaru, the older sibling who laid dormant inside Jarōmaru. Both of them are brutal and quite mysterious."

Freeman shivers from the memory of getting slashed by Kagerōmaru:

"I'll say this much, the older one of those bastards wasn't screwin' around. He knew what he was doing, and wasn't shy about making his point clear...It's a miracle he only slashed me and didn't try shooting through my chest."

Besa wraps an arm around Freeman to comfort him, and Kaede says in a serious tone,

"We don't know who or even what kind of enemy will attack next. I encourage ye all to be extremely careful and keep yer wits about ye."

They all nod, and Miroku turns his head to the dog demon who's been rather quiet through the entire conversation:

"Say, Inuyasha: Will you be heading off to the Well soon to make sure Coraline comes back in the next while?"

"Tch, there's no need to get all worried, monk. She said she'd be back soon, and she will."

Sango then says,

"In that case, will you do us all a favour and stop that nervous twitching? It's incredibly irritating."

Inuyasha makes a noise, but then stops his finger and foot tapping...Freeman then looks to Besa and says to him with a joking smile,

"Let's just hope that she hasn't been slowed down by Hōjō down at the shop, or it might be nightfall before she comes back."

Besa lightly slaps his arm and replies,

"Oh come on, like she's gonna get distracted by him? Please..."

...Inuyasha was suddenly on alert from the mentioning of the boy, and quickly moves to a sitting position while looking over at the twins with a suspicious scowl:

"Him? Who's this, Hōjō guy?"

Besa pinches the bridge of his nose and whispers to his brother,

"Nice going, Freeman. Now were gonna have to explain about him and try not to set Inuyasha off."

"Don't worry, I got this. Just follow my lead."

Freeman then focuses on Inuyasha with a smile and explains:

"He's just a guy about our age who works at his family's medicinal herb shop back in our era. He's nice, but a bit of a naive pushover. He has been pining over sis for a while..."

Inuyasha growls a bit and replies in a strain,

"Has, he?"

"Yeah, but she's barely an acquaintance to him for there to be anything goin' on, and anytime he did try to ask her out, she always turned him down."

...Inuyasha relaxes a little, and Besa chimes in:

"Coraline's type of guy doesn't include ones that are too sweet. Plus, he's going out with a girl named Yumi, so any old feelings he had for Cora have more than likely vanished by now."

Freeman looks at Besa funny:

"Hold on: It hasn't been confirmed if he and Yumi are a thing."

"Oh yeah? (Smirk) The why did I catch them kissing in the park a fortnight ago when I went back to get some things from our apartment?"

Freeman gapes, before smirking back:

"Shut up, you did not!"

"Did so! Saw it clear as day."

"...Damn, didn't think Mister Nice Guy would go PDA that quick."

They both laugh a little, before Inuyasha cuts back in:

"So what I'm hearing is that this Hōjō guy has no chance in hell with Coraline, right?"

Freeman eyes at Inuyasha and replies,

"Right as rain."

"Huh...okay...You said that she has a, type of guy she likes...Do you know what?"

Everyone stares at Inuyasha with mild surprise at his hesitant question, and the twins share a look, before turning back to him to reply,

"We do,"

"But we won't say."

"What? Why not?" Freeman replies with an incredulous expression,

"Dude, ever hear of 'sibling-to-sibling confidentiality'?" Inuyasha counters with a deadpan,

"Have you met my brother?"

"...Oh right, heh, almost forgot: You barely have a relationship with him to have the privilege of sibling secrets."

Besa shakes his head at Freeman's sweatdrop smile, before saying to Inuyasha simply,

"If you really want to know, you'll have to ask Cora yourself."

He then smiles knowingly at the other and adds,

"Though I find it a bit odd that you would ask such a question...unless there's something you're not sharing."

Inuyasha backs up on the defense with a nervous expression, and Freeman asks with a coy smirk,

"Well? Is there somethin' you're not saying aloud, perhaps, relating to your feelings towards Coraline?"

Everyone else was looking towards the dog demon at this point, also curious for the answer...Inuyasha growls before slapping a hand on the floor and retorting quickly,

"Listen up, ya twin sleuths: There ain't anythin' I gotta explain to ya, or anyone else here for that matter!"

He then stands up and adds,

"You're just exaggerating things, end of," and then he dashes out the hut...

Everyone stares at the flapped door for a few seconds, before Freeman asks everyone blankly,

"So we all know he was full of it, right?"

And they all nod with smiles, Shippo fighting to contain his laughter...

Inuyasha's POV

I took off from the hut and went all the way to the Bone Eater's Well just to get away from everyone's prying...I'm now sitting with my arms propped on the lip of the well, trying to cool my aggravation:

"Stupid Freeman and Besa, getting me all gun-ho for sport...And damn Coraline, making me wait..."

 _At least this time when she left for her era, it wasn't on a bitter note..._

"(Smirk) Heh, it was pretty funny watchin' her get mad at that mangy wolf, even if she did sound a bit crazy at the end..."

 _And what she said afterward to me, that I was the better man...That I'm the one who stays after the wolf goes..._

 _Coraline, don't be too much longer, okay? You said you'd be back by this evening at latest._

"(Frown) That boy the twins mentioned better not be slowin' ya. Even if he does have a girl of his own...I, want to be the only man you think of."

 _Whoa, what?! Where'd that thought come from?_

 _...Unless...maybe, they're right...Maybe I do-_

Before I could finish my thoughts, my ears picked up on a strange sound from the treetops:

"Huh?"

 _A demon's scent?_

I stand up to look towards the sky...and flying overhead, was this huge red-skinned version of the Shinidamachū I've seen before!

 _Wh-What the?! A giant Soul Collector?!_

I then sensed another presence coming through the woods, and look ahead, only to see,

"Ki...Kikyō?!"

"I-Inu...yasha...Uh!"

She collapses on her front, and I gasp before rushing to help her:

"Kikyō!"

I lift her into my arms and ask,

"It looks like you're injured; what happened to you?!"

I turn to look over my shoulder and notice that the Insects of Hell were droning in...

 _Naraku's poisonous insects. Is this one of his tricks?_

I feel a shift, and look down to see Kikyō struggling to stay conscious:

"Wh...Where, is it?"

I assumed she was talking about the giant Shinidamachū, and I look up at it with a growl, putting two and two together:

 _Naraku must be trying to get rid of her..._

 _Well, I won't let him. I'll never let Naraku harm Kiky_ _ō!_

As the beast dive-bombs, I leap out of the way in time with Kikyō in my arms, before dashing off away from the Bone Eater's Well:

 _Can't let that thing damage the only link between my world and Coraline's...I'd kill me if she couldn't come back..._

 _But right now, I need to focus on keeping the woman currently in my arms safe!_

(Leap)

After dodging another attack, I lay Kikyō against the Goshinboku tree, and lightly squeeze her shoulder while chiding,

"Kikyō: I'll take care of that giant demon. You just rest easy here."

I then turn to where the giant Shinidamachū was and shout,

"Are you ready, worm?!"

I rush over to face the demon, and pull out Tessaiga:

"You picked a fight with the wrong guy, and now I'm gonna cut you down to size!"

...The demon charges at me, and I let out a war cry, before thrusting my blade right down the middle:

" _DIE!_ "

(SLASH)

...With the beast slain, the Souls it devoured were released, and a few of Kikyō's demon allies went to work to restore her with the ones she lost. I watch with a thoughtful expression:

 _...Kikyō couldn't stay alive without those Souls.  
_

I call out to her:

"...Kikyō!"

"(...Blink) Inu...yasha? What are-What are you, doing here?"

I quickly come to her and reply softly,

"That's what I was going to ask you. Why did you come here?"

"The demon was chasing me..."

"And you led it here knowing that I would rescue you."

"(Glare) Don't be a fool, Inuyasha. I was running blindly for my life when I happened to come upon you."

I retract back in surprise from her cold response:

"...Kikyō."

Coraline's POV

"Haaaah, finally, last one."

It's now close to six in the evening, and I'm in my room with the scanner copying the last of my homework assignments for this month into my online account...

As I wait for the last of my math to be downloaded, I think back to my chat with Hōjō earlier at the cafe:

"...I'm glad I could help him patch things up with Yumi. It's hard to believe such a sweet-looking girl could get so jealous of that highschool fan-service nonsense...Almost reminds me of Sango when she got green-eyes during Miroku and Koharu's reunion and departure."

I let out a laugh at the memory, just as the tell-tale beep rings from the computer:

"Ulp, that's it then."

I make a few more motions with the keyboard and mouse, before everything is in their respected folders...

(Click)

"There. That concludes everything for this month and a bit of the next..."

As I move my hands away from the keyboard, I found myself pondering over what Hōjō and I talked about as he saw me to the shrine stairs...

Flashback, A Few Hours Earlier  


 _"Really? You, actually had a crush on me for two years since that festival in the park?"  
_

 _Hōjō turns to me with a sheepish smile as we walk down the street and replies,  
_

 _"Yeah. It was during your turn on the mic in that singing contest: You, sounded amazing, and the outfit you wore really fit the grunge rock genre."_

 _"...Wow. I, wasn't even aware you were in the audience."_

 _As we turn down the next corner, I look at him apologetically and say gently,_

 _"I'm sorry if I downgraded your expectations: I do think you're a sweet guy, but, I just don't think we have the right chemistry. Bookish though I am, I also have a steady streak of being a rough tomboy if you can believe it..."_

 _He smiles at me sadly and replies,_

 _"Yes, I, heard from a mutual friend of mine about what you and your brothers did at the docks a while back. But I know you were only doing the right thing, even if it was rather, rebellious...I guess I always knew that you and I could never really be. I just didn't want to believe it; I wanted to keep thinking we stood a chance."_

 _"(Smile) Hey, at least one of us believed it."_

 _We both laugh, and he says with a more blissful smile,_

 _"Now that I'm with Yumi, I feel, so happy for the future. She makes me feel, like I'm on top of the world."_

 _"I'm glad for you,_ _Hōjō. It was lucky that she came into the cafe as we were leaving so you could patch things up."  
_

 _"Mhm..."_

 _We reach the shrine stairs, and before I walk up, he says to me,_ _  
_

 _"Thank you for helping me fix things with Yumi. I really appreciate it."_

 _"No problem. You two make a sweet couple; it'd be a shame if one spat destroys what you have. Just remember: Communication is key."_

 _"(Nod) Of course...Also, I'm sorry if, after all this time, my pursuits came off as annoying to you."_

 _"Uh...Oh,_ _Hōjō...No, I should be apologizing for blowing you off so abruptly all those times. I should've been straight with you from the beginning."  
_

 _I take his hand and squeeze it while adding softly,_

 _"Maybe, in another life, I would've accepted your courtship, but here..."_

 _"Yeah...I understand, and it's okay: If it was meant to be, there would've been signs. (Gentle smile) I hope whoever you find love with will know just how lucky they are to be with a girl like you."_

 _"(...Smile) Thank you. I hope so too. Goodbye,_ _Hōjō."_

 _"Goodbye, Coraline."_

End Flashback

"(Sigh) If only I can be as hopeful for love as he is..."

I turn to look at the clock on my nightstand...and see that it's six-thirty!

"...Oh crap!"

I quickly turn off the computer, and scramble to get my things ready:

"Thank god I packed ahead! I gotta get back or I'll get an earful from everyone!"

I pull down a red/black checkered flannel shirt from a hanger in my closet, and slip it on over my t-shirt before hoisting my satchel over my shoulders. I snatch up my shoes and start heading down the stairs calling,

"I'm heading back now! I'll see you all as soon as I'm able!"

Akari-sama, Souta and Grandfather call back,

"Good luck, dear!" "See ya, Cora!" "Safe travels, Coraline!"

I tie on my laces once I'm outside the house, before jogging towards my mode of transport:

 _Through the well and back again: That's the warrior's way!_

Sengoku Edo, No POV

Just as Coraline was making her way back to Edo, Inuyasha was looking up at the remaining souls glittering with the stars that were slowly appearing in the night sky, thinking about himself and Kikyō:

"...Over fifty years."

"What's that? What are you thinking, Inuyasha?"

He turns his eyes to the priestess and replies with a small smile,

"I was thinking how we really haven't changed that much considering fifty years have passed."

"(Bitter smile) Don't talk nonsense. I have changed alot."

Kikyō then looks to the sky as she adds,

"Since that time, long ago when I sealed you to the tree we're under..."

"It was because of Naraku's deceptions that we hated eachother, so much that you trapped me here for fifty years. And then you died."

As the Shinidamachū continue to gather Souls for the priestess, Inuyasha then softly asks,

"Kikyō...be honest: Have I changed?"

...She only stares, unable to answer...Inuyasha then says with a more serious expression,

"Before I knew of Naraku's existence, there was no doubt that I burned with resentment over what you'd done to me, but then you told me...that my life was yours...And...yours is mine."

"Uh...!"

Kikyō was taken aback...but then smiles somewhat smugly and replies,

"It seems you're not so different from Naraku after all."

"(Gasp) You're saying...(Narrows eyes) I'm the same as Naraku?!"

"Deep within Naraku, Onigumo's heart beats and still yearns for my touch."

"Onigumo's heart?"

"(Frown) He desired me, and having me kill you with my own two hands, was something that he dreamed about. It was something that the jealous heart of Onigumo's schemed for..."

"He was jealous, over something so ridiculous?"

"(Smile) Yes, ridiculous. But that's, what mortals are."

Inuyasha stares at Kikyō for a moment, before looking up in thought over what she said:

 _Onigumo's heart remains inside Naraku..._

"(Gasp) Wait, Kikyō: Does Naraku have feelings for you too now?!"

"...He is, reluctant to admit it, but I'm certain that he has a lingering desire for me. And in an effort to ease that feeling, he is trying to get rid of me."

Inuyasha begins to growl from the thoughts, and the Shinidamachū finish their job...Kikyō clenches her fist:

"Enough talk, Inuyasha. (Rise) These Souls have fully rejuvenated me."

"Kikyō. You aren't...You weren't actually planning to confront Naraku by yourself, are you? You're not strong enough. And I can't believe that he might be in love with you. (Shakes head) It's too much to bear!"

...Zooming back to the Bone Eater's Well, we see a familiar brown satchel tossed out, before the owner came climbing to the top:

"(Grunt) Made it."

Once she was upright, Coraline would begin walking down the direction for the village, noticing how dark it was outside:

"...Damn. I was hoping to have gotten back sooner. Hopefully, Inuyasha won't be too mad. Heh, maybe he might brighten up when I tell him I'll be school assignment-free for the next few weeks thanks to the good marks I got from my big cumulative exams."

It was then she sensed something strange in the air:

"...Hm?"

She looks up, and sees orbs of light flying through the sky:

"...Are those...Souls? Hm...they're heading for the Goshinboku Tree."

Coraline decides to make a small detour to see what was going on...When she got within a couple feet of the tree, she softly gasped, before ducking behind a tree to cloak herself from the two other bodies present:

 _...Inuyasha...and, Kikyō...I don't sense any hostility from either...but still: What are they doing?  
_

Focusing back at the pair, Inuyasha says to Kikyō firmly,

"I don't care how you feel about me now..." He steps closer to her:

"But I swear, I won't let Naraku have you either!"

Kikyō backs into the tree, and Inuyasha hugs her to him while proclaiming,

"Only I can protect you from him!"

"Uh!"

Coraline gasps from the gesture and words:

 _Inuyasha!_

Kikyō struggles in his hold:

"Let, me, go!"

...But then, she slowly stops fighting, and gently embraces back. As the pair continue to hug, Coraline felt her heart clench:

 _They really can't let eachother go, even after losing what they had so long ago..._

 _Oh Inuyasha...Kikyō..._

Putting on a brave face, she strains her ears to listen as Inuyasha says to Kikyō softly,

"I will slay Naraku myself, so you won't have to fight anymore...I will protect you..."

"Inuyasha..."

"...Kikyō..."

...Suddenly, Kikyō reaches into her sleeve, and pulls out a small knife! Coraline grits her teeth, but before she could make a move to stop the other woman, Inuyasha snaps out of his daze to see the blade pointed at his throat:

"Guh! Kikyō!" She lets out a small laugh and says,

"Another example of how men are pathetic fools: You have this belief that once you embrace a woman, she belongs to you."

Coraline makes a fist at her words:

 _...No...No, that's not true! Inuyasha's not that type of man! I know he isn't!_

Inuyasha tries to reason with Kikyō:

"Listen..."

"Don't move. I've learned something from watching you just now: As long as the heart of the weak and pathetic Onigumo beats within Naraku...there will be an opportunity for me, and that will give me the chance I need to totally destroy Naraku."

Both dog demon and hidden redhead were shocked by the priestess:

"Kikyō..."

 _Oh Kikyō...you really have embraced the darkness of your Soul...  
_

With that, the Shinidamachū surround Kikyō's body and lift her into the air, much to Inuyasha's protest:

"Ah, Kikyō! Don't go!"

As she floats away, Kikyō thinks to herself while gazing at Inuyasha, then briefly at Coraline's hidden form,

 _Once the threads of fate are tangled, they cannot be undone..._

And she fades away into the night, while Inuyasha calls her name:

"...Kikyōōōōōōōō!"

Scene Shift: Naraku's Castle

At the same time Inuyasha and Kikyō had that bittersweet word exchange, Naraku, who had lowered the top part of his robes, was preparing to act upon his decision of doing something to still the heart of Onigumo:

"Heh, Envy...A mortal emotion leaking from the simpering heart of that fool Onigumo."

He glares at his reflection in the katana he held:

"Never..."

(...Stab, hack)

Scene Shift: Goshinboku Village

Back at Kaede's Hut, she and Miroku catch onto the presence of the Souls that had been released upon the defeat of the giant red-skinned Shinidamachū:

"Those lights are disconnected Souls..."

 _...My sister Kikyō. She is somewhere nearby.  
_

...Moving back to the fabled tree, we see Inuyasha staring off into space with an expression of longing and grief, while Coraline cringed to herself:

 _This...This is all so...I can't even find the right words._

She felt her feet give way, and slid to her knees, stirring Inuyasha's senses:

"Huh?"

He turns to where Coraline was hiding...and she slowly stands up, before coming out into the open.

 _Coraline...So she was watching..._

She stares into his eyes with a similar expression of sadness and regret:

 _Inuyasha...I'm, so sorry...This isn't fair to you. Neither of you._

 _...Damn it, why? Why did it come to this?!_


	54. Chapter 53

Hey all!

So sorry for the delay; this one took a little longer to write 'cause of all the details I wanted to include...

So, just to give a heads up, at around the end of this chapter, we will have a guest appearance of a popular character from the show _Gravity Falls._

This will not be their only appearance either: I plan to have them pop up a couple times in the story for a while until I find the right moment to end their guest time. They will also be somewhat on the OOC side, as I'm basing their appearance after the events of that series ended, but I will try to remain true to their original personality for the most part.

Anyway, here I ignite the following disclaimer that shall extend from here to the character's final appearance in my story:

I do not own the Plot nor the Characters of _Gravity Falls._ Rights and Ownership belong to _Alex Hirsch_ , his team and the _Disney Television Animation_ Co.

...Okay, that's enough from me. On with the adventure!

* * *

 **Chapter 53: Return to the Place Where We First Met**

Picking up where we last left our tale, we find Inuyasha and Coraline staring helplessly at one another, shortly after Kikyō had left the area...

Eventually, it would be the dog demon who spoke, his voice barely above a whisper:

"...Coraline."

She does not respond, and only looks down in thought:

 _...This isn't fair to him: His love has been unrequited, and yet he still chases aimlessly after her..._

 _Kiky_ _ō, has lost her way. Even if she does carry an inkling of love for him, her darkness continues to cloud her, and will not stop, until her goals are met..._

Coraline looks back up...before breaking out a sad and bitter smile, causing Inuyasha to retract slightly in surprise:

"Huh?"

The redhead shakes her head, placing her satchel down on the ground, before slowly approaching the other...and enveloping them in a gentle, comforting hug!

"Uh!"

Inuyasha was struck frozen, not expecting such a move:

 _C-Coraline! Why...Why is she...?_

She lays her head on his shoulder, and whispers,

"...I'm sorry..."

Coraline then retracts, that same sad smile on her face, and a tear escapes her eye, before she turns to walk away, grabbing her satchel on the way out of the area, leaving the dog demon alone with his thoughts...

Time Skip

"Alright, so here we have some more Silver Shield to help prevent minor infection, more Motrin to relieve sore muscles and headaches..."

It was now morning, and inside Kaede's Hut, Coraline was showing everyone what she brought back for their first aid kit:

"Oh yes, and I got more gauze, bandages, rubbing alcohol, and some herbs that aren't as easy to find here in Edo..."

Miroku, Sango and the twins were watching Coraline with wary and concerned expressions, after learning what she had witnessed and did last night at the Goshinboku Tree (Shippo was asleep beside Freeman)...

Once she was done, Coraline stood back up and said in a calm voice,

"Alright, that's everything. May as well start heading back. (Turn) Besa, you still comin'?"

He nods, and as he rises to his feet, Sango and Miroku ask,

"Coraline..."

"You're going back home now?"

"Well, I...I figured that I can drop this off, and I can head back to get a head start on an up and coming history exam. If I get a good grade, I'll have less homework assigned to me, then I won't have to frequent back to my era as quickly. Plus, Besa wanted to head back and restock on some clean clothes for he and Freeman, right bro?"

"Mhm. (Turn) You sure you don't wanna come back with me, Freeman?"

Freeman waves his hand causally and replies,

"Nah, I'm good. I'll stay here and keep Shippo entertained," before softly scratching the snoozing fox demon behind his ears...

"Alright."

Sango notices the faint break in Coraline's mask of content, and says to her gently,

"If you want my advice, you should at least try and speak with Inuyasha. He's probably feeling as terrible about last night as you are."

Coraline forms a small frown at Sango's advice:

 _That's just it: I'm not sure if we can talk about this..._

 _(Flash)_

 _"I don't care how you feel about me now...But I swear, I won't let Naraku have you either! Only I can protect you from him!"_

 _(Flash)_

 _He sounded, so desperate...And she was struggling with her feelings. I know she was..._

"...I wish it was that simple, Sango, but right now...(Sigh) Right now isn't the time to talk. He needs space, and so do I."

With that, Coraline exits the hut, and heads off to travel through the Bone Eater's Well, her mind sadly lamenting over the other troubled Soul on the drop down:

 _...Inuyasha._

Looking down the now empty well, Sango says to Miroku,

"Miroku...Coraline looked really depressed to me."

"...Yes, well, I can guess why she's feeling that way."

Besa approaches the two with both his and Freeman's satchels, and replies,

"Because her heart is aching for herself...and Kikyō."

"Huh?"

"I could see it her eyes as she spoke when she came to chat with Freeman and I last night: She feels sorry for Inuyasha, of course, but, despite what Kikyō's actions have been of late...Coraline feels pity for her, and wants to help her."

"You think so?"

"Mhm...(Sad smile) That's the thing about Cora's heart: She's incredibly selfless, and tends to think of how to help heal the hearts of others...Which means half the time, she ignores the scars on hers."

Miroku and Sango look at Besa in surprise...It was then they heard footsteps approaching, and they look up to see Inuyasha coming over to them, looking down with an expression similar to Coraline's when she left down the Well...

"Inuyasha..."

He stops just as Miroku stood up again:

"Inuyasha, Coraline went to her own time again."

"...I see."

"(Narrows eyes) Inuyasha, tell me: You went to see Kikyō, right?"

Sango looks at Miroku with a wary expression, as he further questions,

"And Coraline had spotted the two of you together..."

"Uh, well, yeah. She saw us, and, heard what was said."

Sango was appalled:

"How could you sneak around like that?!"

As Besa held his hands at the slayer to try and calm her down, Miroku notices something different about Inuyasha's usual demeanor...He walks over to the other and says,

"You must've been in something bizarre to achieve that look of enlightenment. What happened to make you seem so calm and spiritual?"

Inuyasha does not respond, and instead turns to walk away from the area, leaving the others somewhat concerned for him as well...Besa watches for a few minutes, before saying with a sigh,

"Okay, I gotta get goin' to mine and Freeman's apartment...I'll also keep an eye on sis."

"Alright, Besa." "Take care."

As the dark-skinned boy readies to hop down, he adds,

"Oh, and, don't be too harsh with Inuyasha, okay? Remember what I said earlier."

The monk and slayer nod, and with that, Besa jumps down...

Present-Day Tokyo, Coraline's POV

I'm now in my bedroom, having changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tank-top, and was lying on my bed watching Lumos glide around the room while thinking about...last night:

 _After Kikyō left the area, Inuyasha was staring at me with a strange look in his eyes...  
_

 _I know he was trying to tell me something, but...I chose to say something instead._

 _...Inuyasha's caught between a rock and a hard place...I feel bad for him._

I felt my eyes narrow into a glare thinking about the source of his and Kikyō's tragedy:

 _Damn him to hell, that Naraku...He had used their own images to pit them both against one another._

 _Kiky_ _ō placed Inuyasha under a comatose spell with her arrow, while she succumbed to her own wound created by Naraku...  
_

 _And it seems that the bastard is after her again._

I flip my body over so that my face was leaning against the pillow, as I sadly thought to myself,

 _...With all that on the line...Inuyasha doesn't seem to have much room for me in his heart._

 _Why would he, or any guy for that matter?_

I add as a sort-of solemn vow,

 _Kiky_ _ō stands a better chance to be with him, given that she's already sacrificed her life for him...  
_

 _Am I willing to make such a sacrifice?_

 _...Oh who am I kidding? Of course I'd give my life to protect my friends...and that's how it's gotta stay._

 _Whatever feelings I may or may not have...I have to stow them away, for his sake...and hers._

(Knock, knock)

"Sis?"

"Hm?"

I turn to see Besa standing in the doorway, looking at me with concern:

"...You okay?"

I sit up as he approaches and reply in a soft tone,

"...Not really."

He sits down on my left, and all is quiet for a few minutes...before I turn to hug him, crying softly from the emotional build-up.

...Besa hugs back with a hand on my head, whispering in a soothing tone,

"It'll be alright, sister...It'll be alright..."

Sengoku Edo, Inuyasha's POV

As the sun begins to set over the horizon, I found myself overlooking the village from atop a hill, my mind sadly wandering over Kikyō and Coraline:

 _I've tried...but I can't forget about her..._

 _So I've decided...Coraline...I can't see you anymore._

 _It'd be, too hard for either of us, no matter how sorry you may feel for myself, and her..._

Present-Day Tokyo, Coraline's POV  


"Mm...huh?"

I wake up the next morning, almost forgetting where I was...until I sat up and looked around the room:

"...Oh, that's right. I'm back in Tokyo."

 _And I think Besa stayed the night, camping in Souta's room._

"(Ghostly moan...)"

Lumos comes floating over to me in greeting...

"(Small smile) Mornin', Lumos."

I move to pull back the curtain and open the window, seeing Grandfather already outside doing the morning sweeping. My Will O' Wisp friend floats to the outside, and glides down to the courtyard, briefly stopping by Grandfather and causing him to jump a bit:

"(Distant) Good lord, how many times have I told you not to do that, you sneaky creature?!"

I let out a short-lived laugh, before a sad frown comes to rest on my face as I remind myself,

 _...Inuyasha's not going to come for me this time...and likely won't ever again._

I turn my head to the jewel shard bottle on my desk:

 _What to do...I brought the jewel fragments with me..._

 _Should I return them?_

I quickly retract that thought:

 _...No. I can't give up on the quest. I'm too far in to go back now._

 _(Sigh) But with my current state of mind, I won't be able to concentrate._

I move to get some clothes out of my drawer and closet, saying aloud to myself,

"I guess the only thing to do now is take some time to figure myself out...Once I can face the Well without my stomach churning in thought of, a certain dog demon, I'll go back."

 _In the meantime, I'll just go about my more normal routine...Heh, well, as normal as it used to be._

Once I was dressed and brushed my hair (My outfit consisted of a black t-shirt, a black/white checkered flannel shirt, gray cargo pants, and my black combat boots, reflecting my current mood), I left my room to meet everyone for breakfast. I met Besa on the way down, smiling weakly at him in greeting, he smiling gently back...

The silence at the table was rather, deafening. I almost wished I had started some form of conversation, but, my voice box was on the fritz...

As I ate some more of my breakfast, I heard Souta whisper to Grandfather,

"Coraline sure didn't stay there very long, and she hasn't spoken a word to us since she got back...I kind-of wonder if something happen to her."

 _Oh, if only I had the motivation to speak, I'd let you know how right you are..._

Grandfather nods and replies,

"Can only mean one thing..."

"...Her thumb's sore?"

"Boyfriend problems."

"Ooh...You think maybe she had a big argument with Inuyasha?"

 _I almost wish there was an argument..._

Grandfather then clears his throat and begins to ask,

"Coraline-" But then Akari-sama cuts in:

"Grandpa: I'm afraid my eyes are bigger than my stomach. Would you like my egg?"

"Oh, uh, don't mind if I do."

I finish my breakfast, and politely excuse myself from the table, before rising to put my dishes in the sink...It would be Souta's turn to try and ask me about yesterday:

"Hey, Cora-" And once again, Akari-sama interrupts:

"Souta. These pickles I bought are so crunchy and delicious. You should at least try one."

"Oh, uh, sure."

"And no need to do the dishes. I'll get to them later, Coraline."

I turn to reply,

"Okay...Thank you."

I bend down to give Buyo some pets just as Besa moves to put his dishes in the sink:

"Thank you for breakfast and letting me spend the night, Mrs. Higurashi."

"Of course, Besa dear."

I then snatch up my satchel, and begin heading out:

"I'll see you all later."

"Hey-" "Hey-"

"Have a nice day~."

No POV

Besa waves off to the Higurashis before rushing to catch up with Coraline...Once the teens were gone, Akari would release her hands from Grandfather's and Souta's mouths, and the elder would ask,

"What do you think you're doing?" Souta asks afterward,

"Yeah, mom: She's not lookin' too good, Besa isn't saying anything and we're kind-of worried. Aren't you?"

But she continues to go about this turn of moods with a smile, grabbing another pickle slice for herself:

"Mm, these pickles are out of this world."

The men just sweatdrop, while Akari thinks to herself reassuringly,

 _It won't do any good to make oneself sick with worry..._

 _Besides, Besa's a sensible boy: He's likely having similar thoughts regarding Coraline._

 _...Hope is not lost yet. I know it isn't._

Moving to the downtown area, Coraline and Besa make their way down one street, she trying not to falter, while he looks ahead with a blank expression...

Once they reach the library, Coraline says to her brother,

"Well, here's where I stop. You sure you don't want me to come along to your apartment?"

"It's okay. I can handle it all myself: I just need to shuffle some clothes for the laundromat...(Frown) What about you? You, holding up alright?"

"I'll survive...Let's meet at the grocery outlet around noon, 'kay?"

Besa nods, and just as Coraline turns to head inside the building, he gently grabs her shoulder:

"And Cora?"

"...Yeah?"

"...Hang in there. It'll work out for the better, I'm sure of it."

"(Sad smile) I hope you're right. Thanks for, being here for me and listening with Freeman the other night."

"Of course...See you later."

"Bye."

With that, the teens part, with Besa continuing down the sidewalk, and Coraline heading into the library...

Meanwhile, in Sengoku Edo...

After Shippo woke up yesterday, he was informed by Sango, Miroku and Freeman of Coraline and Besa's departure and their reasons for heading back to modern-day Tokyo. Even after Freeman tried to explain what his brother theorized regarding Coraline's true feelings about the events of the night before last, that didn't stop the little fox demon from calling Inuyasha out on his actions:

"Inuyasha! How could you stoop so loooow?! I mean, you were so upset when Kōga got friendly with Coraline, even though she turned his affections away every, single, time, and after all that fuss, you only wanna think about Kikyō now?!"

Freeman takes the fuming fox demon into his arms to try and calm him down:

"Take it down a notch, kiddo. There's no use blowing your stack over something so complicated..."

"How is this complicated? Inuyasha practically turned his back on Coraline!"

"Maybe on the surface, it looks that way, but underneath, I think it's Coraline that may have turned her own back on Inuyasha, and herself."

Shippo looks up at Freeman in surprise and confusion, as Sango finishes wrapping Miroku's arm with gauze and asks Inuyasha,

"You never had deep feelings for Coraline?" Miroku turns to the dog demon and says seriously,

"You are obliged to go see her, Inuyasha."

"Lay off, okay?! I've decided that I'm never gonna see Coraline again, ever..."

(Bonk)

Miroku plants his foot on the side of Inuyasha's head and says with an obvious look,

"Give it a rest. You've got a one track mind..." He then bends down to Inuyasha's level and adds,

"I mean go back and get the scared jewel fragments that Coraline took with her! Aside from Freeman and his brother, only you have the power to pass through the Well, Inuyasha."

"You say that as if Coraline's gonna give up on the quest."

"Huh?"

They, Sango and Shippo turn to Freeman in surprise, who had a calm smile on his face:

"Regardless of what's happened in these few days, I guarantee that Cor's not be over in our era for long. Her heart won't allow that: Once she's gotten far enough into something, there's no turning back, even if she has to endure some hardships along the way."

He then forms a small frown:

"Besides, it's like I just said to Shippo now: Besa and I know that she's not feeling any negativity towards Inuyasha. She's mad at herself for letting her tough girl guard down, and allowing herself to be emotionally vulnerable. And, she's also feeling pity towards Inuyasha and Kikyō's fruitless search for lost love."

Inuyasha snaps his head to the dark-skinned boy with a small growl, and Freeman stares him down with no fear, adding,

"You know I'm right. What you and she had is gone, and you're not going to get it back. You both need to face the truth and move on."

Small Time Skip, Inuyasha's POV

I'm now sitting on the fence by Kaede as she pulls out some grown herbs from her garden, trying not to let the words of my friends get to me...

"Inuyasha, are ye really sure ye want to go through with this?"

"Oh come on, Kaede, do I have to hear it from you too?"

"Remember that the Kikyō ye see now is conjured up from earth and bones. Ye wish to be with someone who is not of this world."

 _Her body may be different, but her spirit still remains, whatever part of it, that is..._

"Do ye fully appreciate the implications that the two of ye can never be together in this world? Deep down what this resurrected Kikyō wants is for both of ye to die together."

"That's fine...I am prepared to leap into Hell with Kikyō, if that is her wish."

 _If that is to be our destiny, I would embrace it without a second thought..._

...That being said...I, couldn't help but think of Freeman's words from earlier:

 _(Flash)_

 _"...What you and she had is gone, and you're not going to bet it back. You both need to face the truth and move on."_

 _(Flash)_

 _...But how am I suppose to move on with the truth, when she can't accept that we lost what we had fifty years ago?_

Present-Day Tokyo, Coraline's POV  


Once I returned from drowning my mind in books in the library and grocery shopping with Besa, I found myself back at the shrine, and after trying to distract myself with next month's homework and that history exam...I couldn't stand it anymore after an hour, deciding to see if I was ready to try and go back to the Sengoku Era to...see Inuyasha.

I'm now in the Well House, staring into the bottom that I knew was a sham...

 _I...I have to go back to see Inuyasha..._

I grip the lip of the Well...but hesitated, my nerves getting the better of me:

 _Damn it...I'm not ready yet. I'm, still afraid..._

 _Rgh, why am I being such a coward? It's not like he said he was gonna go with Kiky_ _ō..._

I shut my eyes and shake my head, muttering,

"This is ridiculous...Why am I, so worked up over this?"

 _Because I know what he and she are chasing, is only going to lead to their destruction..._

 _Damn it, Kiky_ _ō: You've become a shadow of the woman you once were! Are you really going to allow your darkness to corrode Inuyasha as well?! You already died once for crying out loud! Do you really want to die with him as half the woman you are now?!  
_

"(Gasp)"

...I backed away from the Well, shocked by my bitter thoughts:

"...Oh my god...Have I really become that blunt?"

I hear Lumos hover and chirp beside me in concern, but I was too busy looking down in shame:

 _...I, I'm not trying to be mean to her, but...I wasn't raised to be a chronic liar._

 _I do, care about Kiky_ _ō...I want her to find peace, just as Inuyasha does...  
_

I exit the Well House with my Will O' Wisp companion, convinced that I wasn't in the right mental state to go back yet:

 _With this bitterness corroding my heart, there's no way I can face Inuyasha and the others right now..._

 _Too many questions will be asked._

As I slowly make my way back towards the house, suddenly:

(Pulse)

 _"(Echo) Inuya..."_

 _"(Echo)K...yō!"_

"H-Huh?"

...I stop, a bewildered expression on my face:

 _What was...that? It sounded like, voices..._

(Sheen...)

"Hm?"

I look down to see the bottled jewel shards in my hand were emitting a soft glow:

"...The shards..."

I hear Lumos emit his ghostly moaning, and look up towards the Goshinboku Tree, a soft breeze caressing its branches while he circled around the trunk...

 _This tree...(Small smile) I remember: This was a regular spot for me during my early days at this shrine..._

 _(Frown) I also remember some strange occurrences happening every time I passed it: I kept hearing, echos on the wind...voices..._

I step closer to the tree, my eyes on the scar in the middle of the trunk:

"...That spot. I used to believe it was a scar that the tree got from a storm in the past or a wild animal's old clawing mark...but no. Neither scenario is correct: I now know it's the very place that Inuyasha was sealed to more than five hundred years ago..."

 _After all, I met him in this very area when the spell loosened thanks to my presence._

 _(Flash)_

 _"You look pretty dumb down there, Kiky_ _ō. The Kiky_ _ō I know wouldn't waste time. Why you takin' so long to kill it? Just do her like you did me...Huh?"  
_

 _"Why I outta...Listen up: Whoever this 'Kiky_ _ō' is, is not me! My name is-"  
_

 _(Flash)_

I felt my mind fill with highlights of that dog demon I've come to hold as important in my heart...It was then that I felt it again:

(Pulse)

 _"(Echo) In...asha!"_

 _"(Echo) Ki-K...y_ _ō!"_

"Rgh!"

I gripped the side of my head, feeling a pounding beginning to throb:

 _Wh-What, is this?_

 _...And why...does this feel so, familiar?_

 _"Touch the scar."  
_

 _...Huh?_

 _"Touch the scar of the tree! It'll make sense once you do."_

 _...Who is that? It sounds like, a little girl._

I try to stumble out of the area, but as I straighten up, I trip, and fall over the small fencing around the tree:

"Oh!"

I steady myself by placing a hand on the tree...in the very spot where the scar was. That's when it happened:

(Pulse, pulse)

"Agh!"

The pounding became stronger, and my vision started to blur:

"G-Got to, get back t-to the, house...Uuuuhhhh..."

Next thing I knew, I completely blacked out, with Lumo's frantic chirping being the last thing I heard...

Meanwhile, at the Twin's Apartment, Besa's POV  


After shopping with Coraline down at the local grocer, I made my way down to the district that my brother and I occupy: On the surface, it's one of those areas that's seen better days, with wear and tear, a few boarded up buildings, graffiti tags down most of the alleyways, and a fairly diverse mix of people of different ethnic backgrounds, mostly those with Chinese and Korean origins, but I've seen at least a dozen American immigrants like Freeman and I...

But when you live here long enough, you really get to see the mix of good, and bad: For example, the corner store was once a front for drug trafficking, but after a major gang fight and the police busting both sides two years ago, it's been taken over by a sweet Korean-Japanese family with two daughters and a son.

I wave to one of those daughters as I pass, and she waves back, as I walk a few more blocks, before turning to enter the apartment building Freeman and I live in...

"(Sigh) Sometimes I wish we didn't live on the top floor...Alright, up the stairs I go."

Shifting the weight of my bags, I make my way up the staircase, the elevator still awaiting maintenance from someone coming next week...

Eventually, I reach the eighth floor, and head down the hall to mine and Freeman's place, 8C.

(Ka-chank)

Opening the door with my copy of the key, I make my way inside: Our place is actually better off than some of the other apartments in this building, with only a couple minor cracks in a few of the walls; one small kitchen; a small sitting room with three chairs we got at the junkyard (just had to clean them and repair the upholstery, and they were good to go); one small bathroom with a shower; and two bedrooms, one of which Freeman and I share due to the both of us being spooked by the number of bullet holes in the other one, even after they got plastered over...

I put the grocery bags onto the small table in the kitchen, and make my way over to our satchels that I left open, two piles of clean clothes ready to be packed inside...

"(Small smile) Good thing I did laundry before heading to the store with Cora...I hope she's alright."

I then look around the room, noting our simple decor, including the small TV we salvaged with Shuji's help a few years back...My smile becomes a bit bitter as I began remembering back before Freeman and I got this place...

Flashback, Four Years Ago...

 _We had only just arrived at Haneda International Airport, thanks to an old friend whose older cousin has connections to Pennsylvania's airports and was able to get us tickets on the next flight out of the country, with only the clothes on our backs, and a rucksack filled with everything we could pack before leaving home...  
_

 _Come a few days later, we still had no place, and had slept in two alleyways and one homeless shelter, using the energy we had during the day to wander about the city and try to find some place that rented cheap and was near somewhere we could get some sort of job. Of course, our citizenship was still pending, and our Japanese was 'novice' level at best, so finding people to give us a chance was difficult..._

 _Then one day, we wandered into the district that would become our new home, though we didn't know it at the time..._

 _(Laugh) I'll say this much: The neighbourhood was way scarier back then. I swear there must've been a gunshot going off every fifteen minutes! I remember looking at Freeman with a nervous and incredulous expression before asking,_

 _"Remind me again, whose idea it was to turn down this way?"_

 _"Don't look at me: I was following you! Plus, what other choice do we have, bro? Most of the areas we've tried have already turned us away 'cause our Japanese sucks or they were lookin' at us funny..."_

 _"True...Hopefully, someone down here will at least give us the benefit of the doubt."_

 _So we put our brave faces on and kept going deeper inside...After about a half hour, we came across a worn-down park, with three swings (one was broken), a rusty slide, and a small field of grass with a few flowers growing in-between some fallen leaves for the fall season..._

 _We decide to take a break and sit by an old Japanese maple tree, letting out matching breaths of discouragement..._

 _"...Hey, Besa?"_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"Remember that old park we used to play in before we hit double-digits? The one with the merry-go-round?"_

 _"Heh, yeah, I know the one you're talking about...Those were simpler times, weren't they?"_

 _"Happier too...Listen...I'm, sorry about being the cause of all this."_

 _I formed a frown before turning to face Freeman seriously and sincerely:_

 _"Now don't you start that bullcrap again: This has never been, nor ever will be your fault. So what if you're into guys? We should all be entitled to finding love anywhere we can and want...If anyone's to blame, it's that bastard we formerly called our father. He made the choice to drive us away with his hate and abuse...I just wish I could've acted sooner. I feel like a bit of a failure for not getting us out of that crap-shack we called home."_

 _"What? No, Besa, this isn't your fault either: You've been protecting me like a brother should. You've stood up for me, shielded me from 'him' when he got real rough, and came up with our escape plan. (Chuckle) I just provided the location. You're the hero out of the two of us."_

 _"...Freeman..."_

 _"(Low whistle) Damn, sounds like you two have seen better days, huh?"_

 _"Hm?" "Huh?"_

 _We turn our heads upwards to the source of the voice, and see a boy who looked about our age, maybe a year older, with a_ _pale complexion, short, messy black hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a dark-blue t-shirt with Enamel's logo on it, black jogging pants, and black sneakers._

(Note: Do not own that band reference!)

 _We ask,_

 _"Who are you?"_

 _"And, you speak English?"_

 _"Name's Shuji, and yea', I dabble with English. Got top marks in that second language class they held at the center for us kids who couldn't get into high-school...So, what brings you two to Tokyo?"_

 _He was the one person we met that actually looked generally interested in our lives, so we thought, 'What the Hell?', and decided to tell him our tale in full...When we were done, he shook his head with a sympathetic frown:_

 _"Damn shame, that is. Can't believe your old man turned his back on ya like he did, and your so-called mom did nothin' but sit back and watch...Just out of curiousity, why come to this part of the globe?"_

 _"We enjoy the music and dancing scene here, and we figured that Japan would be far enough from our old life."_

 _"Heh, it's funny you're wearing a t-shirt with Enamel's logo: I love their music!"_

 _"No kidding! Small world..."_

 _All's quiet for a few minutes...before Shuji gives us a smile and asks,_

 _"Say...what would you two think if I told you I could show you guys a place for cheap rent, and even help with finding some odd and end jobs to pay?"_

 _"W-What?!"_

 _"Seriously? You'd do that, for two complete strangers? Why?"_

 _"Well, you guys remind me of some of the other folks who live around here: Coming from a bad time, looking for a new start...including me. I live here with my three older brothers 'cause one works at the old lawyer office while the other two do volunteer work down at the center, helping the homeless and all that...I'm actually working on opening a garage, both for cash and for volunteer work."_

 _"Whoa, that sounds cool!"_

 _"Heh, yeah. I'm at least a year away from making it possible. My parents, are a little gun-ho about my dream, but I've since stopped listening to them. They can take pride in my eldest brother the lawyer...I guess, I can see you both are like me: Quirky background with big dreams. I mean, you guys do have dreams, right?"_

 _"...Yeah."_

 _"We do..."_

 _At that moment, I felt this, connection spread between us three, like we were suppose to have met that day..._

 _Shuji would then take us to the old apartment building, and introduce us to the landlord, a nice middle-aged man who understood about the hard times. He would lead us up to the eighth floor to one room that just dropped dramatically in price due to...a murder that took place not even a week ago before my brother and I came to this district. Sure, that info was a little, disconcerting, but after talking with eachother, we knew that this was our one and only shot for a place that wouldn't drain our pockets dry._

 _A few papers are signed, and we had our new apartment!_

 _The landlord then recommended a few places that were looking for a few extra working hands, no previous experience required, and it's been history ever since..._

End of Flashback

"...To think, a pair of country mice like Freeman and I, have been living contently in the city of Tokyo for more than four years now..."

By the time I was done reminiscing, I had finished repacking our things for the next trip to Edo...I found my hands gripping the sides of my satchel, as I thought about Inuyasha and the others:

"Things have definitely taken a major one-eighty these last few months, from Coraline's connections to a dangerous jewel, to Inuyasha, to finally meeting Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kilala after having a run-in with Coraline's old enemies, and now...We've actually been a part of the action."

 _And I wouldn't change a moment of it either: Every good time and hard time's been worth it._

I let my satchel go, and zip up...Hoisting both over my shoulders, I make this vow:

 _I will continue to always be there for my brother and sister...But I can include my new-found friends too._

 _...Right now, though, there's one person who needs my support, so I better motor over to the Shrine._

Coraline's Mindscape, Her POV  


"(Blink) Huh?"

I open my eyes, only to find myself standing in,

"(Gasp) The Goshinboku Village?! But, how?!"

 _This can't be right...How can I be here? I never entered the Well._

I look around more closely, and see the place was in shambles:

 _Wait...There's fire and destruction all over the place...What's going on?  
_

 _"Inuyashaaa!"_

 _Huh? Did, they just say-_

I turn to see several village men crowding back in fear, and as they back up, one crashes not into, but right through me!

"W-W-What the hell?!"

 _He...his body went right through mine!_

 _...Wait a second..._

I look down at my hand, and notice a more translucent glow to my skin and clothing...It was then I realized,

 _...I'm not really here. I, must be witnessing a past event._

I then hear a huge rip of twine pass through the air, and I turn to the sky to see,

"(Gasp) Inuyasha!"

 _...But I don't understand. Is he...attacking this place? Why would-_

 _Unless...Oh: This must be back when he tried to steal the Shikon-no-Tama!_

I watch as he continued to leap from up high, dodging arrows shot towards him, before crashing through the roof of a tiled, well-kept shrine house.

...I decide to follow him, and thanks to my new ghost-like body, I pass through the walls effortlessly, and observe Inuyasha move up to the pedestal, holding a familiar marble-sized jewel, held within a necklace of other mineral shards...

 _...The Jewel of Four Souls._

Several men burst through the front doors, and Inuyasha wastes no time, dodging an onslaught of spears, leaping into the air, before crashing through the roof again. I head back outside, and watch as he glided through the air...

 _"Ha! So there!"_

 _Uh! Inuyasha's voice...Is it because I'm focusing on his body that I can hear him?_

 _"Finally...a way for me to become all demon at last!"_

 _...But is that what you really want now?_

He lands swiftly on the ground, and begins to make his escape. But just before he could cut clear into the forest:

 _"Inuyasha!"_

 _ _Kikyō! (Gasp) No, wait-  
__

 _(Twok)_

But there was nothing I could do, and before Inuyasha could act fast enough:

 _(TOK)_

 _"Agh!"_

The arrow makes contact with his chest, right where his heart is, pinning him to the tree behind him, and causing him to fumble his grip on the jewel...!

I suck in some breath, and put a hand over my mouth in shock, having only heard of the events, but never seen it...until now:

"Oh my god..."

Inuyasha's expression probably looks close to my own, as his gaze focuses from the fallen jewel on the source of the arrow: Kikyō, stoic expression abound, stock-still as the wind blew gently pass...

With his last strength, he calls out to her in a hoarse, and pained voice,

 _"Ki-Kikyō...How could...I thought-...Auu..uh..."_

And his eyes close, the arrow's spell taking full effect and sealing his fate...

"...Inuyasha..."

I then hear a soft groan of pain, and turn to see Kikyō stumble forward, drop her bow, before kneeling on the ground, her right shoulder bleeding badly...

 _The wound that killed her..._

 _"Big sister!"_

I then watch as a little girl who looked maybe a year of two older than Souta rush over to her, along with several villagers:

 _That must be Kaede when she was young...And she has gauze around her eye..._

 _I haven't yet found out how she got that injury._

 _"I forgot who I, and now see that..."  
_

I focus back on Kikyō as she picks up the jewel with a bitter expression:

 _"All for this...The Shikon-no-Tama, which-mmh!"_

She cringes from the wound, and young Kaede holds her arms out to her while desperately pleading,

 _"You're in pain, let someone..."_

 _"I won't, be let much longer..."  
_

I then watch as Kikyō relinquishes the jewel to her sister, giving the younger the final task upon her deathbed:

 _"And so, I give this to you: The Shikon-no-Tama. Which you must burn with my body...It must not fall into the hands of those who would abuse it..."_

I sense the mix of sadness, pain and exhaustion from the priestess...before she succumbs to her wound, as Kaede calls out in tears,

 _"Sister Kikyō...Sister Kikyōōōō!"_

...I wipe away a set of tears in my own eyes:

 _This is even worse than hearing the story...and the worst part was, neither he or her knew the truth about what set them against eachother._

(Pulse)

"Huh?"

I then feel a presence, and turn to look into the distance...to see a figure standing at the edge of the woods...

 _Who, is that?_

 _...Were they watching this whole time?_

 _"...Curse that priestess."_

 _Uh! I can, hear their voice!_

 _"She chose to succumb to death, and she will take the Jewel of Four Souls with her...But no matter. I shall wait for as long as I have to until it returns...Heh, with Inuyasha trapped under the spell of the scared arrow, none shall stand in my way."_

 _...Wait...That's..._

"Naraku!"

I felt my legs shake...before I ran towards the figure, now seen as that bastard demon in his baboon cloak!

 _He was watching this whole time?!_

 _...Cruel, sadistic bastard!_

(Pulse)

"Ugh!"

My head began throbbing again, and I witness flashes of what happened before this fateful day:

(Flash)

 _The hour when Kikyo was attacked by Naraku disguised as Inuyasha:_

 _(Dash)_

 _(SLASH)_

 _"UH!"_

 _I could hear Naraku's voice melded with his imitation of Inuyasha:_

 _(Step)_

 _" **Fool. I have no desire whatsoever to become human.** " _

_He takes the jewel from_ _ _Kikyō_ and adds,  
_

 _" **But I shall take the Shikon-no-Tama nonetheless. Thanks. This jewel's about to absorb a great deal of pain and suffering, when I use it to slaughter the villagers.** "_

 _"You, traitor...TRAITOR!"_

(Flash)

 _And then there was the mock attack from Naraku disguised as_ _Kikyō:_

 _(Twok)_

 _"Huh?"_

 _Once again, I could hear the mix of his real voice and the mimicry:_

 _" **Die, Inuyasha!** "_

(Flash)

I get enough of a grip on myself, and glare seethingly at the one truly responsible for this whole ordeal:

"Damn you..."

 _If only this wasn't a memory...Then I could choke him with my bare hands and make him pay for this!_

Just as I think that, my vision becomes hazy again, and I start to feel lightheaded:

"Uh-u-uhhh...Not, again..."

I hear one more echo of Inuyasha and Kikyō's voices, along with Naraku's dark laugh, before I pass out again...

Reality

(Jolt)

"Uh!"

I snap awake, and find myself laying face-down in front of the tree, my ankles laying on the spaces between the fencing...

"Uh...What, just happened?"

 _That, vision...Was that, a memory that the tree held for all those years?_

 _"(Giggle) Well, some of it is the tree, the other is from the jewel shards you have...And this isn't the first time you've seen that either."_

 _...That voice again!_

I struggle to raise myself from the ground, and step over the fence, looking around for the source:

"Alright, what's going on here? Who are you, where are you, and why?"

 _"Look behind you, and you'll see me standing on the left of the tree in a few seconds."_

"Huh?"

I turn around, and watch the spot...before I see a familiar soft fushia glow, leaving behind a familiar little girl with long black hair, brown eyes, wearing a white dress with pink cherry blossoms designing it, and had faded bruises and cuts around her transparent body...

"(Soft gasp) K...Kagome?!"

She nods with a small smile, and I watch as Lumos circles around the little spirit in excitement, causing her to giggle...I grip the side of my head in disbelief:

"I...I can't believe you're really here! How?"

 _"Oh I've been able to pop up here for a couple years now...The first time was a few days after I died...But it was in the moment of dying, that I came to you, to pass on the jewel and my past self's Soul."_

"...But why me? Why, choose me of all people?"

 _"Because you were everything I could never be even if I did survive the crash: Strong, independent, brave, and rounded. But it was your Soul that drew me the most, with all that energy and great balance of light and darkness. It was the perfect place for Kikyō to rest, until she would be called on again, by accident of course."  
_

She then forms a sad and apologetic look:

 _"I am sorry that you've been through so much hardship in your life, and throwing you into the thick of this mess didn't help much. (Smile) But, at least you got to be with Grandpa, Mama and my baby brother, and now you have lotsa friends who will be there for you!"_

...I couldn't help it: I had to crack a small half-smile at her innocent attitude.

"Yeah, I guess...I do, find it an honour that you think that I'm a good candidate for this quest...Wish I could've done some things better, though."

 _"Hey, we all make mistakes, right? Isn't that how we grow up?"_

"True..."

I walk closer to the little ghost and ask with a confused frown,

"But circling back a bit: What do you mean that this isn't the first time I've seen...that memory?"

 _"Ah, well...(Sigh) That was mostly the tree's fault: You probably remember that you used to hear echoes coming from this spot whenever you passed it, right?"_

"...Yes?"

 _"That was the tree trying to trigger the memories of Kikyō and Inuyasha by calling to the jewel when it was still inside your body...Anyway, about a year before you first entered the well, you decided to take a closer look at the tree scar, and when you touched it, the memory activated."_

"Hmm...Hang on: I do remember touching the tree, but then, everything kind-of hazed after that, and I woke up on in bed with Grandfather watching me from the desk-chair...(Rubs forehead) I did have an inkling that there was something else I forgot, but, nothing came to me..."

 _"Yes. The reason there's a blur in that memory...is because I locked it away."_

"What?"

 _"You weren't ready to see that yet. The jewel and tree ganged up on you too early, so I used whatever power I had as the original reincarnation to seal the memory away. You weren't suppose to know anything about the past until you were of the right age...and went into the Bone Eater's Well."_

"...I see..."

 _"I'm sorry if my interfering made you feel like you feel on edge, but it was for the best."_

"It's, fine. What's done is done...At least now I have a visual to the true events of the tragedy."

 _"(Small smile) I'm, glad you're not mad..."_

"Heh, well it's a little late to be mad at you, seeing as I along with everyone else connected to this adventure knows the truth, as confirmed by that horrible demon, Naraku."

I then felt a sad frown come to my face, as I thought of the one person hurt the most by this whole ordeal:

 _...Inuyasha..._

 _"What's wrong, Coraline? You look unhappy."_

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine...It's just...I was just thinking about..."

 _"Inuyasha?"_

I look at her in surprise:

"...You know him?"

 _"(Giggle) Of course. I may not be a part of the jewel anymore, but I still have connections to Kiky_ _ō and her memories. Plus, I've heard you talk about him while standing under the tree..."  
_

"O-Oh really?"

 _"Yep...(Sad smile) You really like him, don't you?"_

"Well, yeah. He's become a dear friend of mine."

 _"Nuh-uh, not like that...I mean like-like."_

I stare at Kagome's spirit for a moment...before turning away with my hair covering my face:

"...No, I don't."

 _"You don't...or you think you can't?"_

"Uh...!"

 _"If it's his previous relationship with Kikyō you're worried about, I've seen highlights of what that was, and honestly...I don't think there was much going on."_

"...What do you mean?"

 _"Well, she did care about Inuyasha, and maybe had a crush on him like he did on her...but she never put those feelings out there for real. Kikyō was mostly glad to not feel alone anymore...Naraku may have stamped out their chance early...but I don't think they would've had much of one even if they lived."_

"...You think so?"

 _"(Shrug) I'm just going by what I could feel from her memories. I may not be right...But I can see it all over your face and heart, Coraline: You've fallen in love with Inuyasha."_

...I felt my knees begin to wobble, and I fought my damnedest to not tear up:

 _No...No, she's wrong! I'm not in love with him!_ _I can't be..._

 _But, I can't deny this feeling...this desire, to see him...be with him..._

 _...Oh dear god...I...I am. I haven't realized it until now, but, at some point in this whole adventure, I fell in love with that stubborn dog demon._

My voice came out in a whisper, but the words were true:

"...I'm in love with Inuyasha."

It was at that moment, that I heard footsteps coming from the staircase:

"...Coraline?"

"Cora? You okay?"

I turn to see Akari-sama and Besa standing a couple feet away, the former holding bags of items from shopping for the house, the latter with his and Freeman's satchels, and both looking at me with concern...

I hear the gentle urge from Kagome:

 _"Now that you've finally admitted your true feelings, you can let others help you. Go to Mama and your brother."_

...My body shook, before I burst into a run to Akari-sama and hugged her around her middle, letting the dam loose:

"Akari! Akari-sama! Besa!"

I sobbed into the older woman's shirt, and she just hugged me back, while Besa moved to hug me from behind, whispering,

"It's okay, sis, it's okay..."

After a few minutes, I calmed down and allowed Akari-sama to guide me to sit down between her and Besa on the stone bench beside the tree...A moment of silence passes, and as I dry my eyes with the lent handkerchief, Akari-sama asks,

"Coraline?"

"(Sniff) Yes?"

"When you're close to the Goshinboku Tree, don't you feel a strange kind-of power, as though you feel truer to yourself, that somehow its presence makes you feel much more pure?"

I glance over where Kagome was, and I nod with a tiny watery smile:

"Yeah..."

"...This was the very same place where my husband proposed to me."

"Really?"

"Mhm. And of course, I loved him like no other. But the day before he asked me to marry him we got into some silly argument..."

Besa quirks a small smile and asks,

"A lover's quarrel, then, ma'am?"

"(Small laugh) Something like that. It had made me seriously doubt if the two of us were truly meant to be together. But the instant I had walked under this tree, my mind cleared and I had accepted his proposal, which meant I was able to have my late daughter Kagome and Souta. It might sound funny, but I feel grateful to this tree."

I reply softly,

"...I don't think it's silly at all. This tree is a marker of a chapter in your life."

"(Smile) That's kind of you to say."

She then pulls me to her side and says gently,

"I won't ask you to say what the problem is, but I have alot of fate in you, Coraline. I know that you are a young woman that will ultimately choose the path you believe to be right...After all, you did make the treacherous journey here."

"...Thank you, Akari."

 _And thank you...Kagome._

I then look into the distance, and see Kagome smile brightly at me, before fading away with a friendly wave...

Sengoku Edo, No POV

At the same time that Coraline comes to an epiphany of her own heart, Inuyasha was sitting under and on the giant roots of the younger Goshinboku Tree, as Shippo begins badgering him again about the whole situation:

"Inuyasha-"

"Shut up, I know."

"But I haven't said I word!"

"Hmph...You're going to say to go see Coraline." The fox demon asks more calmly but seriously,

"Well if you know, then what are you waiting for?"

Inuyasha does not reply aloud:

 _But that'll mean seeing Coraline face-to-face...and the possibility of telling her goodbye._

 _I mean, before I wasn't able to, but...it was her hug that stopped me in the end._

 _And that apology...Coraline..._

 _Is she really willing to go on through this, even with the hurt?_

"The truth is you're not the one having a hard time with this: Coraline is."

I look up, and see Miroku, Sango and Freeman approaching, the second replying,

"Miroku's absolutely right, and so was Freeman yesterday and the day before."

She takes in a breath and sternly adds,

"You've already made up your mind about who you want in your life, so whatever, but I suspect that Coraline is right now sitting at home feeling confused."

 _...Have I made up my mind? I'm not so sure._

"If you're any kind of man, you'll meet up with Coraline and make a nice, clean break."

Sango adds after Miroku,

"That's for sure, instead of pussy-footing around like this!"

I heard all that I could take and barked back,

"Just wait a minute: Do you really want me to split with Coraline that much?!"

Everyone (minus Freeman) countered confusingly,

"Well, I mean...don't you?" "Well, I mean...don't you?" "Well, I mean...don't you?"

I turn away from their stares and reply,

"Who said that? Y-You're just twisting things around! Look, I decided that I have to protect Kikyō, so you tell me, (Turns back) how can I ask Coraline to come back here?"

...I notice that only Freeman was left here with me.

"Hey! Aren't you even listening?!"

"(Point) Keep lookin' forward, dude..."

I follow where his thumb was pointing behind him, and I see the others walking away, Miroku commenting,

"What a guy: In the game of love, he's sure a poor sport," Sango adding,

"From now on, how 'bout we just call him 'two-faced'?"

Shippo replies,

"Guess it's all up to us."

I mutter with my fist clenched,

"Why, you..."

"To answer your question, let me propose one of my own: Did she ever say to forget Coraline?"

"Huh?"

I focus back on Freeman, his gaze calm and not holding hostility:

"Kikyō has asked you to eventually join you in Hell, and you've recently promised to protect her from that bastard Naraku...Do either of these promises include forgetting Coraline and all she's been through with you?"

I stare at him for a moment...before quietly replying,

"...No."

"Thought so. Now here's a different, but not completely unrelated question: Are these feelings you have for Kikyō now, just a lame-ass attempt to get back what you lost those years ago? 'Cause if it is...(Shakes head) your possible ending is gonna be as bitter as it was before, and has been these last few months."

I was taken aback by his bluntness, and sputtered,

"Wh-What?!"

He then smiles and takes a seat on the roots, beckoning me to sit beside him:

"Look, I get what you're going through: First loves aren't always easy to walk away from...You remember when I mentioned my ex-boyfriend from Kyoto, right?"

...I nod, and he continues:

"Well, even though I was the one who broke it off, it was just as hard for me as it was for him. (Bitter smile) I sometimes have moments when I wonder what would happen if I kept the relationship going...But then I realized this: He may have been my first love, but he wasn't 'The One', ya know? And every time I did imagine a 'What If' scenario, it always ended worse than it really did. I may have loved him, but I wasn't 'in' love with him."

He then turns to look at me and adds,

"I dunno if that's the real problem you're goin' through right now, but it's something to consider. (Stands up) Look inside your heart, Inuyasha: Is going to Hell with Kikyō truly what you want for the both of you, or wouldn't you rather find a way for the both of you to have peace in your Souls and erase the bitterness that's lodged between you two right now? Plus...wouldn't you rather be with someone who wants you to live?"

"...Freeman..."

He just flashes me a wise smile, and starts walking back to the village in the same direction the others did earlier...

After a bit, I decided to walk over to the area where the Well was, thinking about what Freeman said, and about Coraline:

 _...I do want Kikyō to have peace in her Soul...The only problem is that I can't think of another way to achieve such a goal other than entering Hell with her...  
_

 _And yet, Freeman does have a point: That option may end up making things even worse in the long haul..._

 _But he does understand that, with her being my first love, it's not easy to move on._

 _...And then there's Coraline: I don't think I can ask her to come back. And even if she wants to brave it out and return on her own, why would she?_

As I approach the clearing, I add to myself sadly,

 _I have to at least see her...even at the risk of saying goodbye...But will this help me move on?_

When I made it out the treeline, I peered over by the Well...and saw,

"Uh...!"

 _Coraline...!_

No POV  


Coraline, wearing a simple white tank-top, acid-wash jeans with tears in the one knee, and her black combat boots, was sitting on the lip of the Well! Standing nearby was Besa, wearing a white t-shirt with a black vest over top, dark-blue cargo pants, and his black/white hightops.

He then nods at Coraline, and walks over where Inuyasha stood, clapping the other's shoulder gently with a small smile, before moving onward to the Goshinboku Village to give the dog demon and redhead some privacy...

Inuyasha watches the dark-skinned boy go for a few seconds, before he turns to gaze eye-to-eye with Coraline, both having a mix of distant, serious and sad expressions laced into their amber and stormy-blue irises. After a soft breeze passes, Coraline slowly rises to a stand to address her friend and new-found secret love:

"I returned to my era, and took some time to think, about us, and Kikyō."

"Rh, Coraline, I'm so..."

"(Sad smile) Don't be...It's alright. I understand how you must be feeling right now...Heh, in the beginning of my philosophizing, I almost considered not coming back to this era altogether, but I quickly realized if I did that, I'd be turning my back on you, the others, and most of all, myself..."

Inuyasha clenches his fist and says softly,

"Coraline...before I met you, I never trusted a living thing Soul, but...I watched you shed tears for my sake. You've always stayed by my side, and whenever I'm with you, I feel so peaceful and happy...but I...I'm not suppose to be all at ease and cheerful. Kikyō...Kikyō came after me and lost her life. It's only right that I repay her with my own life..."

Coraline nods:

"I get that...but I'm not sure if that's what she really wants."

Inuyasha looks at Coraline in confusion, and she continues:

"True, I can't compete with her sacrifice given that I'm still alive...but, I can't help but compare her death to that of my Father's."

"...Your Father's?"

"Yeah. I, remember, the last words he said before he was shot, that if his death meant I could live, then that was good enough for him. He had a sad smile on his face as he said it too, so I know he meant it..."

She then sits back down on the Well's lip and keeps going with her thoughts:

"And, I have a feeling that's what Kikyō truly wishes for: She 'says' that she wishes for your death, but, I think what she's really meaning is to go back to that time when you were both together, back before that bastard Onigumo turned Naraku screwed everything up...Like you, she wants to get back what you both lost..."

Coraline feels a somewhat bitter and pitying smile come to her face as she thinks aloud about herself and Kikyō:

"It's funny: She and I couldn't be anymore different, but at the same time, we share a few commonalities. She was a priestess revered by her people, yet that same admiration made her different from other women, and her power made her a formidable enemy to demons who dared cross her path. I'm an Aura Reader with a gift to sense the extraordinary among the ordinary, yet very few saw me for me, and most had feared or hated me. We both faced isolation...became lonely...Kikyō was grounded, and I chose the renegade's life at a young age, mostly because I had no choice after my home was destroyed. I'm more rough and crude, and she's calm and collected, even with the recent dark turn...I could go on, but who has the time, (Laugh)? I may be her reincarnation of more than five years, but I'm not her original, nor will I ever be her. I am who I am: My heart is my own."

She pauses for a moment...before saying,

"There is one thing that we both share in common the most..."

Inuyasha looks back up again with more interest, and Coraline gazes at him seriously before concluding,

"We have the same desire to see you again."

The amber-eyed boy takes in a quick breath of surprise, and Coraline smiles softly:

"I didn't come to this thought on my own: I had a little help from...an old friend from beyond. But knowing that Kikyō and I have a common bond with regards to the desire to see you again, makes everything that's been troubling me these last two days seem less black and white. With that, came the courage to finally come back and speak with you..."

Inuyasha could only stare with wonder at the redheaded girl, finding his voice caught in his throat:

 _Coraline...all this time, I wanted to see you too, but..._

"I made a promise to be by your side, Inuyasha, and I'm not about to go back on it. You are, and will always remain, my best friend..."

...Silence passes between the boy and girl, the wind softly tousling their contrasting silver and red hair...Inuyasha could not find a reply to give:

 _Coraline...what kind of answer can I give you?_

"Inuyasha?"

"Huh?"

"There's only one simple question I need to ask you..."

Coraline stands up again, and slowly steps over near the other, before asking with a hopeful and somewhat timid smile,

"Inuyasha...will you please let me stay?"

He was taken aback by the question...but then asks in a similar tone,

"So...you'll stay with me?"

"(Nod) Yes."

 _Breaking the bond between you and Kikyō is not what I want for you, Inuyasha. It's the last thing I want, actually..._

 _But I've come to realize that meeting you was no coincidence: It was the combined efforts of Kagome's spirit and Fate that guided us together..._

 _And you must know deep down that I want you to live...and I'm sure that's what Kikyō really wants too._

"...Coraline?"

She lightly shakes her head, before taking Inuyasha's hand with a small smile:

"Come on. Everyone else must be waiting for us."

As they begin making their way from the Well, Coraline adds within her mind,

 _I want you to be happy...to laugh...and to see the world as the rainbow it is, not the ethnocentric good and evil..._

 _I dunno what's in store around the bend, but whatever happens...I will always be there for you._

...Inuyasha softly squeezes back, and they stop briefly to look at one another with matching smiles of content, before continuing on their way.

...However, there was one other thing that Coraline was still troubled by that she dared not say aloud: A strong surge of guilt over her role with Kikyō's Soul. As she continued to walk along side Inuyasha, she did her best to keep some form of a smile on her face to mask her depression from Inuyasha, as she thought about Kikyō's darkness and the light that was no longer present in her body:

 _...Kikyō...Her Soul isn't what it's suppose to be. She should have her entire Soul, but I harbour the light while she's being slowly consumed by her dark...  
_

 _I feel horrible for her: Her current behaviour isn't who she is...and every time I hear the coldness in her tone, I...I can feel the light half inside me screaming in protest. That part of her knows that what she's been saying isn't all true. It's just her negative emotions clouding her judgement and making her say things before thinking..._

 _That scream...It hurts my heart every time, making it bleed in sadness and guilt..._

 _If only there was a way to fix it. If only, I could fix Kiky_ _ō's Soul, make it whole again...  
_

 _I don't want Kiky_ _ō to be broken anymore. I would do anything, and everything, as long as I can help her.  
_

...Suddenly, a male voice came ringing into Coraline's head with a small chuckle:

 **Oh really? You'd do anything and everything, to save that priestess, huh?**

Coraline felt her insides freeze, but somehow kept her composure to not arouse suspicion from her friend:

 _W-Who's there? Who are you?_

 **(Laugh) Little Doll, I'm the someone who can make your desire possible...that is, _if you're interested..._**

 _...What do you mean? Wait...are you saying there's a way to fix Kiky_ _ō's Soul?  
_

 **Ah~, I see someone is interested...Hold on a second: We need to do this face-to-face.**

...Next thing Coraline knew, a wave of energy passes through the area, causing the landscape to freeze in time, the colours fading to a monochrome gray, including Inuyasha!

"(Gasp)"

She flinches back, finding that she was the only living thing still moving freely and in full-colour:

"W-W-What the hell?!"

The laughter came ringing again, as Coraline darted her head back and forth to find the source:

 **"Oh wow, you humans kill me! The look on your face is priceless! (Cough) But just to prevent any panic attacks, what you're seeing isn't 'really' happening: This is actually inside your mindscape, and I bumped your subconscious up to the front controls so Red Sword doesn't get wise to what's going on."**

"...So, this isn't happening in the real world, and I'm, in some weird half-sleep trance?"

 **"Bingo!"**

"...Okay, this is a little freaky...But putting those details aside, what are you exactly, and where are you?"

 **"(Laugh) Allow me to answer both those questions...by making my grand entrance."**

There's a pause...before the space in front of Coraline begins glowing a bright yellow, causing her to flinch back while covering her eyes:

"Agh!"

...Once the light passes, she uncovers her eyes, and turns to see,

"(Gasp)"

 **"(Laugh) Nice to meet you, Little Doll. Name's Bill Cipher, a Dream Demon, and I've come to offer you a deal!"**


	55. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54 (Special): Coraline's Three-Sided Deal**

Coraline found herself frozen to the spot, as she stared at this new demonic being by name of Bill Cipher:

His form was unlike anything she had ever seen in the subject of demons, being that of a large, yellow triangle similar in likeness to an unfinished drawing of a pyramid (only the bottom third had brick-lining); one large, Egyptian-style eye in the dead center; long, thin, pitch-black arms and legs, and a matching top-hat!

"(Mutter) Oh...my...god..."

 **"Helloooo? Little Doll? Look, I know I'm awesome, but we can't get anywhere if you keep gaping at me like a fish..."**

Coraline shakes herself loose of her stupor and replies,

"S-Sorry. I've just, never seen a demon of your like before...(Tilts head) You're not from around here, are you?"

 **"Nope~! I'm not even from this dimension: I come from a place between space and time, known as 'The Nightmare Realm'."**

"Nightmare Realm?"

 **"(Laugh) Yeah, not a place a human should go exploring without a helmet...and a high tolerance to chaos. It'd almost make Hell look like a resort!"**

Coraline swallows a small lump of nerves, and takes a few brave steps forward, shaping her expression to appear neutral:

"Why are you here? What do you want with me?"

 **"I already told ya, Little Doll: I'm here to make a deal with you!"**

He then pops out of sight for a second...before reappearing behind Coraline, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and causing her to jump:

"Gah!"

 **"Heheh, sorry, can't resist: I gotta be me! Anyway, I've been perusing between universes and the dimensions in-between, trying to find something that'll give me some good karma after a-uh, 'stunt' I pulled a long while back..."**

"Stunt?" Bill causally waves a hand and replies offhandedly,

 **"Eh, I caused a little beauty known as 'Weirdmageddon" in a strange sleepy town and nearly got away with making that universe go bye-bye, but got tricked by some smart-alack family. (Grumble) Damn those Pines..."**

Coraline notices Bill's body starting to throb in a red glow, possibly a sign of suppressed anger:

"...I, see."

Bill calmed himself before his temper got out of control, and chimed with a 'smile' (hard to tell since he technically has no mouth),

 **"But never mind that! That's in the past. I've had some time to think as my being floated aimlessly in the point of no return, and I decided that it would be in my best interest to try and do something more, productive and less, destructive..."**

"Um...yeah, I suppose that would make sense...This isn't really answering my questions, though."

 **"Ah, ah, ah~, patience, Little Doll. I was just coming to that part!"**

He floats around the redhead until he was facing her with only a few inches between them, and bops her nose before saying,

 **"I've since been scouring the cosmos trying to find a good candidate to form a deal with. Had a couple trials and errors, with most of them ending quicker than they started! (Dramatic sigh) Such as it is with humans..."**

He backs up a bit:

 **"And now I think I found my next, and hopefully more successful human: You!"**

Coraline takes a cautious step back and asks in surprise,

"Me? Why me?"

 **"One of the perks of being a Dream Demon is that I can have full access to what's goin' on in that head of yours, and in some way, your heart. You have a pretty high sense of selflessness for someone as young as you, and I find that kind-of human real~ entertaining..."**

Coraline widens her eyes, and looks down at herself, placing a hand over her breast where her heart beats:

"...You, can see into my heart?"

 **"Pretty much: The mind and heart are more connected than you humans think, and it's all thanks to your very Soul. Its energies connect them together. And yours...('Grin') It's drawing me in with something delightfully strange and powerful. But to be expected, with Aura Readers."**

"Uh! Y-You know I'm an Aura Reader?"

 **"Yeah. I'm kind-a omniscient: I usually know a good deal about who or what dwells in each dimension I dive into..."**

Coraline looks back up at Bill and asks,

"...You wish to construct a deal with me...What kind of deal?"

 **"(Clap) And here we come to the center of our conversation! Ahem, you were wallowing earlier about how you'd do anything to heal the Soul of Fushia Arrow, right?"**

"...Fushia Arrow? Oh, you mean Kikyō."

 **"Yep! So anyway...what if I were to tell you, that I could help you separate your own Soul from that half once and for all, and put those halves back together?"**

"What?!"

 **"(Laugh) Like I said, I've been drifting through dimensions for a loooong time now, and I've acquired some new powers replacing some old ones I lost after, 'that event'. One power, is to safely remove a Human Soul and even split it in half without causing any real damage!"**

Bill then points his finger at Coraline's torso, and his fingertip glows yellow...before the latter's torso emits a faint glowing mix of blue dominating pink!

"(Gasp)"

 **"With the right preparations, I can play Doctor and remove that bit of Soul, so you won't have to worry anymore! I mean sure, there's a faint chance you and Fushia Arrow may still share a spiritual connection, but at least the light of another wouldn't be annoying the heck out of ya."**

The glowing stops, and Coraline looks at Bill with even wider eyes:

"...That's incredible! (Worried frown) But, what will happen to her light half afterward?"

 **"Not to worry: I'll send it to Fushia Arrow and she'll take it back with no muss, no fuss...So, what do you think?"**

Coraline turns from Bill with an uncertain expression:

"I dunno...It's, tempting, I'll admit that much, but it also sounds incredibly risky..."

 **"Aw, come on, Little Doll, what's life without taking a big risk every once and a while? Besides...** ** _I know the guilt and old anger must be eating at ya._** **"**

She whirls back at the 'smirking' demon:

"What do you mean?"

 **"Oh~, playing the denial card, eh? I've got a fix for that too."**

He points his index finger at her again:

 **"Let's go to the playback records, shall we~?"**

(Pow)

He then shoots a small bolt of yellow energy at Coraline's forehead, and the latter drops to her knees while gripping her sides of her skull with pain contorting her features:

"Agh! Aaaagh..."

(Flash)

 _"I'm not Kikyō! Quit calling me by a name that's not mine!"_

 _"I will never be a priestess!"_

 _"I'm just a surrogate reincarnation!"_

 _"Kikyō...I, wish I could help you find peace..."_

 _"This isn't fair to either side: Inuyasha and Kikyō need to find a way to move from the past and into the future."_

 _"Why must he keep pining for what's already gone?"_

 _"Why can't he just look at me?!"_

 _"I'm the reason Kikyō's become a hateful woman: I should be suffering in the darkness, not her!"_

(Flash)

"STOP IT!"

Coraline's body emits a bright ice-blue glow, and cancels the messages that were screaming in her head, the energy wave causing to Bill to shake a bit...He then bursts into laughter and comments with glee,

 **"Aw man, you're slaying me already, Little Doll! Most humans would've been in tears and spazzing on the ground by now, but you...you actually fought back and broke the echoes! That takes guts!"**

"(Pant, pant, pant) What the hell was that...?!"

 **"That, dear, was a snippet of your emotions regarding your 'monkey in the middle' problem with Fushia Arrow and Red Sword. (Laugh) I've heard people say that girls have more complex emotions than boys, but you've definitely taken it to a whole new level!"**

...Coraline looks down at the ground while catching her breath, thinking about what she just experienced:

 _That was, my emotions over mine and Kikyō's connections?_

 _...I could feel...Anger, Resentment, Depression, Envy, Guilt...and Pity._

 _Do I really feel this way...or is Bill trying to manipulate me?_

 _...Either way...it's working._

 **"You okay there, Little Doll? Need a few more minutes?"**

Coraline snaps back to reality (or rather, her mindscape's reality) and shakes her head, before rising to a stand again:

"No, I'm fine...and...(Deep breath) I'd like to hear more about this 'deal'."

 **"Do~ you now?"**

"Yes...If I was to agree, what would I have to provide in exchange?"

 **"Mm, a fair enough question. And I'll be happy to answer!"**

Bill then waves his right hand into the air...and a holographic projection manifests from his palm, in the shape of a crystallized heart:

"You know those shards that your brothers carry? From the Seven Light Crystals?"

"...Yes?"

 **"Well, believe it or not, they can still be found in their full form here in this era of your dimension. They've just been playing Hide and Seek for the last few centuries after you humans and other demons pilfered a good amount, (Chuckle). But anyway, if you can get me a fully intact Seven Light Crystal, I will split your full Soul from Fushia Arrow's light half, and sent it back to her to be fused back together with her dark half. Nice and simple!"**

Coraline narrows her eyes in thought as the projection fades out:

"...I just have to find one, and you'll separate mine and Kikyō's Souls, no questions asked?"

 **"Yep!"**

"...How am I suppose to find it?'

 **"Oh you'll get a beep from me when you're close to one of the locations, don'tcha worry none...So..."**

Bill then holds out his left hand, and it sparks with an ominous blue flame:

 **"** ** _Do we have a deal?_** **"**

...Coraline stares at the burning blue hand for a few minutes...before looking at Bill straight in the eye and replying firmly,

"Deal."

She takes the demon's hand with no fear, her thought being,

 _This is what I want...I want the chance to make things right._

The flame ignites further upon skin-to-skin contact, and Bill lets out another booming laugh, before:

(Sizz...)

"Aaaah!"

Coraline's bare wrist begins to ache in fashion to an excruciating burning sensation, and as she struggles, Bill gleefully explains what's going on:

 **"You'll be fine, Little Doll: This is all a part of the covenant process! Just think of it like putting a notary stamp at the end of a paper contract. I'm the stamp, and you're the paper!"**

Coraline grimaces and cries out in pain, but weakly nods, and after a few more minutes, the burning ceased...

Bill lets the other's hand go, and as she blinks back some moisture in her eyes, Coraline looks down, and gasps, seeing the following design etched onto her skin like a tattoo: It was a large triangle with Bill's eye in the middle, situated between two sets of parallel lines with a black dot in the middle of these, like the triangle was sitting on a ribbon!

 **"I can tell this is gonna be fun already! Well, time for ya to jump back to reality: See ya soon, Little Doll~!"**

(POW...)

(Jolt)

"(Blink) Uh!"

Coraline then finds herself back to the full-colour reality she was in only a few moments ago!

"...Somethin' wrong?"

"Huh?"

She turns her head to the right, and sees Inuyasha staring at her with a confused expression, as the two continued their gradual trek to the Goshinboku Village...

"Uh...(Smile) No, everything's fine. Just, reminiscing..."

"...Alright."

Both focus back to the front, and while Coraline appeared calm on the outside, inside, she was running wild with paranoia:

 _I-I-I'm back! And, it looks like nothing really happened while I was inside my mind!_

 _...Inuyasha doesn't seem to be suspecting anything, either. I'm surprised that he didn't pick up on Bill's scent._

 _But, maybe it has something to do with being a dream demon..._

 _I wonder, though: Did, that really happen, or...was that somehow just a vivid daydream from all the stress?_

 _...I can't be sure..._

Eventually, the pair made it back to the village, and made their way to Kaede's Hut, where everyone else was waiting. Shippo would be the first to greet them:

"Coraline! Inuyasha!"

The little fox demon hops into the redhead's arms, and she laughs while replying,

"Hey, Shippo!"

"I was so worried that you weren't gonna come back again!"

"(Playful smirk) What? And miss out on the excitement here? Surely you jest..."

She laughs with him, before looking up to see Miroku, Sango and the twins come out of the hut, each having their own relieved smiles at seeing a pair and not a singular dog demon:

"Coraline." "Sis."

"You came back." "See? Told ya!"

Coraline smiles happily at the quartet before giving them each a hug, and as she steps back from Besa, Sango asks,

"So, are you okay now, Coraline? And, are you and Inuyasha...?"

"Yes, Sango, everything's alright now: We had a frank discussion about where we stand with one another, and to put it short, we've agreed to stay by eachother's sides in the coming trials ahead, like best friends should. (Turn) Right, Inuyasha?"

He nods with a neutral expression, choosing to remain quiet on the subject, and everyone else sighs with relief, Miroku commenting,

"That's good to hear. It's always better to keep as many friends close to you as possible as life goes on."

With that in the wind, Freeman makes the suggestion of heading by the riverside for lunch, to which there would be no protest...Just as everyone begins heading for that direction, Inuyasha notices that Coraline was lagging behind:

"Hm? Hey, you comin'?"

"Oh! Yeah, I'll be there with you guys in a moment. I just, need to retie my boot laces."

Inuyasha raises a brow, but shrugs and turns to keep going...Once he was far enough away, Coraline stalks over behind one of the posts of the stair archway by Kaede's Hut, and pulls back her sleeve:

 _I have this feeling...that what happened was no dream._

...A few seconds of staring later, and the symbol from before fades into view on her wrist, glowing red and black!

"(Soft gasp)"

 _It, it's here!_

 _...So then...I really did it. I made a deal with, a demon._

 ** _Sure did, Little Doll~._**

 _Uh! Bill!_

 ** _(Laugh) The one and only!_**

 _...Where are you?  
_

 ** _Oh, here, there, everywhere! I don't have to really make myself known to all the beings runnin' around in this dimension. I suppose you can say I'm in the mind~scape atmosphere..._**

Coraline sweatdrops from his explanation and mentally replies,

 _Uhh, right...  
_

 ** _Anyway, just poppin' in your noggin for a second to clarify on one itty bitty detail: That mark on your wrist can only be seen by you and me, and it's when you eyeball the spot long enough._**

 _Oh? (Relived sigh) That's actually a bit comforting to know. I wanna keep this deal as quiet as possible.  
_

 ** _Smart girl! I was thinking the same: Better to keep something like this hush hush. Wouldn't want to send your loved ones into a panic attack, right...especially Red Sword, hm~?_**

 _Red Sword...Uh, y-you mean, Inuyasha?_

Coraline felt a tinge of pink rise to her cheeks as she mentally pries,

 _What are you implying in that tone?  
_

 ** _(Chuckle) Nice try, Little Doll, but you can't play dumb with a Dream Demon: Remember, I can see into pretty much every nook and cranny of your cranium, including this new development from your earlier epiphany...Need I say more?_**

 _N-No, please don't!  
_

 ** _(Laugh) Aww, is someone embarrassed~?_**

 _Shut up!  
_

 ** _Alright alright, I'll stop teasin'...for now. I got some other business somewhere else in this dimension, so I'll catch ya later!_**

With that, Bill was gone...Coraline lets out a breath of nerves and exasperation, and comes out from behind the pole, glancing down at her left wrist as the mark fades from view. She then mutters quietly to herself,

"This is more than likely gonna bite me in the ass later on. He sounds both sane and insane...Even so...I don't regret my move."

 _And who knows? Maybe there is a selfish part of me doing this to eliminate the reincarnation title on my back, but I'm not making a big deal about it anymore like I was in the beginning of this whole adventure...I know I'm not that petty...  
_

 _But first and upmost...I'm doing this for you, Kiky_ _ō...I promise I will not stop, until you become spiritually whole again.  
_

With a firm and reassuring nod, Coraline tucks the subject into the back of her mind, before jogging off to catch up with the others, a new weight of responsibility and danger on her shoulders...


	56. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55: Kohaku's Lost Memory**

Come about two days after the major friction between Inuyasha and Coraline, they and everyone else in our group had set out again in their travels.  
At this very moment, they were riding atop Hachi, Miroku's tanuki companion, to who knows...

Along the way, Shippo was expressing his relief (again) regarding a certain redhead still remaining on the team:

"I was so worried! I thought you weren't coming back anymore, Coraline..."

She smiles apologetically at the little fox demon and replies,

"I'm sorry, Shippo. I should've waited 'til you woke up so I could explain things..."

Freeman adds in a whisper from her right side,

"I did try to break it down for him while you were gone, but I think most of the info went over his head..."

Coraline nods in understanding, while Shippo calls a few feet in front,

"Hey, Inuyasha: Have you asked for Coraline's forgiveness?"

Inuyasha replies with a closed-eyed frown,

"Butt out!"

As the two teens sitting with the fox demon shake their heads in light exasperation, Miroku, Sango and Besa were sitting together up front, with the slayer asking,

"I wonder how on earth those two patched things up?" Miroku ponders the question:

"Hm, knowing him, he probably just wore Coraline down with his silence."

"What? You mean she forgave him for cheating on her?! Ugh, I can't believe that...How can she put up with that kind of behaviour?"

"She probably realized that he was backed up against the wall. She most likely didn't want to pressure him."

Miroku and Sango glance back at Inuyasha while the latter comments,

"Yeah, it doesn't take much to push him over the edge..."

Unfortunately, the dog demon caught onto the stares, and glares somewhat at the two:

"What're you lookin' at?"

They turn back, and Miroku muses to himself,

 _Ah, a clear sign of remorse. Good, good..._

"Haha, I find it funny that you two even think Cora and Inuyasha are in a romantic relationship. It's not as obvious as you think it is."

The monk and slayer look at Besa in surprised confusion:

"It's not?"

"Nope. The interactions we're seeing are actually just as common in opposite sex best friends. I mean who knows, (Whisper) maybe there's a slight chance that they're each hiding their true feelings from one another, but until it's confirmed from at least one party, it may not be the best idea to assume..."

The other two hm, while Besa looks back at Inuyasha and Coraline each, quirking,

 _Although I do have a sneaking suspicion Cora may have come to an emotional epiphany not too long ago..._

 _But it's not my business to pry. I'll leave it to her to say what she needs to say when she's ready...same for Inuyasha._

Small Time Skip

Eventually, everyone had reached their destination: The area where Naraku's Phantom Castle once stood. The area was still pretty clear, with broken ground (including the large cut from the Wind Scar), and sections of what used to be a stone wall running around the perimeter.

"So this is where Naraku's Castle used to be?" Miroku replies to Inuyasha,

"Yes. There are still traces of Naraku's miasma...This is it."

Sango looks around at the area with a faraway expression, the memories etched within the structural remains threatening to resurface...Everyone then splits up to comb for any clues that may tell them where the demon could be hiding out now. Inuyasha walks with Shippo, wondering aloud,

"This doesn't make any sense, though: There's hardly any signs of the ruins. Are we sure that Naraku's castle was really here?"

The pair reach Miroku and Hachi who were examining the ground where the claw mark of the Wind Scar was, the former replying,

"You've got a point: Considering it's Naraku, it wouldn't be the first time that we've been lured to a false castle..."

"Fake or not, I'm definitely picking up faint traces of the bastard's Aura!"

"Hm?"

The boys look ahead, and widen their eyes, seeing Coraline sitting Indian-style on the ground, her body glowing that icy neon blue that usually occurs in her eyes!

Lumos was up and about too, circling Coraline while emitting a similar glow:

"(Ghostly moan...)"

Inuyasha, Shippo, Miroku and Hachi come over to stand near and around Coraline, as the former asks,

"What the heck are you doing?"

"I'm focusing my Aura to sync with Lumos, and we're gonna try to see if we can zero in on Naraku's specific Aura energy based on the traces that still remain here in these ruins. If we can, then we'll send out a Seeker Wave, and if all goes according to plan, I might be able to uncover his latest location."

Everyone exclaims,

"What?!" "No way!"

"Incredible!" "You can really do that?!"

Coraline replies seriously,

"I can, but there's no guarantee it'll work: I dunno how far mine and Lumos's radar will extend, and there's also the possibility that the energies that are here will try to block us. Still, worth a shot."

She takes a big breath in through her nose...before opening her glowing eyes:

"Everybody stand back, or you'll get hit by the backwave!"

They nod, and scramble out of the area around Coraline, as she raises her hands into a pedestal shape above her head, where Lumos floats to rest on:

" _Seeker Aurora!_ "

(Ping, pow)

Her body and Lumos's are each swallowed into a brighter ice-blue glow, and everyone shields their eyes, as the energy is released, and shoots from the point of origin to and through the surrounding area!

(...Pulse, pulse, pulse)

"Uh! I think I'm getting something!" Inuyasha calls from afar,

"What do you see?"

"Hang on, the image is blurry...wait...it's starting to come into view..."

But just before Coraline could make any sense out of the image being projected into her mind:

(Gleam)

"Huh?"

Freeman feels something off, and turns his head to see several spots of red-purple energy beginning to form on the stone walls!

"U-U-Uh, guys...!"

Everyone looks where he was looking, and widen their eyes at the sight:

"What the-"

"Ah! I'm sensing a substantial amount of dark demonic energy!"

"Naraku's Aura Traces must be going on the offense!"

"Coraline! Stop!"

But the warning came a few seconds too late:

(Pow-pow-pow-pow)

Four beams of the red-purple light shot one at a time from the walls, and hit Coraline's body:

(Bzzzzt)

"Aaah!"

(Bzzzzt)

"Gyyaaah!"

(Bzzzzt)

"Aaargh!"

(Bzzzzt)

"Aaaauhhhh!"

Once the fourth shot finished its job, Coraline would collapse on her hands and knees, grimacing from the pain:

"Gh! D-Damn...So much for that plan..."

Everyone rushes over to check up on her:

"Coraline!" "Are you okay?!"

"That must've hurt..." "You're not badly injured?"

She gingerly rises to a stand, slipping a bit halfway up, but steadies herself before replying,

"I'm alright...(Weak smile) I think the part of me that really took most of the blow was my pride."

Inuyasha places a concerned hand on her shoulder and asks with a serious expression,

"What happened?"

"Naraku's Aura happened: I was close to pinpointing a possible location, but the traces that are seeped into these ruins got wise to mine and Lumos's energies, and proceeded to stop us with that energy shock. I'll be fine, but there's no way I'll be able to try using the Seeker Wave here again without being attacked."

Miroku asks,

"Is there anything you can remember from what you did see that may help?"

Coraline rubs the side of her head and replies discouragingly,

"Nothing that would be really helpful: Most of the image was pretty blurred and dominantly purple, so there must be a huge mist of miasma surrounding the structure...That's as far as I got before I was blocked."

She forms an apologetic look and adds,

"I'm sorry that I can't add anything else."

"It's alright. You did your best...It's possible that the mist you saw may be more than just miasma: Naraku might've erected a barrier to block his scent from others."

"True..."

Lumos floats to settle on Coraline's shoulder, and lets out a tried moan, she smiling a bit and saying,

"Thank you for lending a hand, Lumos. Take as long a rest as you need to."

She looks down at the ground and muses with a sad smile,

"I guess even illusions can pack a punch once in a while..."

"No...It was real."

"Hm?"

Coraline looks ahead to see Sango examining a specific spot in the ground, and asks,

"You're sure?"

"There's no mistake: Naraku's Castle was definitely here. Your Seeker Wave is also proof to add what I found..."

Coraline walks over to where Sango was crouching, and sees some unearthed armor pieces:

"...Oh. Sango, are these...?"

Everyone else comes over to where they were standing, Inuyasha asking,

"What's up, Sango? Did you find something?"

She holds up one piece with a grim expression and replies,

"...This was my Father's armor...The day he was murdered, we demon slayers were lured to Naraku's Castle...My Father and all the others were slaughtered. The assassin was my young brother, Kohaku: His mind was being controlled by Naraku..."

Besa and Freeman hm in sympathy, as Sango continues:

"Their bodies were buried in the corner of the courtyard, right where we're standing."

Coraline replies solemnly,

"I'm so sorry, Sango..."

They then look to see Miroku step over to the side of the grave before unwrapping a part of his robes:

"Miroku?"

"We mustn't leave your Father and the others here buried in this tainted ground."

He lays the cloth down, and begins to remove the armor pieces from the grave, much to Sango's admiration:

"Miroku..."

"We shall bury them elsewhere and offer our prayers. Is that agreeable, Sango?"

"Of course. Miroku, I...thank you."

The twins nod at one another, before setting their bags down and pulling out a blanket from one to assist:

"We'll help too."

"Yes. It's only right that they be resting somewhere that isn't laced with miasma...and hate..."

Coraline smiles faintly at her brother's Samaritan efforts, before going into thought over the area:

 _Well then, I suppose this fully confirms that this area's the last location of Naraku's Castle..._

 _But what of the people inside?_

 _I remember seeing Kohaku's body floating out of the area during the whirlwind, so there's a good chance that he wasn't killed..._

 _But these remains have undergone speedy decomposition, leaving only the slayer gear...and a few bones._

 _The miasma must've been soaked into the ground, making it more acidic..._

 _A damn shame._

Once the remains were gathered, they were moved to a cliff-side far enough from the ruins and reburied with a marker on top made from large pieces of rock...

As Miroku sends his blessings, Inuyasha comments,

"Well at least here, wild dogs won't dig up their graves..." Miroku says afterword,

"Let this be your resting place for the time-being."

Sango lays a small bouquet of flowers on the grave site, and mentally vows,

 _Someday, I promise to erect proper graves for you and the others in the village._

 _The village is abandoned now...but Kohaku and I are still alive. We'll both watch over the graves..._

 _If I can find him._

...Unbeknownst to Sango and company, our lost and misguided demon slayer was closer by than they think...

(Toss, cut)

"Haha!"

Turns out, Kohaku was in fact alive, and was currently taking refuge in the home of an elderly couple, cutting firewood in exchange for lodging. He slices one log in two, catching one half on his foot, and the other on his head. He turns around in a hop with a smile and asks,

"Well?"

The elderly couple clap in praise of his skill:

"Oh-hohohoho..."

"That's quite the performance, young lad!"

Kohaku lets out another laugh, before tossing the pieces of wood onto the log pile, the second balancing on the other for a few seconds before toppling over...

"You are remarkable!"

"I'll say he is!"

"Your performance has been truly entertaining."

"And on top of which, you've done a fine job cutting our firewood." Kohaku cheerily replies,

"Don't mention it."

The elder woman then says,

"You must be tired from all that work. Come inside and rest a little."

"Thank you."

Time Skip

Soon, the sun sets on another day, and as the couple and Kohaku begin to have dinner, the elderly man asks the young demon slayer,

"Well? Did you remember anything?"

"No, not really..."

"How about, where you came from, or your name?" The woman chimes in,

"Wait a minute now: Perhaps you lived close to the castle..."

"Castle?"

"About two weeks ago, Lord Hitomi's Castle suddenly vanished into thin air...And it was the very next day that we found you lying unconscious. Perhaps you suffered a frightening experience and that's what caused you to lose your memory."

Kohaku thinks on those words, but does not speak...The elderly man and woman say respectively to Kohaku's lack of response,

"Well, never mind..."

"I guess not. Meanwhile, you can stay here as long as you want. Now, eat up; there's lots more."

"(Small smile) Hm, thank you."

Another hour passes, and we find Kohaku sitting under a nearby tree looking up at the moon while trying to rack his brain for a clue to who he was:

 _...The castle...That's right: I have a feeling I was there._

Another few minutes pass...when suddenly:

(Buzzzz...)

A large drone of the Insects of Hell come flying through the air, heading straight for Kohaku!

"Uh!"

He quickly rushes back to the elder couple's home to warn them:

"Gramps! Granny!"

"Uh?" "Huh?"

"I have to leave you now!"

"Where will you go, my boy?"

"I can't stay here anymore! It's dangerous, so don't go outside! (Smile) Thank you for all your kindness..."

With that, Kohaku leaves, while the elder couple mutter,

"Wait..." "Ooh my..."

Kohaku was then dashing down a hillside through the forest as fast as he could, his mind remembering a snippet of what happened to him:

 _That's right: I remember! I ran away from the castle the night it disappeared!_

 _(Flash)_

 _"Kohaku...I have no need to keep you alive any longer. Go join your Father and the others."_

 _(Flash)_

 _Kohaku...My name is...Kohaku?_

Before he could question himself any further, something else came shooting through and out the ground in front of Kohaku, causing him to jump back with a yelp!

As he grimaces from a new injury on his upper arm, he looks up, and sees a monstrous demon in front of him: It had the body of a praying mantis with mahogany-shaded skin, and a skull-like head with red eyes and long green hair!

"(Roar)"

Meanwhile, with the Inuyasha Gang...

As everyone sat around a fire for the night, Kilala picks up on the scent of the surfaced demon, and rises to a stand with a low growl...Sango asks,

"What is it, Kilala? (Narrows eyes) Mm...are there demons nearby?"

It was then that Coraline picks up a familiar pulse:

"Uh! There's a jewel shard nearby!" Inuyasha asks,

"What's that?"

"It's in the same direction that Kilala's looking!"

Soon, the group was off, the twins running with Inuyasha (he carrying Coraline and Shippo) while Sango and Miroku rode Kilala. Inuyasha asks,

"Coraline, is it this way?"

"Yes: It's in the next clearing beyond this forest!" Freeman asks curiously,

"How can you tell it's a clearing?"

"Some of Lumos's lent energy is still within me, so my detection's a bit sharper tonight."

"Gotcha."

Suddenly, a familiar drone of buzzing began resonating from above, and Miroku looks up to see,

"Uh: Naraku's poisonous insects!" Inuyasha sarcastically comments,

"So, they're after the Shikon-no-Tama shard too, are they?"

Besa replies,

"We better pick up the pace, then!"

"Right!"

Up ahead in the clearing, the demon speaks to Kohaku:

" **Kohaku: You cannot escape from me!** "

The young slayer flinches, and the demon threatens,

" **Surrender to me the Shikon-no-Tama shard in your back!** "

 _Shikon...no-Tama shard?_

Said fragment emits a faint glow from the middle of the clueless boy's back, and the demon raises one of its razor arms to attack:

" **Surrender the jewel!** "

(Tok, tok)

Kohaku leaps back from the monster's arms, but was thrown off his feet when its tongue comes shooting out and thrashes the ground underneath him:

(Wack)

"Aaaahhhh!"

Kohaku's kusarigama is knocked far out of his hands, and just as the demon charges at him while he lets out a frightened scream:

"Kohakuuuuu!"

Sango and everyone else make it just in time, Coraline stating,

"That demon's trying to get the shard in Kohaku's back!"

"What?!"

 _The Shikon-no-Tama shard embedded in his back is his lifeline. If the shard is removed...he'll die!_

With her brother's life on her mind, Sango leaps off of Kilala and releases her weapon:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin, TOK)

The demon is cut down instantly, and Kohaku watches with wide eyes, as the pieces fall down to the ground in front of him:

"Uh...(Turn) Huh?"

Sango lands a few feet away, and looks at her brother's form:

 _...Kohaku...Your mind was under Naraku's control, and you were in Naraku's Castle..._

 _So, why are you here now?_

Kohaku then asks,

"...Who are you? Do you know me?"

Coraline widens her eyes from his question, and Sango froze stiff, realizing that Kohaku's mind has become more damaged than before...

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

We decided to move ourselves out of the area and found an abandoned shrine house for a temporary shelter. Right now, I was helping Sango with treating Kohaku's injuries:

"You've hurt your arm. Let me see it." As Sango finishes applying a bandage, he asks,

"Uh, excuse me..."

"Hm?"

"Um, have we, uh, you know...met before?"

Sango nods, and I ask him gently but firmly,

"Kohaku, are you sure that nothing else comes to mind besides your name and escaping the castle?"

"(Nod) Hm...no."

Sango then asks with a sad frown,

"You don't remember Naraku?"

I see his face light up in a slight epiphany, before switching back to an unsure look:

 _Hm...Kohaku seems to know that name, but at the same time, he's uncertain._

 _Maybe he remembers a snippet of Naraku, but not enough to know what he was doing before his escape..._

 _Did his time as a puppet cause that severe of memory loss...or is something else preventing him from remembering?  
_

No POV  


As Coraline began pondering what could be causing Kohaku to be memory-impaired, Inuyasha, Miroku and the twins were outside making their own suggestions on the situation:

"I dunno...I think the kid's just putting on an act for us."

"It doesn't appear that way to me." Inuyasha asks Miroku with some ludicrously,

"What, you mean you trust him?"

"I didn't say that...Last time we saw Kohaku, he was virtually a puppet...like a human without a Soul. And now we have this boy."

Besa offers his insights:

"Hm...I'm almost wondering if maybe Kohaku broke some of Naraku's control to the point that he can move independently, but not so much that he remembers his life before..."

Freeman shakes his head and replies skeptically,

"I dunno, bro: It'd take a serious amount of willpower to do that, I don't think the kid's got enough in him..."

(Slide)

"Hm?"

The four look back and see Coraline exiting the house with Shippo on her shoulder, the younger asking,

"Do you think it's safe to leave them alone, Coraline?"

"I didn't sense any hostility laced in Kohaku's Aura, so it should be fine. Plus, Sango wanted to be one-on-one with him, and I'm not about to argue with her at this time..."

 _There was something I was sensing that troubles me, however:_

 _Kohaku's Aura Energy is vibrating, with the light sending waves against a particular portion of his darkness..._

 _Almost like, the Soul is suppressing something._

Sango's POV

"The slayer's village?"

"Yes. That's where we used to live, Kohaku."

I'm sitting up against the wall with Kohaku as I try to jog his memory by telling him about our life before Naraku...Kilala hops on his shoulder as he asks,

"Hm? Then, you mean I was a demon slayer as well?"

"You were still an apprentice..."

Flashback

 _"Rest yourself, Sango. We'll be needing you again in a short time."_

 _"Yes, father."_

 _As I walked away, father then turned to Kohaku to inform him,  
_

 _"Kohaku, you to must prepare for battle."_

 _"Who, uh, me?"_

 _"Yes, you are eleven now. Plenty old enough to go into battle."_

 _"Mm...mhm..."_

 _I was then watching Kohaku practicing his targeting with his kusarigama while I laid with Kilala, when he asked me,  
_

 _"Hey, um, Sango?"_

 _"Yes?"_

 _(Slash)_

 _He successfully broke all of the clay targets on the poles before asking his question:_

 _"Do demons breathe fire and toxins as they say?"_

 _"Sometimes."_

 _"(Dismayed sigh) Then it's true..."_

 _Sensing that he was troubled, I crawl up beside him and gently ask,  
_

 _"Kohaku, what's wrong? Are you scared?"_

 _He tried to defend himself:_

 _"No, I never said I was scared," but the sigh he expelled afterward said it all...I patted his back and reassured him,_

 _"You'll be fine. We slay such things as snakes, spiders and other types of large beasts. As father says, the most frightening demon is one that masquerades as a human being."_

 _I then add more seriously,_

 _"He says that if that type of demon comes to possess the jewel, then it's trouble."_

 _He nods back, nervously but seriously...  
_

End of Flashback

 _The day we were lured in by Naraku, was Kohaku's first experience in battle..._

"Say..."

"Hm?"

"Tell me everything you know about me."

I was taken aback by how innocent his question was, and watch as he gently moves Kilala off his shoulder and adds,

"I feel so empty, because I don't know how I got here..."

I felt a small smile come to my face:

 _He's just like the Kohaku I remember: Quiet, and a bit cowardly..._

...I then place an arm around his shoulders, and gently pull him close, chiding,

"Don't rush it. It'll take time to remember...We'll have all the time in the world together now."

I notice that his face was forming a blush of embarrassment, and he asks,

"U-Um, excuse me..."

"Hm?"

"You're, embracing me...It's kind-of embarrassing."

"Why are you so shy? We're siblings."

 _Still, I should remember that his memory impairment will cause moments of confusion like this..._

 _But, Kohaku's come back to me. He's escaped from Naraku's grasp...That's what I want to believe._

I then pick up on his breathing forming a steady rhythm, and look down to see that he's fallen asleep...

Back Outside, No POV

While Sango was beginning to believe that Kohaku was out of Naraku's hold for good, everyone else was still wary, Inuyasha especially:

"Well, I'm sure that a couple good punches will knock the truth out of him."

Coraline sighs exasperatingly and replies,

"Inuyasha, violence isn't a good solution to this sort of issue." Miroku agrees:

"Coraline is right: It's not as simple as all that. I can't say whether or not it's a trap, but the fact is Sango's been reunited with her younger brother."

"Mhm...And assuming this does become a trap, Sango's heart will tear up again before it can sew itself back together."

"We have to keep in mind that Naraku loves to toy with people's feelings..."

(Slide)

It was then Sango exits the shrine house with Kilala...Inuyasha grunts, before rising off the ground to approach the demon slayer, much to Coraline's confusion:

"Inuyasha?"

"If you guys aren't gonna tell her, then I will."

"Hold on!"

Besa hms to himself, and gets up off the ground while thinking to himself,

 _Something tells me we'll be needing a mediator..._

As he follows Inuyasha, Sango walks away from the entrance to the house, only to stop when she sees the dog demon step in front of her with a serious expression...

"What? What's wrong?"

"Listen, Sango: It's about Kohaku. It's obviously one of Naraku's traps."

She widens her eyes, and tries to deny his claim (though somewhat unsure of her own judgement):

"No, you're wrong. I trust Kohaku!"

"That's what Naraku wants."

"Grh, what choice do I have except to trust my younger brother?!"

"This whole thing reeks of Naraku."

"If we haven't come to his aid, the Shikon-no-Tama shard would have been removed, and he really would've died!"

"That's the trap! That's what he wants you to think!"

"It's not a trap!"

Inside the hut, Kohaku overhears the shouts, and becomes disheartened:

 _...That nice lady has become unhappy...and it's all my fault._

 _...I can't stay._

Picking up his kusarigama, Kohaku decides to slip away while he was unnoticed...He overhears the shouts of,

"You're being blinded by love for your kid brother!"

"Enough! You don't know how I feel!"

"Open your eyes!"

He then mutters sadly,

"...Farewell," before taking off...At the same time, Besa steps in to cool the rising tempers:

"Stop it, both of you! If we're talking about what Naraku wants, I'll tell you: He wants us to turn against one another for reasons such as this!"

He shoves them back a bit from eachother, and adds with a stern expression,

"Look: If I can be honest, I don't believe that Kohaku is being fully honest with his memory loss, but not so dishonest that he's being controlled by Naraku. If that monster was still wanting to use him, why on earth would he send his insects and that demon after the boy? Answer: Kohaku's become a liability, and Naraku wants nothing more to do with him than retrieving the jewel shard in his back and ending his life once and for all."

Inuyasha and Sango gasp in surprise, and the latter asks,

"So, you believe that Naraku wishes to kill Kohaku?"

"Yes. And this skepticism that we're all feeling right now: This is Naraku's true intent. He wants us all to fight about what we don't yet fully understand, and become paranoid."

Sango hms, and Inuyasha replies,

"I guess that would make sense too...but how can we be sure?"

"That's the problem: We can't. But one thing I do know is this: If we fight among ourselves...we lose."

Besa claps Inuyasha's and Sango's shoulders and adds,

"So both of you, cool it and drop the attitudes. Got it?"

"...Got it." "Fine."

"Thank you."

The other four watch from a couple feet away in amazement, with Shippo commenting,

"Wow: Your brother's really good at stopping fights, Freeman."

"(Smile) Yeah, he's got a talent for mediating..."

 _Nice one, bro..._

Just as the infighting ceased, a rumble passed through the air, causing everyone to become alert:

"Hm?" "Huh?"

As Lumos pops out of Coraline's satchel, blinking red in warning, Inuyasha mutters,

"They're coming...Hundreds of them."

The sky darkens over...before a huge swarm of demons come swooping down towards the group, lead by the Insects of Hell!

Inuyasha moves to stand with Coraline, Miroku, Shippo and the twins, the last two muttering,

"Oh great..."

"Not those damn wasps again!"

Sango realizes,

"Uh, i-it's Kohaku they're after!"

She rushes into the shrine house to warn him, as Inuyasha calls back,

"Forget about him, Sango!"

(Leap)

"Hrrrraaaaahh!"

(Slash)

He then uses his claws to cut down on a good number of the wasps, just as Sango slams the door open:

"Kohaku?!"

But...he was already long gone. Sango mutters worriedly,

"Kohaku," as Coraline comes over to inform her,

"Sango, I can sense the jewel shard and his Aura are on the move."

She then moves to grab her sword, bow and quiver and adds urgently,

"Come on! We have to find him and protect him!"

"Uh...right."

Back outside, Inuyasha lands on the ground, just as a barrage of wind blades come barreling towards him and the others:

(Boom, boom, boom...)

Miroku snatches up Shippo, and Freeman pulls Besa away while shouting,

"Hit the deck!"

...When the dirt and dust clears, we see that they're all okay. It was then that Kagura comes leaping down...Inuyasha asks,

"Kagura. What do ya want this time?"

"...I know you're hiding Kohaku. Inuyasha, let me have him."

"What?"

"Don't play innocent with me. Hand over Naraku's kept boy. You see, Kohaku went berserk, and ran off from the castle, with the Shikon-no-Tama shard embedded in his back."

"So that's the reason you've come for him?"

"Naraku always goes overboard. Imagine, dispatching this enormous army simply because he wants the shard."

As she lets out a small laugh, Inuyasha concludes,

"So, you're after the Shikon-no-Tama shard, are you?"

"Correct. Although once it's removed, Kohaku will die. We're under orders to let Sango have him after that."

The four men are appalled by her words:

"Hrgh!"

"How dare you!"

"You witch!"

"Screw that! You ain't gettin' so much as a hair on his head!"

As they prepare to engage Kagura and the demon army in battle, Kohaku was running for his life from another smaller swarm of the Insects of Hell...Unfortunately, he is forced to slide into a stop, when he finds himself blocked on both sides!

Just as the wasps begin to charge at him:

(SPIN, tok-tok-tok-tok-tok-tok...)

Hiraikotsu comes flying in, and destroys the swarm in a matter of seconds! Sango catches the boomerang on the rebound, letting out a huge breath of relief, as Coraline comes up on Kilala, noting,

"That was too close..." Kohaku was stunned:

"I don't understand! Why did you come?! It was me that they were after!"

Sango rises to a stand, and approaches him with an expressionless face...before smiling softly and sadly:

"Kohaku, stay here. Don't leave me anymore."

"Why? Why are you doing this for me?!"

She moves to stand beside him facing the opposite way and replies,

"You're my brother. That's why...Kohaku, you're my one and only little brother."

"Hn..."

...Kilala suddenly begins to growl, and Coraline asks,

"What is it, Kilala? More trouble?"

Lumos floats up from Kilala's head and lets out some warning cries, and they all look up to see a swarm of demons heading their way!

Sango grits her teeth, before turning to call to Coraline,

"Protect Kohaku for me! I will stop those demons!"

"(Nod) Alright, but be careful!"

Sango calls on Kilala, and they both take off to fight the swarm, the former shouting back,

"Kohaku, you must live!"

Kohaku stares at Sango's shrinking form in shock from her determination, before Coraline rushes over to pull him out of the area:

"This way, Kohaku!"

Coraline's POV

I pull Kohaku along through the woods as fast as we can go, but just as we make it to the next clearing, a serpent demon comes charging at us!

Thinking quickly, I grab my bow and an arrow, before shooting it down:

(Twok, POW)

But it was only the beginning: About five or six more come popping out, and Kohaku asks,

"How will we stop 'em?"

"No worries. I can take 'em out."

(Twok, twok, twok)

(POW, POW, POW)

My arrows made contact, thank god, and I reach for my last arrow to take down an incoming ogre demon:

(Twok, POW)

I let out a breath of relief, before brainstorming my next move:

 _There goes my arrows. I can probably take on more with ShatterSoul, but it's too risky with Kohaku here..._

 _We need to hide out for a bit._

As of reading my thoughts, Lumos flies from my shoulder to a spot under some tree roots, circling an entrance to an underground hole!

"Good find, Lumos! Kohaku, in there, quick!"

We duck inside, and begin our wait for everyone to find us again...I notice a couple Insects of Hell fly by, and curse quietly:

"We'll have to lay low for a while until someone finds us...But if all goes to hell, we'll wait for an opening, and make a break for it."

"...That lady."

"Hm?"

"I hope she'll be alright." I smile reassuringly and reply,

"Don't worry about Sango: She's tough. Those demons will regret crossing her path, trust me."

I then ask,

"She's your older sister, after all. She'd move the earth for her kin...Are you, sure that you can't remember an inkling about her, or is your mind still suppressing the memories?"

He nods, and replies,

"I do seem to know her...I mean, she seems so familiar."

"Hm, I call that a good sign...She's been very worried for you since you two were separated a while back. (Sad smile) She puts on a mask of content, but I can see her sadness leaving cracks...So I'm happy that you're alright, for both your sake and hers."

"Huh...Do you really think it'll be alright if I stay with her then?"

"Why not? I'm sure the longer you stay with her and us, the faster your memories will begin to resurface...(Frown) I can sense that something inside you is holding you back, but I must implore you to have courage: To be brave, means facing your fears head on."

He nods in understanding...

No POV

Kohaku goes into thought over his memory loss:

 _I want to remember her, and everything else...Still, why do I feel this way?_

 _It's like I'm scared, like there's something I don't want to remember..._

...Suddenly:

 _(Flash)_

 _"Kill her...Kill Coraline..."_

 _(Flash)_

"Uh!"

Kohaku's jewel shard emits an ominous glow...Coraline looks out from the hole:

"Damn...This isn't looking good. I hope Inuyasha gets here soon, or I'll have to take a risk and do my own swordplay..."

(...Clink)

" _What a shame that you're all out of arrows..._ "

"Hm?"

Coraline turns around, only to widen her eyes at the sight, of Kohaku raising his kusarigama to attack!

"...Kohaku...what..."

 _(Gasp) Oh no: His eyes, they have no pupils! He's been pulled back under!_


	57. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56: That Unforgettable Face, & the Desire to Forget Pain**

 _Recap:_

 _Following a decision of morals and loyalty between Inuyasha and Coraline (and the latter's dangerous new pact she must now keep a secret), our gang returns to the ruins of where Naraku's Illusionary Castle once stood. After confirming through a failed Seeker Wave attempt, and the discovery of the remains of Sango's Father and fellow demon slayers that this was the castle's last location, the grave site is then moved to a separate landmark out of respect for the lives before..._

 _Come the evening, our group would then discover that the wayward Kohaku was still alive! But while Sango is in rapture of being reunited with her younger brother, his time as Naraku's puppet has taken a toll on his mind, leaving him with a severe case of Amnesia. She tries hard to convince herself that Kohaku is out of the wicked demon's grasp for good, but everyone else was understandably skeptical..._

 _Soon, Kagura comes attacking with an army of demons to take back the Shikon-no-Tama shard embedded in Kohaku's back! With Inuyasha, Miroku, Shippo, Besa and Freeman standing against Kagura, Sango, Kilala, Coraline and Lumos rush into the forest to find Kohaku and protect him. Shortly after finding and saving him from a swarm of the Insects of Hell, Sango and Kilala separate to take on another group of demons, while Coraline leads Kohaku deeper into the forest to cloak themselves. They then take refuge inside a hole in the ground under a tree that Lumos finds..._

 _As they lay in wait for someone else of the group to come and back them up, Kohaku wonders why he seems fearful to get back his full memory...Before he could question himself further, Naraku's voice echoes into his mind, and the jewel shard reactivates the mind control! The newly robotic Kohaku then comments on Coraline's lack of munition, and she turns around, only to see that he was raising his weapon at her!_

 _Now..._

Catching up with two other members of the Inuyasha team, we find Sango and Kilala cracking down on the demons, the former using Hiraikotsu as both boomerang and club, the latter her fangs and claws...

As Sango charges into battle again, she mentally vows,

 _Don't worry, Kohaku: I'll never let you be taken from me again!_

Just as she cuts down a couple more demons...Sango's ears then pick up on the following sounds:

(Clang, shing)

"Aaaaagh!" She widens her eyes upon recognizing the scream:

"Coraline!"

After clubbing a centipede demon, Sango calls for Kilala, and both rush off to find the source of Coraline's cry of pain...Meanwhile, back at the abandoned shrine house, the men stand bravely against the horde of demons backing Kagura, while Shippo ducks under the house, knowing his own powers won't be strong enough to lend much assistance, and to make it seem that there were still others inside the house to protect.

Miroku says to the others,

"Inuyasha, Besa, Freeman: We must keep Kagura and her demons distracted as long as we can."

The twins nod, their weapons at the ready, and Inuyasha replies,

"Sure, I'll do what I can." He then calls out,

"Hey, Kagura: You need to bring an army just to capture one puny kid? Fine by me!"

Kagura just smirks, thinking,

 _They're falling straight into Naraku's trap...Now you must follow through, Kohaku._

"My, isn't this just so convenient? May as well slaughter you all while we're at it. Don't you worry at all: I shall personally take your head, Inuyasha."

She then waves her fan to attack:

" _Dance of Blades!_ "

(Fwip-fwip-fwip-fwip...)

The wind blades fly, and the men jump out of the way, the battle on this side of the forest beginning...

Coraline's POV

"(Pant, pant, pant) Damn..."

Shortly after Kohaku attacks me with his kusarigama (I tried to block and run, but he got me on the second try on my right arm), I kicked him in the abdomen before bolting out of the hole.

I'm now running as fast as I can with my left hand clasped over my wound, my right hand grasping my combat knife:

 _I don't want to use it on him, but...I may not have a choice in the next bit..._

I can hear him trailing behind me, and just as I try to break into a new speed:

(Trip)

"Ah!"

My foot got caught on a tree root, and I fell on my front, my right arm taking some of the blow, shooting nerve pain into my injury:

"Grh!"

Just as I struggle to sit up, Kohaku catches up to me! Lumos comes to my side, hovering near in a panic, as I face the expressionless eyes of the young boy:

"Kohaku...please...don't do this."

He raises his kusarigama to himself, and I wonder,

 _What could've triggered him to become a puppet again?_

 _Unless...did Naraku somehow reach him?_

(Swing)

"Uh!"

I dodge another attack from Kohaku, and as I raise myself with my hands, Lumos comes to me and sends that energy sparkle near my ear:

(Twinkle...)

"...Lumos?"

(Pulse)

"Huh?"

I felt myself turn to stare at Kohaku, and that's when I heard it:

 _(Flash)_

 _"Kohaku...Kill Coraline..."_

 _(Flash)_

"(Gasp) That was Naraku's voice! (Narrows eyes) He must be using some kind-of, telepathy..."

Kohaku readies his weapon again, and thanks to my Will O' Wisp companion, I can hear Naraku urging Kohaku in his mind:

 _"Kill her..."_

Swallowing a lump in my throat, I switch from holding my injury to readying my knife in an upright defensive position, and I try to snap Kohaku out of it:

"Kohaku, listen to me: You don't want to do this. Naraku is manipulating you; he wants to cause you pain by making you to do terrible acts. Please...fight back."

 _"Kill her..."_

Just as he readies to strike me again, I shout urgingly,

"Kohaku: Fight back!"

...He then hesitates, his arm shaking slightly...Naraku makes his order again:

 _"Kill her!...Kill her...Kill her!"_

I remain strong and say,

"No, Kohaku. Don't do it. (Sad smile) You're better than this, and...I don't want to hurt you. No good will come from either of us hurting eachother."

Just as he ceases up completely, Sango and Kilala come flying in:

"Coraline! Kohaku!"

I turn to them as they land:

"Sango. Kilala..."

But, Sango's focus was on her brother, a heartbroken expression on her face:

"Kohaku...I knew it: You're still..."

Kohaku takes a few steps back, before running off altogether...I watch him leave with a mix of sadness and astonishment:

 _He...didn't listen to Naraku...Oh Kohaku...I knew the real you was in there.  
_

 _But the question is: How long will it be until you gather the courage to face reality again?_

I focus back as Sango kneels in front of me to check my injury:

"Are you okay?"

She forms a disbelieved and horrified expression, knowing where the cut came from, and I reply dryly,

"I'm fine. The slash isn't deep."

I sheath my combat knife, as Sango rises to her feet and mutters her brother's name, before calling,

"Kilala, you stay here with Coraline." She glances down at me and sadly comments,

"You must be in alot of pain..."

"(Shakes head) Not really. I've had worse than this. I would've avoided getting it, but...I didn't want to hurt him with my knife."

She looks at me in surprise...before making her way down where Kohaku had left...She stops to look at me once more with a strange look in her eyes, and mutters,

"...I'm sorry," before she takes off again...

"Sango...Guh!"

 _Wait...that look...No! No, she can't be planning to-_

"Sango, come back! Sangooooo!"

Abandoned Shrine House, No POV

As the injured Coraline realizes the decision that Sango may have come to with regards to Kohaku, the men were cracking down on the demon horde brought by Kagura. As Miroku uses his staff to take down a mutant eyeball and a serpent demon, he comments in frustration,

"There's too many!"

Besa blocks one demon with his sickles, giving Freeman the distraction needed to bash his hammer on it, and another on the rebound:

"Hrrrah!"

(Thwack)

They move closer to where Miroku was, and each call back,

"Don't give up, Miroku!"

"Yeah! The second we start doubting, the second they get a leg over us!"

The monk sees their determined smiles...and cracks a small smile of his own:

"You're right. We must have courage!"

Meanwhile, Inuyasha dashes to dodge a barrage of wind blades from Kagura. He leaps into the air, just as she unleashes another wave, and nearly avoids getting his neck cut by one!

He lands on the ground, and Kagura asks,

"What's the matter? Why don't you draw your sword, Inuyasha?" He replies neutrally,

"It'd be a waste using the Tessaiga to kill the likes of you."

He then uses his claws to cut down on some more demons from the army:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

Watching from under the shrine house, Shippo comments a bit too loudly,

"He must be using his claws because he's still not strong enough to control the Tessaiga. What a brilliant idea."

Hearing him, Kagura gains an intrigued look, while Inuyasha calls back in angered annoyance,

"Gh, fool!"

Shippo claps his hands over his mouth, realizing his mistake:

"U-Uh, did I say that out loud?" Kagura chuckles a bit and comments mockingly to Inuyasha,

"That's why you're not using your sword."

Inuyasha heatedly retorts,

"I'm gonna silence you once and for all," pulling the Tessaiga out to use:

"Hrrraaaaaahhhhhh!"

He charges at Kagura and swings his blade:

" _Tessaiga!_ "

(Slash, boom)

Unfortunately, the weight of his sword slows his thrust, and Kagura dodges while the Tessaiga cuts and upturns the ground where she stood...Kagura lands a few feet away and asks in a tease,

"What's the matter, Inuyasha? Seems you're having an awkward time with your sword..."

The dog demon curses to himself:

 _Damn. It's still too heavy to wield easily..._

As Inuyasha racks his brain for a strategy plan, Miroku and the twins keep up the pressure on the demon horde, blocking them from the shrine house with their respected weapons:

"Hrah!" "Hah!"

"Take, this!"

(Wack)

Freeman swings his hammer against one demon and sends it crashing into several others, before they all fall apart!

"Yes!"

But the fight wasn't over yet...As Miroku blocks two demons with his staff, he says to himself,

 _We must keep these demons believing that Kohaku is hiding inside the hut..._

"I got 'em!"

(Hack, hack)

Besa cuts the demons pushing on Miroku away, and as more come charging their way, Miroku switches tactics, shooting several sutras onto their faces, causing them to freeze!

(Swing, thwack)

He spins his staff in a circle to cut them down, and he sticks his staff into the ground, grunting in exhaustion. Besa claps a hand on his shoulder and asks in concern,

"You alright?"

"(Pant, pant) I'll be fine..."

Freeman then calls out,

"Incoming!"

The three focus upward, and use their weapons to block the next wave of demons, with Freeman commenting,

"Geez, don't they know when to quit?! They're just gonna get minced like their comrades before them!"

Besa replies with a grunt,

"That's just it, brother: They only seem to know to attack with no haste! Death is an afterthought!"

"...Well that's a stupid way to live..."

Suddenly, a millipede demon slips between Miroku and Freeman, and the latter curses,

"Oh shit!"

Inuyasha looks behind at the struggling men:

"Miroku! Freeman! Besa!" Kagura gets him back on track to their fight:

"You should pay more attention!"

(Fwip)

She sends a wave of wind blades at him, and Inuyasha uses his Tessaiga to block, using all the strength he can to stay in one place...Meanwhile, Besa pushes back the demons and cuts them away with his sickles, before going after the millipede:

"No you don't!"

He tries to land a blow on its head, but was then grasped by the tail, and thrown back:

"Gaaaah!"

"Besa!"

He slides and rolls to the forest treeline, and barely manages to get back up:

"G-Gh...I'm fine...(Gasp) Oh no!"

The millipede then succeeds in crushing the old shrine house with its body, with Shippo trapped under the rubble...

"Huh...So the hut was empty all along. (Sneer) Very clever: You fooled us into thinking Kohaku was still inside."

As Besa hurries over to help Shippo out of the ruined house, Inuyasha replies to Kagura,

"You aren't going anywhere. Hmph, this fight is far from over, Kagura."

Kagura wasn't fazed; on the contrary, she merely smiled more...As Miroku pushes the demons on his staff back and destroys them, he realizes,

 _Wait a minute...!_

"Don't be tricked, Inuyasha!" The dog demon calls back,

"What are you talking about?"

"We thought it was Kohaku that Kagura and the demons were after. Hiyah, (wack, wack) so why is it that none of them are going after him?"

He blocks another demon, and wonders aloud,

"Maybe this whole battle was stage from the beginning, and we were the ones ensnared in their trap!"

As Inuyasha turns to stare accusingly at Kagura, Freeman asks after whacking another three demons back,

"Wait: Are you saying that Naraku was after someone else?"

"Yes!"

As Besa pulls Shippo into his bruised arms, he widens his eyes:

"...Oh crap! The real target was-" Inuyasha finishes for him:

"(Widens eyes) Coraline! She's taken Kohaku into the forest...I knew it: Naraku still has him under his mind control!"

Kagura does not deny it:

"...You're only realizing that now? Oh, what a shame: You're probably already too late."

"(Growl) Damn you. You used Kohaku to get to Coraline."

"Correct. The girl can use Sacred Arrows, and then there's that strange blade she carries...She's quite a nuisance."

With the truth out in the open, the demon horde moves to attack as one force...Miroku decides to take one for the team, and prepares to unleash his Wind Tunnel, much to Shippo's protest:

"No, Miroku, what are you doing?! You'll get the poison insects!"

But his warning fell on deaf ears:

" _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whooooooooooosssssssshhhhhhh...)

The black hole in Miroku's cursed hand bursts forth, sucking back all the demons, including the Insects of Hell...His action would come with consequence, however, as the wasp poison begins to infect him:

(Pulse...pulse...)

Even so, he remains strong...Shippo and Besa try to call him to stop:

"Miroku, don't do it!"

"Don't throw your life down further into the curse!"

Inuyasha looks back and sees what the monk was doing:

"Miroku!" _He's sucking in the poisonous insects!_

As he continues to suck the demons into oblivion, Miroku shouts with some strain,

"Gh, Inuyasha: Go and rescue Sango and Coraline!"

"Count on it! Thanks, Miroku."

He recalls Tessaiga's power, and calls to Miroku and the twins,

"Don't die! You two: Protect Miroku and Shippo!"

"Right!" "You got it!"

Kagura watches Inuyasha take off for the forest, and mutters ruefully,

"Oh yeah?"

She readies to attack with her wind power, but stops at Miroku's warning:

"Don't move, Kagura! All I have to do is turn and I'll suck you in as well!"

The twins ready their weapons with threatening glares, and Kagura grits her teeth, before deciding to make a tactical retreat:

"I'll pass, thanks."

She then uses her feather to get out of the area...

"She escaped!"

Miroku restrains his Wind Tunnel with the prayer beads, and grimaces from the painful effects of the insect poison, falling to his knees...The twins and Shippo rush over to help:

"Miroku! Are you dying?!"

"Hang in there, man."

"We can try to heal you with our crystal shards."

Miroku mutters,

"We have no time to waste. We must, hurry after Inuyasha..."

"...Yeah, sure."

"Got it."

"Put your arms over our shoulders, Miroku. We'll keep you upright."

Inuyasha's POV

I hurry through the forest as fast as I can to find Coraline and Sango, cursing Kohaku:

 _Damn that kid: Acting like someone who wouldn't even hurt a fly..._

 _Coraline..._

Meanwhile, in another part of the Forest, No POV

As Inuyasha hurries to find the girls, Kohaku kept up his speed, leaping over some fallen logs, to get away from the giant boomerang heading his way:

(...Spin...boom)

He stops when the Hiraikotsu comes barreling in front of his path again, and turns to face Sango who catches it on the rebound, staring at him with a mix of betrayal and disappointment...

A moment of silence passes, before Sango sadly states,

"Kohaku...Inuyasha warned me...You haven't escaped Naraku's grasp after all: You came to hurt Coraline, and to steal the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama."

She forms an angry look and mentally wonders,

 _Why should I let Naraku keep controlling you? I'd rather..._

Sango pulls out her katana:

"Kohaku, don't move. Let me free you from that demon!"

The siblings then engage in battle, with Kohaku wrapping the chain of his kusarigama around the blade, and leaping up to land a blow with the sickle...But:

(Tok)

Sango uses Hiraikotsu as a shield, and pushes Kohaku back, before charging to attack, swinging her boomerang to club him:

 _Kohaku, I won't let you die alone! I'll follow after immediately..._

 _I'll be right behind you, I promise! Let me end it!  
_

Inuyasha's POV

I managed to pick up the scent of Coraline's blood, and immediately went in that direction...I soon found her kneeling beside Kilala:

"Coraline!"

"Mm? (Turn) Uh, Inuyasha!"

I land in front of her, and she says to me with a look of worry,

"Please, you have to find Sango: Her eyes...they had the look of death in them."

But I was a bit more pressed with her injury:

"Coraline...Kohaku did this to your arm, didn't he?"

"(Looks down) Unfortunately, yes: I tried to block him with my combat knife, but he got me on the second swing before I kicked him and ran out of the hole we were hiding in...But...it isn't a killer's blow, and he hesitated when he had me pinned down...Lumos, he, granted me the ability to hear into the Soul, and I could hear Naraku trying to manipulate Kohaku...But, he fought back."

"Huh?"

She looks back up, and adds,

"I wasn't able to tell Sango before she ran after him...Inuyasha...I, I think she's going to try to do a mercy kill-suicide."

"(Nod) 'kay...I understand."

I stand back up, and start dashing off to find Sango before she makes the worst mistake of her life...

 _Kohaku didn't kill Coraline, even though he could have._

 _From what she just told me...it sounds like he disobeyed Naraku's orders..._

 _If so, then he still has a will of his own, even if his mind's being controlled._

 _...Which means I have to stop Sango, and fast!  
_

Sango's POV

I continue to use Hiraikotsu to wack at Kohaku's kusarigama, before finally knocking it out of his hands:

(Thwack, rattle)

"Grh!"

With both our main weapons out of our hands, I pin Kohaku to the ground, my right hand poised at the ready with my katana...

"Kohaku!"

I think back to the moment we shared not too long ago in the old shrine house, then the proclamation I made in the forest...I felt tears come to my eyes, as I say with a raw tone,

"I'm going to kill you...then myself...It's my only choice. This is the only way to free you from Naraku."

I cringe...and add with anguish,

"Forgive me, Kohaku," as one of my tears splashes onto his blank face...

But before I could perform my terrible act:

(Rustle, leap)

"Stop, Sango!"

"Grh...GH!"

(Swing, SLAP)

Inuyasha comes rushing in, and wacks my katana out of my hands!

...As I gaze at the fallen blade in shock, Kohaku took the opportunity to flip back a few feet...I then focus on Inuyasha:

"Oh...Inuyasha...Why did you stop me?!" He barks back,

"Don't be stupid! Killing Kohaku will only accomplish one thing: It will make Naraku happy."

I widen my eyes further, realizing how right he was, just as Kohaku decides to make a break for it, but not before looking back once at me...

No POV

As Sango kneels frozen from the emotions coursing in her veins, Inuyasha then calls,

"Kohaku, get back here!"

He takes off after him, and leaps into the air with his claws at the ready:

"Snap, out of it, ya little brat!"

(Boom)

But Kohaku was able to dodge him, and before Inuyasha could get close, he was pushed back by some strong winds, courtesy of Kagura...

Sango catches up just as Inuyasha addresses Naraku's subordinate:

"Kagura..."

"As commanded...Kohaku shall murder Coraline. Kohaku is unable to defy Naraku's orders."

"Oh yeah?"

"(Laugh) Inuyasha, why do you think Kohaku has lost his memory?"

"That's obvious: Because Naraku is controlling his mind!"

"That's part of it...But it's also because Kohaku himself doesn't wish to remember... _Such awful memories._ "

Inuyasha grunts in confusion, but then sees the look of horror on Sango's face, for she knows exactly what Kagura was implying...She then barks in anguish and rage,

"That's enough! Don't say anything more in front of Kohaku!"

Inuyasha growls, and utters,

"...Damn you, Kagura!"

She chuckles and replies,

"...Kohaku didn't want to remember, so Naraku granted his wish and erased his memories. It's so easy to manipulate someone who's a blank slate."

Inuyasha rushes in front of Kohaku, and grasps the boy by his kimono, urging him to fight back against his amnesia:

"Kohaku, you gotta remember; bring your memories back! Remember Sango and the demon slayers!"

It was then that Coraline arrives on scene with Kilala:

"...Inuyasha..."

"You're gonna remember every last detail! Do it if you want to live!"

Sango shouts,

"Stop it!" But Inuyasha insists,

"The only way to free him from Naraku's control is to get him to remember everything he forgot! Naraku will eventually kill him anyway to get the Shikon-no-Tama shard in his back!"

Kagura cuts in with an airy laugh:

"You always see the worst in people."

She then sends wind blades at him, and Inuyasha leaps away, only to cringe with Coraline, Sango and Kilala from strong wind gusts, giving Kagura the opportunity to leave on her feather with Kohaku...

"Come back here!"

"I'd think twice about forcing this boy to remember everything...His past really would destroy him. Let the poor lad die in bliss, free from all those terrible memories..."

With that, the pair fades away...Sango mutters Kohaku's name in a strain, before falling to her knees and breaking down in tears, beating her fist onto the ground:

"Damn! Not again!"

Coraline looks at Sango with pity:

"Sango..."

"...Not again..."

Inuyasha curses at this whole event:

"Damn. You and your brother are a real pain..."

As the girls look at him ludicrously, he then says a bit more calmly,

"Hey, Sango: Maybe this will make you do things a little differently next time. Naraku ordered Kohaku to kill Coraline..."

"Hm?" "Huh?"

"But you see, Kohaku didn't carry out his orders, and that's because he still, has a human heart. That's why we can't kill him...We have to take him alive. Got that?"

Sango stares at him, before nodding sadly...Coraline smiles a bit at Inuyasha's show of mercy, and kneels beside Sango to add,

"Not only that, but...his Soul: I could see it vibrating. His light is sending waves against a piece of his darkness, which I believe represents his amnesia...The dark half got stronger when he hesitated with his kusarigama, so his will is slowly taking back control. I'm not trying to give any false hope, but...if Kohaku can gather his courage to face the ugliness in his memories...he'll have a chance at life."

"His, darkness?"

"Mhm...Contrary to what most believe, Light and Darkness don't follow the societal creation of Good and Evil. They are independent of such human thought...There must be a balance of both...Having too much of one thing can cause problems: Even Light can be a bad thing sometimes...(Sad frown) In Kohaku's case, thanks to Naraku's manipulation, the Light in his Soul is suppressing his darkness, making his Aura...unstable."

"D...Does that, mean...?"

"Yes...(Sigh) Unless Kohaku can find a way to face his fears...the Light in his Soul could kill him before Naraku does."

Unknown Location, No POV

Somewhere deep within a fog-covered mountain range, Kohaku was kneeling before Naraku at an old tree, the latter not pleased by the former's disobedience:

"Kohaku...Remember that I spared your life. I also erased those terrible memories for you...and yet you still failed to kill Coraline...Why is that, Kohaku?"

The blank-eyed boy does not respond...

"Do you wish to become human again?...Then do you want your memories returned?...All of your memories?"

Naraku then taps Kohaku's forehead gently with his fingertips, and a pulse runs through the latter's body, before he grasps his skull in horror from the feedback:

"No...No!"

As Kohaku starts crying from the remembrance of what he did, Naraku hms, before deciding,

"Fair enough..."

He then places his palm on Kohaku's head, locking the memories away again:

"I'll let you live. Now...forget it all..."

Kohaku's eyes dilate back to their soulless state, and he mutters in a robotic tone,

"...Yes."

But in his mind, he found himself flashing back to the expression on Sango's face as she readied to kill him before killing herself...a sign that his will, is slowly getting stronger...

 _Still, I can't erase that woman's face from my mind._


	58. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57: Inuyasha's Soul, Devoured**

"Trees...S...Uh-eh, Squirrel...Lily...Y...Yellow! Your late father's friend certainly lives deep in the forest...U-Uh, yeah..."

It's another day in Sengoku Edo, and we find Sesshomaru leading Jaken, Rin and A-Un through the thick tree canopy to find an old acquaintance of the former's father...

Suddenly, a deep male voice echoes through the air:

"Welcome...I have awaited your arrival."

Rin looks up in curiousity:

"A voice from the sky!"

Jaken peers around to try and find the source:

"Uh-eh, I-I don't see anyone..."

The small group walks in a bit further...before the voice speaks up again:

"I have been expecting you, Sesshomaru."

"So you say that you knew I was coming, did you...old Bokusen-Oh?"

"You've come to speak with me about the swords, I presume?"

They all stop in front of a particularly large magnolia tree with a towering trunk...before an aged face forms in the bark, and opens its eyes!

Scene Shift: An Abandoned Hut

At the same time that Sesshomaru sought out answers regarding the Tessaiga and Tenseiga, we find the Inuyasha group resting in an old hut by the river with a small roof on the side sheltering firewood. Currently, Sango and Miroku were the only ones inside, the latter laying on a straw mat while the former kneels beside him.

Miroku was sleeping, though definitely not comfortably, for his body was still getting over the poisoning of the Insects of Hell. Sango gazed at his sweating form, muttering,

"...Inuyasha told me what happened...when I went to search for Kohaku..."

Flashback

 _"No, Miroku, what're you doing?! You'll get the poison insects!"_

 _"Wind Tunnel!"_

 _(Whooooooossssssshhhhhhhh...)_

 _"Miroku!"_ _He's sucking in the poison insects!_

 _"Rrgh, Inuyasha: Go and rescue Sango and Coraline!"_

Pause Flashback

"...You bravely fought off the demons, while I, went off to find Kohaku..."

Continue Flashback

 _Sango disarms Kohaku and pins him to the ground, katana held high..._

 _"Kohaku..."_

 _His face is frozen in an expressionless gaze, and Sango emotionally states,_

 _"I'm going to kill you...then myself...It's my only choice. This is the only way to free you from Naraku!"_

 _She cringes and mutters,_

 _"Forigve me, Kohaku," and raises the blade at the ready...only for Inuyasha to leap in just in time:_

 _"Stop, Sango!"_

 _"Gh...GH!"_

 _(Swing, SLAP)_

 _Inuyasha wacks the katana out of Sango's hand..._

End of Flashback

Sango forms a heavily guilty look...just as Miroku stirs awake:

"Uh...uh..."

"I'm sorry, Miroku. It was my fault that you had to draw in those poison insects..."

"Mm...San-go..."

"What is it?"

"Don't worry. Try not, to look so sad. (Weak smile) There's still hope, for Kohaku."

"Miroku..."

"Trust me, and keep, smiling..."

Sango begins tearing up, and forms a tiny smile:

"Yes, I will. Thank you."

Miroku suddenly shuts his eyes, and worrying for the worst, Sango tries to wake him up:

"Miroku...No, say something to me! Please, hang on, Miroku!"

But before she could urge further, Sango freezes up with a blush...a~nd we see Miroku's hand on Sango's rear...

Sango sweatdrops with a frustrated groan, before:

(BONK)

"Aaagh!"

It was then Shippo, Kilala and Besa return with a bamboo container and water bottle filled with some fresh drink from the river:

"Sango. We brought some water! How is Miroku feeling?"

Besa looks over and winces when he sees the large bump on Miroku's head and a seething Sango:

"I think he's feeling much better..."

"(Sweatdrop) So I see..."

 _Good lord, he makes my brother look more innocent..._

Back to Sesshomaru's Group

"Do you seek information, regarding the Tessaiga, your father's heirloom sword? Or perhaps...?"

Rin softly gasps from the sight of the face on the old magnolia:

"A tree demon!"

"O-O-Oh, Lord Sesshomaru, what is that?" Sesshomaru answers Jaken's question:

"A two-thousand year old magnolia tree."

"I see..."

Bokusen-Oh confirms:

"It is true. The sheaths of the swords, the Tessaiga and the Tenseiga, passed down from Sesshomaru's Father, were carved from my very own boughs."

Jaken was intrigued:

"They were?"

 _The sheaths for the swords came from this tree! They hold such strange powers...I can see why after meeting this creature._

Sesshomaru then inquires Bokusen-Oh about something that has been plaguing his mind for some time:

"Bokusen-Oh. Perhaps you can explain the link to me, between Inuyasha and the Tessaiga."

"...Inuyasha? Your younger brother?"

"Inuyasha's blood has changed. The first time was when a demon bit and broke the Tessaiga. The second time, he had let go of Tessaiga while fighting me..."

Flashback

 _We see Inuyasha thrown back by the power of Tokijin, landing in a kneeling position, head down..._

 _Sesshomaru begins charging with the demon sword in hand:_

 _"Die!"_

 _...But before he could get close, the winds shift, and he picks up on the change of scent:_

 _That scent again!_

 _Zooming in on Inuyasha, the winds change direction, billowing his hair away from his face, which now had red eyes with aqua pupils, and purple stripes forming on his cheekbones..._

End of Flashback

"His scent wasn't that of a half-demon's: It was the smell of a pure demon's like mine and my father."

"His had the same scent? Heh-heh-heh, I have my doubts."

"...What do you mean by that?" Bokusen-Oh explains:

"Inuyasha is a half-demon, born between a demon and a human. He could never become a full-fledged demon...Sesshomaru, there is something that you, a pure-blooded demon are capable of accomplishing, but which Inuyasha could never do."

"Go on..."

"It is simple: I speak of protecting oneself."

"Protecting oneself?"

"Yes...In battle, for instance: If you find yourself in a hopeless situation, you are able to remain calm. You never lose control of yourself."

Sesshomaru scoffs lightly and comments,

"It wouldn't be possible for me to fall into such a desperate situation."

"(Chuckle) No, I don't suppose you would. Inuyasha, is another matter, however: If he's backed into a corner where his very life is in danger, his demon takes control of the body and he transforms, in order to preserve his life."

Sesshomaru deduces mentally,

 _That would explain his transformation..._

"Unfortunately, for Inuyasha, the pure demon blood of his father is too strong for a half-demon such as himself."

"What will the outcome be?"

"Well...in essence, the demon blood will devour his Human Soul. He will not be able to recognize himself. He will not be able to differentiate between friend or foe. He will simply kill, and with repeated transformations, Inuyasha will eventually lose his Soul. He will become a demon who only knows how to fight and kill, and he will continue to fight until he is destroyed...I sincerely doubt that your father would've wished for such a terrible fate upon his own son. That is why, he bequeathed Inuyasha the sword Tessaiga, to protect his Soul."

Sesshomaru thinks to himself,

 _The Tessaiga protects him? So...if he releases the sword...he is doomed._

Inuyasha's POV

Coraline and I are sitting together on a large boulder near the river while Miroku rests up in the old hut under Sango's care:

 _Keh, I hope for his sake he doesn't do anything stupid to Sango while he's still recovering from the insect poison..._

Shippo, Kilala and Besa had left the river not too long ago with some water, and Freeman was somewhere nearby on the bedrock...

"Inuyasha, I can't help but notice that you've...matured in this last while."

"Huh? What's that suppose to mean?" Coraline smiles reassuringly and replies,

"Nothing bad, of course. It's just...I mean, you spared Kohaku's life rather than ending it."

I look away from her with a slight blush of embarrassment and say offhandedly,

"Heh...Yeah, well, I did it to get under Naraku's skin. If we can manage to get Kohaku back alive, that'll really tick 'im off."

I hear a slight laugh and soft,

"True enough..."

"And besides...(Eyes soften) You're alive. Kohaku spared you."

"Huh?...You, were that worried about me?"

I turn to her, seeing her sheepish smile and ask somewhat incredulously,

"You need to ask?"

She looks down in her lap while lightly brushing her right arm where her injury was, and says with a small frown,

"...I was sort-of worried too, since...it was a while before you found me with Kilala. I almost considered heading off after Sango with ShatterSoul at the ready."

"Uh...really?"

"Mhm. Though even with me being left-handed, my injured right arm likely would've slowed me down..."

"...Is your arm hurting you? Let me take a look at it."

I reach to grab her arm gently, and she asks with a small stutter,

"A-Are you sure? It's only a dull ache..." I chide,

"Maybe, but it could get worse unless you take care of it early on."

"(Light smirk) So lectures the self-healing dog demon..."

"Keh, haha, very funny. Now could you..."

"(...Sigh) Alright."

Coraline pulls off her shirt, leaving her in one of those, tank-tops, and I notice that the bandage wrapped around it was beginning to stain red:

"Hmm..."

"Oh...I guess the cut reopened a bit."

"Yeah. Doesn't look too bad, but we should re-wrap it in some clean gauze."

"We?"

"Why not? You take care of my injuries all the ti-"

I pause, sensing we had an audience...I turned to see Sango, Freeman and Shippo watching us, and immediately released her arm, moving to sit up straight, staring into nothing with my arms folded as 'natural' as possible...

"Sorry. I just wanted to thank you both."

Coraline turns with me to look at Sango in confusion, she asking,

"Thank us? For?"

"(Smile) For the obvious, Coraline and Inuyasha: For staying with me."

She then turns to head back to where the hut was, Shippo calling from her shoulder,

"Carry on, you guys."

Freeman then grabs something out of his satchel, and tosses it over for me to catch...I look down, and see the item to be more gauze...

"Had a feeling sis might need some in the next bit. There's some rubbing alcohol patches lodged between...See ya two later."

He then walks off in Sango's direction...As I watch their forms disappear, I wonder aloud,

"...Staying with her? Why wouldn't we?"

I then felt Coraline's gaze, and turn to see her smiling at me:

"She hasn't been with the group as long as the rest of us, and given all the trouble that's been plaguing her...I can understand if she's a bit paranoid of her place."

"Mm...fair enough. Now..."

I unwrap the new gauze, and hand her the alcohol patches for her to open (the plastic casing is annoying as hell):

"Let's check out your arm."

"(Nod) Right."

Time Skip, No POV

Come a day later, everyone was on their way again in their travels, now combing through a path in the mountains, with small farms growing in the available soil.

Today. Coraline wore a white crop-tank, a red/black/white checkered flannel shirt, green cargo pants, her black combat boots, and had her hair tied back in a braid. Freeman and Besa meanwhile donned similar-styled outfits of t-shirts, jeans and high-tops, but while Freeman wore a forest green tee, Besa opted for black.

Along the way, the three teens from the modern era were regaling a tale about something they did a long while back, and by the end, everyone was laughing from the mischief:

"So, this protest against excessive policing you three participated in was originally peaceful, but then you and a bunch of others switched to 'tagging' buildings and creating smoke clouds with these 'cherry bombs'?"

"(Laugh) Yeah. It went sideways real fast, but what do you expect with a bunch of kids from the streets? Anyway, the whole lot of us got arrested and were held at the station for a night."

Freeman comments after Besa,

"Luckily, us three were among one group who went peacefully and weren't held behind bars, unlike a few who made the stupid move and tried to fight the cops."

They both chime,

"Nice one, Mokoto," and chuckle a bit more. Coraline then smiles sheepishly and says,

"Given what the protest originally was about, that it was a few rookie cops who started the whole fight in the first place, and that the three of us were minors who cooperated on their first offense, we were let go without any problems pretty quick with a couple others."

Freeman smiles nervously and adds,

"Although Shuji had to hide out in mine and Besa's apartment from his fuming parents for a couple days. They were combing his garage and everywhere else they could think of. Thank god they didn't know where we lived..."

Coraline turns to retort with a mild glare,

"Huh, well la-de-da to you boys: Grandfather had me cleaning the entire shrine top-to-bottom for the next three weeks! And on top of that, he had Souta appointed as a 'watchdog' to make sure that I wasn't slacking off. Even at the slightest sign of stopping, the little dork would blast me with water from his squirt gun!"

"(Laugh) Oh man, that's mean!"

Coraline huffs from the cheeky grins on Freeman and Shippo's faces, while Besa shakes his head in light exasperation...Sango comments,

"It sounds like you three had a knack for trouble back then."

Freeman replies,

"Mm, just a little...We were all still rather wild two years ago, and slowly adjusting to our new lives in Tokyo. Cora managed to keep most of the craziness from the Higurashi Shrine, though."

Inuyasha looks at her funny:

"Kept it away?"

Coraline smiles a touch bitterly:

"...I may have been at the shrine for about a year, but, during that time, I was still trying to adopt a quieter lifestyle. My mind was...trapped in survival mode. I found myself doing alot of street traveling, and even went as far as outside Tokyo into a few rural villages. I was...searching for something I already found: A new place to call home."

"Hm..."

Her smile got a bit brighter as she adds,

"But most of that tunnel vision's gone now. I can finally see Higurashi Shrine as a, permanent residence. Traveling with you all through these winding roads and hills brings back memories, but not in the harsh way my dreams used to. They have a, sunnier quality to it: Being in a group feels more lively than walking alone..."

Everyone smiles at Coraline's sentimentality, feeling similarly...Suddenly:

"Waugh!"

Everyone stops when they heard a male yelp. Inuyasha looks around for the source:

"What was that?"

Coraline looks behind her and replies,

"I think it came from that way..."

As they all looked behind them, a young boy comes running up the path while crying out in desperation. Sango asks,

"What's wrong?"

"It's my grandpa! Please, you gotta help him!"

Inuyasha immediately dashes over:

"Is it a demon?! Where's the old man? Where did the demon get to?"

Sensing Inuyasha might need help, Coraline calls upon her Will O' Wisp companion:

"Lumos!"

"(Ghostly moan...)"

He pops out of her satchel and in front of Coraline, before she says to him,

"Please go and assist Inuyasha in looking for an elderly man."

Lumos 'nods', and flies after the dog demon...Inuyasha hops over a few hill gardens and stops when he doesn't detect the scent of anything menacing:

"Doesn't smell like there are any demons around here..."

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Huh?"

Lumos catches up, just as the elder man cries out again:

"Heeeelp!"

The Will O' Wisp follows the shout, and flies over to where the man was, circling his form which was laying upside-down over a fallen basket:

"I'm up here! I've fallen and I can't get up!"

Inuyasha's eyebrow twitches in annoyance:

"...You fell?"

After gathering the old man and his herb basket, Inuyasha follows Lumos back to the others before setting out again, this time acquiring two temporary travelers...

"Thank you, lad. That's a great help."

Inuyasha was now carrying the elder on his back, and grumbles,

"I thought a demon had attacked, but noooo, you got me worked up over nothin'..."

The elder's grandson comments with relief,

"Good thing they came along..."

"Thank you very much, lad. I twisted my ankle when I fell over, and now you're even carting me back to my village."

Miroku spoke up with a smile:

"No need to worry, old man, because it's more or less on our way. Isn't that right, Inuyasha?"

The other only grunts, and the old man replies,

"Well, I'm certainly indebted."

Shippo then chimes from atop Freeman's shoulder,

"Hey, look! The village!"

Freeman turns his vision to where Shippo was looking:

"(Smile) Oh yeah: Right over this hill."

It was a relatively large village, about the same if slightly bigger in size than the Goshinboku Village, with log huts streaming gentle smoke out from their hearths, flood irrigated crop fields, and a few trees growing strong and healthy around the area...

Once they got down to the entrance, the elderly man was set down beside his grandson so they could walk back. Coraline says to them with a kind smile,

"Take care, sir, lad."

"Aye."

"Thank you, lady, and thank you, Mister Dog-Man."

Inuyasha grumbles through his teeth,

"Dog-Man?"

The twins stifle their snickers while Coraline whispers with a nervous smile,

"Easy, Inuyasha. It's only his childish innocence; he's not trying to make fun of you..."

The young boy then says,

"As thanks, I'm gonna give you my treasure."

He grabs something out of his kimono, and walks up to Inuyasha, before tucking the mystery item into the other's hand...

"Bye! Take care!"

As the pair make way into their village, Miroku asks Inuyasha,

"What did the boy give you?"

Inuyasha shows the item through his fingertips:

"A molted snakeskin."

Coraline lightly comments,

"Interesting."

Shippo's reaction was a bit more enthusiastic:

"Wow, Inuyasha! Can I have it if you don't want it, please?"

Soon, our group was on their way again, heading up another hill, and Shippo had the snakeskin in his hands with a happy smile:

"Wow, neat!"

Inuyasha mutters,

"...Glad ya like it," while Freeman gets a closer look at the scales:

"Hm...Looks like it may have belonged to a Rat Snake."

"How do you know?"

"Besa and I did alot of exploring in the woods of our old hometown, and snakes were a pretty common reptile we came across."

Besa smiles and adds,

"The snakes really fascinated Freeman, and he would go down to the library to check out books until he knew almost everything about the local species. Eventually did it again when we came here to Japan."

Sango asks with mild curiousity,

"So does that mean you know everything about the ones that roam around these lands, Freeman?"

He laughs modestly and replies,

"Well, not everything, but I know enough that I can tell a poisonous one from the non-poisonous varieties..."

"Ah. That is certainly useful information."

He nods at Miroku, then focuses back on the fox demon:

"If you want, Shippo, I could get a small frame to preserve it next time I head back through the well."

"Really?"

"Mhm...Actually, hey, Besa, (Turn) those key-chain fob frames are still being sold at the corner store, right? The ones you can customize with a picture or an item as thin?"

"Yeah, I know what you're talkin' about, and I think so. Why?"

"Ya think there's one large enough for this bit of snakeskin?"

"...Possible."

Freeman nods and says to Shippo,

"Then it's settled: I'll remember to get a key-chain fob charm to put the snakeskin in, and you can attach it to your trick bag as a decoration."

"Awesome!"

"Just do your best to keep the skin in tact 'till then, okay?"

"Got it."

Coraline smiles in amusement and shakes her head at her brother:

"Good grief, one second you're mentoring him, and the next you're spoiling him."

"Haha, I can't help it. (Playful smirk) And you're one to talk: Did you or did you not bring back more candy?"

Coraline retorts in a mock insulted tone,

"Oi, them's fightin' words, sir!"

The group laughs a bit, all except Inuyasha, who was in an odd, fed-up mood from the good Samaritan act:

"We don't have time to be saving people."

Coraline looks at him with a raised brow:

"Whoa, hold on there: What's with the attitude? The elder and boy were on our way, anyhow, so what's the harm in helping another out?"

Miroku notes,

"Whenever you do a good deed, you become ill-tempered afterward."

Inuyasha just 'kuhs' with a frown on his face...before his nose picks up on a disturbing scent:

"(Sniff...)"

Everyone else stops, and Coraline and Miroku ask,

"What is it?"

"Something the matter, Inuyasha?"

His answer:

"...I smell human blood."

Coraline widens her eyes, and Miroku replies,

"What?"

"It smells like alot of people."

His turn of focus was back where they just came from...and everyone turns back, only to see thick smoke snaking over the next hill!

"There's smoke coming from over there!" Inuyasha asks,

"Isn't that the village where we left the kid and his grandfather?" He realizes,

 _They must've been attacked!_

Inuyasha wastes no more time, and begins dashing down the hill back to where the village was, with everyone else running close behind...Just as they come to the bottom, they see a small figure coming up slowly in the distance...

Turns out, that figure was the young boy from before, with an arrow in his right upper arm!

"It's the young lad!"

"Yeah..."

Coraline rushes over to assist the child, who weakly pleads,

"Please, help gramps," before collapsing into her waiting arms:

"I've gotcha."

Freeman and Shippo ask,

"Are you alright?"

"What happened?"

"Please help him..."

Inuyasha was next to come over, and says to the redhead,

"Coraline, you take care of the kid." She replies,

"(Nod) Got it," and Freeman adds,

"I'll hang back too."

Miroku says to Sango,

"Sango, you stay behind with Freeman to help keep Coraline safe, okay?"

"Yes, of course."

Inuyasha calls back,

"Let's go, Miroku!"

"Coming!"

"Besa, how 'bout you?"

"I'm with you two!"

With that, the three men take off for the village, with Freeman calling,

"Good luck, and be careful, you guys!"

 _Besa...help Inuyasha and Miroku, but don't get killed, okay?_

Scene Shift: The Village  


Moving down a ways, we see that the village the young boy and elderly man belong to was under multiple blazes, and the villagers were scattering every which way they could to escape the fiends responsible, namely, a group of bandits:

"Aaaah!" "Waaaahhh!" "Argh!"

Many of the village men have already been slaughtered, with damage and debris all over the area...One bandit says to his comrade atop their horses,

"This village suits us well!" The other replies,

"We'll camp out here until the food runs out."

They then turn to address a small group of frightened village women:

"Women: Assemble in one place! Don't even try to escape!"

Two women (One wearing a light mahogany kimono and tan headscarf, the other a light blue kimono and hair bun) are the only ones brave enough to watch the bandits move through the village to find any stragglers, while the others hid their tearful faces in their hands...

A few minutes pass, and Inuyasha, Miroku and Besa make it to the burned village, the second noting the large cavalry:

"Look: Bandits!"

Besa was appalled by the sight:

"Why those no-good, sons-of..."

Inuyasha pulls out Tessaiga with a growl:

"You'll pay for this."

He then swings his transformed blade onto the ground, and sends a whirlwind of power towards the bandits, spooking the horses:

"(Whinny)"

"W-Whoa!" "Aargh!" "Aah!"

Inuyasha demands in a low, angry tone,

"I'll take care of you small fry later. Where's your leader?"

Miroku then says,

"Inuyasha...among the bandits..."

"Yeah: I can smell it...There's a demon hiding among them."

There came a small chuckle, and Besa points towards the middle of the bandit group:

"And there he comes..."

Parting away, the human bandits make room for their leader to step in on a white horse: The man had a pale complexion, red lips, long black hair tied in a thick ponytail with a small strand hanging over his forehead, dotting black-red eyes, and wore rather fine robes of magenta, light purple and black. He was also carrying a very large hatchet over his shoulder...

"Little Man. That sword you brandish is most interesting."

"Kuh, so, you must be the demon. Controlling a bunch of bandits, are you?"

Two of the human bandits comment to themselves on Inuyasha's claim:

"What? You mean our leader is a demon?"

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

Besa comments to Miroku in a whisper,

"It seems these bandits have no idea of their leader's true nature...which surprises me. Can they really be that clueless?"

"You'd be surprised...but this means we must be especially on our guard. There's no telling if he'll continue calling these bandits allies, or if he'll turn on them altogether."

"Gotcha..."

The demon leader then demands,

"Little Man: Hand over that sword of yours."

"Huh? What the heck are you babbling about?"

Miroku then says aloud,

"Better watch yourself, Inuyasha."

"Keh, as if I'd lose to this cretin."

The leader and Inuyasha stare at one another eye-to-eye...before the former chuckles and says,

"If you won't hand it over, I'll have no choice but to take it from you."

"Huh, I'd like to see you try. Take it if you can."

Miroku wonders mentally with concern,

 _Inuyasha still has difficulty wielding his heavy sword...Will he be able to handle himself?_

"I'll cut the hide right off your back, (Leap) you filthy little demon!"

(Swing, CLANG)

The Tessaiga and hatchet meet in a clash, and both try to up over the other in power...before:

(CRACK)

The heel of the demon's hatchet blade breaks off, and the leader jumps off his horse to avoid anymore impact!

The bandits were in awe:

"Look, the chief!"

"He chipped the giant hatchet!"

Inuyasha smirks and jeers,

"Serves you right, bandit."

"(Chuckle) That's a mighty sharp sword."

Inuyasha lifts his blade over his shoulders while retorting,

"Start makin' funeral plans, genius!"

Just as he charges at the bandit demon again, the demon glances back where the women were:

"...I need a shield."

He then lightly jumps over, and snatches up the one with the light mahogany kimono!

Inuyasha instantly knows what the demon was up to:

 _Oh no!_

The poor woman is then tossed against Inuyasha, who just barely stops himself from swinging his sword, while the woman bounces roughly off his torso...The bandit demon makes his move, opening his mouth wide, and expelling a yellow-sparkling spore cloud!

Some of it makes contact with Inuyasha's cheek, and blisters the skin:

(Sizz)

"Ggh!"

"(Chuckle) You've been showered with my poison."

He then cuts his hatchet across Inuyasha's torso, and the latter retorts,

"That won't stop me!"

He then bangs his sword onto the ground to send a whirlwind of power towards the bandit demon, but the latter easily leaps away. He says with a grin,

"That sword is amazing. I like it more and more all the time."

The demon then expels a torrent of silk from his mouth, it surrounding Inuyasha, just as Miroku and Besa check up on the unconscious woman:

"Gh, oh no!"

"Inuyasha!"

They both rush over towards their friend, and Miroku holds out his staff, activating a spell of sorts:

(Sheen)

They make it to Inuyasha, and as Miroku spins his staff in a circle above himself, Besa makes a motion with his wrists:

" _Shield!_ "

(...Sheen)

The crystal shard in his bracelet glows, and a rainbow of light begins to emit around the three, mixing with the blue from Miroku's staff!

...Once the demon was through, there stood a massive cocoon of silk, with thick yellow bubble patches in several spots, and the Tessaiga was outside the structure unattended.

"(Laugh) That'll keep them out of my way."

The bandits were in shock:

"I don't believe it!"

"What has he done?!"

The bandit demon laughs again and asks over his shoulder,

"Is something the matter? Are you afraid now that you know I'm a demon?"

They quickly reply,

"Ah, no chance, chief!"

"W-Who wouldn't want a strong demon for a leader?"

"We'll continue to follow your lead, chief."

The demon grins, and cuts the silk from his mouth...One bandit steps up to the cocoon:

"Serves them right."

He kicks the silk, but that proved to be a bad move, as he recoils back on the ground while crying out in pain, his foot burning from the acidic poisons!

"(Chuckle) It's a poison cocoon: With continued exposure, you'd melt away."

The demon looks to the cocoon and adds menacingly,

"The three inside will have totally disintegrated by now, heheheheheh..."

...He then narrows his eyes with a hm, and finds a glowing blue/rainbow outline!

"They haven't disintegrated? Oh, (Sneer) so they have created a barrier on the inside..."

Zooming within, we see Miroku with his staff around Inuyasha's torso while he and Besa struggling to maintain the barrier they made with their combined efforts. The monk asks the injured dog demon,

"Inuyasha, can you move at all?"

"Of course I can move. I'll rip this stupid cocoon apart."

But when he leans forward, he recoils in pain:

"Inuyasha!" Besa bends his head down to examine Inuyasha's injury:

"Your wound...it's bubbling..."

The bandit demon calls from the outside with a laugh,

"You are wasting your time. You are more or less paralyzed: The poison powder has entered your bloodstream already through the wound in your torso. It will fester slowly..."

Inuyasha growls in frustration and anger...The bandit leader then orders,

"Fetch the sword for me."

"Yes, sir!"

As one human bandit begins pulling the sword out of the ground, Miroku comments,

"He's got your sword!" The bandit presents Tessaiga to the demon:

"Here you are, chief."

...But when he grasps the sword:

(Bzzzzt)

"Ah-Argh!"

The sword sends a current of power out, forcing him to let go! Miroku was surprised and relieved:

 _The sword has rejected him!_

Besa lets out a low whistle:

"That was close..."

The bandit looks at his hand, before turning to address our trapped heroes:

"Little Man, what is the meaning of this? Why does this sword reject me?"

The dog demon smugly replies,

"Heh, I'll tell you about Tessaiga: It's choosy about its user, and it would never allow a low-class demon to come anywhere near it."

"Oh? Then explain why this low-class bandit was capable of wielding the sword..."

"Low-class bandit? Come on, chief..."

The bandit demon glances at the bandit with indifference, while Inuyasha growls...The bandit demon then figures it out:

"I see. Very interesting, Little Man: You're a half-demon."

Inuyasha cringes a bit, and the demon lets out a laugh:

"How utterly amusing: A half-demon like you had the gull to pick a fight with me, the demon Gatenmaru?"

Coraline's POV

It's been roughly half an hour since the boys left to help the people in the village, and we all decided that was too long a delay. I was now running with Shippo on my shoulder, while Sango rode Kilala, and Freeman jogged beside me with the young boy riding piggyback-style on his back.

"They're taking too long. Something must've happened in the village!"

As we kept moving along, Freeman asks the lad,

"How ya holdin' up, kiddo?"

"I'm worried about my grandpa."

He nods in understanding, and I focus back ahead, my mind on one person in particular:

 _...Inuyasha._

Back in the village, No POV  


The three men were still trapped inside the poison silk, and Miroku notices the wound was bubbling more:

 _Inuyasha's wound is starting to get worse..._

Inuyasha curses to himself:

 _Damn...The bleeding won't stop...Is it because of the poison?_

Besa was thinking meanwhile,

 _Shoot, this isn't looking good: I should've tried healing Inuyasha's wound, but I was more focused on making sure all three of us didn't melt alive..._

Miroku then says to himself with a mental groan,

 _We're in real trouble: It's all I can do is make this barrier._

 _I can't make a move on the enemy, and this won't hold out forever, even with the extra strength Besa's providing with his crystal..._

Outside the cocoon, the bandit asks Gatenmaru,

"Uh, chief, what should we do with the sword?"

"...Do what you please. I'm not interested in a sword I can't use."

"Thank you. I am most grateful."

The bandit takes Tessaiga into his hands, and a couple feet away, we see that the elderly man from before was still alive!

"Uh...Th-That sword of his. I must get it; I must get it to him."

The bandit shows Tessaiga off to his comrades:

"Nice blade!"

"Great-looking sword!"

Meanwhile, Gatenmaru takes a seat on a small pile of logs, and says while looking towards the trapped Inuyasha, Miroku and Besa,

"It's only a matter of time before the barrier wears off and the poison cocoon melts them away, so I'll just sit here and enjoy the view..."

Inside said cocoon, Inuyasha was grimacing from his wound as the poison causes further damage, and Miroku struggles to remain strong with the barrier, as does Besa...

Gatenmaru chuckles at their slowly failing efforts, before ordering,

"Bring the women over to me."

The small group of women become more frightened than before, and as they cry out, Inuyasha felt his temper rising anew, seeing one bandit grasping the girl in the light-blue kimono by her hair and arm.

Besa growls in his own anger and calls out,

"Leave them alone, you cowards!"

" _...Damn them to hell._ "

"Huh?"

He looks over, and widens his eyes along with Miroku, at seeing Inuyasha... _show signs of shifting into his demon form...!_


	59. Chapter 58

**Chapter 58: The Demon's True Nature**

A small while passes, and the last of the embers from the fires burn themselves out in the devastated village...The bandit group has since started taking advantage of the resources they now have at their disposal, and upon the request of their leader, Gatenmaru, the women have been moved towards him...

Two bandits then drag a large pot over to him:

"Hey, we found some sake over here, chief!"

A third drags up a woman in a dull blue kimono to act as a server:

"Wench. Stand up and pour the chief a drink."

Fearing for her life as well as her friends, the woman complies, her hands shaking a bit as she poured...Gatenmaru takes a sip and laughs, looking towards the poison cocoon and the ones trapped inside:

"You've weakened considerably, half-demon. Serves you right, siding with humans and meddling in my affairs..."

Inside, Miroku and Besa grit their teeth, both thinking,

 _Gh, we're in trouble. The barrier isn't going to hold much longer!_

 _Come on, crystal, hang on..._

Inuyasha curses within his mind, and we see his eyes gleam a faint red light, his inner demon becoming steadily stronger...

"Attend the chief, you foolish wench!"

A bandit pushes another woman towards Gatenmaru, who seizes her by her shoulders, before opening her upper kimono some, she gasping in fright.

"(Chuckle) Are you afraid, woman? Such a pretty countenance..."

...But contrary to what she was likely predicting he would do, Gatenmaru suddenly shoots his long tongue out and into her neck!

Besa cries out from inside the cocoon,

"No!"

The rest of the women gasp in horror, as their friend shrivels down to skin and bones, causing them to scream!

The bandits seemed rather shocked by the action too:

"He truly is a demon..."

"E-Every woman the chief has had always disappeared mysteriously. This explains what happened to them..."

Inuyasha bares his fangs:

"Curse him. Leave them alone!"

But as he leans forward, his wound gets the better of him, and he leans back to Miroku who asks,

"Inuyasha, are you alright?! Hang on!"

Gatenmaru laughs and states mockingly,

"The poison has spread throughout his body."

He then grabs another fearful woman by her hair and adds menacingly,

"Observe me until you perish, half-demon, as I devour these women one-by-one."

All three trapped men grit their teeth in anger at Gatenmaru...Meanwhile, the old man looks up at the Tessaiga being held by one bandit, and thinks to himself,

 _If I can get that sword back to him, we will all be saved._

Building up all the strength he can, the elder stands up, before rushing to snatch the Tessaiga out of the bandit's hand:

"Huh?! My sword!"

Inuyasha, Miroku and Besa watch the action with surprise, the last two commenting,

"The Tessaiga!"

"The old man from before: He's still alive!"

The elder calls out,

"You must take the sword and save our women from this terrible fate!"

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get as close to the cocoon as he wanted, when two bandits block him:

"Where do ya think you're, (Wack) going?!"

The old man is beaten by the staff end of one bandit's spear, before being held down while the second one kicks him repeatedly:

"Stupid old fool! You've sealed your own fate this time!"

Inuyasha watches the old man struggle to hold on, his eyes flashing the faint red again:

 _...Damn them._

The elder was now laying face-down on the ground shuddering from pain, as one bandit mocks,

"That'll teach ya for tryin' to act smart, ya old geezer!"

"...Grandpa!"

"Huh?"

He and his companion look to their left, and we see Coraline, Sango, Freeman, Shippo, Kilala and the young boy had finally arrived! The boy quickly rushes to his grandfather's side:

"Gramps..."

"Heh, another nuisance!"

But just as the bandit raises his spear, Sango makes her move, and kicks both him and the other bandit away! The others come over, and Coraline kneels down in front of the elder's head to ask,

"Are you alright? Can you stand?"

"The sword...G-Give the sword, to your friend."

Coraline takes the Tessaiga into her hands, and becomes concerned:

 _But, if the sword's here..._

"Shit! Inuyasha; where are you?! Inuyasha!"

Freeman taps her shoulder, and points to the cocoon:

"He must be trapped inside that giant cocoon over there! And, I think Miroku and Besa are in there too..."

He looks down at his Seven Light Crystal shard...and points it towards the structure, feeling a pulse vibrate on his wrist:

"Yeah...Yeah, they're definitely in there. My crystal's sensing Besa's."

 _Brother..._

Gatenmaru gazes over at Coraline's form, and stands up while commenting,

"Ah~, a delectable-looking woman. Bring her to me."

The bandits nod with menacing sneers, brandishing out their weapons:

"Sir!"

They soon surround the arriving group, and Sango says with an angered tone,

"Why you...!"

"Come quietly."

Back inside the cocoon, Miroku checks up on Inuyasha:

"Are you alright, Inuyasha?"

He and Besa then see the silk beginning to sink around them:

"Oh no: The barrier's diminishing!"

"Damn it!"

Inuyasha growls...Suddenly, Besa feels a pulse from his wrist:

"Huh?"

He looks down, and sees his shard was glowing somewhat, and he points it automatically towards the outside:

"...I know that pulse and glow...Uh: Freeman! He and the others are here!"

Back outside, the bandits begin charging at the rest of our group, with Sango taking a good amount down with her Hiraikotsu, and Kilala backing her up in her full form.

Meanwhile, Coraline stands defensively behind Freeman and Shippo, as a few other bandits close in:

"What do you want with her?!"

"Back off, you creeps!"

"We're following the chief's orders: Hand the girl over!"

Shippo and Freeman heavily protest:

"No way! You won't touch a hair on Coraline's head!"

"Come any closer and I'll knock the lot of ya into the next village over!"

Kilala and Sango come back over, as the latter blocks a few swords with her weapon:

"Sango!"

"You ain't gettin' away!"

"There's too many of them!"

"Get her!"

Freeman grits his teeth, before stepping up a bit, and calling,

"Hang on!"

He then swings his hammer onto the ground, and sends a seismic wave through the earth, causing the bandit men to shake and fall back while gripping their heads:

"Wh-Whoa!" "Agh!" "Yaaah!"

Freeman breathes heavily and mutters,

"That should slow 'em down a bit..."

 _Question is for how long?_

Miroku's POV

The silk begins dropping lower and lower, some landing on my staff and burning it a little...

"It's breaking...The barrier won't hold out, much longer..."

(Sizz)

"Gh!"

Some silk hits my back and leaves a burn, and I look down at Inuyasha, trying to get him to respond:

"Inuyasha, are you alright?! Hang on!"

 _Damn, he's not responding..._

A bit more of the silk droops, hitting Besa's arm and singing his skin a bit:

"Argh!"

"Besa!"

"I'm, alright...(Bitter smile) Picked the wrong day to wear a t-shirt, eh?"

"...Besa..."

"My crystal's runnin' low on energy, and is starting to steal, from me...Unless, we find a way to break out of here fast, I might collapse before we get fried."

I could only stare in wonder at this young man beside me for his bravery...until:

(Heartbeat...)

He and I felt a pulse of power, coming from Inuyasha:

"Guh! I-Inuyasha..."

 _What's happening?_

"...Oh crap: Miroku, I think he's going to transform!"

No POV

And right Besa was: Zooming in on Inuyasha, we see him dart his head up, his demonic red eyes and purple stripes beginning to appear!

...Back outside, as Sango and Freeman stand together with their respected weapons ready, the cocoon begins to glow a faint pink...before expanding tremendously!

"What's this?!"

(...BOOM)

The cocoon is cut to pieces by a set of claws, and Inuyasha leaps into the air, while Miroku and Besa fall backwards onto the ground!

Coraline cries out in relief:

"They're alright! Inuyasha!"

Gatenmaru thinks to himself,

 _He ripped through my poison cocoon!_

As Inuyasha barrels back down, he violently claws at the bandits, his inner demon showing no mercy for the lowlifes...The others could do nothing but watch in shock and horror, but Coraline does pull the young boy's face into her chest so he wouldn't have to witness such a sight. She herself felt fear for her friend rise up in her:

 _Inuyasha: What's happened?_

 _...Unless...no!_

When he lands back on the ground again, her fears were confirmed: Bloodied claws, red eyes with aqua pupils, and the purple stripes on his cheekbones...

"Oh no! Look at his face!"

"...His, inner demon took over."

Inuyasha turns his growling form towards Gatenmaru's direction:

"(Laugh) You amuse me, but the show is over!"

His back hunches...before four wings expand out and his skin shifts blue, his eyes shading to pink:

" **You are no more than a half-demon.** "

His body and robes expand further...before his true form of a large mutant moth with blue fur and wing-like hands bursts forth!

" **You cannot defeat me, the demon Gatenmaru!** "

Inuyasha only grins, as the moth demon shoots into the air:

" **Die, Little Man!** "

Using his wings, Gatenmaru sends a current of wind around Inuyasha, before summoning a cyclone!

...But Inuyasha's grin does not falter, and he suddenly leaps out of the cyclone, and clawing at the moth demon's wings:

(Slash)

" **Aaaaaaauuuuh!** "

Gatenmaru falls face-down to the ground, and looks at Inuyasha's form in confusion:

 _ **Why does he carry the scent of pure demon blood?**_

He then raises himself up, and shoots a torrent of poison silk at the dog demon!

Thinking that he perished, Gatenmaru laughs triumphantly:

" **I melted him! He really was a mere half-demon.** "

" _You talkin' about me?!_ "

Gatenmaru looks up, and sees Inuyasha leaping over and towards him, claws raised!

"Filthy vermin!"

(SLASH)

And with a final outcry, the moth demon, Gatenmaru, was hacked into non-existence...

With their leader dead, the other bandits decide to make a break for it while they still had their lives. However, Inuyasha's inner demon had other ideas:

"(Turn) You won't escape!"

The rest of the gang and young boy look at him with concern for his behaviour, and Coraline mutters,

"...Inuyasha."

Meanwhile, Deep in a Forest...

We see Jaken emerge from a bush after trying to locate his master:

"Lord Sesshomaru! Oh Lord Sesshomaru, have you gone and left me once again? (Looks down a hole) Lord Sesshomaru? Where are you, master? Lord Sesshomaru!"

He then jumps around frantically while Rin observes blankly, and the two-headed dragon demon grazes on some grass, the former shouting dramatically,

"How could you leave without taking your faithful retainer along with you?!"

He suddenly stops, and looks at the young girl, realizing what the reason could be:

"I know: It's all because of you, Rin. (Hunches shoulders) Curses! Mmph, I wish he would abandon that human child somewhere...Oh! Wait a minute! Could it be that Lord Sesshomaru has gone to find Inuyasha to confirm what Bokusen-Oh advised him?"

Rin suddenly speaks up curiously:

"Huh? What is this Inuyasha like, Jaken?"

"An excellent question, Rin! It's a looong story, but one which must be conveyed. (Clears throat) As you are aware, Inuyasha is Lord Sesshomaru's younger brother. But he hardly compares in demon rank or in demon dignity, and that is because he is..."

Jaken pauses, when he notices that Rin was leading the two-headed dragon demon away from the area...

"Huh?! Hold up! Where are you going?!"

"Oh, I don't really like long stories..." Rin then says to the other demon,

"Let's go, A-Un. We'll find some nice, juicy grass."

Jaken watches their retreating forms while mentally chiming in disbelief,

 _I just wanted to tell the story..._

Back to the devastated village

The remaining bandits that were still alive ran as fast as they could out of the village, trying to get away from the dog demon who was on a mission for blood:

"You won't get away!"

(Leap, SLASH)

Inuyasha claws down a good number of the bandits, while the rest manage to make it to their horses and try to gallop away. Inuyasha feels an evil laugh bubble in his throat, before he leaps up again, and slaughters the bandits and horses!

A final chorus of strangled whinnies and cries of pain runs through the air, as the last of the bandits fall dead...Coraline watches from afar, gripping the hilt of Tessaiga tight, before nodding to herself firmly, knowing what she had to do:

 _I have to get the sword to him, now!_

With that, the redhead begins running towards Inuyasha's direction, with Shippo and the twins chasing after her:

"Coraline!"

"Sis!" "Wait!"

Miroku and Sango watch them run pass, and decide to join them, with the latter asking the twin-tailed cat demon,

"Kilala, stay here and protect the villagers!"

Coraline keeps her pace, and calls out to the demonic dog demon:

"Inuyasha! Please, stop!"

But he does not heed her, and laughs before landing in front of three bandits who were still alive, blocking their path. They fall to their knees and beg for mercy:

"I beg you to spare us!"

"We were simply, f-following the chief's orders, that's all!"

"Have mercy on us!"

Coraline and the others pause a couple feet away, and she shouts,

"Inuyasha, don't do it! They're begging for their lives!" Freeman and Besa add,

"It's not worth it!"

"Please, Inuyasha! Don't continue this path of destruction!"

...But Inuyasha raises his bloody claws to himself, and lets out a quiet laugh. Miroku remarks low,

"It seems not even you or your brothers can get through to him, Coraline..."

Coraline looks onward, as Inuyasha examines his blood-soaked nails and knuckles, chuckling evilly, sending a shiver down her spine:

 _He...He's laughing. Laughing at the thought of brutally killing these bandits..._

 _No. No, I can't let this continue!_

Shippo leaps onto Freeman's shoulder and pleads to her,

"Coraline, give Inuyasha the Tessaiga and he'll turn back to normal! (Looks up front) I can't stand seeing what he's turned into now..."

Freeman brushes Shippo's head in comfort, and Coraline nods with a determined frown, before running towards the dog demon:

"Inuyasha, take your blade, now! Please, return back to you, Inuyasha! Not this beast!"

Said dog demon raises his claws threateningly at the bandits...when he senses something off, and leaps a couple feet to the side, before turning to the new arrival: Sesshomaru...

Everyone else gathers with Coraline who exclaims,

"It's Sesshomaru!" Miroku asks,

"Why is he here?"

Besa mutters,

"I dunno, but it can't be good..."

He watches Sesshomaru look towards the corpses of the bandits and horses, then back at the rising Inuyasha, and narrows his eyes in thought:

 _Something about this seems too perfect. The timing is, almost too calculated..._

 _Unless...does, Sesshomaru know-_

"(Soft gasp) Of course!"

As everyone else turns to ask what Besa was thinking, Sesshomaru comments with a bitter smile,

"Huh. You are nothing more than a murderous demon," remembering Bokusen-Oh's words...

Flashback

 _"Unfortunately for Inuyasha, the pure demon blood of his father is too strong for a half-demon such as himself...In essence, the demon blood will attack the Soul. He will not be able to recognize himself..."_

End of Flashback  


Inuyasha lets out a feral growl, and Sesshomaru calls out,

"...Come after me, Inuyasha. I wish to test your strength transformed as such."

By this time, Besa had finished explaining his theory about the elder half-brother's timely arrival:

"So, Sesshomaru somehow found out about Tessaiga's purpose for Inuyasha and his transformations?"

He nods at Sango:

"Yeah. I dunno how, but that's the only explanation that would make sense..."

Besa turns to gaze between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, adding grimly,

"And if I'm right, then this latest brother-to-brother encounter's going to get ugly real fast."

Inuyasha growls again, before starting his charge at Sesshomaru, leaping into the air to attack! But, Sesshomaru easily counters with Tokijin, brandishing it out at the other, and unleashing a torrent of power, cutting into his skin and robes!

"Inuyasha!" Miroku calls out after Coraline,

"No, don't do it! Sesshomaru's new sword can slay an enemy with just the slightest bit of pressure! You'll be destroyed before you even get close to him!"

Inuyasha does not hear them, and was somehow able to fight against the power pressure, punching the blade from his direction! Seeshomaru was a bit surprised, while everyone else was stunned by the action:

"He fought off Sesshomaru's sword!"

...But getting a closer look, we see that Inuyasha's moved definitely costed him, as a couple new cuts manifested on the offensive arm...He lands on the ground, and Sesshomaru says,

"Ha, that was foolish."

Inuyasha charges at the other again, oblivious to his pain, and Sesshomaru dodges the incoming claws, only to send the power of Tokijin at Inuyasha again...!

...But suddenly, just before the power could make contact:

(Slash, POW)

An ice blue slash mark cuts through the ground, and blasts the power of Tokijin away!

"Gh!"

Sesshomaru turns to see what the source was, and sees Coraline glaring at him seriously while holding out ShatterSoul:

"That's enough!"

She then hands the Tessaiga to Freeman:

"Hang onto this no matter what."

"Cora...what are you-"

"I have a good idea what Sesshomaru may be doing...and, I won't let him do it while hurting Inuyasha."

She then steps over in the middle of the battlefield, and turns to Sesshomaru to say,

"If anyone's going to take him down, it'll be me! And if you make any beelines to use Tokijin on him again, I can and will cut you down with my own blade, Sesshomaru..."

Everyone else on the sidelines tries to protest Coraline's actions:

"No!" "Don't do it, Coraline!"

"Cora!" "Inuyasha could very well hurt you!"

...Sesshomaru narrows his eyes at Coraline...but then asks,

"You are aware of what you'll be up against, human? He is not of his right mind, and will not be able to recognize you."

"Maybe not now...but that makes me all the more determined to bring him back."

"...Hm. Very well. Step in if you must, but know that this may very well be your last battle."

With that, at the shock of everyone else, Sesshomaru steps back to the side, and Coraline turns to face Inuyasha, readying her sword:

"Inuyasha...I'm sorry it had to come to this, but I won't let you fall into darkness, even if it means we have to fight!"

Inuyasha growls, tilting his head in slight confusion from the change in opponents, but then suddenly charges at Coraline, claws in the air:

(Swipe, clang)

Coraline blocks with ShatterSoul, before rolling away in a dodge, and sending an Aura attack at him:

" _Spirit Slash!_ "

(Sheen, slash)

Inuyasha is hit by the attack, but was not cut, and only thrown back...Once he regains his footing, he charges at Coraline again, and the two were clashing claw-to-blade in battle...As the rest of the group watches in awe and worry, Sesshomaru thinks to himself,

 _Inuyasha...you know no pain. The demon blood that's coursing through your veins is taking over your Soul. You don't even know who you are...and you'll continue fighting, until you die._

 _I came in your pursuit, to see if_ _Bokusen-Oh's words were true...  
_

"And now, little brother, watching you take on one of your dear companions...I understand. You are not a full-fledged demon. All you are is a half-breed."

Back in the action, Coraline was suddenly thrown backwards by an attack from Inuyasha:

"Aaaaah!"

As she slides onto the dirt, she barely holds back Inuyasha, who pins her down by gripping her blade with both hands, invoking a contest of strength between him and Coraline!

Everyone else gasps:

"Oh no!"

"Coraline!"

"Inuyasha, stop!"

As she struggles to hold him back, Coraline calls out hoarsely,

"L-Lumos, assist!"

The little Will O' Wisp jumps out of her satchel, and barrels through the air over to the redhead, and she asks,

"Please...lend me your strength, Lumos, t-to unleash, an Aura Blast."

The Will O' Wisp was a bit hesitant, but after seeing Inuyasha's demonic expression, he complies:

(Twinkle...)

"Thank, you...Head back with the others now, so you won't, get hit."

Lumos darts back to the rest of the group, and Coraline turns to focus on Inuaysha's snarling form, her eyes forming that signature glow:

(Sheen...)

"For what I'm about to do next...forgive me!"

Re-gripping her blade with her own two hands, Coraline shouts,

" _AURA BLAST!_ "

(SHEEN, BOOOOOOM)

Both bodies are swallowed by a blinding ice-blue light, and the bystanders shield their eyes, before an explosion is heard, the power blasting both Coraline and Inuyasha backwards from the impact:

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

"Arrrrrrgggghhhhhh!"

Everyone from our main group cries out,

"Coraline!" "Inuyasha!"

Both human and half-demon slide back hard on the ground...

...

...Then with some difficulty, Coraline struggles to sit up, her body aching in pain:

"Uh...Uh...(Quiet gasp) In-Inu...yasha..."

He laid face-up several feet away from her, his body leaving a slide mark in the dirt. She then weakly senses someone moving from the sidelines, and turns to see Sesshomaru slowly making his way over to Inuyasha, stopping a few feet away, face expressionless...

"Don't, you, dare..."

Coraline forces herself to a stand, and limps over to Inuyasha, collapsing over his torso, looking towards the half-brother with a tired but determined glare...

"He has finally been brought down...and by a human, no less...Your blade carries power."

"I meant, my promise earlier...(Pant) You want his life, you'll have to, go through me..."

Sango, Shippo, Freeman and Besa exclaim,

"Coraline, no!"

"Coraline's in trouble!"

"She's too weak to fight now!"

"We gotta get her and Inuyasha out of there!"

Everyone begins rushing over to help, and as Coraline and Sesshomaru stare at one another, the latter then says,

"...If you wish him to stop, use Tessaiga to reverse the transformation."

"Uh...!"

"...Otherwise, he will continue to fight when he awakens, and I doubt that in your state, you will be able to stave him off a second time."

Coraline was confused:

 _Wait: He, doesn't want to kill Inuyasha now?_

 _...What changed?_

Everyone else arrives, with Sango, Miroku and Besa standing protectively in front of Coraline and Inuyasha, while Freeman kneels down beside the redhead with Tessaiga, Shippo as well...

Miroku then speaks to Sesshomaru:

"You could've finished him off earlier, but instead, you allowed Coraline to step into the battle...Why did you? We all know that you despise Inuyasha. I can't believe that you've developed feelings for your brother."

"...I can."

"Huh?"

Miroku and Sesshomaru look at Besa, who says to the dog demon in a neutral tone,

"I may not know the full history between you and Inuyasha...but I do understand that brotherhood works differently in many circles...You acknowledge him as a, rival of sorts, and when you do want to end it in a final clash, you want it to be one of two warriors, not one and a feral beast...Am I right or wrong?"

The area falls silent, as Sesshomaru stares eye-to-eye with Besa for a moment...before answering,

"I will slay him...eventually. But if I kill him now, when he doesn't know himself, there would be no point."

With that, Sesshomaru turns around and begins walking away...Coraline watches him go wondering,

 _So, did he want to stop Inuyasha's violence? Is, Besa right?_

Before she could try to make anymore sense of the events, she hears a quiet groan, and turns to see Inuyasha's eyes blinking open, back to their normal shade of amber!

"Inuyasha..."

"He's come to!"

...Catching up with Sesshomaru, we find him deep in the woods, returning to the area where he left Rin, Jaken and A-Un. When he arrives, Rin greets him:

"Oh, Lord Sesshomaru. You're finally back!"

"Rin. I hope you have fared well."

"Mhm. A-Un and I were on our very best behaviour. (Turns and points) Jaken has become most melancholy, though..."

Looking over where she's pointing, we see Jaken sitting on the grass, arms folded with a depressed frown...He then sees that Sesshomaru was back, and immediately snaps out of his mood:

"Oh! Lord Sesshomaru!"

He rushes over and asks,

"Wh-What gives, my lord? Why did you go alone after Inuyasha?"

Sesshomaru stares at Jaken expressionlessly, and the latter falters back a bit before saying softly,

"O-Oh, that was most uncalled for. I hope you can forgive me."

...Once again, no vocal response is heard, and Sesshomaru turns to stare into the distance, confusing Rin and Jaken:

"Huh?"

"...Lord Sesshomaru?"

Inuyasha's POV

Once I was awake, and...was told what had happened to me, I slowly moved to stand up, using Tessaiga as a crutch, looking around at the devastation...Coraline gently chides,

"Inuyasha, careful. You shouldn't push yourself too hard..."

"...Did I, do all this?"

I hear her gasp quietly, and she does not answer...I then look down at my claws with a grim and bitter smile:

"...Heh. Look at me. My claws absolutely reek of the scent of the bandit's blood."

Coraline looks at me with a worried expression, and tries to put a better light on the situation:

"Inuyasha, you, did what you had to do to save the innocent...That's why you attacked them."

 _...But is that all the reason?_

We then see that kid from before in the distance, who hesitates, before trying to walk over towards us, only to be stopped by two of the surviving women:

"No! He's a demon!"

"If you get close, he'll rip you to pieces!"

The women glare towards me, and Coraline calls out,

"No...No, you're wrong!"

As she steps forward, she grimaces, and nearly falls over before steadying herself...I look more closely at her body, and see numerous rips in her clothes, along with some cuts and bruises, her sword in her left hand:

 _...Wait...she...she didn't...Did she and I-_

"I don't care if he is a demon!"

I focus back to reality at the shout from the kid, and watch as he tries to defend my actions:

"He did everything in his power to save my grandpa! He helped get rid of all the bad men!"

But I take in a sharp breath, and look down at my hand knowing that his words were the blind truth:

 _...No...I hunted those men down._

 _The demon that I wanted to become...the power that I had desired...it wasn't like this._

Time Skip, No POV

Our group would then leave the devastated village, knowing that they should not linger...As the sun sets, we find them somewhere by the riverside, with Sango, Kilala and Miroku sitting closest on a bed of grass, the two humans discussing earlier:

"Each time that Inuyasha transforms into a demon, he loses a piece of himself. Today, he didn't even hear Coraline's voice, and fought her, despite it being her choice."

"Miroku...I want to stay with Inuyasha, even if he fully transforms into a demon."

Miroku looks up from washing his hands in the water with surprise:

"...Sango."

"I've caused so much trouble over Kohaku, but you've all stood by me like it was the natural thing to do. That's why I must stand behind him..."

The slayer and monk exchange stares, with Miroku smiling and nodding in agreement:

"...Yes."

Looking up closer to the treeline, we see Freeman, Besa (a bandage around his arm from the burn) and Shippo look at one another...and nod firmly, silently following Sango's example...

Moving down the river some ways, we see Coraline with a small towel and a container of pale yellow liquid, watching as Inuyasha furiously tries to wash his hands spotless of any traces of the blood that was on his claws previously:

 _I can't get the smell of blood off my hands! It's sickening!_

He decides that his efforts were useless, and wades back to shore, sitting Indian-style with a discouraged frown...Coraline slowly steps over to sit beside him...before presenting the container in front of him:

"Here. Try soaking your claws in this for a bit."

"...What is it?"

"Lemon juice with some water mixed in. The original plan was to eventually make lemonade for the group, but, this seemed more important...The citrus acid should neutralize any...lingering scents."

Inuyasha glances at Coraline with a surprised expression...before frowning again with a grunt, but decides to give the solution a try, dipping his hands into the container...

A moment of silence passes, before Inuyasha mutters,

"You don't have to force yourself to stay by me."

"...Who says I was?"

Inuyasha growls a bit, and turns his head to Coraline's sad expression to bark,

"What's your problem? You know, I'd wish you'd all stop pussy-footing around me, because I don't have a problem with what happened! I don't give a damn about what happened!"

"...Not even the part, when I stepped in to fight you?"

"...What?"

"I could not allow Sesshomaru to brutalize you, so I interfered and went, sword to claws with you. I...I had no choice but to release an explosion of my Aura in the end. (Sniff) It, was the only way to stop us from making it into a fight to the death..."

Inuyasha recoils back, a shocked look on his face:

"...Then, those injuries...your fatigue...You..."

"Mhm..."

"...W-Why would you do that? Why would you risk your own life, just to reverse my transformation?"

...Coraline moves to hug him on his side, her arms around his neck, and whispers tearfully,

"Because the last thing I want, is for my best friend's Soul to be snuffed out like a dying star..."

As she buries her face into Inuyasha's robes, hiding her tears, Inuyasha moves one of his hands out of the lemon juice solution to grip her hand tightly, a sad expression on his own face:

 _Coraline...I don't remember a thing from when I transformed..._

 _It wasn't like that before...The next time I transform...I may even come after you with these claws, Coraline._

"...Your claws should be done soaking."

"Hm?"

Inuyasha pulls out his other hand, and checks to see if the lemon juice worked:

"(Sniff...) The smell's gone. It's just this, lemon stuff."

"Heh, yeah. It might linger for a couple hours, so I hope you don't mind your claws smelling fruity for a while."

Coraline pulls back from her hug, a watery smile on her face...only to be pulled back into another hug by Inuyasha, this time from the front!

"Uh!"

Inuyasha squeezes Coraline to him, and whispers,

"...Thanks."

She was a bit taken aback by how meek he sounded...but then smiles gently and squeezes back:

"Any time..."

They both remain in this caring position for several minutes, neither side wanting to let go...Coraline then says to herself,

 _I can't keep it from him anymore. I have to tell him, about Tessaiga._

"(...Sigh) Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"...There's, something I need to tell you. Something I should've talked to you about straight after discovering it, but...I was conflicted on how you'd react at the time...But now...you, you have the right to know, about what Tessaiga's secret purpose is."

Inuyasha pulls back a bit, keeping Coraline in his arms, staring at her inquisitively:

"...Does this have to do, with my transformations?"

"Yes."

"...Start talking."

And we leave the riverside, as Coraline begins revealing a truth to Inuyasha that needs to be known, to save his Soul from falling into the abyss...


	60. Chapter 59

**Chapter 59: Father's Old Enemy - Ryukotsusei**

Come a few days after the violent episode with the moth demon Gatenmaru and his bandits, we find ourselves back at the volcanic grounds of Tōtōsai's dwelling...

Walking into view out of the smoky fog, was Inuyasha, his mind plagued by the events of his latest transformation...Of course, most of the information he knows now was provided by Coraline and the others, for his inner demon kept his consciousness from picking up any necessary details that could form a memory...or a full one, at least:

 _...I don't remember a thing from when I was transformed...No. That's not entirely true._

 _There is...one small piece that I can remember on my own:_

 _A flash of blue light, blue...like Coraline's eyes when she uses her Aura powers..._

He thinks back to what the redhead informed him regarding the connection between his sword and his very Soul:

 _(Flash)_

 _"...The Tessaiga acts as a shield to your demon side, Inuyasha...You recall when Goshinki broke the sword's fang, right? Well, that acted as the first trigger for the demon in your blood to rise. Once it awakens, it will come to light within you whenever you need further protection your own strength can't provide...This is why, you must be very careful to not lose or relinquish Tessaiga...otherwise, when your life is in jeopardy, the inner demon will take over..."_

 _(Flash)_

...Inuyasha stops in front of the entrance to Tōtōsai's lair, and looks down at his clawed hand:

 _The next time I transform...I may even come after you with these claws, Coraline._

He fists his hand tight, adding,

 _And I...I don't want to fight you again, no matter it being your choice or not._

Peering inside the skull entrance, we see the old swordsmith firing and hammering away at a new sword...

"Hey! You there, Tōtōsai?"

"Hm?"

He looks up behind him, as Inuyasha walks in:

"We need to talk."

"Ah, yes. I expected you would come."

Coraline's POV

I was walking between my brothers while Sango, Miroku and Shippo rode above us on Kilala, and I hear Shippo call from up high,

"Where could Inuyasha have gotten to, anyway?"

Sango calls down to me,

"You're thinkin' maybe we should leave him alone, Coraline?" I call back,

"Yes!"

Kilala floats down a bit so we could all hear eachother better (Besa gives the cat demon a smile of appreciation and nod), and Miroku wonders,

"If you ask me, Inuyasha probably wants to make the Tessaiga lighter in weight. Could it be that he's just off training somewhere?"

Freeman chimes in,

"Well, with how things ended a few days ago, I wouldn't blame him for at least taking some time to gather his thoughts..."

Shippo shakes his head lightly and comments,

"Still, sounds like way too much work for the Inuyasha I know and love..."

I lightly smirk and call jokingly,

"I'd count your lucky stars he's not within hearing range, Shippo, or I sense a pounding in your future."

Shippo lets out a small yelp and calls back while waving his hands frantically,

"Don't jinx it, Coraline!"

I laugh a little, before Sango says,

"In that case, we should try searching every place that we can think of."

I nod, but then form a sad frown as I thought to myself,

 _I haven't told anyone else out of respect of privacy, but...Inuyasha's really become torn up about his demon transformations.  
_

 _...The way his eyes widened when I told him about me engaging in battle with him...he looked, like he betrayed himself._

 _I know that he probably needs some time to collect himself, but I suck at waiting around on my ass when my nerves are high..._

 _Inuyasha, wherever you are, I hope you're getting the help you need._

Scene Shift: Tōtōsai's Lair, No POV  


After the dog demon finishes telling the swordsmith about everything that has happened in this last while, Tōtōsai was obviously prepared to give the other a lecture:

"I'm very disappointed in you, Inuyasha. It's hard to believe that you still have trouble wielding the Tessaiga."

"That's why I'm askin' you to make my sword lighter, old man! There must be some way."

Tōtōsai leans back a bit and asks causally,

"Then why don't you figure it out?"

"I'm in a hurry, okay?! (Looks down) And besides, I don't wanna transform anymore..."

Tōtōsai makes a sound of confusion, and Inuyasha continues:

"I couldn't master the Tessaiga, so I was trapped by that petty demon...I totally lost control of myself...and, one of my own friends put their life on the line, to fight my demon self, just to save me...I don't wanna go through that again. It was terrifying...I...I could've really hurt her."

The swordsmith stokes his beard with a hm...before Inuyasha feels a small bite on his neck:

"Ow..."

"(Slurp...) Master Inuyasha, nice to taste you again."

(Slap)

Myoga was hit by Inuyasha's fist, and mutters in a strangle on the float down,

"And here, I was worried, about you..."

"So, this is where you've been hidin' out, is it? Thanks alot for keeping me in the dark about the sword, Myoga."

The flea demon pops back up, and stutters,

"Huh? Wh-What are you talking about?"

"Don't act innocent! You're the one who told her about the Tessaiga! Coraline told me that it's my sword which keeps my demon nature in check."

"...Hmm, well, that figures. I should've known than to trust her into secrecy..."

"Huh, yeah well knowing the truth won't help in keeping hold of my sword...And don't you badmouth Coraline: She's, already taken enough stress..."

"Huh? What do you mean, my lord?"

"...Never mind."

Inuyasha picks up his blade again (and subsequently causes Myoga to fall off) and says seriously,

"I have to master the Tessaiga or else...It's the only way."

Tōtōsai notes the expression on Inuyasha's face:

"Hmm, I see you put a good deal of thought into this. You've, had enough transformations..."

"Yeah."

"...And you also don't want the young lady to sacrifice her own strength, just to fight you long enough to bring you back."

"Uh...!"

Inuyasha looks up at Tōtōsai with surprise at his deduction...before looking down with sadness in his eyes...

"(Looks up) Well...that leaves but one choice."

Myoga makes a sound of rising nerves, before the swordsmith says,

"Inuyasha, you must kill Ryukotsusei."

"...Ryukotsusei?"

Myoga makes an even louder sound of anxiety, and Inuyasha looks down at him, before the other asks,

"You didn't say Ryukotsusei, did you?" Tōtōsai confirms:

"He is the demon your father battled, and sealed him into a dormant sleep...Inuyasha, why do you think this new Tessaiga is so heavy? It is because your fang has not yet reached the power of your father's..."

...A little time passes, and we see Inuyasha traveling through a misty woods to the location of where the demon Ryukotsusei laid.  
Thinking back to what the swordsmith said, he asks aloud,

"In other words, if I destroy the demon my father fought, then I'll surpass the old man in strength?"

Myoga replies from atop the subjugation beads,

"Now listen, Master Inuyasha: By 'destroy', all you have to do is pierce the demon's heart, since his powers still lie dormant."

"What? I don't have to fight him?"

"Of course not! It took every ounce of strength from your father to put this demon under seal! He wasn't able to levy a finishing blow!"

Inuyasha dully asks,

"So now I'm the one stuck with slaying him like a coward?"

"If you keep complaining, I will not show you the way!"

"Just who do you think you're talkin' to, Myoga?!"

As the dog and flea demon continue to bicker, we see that flying right above them...was an Insect of Hell!

...Zooming away to another remote location, we see Kanna holding up her special mirror to her master, showing him the vision of the wasp...

"Hmm...Very interesting, Kanna. I've dispatched you, Kagura, Goshinki, Jarōmaru and Kagerōmaru...and not a single one of you was able to put an end to Inuyasha. (Smirk) Hmph, let's give this Ryukotsusei a try, shall we?"

Inuyasha's POV

Following Myoga's directions, we pass through the woods, over a waterfall, and eventually come to the high mountain ranges...I'm now climbing up one tall peak, and ask the flea in a grunt,

"How much further is it, Myoga?"

"Not much. We'll be able to see it soon, keep moving."

"Grh, I should squash you..."

 _This had better be worth all the labour, otherwise I might have to consider going into the rock-climbing business...if there is one._

Small Time Skip, No POV

As Inuyasha continued his search for the demon that was sealed by his father before him, we find Tōtōsai traveling down a dirt road upon his three-eyed bull companion, Mōmō...Suddenly, there came a shout from a familiar female:

"Tōtōsai! Hold up!"

He stops Mōmo, and turns to see Coraline and the twins run up to his proximity while Kilala carried Sango, Miroku and Shippo down to the ground not too far behind. He then asks,

"What are you youngsters doing here?" Coraline walks up closer and answers,

"We've been looking for Inuyasha. Have you spoken with him recently, and if so, do you know where he could be now?"

"Inuyasha? Hmm, let me see...Inuyasha, you say?"

"He's been having trouble with Tessaiga, so it seemed plausible he'd come to you for advice."

"Let me see...what to do..."

Coraline frowns and grabs hold of Tōtōsai's sleeve, knowing he wasn't saying something:

"You do know, don't you? Please, tell me: Where did Inuyasha go?"

She tugs a bit too hard, and the old swordsmith almost falls off of Mōmō, before the twins steady him on both sides:

"Whah!"

"Whoa!" "We gotcha, sir!"

Coraline softly apologizes for her actions, before Tōtōsai answers her question:

"Inuyasha has gone to the Valley of Ryukotsusei."

"...'The Valley of Ryukotsusei'?"

Inuyasha's POV

I climb up a few more feet, and stop to catch my breath, before Myoga says,

"Master Inuyasha, look: Over there."

I turn my head left, and let out a noise of amazement, when I see, a giant dragon demon, stuck against the valley wall! I climb and hop over to get a better look:

"...So that's Ryukotsusei."

"Correct, and look where your father's claw has pierced him, rendering his powers dormant, right above his heart."

I see where the giant claw was, and narrow my eyes, seeing something that didn't look like it belonged...It then moved, revealed to be that conniving demon, Naraku!

He glances down at me with a dark laugh, and I exclaim his name, while he just laughs louder, giving me the feeling that this trial for achieving strength over my fang was going to be alot harder than intended to be...

Coraline's POV

I'm now sitting with everyone by a campfire as Tōtōsai tells us what he had told Inuyasha with regards to making the Tessaiga easier to wield...As the swordsmith grills some fish with his fire-breath, Miroku asks,

"But, Master Tōtōsai, if there was such an easy way to master the Tessaiga, why didn't you just tell him earlier?"

He eats the fish and answers,

"That would've been too easy; won't learn if I hand him all the answers, now will he, hm?"

Besa replies,

"With all due respect, sir, that's not an easy bit of information to take in..."

I nod, and add grimly,

"Besides, Inuyasha has suffered enough...I have suspicions he's become rather disgusted with his demon side now."

Shippo looks up at me from Freeman's lap in concern, as does my brother. The latter puts a hand on my shoulder, and I continue:

"He looked so traumatized by what he had done...That's why he had to come see you."

Sango and Miroku agree:

"That's true..."

"Even though they were bandits, the fact remains that they were still human beings that he had killed."

I hear Besa bitterly scoff and say in with a distant glare,

"Some 'humans' they were: I saw that a good deal were enjoying reeking havoc to the village and harassing the women. As far as I'm concerned, they were just as evil as that demon leader of theirs..."

We all glance at Besa in surprise for his rather bitter comment, and Freeman mutters his name in worry for his mood...

"(Sigh) I'm sorry. I just can't stand seeing brutality and harassment like that: It makes me sick and my heart turn black just thinking about it..."

Miroku places a friendly hand on his shoulder and gently replies,

"I can understand that. Just be careful that you don't let negative thoughts like that cloud your view on mankind in general."

"I know...But with all that's been happening...it's hard not to have grim thoughts about the world..."

I quietly sigh depressingly and think to myself,

 _This whole adventure's taken a rather downward drop...If it keeps turning up bad experiences like this..._

 _I'd almost consider bringing whiskey here to help take the edge off._

 ** _(Laugh) Really? You'd actually consider underage drinking, Little Doll? Not a healthy habit~..._**

 _Huh?!  
_

 _...Bill? Is that you?_

 ** _Yep. Here and in person...Well, as in person as I can be in the mindscape._**

 _Mindscape? But we're not-  
_

I cut myself off when I notice a change in background, namely, everyone frozen and having no colour other than monochrome gray, along with the area...

"(Sigh) Oh boy, here we go again..."

 **"Aw~, I was hopin' for a little more enthusiasm than that! But totally understand considering where your mood's at..."**

I then see the dream demon's eye emerge from one of Mōmō's, before Bill fully manifests into his top-hat triangle form...But I wasn't in the mood to speak with him:

"Bill, this isn't a good time. Can you please come back later?"

He looks at me for a moment, before floating down by my left, lifting my hair between his fingertips while gazing at my form:

 **"Wow, you really are depressed. What's the matter, Little Doll? Is Red Sword all you can think of right now?"**

I let out a breath, too tired to pick an argument with Bill: Ever since he and I constructed our deal, he's been popping into my head every once and a while to annoy the heck out of me, either making his voice boom through my skull or by teasing me with my thoughts and secrets he's uncovered in my brain...including my crush on Inuyasha (that's become a favourite topic of his).  
It's actually worse when I'm sleeping, because as a dream demon, he's able to take control of my dreams and twist them into something more horrifying than my own imagination can come up with...Thankfully, he's only done it twice so far, but those nightmares scare me so bad, I wake up with a look of pure terror on my face...

 **"Psh, you still griping over those jump scares I've made? They can't be that scary!"**

"(Mild glare) Perhaps not to a demon like you, but I was ready to scream bloody murder. You need to keep in mind that I'm only human."

 **"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever...But we're getting off topic: Red Sword...he's been havin' trouble controlling his demon ego, right?"**

I almost asked how he knew, but then I remembered he can see into my memories, so I just shut my mouth and nodded...

 **"Hmm, yeah, I've seen examples in the past of half-demons losing control of their demon selves. Not a pretty ending, I'll tell ya that much."**

"...Do they die?"

 **"Either that, or some stronger demon kills 'em. Had this buddy of mine back in the Nightmare Realm who was half-demon. Lost control one day and went on a gnarly rampage. It was hilarious to watch the destruction at first, until they started killing more than they should've. I tried to stop them, but then Kryptos blasted them to smithereens before I had the chance! The idiot!"**

I watch as Bill glows red before smashing his fist against a tree, smashing it to pieces!

...The flying debris stops in mid-air, before Bill snaps his fingers and puts the tree back to normal.

 _I'll never be able to figure out how he does that..._

"...Bill?"

 **"I'm fine...That memory's just one of my sore spots, and the reason why Kryptos and I don't talk much anymore."**

He then whirls back to me, and floats over so there's just a few feet between us, a strange emotion burning in the back of his eye:

 **"Anyway, seeing and listening to the highlights of what you've seen already with Red Sword's problem...I'm prepared to offer an extension to our deal!"**

"Wh-What? What do mean, extension?"

 **"Simple: If you can gather a second Seven Light Crystal on top of the first one we already agreed to, then I can grant a sort-of, protection to Red Sword's Soul."**

"...Protection?"

Bill waves his hand a bit, and I see a translucent orb fade into view, almost like what I see when I see into the Aura of a Human Soul...

 **"This is what a Human's Soul usually looks like; same for the central part of a half-demon...Now this..."**

He waves his other hand above the orb, and I see a red energy spark around, like it was attacking it.

 **"This is close to what you're seeing with your Aura Reader abilities every time Red Sword's demon ego comes out to say hey: The darkness in his Soul becomes controlled by the demon, and starts attacking the light, eventually to the point when the light says 'see ya' and hightails outta there. After that, you got a big cloud of somethin' that's just barely hanging onto life: All animal, all killer."**

"(Gulp) And...is that what could happen to Inuyasha...if his transformations become too frequent and out of control?"

 **"Bingo! So until he's able to overcome his different sides and wield that blade of his like it's only make of wood, he's gonna have a hell of a time spiritually...But, there is a way to give him a further fighting chance!"**

Bill then snaps the fingers in his free hand, and I watch, as a yellow shield symbol fades into view over the orb, forcing the red energy sparks to back off.

 **"With some extra juice provided by just one crystal, I can project a shield around the central core of his Soul, protecting his human essence from being bullied by the demon! Or at least to the point that it won't be consumed; worse case scenario, his consciousness will just take a back seat view to the action."**

I was in awe by the possibility:

"...You can really do that?"

 **"Of course I can! I'm a dream demon: The possibilities are endless for a being like me! So...what do ya say, Little Doll? You wanna extend the deal?"**

I put a hand under my chin in thought (even though Bill's gonna more than likely read them):

 _Hm...yet another attractive offer..._

 _Should I do it? I mean, it's not like I'm doubting Inuyasha can become strong enough to wield Tessaiga properly again..._

 _I'm just...scared of what might happen if he's disarmed long enough for his body to take too much trauma and for his demon self to come out._

 _...The demon that I've been seeing, is not at all what Inuyasha had in mind for becoming a full-fledged demon._

 _I don't...want him to lose himself._

I look up at Bill eye-to-eye, and nod firmly:

"Yes. I'd like to extend our deal: Two Seven Light Crystals, in exchange for splitting my Soul from Kikyō's half, and to add protection to Inuyasha's."

 **"Excellent! Shall we shake? (Laugh) Just kidding; we don't need to do that again! The lip service counts as an add-on."**

I then grimace, as my left wrist acts up a bit...

 **"Alright, time for me to head out again before your friends get suspicious of your spacing out. Oh, and by the way: You'll soon be close to where the first crystal lies hidden."**

"I will?"

 **"Yep! I could be more specific, but where's the fun in that? (Laugh) Anyway, off I go...and remember: Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, BYE!"**

(Flash, whoosh)

"(Blink) Mm?"

I glance around, and see that everything around me was back to normal...

"Huh...That's why I told him what he needed to do."

I snap back to in front of me at Tōtōsai's statement as he adds,

"If he felt nothing after killing those humans, he'd have no right to wield the Tessaiga."

I nod, and think to myself while glancing down at my barely noticeable covenant mark as it completely fades from view,

 _All the more motivation for me to do whatever possible to make sure my friend is safe...and friends of friends..._

 _Inuyasha...this one's for you...and for you as well, Kiky_ _ō._

Back to the Valley of Ryukotsusei, No POV

Inuyasha glares hard at the baboon-cloaked demon situated atop the giant demon claw:

"Naraku! What are you doing here?!"

The fiend does not reply, instead bending down to lay a palm on the bone...before using his miasma power to begin melting and corroding the giant claw away!

Once he got a good deal going, Naraku jumps into the air before shifting from view...Myoga cringes with worry:

"That claw seals his powers!"

...Come less than ten seconds later, the entire claw evaporates...before the area to which it pierced glows a foreboding red!

(...Heartbeat...heartbeat...heartbeat...)

One of the dragon demon's clawed hands twitches, and the sky darkens over with lightning-filled clouds, before both sets of eyes (one for the dragon head, the other a humanoid face on the dragon's forehead) blink awake!

From atop the cliff-side, Naraku laughs and says to the awakening demon,

"Ryukotsusei: Over yonder stands the son of the demon who hurled you into dormancy! _Do with him as you please..._ "

(Rumble...)

The body begins to shake...before the dragon demon finally emerges from the rocky cliff-side, taking down a small portion with him! Inuyasha holds an arm to his face to shield himself from the dust and power, before looking up at the awakened Ryukotsusei...

"This is terrible! We must flee, Master Inuyasha!"

"What? You must be out of your mind! This way is much better than slaying a defenseless demon like I was some kind of pathetic coward!"

Inuyasha then unsheathes Tessaiga:

"If I'm gonna make the Tessaiga lighter, then I wanna face him head-to-head! I'm gonna take you out!"

Ryukotsusei replies to the determined dog demon,

"Little Man. You think that you can destroy me? (Chuckle) How very entertaining. This shall be amusing."

Inuyasha does not take too kindly to the insult:

"Amusing?!"

The dragon demon then opens its jaws, before charging to try and bite Inuyasha, who jumps away in a dodge, before landing on the other's back. He then begins charging to the demon's head, much to Myoga's wails:

"It's hopeless!"

Inuyasha leaps off the back, and runs on the side of one mountain cliff, while Ryukotsusei comments,

"Such an eyesore..."

Opening his jaw again, Ryukotsusei starts to charge up a lightning attack:

(...Pow, BOOM)

Inuyasha barely dodges in time, leaving the ground he was previously standing on as a free target. He doesn't seem worried, though, chuckling a bit from the excitement...But then Ryukotsusei laughs, and Inuyasha looks to his right...and sees Naraku get hit by the orb instead!

...Of course, obviously that was another demon puppet, and we briefly cut to Naraku's castle, as the doll on his end erupts in a blue flame. That doesn't seem to trouble him, though: On the contrary, Naraku merely smiles and comments,

"Ah. That demon is remarkable."

 _It should be easy for him to overcome Inuyasha. I shall enjoy this performance..._

Getting back to the action, Ryukotsusei was a bit disappointed to learn that it was only a decoy version of Naraku:

"A mere demon puppet. Hardly a warm-up..."

Inuyasha gazes over at the cliff top the demon puppet previously stood:

 _So he was going after Naraku from the start..._

"Little Man: I hope you'll provide me with more amusement than than he could."

"Heh...(Smirk) More than happy to oblige you."

Meanwhile, back with the rest of the group and Tōtōsai...

"This looks like a new development..."

Everyone was looking over yonder where the valley was, seeing the storm cloud that was forming...Miroku exclaims,

"It's a Demon Aura!"

Kilala growls with her fur standing on end while Shippo stutters,

"A-A-Ah, maybe something bad has happened..."

Coraline looks over at the old swordsmith and asks,

"Tōtōsai...is this a sign that Inuyasha's in trouble?"

"Oooh, that fool: He has awakened Ryukotsusei." Sango comments,

"I've never felt such an ominous Aura..." Miroku adds,

"Then that means the demon Inuyasha's gone to fight must be that formidable..."

Coraline grits her teeth at the thought...before deciding that she wasn't going to stand like a sitting duck.  
She then begins running to the valley, and the twins chase after her:

"Wait up, Cor!" "Slow down!"

Sango tries to call them back, running after all three:

"Coraline! Guys!"

Miroku then says,

"I think we should all go and help him," before dashing off himself. Shippo calls,

"Hey, wait for me!"

Tōtōsai watches their retreating forms, muttering,

"...Oh dear...What a miserable day."

Nevertheless, he too begins making a trek in the direction of the storm clouds...Back in the valley, Ryukotsusei roars before inviting Inuyasha into battle:

"Come at me, Little Man. Don't deny me some entertainment."

"Keh, I'm the one who's gonna be entertained."

Inuyasha then looks over the underbelly of the dragon demon, and sees that his father's claw left a scar!

 _The scar left by my father's claw! If I can pierce him there, then Tessaiga will become lighter!_

(Leap)

Inuyasha makes his move:

"Hraaaaaaahhhh, (Swing) Yaaah!"

He smiles, thinking that the blade made contact...however:

"Huh?"

(Pow)

"Gaah!"

The Tessaiga was suddenly repelled, forcing Inuyasha backwards face-up onto the ground!

As he grimaces from the impact and checks to make sure nothing was seriously broken, he thinks to himself,

 _The Tessaiga couldn't cut through his thick skin..._

"See? It's useless no matter how hard you try...My body is mightier than Iron!"

Ryukotsusei then charges up his lightning orb attack:

(...Pow)

The orb flies, and Inuyasha hops to his feet before jumping away in time:

(BOOM)

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to escape all impact this time, and was thrown back by the power some, before somersaulting mid-air and landing on top a small mountain peak.

As Inuyasha takes in a few deep breaths, Myoga calls out,

"M-M-Master Inuyasha, we don't stand a chance!"

"Save it! This battle is just getting started."

"I already told you: It took everything in your father's power to render him dormant! More importantly, the wound inflicted upon your father was ultimately what killed him!"

That definitely got Inuyasha's attention, and as he looks back up at Ryukotsusei, the dragon demon asks,

"So, he perished, did he? And you are that wretch's son? Don't tell me you came to avenge him with that ridiculous little sword..."

Inuyasha scoffs a bit and replies bluntly,

"Unfortunately, I don't even remember what my old man looked like! As if I would care about avenging his death!"

Myoga hops onto Inuyasha's nose to face him with an appalled look:

"What?! How dare you say that! You've been saved countless times by the sword that your very father passed down to you!"

"Stop interfering!"

"Traitorous son...!"

Myoga hops away from Inuyasha with tears in his eyes:

"I shall have nothing, to do with you..."

With that, Myoga was gone...But Inuyasha knew what the flea demon's hidden motive was:

"Yeah, I know you're just running away!"

Inuyasha then focuses back on Ryukotsusei, before getting hit by his incoming tail:

(Slam)

"Guh!"

He hits the wall before falling to the rocky valley ground:

"Rgh, damn..."

 _My fang's used to repair the broken one of the Tessaiga, and the reason it's so heavy, is because I'm not as strong as my father was..._

 _(Grip)_

 _I know. I must somehow destroy Ryukotsusei, and surpass my father in power!_

Inuyasha was back on his feet, and readies Tessaiga as the dragon demon begins approaching him...

(Leap)

"Raaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

Just a few miles outside the Valley...

We see Kilala in her full form flying with Sango, Miroku and Freeman riding, while Mōmō takes Tōtōsai, Coraline, Besa and Shippo. Miroku comments,

"What an ominous Aura..."

Tōtōsai replies,

"This isn't a good sign..."

Coraline asks,

"How could the demon Ryukotsusei have been woken up?" Freeman chimes,

"Yeah, I seriously doubt Inuyasha would've done it. He can be impulsive, sure, but he's not that stupid."

"As if I'd know...I must say that it poses quite the problem, though." Besa asks Tōtōsai,

"What sort of problem?"

"If Ryukotsusei is up once more, the Plains of Musashi will be raised to a field of ashes."

"Rgh, sorry I asked..."

Sango then asks,

"How can we possibly hope to stop him, then?" Tōtōsai answers,

"There is only one way to stop the reawakened Ryukotsusei: He must use the Bakuryūha, or Backlash Wave."

Coraline asks with curiousity,

"Backlash Wave? What's that?"

"It's the ultimate technique of Tessaiga." Miroku asks,

"You mean it's stronger than the Wind Scar?"

"The Wind Scar is a mere trick for novices." Besa and Freeman exclaim,

"It is?!" "You're kidding!"

Coraline then says to Tōtōsai with a worried expression,

"Inuyasha can barely hold up Tessaiga at present, never mind use the Wind Scar! How is he suppose to master a new technique now?"

"I suppose you're right..."

...Suddenly, there was a tiny form that came dashing past Sango and onto Miroku's robes, who slaps it, only to find the form being Myoga!

"Myoga. Have you run out on Inuyasha yet again? Gh, Coraline!"

"Yeah, I know: We need to double our speed!"

The redhead faces back to the front, trying not to have a panic attack:

 _Please, hang on, Inuyasha..._

In the Valley

Inuyasha finds himself running against the side of a cliff, dodging the lightning orb attacks of Ryukotsusei...Once the blitz was through, we look through the settling dust, and find Inuyasha lying on top of rubble:

"Uh...Urgh..."

"Pitiful. This is more tedious than I expected. Destroying you does nothing to relieve the anger I feel towards your father."

Inuyasha grunts and rises to his feet again, hoisting Tessaiga over his shoulder, before charging again:

"Raaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"

But when he leaps into the air, he's then slammed by Ryukotsusei's clawed hand!

"Do you not understand that you cannot slay me with such an inferior sword?!"

(BAM)

"Gaaah-uh!"

Inuyasha is pinned to the valley wall, and is pressed on...before released to plummet to the ground below:

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!"

On the way down, he loses grip on his sword:

"(Gasp)"

 _Tessaiga!_

 _(Flash)_

 _"Inuyasha..._ _ _you must be very careful to not lose or relinquish Tessaiga...otherwise, when your life is in jeopardy, the inner demon will take over..."__

 _ _(Flash)__

(Tok)

Tessaiga lands in the ground, with Inuyasha slamming hard a couple feet away, his body pelted by some fallen rocks...

"Rgh...rrrh...(Reach) Tessaiga..."

Ryukotsusei opens his mouth to unleash his lightning orb attack again:

(Pow...BOOM)

...It was then that everyone else arrived to the valley:

"I see them! Over there!" Freeman exclaims after Sango,

"Jesus Christ, that dragon's ginormous!"

As Coraline tries to find any sign of Inuyasha, we jump back down below, and see the dog demon lying face-down on the ground, not moving...

"How pathetic. I crushed him already. (Frown) Hm?"

(...Pulse...)

"...What is, happening?"

"Inuyasha!"

Ryukotsusei turns his eyes behind him to the far right, and we see everyone closing in, Shippo exclaiming,

"Oh no! Inuyasha isn't holding Tessaiga!"

Inuyasha's body begins pulsating more, and Coraline shouts his name...His eyes dart open, red with a white-glowing pupil, and he whispers in a hoarse voice,

" _...Coraline._ "


	61. Chapter 60

**Chapter 60: The Backlash Wave (Bakuryūha) - Tessaiga's Ultimate Technique**

 _Recap:_

 _Since the battle with Goskinki, Inuyasha has been having double trouble in the forms of a repaired but heavier version of his sword, Tessaiga, as well as the awakened demon ego in his mixed blood. He's already transformed a few times, each instant more dangerous then the last...  
Fearing that he might end up losing himself and hurt the ones he cares about, Inuyasha eventually seeks out help from T_ _ōtōsai, who informs him that the weight change of Tessaiga is reflecting the rank of power between Inuyasha and his father before him. To change the balance, a demon by name of Ryukotsusei (who was sealed away by Inuyasha's father) must be defeated._

 _After seeking the demon out, Inuyasha found Naraku (in demon puppet form) already there, before the latter uses his miasma to melt the old dog claw away, freeing Ryukotsusei once more!  
As Inuyasha begins fighting the giant dragon demon, Coraline and the others eventually meet up with the old swordsmith and learn of the dog demon's whereabouts. Seeing that the valley atmosphere was shifting towards darkness, they all set out to find Inuyasha and help...By the time they got there, Inuyasha had already taken a severe beating from Ryukotsusei, and was on the verge of death!_

 _As Coraline calls downward for her friend...Inuyasha's inner demon awakens, this time, whispering her name in return..._

 _Now..._

As Inuyasha, barely awake and slowly falling under the influence of his demon side lies on the ground, Ryukotsusei comments,

"Ha, so you're still hanging on. I'll put an end to your misery. Hehehehehe..."

The dragon demon begins closing in, and Inuyasha's body pulsates again, as the former brushes the Tessaiga down to the rocky ground...The dog demon's hair then billows from a spectral wind, just as Coraline and the others fly closer to the scene, with Shippo exclaiming,

"Inuyasha's become separated from the Tessaiga!" Coraline tries calling for him again:

"Inuyasha! Can you hear me?! Come on, wake up! Inuyashaaa!"

...His body stirs, and with barely any control over his consciousness, he mutters,

"C-Coraline," as Inuyasha's eyes open to reveal the demon-red!

The body is then surrounded by an equally red energy, and Ryukotsusei become wary of the change:

"Mmh? The Aura that surrounds him is entirely transformed..."

(...Slap)

With a feral growl, Inuyasha pushes himself up on his hands, and stands to look at Ryukotsusei with a glare and grinding teeth...

"Haha, his demon blood has awakened. So be it. This shall prove to be entertaining."

Inuyasha snarls, readying his claws...Miroku sees the full change in his friend:

"Oh no, Inuyasha's already transformed!"

"Inuyasha!"

The dog demon then springs at Ryukotsusei, and manages to cut the other across his neck! But even with the small victory, Coraline was more concerned about her friend becoming a vicious fighter once again:

"No, Inuyasha! Don't fight this way; get the Tessaiga and battle as you!"

Inuyasha snarls and bares his claws, while Tōtōsai wonders,

 _What will you do now? If you battle Ryukotsusei with those claws, you may come out of this alive..._

 _You may be the victor...but the Tessaiga will not become lighter for you._

Inuyasha lands a few more attacks, and laughs menacingly on the land...But then Ryukotsusei says,

"Don't be so sure of yourself, Little Man," before blasting the other with a lightning orb attack:

(Pow, BOOM)

The dragon demon chuckles, thinking he destroyed Inuyasha...However:

"Raaaahhhh!"

(SLASH)

The dog demon suddenly jumps at him and lands a successful cut, slamming the other demon into the valley side! As the body drags over the ground, Tessaiga springs back to a stand...Sango and Miroku comment on the strength:

"Amazing!"

"The demon is huge, but he went right for him!"

Coraline and Freeman ask,

"Does that mean it's over?"

"Is Ryukotsusei dead?"

Tōtōsai sighs before replying,

"Let's retreat."

Coraline was not pleased with the suggestion:

"What?! Why the hell should we do that?!"

"Isn't it obvious? Inuyasha has chosen to fight as a demon."

The swordsmith has Mōmō turn around and begin making way for a safer location...but Coraline wasn't gonna take this move lying down:

"Are you seriously abandoning him? What kind-of loyalty do you have?"

Besa wasn't impressed either:

"This is cowardly!"

"No, he's right! I'm afraid that if we stay here, Master Inuyasha may even come after us!"

"Myoga, not you too..."

"When Inuyasha transformed, he lost his sense of discrimination. There's no guarantee that you won't be his next victim."

Coraline forms a bitter frown and replies bluntly,

"That's just it: I already did fight his demon ego not too long ago...However, it was my choice to stand against him to be with him...just as this will be my choice: Myoga, run."

Myoga looks at her in surprise, as Coraline claps a hand on Tōtōsai's shoulder:

"Let me down now, Tōtōsai. I'm staying here."

"No, Coraline. You mustn't."

"Oh don't even start: I know what you and everyone else will say...but I don't give a damn what form he's in! Inuyasha's still Inuyasha, and I won't leave him while he's battling for his life!"

The riders all look at Coraline in awe and shock...while Freeman and Besa smile knowingly at her behaviour:

 _That's Cora for you: Stands by her friends no matter what._

"I'll ask once more: Please, let me down so I can be with him!"

"Alright, alright...If you're really that determined."

But just as Tōtōsai directs Mōmō to the nearest rock ledge, the others come up on Kilala, and Miroku says,

"Wait a moment: Inuyasha's sure acting strange..."

"Hm?"

Coraline darts her eyes back down below with everyone else, and they all watch...as Inuyasha slowly makes his way over to Tessaiga!

"Ah, Inuyasha..."

"Master Inuyasha!" Sango comments in surprise,

"He's transformed, yet he's trying to pick up the Tessaiga!"

Freeman wonders,

"Maybe there's a shred of his consciousness still in control..."

Tōtōsai wonders to himself similarly:

 _Could it be...as Coraline said?_

Focusing back below, we see Inuyasha's body pulsate, as his hand struggles to reach for his fallen blade...Tōtōsai concludes,

 _There is no doubt: His Soul is battling against the demon blood that rushes through his veins..._

As Inuyasha lets out a strained snarl, Coraline calls down,

"Come on, Inuyasha! You can make it, I know you can!"

(Sheen)

 _I can see it: His central core's glowing a bit more brightly this time, so his real self is trying to stay in charge..._

 _Here's crossing our fingers it continues to until his hand reaches the hilt._

Ryukotsusei turns to stare down at the struggling dog demon, and says,

"Why, that, little...How dare he think he can conquer me!"

Just as Inuyasha was a few inches away from Tessaiga, Ryukotsusei releases an electric orb shouting,

"Playtime is over!"

(Pow)

Coraline yells,

"Inuyasha, look out!"

(BOOM)

Everyone cringes from the brightness of the blast, before looking down to see if their friend was alright...That's when Shippo and Freeman spot it:

"Look: What's that?!"

"Is that a barrier?"

...Zooming down, we see that Inuyasha was alright, courtesy of a shield projected by the sword's sheath!

"The sheath of Tessaiga...! What's happening?" Miroku replies to Sango just as perplexed,

"I dunno..." Tōtōsai comments,

"Ah-huh, the barrier of the sheath..."

Shippo then remembers the last time the Tessaiga sheath was used to deflect enemy attacks:

"That's right: He used it once before against the Thunder Brothers." Myoga adds,

"Precisely! He used the sheath to withstand the lightning attacks!"

Coraline and Besa sigh with relief, both commenting,

"There's still hope..." But Tōtōsai warns,

"Yes, but there will not be a second time. The sheath won't hold."

Ryukotsusei makes his move again:

"You cannot stop me with that! Now perish!"

(Pow)

"Oh no!"

"Not again!"

Miroku decides to step in with his own power:

" _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whooooooooossssssssssshhhhhhhhhh...)

The black hole is released, and takes hold of the lightning orb!

"Miroku!"

"Grryh, rrrgh..."

 _It's too strong!_

He wasn't able to suck the attack into nothing, but Miroku does barely manage to re-direct its path to just missing Inuyasha by a hair!

(BOOM)

Coraline and Shippo comment,

"He diverted it..."

"That was a close call."

Panting a little, Miroku comments with a mix of surprise and a little frustration,

"I can't believe this: It took everything ounce of my strength just to slightly alter the path of that blast."

Sango wonders aloud,

"How can Inuyasha hope to defeat him all on his own?" Freeman answers,

"That's a good question...Hopefully, Miroku's move bought him enough time to get his sword..."

...As the dust cloud settles, we see Inuyasha, bathed in a demonic red glow, reach out to grab hold of Tessaiga...Ryukotsusei then notices,

 _His Demon Aura is dissipating..._

After another minute or two, the red glow disappears completely, and Inuyasha glares up at Ryukotsusei as his eyes revert back to their normal amber while the purple stripes on his cheekbones also vanish:

"Nobody dares to step on my sword and lives to tell about it! Ryukotsusei, my Tessaiga is gonna take you down!"

The blade transforms into its full fang form...and Inuyasha finds the weight still a bit difficult to deal with...

"(Laugh) You're so very weak. You can't even hold up your sword. Pitiful."

"Laugh while you can, but I have my reasons for needing to use the Tessaiga to slay you!"

"Heh, this time I won't hold back for your sake! Hehehahaha..."

One of the dragon eyes gleams, and Inuyasha growls, holding his sword at the ready...Suddenly:

(Pulse...)

"Huh?"

Inuyasha looks down at Tessaiga...as the blade glows an ethereal white!

"Huh?!"

 _It's not my imagination: The Tessaiga is getting lighter!_

Everyone watching from above is in awe with the dog demon, as Inuyasha finds himself slowly and easily lifting the sword with one hand!

Coraline and Besa call with an excited smile,

"Look: Inuyasha is able to hold the sword up!"

"And with one hand!" Tōtōsai calls back a touch irritably,

"I can see that!"

Inuyasha decides,

"Now's my chance to pierce through Ryukotsusei's heart!"

He then sprints towards the dragon demon, who shoots a lightning orb back:

(Pow)

"Hrrraaahhh!"

(BOOM)

"You fool...Huh?!"

Unfortunately for Ryukotsusei, Inuyasha was able to leap through the lightning attack, before driving the Tessaiga straight into the wound:

(JAB)

"Aaaaauggggghhhh!"

Our spectators up above gasp, and Ryukotsusei lets out a strangled breath, while his wound spurs out blood...Inuyasha and Coraline think simultaneously,

 _I did it!_

 _He pierced the dragon demon's heart dead-on!_

Miroku and Freeman wonder aloud,

"...Is he dead?"

"Is Ryukotsusei no more?"

Inuyasha pushes and pulls his sword out of the wound, leaping to the ground, before finding himself staring at his blade in wonder, shaking a little in anticipation:

"...So light..."

 _It used to be so heavy; now it feels like an extension of my hand!_

...But the battle wasn't over yet: Ryukotsusei was still living somehow, who bitterly says to himself,

 _How dare use his sword against me..._

"You'll pay, Little Man!"

He then charges and releases his lightning orb attack, and Inuyasha comments in disbelief while leaping and dodging,

"Hasn't that ugly thing killed over yet?!"

(...Pow, BOOM)

As Inuyasha dodges another flying orb, Shippo exclaims,

"What a demon! Stabbed in the heart and he acts like nothing happened!"

Tōtōsai explains:

"Ryukotsusei was a handful even for Inuyasha's father, remember? He won't die unless he's hacked into pieces."

Coraline whispers to herself in remembrance,

"...Just like...that Carrion Crow on my first few days in this world...(Gasp) Oh crap!"

Ryukotsusei was then back into his routine of continuous orb attacks, to which Inuyasha would have no choice but to dodge...He then goes to leap in for a counter attack:

"Now it's my turn!"

(Clang)

But Ryukotsusei's iron-tough body holds out, before he slams Inuyasha to the rocky wall with his tail:

(Crash)

As Inuyasha slides to the ground, Ryukotsusei chuckles mockingly while the former curses to himself while pushing upright again:

 _Damn. His body's hard as rock!_

"I warned you once before: That toy sword is useless!"

Inuyasha growls...before his nose picks up on an interesting scent:

"Huh? What's going on? The scent of the Wind Scar..."

He looks down to see that the source of the demon wind shift, is coming from his blade...

"The Wind Scar is twisting around the Tessaiga..."

As Inuyasha looks a bit more closely, Ryukotsusei calls down,

"You're a fool, Little Man," before charging his attack once more...

"(Smirk) Heh, Ryukotsusei: You're in for a big surprise, because things are gonna be different now!"

(Pow)

"Ha! (Leap) _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

The sword attack clashes with the orb, before pushing it away entirely, leaving Ryukotsusei wide open:

"Waaaaarrrrgghhhhhhh!"

(Ka-POW)

Miroku and Sango comment from above,

"Look: The Wind Scar!"

"Amazing!"

Coraline smiles proudly:

"Yes, I knew he would do it!"

Shippo asks,

"Does this mean he beat him?"

Besa looks down below as the dust cloud dissipates...and sees that Ryukotsusei was down...but not in pieces:

 _Hm..._

Meanwhile, Inuyasha comments on the Tessaiga's change in weight and power:

 _Not only did it get lighter, but now I can invoke the Wind Scar anytime I want!_

"(Turn) Did you see that, Tōtōsai? I wasted that demon!"

"Well, I'll give you the credit you deserve...but it's too early to rest on your laurels."

Coraline looks at the swordsmith confusingly, as does Inuyasha...before Besa calls,

"Ryukotsusei isn't in pieces yet: He might still be alive!"

(Rumble...)

The ground shakes, and Inuyasha turns to see the dragon demon lift himself up!

"...Is that your best? You disappoint me."

Inuyasha grimaces, and Ryukotsusei jeers,

"Did you think that dismal attempt would destroy me?"

Shippo asks aloud in frustration,

"What's with him, anyway?!" Coraline was also confused:

"Hit with the Wind Scar, yet not even a scratch is on the body! How is that even possible?!"

Freeman waves his fist and shouts in childish anger,

"That outta be illegal, sliding out of an attack like that!"

Tōtōsai comments,

"Yep. Don't say I didn't warn ya," as Ryukotsusei says,

"I told you: My body is much harder than armour. Now it's _my_ turn!"

As Ryukostsusei charges his lightning orb attack, his body begins to glow similarly...

"Uh oh, Inuyasha, you better get out of the way! He's serious!"

Inuyasha retorts back at Tōtōsai,

"So am I!...Huh?"

He then sees the glow around the dragon demon's body:

"...What's with that demonic Aura?"

"Don't just stand there talking! Hurry up and run!"

"No chance! I'm confident that I can finish him off this time!"

"Just be glad that you can wield the Tessaiga now! Leave while you're ahead!"

Coraline calls down after Tōtōsai,

"Inuyasha...are you sure you want to continue?"

"You people just don't get it, do you? I've been waiting for this moment!"

The strengthening Aura around Ryukotsusei changes the gravity around his area, causing numerous boulders to rise, evaporating from the power...The dragon demon then begins the final charge, as Inuyasha adds,

"And besides, if I kill this thing, I'll surpass my old man in power."

Inuyasha sprints towards Ryukotsusei, who retorts,

"Speaking of him, why don't you go join him in Hell?!"

Miroku and Sango see the danger in this latest attack:

"It's huge!"

"We'll all get caught up in the blast. Kilala, move away!"

She heeds the slayer, and takes the three on her back further away from the area, with Mōmō following her example...Ryukotsusei releases the giant lightning orb, and it barrels at the charging Inuyasha, who does not slow his speed:

"Hrrrrraaaaahhhhhhhh!"

(Leap)

"Hrh?"

 _I've never seen such a huge blast of demonic energy..._

Coraline, knowing there was no turning back for the dog demon, decides to call down with a supporting smile,

"You can do it, Inuyasha!"

The others look at her surprisingly, as she calls again:

"You can do it!"

Besa and Freeman catch onto her cheering, and join in:

"Yeah, you can do it!" "Go, Inuyasha! Destroy that monster!"

Tōtōsai wasn't as hopeful:

"The fool!"

 _In order to destroy Ryukotsusei's rock-hard body, Inuyasha must summon the Backlash Wave._

 _He doesn't stand a chance..._

Inuyasha's POV

"I can't avoid it!"

"(Laugh) You cannot escape me now!"

As I continue my trajectory to the giant orb...I then hear, Coraline and her brothers...cheering for me:

"You can do it, Inuyasha! You can do it!"

"Yeah, you can do it!" "Go, Inuyasha! Destroy that monster!"

 _Coraline...Freeman...Besa...They're behind me for this._

 _...I can't let them down...I can't let_ _her_ _down!_

"That leaves one choice...I've gotta cut through it!"

Letting out a war-cry, I hit the attack dead-on...and two whirlpools of power appear!

No POV

Everyone else above sees the change, Sango exclaiming,

"Look: What is that?!"

"Hm? It can't be...!"

Coraline looks at Tōtōsai...before widening her eyes and asking,

"...Is...that...?"

"Incredible...That's the Backlash Wave."

Inside the whirlpools, Inuyasha senses the Wind Scar become more powerful:

 _I see it: I need to cut through that smouldering spot with my Wind Scar...!_

"Right, about, (Swing) HERE!"

(SLASH)

The Wind Scar flies, pushing Ryukotsusei's power straight back at him!

"What?! His sword has taken control of my energy blast!"

The current of wind and power hits the dragon demon, causing small cyclones to form...

"IMPOSSIBLE! THIS CANNOT BE!"

The cyclones shoot at Ryukotsusei, slashing and hacking his body! Everyone was in awe, Coraline included:

"Amazing! Tessaiga's Aura is acting as a counter agent to Ryukotsusei's!"

The dragon demon's body is hacked even further:

"THIS CAN'T, BE...! G-GYAH!"

His neck is then split, and the cyclones finish him off, reducing his body to nothing, his head the only part left:

"AAH, MY BODY! HE SLASHED MY INVINCIBLE, ROCK-HARD BODY!"

(BOOM)

And with one more blast, Ryukotsusei was no more, the fallen pieces slowly evaporating to rubble and dust...The sky brightens, and we find Inuyasha fixed in a shocked state, at being alive and at the power he displayed:

 _What happened?_

 _...That was totally different from all the other Wind Scars!_

"...Inuyasha!"

"Huh? (Turn) Coraline..."

The rest of the group lands on the ground, and Shippo bounds over to the victorious dog demon:

"Inuyasha! You did it! (Hops onto the other's shoulder) There's not hide nor hair left of that Ryukotsusei!"

Coraline comes over to congratulate Inuyasha was well:

"That was incredible! How the heck were you able to unleash that attack?"

"Uh...who, me?"

Myoga hops up onto Inuyasha's nose to give his compliments:

"Very impressive, Master Inuyasha! I knew from the start you had the strength to defeat him!"

Shippo comments with a frown,

"We had to practically drag him back here," and Freeman adds coming over,

"Don't go making praises you didn't believe in before, ya spineless old timer!"

Myoga turns and hops onto Freeman's shoulder, and as they get into their own argument (Besa facepalms at his brother in the background), Inuyasha walks up to Tōtōsai:

"I understand now, Tōtōsai."

"Hm?"

He then slaps the swordsmith on the back a bit too hard, causing the other to fall over, while he compliments with a smile,

"You know, you're more generous then I gave you credit for! (Hysterical laugh) What did you do to the Tessaiga, anyway? It's much better than before!"

"Wait a minute: You used the technique without realizing?"

"Huh?"

"(Stands up) The Tessaiga's Ultimate Technique: Bakuryūha, or Backlash Wave."

"...Bakuryūha? The Backlash Wave? Huh?"

Coraline steps up beside Inuyasha:

"Wait, so that was Bakuryūha?!"

"Precisely. Let me explain: It uses the enemy's demonic energy, ensnaring it with the Wind Scar and reversing the flow."

"So it uses an opponent's strength against them..."

"The Wind Scar and the demon's energy blast become one like whirlpools. In other words, the enemy is simultaneously blasted by the Wind Scar, and by his own demonic Aura...Anyway, that's the theory. The trick is how to discern precisely where to cut through the blast of energy, and his Aura must be much stronger than his enemy's for the technique to succeed."

Coraline turns to smile proudly at Inuyasha:

"Well that I have no doubts about: No enemy has come even close to snuffing out the Aura he carries...You've really done something amazing today, Inuyasha."

"You think so? All I did back there was use my instincts and follow my nose."

Tōtōsai was surprised by the show of modesty:

 _He's surpassed mere theory...Perhaps he's destined for greater things then I imagined..._

Besa folds his arms and comments to Freeman,

"I guess sometimes Brawn and Brain go in hand simultaneously for Inuyasha, eh brother?"

"Heheh, yeah, no kidding..." Miroku then says to the dog demon,

"Inuyasha, now it appears that it won't be so hard to wield the Tessaiga in battle."

"Keh, it's more than that. Heheheh, watch, (Leap) this!"

Inuyasha then swings his blade down:

"Here goes, nothing!"

(SLASH)

He then cuts through a giant peak with the Wind Scar effortlessly! Miroku mutters the technique name in surprise, and Inuyasha turns to say with a smug smirk,

"What'd I tell ya? I can now invoke the Wind Scar anytime I want."

Inuyasha then goes on a showboating spree, showing off his newly easy wield of Tessaiga:

(SLASH, SLASH, SLASH...)

Tōtōsai and his bull companion begin fleeing from the area, as Sango and Miroku comment irritably,

"Hey, we get your point already!"

"That's not the kind-of thing you wanna be flinging around like some kind-of toy!"

Coraline's POV

I watch as Inuyasha hops around flinging his sword and unleashing his Wind Scar all willy-nilly, like a kid playing with a pogostick:

"(Facepalm) Oh brother..."

Suddenly, one Wind Scar slices through a part of the cliff wall...and I feel a small pulse of energy a few seconds after:

"Hm?"

I turn to squint my eyes at the spot for a minute...and see a gleam of light, like a...crystal!

"(Soft gasp) Could that, be...?"

I glance over at the others, making sure they were distracted, before discreetly making my way over to the rock wall...I look down, and widen my eyes when I see a heart-shaped, clear-coloured jewel!

 _A Seven Light Crystal!_

 _...So this is what Bill meant when I would soon be near one._

I reach out and grab the crystal, before sneaking it into my jeans pocket:

 _I'll need to figure out a more secure place to store this later...Well, one down...and one to go._

I turn back to watch Inuyasha slow to a stop, and smile amusingly at his antics:

 _He can be such a kid sometimes...but I suppose that's one of the things I love about him._

 _Still, can't let him get a big head._

No POV

Inuyasha pauses to wave his sword a bit while gloating,

"Haha, there's nobody who can beat me now! I dare anyone to stop me!"

"Oh really~? Challenge accepted!"

He flinches to a halt, and turns to see Coraline giving him an evil smirk, while the twins mutter with nervous smiles,

"Ooh boy..."

"He's in for it now..."

"...Sit Boy!"

(Gleam, wham)

"Gah!"

And for the first time in a while, Coraline uses the subjugation beads on the dog demon, sending him face-down into the ground.  
Miroku comments while glancing down at Inuyasha's form,

"One victory and he thinks he's invincible..." Sango and Shippo agree:

"I'll say. Such a simpleton..."

"Not to mention a showoff..."

Inuyasha groans,

"...Coraline had to say it..."

The twins come over and gently pat the dog demon on the back with exasperated smiles:

"Ya should've quit the showboating while you were ahead, my friend."

"Yeah. Just remember that there's nothing scarier in this world than girls..."

...Tōtōsai watches from above, and changes his earlier thought:

"Nope. He's still a roughen, alright...(Shakes head) Let's go."

(Mmmmmooooooooooo...)


	62. Chapter 61

**Chapter 61: The Stone Flower & Shippo's First Love**

Another day in Sengoku Edo, with sunny conditions blessing a large village with flooded fields, small individual vegetable gardens, various trees growing here and there, nestled by the forest over yonder...

Standing on one hill was Shippo, who overlooks the area with thought:

 _...Looks like the village I lived in with Father._

"Hey, Shippo!"

"Come on, little dude! The view will be better the closer we get!"

Shippo snaps out of his thoughts, focusing on the voices of Coraline and Freeman, before rushing to catch up while calling back,

"Coming!"

...Once they were inside the village, Inuyasha comments aloud,

"I dunno...you sure about this? It doesn't look like the kind of place to find a jewel shard..."

Sango turns to Coraline and asks,

"How about it? Are you sensing a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama, Coraline?"

"Negatory: This village is dry."

Miroku then says in a casual tone,

"Well, I guess we may as well split up and see what we can find. See ya later."

He then turns to walk down one way, and Sango glances at his form suspiciously...before deciding to follow. Sensing her form tailing his, Miroku stops and asks Sango with an 'innocent' smile,

"Yes~, what is it?"

"So, convince me that you're not going womanizing, will ya, monk?"

Miroku starts laughing nervously in a sweat, before Freeman walks over and claps an arm around the other man's shoulder:

"How 'bout you and me team up for some clue-combing, eh Miroku?"

"Uuh..."

Freeman starts steering Miroku down the street and calls with a smile,

"Besa, how 'bout you and Sango try askin' the opposite way? And don't worry: I'll bring Miroku back in one piece, hahaha!"

Besa shakes his head in amusement and calls back,

"Sure. Just don't go making trouble with any of the local men!"

"(Distant) Auh, you wound me, brother!"

The dark-skinned boy with corn-row hair rolls his eyes, before turning to Sango and saying kindly,

"I'm sure the both of them will keep eachother out of unnecessary trouble. In the meantime, let's try asking questions around this direction."

"Um, okay...Are you sure they won't act callus?"

"Nah, Freeman's a bit smarter than that. Worse case is he might get slapped; it's happened before. He'll likely be more focused on keeping Miroku out of trouble, anyway...(Turn) Shall we meet up later, Cor?"

"'kay."

With that, Sango and Besa make way down another route...Shippo asks as Inuyasha yawns,

"Is there any point in asking around if you can't sense a shard, Coraline?"

"(Shrug) Can't say for sure, but if there's one thing my brothers are good at, it's playing detective...Hm?"

Coraline then sees Inuyasha lift her satchel from the ground and over his shoulder, before heading down the hill in front of them by the river. Shippo asks,

"Where are ya goin', Inuyasha?" Coraline raises a brow and asks in kind,

"Um, shouldn't we try combing for hints, too?"

"If there was a demon around, I'd smell 'em..."

Coraline rolls her eyes with a head-shake and mentally quirks,

 _Guess he's on a mandate break until something exciting happens...Oh well._

Soon, it would just be her and Inuyasha, laying on top of a soft sky blue blanket by the riverside. Coraline then shucks off her dark blue/white checkered flannel shirt, leaving her in just her white t-shirt, forest green jeans, and hikers, before grabbing out an apple from her satchel to eat:

"(Munch...content sigh) Finally, the gods decide to give us a free-bee hour...Hm?"

She then noticed that one person was missing:

"...Odd. I could've sworn Shippo was behind us." Inuyasha lazily replies,

"He probably went off to play. He's just a kid, remember?"

"Right...Hey, I brought some of that dried meat from my era we both like. You wanna split the bag?"

"Sure."

As the two teens begin sharing a package of food, we zoom away several feet on the other side of the river, as Shippo sat on a tree root eating a lollipop, saying to himself,

"One day they'll appreciate what I do for them."

 _We've been in a lot of battles lately. Coraline and Inuyasha could probably use some time alone..._

Once he finishes his candy, he yawns and stretches before hopping off the root...Suddenly, he turns to the sound of the following:

"Hey, you, stop running!" "Grab her!" "Get her!"

"Hm?"

He sees three young boys chasing after a young girl (all are around roughly his age) down the hill, and one boy tackles the girl, forcing her to roll on her front to the ground below:

"Aaah!"

With her down, the three boys begin kicking her:

"Satsuki, you stole those persimmons from my house!" She shouts in a retort,

"You can't prove that I did it!" Another one of the boys punches her:

"You're a thief!"

"You'll be sorry, 'cause when my brother comes, you're all gonna get it!"

"Riiight, 'cept your brother died a long time ago in the Civil War."

"My pa was righ' there with 'im when he was slain!" Satsuki was insistent:

"My brother isn't dead!"

She then lunges at one of the boys and bites his leg!

"Yaaaah!"

Another one kicks her off, before all three begin beating her again...But this brutality would not last long, as the sky began to mysteriously darken, and blue orb flames popped up:

"Huh?"

We then see a familiar pink balloon with a face appear, uttering in a fierce voice,

" _You, retched, scoundrels...!_ "

"Yaaah!" "It's a ghost!" "Run!"

The boys turn-tailed and bolted out of the area...Shippo waits until they weren't seen anymore, before reverting back to his original form:

(Pop)

"(Smug smile) Sure showed them."

He tucks his leaf back into his kimono with a small chuckle, as Satsuki stared at him in awe...

"(Walks up) You'll be safe now." Satsuki brushes his hair and replies cutely,

"Thank you, little racoon." He mutters,

"I'm a fox..."

Satsuki reaches into her kimono for something:

"Thanks alot for your help. (Holds item out) Do you want some?"

"Huh?"

"It's the persimmon that I took."

She breaks the fruit in half and gently shoves one piece into Shippo's mouth:

"You'll like it."

Shippo stares blankly at Satsuki and quirks mentally,

 _Terrific. I saved a thief._

"...You're pretty strong for a little guy. (Smile) I'm Satsuki. What's your name?"

Shippo blushes and mumbles a bit in a panic, before swallowing his piece of persimmon and replying kindly,

"My name is Shippo."

"Shippo? That's a really nice name." Shippo's tail twitches a bit happily:

"My father gave it to me."

"Is your father a demon racoon too?"

"(Deadpan) No, a fox."

"Just teasing~."

They both laugh, Shippo's being the more awkward of the two...

Small Time Skip, Shippo's POV

Satsuki and I sit by the river, as we chatted with one another and got to know about eachother's lives...

"Satsuki, don'tcha have any parents?"

"They passed away years ago."

"...Too bad."

"It's okay, 'cause I still got my big brother."

I see her smile brighten more as she talked about her older sibling:

"He's gonna prove himself in the war and become a samurai, then he's coming back for me!"

"Huh? So were those boys lying to you before then? Your brother didn't die?"

"(Frown) He's gonna come back home. Even if he is dead, he's gonna come back to life."

I recoil a bit in confusion:

"Uh..."

"Hey, I'll show you something that I've never shown to anyone before. It's my special treasure, and can make any wish come true."

I stop my slow back-up:

 _...Hang on...could, she..._

I then see her take a crystal fragment out of her clothes:

"Isn't it pretty? It's a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama, a jewel sought out by demons."

 _It's the Shikon-no-Tama?!_

 _...Or is it? It's hard to tell; I'm not good at telling jewels from one another...Maybe Coraline would know._

She then tells me about they day her brother left to go fight in the war, promising to become the samurai he felt destined to be, and come back for her...The way she was staring at the shard in her hand...it had so much innocence and hope:

"My brother would never lie to me."

All I could do was stare at her, unsure of how to respond to something like that...

Time Skip, No POV

As dusk began to settle over the village, shadows casting with the retreating red and deep orange hues of the sun, we turn head to a nice mansion, where Miroku walks with the owner inside with the others (minus Shippo) following:

"Are you certain, monk? Is my home possessed by a demon?" Miroku replies to the elder man,

"Yes, and we must exorcise it immediately. This is my duty as a man of the cloth. I expect no payment, headman."

"Absurd! You shall all be given a bed and a meal tonight."

Inuyasha whispers with a suspicious stare at the monk's back,

"Look at that guy, lying through his teeth again."

Coraline elbows him lightly with a smirk, before Lumos floats over to her other side, shaking with intent:

"Hm? What is it, Lumos? Something wrong?"

 _Unless...hang on..._

(Sheen)

Using her Aura Sight, Coraline suddenly picks up on something in a room coming up:

"What, the..." Freeman notices her shoulders tense up:

"What's up, sis?"

"Hold that thought, bro."

Miroku enters the room with the headman, before he too senses something off:

"Hm?"

He stops, causing Inuyasha to bump into him before asking,

"What?"

"Shh!"

Inuyasha hms at him, but then feels a tap on his shoulder, and sees Coraline's eyes flash icy blue for a split second, she pointing up:

"Huh?"

...Suddenly, there came a low rumbling and wood creaking from the ceiling, Freeman asking,

"What's that? Earthquake?" Besa replies,

"In Edo? Possible, but unlikely..."

Miroku then takes a sutra out of his robes, placing it on the wall in from of him, before letting out a deep breath...

"Hmph!"

He sticks it on, making a specific gesture...before the area around and on the sutra makes watery rings and burns the paper! There came a pained groan, and a spectral shadow comes out, flying out through the roof and away from the mansion...

Miroku hurries outside, then stops when he sees the demon shadow was gone...Sango asks,

"You mean there was a demon?" Coraline hms and replies,

"That explains why Lumos got a bit tense and the low-level dark energy I saw..."

The twins turn to one another and say,

"Well I knew that Miroku was being serious for once."

"Really? I actually thought he was bluffing." Inuyasha mutters,

"There's a first for everything." Miroku turns around and asks a touch testily,

"Pardon me?"

But before any argument could start, Shippo finally caught up with everyone, running to them on all fours:

"(Pant, pant) You guys!"

"Hm?"

They turn to see the little fox demon, who hops into Coraline's arms:

"Coraline!"

As he catches his breath, Coraline replies,

"Hey, good timing, Shippo. But how'd you know we'd be here?"

"I figured Miroku wouldn't waste any time in exorcising the wealthiest-looking house in the village."

...Miroku twitches an eyebrow irritably, while the twins stifle their laughter...Shippo then gets onto the topic of his rushing over:

"You won't believe it: I found a shard of the jewel!"

"What?"

"No way!" "Seriously?"

Shippo then points over a couple feet away, to where Satsuki's form stood...

"Her?"

The headman recognizes the young face:

"Oh, if it isn't Satsuki!"

The young girl looks sideways with an uncertain expression, before everyone comes over to meet her, Coraline in front with Shippo:

"(Kneel) Hello, Satsuki. My name is Coraline. I was wondering if I may examine your jewel shard for a moment, please?"

"You won't steal it, will you?" Inuyasha replies with a fierce stare,

"Sure we will, if the jewel shard's real."

Coraline lets out a breath of exasperation, while Besa slaps the back of Inuyasha's head:

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"Save answers like that for those who deserve it, not the innocent."

Inuyasha glares at him mildly, while Coraline turns back to Satsuki with a kind smile:

"Ignore them. Only listen to me: My only mission is to look at it more closely."

Shippo then begins to panic internally, realizing what he had just done:

 _Oh no! If it is real, we'll have to take it from her! Then Satsuki's wish won't come true..._

He lets out a yell, and then proceeds to knock his fists against his skull over his blunder:

"Oh, stupid me! What have I done?! Stupid, stupid, how could I have been so stupid?! Unbelievable how stupid I can be!"

Meanwhile, Coraline was staring at the fragment with intent, before Sango asks,

"Coraline...?"

Shippo stops his panic attack, and turns to see Satsuki bring the jewel fragment back to herself:

"That's enough now. I'm gonna go home."

Coraline smiles at the retreating form:

"Of course. Thank you for allowing us to see it."

Shippo was confused:

 _Uuuh, you're gonna let her go?_

The headman suddenly calls to the leaving girl's form,

"Satsuki: Won't you consider coming to live with us?"

"(Distant) No thanks! My brother will come for me any day now!"

With that, she was gone...Shippo hops onto Coraline's shoulder and asks,

"Coraline, what about the shard?"

"Well, you see..." Sango smiles and says,

"Shippo, that was just a Stone Flower."

"Are you sure?"

Coraline says gently,

"It's also known as Rose Quartz." Sango adds,

"It's a common rock found up in the mountains, not a Shikon-no-Tama shard."

"The colouring is similar to the actual jewel shards, but the difference is that it doesn't have an energy radiance."

Shippo mutters sadly,

"It's, just a fake? Hmm...poor Satsuki..."

Nightfall hits, and we find everyone having a meal with the headman, who spoke about Satsuki:

"Such a pitiful child. Her brother truly has passed on, but Satsuki refuses to believe it."

Miroku replies solemnly,

"How sad..."

"I've told her to come live with us, but she won't move from the hut that she shared with her brother."

Besa looks eye-to-eye with Freeman, remarking in a low tone,

"A bond between siblings is a strong one, but sometimes it can be too strong regarding passing...Satsuki must've loved her older brother unconditionally with a hope that high..."

"Yeah...If only she could see that holding onto hope in that fashion, can also prevent her from moving on with life."

Speaking of Satsuki, we jump back outside to see her heading down a hill back to her home, glancing at the little rose quartz fragment in her fingertips:

"...Please, shard: Bring my brother back home to me."

...Unbeknownst to her, a lizard demon was skulking in the bushes on her left:

"I may have been driven out from the headman's residence, but I will have retaliation. I'll use the girl."

With that, he fades into a camouflage, and tails the little girl back to her home...

A few hours pass, and we turn back to the mansion where everyone has settled down to sleep for the night...Unfortunately, our little fox demon found sleep eluding him, as he laid beside Freeman while thinking about Satsuki and the Shikon-no-Tama:

 _The Shikon-no-Tama has the power to create Naraku's incarnations._

 _...If a wish were made on a real shard, would Satuki's brother come back to life and return home?_

He looks over to his left at Coraline, she groaning in her sleep, seeing the small bottle of jewel shards near her head...He gets up, and checks to see that everyone was in fact asleep...

However, one of our group members was not having a restful sleep.

Coraline's Mindscape

 _Scene: Mathias Croft standing against his desk in his study, as the entire home flares up in an inferno...  
_

 _A shot is heard, and Mathias is dead, dropping face-up with a fatal wound in his chest!_

 _"Father!"_

 _We see Coraline standing there, before she turns to the killer: Bishop._

 _"Gh, you!"_

 _...Bishop turns to her, and holds his gun up at the redhead's form. Coraline tries to turn and run, but finds herself...stuck._

 _"W-What's happening? I can't move!"_

 _(BANG, SHATTER)_

 _A bullet flies, and the memory is broken like glass, fading to black..._

 _Next scene: Coraline and Bishop's last fight, when she just unleashed the full attack from the ShatterSoul Sword, and prepares to end him once and for all..._

 _"...Goodbye, Constantine Bishop."_

 _...But just as she raises the blade...the Soul begins shaping into something else:_

 _"What, the..."_

 _It then fully transforms into a Shadow Being with Bishop's face in it, poisonous purple eyes gleaming menacingly at the girl!_

 _"Uh!"_

 _"(Roar)"_

 _The mutant beast then lunges at Coraline, slicing at her with its claws:_

 _(SLASH)_

 _"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"_

 _She falls backwards, and the mosaic floor breaks, as she falls into darkness again..._

 _Final scene: Inuyasha, demon form, and Coraline engaging in battle...but unlike the actual area, this one was covered in a dark red mist, with no other bodies present but them._

 _"Raaah!"_

 _"Aaah!"_

 _Coraline is thrown backwards by Inuyasha, who then pins her to the ground, pushing her sword blade towards her neck!_

 _"I-Inuyasha, please, no!"_

 _He only snarls animalistically at her, and jumps off, causing her to sit up on her elbows in confusion:_

 _"What?"_

 _...She then hears a dark and evil laugh bubble from Inuyasha, before he lunges at her with an impossible speed!_

 _"NOOOOO!"_

 **"(Laugh) Aw man, you're liable to believe anything, aren't ya?"  
**

 _...Coraline stops cringing, and looks to see...nothing.  
_

 _"What the heck-Oh. Wait a minute...(Snarl) Damn it, Bill!"_

 _We hear another booming laugh, before the area shifts into a small sitting area of sorts, the colour scheme being gray and white, and Coraline was now comfortably sitting in a plush chair. The dream demon then pops into view in all his triangle glory, still chortling from the redhead's fright:_

 **"That was the best one yet! Your face of terror is gold, Little Doll, real~ gold!"  
**

 _Coraline snaps angry eyes onto his one eye and barks,_

 _"Will you stop doing that?! Those memories are hard enough for me to carry! You don't have the right to come here and make them even worse!"_

 **"(Wince) Ooooh, well, actually, I do, 'cause here's the thing: You and I made a deal, I'm the one having to wait on ya to get me what I want, which does not include consuming your Soul like other demons would, and I gotta kill time some way besides combing around this boring era, so you better suck it up and deal!"  
**

 _Coraline was appalled by his arrogance:  
_

 _"Why you...!"_

 _She then hops off the chair, and tries to punch the triangle-shaped demon out of anger, but he disappears before she could hit him:_

 _"Damn it!"_

 _Bill's laughter echoes again...before a hand pops up and lifts her by her t-shirt:_

 _"Uh!"_

 **"You wanna try that again? I got aaaaall night, kid. Save your silly temper tantrum for someone who cares!"**

 _"(Struggle) Put me down!"  
_

 _The hand disappears, and Coraline drops to the carpet floor:_

 _"Ouch!"_

 _She pushes herself off the floor with a frustrated groan...and folds her arms to herself with a pout._

 **"Aww, is someone finally learning to quit while they're ahead? Gold star to you!"**

 _"...Not funny."_

 _He reappears and says with a tut-tut,_

 **"Come on, Little Doll, don't be like that. Being a little brat's not very attra-Hold that thought."**

 _Coraline looks at him confusingly...before she sensed it too._

Reality

Shippo watches as Coraline screws up her face into an angry look, before quietly muttering,

"D-Damn, you..."

He whimpers a bit, before saying quietly,

"Forgive me, Coraline," and reaches out to the bottle of jewel shards...

(GRASP)

"Uh!"

But just as he grabs the bottle, Coraline's hand shoots out and snags his hand into hers!

"(Blink) Evening, Shippo."

"C-Coraline, h-how-?!"

"(Knowing smile) Aura Readers like me aren't that easy to sneak up on. Trust me: my kid brother Souta's tried too many times and failed."

It was then Inuyasha steps out from behind the barrier between the boys and the girls, and says,

"Hey." Coraline nods back:

"Sup."

Shippo darts behind him and says a bit nervously,

"Oh, Inuyasha, I thought you would've been fast asleep by now!"

He then turns back to Coraline and pleads,

"Let me take it, please! I need to help someone, come on!"

"Shippo..."

Inuyasha mutters,

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," before taking the fox demon into his hand by the other's tail:

"Shippo, you know how powerful one shard of the Shikon-no-Tama is. It's not something you go giving around to humans."

Coraline agrees:

"He's right. You could be putting Satsuki in danger by giving her one."

"And besides, why the sudden need to help out that new friend of yours?"

Shippo begins to sweat with a tinge of pink on his cheeks, just as Miroku and Freeman come popping over the barrier:

"He's infatuated with her, obviously. And she was fairly attractive, I must admit."

Freeman elbows Miroku and says,

"Oi: Careful with that description, or Sango will wake up and beat you to a pulp."

Inuyasha taps Shippo's forehead and says teasingly,

"So that's what this is all about..."

Coraline smiles exasperatingly and replies,

"Come on, you guys, don't tease him: It's his first crush." Shippo suddenly blurts at the dog demon,

"You're one to criticize! Sure I may have fallen for her, but what about you, darting back and forth between Kikyō and Coraline?!"

Inuyasha gains a tick-mark at the same time Coraline emits a heavy blush, to which Freeman would snicker at:

 _Uh-oh~, careful he doesn't see your red face, sis..._

(BONK)

Inuyasha would then hit Shippo square on the noggin, leaving the fox demon dizzy and with a large bump...The dog demon mutters in a strain,

"Get to sleep," while Coraline sighs and gathers Shippo into her arms:

"Alright, that's enough shenanigans for the night. (Turn) Freeman?"

"Yeah, I got 'im."

She hands him Shippo, and he whispers goodnight before ducking back over to where Besa was to tuck Shippo back in...Coraline lets out a breathy sigh, and lays back down in her own futon, quirking mentally,

 _Sheesh, between this and Cipher, it'll be a miracle that I'll get any sleep tonight._

Time Skip

Morning has come to greet the village, and we find ourselves at a little hut under the bridge by the river, called home by Satsuki...Suddenly, there came the sound of footsteps, stirring her from her sleep:

"(Turn) Huh?"

In the doorway, we see the silhouette of a young man, using a sheathed sword as a crutch, with a blanket over his shoulders and a gauze around his forehead:

"Satsuki...I have finally returned."

"(Gasp) Is it, really you...?"

"(Smile) Yes, it is. You've waited so long."

Satsuki gasps again, and rushes over to her returned sibling:

"My brother!"

She hugs him tight, happy tears forming in the corners of her eyes:

"I knew you'd come! I just knew it! (Sob) No one else believed it, but I did!"

As Satsuki celebrates the return of her samurai brother, we find Shippo making his way down the hill to the former's home, a little disheartened that his plan last night backfired:

"At the very least, I should say goodbye to her. Poor Satsuki: I wonder if she'll continue to wish on that fake shard? Haaahh...I don't have the heart. I can't tell her the truth."

"...Shippo!"

He looks up and sees Satsuki running over to him with a big smile on her face:

"Hm? Satsuki?"

"My wish came true! My brother finally came home to me!"

Back at the Mansion

Coraline lets out a big yawn as she finishes brushing out her hair, her white t-shirt switched up for a tan one, blinking her eyes a few times to try and rid herself of any lingering sleepiness:

 _Damn, I'm exhausted...Curse that dream demon._

"Rough night, sis?"

She turns to Freeman, he wearing a red/black striped tank-top over a pair of dark brown jeans and his high-top sneakers. The dark-skinned boy adds,

"Besa said he saw you lookin' a bit stressed in your sleep earlier before you woke."

"I'll survive. It was just one of those nights my mind decided to play 'scare the heck out of me'."

 _With an extra stimulus from Cipher..._

"Gotcha."

Freeman then turns to Inuyasha, who was sitting on the deck, and asks,

"Yo, Inuyasha, any chance ya know where Shippo went off to?"

"I dunno. Maybe he's with that new friend of his or somethin'." Miroku adds,

"Yes, he was very worried about her..."

Coraline hms and mutters,

"I feel sorry for Satsuki. She's got all her hopes build up for her dead brother to return, and doesn't even realize the quartz she possesses was only a symbolic gesture..."

Putting her brush back into her pack, she stretches her arms...before something else comes to mind:

 _...Wait a second. That, demon from yesterday Miroku banished from this mansion._

 _What if it's still hanging around here in this village?_

 _...And, if it hears about what Satsuki claims to hold..._

"Oh crap!"

The men turn to Coraline upon her outburst and ask,

"What?"

"I gotta find Shippo and Satsuki, fast!"

She begins dashing off down the hill, with Inuyasha asking,

"Are you butting in again?"

"It's not like that: I think Satsuki might be in danger!"

Sango comes out the doorway and calls,

"Wait up, Coraline: I'll come with you!"

Shippo's POV

Satsuki led me back to her home, where her brother was...

"See? He's injured, but at least he's back here with me."

He groans a bit and lifts his head from the futon to see me standing in the doorway, before focusing on his sister:

"Satsuki, thank you. You and the shard guided me home."

 _...Can it really be true? Was Satsuki's hope really enough to bring her brother back?_

I stare at her brother for a moment...before I sensed something, off:

"Hm?"

I subconsciously turned my gaze to the bucket of water by his head...only to see a lizard demon's reflection instead of a human one!

"Uh!" _A demon!_

Satsuki is oblivious to the danger and says to the imposter,

"You rest. We've got so much catching up to do when you're better."

"Aye. You had to suffer so long without me, but I promise to make it all up to you."

"(Nod) Mhm."

I decide to cut in to get Satsuki out of the room:

"Satsuki. We need to talk..." But then the imposter turns to address me:

"You're new around here, aren't you? (Smile) You must be with the group that's staying at the headman's house."

 _How does he know that? Did Satsuki tell him?_

 _...Or...wait: (Gasp) He's the demon Miroku exorcised from the mansion!_

 _Aw man, I really need to get Satsuki away!_

"Satsuki, c'mere."

"Shippo?"

The imposter then brings Satsuki close to him with an arm wrapped around her:

"I need you to bring me something now: A real shard of the jewel."

I ran at the imposter shouting,

"Let go of Satsuki!"

(Punch)

But the demon faker managed to hit me away with his fist, and as I rolled to the ground, I hear Satsuki gasp before asking,

"Why did you strike my friend? Look: I have a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama right here!"

I lift my head up to see him holding Satsuki's stone flower between his fingertips with a mean smile:

"Can't you tell by looking at it? It's a piece of rubbish. Completely, useless scrap!"

(Shatter)

Satsuki gasps, as I exclaim,

"He crushed Satsuki's precious wishing stone!"

The imposter moves to grip Satsuki more tightly with his arm around her neck, and she struggles as he demands me,

"Move, boy. Get me a shard of the jewel. Do it, or I'll have to break Satsuki's neck."

"Auh! You imposter! Who are you?!"

The demon chuckles at Satsuki and answers,

"Your brother, who else would I be?"

I had enough of his tricks and decided to counter with my own:

"Show yourself, demon! _Fox Fire!_ "

My flames hit the mark, and breaks the disguise, revealing the lizard demon in full wearing human clothes!  
Satsuki's eyes widen in shock, and the demon laughs before saying in a deeper accent,

"Well that wasn't nice at all. You could've at least let her think that I was her brother."

(Grip)

"Argh!"

"Satsuki! Nobody messes with my friend!"

I use another one of my illusions (my snake) to force the lizard to release her, and I gather the shattered pieces of the stone flower, before taking Satsuki's hand:

"Come on, we gotta get out of here!"

"'kay!"

We manage to make it up most of the hill away from the home, before the demon destroys it as he changes into his full form!

"He must be onto my trick!"

"You won't escape!"

 _I have to get Satsuki away from here...and I know just the trick that'll help._

I pull out my toy horse:

"This'll work. I'll keep him busy while you escape!"

"No! I won't leave you behind!"

I give her no chance to argue further:

(Poof)

"The horse can only take one!"

"Shippoooo!"

I watch as my toy horse gets Satsuki out of the area, before turning my focus on the lizard:

"I have you now!"

 _Better me than Satsuki...Alright, I better prepare myself, 'cause this could get rough real fast!_

Small Time Skip, No POV  


As Shippo readied to engage himself into battle with the lizard demon, we find Coraline, Inuyasha and the others over at the area where Satsuki's home once stood...

"What in the world happened here?"

Sango steps over to the large pile of splintered wood, and sees an impression in the dirt:

"Look: A demon with a large torso must've done this." Miroku gets a look himself and adds,

"Whatever it was, it seems to have fled."

Freeman gets a circle around the area and says,

"I don't see Shippo or Satsuki anywhere. Whatever did this must've chased them off."

Inuyasha turns and calls,

"Let's move, you guys. We gotta find Shippo."

Miroku calls back as he runs in step with the dog demon,

"Yes! The two of them have better be safe!"

The twins follow not too far behind them, followed by Coraline and Sango...It was then that Satsuki comes overhead on the toy horse, to which Sango would point out:

"Look at that horse, it's Shippo's fox magic!" Coraline adds,

"Yeah, and there's Satsuki!"

The horse flies on for a little longer...before the fox magic wears off:

(Pop)

"Aaaah!"

Satsuki falls, but then Kilala jumps off Sango's shoulder and catches her by her kimono! Coraline lets out a sigh of relief as the twins call,

"Nice catch, Kilala!"

She brings Satsuki down over in front of the girls, and the latter warns,

"A demon is after Shippo!"

"Yes, we know."

Sango takes Satsuki into her arms and says to the redhead,

"Better hurry, Coraline."

"Right."

Shippo's POV

I continue to dodge the lizard's tongue, and dash to the right as I pray,

 _I hope you're safe, Satsuki!_

(Slam)

"Ah!"

I barely dodge the tongue again, and stop to catch my breath as the lizard approaches me with a laugh:

"The girl may have escaped, but it's useless. It was you who I desired: I'll hold you hostage to get a Shikon-no-Tama shard!"

"If you wanted me, why didn't you come after me from the start? You went out of your way to crush Satsuki's hopes, and now I'm gonna make you regret it, demon!"

"So I presume you wish to try and take me on?"

The demon inhales deeply, and I bark back,

"You bet, ugly!"

" _Stomach Acid!_ "

He tries to spew some sort of white-coloured acid on me, but I dodge it in a jump, before unleashing more of my magic:

" _Multiply!_ "

(Pop-pop-pop-pop...)

My decoys then throw dynamite at the demon:

" _Bombs away!_ "

He's hit dead-on, and cringes from the impact...

"Now's my chance!"

I spring with my decoys and bite his neck hard...Unfortunately, my teeth weren't strong enough to leave any real damage:

"You, pest! I've had enough of you!"

(SLAP)

"Ooow!"

I roll to the ground hard, and as I laid on my stomach, I mutter to myself discouragingly,

"...Maybe I'm just not strong enough to defeat him."

I think about all the skills and strength my friends have, including Freeman and Besa (despite them still learning somewhat)...and ask myself,

"Don't I have what it takes to fight like my friends too?"

I struggle to look up angrily at the lizard demon:

"Playtime's over!"

...But just when it looked like this would've been my last fight, I hear a rustle in the grass, and turn to see,

 _(Gasp) Inuyasha!_

No POV

Inuyasha steps out of the grass in front of the lizard demon, leaving the latter confused:

"Huh?"

He looks the dog demon up and down before stating,

"So, you have gone and transformed yourself into something else yet again, have you?!"

Inuyasha (not knowing who the lizard was addressing) was understandably as befuddled:

"(Raises brow) What? You have some kind of grudge against me?"

He takes a few steps closer before brandishing out Tessaiga:

"Fine by me. I'll use my new Backlash Wave."

"And what kind of trick are you trying to pull now?"

The lizard demon then gasps at noticing the Wind Scar that was billowing over the blade of Inuyasha's sword...The dog demon reminds himself of the conditions for the Tessaiga's ultimate technique:

 _This move uses the Wind Scar to surround the demon's energy, and send it right back at 'em..._

" _Backlash..._ "

But before he could finish, the Wind Scar suddenly dies down into nothing:

"Huh?"

The lizard demon was a bit taken aback as well, and then Inuyasha realizes the problem:

"Oh great: This lizard demon's energy is so weak, my Backlash Wave is useless!"

The lizard takes in a large breath and asks,

"Is this a debate or a battle?"

"(Tick-mark) It would be a battle if you weren't so weak!"

(PUNCH)

Inuyasha socks the demon in the face, sending the latter flying into the air! The lizard then transforms into its original form, and tries to scamper off, only to be stopped by Miroku's staff. He then bends down to the struggling reptile to get a closer look, with Besa bending down beside him:

"Hm? This is the very demon that I exorcised from the headman's house last night."

"Huh. Small world."

Shippo looks up weakly at Inuyasha and mutters his name, causing the other to turn to address him:

"Hm? Hey. (Smile) That was some nice work ya did against this demon lizard, Shippo."

Shippo looks at Inuyasha in surprise, just as everyone else catches up courtesy of Kilala in full form:

"Shippo!"

"Coraline..."

Freeman holds up Shippo in his lap as Satsuki cheers,

"Shippo: You beat the demon!"

"...It wasn't me. Inuyasha did it."

But the dog demon says while looking up at the sky,

"Mm, that lizard was already on his last legs by the time I got here..."

Shippo weakly turns his head to the dog demon:

 _Inuyasha..._

"I think that the demon must have used Satsuki to get at us, hoping that we could be overpowered."

Besa nods in agreement to Miroku's deduction:

"That sounds right."

Shippo then reminds himself of the Shikon-no-Tama's trail of misfortune:

 _Everyone who encounters the jewel becomes unhappy. I forgot that, and Satsuki suffered for it..._

He frowns sadly to himself, before taking out the shattered pieces of the rose quartz to hold out to Satsuki:

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry, Satsuki."

She takes the pieces into her open palms...before replying,

"It doesn't matter anymore."

She then stands up and tosses the pieces into the grass, much to Shippo's shock:

"Your stone!"

"You know what? I've decided to go live with the headman of the village. Oh, I'm not sad...I knew all along that my brother was gone."

Satsuki turns to flash a small smile at Shippo, who only stares silently...

Time Skip

As the sun began to set, everyone in our group begins to leave the headman's home, Satsuki seeing them off. Coraline waves back at the young girl:

"Take care, lass!" She calls out,

"Thank you for everything, Shippo! I'm sure glad that I met you!"

He turns to silently wave back, a look of concern on his face, as he thinks,

 _I hope you'll be happy one day, Satsuki._ _I don't have a mother or father either..._

 _...But I'm not alone, so it's okay._

Passing the river again, we see a large gathering of fireflies floating over the bank, which Shippo would stop to gaze at. The group continues on, and Sango glances behind at the little fox demon:

"Shippo really was quite taken with that young girl." Coraline and Freeman reply,

"Yeah..."

"Heh, he was, wasn't he?" Inuyasha scoffs lightly and asks,

"Huh, what's he doin' actin' like a grown-up?" Miroku and Besa reply respectively,

"He may be little, but he's still a man."

"Mm, still, he has time..."

Coraline sighs a bit and remarks,

"First loves are always memorable...(Turn) Shippo, come on!" Inuyasha adds,

"Move it along! We haven't got all day to wait around!"

"I'm coming!"

And Shippo rushes to catch up with everyone, as the fireflies scatter and float up to the sky, glittering with the glow of the stars...


	63. Chapter 62

**Chapter 62: Temptress in the Mist**

Our journey in Sengoku Edo continues for our ragtag group, and a few days after leaving the large village Satsuki lives in, they come across a young woman (wearing a mahogany brown kimono with a blue skirt wrapped overtop, a green scarf around her shoulders, and her black hair was tied back into a ponytail) in need of assistance. Given Miroku's quirk of becoming distracted by a pretty face, the group would be forced to stop a moment as he lends her a hand:

"Rgh...rrgh...I'm so sorry. I was overcome by pain."

"Don't mention it. It's all part of a monk's duty."

Coraline, whom today was wearing her hair back in a ponytail, a red tank-top with the moon glyph symbols of Life and Death scrawled on in black, light blue jeans and her combat boots, facepalms at the monk's antics:

"Oh geez, here we go again..." Inuyasha and Shippo add respectively,

"Sure looks that way."

"Yep, he's at it again..."

Besa and Freeman, both wearing semi-matching outfits of white tank-tops and black jeans with their hightops, the first donning a light grey sweater while the second wore his leather jacket, stand over by Sango as she leaned against a tree, and whisper to one another,

"How long do you think it'll be before he grows out of these actions?"

"...I give him another couple months before it dials down by half, tops."

Anyway, Miroku finishes tending to the woman:

"How's that?"

"I feel better already thanks to your gentle touch and kindness."

Miroku shifts his hand from her back to her rear and adds offhandedly,

"Don't overexert yourself."

...Somehow, she ignores the change of position and just moves to rise to her feet again:

"No, I'm quite fine now."

"Now that's good to hear. Very well...by the way..."

"Yes?"

"Would you be interested in bearing my child?"

Coraline buries her face into her hands:

"Seriously? He had to ask that question?!"

Inuyasha and Shippo's parrot their responses:

"Sure looks like it."

"Yep. He's at it again..."

Sango sighs tiredly, and Besa gently pats her shoulder while Freeman says causally,

"Don't let it bother ya, Sango. (Knowing smirk) I gotta feeling this round's gonna bite 'im in the ass later on."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You'll see when it happens, trust me."

"...Um, if you say so."

The young woman then excuses herself:

"(Bow) I'll be off."

"Take care of yourself."

...As the stranger walks away, Shippo comes up to Miroku and asks,

"Miroku, why do you always act like that when you come across a pretty lady?"

"What? You can't expect me to ignore a female in distress, can you?"

Inuyasha hmphs, as Miroku tries to change the subject:

"Let's be off, shall we?"

"You're the one who kept us waiting, remember?"

About a half hour later, the group comes across a small wilderness hut as another traveler is leaving, and Coraline smiles a bit before asking,

"How about we take a short break?"

"Excellent idea..."

But when Miroku reaches into his robes...he suddenly forms a look of confusion, before stopping to check his clothing more thoroughly...Everyone else stops before Sango asks,

"Is something the matter, Miroku?"

"M-My travel funds. My money; it's disappeared! (Turn) I'm sure I had it this morning!"

Shippo makes a suggestion as to what might have happened:

"That woman at the roadside must have been a pickpocket."

Miroku widens his eyes, and Inuyasha remarks,

"No wonder she didn't go berserk when you started giving her rear a good massage..."

"(Sigh) What have I done?"

"(Shove) Move it along, lecher."

As they continued on, Freeman says to Sango with that smirk from before,

"And just like that, the con artist/lecher is played like a koto. Now do ya see what I mean?"

"(Slight smile) Yeah, I get it now."

Besa frowns a bit at his brother and asks,

"If you knew she was a con artist too, why didn't you say something to him sooner?"

"Oh come off it, bro: You know as well as I do he needs some lessons from karma...and this was a good boot to the head."

"(Sweatdrop) You and I may be twins, but we definitely differ when it comes to 'teachable moments'."

Freeman just laughs, and Sango cracks a smile at their banter, her earlier disappointment somewhat dissipated...

Soon, our group would find themselves deep within a forest filled with conifer trees, the sun streaming through little pockets between the branches. Along the way, Freeman found himself singing aloud against the silence of the woods, with Coraline laughing a little at his song choice:

" _Black Cadillac_ by _Shinedown_? Really?"

(Note: I do not own that song reference; find the lyrics on your own.)

"What? It's a good song! You can't argue against me; this is one of your favourite bands too!"

"(Laugh) Touché, brother, touché."

Inuyasha raises a brow and asks,

"What's a Cadillac?"

"Remember those machines you've seen on the road a few times in my era?"

"...Those metal things with the black wheels?"

"Yeah. They're called automobiles, and a Cadillac is one of the many types of models an automobile can come in."

"Ooooh...Are there any of that style in Tokyo?"

"Not as far as I know. The Cadillac is an American-made model, and it's rare to see that type in Japan."

"Huh..."

Coraline then notices that the group was short one member:

"Hang on...We lost Miroku."

Everyone else stops and sees that the monk was not present, causing Shippo to ask,

"Huh? But what happened to him?" Inuyasha says,

"He was laggin' behind up until a while ago..." Coraline wonders,

"He might've caught a case of depression after being conned," and Freeman adds,

"I still say that was a teachable moment for him."

Sango volunteers to go see what was keeping Miroku:

"I'll go and check."

As she rushes off back where the group came from, Coraline watches her go a bit perplexed...before smiling a bit. Inuyasha turns to see the smile and asks,

"What's your problem?"

"No problem. Just...thinking about something..."

Moving back a ways down the forest path, we see that Miroku was speaking with yet another young woman (she wearing a brown kimono with a light green skirt wrap and a light grey headscarf, carrying an herb basket):

"I see..."

"We're worried sick and have no idea what we should do."

Miroku smiles reassuringly and places a gentle hand on the woman's shoulder:

"Well, there's no need to worry any longer."

We see Sango arriving at a spot a couple feet down the small incline, and asks in a deadpan,

"Mind explaining what you're doing there, monk?"

Miroku forms a nervous look and turns to face the slayer:

"Guh, hi! Nothing, as of yet..."

Small Time Skip

Once Miroku explained to Sango what was going on, they and the young woman catch up with the others so that the situation could be made plain...The group soon reaches the village where the young woman lived, along with several others, who have been experiencing a problem regarding the numbers of the other gender population...

"So you say that the men who went into the mountain haven't returned?"

"We're sure they've been captured by a demon. Please, help us."

Inuyasha grumbles to himself,

"He never misses the chance to play the hero..."

Coraline replies to him,

"At least this time it's for a legitimate cause. And who knows? (Whisper) There could be a Shikon-no-Tama fragment involved."

The women plead,

"Please, assist us."

"We need your help."

"I'm begging you to please help me find my husband!" Miroku asks in mild surprise,

"You mean you're married as well?"

"Yes."

He sighs in some disappointment, before forming a more serious look at Sango's hmming...

"It must be very lonely without your husband."

"Yes, and that's why we need your assistance."

"Very well. Then we shall go and free your husbands from the demon."

The group of village woman say together,

"Thank you. We're ever so grateful."

"(Turn) Did you get all that, Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, I'll help, seeing as I'm the one who will end up doing all the fighting."

Coraline smirks a bit and replies,

"Not unless I jump in and do the work before you, tough-guy."

"Tch, like you can do blows with your blade better than I can? You've got potential, I'll give you that, but you've still got a ways to go, rookie."

"Ha! Bring it on, I say!"

The twins and Shippo snicker a little at their playful banter, as Miroku stares at the hopeful woman for a moment...before sighing and saying,

"Let's be off then, shall we?"

Two of the women warn,

"Please, be very careful, my friends."

"According to the rumors, the demon is in the form of a beautiful woman."

...Miroku suddenly stops, and turns to say to everyone seriously,

"It would be best for all if I went alone."

And everyone gapes at him, Sango's stare being more deadpan than the rest...So now everyone minus Miroku was taking refuge in a hut inside the village, with Coraline, Inuyasha and Shippo sitting on the porch, while Besa leaned against a pole, and Freeman laid on the ground with his head on his satchel.

Coraline wonders aloud,

"Why did Miroku choose to venture on his own? That doesn't seem like a smart strategy..."

Shippo answers,

"He probably wants some time alone with the beautiful demon."

Inuyasha mutters,

"That guy never learns, does he?"

Besa quirks,

"He's got a ways to go before he can be serious around the opposite gender..."

...They then turn to the sound of the door opening, and everyone sees Sango emerge in her slayer gear, Hiraikotsu slung over her shoulder.

"Sango? Are you headin' after Miroku?" She replies to Coraline,

"Of course! If that womanizing monk goes alone, he'll get bewitched just like all the others have. Come on, Kilala!"

The twin-tailed cat demon mews, before bounding after her partner, and both disappear into the forest...After a moment, Coraline turns to Inuyasha to ask,

"Say, Inuyasha..."

"Hm?"

"Is it my imagination, or do you also sense that Sango might have a crush on Miroku?"

"Huh?! You're not serious!"

"(Tilts her head) You mean you haven't seen any signs?"

"Hm?"

Shippo pipes up:

"I've noticed it a long time ago," followed by the twins saying together,

"Same here."

"Hm?"

Coraline says to Inuyasha a bit incredulously,

"I would've thought you'd be sharper than this..."

"Then how come Sango always gets mad whenever Miroku tries to stroke her butt?"

"Because...Hm, how do I explain this? Okay: When someone wants to be with someone as more than friends, they need to take the time to figure out what action to use when the right atmosphere comes along."

"Atmospheres...as in clouds and stuff?"

"Huh? (Shakes head) No no, not that kind of atmosphere. I mean the 'emotional' atmosphere...But anyway, I know Sango has developed feelings for Miroku. It's all in a matter in whether she'll come to the right moment to let those feelings be known."

"...I dunno..."

"I definitely think Miroku's got it in for Sango too."

"Huh?"

They turn to Freeman, who says with a lazy yawn,

"It'll just be up to him if he can step it up and grow up, or if he'll trip over his perverted ego first."

Meanwhile, with Sango and Miroku...

"(Sigh) Do you mind?"

"What are you sighing for?"

"Nothing..."

"You do realize we're on our way to destroy a demon, don't you?"

"I know..."

"According to the villagers, a long time ago, a group of soldiers fled deep into this mountain...and there was a princess among them. But all the men who protected her died. They say that in the end, the princess herself died as well."

"And her bitterness turned her into a demon?"

"I suppose so."

"Hm...Unfortunately, that seems to be the fate women are burdened with."

"Huh?"

"I've experienced the whole gambit: Women are persistent, always prone to jealousy and bursts of anger, not to mention hatred."

"(Deadpan) Pretty knowledgeable, for someone who's a monk."

"Even I can't imagine what kind of terrible demon is created by the bitterness of a woman who dies a sad and lonely death. I just had to see it with my own eyes."

"I understand, but why insist on going alone?"

"I, have reasons..."

Miroku suddenly stops, Sango pausing beside him, and he asks,

"Do you see that over there, Sango?"

"Huh?"

Looking up to the trees, we see a large shield of sorts clouding the area in front of them...

"It's the entrance to the demon's lair, a barrier, if you will...It seems easy enough to enter, but it's probably difficult to come out."

He then turns to give her a bracelet of prayer beads:

"Here. Put this on, Sango. It may prove useful once we're inside."

"Right."

Miroku fastens the bracelet onto Sango's wrist, and they were ready to head in and seek out the demon:

"Okay, let's get going."

They dash to the barrier, and begin forcing their way inside:

(Ring, bzzzt...)

However, it seemed that one of our pair was having more difficulty passing through the power of the barrier:

 _Ggh, I thought he said it would be easy to enter?! He must've been kidding: It's extremely resistant!_

But as she turns to look up front, Sango sees that while the barrier was slowing her down, Miroku was running through with no issues!  
She tries to call him to get his attention:

"Miroku, wait up for me!"

But he doesn't hear her, and suddenly fades from her sight...

"Mirokuuuu!"

Miroku's POV

I made it through the barrier, and into an area covered in mist...But I do not see Sango anywhere with me:

"Sango! Where are you, Sango?! Must've lost her along the way..."

I then sense the mist departing somewhat in front of me, and turn to see...

"Is that a mansion?"

"...Who goes?"

"Hm?"

I turn right, and coming out of the fog, was a beautiful young woman, wearing the garments of royalty:

 _...The princess?_

"Why are you here, so deep in this mountain?"

I narrow my eyes suspiciously:

 _Is this girl the demon?_

"I know not why you come, but please, follow me to the mansion."

I was a bit hesitant, but decided to follow her to the structure:

 _I must be careful...I can't be sure if she's the demon...or if the demon is waiting inside._

Sango's POV

"Miroku, where are you?! Mirokuuuu!"

Kilala and I finally made it through the barrier, only to find ourselves in an area heavily blanketed in a fog, and no sign of the monk:

 _Damn it. It's so thick of mist, even if he did answer, I probably wouldn't see him..._

...It was then I sensed several figures up ahead:

"Demons?"

I rush over with Kilala, but instead of beasts, we find a numerous amount of elderly men!

 _Humans? And they're all old men..._

I walk over to one to see if he could tell me what's going on:

"Excuse me, old man?"

"Heh?"

"I said excuse me, old man!"

"You're mistaken, I ain't an old man!" I was a bit confused by his response:

"...Sure you are. You're all old."

"Like I said, I ain't an old man." A few others parrot his answer:

"Yeah, I ain't old either!"

"Who are you callin' old?! I ain't old!"

"An old man? I ain't an old man."

 _Something's wrong: They all insist they're not the age they appear..._

"None of you...are old men?"

Meanwhile, back in the Village, No POV

As Miroku and Sango each come across their own surprises deep in the mountain forest, everyone else was wondering about the pair's chances of finding romance with one another...Coraline states aloud,

"I admit that Sango's being a little over stubborn with her feelings, but Miroku's nowhere any better: The way he acts around her suggests his feelings to be more causal than serious."

Inuyasha replies,

"He ain't fussy. He seems to like all women."

"Perhaps, but I wonder if his liking of Sango could be stronger..."

"Could be...He goes after her butt enough, that's for sure."

Coraline stifles a laugh and says,

"That's not exactly what I'm meaning, but you do raise an interesting point..." Besa chimes in:

"Maybe his physical approaches are the only way Miroku knows how to express his feelings to women."

Shippo eyes the three and quirks to himself,

 _Okay, I'm ready for a change of topic..._

Freeman lets out a yawn, and turns to see Shippo's expression:

 _Oh good: I'm not the only one needing a distraction._

"Okay: I'm officially bored, so I'm gonna do something about it!"

He then springs to his feet, and holds out a hand to Shippo with a smile:

"You wanna head to that small clearing and do some sparring with me, kiddo?"

"(Grin) Yeah!"

Shippo hops onto Freeman's shoulder and whispers,

"Anything's better than just sitting and talking..."

"I hear ya. (Turn) We'll be back in a while. If they come back before we do, give us a shout."

Besa replies a bit jokingly,

"(Salute) Aye-aye, sir."

They all laugh a bit, and Freeman and Shippo were off, leaving only Inuyasha, Coraline and Besa at the hut, the redhead quirking,

"I wondered how long it would before either would get bored out of their skulls..."

Back to the misty mountain forest, Sango's POV

"Hang on: You're telling me that all of you are the men who disappeared from the village? What happened to you?"

Two of them speak up to explain:

"It was like a dream..."

"I found myself lost and in serious trouble, when suddenly the most beautiful princess I had ever seen appeared deep in the mountains. She brought me to a magnificent villa and I spent such a grand time..."

"A grand time, you say?"

"Yes, it was most enjoyable."

"Aye. Enjoyable and grand."

"The next thing we knew, we all found ourselves like this."

I then realized what the demon must have done:

 _The demon drained the life spirit, the youth out of these men..._

The Mansion, Miroku's POV

The princess took me inside the mansion and began pouring me some tea, as she told me what had happened to her since that time long ago...

"Then you must've survived the war, did you, princess?"

"Aye. Unfortunately, all of my vassals perished in my defense. I am all alone, and so very lonely."

"Very tragic, indeed."

"...Monk?"

"Hm?"

"It is my fate to remain here. Would you do me the kindness of spending the night with me?"

"Is that your honest desire?"

"Yes, it is. Look at me...Look deep into my eyes..."

Sango's POV

"And when the princess gazed at me with those beautiful eyes of hers..."

"I fell into a daze, and suddenly, nothing else mattered anymore except the princess."

 _...Then that means...Miroku..._

"Kilala: You stay here with the men."

My companion mews in understanding, and I rise to rush off to where the mansion laid:

 _I've got to hurry! If I know that womanizing monk, he'll fall right into her trap!_

No POV

Back at the mansion, Miroku gazed into the princess's eyes, and found himself overcome with emotion, dropping his teacup to embrace her:

"Princess..."

"Monk..."

Zooming in on the princess...we see her eyes flash yellow...At this time, Sango emerges through the fog and keeps her pace towards the mansion, thinking frantically,

 _Be strong, Miroku! Just stay alive until I get there! I'll save you!_

...But when she got to the entrance, Sango came across the sight of Miroku and the princess...getting ready to kiss, their lips mere centimeters from one another!

That definitely struck something inside Sango's heart:

"(Tick-marks) Why that...!"

She begins swinging her Hiraikotsu:

"Wake up, you lecher!" The princess's eyes snap open:

 _A woman's voice!_

(Leap)

"Princess!"

As the woman jumps back, her hair shifts from a glossy black to a brown grey...She then slowly transforms, into a large coyote demon!

"Where are you, wench?! I will not allow you to interfere!"

As the demon swipes her paws through the air, Sango says to herself,

"She doesn't know where I am. She can't see me...Alright!"

"Wait, Sango!"

She pauses her thrust at Miroku's call:

"...Miroku, I thought you were under her spell."

"She won't be able to find you as long as you keep quiet."

Sango then looks down at the bracelet on her wrist in thought:

 _I understand: The beads that Miroku lent to me must make me invisible to the demon!_

 _But, why isn't he destroying her?_

Miroku then addresses the coyote demon:

"The true form of the demon is a female coyote."

"I shall suck the life force from you!"

The coyote then sends her tendrils of hair at Miroku, who jumps back to dodge, while grabbing out a set of sutras ready to use. Sango rushes to his side:

"You okay?"

"Keep your distance! (Holds out the sutras) I was hoping to take care of this without need for a battle..."

The coyote demon lunges at Miroku, and he charges back while shouting,

"Princess! You'll have to endure some pain, I'm afraid! Hyah!"

Sango mutters in confusion,

"Did he say, princess?"

"Be strong! Hrrrah!"

Miroku tosses the sutras, and they land on the demon's forehead and neck:

(Bzzzzt)

"Raaaagh!"

The demon howls in pain, before her body catches flame, and we see the spectral image of the real princess crying out in pain as well!

"(Narrows eyes) There's a princess inside the demon!"

Miroku then takes the opportunity to leap from behind in a sneak attack:

"Princess!"

(WACK)

His hit with the staff is true, and the coyote demon falls back, while the princess emerges from the demon's body...

"Princess..."

(Thrust, crash)

He then barely dodges the coyote demon's paw, for she was still alive, and angered by the loss of its host:

"Curse you, monk! Raagh, I shall show no mercy now!"

Miroku is then forced to run around the perimeter of the room, dodging the vicious attacks from the demon, before circling back to the princess to check up on her:

"Princess!"

(Swipe)

(Sheen)

He then thrusts his staff upwards, releasing a dull golden glow that blocks the coyote's paw:

"Return the princess to me!"

"Hrrgh, Sango!"

"Right!"

Sango finally makes her move:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...wack)

The boomerang hits the demon right in the face:

"Argh! (Turns) Why you...!"

Sango catches her weapon on the rebound, as the coyote demon tries to narrow in on the slayer's location:

"Where are you?!"

...Suddenly, the prayer beads around Sango's wrist lose power, and shatter, eliminating the camouflage:

"There you are!"

(Swipe, TOK)

Sango uses Hiraikotsu to block the demon's paw...but:

(Crick...)

Her weapon begins cracking from the strength, and she gasps, as the demon laughs triumphantly...But that small rise to victory would not last, when Miroku sends another set of sutras at the coyote, causing her to howl in pain, and Sango uses the opportunity to thrust Hiraikotsu again, slicing the demon in two!

We see that on the return to Sango, the crack on Hiraikotsu becomes a bit larger...But the main focus was on the dying demon:

"My power! The demon power I had accumulated!...Ah...Aaargh..."

And with that, the demon burns into nothing, gone from the world...As soon as she was gone, the mansion also faded away, leaving Sango back in the outdoors, the mist also having cleared some...

"Hey, Miroku...I don't understand what happened..."

She then turns to see Miroku gently hugging the princess:

"Please, forgive me for being so rough, princess..."

"...You saved me."

...Sango looks downward, her eyes covered by her bangs...Miroku then says to the princess,

"You were isolated for so long...It must have been very lonely."

"Yes...I was so weak-hearted and cowardly that I fell victim to an awful demon."

"It's all over now...I'll take you to the village."

"(Leans back) Thank you so much."

...The princess suddenly began to fade, and transforms into a glowing white orb, before floating up to the heavens...

"She disappeared..." Miroku replies to Sango,

"Yes...That was her Soul. She died a lonely death. It wasn't a bitterness: It was loneliness that kept her from finding peace in death. The demon coyote stole the princess's Body and Soul, then impersonated her to lure men in, and then sucked out their youth to gain power."

Time Skip

Soon, Miroku and Sango would return to the village, and preparations would be made in resurrecting a grave for the lost princess...A plate of food, a few wild yellow flowers, and joss sticks are placed on the grave mound, with Miroku sending prayers for the princess's Soul:

"I have buried the princess's ashes in this humble grave. If you all offer up your prayers, I'm sure she will watch over the village."

"We thank you, monk."

"We're so grateful that you brought our men back to us."

With the demon gone, the men's youth has been restored, and they seem to harbour little memory of their ordeal:

"It seems no more than a pleasant dream, now..."

"I'll say..."

Coraline then asks Miroku as he rose to a stand once again,

"Hey, question."

"Yes?"

"Did something happen between you and Sango on the mountain? She looked real depressed as you two returned..."

"Uh, no, I can't imagine what might be bothering her..."

Freeman then says,

"Well, if ya wanna try asking, I think she and Besa are by the riverside down that way."

Speaking of which, we find the slayer and other twin sitting together on the riverbank, and the former tosses a small rock into the water, scaring away a few fish, feeling down about what occurred on the mountain:

"(Sigh) Silly me. How could I be so foolish?" Besa does his best to lighten her mood:

"You're not foolish at all, Sango. These things can be seen from all kinds of angles...which has me wondering if you're seeing this in one angle that's a bit too prejudice."

"Huh?"

"(Small smile) Come on, you know what you saw was just the visual context, but it wasn't really what was going on, was it? Miroku isn't that mind of man, is he?"

"Hm..."

Sango lays her chin on her knees in thought...just as said topic of discussion strolls by:

"...Sango?"

"Hm?"

The two sitters turn to see Miroku, and Besa decides to step back and let them have their privacy:

"Just remember what I said Sango...And Miroku...(Whisper) tread carefully."

They watch as Besa walks out of the area...before Miroku moves to sit beside Sango in the other's place:

"...What's wrong?"

"(Looks away) I'm sorry. I never should've followed you into the mountains like that, Miroku."

"(Smile) Now don't be foolish. You're the one who destroyed the demon, aren't you?"

"That's only because you helped me."

"No, no, I relied on your help...because I trust in your strength, Sango."

She turns to look at him in surprise...Meanwhile, on a slope not too far away, we see everyone else overlooking the slayer and monk, with Inuyasha saying to Coraline,

"You're imagining things. Sango wouldn't fall in love with that pervert."

"Why not? I mean, come on: They're finally in the right emotional atmosphere."

"...Alright, I'm ready for a full explanation."

Freeman gently claps Inuyasha's shoulder and quirks,

"I'd be happy to give you the guy's version, but we should wait until it's only guys present. My details get a bit graphic."

Inuyasha glances at him nervously, while Besa slaps Freeman upside the head:

"Ouch!"

"Shut it, you. Don't worry, Inuyasha: I'll be present to make sure he doesn't scar you for life."

"Uuuh, right..."

Back down below, Miroku asks,

"Sango...you came with me because you were concerned about my safety, is that correct?"

"Well sure that's why I came. Yes, of course I was worried about you...You're not exactly reasonable when you're around women, ya know. I was absolutely certain you would get into trouble."

"I owe you an apology...I had to go into the demon's lair because I couldn't ignore a woman grieving."

Sango turns to say defensively,

"Mm...It's, not as though I'm jealous, or anything like that!"

...Miroku suddenly takes her hand into his, causing her to gasp, as well as Shippo back on top the slope. Coraline smiles and says,

"Told ya guys. It's gonna happen."

Miroku says to Sango,

"It makes me happy that you worry...(Turns with a sincere smile) Your concern for me means more than that of any other woman."

A light blush comes to dust Sango's face, and she turns around to ask anxiously,

"What, in the world are you saying to me?!"

 _Oh no...what'll I do?!_

Atop the slope, Coraline and Besa whisper encouragingly,

"Take this chance, Sango!"

"What do you have to lose? Come on!"

Miroku looks at the slayer in mild confusion:

"...Sango?"

She mutters incoherently, still a bit too flustered to respond properly...And then~ the entire mood is killed by one stroke of Miroku's hand atop Sango's rear:

"Gh!"

 _That, hand again!_

 _(Tick-marks) Why can't he touch my shoulders, or somewhere more...romantic?!_

The rest of the group atop the slope all look down in exasperation at Miroku's choice of moves (minus Inuyasha, who seemed more surprised), before Sango yells,

"Cant you get your mind out of the gutter?!"

(SLAP)

Besa winces, and Freeman mutters,

"Oooh, that's gotta hurt..."

We now see our group on their way down a path once again, with Sango walking up front with Besa, while the others stay a few feet away...Miroku says aloud,

"Don't blame me: She was practically begging me to fondle her."

His gaze then turns up front, glaring slightly at Besa:

 _Once again, he manages to tweak at Sango's good side...How is he doing that?_

Coraline replies to Miroku with heavy sarcasm,

"Oh suuuure, and the sky's gonna start raining gumdrops in the next hour. Look, Miroku, I'm gonna try to spell this out as simple as possible: You need to go about this way less physically and more emotionally."

Freeman adds,

"Yeah, otherwise your chances of getting a date are worse than mine. (Murmurs) Guess I'll need to add you to my list of students after Inuyasha..."

Said dog demon says to the redhead,

"See, Coraline? Didn't I tell ya that you were wrong? Well, didn't I?"

Shippo sighs exasperatedly from atop his shoulder:

"What a dummy..."

Up front, Sango lets out her own small groan and mutters while looking at Hiraikotsu,

"Well, better get this thing fixed."

Besa looks at her, then back at Miroku, and thinks to himself,

 _That's not the only thing that needs fixing, but I guess there's always next time..._

 _(Sigh) Thanks, Life, for throwing a monkey wrench into another pair's relationship._


	64. Chapter 63

**Chapter 63: Fateful Night in Togenkyo, Part 1**

 _The silence and peace of one clearing deep within the forest of Inuyasha is interrupted, by two beings coming out from opposite ends of the treeline:_

 _One is a familiar young redheaded human of another time..._

 _The other, a demon of mysterious and questionable origins..._

 _"(Laugh) You got them both, Little Doll! Nice work!"_

 _"(Weak smile) It wasn't easy, but I managed. Now...I'm ready to make things right."_

 _Coraline takes out two crystals shaped like hearts, and notices one seemed lighter and more see-through than the other:_

 _Huh? Strange...Is there something different about this one?_

 _...Nah, I'm just imagining it._

 _"Here. The Seven Light Crystals, as promised."_

 _Bill takes the objects, and then Coraline's body glows...before an orb emerges from her body!_

 _"(Gasp)"_

 _"Aaaand, there!"_

 _(SLICE)_

 _The orb is split in two, and one half glows pink, while the other emits an ice-blue light, forming into its own orb, before reentering the redhead..._

 _"Ah, and here comes Fushia Arrow! Right on schedule!"_

 _"Hm?"_

 _Coraline turns around, and sees a familiar priestess emerge from the shadows:_

 _...Kiky_ _ō!_

 _The other orb flies, before penetrating the priestess:_

 _"Oh!"_

 _She is surrounded by a pink glow...before her skin cracks like clay, and breaks away, leaving a more life-filled appearance!_

 _"Ah...I'm...I'm, no longer made from grave soil. I...I am alive again!"_

 _"Kiky_ _ō!"_

 _Both ladies turn to see a familiar dog demon leap from the treetops, and stares at them both for a moment..._

 _"Last, but certainly not least, Red Sword's extra protection!"_

 _(Sheen)_

 _"Huh?"_

 _Inuyasha's body is surrounded by a yellow glow, before it fades as quick as it arrived..._

 _"You're both free now, Inuyasha."_

 _"...What?"_

 _He turns to the redhead, who smiles and adds,_

 _"More free than you were in the past, and now into the future."_

 _"...Coraline...I..."_

 _(Wobble)_

 _"Huh?"_

 _Suddenly, the area darkens, and a larger version of the Bone Eater's Well pops in behind Coraline, the inside teeming with energy:_

 _"(Gasp) Wha-What's happening?! Bill?!"_

 _"Sorry, hun: It looks like this world's decided on which pair can stay, and pairs mean two, not three! You seem to be the odd one out!"_

 _Coraline widens her eyes...before feeling the well's energies begin tugging her backwards:_

 _"N-No! No, I don't want to leave! Inuyasha! Inuyasha, help!"_

 _The dog demon stares in shock, before trying to move and assist the girl:_

 _"Coraline!"_

 _"Inuyasha, wait."_

 _"Hm?"_

 _Kiky_ _ō steps over to him, and touches his arm with a sad look:_

 _"I'm sorry, but there's nothing that you can do. This world has made its decision...She has to go back to her era."_

 _"...But..."_

 _Coraline struggles harder to stay on the ground...but then loses her footing, and is dragged into the vortex:_

 _"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"_

 _"Coraliiiine!"_

 _Inuyashaaaaaa!_

(Jolt)

"Gh!"

Our redhead finally snaps awake, sitting up from her blanket and satchel, and we find the real setting is the outside of an old temple ruin of sorts, where everyone decided to camp at for the night...

Breathing a bit heavily with a hand over her chest, Coraline looks around to see Miroku leaning against the remaining wall of the entrance, Shippo nestled between the twins on her other side, Sango just a foot or two behind her with Kilala, and Inuyasha was propped on his side by the fire...

"(Relieved sigh) Thank god, it was just a dream."

She rubs her eyes, and turns to look at the sky, noting that the moon was almost invisible:

 _Hm...It looks like the New Moon will be arriving soon..._

Coraline then turns to her satchel, and carefully pulls out a thick peach-coloured cloth, before unwrapping it to reveal...

"Only one crystal so far..."

 _I haven't gotten any hints from Cipher yet to the next one's location, so it's still gonna be a long while before..._

She lets out a quiet sigh, and shakes her head while reassuring herself,

"No...No, that's not how it'll end. I know it won't. The ending will be happier than that...At least that's what I'm gonna keep telling myself."

She re-wraps the crystal, and puts it back deep within her satchel, before turning to stare down at Inuyasha's form:

 _But no matter what does happen in the end...I know it'll be worth it._

She smiles faintly, before deciding to join the dog demon by the fire...One of his ear twitches, and he turns to see her approaching:

"Hm? Coraline?"

"Hey..."

"What're you doin' up?"

"Can't sleep...Just woke up from a bad dream. Hope you don't mind a bit of company by the fire."

"...No, I don't mind."

Coraline settles herself beside the fire near Inuyasha, and they sit in silence for a couple minutes...before the latter speaks up again:

"...You've been doin' this alot lately."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Inuyasha sits up and gazes at Coraline with a neutral look, but with eyes that reflected concern:

"You've been wakin' up in the middle of the night more than usual, and...I've seen you tossing and turning a little a few nights. Is, everything alright?"

Coraline widens her eyes a bit in surprise:

 _He's worried about me..._

"(Small smile) I'll survive. I guess, I'm just goin' through a phase of nightmares again. It's happened before in the past..."

She looks towards the fire with a distant frown:

"I've had alot of interesting experiences, both good and bad, and it's hard to keep it all in sometimes...I suppose these nightmares are my main way of, getting it all out, so I don't have to talk about it half the time...(Sigh) There's a few stories from my past, even in these recent years, that are a bit scary for me to tell aloud."

"I see..."

"But...it's been slowly getting easier for me to talk about this sort of stuff."

Coraline turns to smile at Inuyasha and add,

"Especially after meeting you and everyone else. Before, I could barely get a few words out regarding, what happened to my father...But now, I feel my courage getting stronger day by day. (Slight laugh) I guess it's true what they say: Good friends really do make it all worthwhile."

Inuyasha stares at her in surprise for a minute...before cracking a small smile in return:

"Yeah...it really does."

They let out their own calming breaths, and turn their gazes upwards to the stars in the sky, having no other words to say...

Time Skip

Come the next day, we find our group traveling down the mountain path once again, their direction nearing the Goshinboku Village...With that in mind, Coraline decides to make the following request, much to Inuyasha's chagrin:

"What?! You're gonna go back home again?" She holds her hands up defensively and replies,

"Take it easy. It's not what you think."

"Don't you realize what an important time this is, Coraline?"

"(Frown) I am well aware, thank you very much, but there's an opportunity for me to complete a big exam for one of my courses, and I'm not missing this chance again."

"'Exam'? What does that mean?"

"In this context, it's another way of saying 'test'."

Inuyasha sets himself on the ground and grumbles,

"Feh, 'another way of saying test', she says..."

Coraline lets out a puff of air and states calmly,

"Don't be like that. I would only need three days tops so I can do one last look-over of my notes, though if this test is on the subject I'm thinking of, I may come back earlier."

The others stop to watch the two arguing, and Miroku remarks,

"Things are so complicated for Coraline," with Shippo adding,

"Yeah, it'd be easy if she could stay with us all the time like you and your brother can, Freeman, since you two aren't in school."

Freeman shrugs and replies,

"It could be worse: At least sis is in a program that allows time flexibility with her schoolwork. She's actually better off than most girls would be in regular school."

"Really?"

"Yeah. (Smile) She's got a big brain like her dad did, so this kind-a stuff comes a bit easy for her."

"Huh..."

As Freeman makes this observation, Sango looks up at her weapon in thought with regards to Coraline's requested time slot:

"...Three days, huh?"

Inuyasha then asks incredulously,

"Do you like these 'tests' that much, Coraline?"

"Not all of them! (Murmur) 'Course for me, Japanese, English and Social Studies are a singe...Hm?"

The two would then be interrupted by Sango:

"This might not be the best time, but I would like to have three days so I can go back to my village."

"I can't believe this!"

"Your village?"

"Yes. I need time to get repairs done on my Hiraikotsu...I've used it in alot of battles lately."

Inuyasha groans in irritation, but then replies reluctantly,

"Three days then, but that's all!"

Coraline was pleased to hear that:

"So this means I can head back home for a while too! Nice!" Sango says to Inuyasha,

"Sorry about this. I'll return to Kaede's Village three days from now. (Turn) Come on, let's go, Kilala."

The twin-tailed cat demon transforms into her full form, before both she and the slayer take off for the sky...Miroku then says while rubbing his shoulder,

"Well, now that she's away, we'll be able to take it easy for a little while."

Shippo and Freeman ask respectively,

"What does that mean? Are you saying you can't take it easy when Sango's around?"

"Yeah, Miroku, (Smirk) is there somethin' you'd like to share?"

The monk quickly replies,

"No-uh, I mean, nothing of the sort!"

Freeman laughs a bit at his response, while Besa shakes his head and mentally quirks,

 _Hmph, now that definitely confirms something's goin' on inside Miroku's heart regarding Sango..._

Meanwhile, Coraline thinks to herself while staring at Inuyasha in bewilderment,

 _He was rather lenient with Sango, and yet was refusing me...Does he really get that antsy when I leave for my era?_

Inuyasha feels her stare and turns to ask with a grunt,

"What're you lookin' at?"

"O-Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to stare...By the way, you do realize that the more tests I complete, the less frequently I have to head back to my era for schoolwork, right?"

"Huh?"

Coraline smirks and adds,

"Every time I complete a test and get a good grade, the online program takes off some of the homework, which means I have more free time, hence, I can stay here in this era for longer periods. Get me?"

She then turns to walk off with the others...Inuyasha breaks out of his shock and scrambles to his feet to catch up while asking in a shout,

"W-Well why didn't say so before?!"

"Because ya didn't give me the chance to, dummy! You know, for someone who's sharp during battle, it sure took you long enough to notice this..."

"Keh, that's 'cause I only keep up with what's interesting, and not stupid things like your 'schoolwork'."

"Psh, you only think it's stupid 'cause you've never had schooling."

The others just quietly laugh to themselves, choosing to play safe and not make their own smart comments...Meanwhile, further up in the mountain ranges where the fog runs heavy, we find a man wearing disheveled clothing running frantically from an area, unaware of the large figure who steps out a couple feet in front...

"(Pant, pant) I think I should be safe now..."

(Bump)

"Gh!"

The man runs into the figure, and looks up, only to yell at seeing the face of a fat man with pink skin and short green hair covering his eyes:

"Where are you going?"

"Ah-aah, spare me, please!"

Stepping back, we see the figure to be rather heavy-down in weight, wearing a dark blue kimono with light blue stripes, a fur vest overtop, and carried a wooden staff with vines growing out the top.

"I kindly took you in as my apprentice, and you have the gull to try and escape from your training? You were suffering from exposure and hunger. Then you were forced to fight in the war, but you didn't want to die a miserable death. I happen to know this, because you told me!"

The other man is shoved to the ground, and he pleads,

"Sage, I beg you to forgive me!"

"You were sick of the world...That's why I agreed to bring you here to Togenkyo to train you to become a sage."

The sage growls, and the other man cries out defensively,

"I don't want to become a sage anymore! I've had enough of this eerie place!"

The big sage chuckles, as he brings out a gourd bottle while replying cruelly,

" _You, pitiful fool..._ "

He uncorks the bottle with his sharp teeth...and releases a vacuum of spectral wind that sucks the man into the bottle, his body gradually becoming smaller and smaller!

With a final cry of fright, the man is trapped in the gourd bottle, and the sage re-corks it with a laugh, before turning to head back down the path to this place known as Togenkyo...

A Day and a Half Later...

"See? I told you I'd be back soon. (Murmur) Thank god I'm a savant with History..."

"Tch, whatever."

We now find the gang (minus Sango and Kilala) traveling back into the mountainside after Coraline and her brothers return from their short trip to the modern era, before learning from a villager about a strange goings-on up the river for the past several days...

Today, Coraline donned a cropped light brown t-shirt with blue jeans and her black combat boots, tying her hair back into a braid. As she shook her head at Inuyasha's disgruntled attitude (knowing he was actually more pleased than he sounded she was back earlier than usual), Coraline thinks back to what she and the twins spoke with their martial arts teacher about the other day...

Flashback

 _It would be the end of an afternoon martial arts class the three teens were able to attend back in their era, and they wait until the rest of the students are gone before speaking with their teacher privately:  
_

 _"Master Yoshi."_

 _"Hm? Oh, yes, Croft-san, Brownlee-sans?" Coraline says,_

 _"We were hoping to ask for a favour."_

 _"Yes?"_

 _"(Deep breath) Would you be possible, for you to help us with some special training?"_

 _"...I'm assuming this has to do with those, items you three brought today?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _She and her brothers then move to one of the dojo walls to grab their respected weapons (aka Coraline's ShatterSoul Sword and Combat Knife, Besa's Twin Sickles and Freeman's Long Hammer) to show Master Yoshi:_

 _"We've been doing some practice with eachother, but we're concerned that our own experience may not be enough to properly perfect our skills."_

 _Besa adds after Coraline,_

 _"You've told stories to the class about the different martial arts that you've learned in your travels, including those with unique weaponry. We hoped that with your advanced experience, you could teach us techniques to better wield our weapons and maybe even some next level hand-to-hand combat."_

 _The teens walk back to their Sensei, and hold out their weapons for him to examine:_

 _"Hmm...These are certainly interesting choices for each of you...I see you've been using them well enough in battle. I imagine the beasts in Edo are quite fierce?"_

 _The three teens nod, for at one point before now, Master Yoshi had somehow figured out what had been causing Coraline's frequent absences, as well as the twins in recent weeks, and had pulled them aside for a private chat...Oddly enough, their story did not surprise him too strongly, for he too was a person who has encountered the strange and unexplained in this world (but that's another story)..._

 _Anyway, he finishes examining the weapons, and looks up to see the determination in their eyes:_

 _"...You three are quite serious about this. I can see the fire that burns within your beings."_

 _"So...does this mean..."_

 _"(Smile) Show me what exactly you three can do with your weapons."_

 _The three teens nod eagerly, and the four move to a clear and quiet area within the abandoned factory district so the civilians of Tokyo were none the wiser...Coraline and the twins then took turns displaying their self-taught skills, using the rubble of the old buildings as targets, while Master Yoshi observed._

 _Once Coraline finishes using her sword, she walks back over to the others, panting from a bit of exhaustion and anticipation:_

 _"...Well?"_

 _"Hmm...The three of you display impressive self-taught skills...but there is room for improvement."_

 _"Mhm, that's why we came to you for advice."_

 _The twins nod firmly with Coraline in agreement, and Master Yoshi folds his arms in thought...before smiling and saying,_

 _"Alright. I shall take you three under my wing for special training."_

 _"Really?!"_

 _"Yes. I also understand that given your mission in Edo, that scheduling will be difficult, but we shall do our best, yes?"_

 _"Yes." "Of course!"_

 _"The second we come back again, we'll try to get down to the dojo."_

 _"Good...Now seeing as we are here already, (rolls up his sleeves) we may as well get started. We'll start with hand-to-hand combat for now, but come next time you return to this era, weapons training will begin. I must warn you, however, that the training you will undergo from here onward will be more rigorous and demanding than the classes you've been taking previously."_

 _"We understand, Sensei. We're not afraid of a little hard work."_

 _"(Chuckle) That I know too well...So then, if the three of you would follow me, we will begin with a revision of what you've learned so far."_

 _"Hai, Sensei!" "Hai, Sensei!" "Hai, Sensei!"_

End of Flashback

Coraline snaps out of her thoughts when he hears Freeman grimace and roll his shoulder:

"...You gonna be alright there, bro?"

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine. My muscles are just a bit sore from yesterday's training with Master Yoshi."

Miroku turns and asks,

"Is that what you three were up to when your were in your era? I thought it was just mainly for Coraline to take that examination."

"It was, but we've had this idea runnin' through our heads for a while to ask Master Yoshi if he could do private classes with us to better our combat skills."

Besa adds,

"Back in the day, he did some cross-country traveling, including here in Japan, learning as many different forms of the martial arts as he was able, from empty-handed combat to ones that include weapons training. We figured he would be the best person to turn to for advice regarding our situations..."

"Interesting...Does this mean he knows about...?"

"Our travels to Edo? Yeah, but he's sworn into secrecy. (Smile) Plus, believe it or not, he's had a couple encounters with the unexplained, including a ghost of a lost samurai general."

"Incredible!"

"(Laugh) Although the rest of our class think he's just telling stories...We know they're real."

Inuyasha turns to Coraline and asks,

"So next time you do go back to your era, you'll be doing special training with this Yoshi character?"

"Uh-huh. It's not that I doubt my current skills, but I'm just concerned that with the battles ahead, it wouldn't hurt to get some professional help. (Frown) It would kill me if I couldn't protect any of you because my combat skills are just hitting the average mark."

"Uh..."

Inuyasha couldn't find a response for that, and decides to look ahead with an unreadable expression...About ten minutes pass, and the gang finds themselves at an area that had thick fog cover. Coraline asks,

"Are you sure this is the right place, Besa?"

"According to the man I spoke with, this is where he said he saw a strange fruit and where an old friend of his went missing from a couple days ago...This fog cover's a bit weird, though."

Freeman agrees:

"Yeah, it's so thick, I can barely see the trees on the other side of the river..."

Miroku replies,

"It's not just fog...hm?"

He then sees Shippo approach the water, spotting something floating downstream:

"What is this?"

The fox demon picks the item up, revealed to be a fruit of sorts with a face, and was almost the size of his head:

"This is the creepiest-looking fruit I've ever seen!"

Miroku comes over for a closer look:

"Uh, look at that: A Human Fruit!"

Inuyasha asks,

"Human Fruit?" Coraline notes the look on Miroku's face:

"(Narrows eyes) It's bad, isn't it?"

"Ninmenka, a demon tree, uses humans as nourishment so its fruits resembles human faces."

Inuaysha asks Miroku matter-of-factually,

"So that thing's the fruit of a demon tree?"

"Yes, and considering how many of them are floating downstream, the demonic tree has to be extremely large."

Inuyasha states bluntly,

"There's alot of unrest. With all the battles going on, there's no shortage of bodies to be had for fertilizer."

"Possibly...but there isn't that much fighting deep in the mountains..."

Besa adds,

"Then there's the one man who went missing from the village, and he had just gotten back from the war..."

"Alright. That's all I need to hear."

They turn to Coraline, who had a determined look on her face:

"We need to investigate this right away."

As she began making her way up the path upstream of the river, Inuyasha notes,

"You seem more serious than usual. What's up with that?"

"Like I said, I came back early 'cause I flew my History Exam, so I got more time to focus on matters like this. Besides, this fruit is making me ill..."

Everyone else begins following Coraline, with Shippo remarking as he hops onto Besa's shoulder,

"Well that was a short break..."

"Only a matter of time before we get a longer one..." Inuyasha barks at the retreating forms,

"You forgetting someone?! Don't just ignore me!"

Coraline groans, before circling back to yank Inuyasha along the path to everyone else:

"Come on, complainer. Less talking, more moving."

Miroku adds,

"Let's hurry and get this over with."

Inuyasha mumbles to himself as Coraline drags him to catch up,

"Tch, some friends..."

Small Time Skip

It would be close to sunset before the group reaches the area where the fruit had come from, seeing some more fall from a cliff edge...They all look upwards with Miroku noting,

"The Demon Tree of the Human-Faced Fruits must be high above." Shippo asks,

"At the top of this cliff?"

Zooming up, we see a large peach tree growing on the peak of the cliff, as noted by Freeman:

"I see it: It's huge!"

Miroku was also taken aback by the plant's size:

"Incredible. I've never seen such a colossal Human-Faced Fruit Tree...And this ominous Demon Aura..."

Shippo finishes,

"Which means it must've consumed alot of humans already..."

Besa then sees an object near the water, and moves to pick up a spear with considerable wear, along with a piece of armour that fastens around the shoulder:

"Hey...these look like, samurai items. It looks like the gear the man I spoke with described his friend wearing! (Looks up) Which means he might be up there somewhere...Whether dead or alive is hard to say..."

"Alright..."

Suddenly, Inuyasha begins leaping up towards the tree, much to Coraline and Miroku's surprise:

"Inuyasha?!"

"What are you going to do?!" Inuyasha pauses on the cliff face and calls back,

"What else? I'm gonna go up there and chop down that demon tree!"

"We'll go with you!"

"Hang on a sec!"

"I ain't wastin' the whole day luggin' each of ya up this cliff!"

With that, Inuyasha continues his fast-paced trek up towards the tree...Coraline wonders to herself,

"What in the world got into him? And he said I was acting more serious than usual...?"

"Inuyasha wants to get this over with before the sun goes down."

"Huh?"

Everyone else looks at Shippo in confusion, until he says,

"The lunar month starts tonight."

 _Lunar Month?_

"...Oh crap: The New Moon! Once nightfall hits, Inuyasha will transform into a human! (Looks back up) Damn, I can't blame him for rushing..."

 _Stupid me, how could I have forgotten? I just noted it a few days ago!_

 _...Inuyasha..._

As Coraline begins worrying over the dog demon, we turn to the top of the cliff as the sky turns a deep red-purple, where a large shrine house stood nearby the large peach tree, as the sage from before approaches it and pours a purple-coloured liquid into the soil surrounding the roots...

 _Damn...No Fruit of Longevity yet._

He plucks the newly-grown fruit from the tree branch and eats it, grumbling mentally,

 _Auh, how I tire of eating these all the time!_

By this time, Inuyasha had reached the top of the cliff, and leaps to stand in front of the tree while asking the leaving sage,

"Are you the one who's feeding this Demon Tree?!"

"Huh? (Turns) Who wants to know?"

Inuyasha glares at the large man and notes within his mind,

 _I don't pick up any demon scent from him, but he reeks of dead men._

Spitting out a peach stone, the sage asks gruffly,

"What do you want from me?"

"I ain't gonna waste my time talkin' to you! But I am gonna chop down that damn tree!"

He grips the hilt of Tessaiga:

"Stay away, or else!"

"Oooh? Or else what?"

"(Unsheathes his blade) I'll hack you down as well!"

Inuyasha charges the sage, and tries to cut him down with Tessaiga...However:

(Boing)

The blade bounces off the sage's stomach, and sends Inuyasha backwards!

 _That flabby creep! The Tessaiga didn't work on him!_

 _This calls for something more serious!_

(Leap)

 _My Wind Scar!_

He unleashes the sword technique at the sage, but the latter uses his staff to release a wave of flowers that somehow dissipates the wind vortex!

"Even that didn't work...!"

"Oh, a demon, are you? And a fool. I don't know where you come from, but did you think you could defeat a sage?"

"You're a sage?!"

"Correct. I am the Sage of Togenkyo, Tokajin!"

(Pop)

He uncorks his gourd bottle, and just like it did before...

"The gourd is getting bigger!"

(Stomp)

"Wrong! It's not growing bigger: You're shrinking!"

Inuyasha looks down, and sees that his body had indeed shrunk, while his Tessaiga was left abandoned in its regular size!

"Uh! My Tessaiga! Damn, it's no illusion...Are you telling me you really are a sage?!"

"Stop making me repeat myself!"

"If you're a sage, why would you stoop to this?!"

"Wanna go inside to find out?"

Tokajin moves his thumb off the gourd's entry point, and the spectral vacuum begins sucking Inuyasha inside!

The cork caps the bottle automatically, and Tokajin laughs while swishing it, commenting,

"This demon will make for excellent fertilizer."

Coraline's POV

After a few minutes, we all decide to head after Inuyasha to help him...The only problem was getting up there in a reasonable amount of time, until Shippo volunteered to carry us all up in his balloon form.

As he struggles to keep shape, I say to him encouragingly,

"You can do it, Shippo! It's only a couple more feet up!"

Miroku comments,

"Shippo, I'm quite impressed. You turn out to be strong after all."

As we close in on the cliff, I note the disappearing sun:

 _Shoot, not alot of time now...As soon as the moon comes, Inuyasha will only have his human strength to rely on..._

 _(Nods firmly) But he won't be alone. I'll make sure of that._

"C-Cor-aline!"

"Huh?"

We all look down at Shippo, who mutters in a strain,

"S-Sorry!"

Next thing we knew, we started descending downwards real fast!

"Aaaah!"

I feel Miroku wrap an arm around me, as well as Besa:

"Hang on!"

"Freeman, grab onto my other side!"

"Right!"

All of us then hop off Shippo and onto a leaf-covered cliff ledge...

"Phew, that was close."

Just as Freeman said that, Shippo pops back into his original form and lands besides us, causing the weight of the leaves to give out:

"Whoa!" "Gah!" "Damn!"

"What the hell?!" "Whah!"

We then fall through the cover, and onto an old stone staircase...I stand up while rubbing my side from the slam, and look forward to see a room up ahead, with a box in the middle and several large pieces of pottery up against the walls:

"What, the, heck...?" Miroku remarks,

"It looks like we've stumbled across somebody's hidden mansion."

Besa then points to something set up in the middle of the room:

"What's that?"

I step forward to get a closer look at the set-up:

"...Looks like a mini garden of some kind...Hm?"

I spot something moving, and squint my eyes...only to gasp when I see a very small man walking to a hut!

"There's a man in here!"

Shippo hops beside me and adds,

"There are others too!"

Besa scans the area and notes,

"I don't see the friend of my tip..." I ask aloud in shock,

"What in the heck-now is going on here?!" Miroku and Freeman reply,

"I dunno..."

"This is real freaky! Don't tell me they live here...!" Shippo says to Freeman,

"Your guess is as good as mine..."

...I then felt a shift in my jeans pocket, and see the bottle of shards float out, steadily getting larger and larger!

"Now what's going on?! The shards are getting bigger!" Shippo exclaims,

"Uuh, that miniature village is getting larger too!" Miroku corrects both our observations:

"No, the village isn't getting bigger: We're shrinking!"

A gravitational pull then forces us all into the air, before we all go tumbling into the garden, the shards left behind:

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

(...Crash)

"Ugh!"

Luckily, it wasn't too hard a landing that we would get hurt...I sit up and ask aloud while darting my head back and forth,

"Where are we?"

...A man with a listless expression walks out of the hut in front of us, and Shippo quietly states,

"Those are the tiny men we saw walking around."

"So this means..." Miroku finishes for me:

"That we're inside the miniature village as well."

"Whaaaaat?! What'll we do?! Will we live here for the rest of our lives?!"

Freeman picks up Shippo and holds him close to calm him down:

"Chill out, little dude: We won't be here forever."

"Really?"

"Really. We just have to look around for a way out, is all. Can't be that hard, right?"

I stand up and nod firmly:

"You're right, bro, and we have to find the exit post-haste! Inuyasha might be in danger, and the jewel shards are vulnerable to being snatched!"

Miroku and Besa reply,

"You're both right."

Shippo settles onto Freeman's shoulder, and asks insistently,

"But how?"

"First, we must find out what's going on. Let's go talk to the men over there and see what they have to say about this."

Besa adds,

"And maybe one of them is or knows what happened to the soldier that went missing from Kaede's Village."

We walk over to the men that were meditating under a tree, and I make the first move for answers:

"Excuse me, sirs, but could one of you please tell us what's going on here?"

"This world isn't real...Do you realize that?"

...Neither mine nor Miroku's questions caused a response, and Freeman asks with an annoyed glare,

"Oi! Are you all deaf? We'd like some answers here!"

One man finally speaks up:

"Please stop disturbing us. We're in the midst of training."

"Huh? Training?"

"Yes, we are all in the process of training to become sages." Miroku asks the second man,

"What do you mean, 'training to become sages'?"

A third answers,

"When we become as strong as sages, we shall be released, and Master Tokajin will bestow on us the Fruit of Longevity."

"Tokajin?"

Besa asks with a frown,

"Is that the name of the man who trapped you here?"

"Master Tokajin is our saviour because he saved us from hunger and war. Do not speak ill of him."

We gasp from his response, and I think to myself,

 _They're all as blind as cult members...Damn, getting out of here might be a bit harder than I thought._

Small Time Skip, No POV

The sun was almost gone from the atmosphere, and we turn to a dingier-looking room, where Tokajin holds up the Tessaiga while a monkey and two weasels serve him:

"No matter how I look at it, it's just a rusty old sword. But I'm certain that it transformed when that young demon wielded it...Oh well."

He gets up and begins making his way down the stairs, and we zoom inside the gourd, where Inuyasha regains consciousness with a start:

"Gah!"

He subconsciously reaches for Tessaiga, before remembering what happened:

 _That's right: I dropped the Tessaiga!_

 _(Looks at his claws) I must be getting weaker already, seeing as I didn't transform into a demon..._

 _Still, fine place I've gotten myself trapped in._

He growls while looking around the area, before noticing something about his robes:

 _My coat is starting to dissolve..._

 _I can't waste time in here! I guess I'll just have to claw my way out._

(Leap)

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash)

Unfortunately, while the hit was true, it did not do much damage to the inner layer of the gourd...

 _Huh? Impossible! I merely scratched it!_

He tries a few continuous attacks, with similar results:

 _If only I had the Tessaiga! This would be a piece of cake!_

Cutting briefly to the outside, we see that Inuyasha's situation was about to get even worse, as the sun finally disappears over the horizon...

"Damn, him! I'll, teach him, when I, get outta here!"

(Pulse)

"Guh!"

Inuyasha freezes...and his hair shifts from silvery-white to glossy black, his eyes a dark brown, while his claws shrink into normal fingernails...!

 _My claws...Oh no! My power's disappearing!_

Back outside the gourd, Tokajin walks into the room with the miniature garden, placing the Tessaiga against a wall beside numerous other weapons...Just as he turns to exit, he spots the bottle of shards on the ground:

"Huh? What's that? (Picks them up) Shikon-no-Tama Shards! Two of them!"

He opens his robes, revealing a shard he had embedded in his stomach:

"One shard was all I required to deflect a demon sword..."

He puts the other two in with the first one:

"With this many, my body will be a plate of armour!"

As Tokajin laughs excitedly, Inuyasha cringes away from the purple acidic liquid that was slowly starting to rise:

 _Damn, the liquid is rising...I better come up with something fast or I'll be melted! Think, think!_

The Miniature Garden

The men meditating around the tree start a run across the bridge, after Coraline and the others came up with few answers to what was going on...She asks Miroku,

"Is their training really going to help them become sages, or is this blind faith?"

"I'm not sure. It's my understanding that reaching sage-like enlightenment does require physical strength...but it's spiritual prowess that's a crucial attribute."

"...You there."

Miroku turns his head to see someone else was leaning against the rock he was sitting against:

"The five of you don't seem to be from around these parts."

We see the man to be of warrior origins, wearing worn-down armour and carrying a bow staff:

"A samurai!" Miroku notes,

"You don't seem like the others either..."

Besa leans down and asks,

"...Are you the man who went missing from Kaede's village, or did you know him?"

"Hm? Lady Kaede? (Shakes his head) No, I'm not from her village, but I did know the man who was with me in our company who fared from there...We were among the vanquished, and we escaped into the valley, only to be captured by Tokajin."

I walk over and ask,

"I'm assuming you and he weren't in line to train to become a sage?"

"Correct. Once you master even a tiny bit of spiritual power, you become fodder for the Ninmenka, the Demon Tree."

We all widens our eyes, and the samurai adds,

"He and I saw it with our own eyes...Tokajin was talking to the Demon Tree of the Human-Faced Fruits."

The samurai goes on to explain what he and the other warrior had heard, and from the sounds of it, it seems that the tree had been trying to influence Tokajin, but it was he who silenced the tree after removing the shard of the Shikon-no-Tama that was embedded into the bark...

Besa then asks,

"But what happened to the other warrior? Is he not here?"

"...No...When Tokajin grabbed me, my companion tried to save me, only for his spear to bounce off the monster's stomach, and...the impact sent him right off the cliff."

We all gasp, and the warrior adds with a grim smile,

"But I suppose his spirit is in better hands where he is now then it would be within these walls...I do feel sorry for his family and a dear friend he spoke of, for they likely don't know he's dead."

 _...Damn._

Miroku remarks,

"It was probably a Shikon-no-Tama shard that you saw."

I nod in confirmation:

"Yeah...It's faint, but there's a third shard here along with the two we possess."

Shippo states angrily,

"What a horribly wicked sage he is!"

"I have heard that unless a man renounces the world and becomes a hermit, it is not possible to reach the enlightenment of a sage."

The samurai adds after Miroku,

"And that is precisely why these men cannot become sages."

I look over at the running progression with a grim frown:

"Those poor fools...They have no idea that they're preparing themselves for death."

"Those men turn deaf ears to me."

Shippo suggests,

"Maybe we can try talking to them," but Freeman scoffs,

"After the way they blew us off earlier? I doubt a second round will knock any sense into them."

The samurai agrees:

"No. It'll serve no purpose. There's no way out. It's useless." I bark,

"That's not what my brother means! Obviously there's another way out of here! We just have to find it!"

 _Inuyasha...I don't know where you are, but please be safe._

No POV

Checking back on Inuyasha, we see him switching tactics, using his sheath to beat on the wall of the gourd:

(Tok, tok, tok...)

He slips a little, and his foot dips in the purple liquid:

(Sizzz)

"Yow! Damn, that hurts!"

 _I can feel pain now...This is why I hate being mortal!_

 _(Looks up) How can I get out of here?_

...It was then that the Tessaiga sheath begins to pulsate:

"Huh?"

 _My sheath is calling the Tessaiga!_

 _(Grins) That means my sword is close by! Alright! I might get out of here yet!_

He points the opening of the sheath towards the wall, before calling,

"Come here, Tessaiga!"

(...Glow)

Outside the gourd, the said blade rattles...before the sharp end flies towards the exiting Tokajin's waist:

"I suppose I'll head back..."

The gourd pulsates in time with the sheath...before the sword tip thrusts within:

(STAB)

"Uh? That rusty old sword again!"

As Tokajin moves to dislodge the Tessaiga, Inuyasha grins in anticipation inside the gourd:

"That's the way, big guy. Get me out. Keep it comin'..."

(Shoom)

The sword is pulled out, leaving a hole in the gourd large enough for Inuyasha to escape out of!

"Time to blow this gourd!"

(Leap)

He makes it out, and returns to his normal size, much to Tokajin's surprise:

"It's you!"

"Yeah, genius. Hope ya got your will signed!"

"You're that demon kid I captured earlier!"

"Who were you expecting?! It's payback time!"

(PUNCH)

"UGH! Oww, that hurt..."

The shards embedded in Tokajin's stomach begin glowing, to which Inuyasha would spot:

"Uh! You've got a jewel shard!"

"Why, you...! You won't get away!"

"Where'd you get that jewel shard?! (Widens eyes) Don't tell me...!"

"Be prepared, for you are the one who's about to perish!"

(Gleam...)

Tokajin's body then shifts to become hard as rock, before he leaps into the air to sumo-slam at Inuyasha, who stands fearlessly against the other:

"Try me!"

(CRASH)

...The outcome would be in Tokajin's favour, his stone body slamming Inuyasha's, causing significant damage and leaving the other barely alive in a crater! Tokajin laughs in victory and jeers,

"The jewel shards hold tremendous power. (Pats his stomach) It is invincible!"

As if things weren't bad enough, back in the miniature garden, Coraline and the others start combing the perimeter for any way of getting out, but with no success:

 _...Damn. There's gotta be a way out of here._

 _Inuyasha's in trouble...I can feel it!_

Shippo comes bounding over calling,

"No luck, Coraline! There's no way out of here!"

Miroku and the twins join them, also unsuccessful in finding an exit:

"Nothing but walls all the way around."

Coraline curses loudly, and Freeman exclaims,

"Man, this blows! Can't we climb on eachother's shoulders and pyramid-climb out?"

Besa replies,

"The walls are way too high, Freeman: Even if we formed a human ladder, we'd come up a few feet short."

"So? We'll force the other men here to join us, (Knuckle-crack) and I mean force."

"Physical force won't cut it. They're lost causes; they've been here too long."

"Your brother is right, young man."

The samurai limps over using his bow staff as a crutch and adds dejectedly,

"It's useless! Either we become sages and get fed to the Demon Tree of the Human-Faced Fruits or we stay here and perish. Those are our only choices!"

Despite some truth laced in his words, Coraline's determination would not be dissuaded by the samurai:

"(Glare) No...No, you're wrong!"

"I wish I was wrong. There's no escaping this Hell."

Everyone looks at the samurai's grim expression with worry, and Coraline thinks to herself frantically,

 _...Son of a bitch...Cipher, if this is one of your nightmare illusions, make it stop!_

"(...Punches wall) Ow...Damn, this is real. This is real, and real bad! Damn it all to heeeellllll!"


	65. Chapter 64

**Chapter 64: Fateful Night in Togenkyo, Part Two**

"Rgh...rhh...r-huh?"

Not too long after the transformation and brutal attack of the fiendish sage, Inuyasha would reawaken in a shady-looking room, his body encased in a series of large green vines with thorns against the underground base of the demon tree:

 _What's this?_

"You've awakened, I see?"

Inuyasha directs his sight towards Tokajin (his body having returned from his stone form):

"You."

"Now I understand: You're a half-demon."

"If you're gonna kill me, do it now!"

Tokajin goes back to storing away Ninmenka fruits in a pot as he replies,

"Demon power is good nourishment for Ninmenka, the Tree of Human-Faced Fruits. With you in the broth, it'll bear the Fruit of Longevity more quickly."

"Forget it!"

Inuyasha tries to free himself from the vines, but stops as he feels the thorns cut into his arms...

"Hurry and make your demon powers return. (Turn) Keep struggling: If your thorns pierce your skin, it'll make it that much easier to extract your juices."

"Damn you..."

Inuyasha looks around the room...before spotting a familiar bottle sitting on a nearby table:

 _That's the bottle Coraline uses to keep the jewel shards in!_

He looks back at Tokajin, noting the three shards that were in his stomach...The dog demon then glares and demands,

"Tell me what you've done with the owner of the Shikon-no-Tama Shards!"

"Owner? I haven't seen any owner. (Pats his stomach) I found these."

"Don't play innocent with me: You stole those from Coraline!"

"Coraline?"

"The girl who had the jewel shards!" That caught Tokajin's attention, and not in a good way:

"(Grin) A girl, you say? Tremendous news! A girl inside my house."

He begins walking out of the room, but not before adding,

"The demon tree Ninmenka loves women, too, _and the younger the better._ "

And Tokajin lets out a menacing laugh as he continues out the door, leaving Inuyasha to struggle while thinking frantically,

 _Coraline! I'll find ya! Just keep hiding 'til I do!_

Catching up with the sage, Tokajin enters the room with the miniature box garden:

"Let's see. I found the shards somewhere around here...Hm?"

He then looks down into the small-scale garden, realizing,

"She must be in my miniature village."

Inside the Garden, Coraline's POV

After we did some brainstorming, we all finally came up with a plan to escape the mini garden, thanks to some certain items that my brothers had been carrying in their satchels...

"You guys sure these'll be powerful enough?"

"Yep: Shuji and a few buddies of his have been experimenting with cherry bombs for a while, tryin' to see if they can make the explosion more powerful. The ones me and Besa have are a few of the prototypes..."

"I see...and where exactly are they being 'tested'?"

"You remember some of those weird holes in that one area of the abandoned factory district we found one day?"

"(...Bulges eyes) That's what caused them?!"

"(Nervous smile) Yeah, at least that's what Shuji's told us. They never do it during those hours of the day when civilians may or may not see the cherry smoke clouds. They're careful about that."

"Riiiight..."

Anyway, we decided to put these modified cherry bombs to practical use, and had Shippo plant some atop a large cliff:

"...Coraline! Everything's set over here!" I holler back,

"Good work, Shippo!" I then turn to Miroku to ask,

"All set?"

"I'm ready when you are."

"Good. (Turn) Give Shippo the go ahead, Freeman."

"Right!"

He waves his hand in the air to signal Shippo to set the bombs ablaze:

" _Fox Fire!_ "

(Foom...BOOM)

The bombs do their job, loosening the boulder and sending it rolling down the cliff face through the cherry-coloured smoke cloud!  
As my brothers high-five with a cheer, Shippo calls down,

"Miroku!"

"(Rattle) _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whoooooooosssssssssshhhhhhhhh...)

Using the vacuum of the black hole, Miroku causes the boulder to roll down faster, and Besa calls just as it reaches close to our vicinity,

"Heads up!"

We all scramble away in time, just as the boulder smashes its way into the wall:

(Crash)

...The dust clears, and we see that the boulder made it through, leaving a large enough hole to escape from the garden!

"It worked! We broke through the wall!"

But just as we all begin cheering, I hear Shippo cry out in fright, and turn my gaze upward to what he was looking at:

"...What the hell?!"

Following my sight, the others cringe defensively at seeing...a giant eyeball!

"...There she is!"

A giant hand then swoops in, reaching towards me:

"Aaah!"

"Sis!"

Freeman and Besa come over to try and get me out of the hand's path, but:

(Grasp)

Instead, they were grabbed with me! We're lifted out of the mini garden as the figure exclaims triumphantly,

"(Laugh) Found her. Excellent!"

The hand opens up, and I hear the person remark,

"A young girl. She's filthy, but she's sure to please Ninmenka...But what's this? When did these two young men get here? Hm...Their skin pigment is rather unique. I wonder if Ninmenka might also be interested in something, exotic?"

I open my eyes, grimacing from the force of the hand, and look up at him:

 _...So this guy must be Tokajin...Damn, this is not good!_

"This has been a fine day: An unusual half-demon, a young girl, and two young dark-skinned men all in a few hours. By tomorrow, I should have the Fruit of Longevity."

I glare up at Tokajin and ask firmly,

"Where is Inuyasha? I know he's here!"

I move to a stand with my brothers gripping me in support and further my demand, they adding on:

"Answer me! Is he or is he not hurt?!"

"Where is Inuyasha?!"

"If you did something, fess up now or face our wrath!"

No POV

As Coraline and the twins confront Tokajin, Shippo and Miroku take the opportunity to escape out of the garden. Looking up at the teens atop the sage's hand, Shippo and Miroku comment respectively,

"Listen to Coraline and the twins chew him out: Not a sign of fear."

"That comes from experience, I suppose..."

"Hey! Answer us!"

"We'll knock you flat if you don't!"

"Is everybody deaf in this place?!"

Tokajin shifts his hand, and grasps all three teens into his hand tightly:

"Rgh!" "Aah!" "Ugh!"

"Pipe down, and go to sleep."

He squeezes their bodies tighter, and they each let out a strangled cry, before passing out simultaneously...Shippo gasps and calls out worriedly,

"Coraline! Freeman! Besa!"

Tokajin begins exiting the room with his three captives, muttering,

"Now my hands are filthy," while the tiny Miroku and Shippo bound after him.

Inuyasha's POV

A bit of time passes, and I kept on trying to break away from these vines, but I'm at a disadvantage thanks to my now mortal strength:

"I can't stand it!"

 _Human bodies are so weak and vulnerable...I've lost too much blood. I'm starting to get dizzy..._

I then hear the door open:

"Still alive, are we, half-demon?"

I look up, and force my vision to refocus on Tokajin...watching as he tosses some familiar-looking garments aside to the floor...

 _Coraline's clothes! And, those look like the twin's clothes too!_

 _She...they...They couldn't be!_

"Where's Coraline, Freeman and Besa?! Tell me where the girl and the twin boys are!"

Tokajin ignores my question and comments,

"Extracting nourishment has become very bothersome since you broke my gourd."

"Extracting nourishment?!"

"...Why the angry look?"

"Where's, Coraline?! You animal!"

"Oh I see. You're expression says it all: You're in love with that filthy girl. You'll see her soon enough, inside my belly, that is. You will both become a part of the Fruit of Longevity, along with those two boys with the dark skin, _and I will relish in every last bite!_ "

He gives me a toothy grin and laugh, and I yell in seething anger,

"Despicable!"

Letting out a war cry, I try to reach out and claw at Tokajin, pulling the vines out a bit from the ceiling...

"You're wasting your time. You cannot escape those thorny roots."

 _Grrrr, Coraline...I swear if this bastard really has hurt you and your brothers, I'll rip him to shreds!_

No POV

Unbeknownst to Tokajin, Shippo and Miroku managed to hitch a ride inside the pile of clothes! They peer out from Freeman's t-shirt, and Shippo looks up at Inuyasha with worry:

"Inuyasha..." Miroku says to himself,

"Being this small, I don't know how effective my Wind Tunnel will be, but here goes!"

(Whooooooosssshhhhhhhh...)

Miroku releases his cursed power, and the vacuum wind, despite being of condensed size at present, was still powerful enough to pull at the vines!  
As they loosened, Inuyasha moves to break free, but has the entire ceiling collapse onto him and Tokajin!

(CRASH)

...Luckily, Inuyasha wasn't buried alive, and manages to get up onto his feet, moving towards the door:

"Coraline..."

"Wait, Inuyasha!"

"Huh?"

He looks down at the rubble, and sees the tiny monk and fox demon, the first informing him,

"Coraline and the twins are down in the basement."

"What happened?"

Basement, Coraline's POV

"Mmm...Mmh?"

I feel my eyes flutter awake from being knocked unconscious by Tokajin, and my nose picks up on a strange scent:

"Wha...What is that? It, smells like green fruit tea..."

When I'm fully conscious, I find myself...naked in a pool of green water with Ninmenka fruit floating inside!

"Gah!"

(Splash)

I move to cover my chest in modesty, and dart my head around the room:

"What the hell is this?"

"Rgh..." "Gh..."

"Huh?"

I then turn in front of me, and see that my brothers were in the pool too...and, also undressed...

"...Freeman? Besa?"

"C-Cor? What's goin' on?"

"Where are we?"

"Um, I'm not sure...but, you might, w-wanna look down..."

"Hm?"

They do as I advise, before cluing into their wardrobe malfunction:

"What the frag?!"

"Crap!"

They dart their heads back to me, before blushing a bit when they see,

"...You too?"

"Uh-huh..."

...Freeman then sighs and calmly states,

"Well, this could be more awkward: At least we're all naked in front of people we know and not total strangers."

"...Right."

"Sure..."

I suddenly turn my gaze to Besa's wrist, and see that his crystal shard was still on him:

"(Soft gasp) Your Seven Light Shard: It's still on you!"

"Huh?"

Besa looks down, and widens his eyes a bit at seeing his bracelet:

"...So it is. Hey, Freeman, (Turn) do you still have-"

"Yeah, I can feel it on my wrist...Why are they still here? One would think Tokajin would strip them from us..."

"Hm...Maybe the shards acted on their own accord and blocked him."

"...Yeah, I guess that's a good enough theory."

Freeman looks up towards the ceiling and asks with a glare,

"Speaking of the bastard, where is Tokajin now?"

 _That's a good question..._

 _(Sigh) Well, at least my brothers and I are still together..._

 _But, if we're here, then where's Miroku, Shippo and-_

(Crash)

"Coraline!"

Upon hearing his voice, I immediately scramble to a stand with a relieved smile:

"(Turn) Inuyasha!"

We stare at one another for a few minutes...until I remembered I was not wearing any clothes:

"Oh!"

I quickly squat back into the water, and blush heavily while thinking,

 _Well, that was embarrassing..._

 _But you know what? I can think about modesty later._

I nod a bit to myself, before moving to step out of the water and towards Inuyasha's direction:

"...Inuyasha? Are you alright?"

"Keh, these are just scratches."

He then shucks off his fire rat robe and tosses it to me to catch, his face dusted in his own blush:

"C-Cover up. It's torn, but it's better than nothin'."

"(...Nod) Thank you."

Inuyasha then moves to stand up and asks my brothers,

"What about you two? Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine."

"Though I'd like to know where Tokajin is so I can kick his ass for stealing our clothes."

I laugh a bit at Freeman's spirited response, before rushing to Inuyasha's side when he collapses:

"Inuyasha! (Kneels down) Inuyasha?"

 _My god...He's so exhausted...yet he came all this way to see if I was okay..._

My eyes water a bit, and I mutter before embracing his back,

"You always fight so hard, whether demon or human..."

...It was then that Miroku and Shippo pop out of Inuyasha's black hair, the former asking with a sheepish smile,

"Uuuh, this wouldn't be bad timing, would it?"

I felt my face blush anew, and yelp just as my brothers scramble out of the water, covering me with their arms and Inuyasha's robe, glaring at the monk and shouting,

"Oi! Watch it, Miroku!"

I let out a breathy sigh with a small smile:

 _Protective brothers at work._

Small Time Skip, No POV  


Eventually, Tokajin wakes up, and begins walking down the stairs to where he believes the others have ran off to:

"They won't get away..."

Meanwhile, in the room with the miniature box garden, we find Inuyasha propped against a wall to rest, while Shippo and Miroku watch him on top his arm:

"Looks like Inuyasha's in pretty bad shape..."

"You're right: His injuries look pretty serious. We really shouldn't try to move him."

Freeman and Besa were standing by, having finished dressing up in two worn kimonos they found in a pile of armour:

"This feels really awkward wearing a dead man's clothing..." Besa replies to Freeman,

"I know, but it's either this or go streaking. Unfortunately, our satchels got dropped when Tokajin nabbed us, and I think that as long as he's alive, the miniature garden's spell will stay in effect."

"In other words, we gotta kill the bastard and the spell will cancel out?"

"That's what I'm hoping. Not just for our sake, but for those men too. Maybe once they get outside this place again, their senses will return...but that's a big maybe."

"Yeah. Only god knows how long they've been stuck in there..."

(Step, step)

"Hm?"

They turn to see Coraline, now dressed in Inuyasha's robe with the sleeves tied around her waist re-enters the room:

"I think we should be able to sneak out. Inuyasha, are you able to get up?"

"...Outside? Is it morning yet?" She kneels by him and replies,

"No, it's dark as ink out there...Wait, you're not intending to still fight, are you?"

"You know the answer to that."

"You can't with those injuries! Our only option right now is to keep our distance from Tokajin until you become half-demon again!"

Inuyasha grunts, but chooses not to argue...Coraline looks over at a wall, and sees a bow and quiver set. She walks over and grasps it, thinking,

 _I'll have to do whatever possible to protect everyone until daybreak._

 _Ugh, if only I hadn't taken off ShatterSoul in the box garden..._

Soon, everyone makes it out of the house, and onto the cliff nearby the Ninmenka Tree...Freeman lets out a low whistle and mutters,

"Damn, that's a long way down. There's no way we can climb down fast enough." Besa adds,

"Not to mention Miroku and Shippo need to be returned to their normal size...along with our things and those men we can't just leave behind, lost cause or not."

Inuyasha then mutters,

"I've got a plan..."

But seeing where his train of thought was going, Coraline immediately protests:

"Not gonna happen!"

"But I haven't even told you yet!"

"You're gonna tell me to escape with Freeman and Besa alone, right? Forget it!"

...Suddenly, there came an old voice from behind the group:

"Is someone there?"

They all turn around to the Ninmenka tree, and see a potted flower with the face of an elderly man sitting near:

"Did you escape from the box garden?"

"Yes...Who are you, sir?" He answers Coraline's question:

"I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was Tokajin's mentor."

"So then that makes you a sage as well."

Inuyasha grasps the flower by his stem with an angry look:

"What were you thinking?! How could you let that animal become a sage?!"

"Inuyasha!"

"Oh, it was not I who made Tokajin a sage...It was Ninmeka." Besa asks,

"The tree did it? Why?"

"It happened about a month ago..."

Flashback

 _We see a younger and thinner Tokajin lazing under the Ninmenka tree, complaining about his training:_

 _"Ugh. I can't stand this training day in and day out! There's gotta be a faster way than this to become a sage..."_

 _He then finds a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama laying near him in the grass:_

 _"What's this? (Picks it up) Huh, who cares? Can't eat it."_

 _He tosses it over his shoulder, and the shard lands in the bark of the Ninmenka tree..._

 _"Aaah, a Shikon-no-Tama shard. Thank you."_

 _Tokajin scrambles to his feet, startled by the deep voice:  
_

 _"A-uh! W-Who said that?!"_

 _"I am Ninmenka."_

 _The tree surrounds itself in a red glow, before asking Tokajin,_

 _"You there. Do you wish for a sage's power?"_

 _Tokajin nods a bit nervously, and the tree orders,_

 _"Then eat my human-faced fruit!"_

 _Tokajin does so, plucking a fruit off a branch, readying himself to bite into it..._

 _"Eat, and you shall possess the Arts of the Sages."_

 _(Munch...)_

 _"Excellent. Swallow the seeds too, and you shall have power, a Sage's power!"_

End of Flashback

"When one eats the human-faced fruit of the demon tree, one becomes a slave to Ninmenka. Tokajin obeyed the tree's command to turn me into fertilizer, so it will bear the Fruit of Longevity."

Miroku then asks from atop Besa's shoulder (Shippo was on Freeman's),

"Master Sage, who transformed you into a plant?"

"The fruit alone isn't enough for longevity...You see, the fruit has to be soaked and made into a potion, and only I have knowledge of such a process."

"Which is why I let him live."

The group turns around, and gasps, seeing Tokajin coming towards them, his body once again encased in stone:

"We meet again. So this is where you escaped to." Coraline mutters,

"Shoot. The power of the shards is increasing!" The former sage says to Inuyasha,

"Tokajin is no longer human. You must slay him."

"That's right: I'm no longer human. Humans spend their miserable days slaving in the mud, then grow old and die! My parents both lived and died like that! I refuse to live such a weak, senseless life!"

Coraline growls and barks,

"You bastard! All you've done is sacrifice innocent lives to increase your chances of longevity! That isn't strength: That's just sick and wrong!"

"I am more powerful than anyone you have ever known, and that is why I can take advantage of the weak! Can't you understand even that?!"

Tokajin then swings his staff and sends a vine whip at Coraline, who is shielded by Inuyasha:

"Watch out! Agh!"

"Ah!"

They fall back, and Coraline cries out Inuyasha's name, as the twins scramble to the others:

"Damn, he got hit good."

"There's gotta be a way to defeat this creep!"

"Ninmenka made me strong, and since I've taken in the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama, I have become invincible! I shall have the Fruit of Longevity, and turn weaklings like you into fertilizer!"

Tokajin laughs, and Coraline shouts,

"Bastard boar!"

"Stop, Coraline..."

She focuses on Inuyasha, who manages to push himself to a stand:

"Inuyasha, wait. You shouldn't move..."

"He wouldn't understand your logic..."

He moves to lean on a pot as he continues his train of thought:

"I'm a half-demon. I know only too well how weak mortals are, and I understand his desire to become strong...But that's where the similarities end, you disgusting excuse for a human!"

"How dare you lecture me, especially in your condition!"

"It's, easy..."

Inuyasha then picks up and throws one of the pots at the monster sage:

"Let me demonstrate!"

(Toss, crash)

With Tokajin distracted, Inuyasha leaps forward to try and grab the shards embedded in the other:

 _I've gotta get the shards before they melt into his body!_

(Punch)

But Inuyasha is knocked away before he could do such, crashing into another pot of Ninmenka fruit!

"Inuyasha!"

The twins note the fruit spilling onto the ground:

"Ugh, more of those creepy-looking peaches..."

"To think of their origins is even worse..." The sage flower then says,

"You must drink a mouthful of that potion there."

"What potion?"

Inuyasha then sees the liquid that also spilled out from the broken pottery...

"Tokajin made it. It is an imitation of the secret Longevity Potion, but it's effective enough to heal flesh wounds."

Coraline asks,

"But wouldn't drinking the potion make one a slave to Ninmenka?"

"No, as long as he doesn't eat the fruit. Now, drink up, if you wish to be saved."

Inuyasha nods slightly, and prepares himself to drink it...only to stop after Tokajin jeers,

"Drink it. It should be more entertaining if you were a little more lively."

"You want more lively? We can provide better than your stupid potion!"

"Huh?"

The twins move beside Inuyasha on both his sides, and brandish it their bracelets with the Seven Light Crystal shards!

"(Gasp) You guys still have your crystals! How?"

"No idea, but we think they may have blocked Tokajin from touching them while we were unconscious."

"We can figure it out later, but right now, let's get you healed up."

(...Sheen) (...Sheen)

The crystals glow, and bathe Inuyasha similarly, before his injuries begin to seal over!

"Uh!"

The twins look over at Tokajin with matching glares:

"Why on earth would anyone drink something that grew from the soil of fresh humans? That's disgusting!"

"Yeah, only a desperate fool like you would be crazy enough, not Inuyasha!"

"...Guys..."

Once the injuries had healed enough for Inuyasha to move, he stands up, while the twins collapse to their knees in exhaustion:

"Uh! Are you guys okay?"

"(Pant) Yeah, we'll be fine."

"(Grim smirk) Now kick Tokajin to Hell."

"(...Nod) Right."

Tokajin laughs and says,

"Half-demon, you'll regret not drinking the potion."

"Kuh, I don't need that stuff...Not while I've got friends who can do the job better."

The twins look at Inuyasha in surprise...before smiling in appreciation.

"And besides...(Dash) I can still beat you senseless!"

"Wretched fool!"

Tokajin unleashes the vine whip, which surrounds Inuyasha, and distracts him long enough for Tokajin to grab him by the neck and pin him to the ground!

"(Laugh) It looks like you're all talk and no action!"

 _...Damn!_

"Inuyasha!"

Shippo comments,

"He's powerless in his mortal body!" Miroku adds,

"And with my size, the Wind Tunnel won't do much good either. (Turn) Plus Freeman and Besa are now too exhausted to use their shards to help."

...Coraline forms a determined look, and draws an arrow at the ready:

"Then it's all on me: I'll save Inuyasha!" The flower sage remarks,

"It's useless. Tokajin can't be brought down with an arrow." Coraline counters,

"Who says it'll be just any old arrow? I'll send this bastard to Hell!"

 _All I need do is aim for the shards..._

(Sheen...)

Her body is then surrounded by an icy blue glow, much to the flower sage's shock:

 _The Sacred Aura around the bow and arrow...Who is this girl?_

"Tokajin!"

Said sage looks up in Coraline's direction...but then:

(SNAP)

"Uh!"

The bow breaks in two!

"...What just happened? Why did it break?!"

"(Laugh) That bow and arrow of a vanquished soldier can never work on me!"

Inuyasha struggles, crying out Coraline's name in his head, before ripping off a thorn from the vine:

"I'll teach ya, not to be so confident!"

(STAB)

"AAAAGH!"

Tokajin is then stabbed right in the eye, and falls back, allowing Inuyasha to somersault away, while the sage makes chase:

"W-Why you...!"

The flower sage then says to Coraline,

"Hurry, girl. You must slay Tokajin now."

"(Turn) Hm?"

"Use this as my way of making amends."

(Glow)

The former sage then fades away in a white glow, leaving behind his form as a bow and arrow! Coraline picks it up as Shippo exclaims,

"He turned into a bow and arrow!"

"The old sage...He gave up the last of his strength to help us."

"Coraline!"

She snaps back to reality at Miroku's call, and gasps before grabbing her brothers to scramble away from the charging Tokajin, who slams Inuyasha into the base of Ninmenka's trunk:

"I'll tear you limb from limb!"

Coraline then sees the glow of the jewel shards:

 _...There! Right through his back and stomach!_

She readies the arrow:

"This is it: You're finished, Tokajin!"

(Twok...TOK)

"Aaaaarrrrrgghhh!"

The force of impact from the Sacred Arrow sends the jewel shards right out of Tokajin's stomach, to which Inuyasha would note:

 _The jewel shards!_

They shoot into the tree bark, just as the bow crumbles into dust in Coraline's hand:

"Thank you for your aid, old sage. May you find peace..."

"You, wench! How dare you!"

Tokajin, now back to his original form, charges at Coraline, who was trapped between him and the cliff edge! Inuyasha runs towards their direction shouting,

"Get down, Coraline!"

(THWACK)

Inuyasha then knocks down Tokajin with all his strength as Coraline ducks to the ground...But, the force would be so great, that Inuyasha would be tumbling off the cliff with Tokajin, much to Coraline's shock:

"Noooo! Inuyasha!"

 _...Coraline!_

"Inuyasha! INUYASHA!"

...As he and Tokajin continue to plummet downward, the sage jeers at Inuyasha,

"Serves you right! Your mortal body will never survive this fall!"

 _Maybe not...but at least Coraline is alive._

Back up top, Coraline's eyes begin pooling with tears:

"(Sniff) I-Inuyasha..."

As the twins move to get up and walk to their sister, Besa picks up on an odd sound:

"Huh?"

He turns around, and sees the tree absorb the jewel shards, the orb of light traveling down the trunk and into the roots:

 _Uh! What's it doing?!_

 _Wait...Tokajin became a slave to the tree after eating the fruit...But what if there's another motive?_

 _If eating the fruit grants power at the cost of losing your free will..._

"(Gasp) Then the tree must've really been...!"

Just as Besa comes to a horrifying conclusion, the roots of the Ninmenka tree suddenly shoot out of the cliff face down below, grasping Inuyasha and Tokajin!

"Ninmenka! Y-You're rescuing me?!"

"No such thing! I simply don't wish to lose such precious nourishment!"

"Whuh?!"

Before Tokajin could make sense out of the new development, he's pulled into a sea of vines, encasing his body, and turning into a bulbous form with roots for a body for the demon tree!

"Aahahahaha, at last, I am able to move! Freedom is mine! I have ample shards of the Shikon-no-Tama, and I am all powerful! Now, half-demon...become one with me!"

The roots shoot to Inuyasha, wrapping around his body...But just when it looked like the end, sunlight finally streams in over the horizon:

 _Damn...daybreak at last._

"(Laugh) I never expected to capture a half-demon as well. Nothing can stop me now!"

"(Muffled) Don't be so sure."

(...Glow, SLASH)

Inuyasha breaks free of the vine cocoon, courtesy of his Tessaiga, once again in his half-demon form:

"Prepare to die, Tokajin! Or should I say, Tree of the Human-Faced Fruits?"

"Just try and slay me, half-demon!"

The tree demon then tries to attack Inuyasha with its vines, but misses, before the latter closes in for a counter-attack:

"You asked for it! See how ya like my Wind Scar!"

(Swing, SLASH)

"OWAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHRRRGGHHHHH!"

(BOOM)

With that, the demon tree was no more, and the shards fly out to be grabbed by Inuyasha as he lands smoothly on a rock ledge:

"...Alright!"

Back up top the cliff, Miroku and Shippo's bodies glow before returning to their normal sizes:

"Finally, we're back to normal again!" Miroku concludes,

"Tokajin must've died, and that's what ended his spell on us...Those men in the box garden have probably reverted back as well."

Coraline asks,

"So, Tokajin is dead?" Then Shippo wonders,

"But what about Inuyasha? Is he..." Coraline feels a shiver run down her spine:

"...No."

Reluctant though he may have been, Miroku says grimly,

"When Inuyasha fell, it was still dark out...Daylight hadn't broken yet...I'm afraid there isn't much hope."

Shippo immediately fears the worst:

"Whaaaahh! Inuyasha is gone forever!" But Coraline refused to believe it:

"No...No, he's not! Inuyasha is alive; I know he is!"

"(Blubber) B-But he was so badly hurt, even after Besa and Freeman used their crystals, and n-no mortal could survive a fall like that!"

Miroku kneels down and says to Shippo as he's taken into Freeman's arms,

"Don't cry, Shippo. Let us pray for his repose."

Coraline pleads Miroku to not further the possibility of their friend's life being lost:

"No...please, Miroku..."

"Inuyasha left behind no regrets when he passed on. He wanted to save you, even if it cost him his life."

"...And who said my life's worth saving?"

Coraline stands up, her anger more directed at herself as she shouts with tears in her eyes,

"I'm not worth dying over, Inuyasha! How can you die for someone like me, a weak human girl whose barely got her life together?! I'm not worth it!"

With that, she bursts into tears, while Besa hugs her from behind, trying to calm her down...Unbeknownst to any of them, Inuyasha had reappeared behind them in the distance, as Miroku and Shippo say,

"Yes, he was indeed foolish."

"You said it! Inuyasha was the biggest fool of all!" Just as Freeman begins saying,

"Come on, guys, can't you be a bit more sympathe-"

"Hey."

They all freeze, and turn to see Inuyasha, who adds irritably,

"I'm gone for five minutes, and look what happens to all of ya! So, who are you callin' 'foolish'?"

Shippo leaps onto Inuyasha's shoulder, overly relieved:

"You're alive, Inuyasha! You're alive!"

Freeman lifts the fox demon off and says,

"See what happens when you jump to conclusions too quick? (Turn) Glad to see you're still tickin', Inuyasha."

Miroku quickly tries to cover his doubt:

"I knew you'd survive that seemingly fatal fall. No, really, I did!"

Inuyasha 'kehs', while Coraline turns slowly to look at Inuyasha's form, her eyes filled with small tears, but a smile of relief on her face:

"...Thank god."

"I ain't so easy to knock off! How can you think of anything so incredibly stupid?"

...Coraline stands up, and shakes a bit, before rushing to hug Inuyasha tightly and shouting with her face muffled in his chest,

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear me?! I almost thought you were dead!"

"Wha-?!"

She pulls back, trying to keep herself from sobbing and says,

"You were pushing yourself so hard, and, with all that was going on, I..."

"Stop blubbering. I'm alive, so what's the big deal?"

Coraline's next response was of the most expected: She leaned in towards Inuyasha's face, and...

(Kiss)

"Guh?!"

Inuyasha was floored with shock, as were the others, the twins exclaiming,

"Did Cora just...!"

"Yep: She kissed his cheek...I did not see that coming."

Coraline pulls back, realizes what she just did, and turns to the side with her hands covering her blushing face:

 _Oh. My. Gosh._

 _I...I kissed his cheek! Where the hell did that come from?!_

"...C-Coraline?"

"Hn?"

She peers through her fingers shyly, staring up at Inuyasha, whose expression of frozen surprise was slowly thawing, and was being replaced with a heavy blush of his own:

"...I-Inuyasha, I..."

"Nice one, sis!"

"Huh?"

Freeman comes over and slings an arm around Coraline's shoulders, cheeky grin on his face:

"About time one of ya made a first move."

"First mo-What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Oh come on, do I really have to spell it out for ya?"

Coraline's blush turns into an angry one, and she pushes Freeman's arm off before saying in a dangerously calm voice,

"...You've got ten seconds to run."

Freeman gulps, before turning to try and run for the house, with Coraline in hot pursuit:

"Get back here, ya idgit!"

"Please don't kill me!"

Shippo comments from atop Besa's shoulder in mild surprise,

"Well this is new: Usually it's Inuyasha who gets in trouble with Coraline."

Besa facepalms with a sigh and replies,

"Yeah, I wish I could say this was the first time Freeman tweaked at her buttons, but that'd be a dead lie right there."

He looks up from his hand and ads while looking at Inuyasha's features,

"...On a different but not completely unrelated topic, I have a feeling this new development in Cora's and Inuyasha's relationship isn't gonna be dropped quietly."

Miroku nods in agreement:

"Indeed...Hopefully this won't deter their relationship, but instead strengthen it."

As they discussed this, Inuyasha watches Coraline run after Freeman with a mix of emotions on his face, the dominant being...confusion. He touches his cheek where she kissed him, and wonders to himself,

 _...Coraline...why did you...do that?_


	66. Chapter 65

**Chapter 65: The Beautiful Sister Apprentices**

Come a day after the incident in Togenkyo, we find ourselves back at the Bone Eater's Well in Sengoku Edo, as four large cloth shopping bags pop out one at a time, following the sounds of Coraline and the twins struggling to get them out:

"Hrgh, come on you guys, push..."

"Hgh...if I push any harder, one of these bags is gonna turn into a diamond!"

"Quit complainin', Besa, and shove, harder!"

Finally, the last one is tossed out, and the three modern era teens hop up to lean on the lip of the well, all exclaiming tiredly,

"Hah, got 'em..."

Shippo, Inuyasha and Miroku look up from their positions nearby and see the other three, before walking over to greet them, also curious of the contents in the bags they brought. It would be Inuyasha who made the first comment, sarcastic though it was:

"You guys sure you didn't forget anything?"

Coraline, wearing a green camo tank-top, jean jacket, dark blue jeans with a rip in the right knee, and her black combat boots, answers with a patient smile,

"Well, we can't just head back to our era whenever we feel like it while we're on the road, and I thought I'd do some shoppin' for more than just the practical."

She reaches into one bag and pulls out something for Inuyasha:

"For example, I know how much you love these..."

"Yes! Dried potatoes!"

Freeman, dressed in a blue t-shirt with a black leather vest, black jeans and green converse, reaches into another bag and pulls out two things for Shippo:

"These are for you, kiddo: First, a lollipop."

"Wow! Thank you, Freeman! (Licks the candy) Mm, this is yummy! (Pushes the button on the device attached) Oh: Look, it's spinning all by itself!"

"Haha, yeah, I thought you'd get a kick out of that. Now for the second item..."

He holds out a medium-large key-chain fob frame:

"It took a while, but I finally found one that should fit the molded snakeskin. I trust you still have it?"

"Yeah! I kept it safe in my trick bag. Can we put it in now?"

"No problem."

As Freeman helped Shippo frame the snakeskin into the fob, Besa, he wearing an outfit consisting of a light green sweater with a dark purple tank-top underneath, grey jeans and brown converse, reaches into a third bag to pull out a juice can for Miroku:

"Here you are, Miroku. The corner store finally started stocking this flavour again."

"I accept it with pleasure."

As he opens the can, Coraline notices that there were two members of their group still missing:

"Hm? No Sango and Kilala?"

Inuyasha replies while munching on the potato chips,

"They haven't come back from her village yet."

"Huh...We're at the three-day mark, so I would've thought she'd have gotten together with you guys by now..."

Miroku pauses in sipping and ponders calmly,

"She hasn't been to her village for a while. She probably had lots to do, you know, besides repairing her weapon."

"Hm, fair enough."

Inuyasha's guess was a bit more blunt:

"Maybe she isn't comin' back, (Eyes Miroku suspiciously) because of a _certain monk_ who won't leave her alone."

"I am guilty of no such thing!"

"Suuure, whatever..."

Coraline sighs and leans back on the well while muttering to herself,

"I suppose as long as she and Kilala stick together, they'll be alright...(Weak smile) Still, friends worry for friends."

Scene Shift: Demon Slayer Village

Catching up with our faithful demon slayer, during the same hours our other group members had their hands full with Tokajin, Sango will have been busy with making repairs on her weapon, Hiraikotsu, it now in the final stage of hammering and firing:

(Clang, clang, clang...)

Once she was satisfied with the smoothness of the area where the crack soon wouldn't be visible, Sango re-entered the giant boomerang into the kiln, pulling a lever to increase the fire's intensity...After a bit, she takes it back out and hammers it again...

Sango would then cool Hiraikotsu in a basin of water, before holding it up to examine:

"Hm...Well, it's not as good as Father's handiwork was, (Smile) but I have to admit, you know it's, not bad."

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Sango (with Kilala accompanying her) then heads for the outside to tend to the gravesites of her slain kin, placing fresh wildflowers on top each one...

"Dear Father...My family and friends, we finally come home at last. Please forgive me for taking so long to bring your remains back..."

As she closes her eyes in prayer, Sango reminisces on a time back when her father was alive...

Flashback

 _Sango's father observes as she practices her swing of Hiraikotsu, successfully throwing it around the wooden posts...He then asks,  
_

 _"Now, Sango...do you think you can continue as a demon slayer?"_

 _"(Turns with a smile) Why yes, father. I believe I am suited to this occupation."_

 _"I see..."_

 _As he moves to head back inside the house, Sango's father pauses to say,_

 _"Sango, I have trained you not merely so you can continue our tradition...I want you to live a strong life."_

 _And he continues inside, with Sango watching his retreating form with confusion..._

End of Flashback

"...Oh, father. What was it you were trying to tell me?"

As she ponders the thought, we look over to the entrance of the village, as two young female figures run in, which would not go unspotted by Kilala:

"(Growl...)"

Sango's eyes blink open, also aware of the intrusion:

"Hm?"

(Toss)

She then leaps out of the way of an incoming rock, while Kilala shifts into her true form, and leaps over to the source of the stone-throwing, pinning the older of the two girls (she wearing a muted blue kimono with a tan skirt overtop, sandals, black hair tied back in a small ponytail with bangs up front, and dark-brown eyes) down with her paw:

"Aaaah!"

"(Roar)"

The younger one (she wearing a short yellow-green kimono with a red sash, sandals, her dark brown hair also tied back in a small ponytail and matching dark-brown eyes) turns back and calls,

"Please stop! Don't hurt her; let her go!"

Sango, realizing they didn't mean any actual harm, calls her demon companion off:

"Kilala!"

The twin-tailed cat demon obeys, and releases the girl, leaping back to Sango while the younger rushes over to shield her friend from any other possible attacks. Sango then asks sternly,

"Who are you, and what do you want here?"

Just as the two girls stand up...the elder suddenly collapses:

"Sister!"

"What's wrong?!"

"We haven't had food or water for three days."

(Stomach growl...)

"Uh?"

The younger girl claps her stomach with an embarrassed blush, as Sango stares at the two with a softer look...

Small Time Skip

As soon as the elder girl was conscious, she and her younger sister were generously provided with food and drink by Sango, and they consume it with gusto, confirming their ravenous appetites:

"Isn't this delicious, Serina?"

"Mhm."

Sango watches them with wide eyes for a moment, before saying kindly,

"There's more. Do you want another serving?" They answer,

"Yes, please."

They then pause, realizing their actions up until now have been on the rude side, and decide to make up for it, with the elder gesturing a kowtow:

"Pardon my manners. I am Serina."

"And I'm her sister, Suzuna, haha."

Serina looks at her sister in annoyance, and pushes her head down in a kowtow position as well, before explaining their situation:

"The two of us had recently set out from our village, following leads in search of the demon slayer's hidden village."

"So you attacked me despite that you knew I was a slayer?"

Suzuna comments with a smile,

"We just wanted to test your skills. You really are quite good, miss, (Wink)."

(Bonk)

"Oh!"

Serina clonks Suzuna on her head for her brashness, before pleading to Sango,

"Please take us on as your apprentices!"

"...Apprentices?"

The sisters suddenly rush to Sango, and began massaging her as a way to further persuade:

"You look like you could use a good rub-down."

"Teacher, please accept us."

Sango's response was blunt:

"No."

But Suzuna wasn't discouraged:

"Aw, come on, please teacher!"

"I said, no."

Sango then makes her way out of the hut with Hiraikotsu...or at least tries to, with Serina and Suzuna grasping her shoulders and legs, determined not to give up:

"Pleeease, teacher!"

"I am not your teacher, and no means no! Now would you let me go?! I'm in a hurry!"

Serina quickly steps in front of Sango and kowtows:

"We cannot return to our village until you take us in as your pupils, and train us in the Art of Demon-Slaying."

Suzuna pleads while hugging Sango's legs,

"Pleeeeeeease!"

...Sango sighs in exasperation at their stubbornness:

"I suppose I should hear you out."

Serina rises and explains:

"You see, my sister Suzuna and I live in a small farming village up in the mountains. We want to expand our farms, so we began clearing the area that belonged to our local deity. That was when the demons began attacking us."

Suzuna adds,

"Whole lots of them! Not just one or two!"

"And sadly, most of the villagers have been slaughtered. Many of the able-bodied people have already moved to another village, but the elderly and children cannot leave, and they spend every waking moment living in terror."

Sango nods and replies,

"I see. The deity's forest had acted as a barrier for you."

"Yes, and it was around that time we had heard of a village of demon slayers."

"(Looks back and forth) As you can see, there are no demon slayers left in this village..."

Suzuna looks to Serina and grasps her arm, the other patting hers sadly...Feeling sympathetic to their plight, Sango suggests,

"Maybe I can go back to your village with you to help."

"But our village doesn't have any money to pay you. We have come all this way only to learn. We had no intention whatsoever of hiring a demon slayer to bring back home with us."

"Besides, our village is far away..."

Serina kowtows again and adds,

"Even if we did stave them off once or twice, those demons would still return. So please, teach us to defend ourselves! We will train hard for our people!"

She side-glances at her sister and forces her to kowtow as well:

"Suzuna..."

"I'll do my best!" Sango replies to them gently but seriously,

"You must understand, the Art of Demon-Slaying isn't something one learns overnight...But I suppose I could teach you to deter lesser demons."

The sisters gasp, and kowtow while replying with grateful smiles,

"Thank you!"

Sango stares at their forms while musing to herself,

 _Miroku and the others will wait for me even if I come back one or two days late..._

With that decided, Sango goes to gather some tools to use for training Serina and Suzuna in some basic techniques for defending against demons...She meets them at the entrance to the village:

"These are the weapons you'll use to ward off demons."

"Right!" "Right!"

Sango holds out two fans and some cloth, causing the girls to look at the former in confusion...They then move to a field of tall grass, the sisters having tied the cloths around their mouths and noses, and peer out towards a small cave:

"...This is as good a place as any to start."

After testing the wind flow, Sango places her own filter mask on her face, before turning to set a pile of leaves ablaze with some special powder:

"Don't just stand there, help me fan!"

All three begin flapping their fans at the smoke vigorously, directing it towards the cave...Kilala cringes a bit from the scent, and Suzuna coughs before asking,

"What is this?!"

"A powder mixture of herbs and remedies that demons detest."

"So this will slay a demon?!"

"It'd be enough to protect the village."

A few animals then file out of the cave to escape the smoky fumes, and Suzuna stops to stare in amazement from the effectiveness:

"This smoke is incredible, but are you sure it'll ward off the demons, though?"

Time Skip

As soon as sunset hits, Sango leads the sisters back to the fallen demon slayer village...Suzuna asks along the way,

"Um, sister-I mean, teacher, isn't there a more exciting technique you could show us?"

"Learning techniques without fully understanding them can be dangerous. The day is almost over, so I'll show you how to make this powder tomorrow."

The sisters look to one another in disappointment...

Scene Shift: Bone Eater's Well

Everyone else in our group was still hanging by the well as the sun began sinking over the horizon, with Coraline leaning against it, Shippo laying against her legs while eating his candy, Freeman lazing on the grass, and Miroku standing up while looking in the distance, occasionally glancing at the free-floating Lumos...

Coraline sighs and says aloud,

"Sango and Kilala still haven't come back yet. I hope they're not in trouble..."

Besa, who was sitting on the lip of the well on her right, replies reassuringly,

"I'm sure they're fine: Sango's probably just tying a few loose ends and it's just taking a bit longer then she wants it to."

...Miroku suddenly squats down by the redhead to say,

"Uum, I'd like to ask you a question, Coraline."

"(...Nod) Fire away."

"Do you believe stroking a woman's bottom could destroy the mutual trust between two people?"

As he asked this, he places a hand around her shoulder...Coraline sighs with a somewhat irritated smile, and lightly pushes the hand off before replying,

"I can see that you're actually serious with this question, so I'll reply in kind: Trust is not just about being comfortable in eachother's personal spaces, but also respecting when one needs privacy in such."

"Is that really how it is?"

Freeman calls from the ground,

"Right on the dot: It's cool to be close to one another, but there's boundaries you gotta watch out for and not push too far depending on the relationship levels. I've learned that one hard way."

Besa looks at his brother with a teasing smile:

"You mean like that time we went to that teen gathering in the park and you got slapped by that one guy's boyfriend?"

"Oi! He didn't give me any clue he was in a committed relationship! If anything, his boyfriend should'a got mad at him for not telling me to quit my flirting!"

"Suuure, whatever you need to tell yourself, brother..."

Coraline giggles in amusement at her brothers, before Inuyasha pops out of the well and says to Miroku,

"If Sango doesn't come back, it's you I'm gonna be pointin' the finger at."

"She'll come back alright..."

Miroku then stands up again and starts pacing back and forth with hidden signs of nervousness, to which Shippo would not miss:

"He sounds confident, but he sure doesn't look it."

The others just sigh...

Scene Shift: Demon Slayer Village

Night falls, and we find Sango and Kilala asleep under a blanket on a futon...Serina and Suzuna, however, were wide awake, and nod to one another intently, before making their way out of the hut and to the weapon depository.

Serina tries and fails to open the door, before her younger sister steps in:

"Serina, let me do it!"

She nods, and steps aside so Suzuna could bust open the door with a karate chop:

"Ha!"

(Clank)

"(Proud smile) That was easy enough to break off! Can't beat a shinobi's skills."

"Thanks. I couldn't have done it without you."

Once inside, Serina lights a candle for her and her sister to get a gander at the various demon bones and body parts yet to be made into armour and weaponry:

"Look at all this!"

"This is exactly like our father told us...These materials are the secrets to the slayer's weapons!"

"These things?"

"The fangs, bones and hides of demons...No wonder slayers can ward off their attacks."

"Then we can become just as strong if we take these materials."

"We'll be almost invincible!"

So with that decided, the newly revealed shinobi (or ninja) sisters each pack up as many of the demon materials as they can, creating makeshift racks to carry upon their backs...

As they walk out, Serina suddenly pauses with a small gasp, causing Suzuna to bump into her:

"Mh! What'd ya stop for?"

She looks ahead, and widens her eyes, when she sees Sango and Kilala!

"What're you two up to? I want the truth: You're no ordinary village girls."

With their cover blown, Suzuna switches to the offensive, and swings out an axe attached to a rope at Sango, who leaps out of the way in time! The young ninja then shoots two shuriken at the ground, forcing Sango to stop, giving both sisters enough time to make a break from the village...

"...Those moves...!"

Serina and Suzuna pause at the entrance, and the latter confirms Sango's suspicions:

"Correct. Both my sister and I come from a village of Shinobi."

Flashback

 _We see a large, red-skinned, mantis-like demon thrash his way through a treeline, as several shinobi stand ready to attack...  
_

"One day, the clan lord ordered us to slay a demon, something we've never done before..."

 _The ninja agents succeed in roping the demon, before throwing several grenades at it..._

"We were able to use our ninja skills to defeat the one demon..."

 _A large group of other demons storm the village in retaliation for their fallen comrade..._

"But others came seeking revenge. Our people only knew the Art of the Shinobi, and nearly all were devoured by these demons."

 _The villagers are mercilessly slaughtered by the demons...all except for Serina and Suzuna, who managed to elude the demons using a large cloth for camouflage:_

 _(...Flap)_

 _"Serina, I think it's safe for us to come out now."_

 _Climbing out their hiding place in the ground, the sisters walk around the devastated village to try and find anyone who might still be alive...They soon find one man barely hanging onto life, and recognize him instantly:_

 _"Father!"_

 _"Father, no!"_

 _Serina holds up her father's head and pleads,_

 _"Father, hold on!"_

 _...He weakly blinks his eyes open to see his daughters were still living:_

 _"S-Serina, Suzuna...You need to be strong for me...Both of you...Hrgh-ghhhh..."_

 _He passes away before he could finish his dying wish..._

 _"Father!"_

 _"Father!"_

End of Flashback

"Those were our father's dying words to us."

"Be strong. He must've wanted us to restore our village to its former glory. (Turns to her sister) I'm certain that's what he was trying to tell us."

Suzuna nods firmly with Serina, and Sango calls out,

"Hold on!"

Suzuna swings her axe on the rope through the air, and says to her sister,

"Do it now, Serina."

With a nod, the elder shinobi sister throws down a smoke bomb:

(Boom, foooommmmm...)

Sango and Kilala cringe and cough from the smoke cloud, and the sisters make their escape out of the village...Sango then runs back to the weapon depository to see what they took, and becomes heavily concerned:

"Oh no...Some of those remains haven't been exorcised of the demon spirits yet...(Glare) meaning they'll summon other demons back here. Kilala!"

The twin-tailed cat demon wastes no time in rushing out of the hut and shifting into her true form, with Sango (in her demon slayer gear and Hiraikotsu at ready) not far behind. With the slayer on her back, Kilala begins flying out of the village and follows the scents of the shinobi sisters and the demon weapons.

"Hurry, Kilala! Those girls are in danger!"

As they pursue, Serina and Suzuna were running as fast as they could along a mountain path with their stolen goods, with the elder lagging behind a little:

"(Pant, pant) Wait for me, Suzuna!"

The younger pauses to call back,

"Hurry up! You're always slowing me down! (Smile) I'll take some of your load from you."

Serina says as she catches her breath,

"I'm, sorry..."

As she moves some of her sister's load onto her rack, Suzuna comments a bit jokingly,

"No wonder Father saddled me on as his heir, even though you're the eldest."

"(Pant, pant) Forgive me. I'll train hard, and one day I'll become a strong Shinobi like father would've wanted me to be."

...Suddenly, a large shadow begins passing overhead and nearing the girls, and Suzuna says,

"Come on, let's hurry," before she and Serina make haste to the forest...

But just as they begin entering the tree cover, a large shadow flies overhead:

"Uh!"

"What's that?!"

"(Rowl)"

That shadow figure is revealed to be Kilala with Sango, and they land in front of the sisters, stopping them in their tracks. Sango then says urgently,

"Both of you, get on Kilala! We're going back to the village!"

The sisters brandish their weapons on the defense, Suzuna barking back,

"We're not returning these!"

"You must discard them at once! Hundreds of demons are coming to seek the demonic aura those weapons exude!"

The sisters gasp, as the atmosphere grows heavy...

"It's true, now hurry!"

But they weren't quick enough to react: The clouds darken as the wind howls louder, before hundreds upon hundreds of demon spirits come barreling from the sky!

"We're too late...I'll have to destroy those demons, then we'll try to escape!"

But Suzuna had other ideas:

"Mph! Sister, be strong! The time has come to finally show father our courage!"

Serina nods, holding her spear at the ready:

"We'll do our Shinobi ancestors proud! We can do this, as long as we have these weapons...!"

As the sisters prepare to battle, Sango was taken aback by their fierce determination...She then remembers what they said was their father's dying words, before recalling her own father's wish for her in life...

That was then it came to her:

"...Oh, father..."

She then hurries off of Kilala, and tries to talk the sisters out of their mission:

"No...you're mistaken!"

"Huh?"

"This is not how your father wanted you to be! You have to believe me, please!"

Suzuna asks back,

"What would you know about him?!"

"There isn't a father in the world who doesn't wish for his daughter's happiness! Your father wasn't telling you to continue the Shinobi tradition: He wanted you to be strong inside! He, wanted you to be happy. That's what he meant!"

...Suzuna looks to Serina uncertainly:

"What do you think?"

Serina doesn't say anything, she lost in thought...

"Now climb on top of Kilala, and make sure you stay close to me."

The demons begin their charge, and Sango looks back at the now conflicted shinobi sisters...We zoom in on Serina, who thinks back to her father's words, and Sango's message of what fathers truly want for their children...

She then forms a determined look...and drops her rack, before turning to remove the one on her sister's:

"Suzuna."

"Uh! What're you doing?!"

Serina then hoists her younger sister over her shoulder, replying as she runs to board Kilala,

"Sango is right, I'm sure of it!"

They get on the cat demon, and the elder calls the slayer:

"Sango!"

She nods, before focusing back on the charging demons, releasing her weapon:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...thrash)

A few demons are cut down while others retreat from the boomerang's path:

"(Turn) Let's go!"

With Sango leading, she and Kilala begin running for the forest exit, with the cat demon going on ahead to get the sisters to safety, and the slayer clubbing the demons in her path:

"Stay out of my way!"

(Whack, whack, whack)

But with every one she took down, another would charge down in its place...Kilala keeps up her speed from the main force, but then one demon succeeds in snatching Suzuna into the air:

"Aaaaaahhh!"

"Suzuna!"

Using her axe, Suzuna cuts at the demon's arm:

"Take, that!"

(Hack)

The demon releases her, and Suzuna falls to the ground hard, losing grip on her weapon! Serina calls out her sister's name, and Kilala rushes over to the fallen ninja girl, allowing Serina to come to her sister's aid:

"Suzuna?"

"Serina..."

...Serina takes her sister's axe, and goes on the defense:

"Stay back!"

As she defends Suzuna, Kilala claws and bites down several demons on her own, and Sango releases Hiraikotsu again:

(Toss, spin...TOK)

But while she took down a good number, it did not change the overwhelming situation...Sango rushes in front of Serina, Kilala coming to cover the rear, and the demon slayer lets out a horrified gasp as the demons close in...!

...Suddenly:

(Rustle...)

"Gh!"

(Leap)

"SANGO!"

Miroku jumps out from the forest cover, and cracks down on some of the demons with his staff, much to Sango's shock:

"Miroku!"

"...Watch it, dude!"

(Leap, leap)

The twins come jumping into the battle next, with Besa slashing away some demons that nearly got the drop on Miroku with his sickles, before Freeman swung his hammer at another:

"Hrrrah!"

(Bonk, thwack)

The demon crashes into a few others, taking them out flat!

"Yes!"

"Nice one, brother!"

"Good timing, you two!"

Sango mutters in further surprise,

"Freeman...Besa..."

She then turns to see several other demons closing in behind her, just as our next warrior comes leaping in with his weapon:

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

The demons are annihilated, causing the remaining to freeze midair...Inuyasha hoists Tessaiga over his shoulder and says to the demon slayer causally,

"Hey, Sango. It's not like you to have your departure delayed by the likes of demons."

"...Inuaysha...!"

Miroku then says,

"I'll take over now! (Rattle) _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whoooooooossssssshhhhhhhhh...)

The black hole is unleashed, and Serina falls to her knees by Suzuna in matching shock, watching as Miroku effortlessly sucks back the remaining bulk of the demon horde!

...Once they were gone, Miroku contains his power with his prayer beads. But there would be one demon still alive, and it slips put of a tree trunk to try and attack Sango, but was stopped by the following outcry:

"Oh no you don't! _Spirit Slash!_ "

(SLASH, POW)

An ice blue energy cut obliterates the demon, and Sango turns to see Coraline, who lowers her own blade with a smile:

"Hey, Sango! How's it hanging?"

Shippo hops up on her shoulder:

"We came back to get you!"

Even Lumos comes out to greet the demon slayer, floating over quick and chirping happily before releasing a small burst of energy to heal Sango before doing the same for Kilala:

(Twinkle)

"Ah...(Touched smile) Thank you, all of you."

The entire group comes together in a circle around Sango, as Serina and Suzuna watch in wonder...

"...Hm?"

They then focus upward to the sky, as the dark clouds dissipate, and the sun streams back in again with the blue horizon, morning having come at last...

Serina holds up Suzuna, and the latter turns to say to the former,

"Let's be on our way, sister."

"Hm, (Nod)."

A little while later, our group watches the Shinobi sisters holding eachother's hand as they made off in the opposite direction down a dirt road, heading off for who knows what destination next...

Sango watches their leaving backs while sending the following message through her eyes:

 _...Be strong...both of you._

Inuyasha then explains what brought the rest of them here:

"Well, Miroku was worried, so we decided to come. It's a good thing we did too."

Coraline smiles a bit and adds,

"Yeah, no kidding: Any few seconds later and it would've gone to Hell...Hm?"

She then sees Sango directing her gaze towards Miroku, a small blush dusting her cheeks, before she approaches the monk:

"Miroku...were you, actually that worried about me?"

"Oh, call it a premonition, if you will. (Gaze turns serious) I kept seeing your face, Sango, no matter what I did. I simply could not get you out of my head. It's the truth..."

On that last line, his hand wanders to stroke Sango's rear, and an annoyed tick-mark forms on her, before:

(SLAP)

"(Deadpan) Thank you for your concern."

Miroku scratches the area of his cheek where he was backhanded and replies with a nervous smile,

"Ah-heh, don't mention it."

Besa facepalms while Freeman shrugs and says,

"Eh, it's all a work in progress for guys like him to be less physical..."

Shippo says exasperatedly,

"When is he ever going to learn? (Shakes his head) Please don't ever let me grow up to be like him."

And Inuyasha and Coraline nod, also sighing at the monk and slayer's interactions, knowing that until all is on the table, this would continue to be the norm.


	67. Chapter 66

**Chapter 66: The Fifty-Year Curse of the Dark Priestess**

Nighttime in Sengoku Edo, and the shadows drag heavy from a fire burning in the center of a forest clearing, as an old woman wearing a dark-coloured robe chants an incantation, before adding a powdered substance to the waiting flame...

The victim of the spell, a lord of a mansion, lies within his chamber, crying out in pain...

The woman by the fire then tosses a paper doll into the hungry fire, which causes the mansion lord to cry out even louder, his face contorted in agony, much to the worries of his subjects:

"Oh!" "Master!" "Wha-?!"

We leave the mansion and focus back on the old woman as the fire is doused out, and we see a ceremonial display standing a foot or two in front of the fire box. Her stare is expressionless and indifferent...

A gust of wind breezes by, and Kagura appears behind the woman:

"Would you be Tsubaki, the Dark Priestess?"

"...If you've come to break the curse, it's too late. The victim has already perished."

"I'm not the least bit interested. It's you I came for."

"Then you must be a demon!"

Tsubaki then sends a charm that transforms into a bird at Kagura, who dispatches it easily with her fan:

"Stop this! (Smirk) You are a troublesome hag indeed. My master has requested me to ask for your assistance."

Tsubaki was obviously suspicious:

"What does a demon want with me?"

"Tell me: Do you still bear a grudge against Kikyō?"

That caught the old priestess's attention:

"(Turn) _Kikyō, you say?_ "

Time Skip, Present-day Tokyo...

"Ugh, dammit, you gotta be kidding me! How could my grade have dropped down to a C+ in Science?!"

We find ourselves within Coraline's bedroom in the Higurashi residence during the early morning, where our redhead is having a tiny panic attack after reviewing her latest grade-point averages for her online classes...She runs a hand through her hair with a frustrated sigh and says to herself,

"It doesn't help that I'm starting into the higher grade subjects, so the work's becoming a bit more taxing...Looks like my Math grade's okay; I can deal with a B-. And I'm still acing English, History and Japanese...What else? Hm...Oh! I can start taking Geography now! Nice!"

Coraline gets up from her seat at her desk, and goes to grab a duo-tang and textbook with a picture of an atom on it:

"Hopefully this next set of notes I've taken on the road will help bump up my Science...but this new stuff about DNA Coding is driving me nuts, as well as the chemistry formulas...I'd take more Math over Chem any day."

 _But without learning at least a little about how to read those formulas, I'll have a hard time learning how to do Carbon Dating..._

 _(Sigh) Such is the trials of education._

Letting out a breath, Coraline begins heading out of her room to find the scanner so she could scan her notes into the computer...Just as she comes to the bottom of the staircase:

"Hey, Cora!"

"Huh?"

She turns to the right where the front door was, and sees Souta directing to two familiar faces:

"Freeman and Besa are here."

"Oh, (Smile) hey guys."

"Hey."

"You ready to head down to see Master Yoshi?"

"Just a sec: I need to get these notes ready for the scanner when I come back."

The twins nod, and Coraline makes way for another room while thinking,

 _Juggling my modern education with my obligations in the Sengoku Era isn't easy..._

 _But it's totally worth all the effort in the world._

Sengoku Edo, Unknown Location

After agreeing to having an audience with the fiendish Naraku, Tsubaki finds herself on Kagura's feather, as both travel through a darkened sky filled with purple-hued fog...

"This Naraku has surrounded himself with an ominous barrier..."

"Now hold on tight, old woman."

...Inside the hidden stronghold, Naraku sits alone in one room corner by a window, before turning his head to address his returning servant and guest:

"Naraku, I found the woman." He focuses on the elder priestess:

"You've come, Tsubaki...the Dark Priestess."

Unafraid, she walks closer to Naraku and asks,

"What is the meaning of summoning me here?"

"Do you recall battling a priestess named Kikyō half a century ago? You were trying to steal the Shikon-no-Tama..."

"Oh...I'm surprised that you know of that old incident."

"Now, Dark Priestess: Would you consider using your evil powers to assist me?"

"Naraku, was it? How is assisting you a benefit to me?"

"You shall have the Shikon-no-Tama."

"Oh?"

...The old priestess's hair starts to billow, before a crackling sound is heard...We then see her skin become smoother and more youthful, the same for her voice:

"You have the Shikon-no-Tama? You have it in your possession?"

Kagura was taken aback by the reverse-aging process:

"The old hag transformed herself!"

"Watch your tongue, you wretch, because this is my true form!"

Naraku stares at the now youthful Tsubaki in thought:

 _The old woman sold her Soul to a demon in order to preserve her youth..._

 _The demon had but minor standing...so now she must seek even more power._

"Show me the Shikon-no-Tama if you truly possess it."

"What is it that you desire from the Shikon-no-Tama, priestess? As far as I understand, you would want, eternal youth?"

Naraku opens his palm to bestow the nearly complete jewel to the gasping Tsubaki, who takes it into her hands before asking with a smile,

"...Naraku. What exactly do you want from me?"

Small Time Skip, Present-Day Tokyo, Coraline's POV

It's now about three in the afternoon, and after coming home from my lessons with Master Yoshi, I took a quick shower before redressing and beginning my last packing for the next round of adventuring in Edo.

I decided to op for an outfit of a plain white t-shirt, dark blue jeans, my combat boots, and also had my hair tied back in two braids. I'm now in the kitchen stocking up some more food provisions while Souta watches me from his seat at the dining table:

"Let's see: Here's the cookies Shippo likes, and the dried meat Inuyasha loves..."

Akari-sama comes over and says to me with a smile,

"Don't just take junk food. Here, have this."

She holds out a lunch box of croquettes and vegetables, and I smile back while replying,

"Thank you very much, Akari-sama. It looks delicious."

She walks back to the fridge and mentions,

"I have lots more too."

She opens the door, and I see quite an abundant amount of lunch boxes:

"(Sweatdrop) Oh wow...Um, thank you again."

 _Hopefully, Besa or Freeman can fit one or two in their bags..._

Grandfather then comes in with a bottle-shaped package and some amulets:

"Oh, Coraline: Don't forget the sacred sake and these charms!"

I smile a touch exasperatingly at his efforts (as this is the fifth time he's done this), before deciding to take half of the amulets he offers:

"Thank you, grandfather. I'll take a few of these, but pass on the wine."

 _I wonder if these amulets even work, given Grandfather's track record these days..._

 _Maybe I can ask Miroku or Kaede to verify them._

"If you won't take the sake, we will!"

"Hm?"

I turn to see my brothers enter the room with their own satchels, Freeman wearing an outfit of a black tank-top, a leather vest, blue jeans and gray converse, while Besa chose a white tank-top under a black sweater, light blue jeans and black converse.

"Good timing, you guys. If you can, see if you can pack another lunch box or two from the fridge."

They nod, and Besa heads to the fridge while Freeman walks over to Grandfather to get the sacred rice wine:

"I'll be honest, sir, I dunno how much we'll use this stuff for warding off monsters, but it'll be emptied some way or another, hahaha!"

I smile-glare at him and say,

"You better be responsible with that is all I'll say on the subject: I don't wanna find out what happens when you, Besa or any of the others get drunk...(Murmur) Well, not in this period of time, at least..."

He just waves his hand at me dismissively and replies,

"Yeah yeah, fun police, I'll be careful."

Grandfather eyes him in both amusement and suspicion...before relinquishing the bottle to him:

"I'd listen to her if I were you, young man: This stuff is a bit stronger than the usual sake."

"(Nod) Right."

I turn back to the table and focus on packing, and I hear Souta ask me,

"Cora, are you three going already?"

"Yep. We gotta motor before it gets any later or Inuyasha will give me an earful."

"Inuyasha's waiting?"

"Mhm, along with everyone else."

"I wish I could go to the feudal era too..."

I pause to look Souta in the eye with a knowing smile and reply,

"I'd rethink that fantasy if I were you: Edo's not a place to be wandering around like a clueless tourist. (Small frown) And it'd kill me if you got hurt on my watch."

Akari-sama agrees:

"She's right: You're still so young, Souta."

"Don't you ever get scared, sis?"

"Sometimes...but my fear gives me the motivation I need to be brave. It's something I've accustomed to...even before all this."

"...You mean, before you came here to Japan at all?"

I look up and nod seriously, and I hear my brothers say,

"Freeman and I have a similar outlook: Because we've lived day-to-day having to be as vigilant as possible, it's become a bit of a sixth sense."

"Yeah: You gotta keep your head up when the going gets tough. Panicking isn't a good fallback tool."

I hm in acknowledgement, before strapping my satchel closed, and move to lift it over my shoulders:

"Rgh, holy crap, so much weight...!" Souta asks me in surprise,

"You sure you can carry all that?!"

...I let out a sigh, and put my satchel down before turning to take some things out:

"Looks like I'll need to lighten the load..."

"Lemme guess: Overloading on textbooks again?"

I side-glance Freeman and reply,

"...Maybe."

"Alright."

He comes over on my left as I pull out my books, notebook and duo-tang, and he gives it all the once-over:

"Hmm...It's only Science that's taken a bit of dive, right?"

"Yeah..."

"...Okay then: Repack that text and its papers, leave everything else. It's not gonna kill ya to hold back on your worksheets for Math, and you're already a savant in English, Japanese and History, so nothin'll change for a while unless you really forget."

I think it all over...before smiling at his reasoning:

"You're right. I'll just take Science for now, and next time I'm back, I'll see what's what for everything else. Thanks."

"No prob. A less mentally-stressed sister's a happy sister."

Sengoku Edo, Goshinboku Village, No POV

At the same time Coraline and the twins were getting themselves ready for returning to Edo, we find the horizon beginning to emit a mix of pink, red and orange with the coming sunset, as Inuyasha and Shippo sit on top of the roof of Kaede's hut, each wondering what was keeping the three modern-day teens:

 _Coraline is late. She said she and her brothers would be back by sundown..._

"Coraline is late."

"Hm?"

"Inuyasha, she said she, Freeman and Besa would be back by sundown."

(...Bonk)

Inuyasha suddenly clonks Shippo on the head, and the miffed fox demon barks,

"Why me?!"

"Aw, save it!"

Inuyasha then leaps off the roof and heads in the direction of the Bone Eater's Well, much to Shippo's disbelief:

"You creep!"

(Whoosh)

"Hhhh..."

Suddenly, a mysteriously strong gust of wind passes Shippo:

"What was that?"

He then sees Sango walk by the entrance of the hut who asks him,

"Do you sense something too, Shippo?"

"Y-Yes, but I dunno what it is..."

Zooming in on his tail, we see it trembling in fear...Meanwhile, Inuyasha was closing in on where the old well laid, but then pauses when he senses something off:

"Huh? (Sniff...) I don't like the smell of that."

He then takes off in another direction...In another part of the forest, Kaede was walking back from finding some medicinal herbs, when her senses pick up on something troubling:

"Uh!...A demon aura."

"Lady Kaede."

She turns to see Miroku walk up to her, also carrying a wary expression:

"Miroku."

"So, you have sensed it too?"

"Aye...Evil is lurking nearby."

The grass beneath and around the monk and elder priestess shakes with the sudden wind shift...

"It seems to be slithering across the ground."

"What is it?"

"I don't know..."

At the same time everyone here was becoming restless from the force that was lurking on the Goshinboku area, Coraline and the twins hoist their satchels over the lip of the well as they pop out to greet Edo:

"And, there! Whew, what a workout..."

"I know, right?"

"I'm starting to wonder if invisible weights are being tied on every time we jump back and forth through this well..."

As they begin pulling themselves up, that same demonic force slithers through the grass right for Coraline! She places one foot on the ground, and we see the force is revealed as a ghostly-bodied snake, which wraps around her ankle and bites her!

"Ouch!"

She pulls back her foot as her brothers ask,

"What's wrong?" "You okay?"

"I'm, not sure...but I felt something bite my ankle just now."

The twins widen their eyes, and Coraline asks herself,

 _But what was it? I felt, fangs..._

She looks out towards the grass, and her eyes flash ice blue as she uses her Aura powers to try and zero in on the source:

 _...Hang on: It's, really faint, but...there's a trail._

 _I can't narrow it down, though. It's too masked._

It was then that Inuyasha arrives at the well, and he asks,

"What took you guys so long?"

He then sees the anxious expressions on the teens, and Coraline says to him,

"Inuyasha...I just got bit by something. I don't know what it is, but I felt fangs. (Points straight) I can't really pinpoint where, but I can pick up the beginning of a trail from that way."

"Uh!"

He nods seriously, before heading off where she was indicating...Once he makes it to another nearby clearing, Inuyasha sees a shadow creeping from behind a rock:

"There it is!"

(Leap)

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash)

The figure is destroyed, but Inuyasha becomes baffled by its origins:

"Huh?"

 _Paper?_

As he tries to make some sense out of what just occurred, we find Tsubaki in another part of the Forest of Inuyasha, as the ghoulish snake comes back to sit on her arm:

"Fine work. You have the girl's blood, I presume?"

She squeezes the snake's head, forcing some of Coraline's blood to drip from its fangs...Kagura then asks,

"Are you finished?"

"Yes. Now, take me back to Naraku."

"Bossy witch."

Nevertheless, Kagura complies with the demand, and the two women fly off back to the hidden castle upon the wind sorceress's feather...

Back at the Bone Eater's Well, Coraline and her brothers wait for Inuyasha, as Besa leans down to take a look at her ankle:

"...You sure you got bit by something? I don't see any puncture marks in your boot."

"I'm certain I felt something bite me...but thinking now, it also felt, so transparent, almost like a phantom bite."

"...Weird."

They then hear footsteps, and look to see Inuyasha walking back over to them. Freeman asks,

"Well?"

"There was something strange here. I attacked it, but look."

Inuyasha holds out a few pieces of a shredded paper charm in his palm, and the three others remark,

"What the-"

"Paper?"

"...The heck is goin' on?"

Small Time Skip

Night falls, and we find Tsubaki and Kagura landing at the former's hut. Tsubaki says to Kagura,

"I can perform this on my own."

"Do as you please."

The wind sorceress vanishes in a whirlwind, leaving the dark priestess alone to walk inside the hut, stopping in front of an altar piece set up for the ritual she was going to perform...

Tsubaki takes out the nearly complete Shikon-no-Tama, and places it on the brown container, before sniggering to herself darkly.

Kaede's Hut

At the same time, everyone has caught eachother up with the details of what they sensed, but were confused when they examine Coraline's ankle more closely, and find no bite mark, despite how insistent she was:

"I'm positive I felt fangs bite me here!"

"But, there's no bite mark." Sango confirms Shippo's observation:

"He's right."

"I know there's nothing physically visible, but my reactions don't lie."

...Lumos then pops out of Coraline's satchel, and hovers over her exposed ankle...before starting some circling around the area she felt the invisible fangs. Besa remarks,

"Well it looks like Lumos is sensing something wrong with your ankle..."

Coraline looks to the Will O' Wisp and asks,

"...Was it anything poisonous?"

Lumos 'shakes' in a no, and the redhead lets out a small sigh of relief. Inuyasha then speaks:

"There was definitely something strange there."

Kaede says to him,

"Let me look, Inuyasha, at that paper."

"Here."

As he hands over the paper shreds to Kaede for her to examine, Shippo asks Coraline in a hopeful tone,

"By the way, Coraline, did you...?" She smiles and replies,

"Yes, Shippo, I remembered that candy you love. (Shuffle...) Here we are."

She hands the fox demon a small box of chocolate wafers for him:

"Yeah! This is the one!"

He immediately opens the box and starts happily munching on the treats, as Coraline pulls out something else for another person in the room:

"And here, Inuyasha. I wasn't able to get potato chips this time, but I know you love this jerky."

"Thanks."

He takes the bag, as Coraline brings out the box lunch, the twins doing the same:

"You guys are gonna love this food Akari-sama made."

"Yeah, her cooking's amazing!"

"Mhm."

It was right then Kaede recognizes the origins of the paper charm, and becomes troubled:

"This is...Shikigami."

Coraline turns to her with a curious expression:

"Shikigami?"

(Pulse)

"Uh!"

 _What was-Wait: The jewel shards!_

Inuyasha and Miroku ask,

"What is it, Coraline?"

"What's the matter?"

Lumos suddenly tenses up, and darts over to the pouch where Coraline kept the shards, before shifting his colouring to red!

"(Nod) Yeah, I felt it too, Lumos."

She reaches into the pouch to pull out the bottle of jewel shards...and gasps when she sees,

"T-The shards...they've turned black!"

...Back at Tsubaki's hut, the jewel fragment she possesses has blood dripped onto its surface, causing the colour to slowly shift black as well...!

...Suddenly:

(Shatter)

"(Gasp)"

The bottle in Coraline's palm breaks into pieces, before the blackened shards fly straight into her neck, sending her backwards from the impact!

"Coraline!" "Coraline!"

"Sis!"

 _...The shards...they're entering...attacking...!_

She falls flat onto the floor unconscious, and Inuyasha calls her name again, as Lumos flies frantically over his partner, glowing in and out red and blue...!

Back with Tsubaki, she continues to have the Shikigami serpent drip Coraline's blood over the jewel fragment as she explains the ritual she's performing:

"Jewel shards that enter her flesh, then synchronize with the jewel shard which has been defiled with your evil, and will slowly fester in her body and mind...And then, Naraku, this young woman will be mine to control."

Said demon appears from the shadows behind the priestess and warns her,

"Tsubaki, don't underestimate this young woman, Coraline."

But she was not wavered:

"Don't make me laugh. She didn't even realize she had been placed under a curse. I expected the reincarnation of Kikyō to be much more formidable. Now what shall I do: Kill her immediately, or perhaps...?"

Naraku laughs and suggests,

"Let's make Inuyasha suffer through another nightmare: _A nolstagic dream about the woman he loves...killing him._ "

Kaede's Hut

As Naraku and Tsubaki decide on a despicable course of action, everyone else of our group was leaning over and/or kneeling by Coraline's semi-conscious body, trying to get her to respond:

"Can you hear me, Coraline?!"

"Say something!"

"Coraline!"

...She does not reply other than by gritting her teeth, and as her brothers hm with worry, Miroku asks Kaede,

"What is the meaning of this, Lady Kaede?"

"That evil we sensed earlier...Someone was placing a curse on Coraline."

"Someone's cursed her?!"

Kaede replies to Inuyasha,

"I believe the Dark Priestess is behind this. (Holds up the paper shreds) Coraline was bitten at the well, by the Dark Priestess's Shikigami."

"T...That, explains, why I c-couldn't sense, its presence well."

They all look down at Coraline, who adds weakly,

"Shi-kigami, are made from p-paper, and don't, emit the s-same kind of usual demon a-aura. Hrh!"

She grimaces in pain, and Freeman grabs her hand while chiming gently,

"Don't strain yourself, Cor: Take it easy."

She nods slightly, closing her eyes to try and relax, as Inuyasha asks Kaede,

"Dark Priestess?"

"Aye. Inuyasha, you must certainly know of them: This is a wicked priestess who specializes in curses. It was her dark enchantment that has made the jewel shards black."

Shippo exclaims fearfully,

"And now it looks like they've entered Coraline's flesh!"

Sango adds just as concerned,

"The poison could kill her unless we do something!"

Miroku stands up and says to her,

"Let's go, Sango."

"Hm?"

"(Glare) We'll destroy the Dark Priestess. It's the only way to break the curse."

Inuyasha cuts in:

"Hang on; I'm going with you."

But then, Coraline mutters in a strain,

"I...Inu...yasha..."

Miroku says to said dog demon,

"It would be best for you to stay with Coraline." Kaede agrees:

"You're most needed here."

Inuyasha looks down at Coraline's struggling form...before deciding,

"...Yes, you're right," and Besa says,

"I'll go with Miroku and Sango instead. (Turn) Freeman, will you stay behind and help out here?"

"Yeah..."

So with that decided, Miroku exits the hut and holds out his palm to sense for Tsubaki's dark aura...His eyes snap open a few seconds later:

"I sense evil coming from this direction!"

Sango, clad in her demon slayer gear, flies over on Kilala with Besa (who has his sickles strapped to him at the ready) and calls down below,

"Up here: Get on, Miroku!"

The three teens and cat demon take off, with Shippo calling,

"...Yeah, good luck!"

Inside, Coraline grimaces in a struggle while Inuyasha and Freeman kneel on either side with worried expressions:

"Coraline!"

...Suddenly, Tsubaki's voice starts to echo within the cursed redhead's mind:

 _"Kill him!"_

 _W-What?_

 _"Kill him!"_

 _Kill...who?_

 _"Kill Inuyasha! Kill Inuyasha!"_

(Gleam...)

The shards in Coraline's neck glow in a black, dim light, and she calls back in a strain,

 _Stop...Stop it! Leave, me!_

Tsubaki's Hut  


The Dark Priestess becomes frustrated by Coraline's will power:

"Humph! The defiant young wench is resisting."

Naraku replies,

"As I told you, this Coraline is the reincarnation of Kikyō the priestess. Taming her will require more than a little effort."

The name of the wandering priestess slides past Tsubaki's lips like bitter tobacco:

"Kikyō...huh."

 _That, wretch..._

Flashback

 _We see Kikyō standing among some Sakura Trees, with Tsubaki (back when her hair was black) standing nearby...  
_

 _"Long ago, Kikyō was infatuated with a half-demon, and her powers were thus weakened. It should've been the perfect opportunity to steal the Shikon-no-Tama from its guardian..."_

 _Tsubaki releases her Shikigami at a seemingly unaware Kiky_ _ō..._

 _"But it wasn't to be."_

 _With no signs of fear, Kikyō swiftly spins around and uses her bow to whack the incoming snake demon, causing it to rebound right back at Tsubaki!  
_

 _"That wench: She hurled my curse straight back at me!"_

 _"Aaaaah!"_

 _As Tsubaki kneels on the ground from the aftermath of the curse's pain, Kiky_ _ō says to her,  
_

 _"Now leave, and I will spare your life."_

End of Flashback  


Tsubaki adds to herself in anger,

 _Such a smug countenance! Simply recalling it makes my blood boil!_

And as her rage surfaces, we see the scar from the fifty-year curse appear over her right eye...

Kaede's Hut

(Pulse, pulse...)

"Rgh...rg...mrh..."

Coraline writhes a bit in pain from the cursed jewel shards, as Kaede wipes her forehead with a damp cloth, Freeman tends to the fire, and Inuyasha and Shippo sit near the struggling redhead out of worry.

Lumos, who was sitting near Coraline's head, lets out a ghostly moan of concern, trying his hardest to soothe his partner's pain...Shippo asks aloud,

"Will she be alright? Tell me she's gonna make it!"

(Swing, grasp)

"Huh?"

Just as Inuyasha swings his fist to thump Shippo's noggin, it's stopped by Freeman's own hand! Shippo opens his mouth to question the actions of both teens, until he sees the exchange of intent stares between, and decides on staying quiet...

Kaede places the cloth back in the bucket, and stands while saying,

"I shall change the water."

...As this was going on, the rest of the group was flying through the air upon Kilala, following the directions of Miroku who was using his staff and monk's training to sense for Tsubaki. Sensing his trouble, Besa places his hand, the one with his Seven Light Crystal shard, on the monk's shoulder:

"Hm?"

"Keep going: I'll add on with my own power."

(...Sheen)

A small wave of rainbow-coloured energy pulses through their bodies, before stopping in Miroku's staff, throbbing in and out...Besa then explains,

"You should be able to get a clearer reading of the Dark Priestess's energy now."

Miroku nods, and shuts his eyes again...before snapping them back open and pointing his staff to the northeast:

"It's over there!"

Sango turns to him and replies:

"Good. Let's hurry!"

Kilala turns to where Miroku was indicating, doubling her speed...

Back in the village, Kaede gathers more water from a river outside her home, with Shippo accompanying her...He then asks,

"Do you think Coraline can be saved?"

"Perhaps...Coraline is likely fighting the curse with all her might."

"Luckily, she's strong-willed."

"Aye..."

 _The more time it takes to break the curse, however, the weaker she'll become._

Tsubaki's Hut  


"Will it take much longer?" Tsubaki replies confidently to Naraku,

"She should stop resisting soon enough."

She then hovers her hand over the jewel and adds as her body glows in a mysterious blue aura,

"Now then, Naraku: You shall have what you wished for."

Kaede's Hut

Inuyasha looks out towards the quiet village and asks aloud,

"Damn it. Haven't Miroku, Sango and Besa found the Dark Priestess yet?"

Freeman stands up from the fire and replies,

"Well, there's no way of knowing how far away this witch is, so time crunch or not, it'll be a bit at least...All depends on how fast Kilala can fly."

(...Slam)

Inuyasha beats his fist on the door frame after a couple seconds of silence and curses:

"Damn! Coraline is suffering, and I'm suppose to just sit here and do nothing?!"

(Clap)

"Hm?"

He turns to see Freeman look at him seriously and sympathetically while having a hand on his shoulder:

"I know: It's killin' me too that we can't break the curse with a snap of the fingers right now, but letting our anger blow over's not gonna help. Cora would want us to stay calm and cool...you get me?"

"(...Sigh) Yeah, I get it...What I'd like to know is why this Dark Priestess is even doing this to Coraline."

"Same...(Narrows eyes) But I suspect that a certain spider-scarred demon might be responsible in some way."

Just as Inuyasha opens his mouth to continue their conversation:

(Twok)

"Huh?"

(TOK)

...A Sacred Arrow comes flying through the air, landing just an inch or two away from Inuyasha in the door frame!

Both men widen their eyes, and whirl around to see Coraline, standing up and holding out the bow, while getting another arrow to use!

"...Coraline?"

"Sis, what the hell?!"

...She only breathes heavily in a strain, and draws the bow, her eyes set in a glare and slowly dilating out...Inuyasha recalls the day when 'Kikyō' tried to shoot him fifty years ago, and he asks in disbelief,

"Why, Coraline?!"

Tsubaki's voice echos within Coraline's head, urging her to kill the dog demon, and with all the will she could muster, she calls out,

"Get, away...Run, Inuyasha!"

"Uh! Coraline, you're...!"

Tsubaki's Hut

Tsubaki was a bit taken aback by Coraline's will holding out mentally, but masks it with frustrated annoyance:

"Stubborn woman. I have control of her body, but her mind is still resisting me."

Naraku laughs and replies,

"This is becoming more entertaining. Tsubaki: If Inuyasha should flee from her, then take the chance to kill Coraline."

Kaede's Hut

Zooming in on Coraline, we see her hold on the bow and arrow to be one that's hesitant and shaky, indicating she was not of her right mind:

"...Run! Don't...!"

Inuyasha then realizes,

 _Coraline is possessed by the Dark Priestess!_

He then tries to move out of the line of fire, but Coraline follows his every step. Inuyasha and Freeman say to themselves tensely,

 _What's taking you, Miroku?_

 _Hurry, Besa!_

Besa's POV  


We keep our pace in the direction that Miroku indicated, and he says as we approach a large clearing ahead over the mountainsides,

"The demonic aura is getting stronger."

I curse under my breath as Sango urges Kilala onward:

"Hurry, Kilala."

...We soon approach an area that had a ginormous shield surrounding!

"There it is!"

Kilala keeps going and we try to pass through...but:

(Bzzt)

"Aaaah!"

We got blocked, and go tumbling to the ground below!

"Rrgh...Sango, you okay?"

She sits up and nods, before asking Miroku,

"Are you alright, Miroku?"

He rises to his feet again, and directs his eyes to the shield:

"What the..."

I focus on it too and wonder to myself,

 _...What now?_

Kikyō's POV

I approach the end of the forest, following the trail of unsettling energy:

 _...I feel it._

I come to a cliff edge, and find a large barrier surrounding a clearing below, emitting an aura that felt...familiar:

 _I have faced this evil once before._

Tsubaki's Hut, No POV  


As the shikigami continues to slither around the jewel fragment on the container, Tsubaki says to Naraku,

"I can kill her with my curse any time you wish."

"(Chuckle) What will you do now, Inuyasha: Be slain by Coraline...or will you flee, and by doing so, have Coraline killed? (Laugh) Suffer, Inuyasha!"

Kaede's Hut

The standoff continues inside the elder priestess's hut, and with great strain, Coraline mutters,

"G-Go, now, Inuyasha." He himself is conflicted on what course of action to take:

 _What do I do?_

"Run. Don't, risk y-your life. Save, yourself!"

Inuyasha could only stare intently at the redhead, while Freeman curses and thinks,

 _Damn...What the hell are we gonna do now?_


	68. Chapter 67

**Chapter 67: Kikyō and The Dark Priestess**

Continuing our tale, we zoom back within the hut of Tsubaki the Dark Priestess, as she gazes at the blackened and nearly completed Shikon-no-Tama with intent...

Naraku lets out another chuckle and comments,

"Very amusing. How does it feel, Inuyasha, to once again have the woman you love point an arrow at you?"

 _You can re-experience that very moment fifty years ago when Kikyō shot and killed you, only this time, it will be by Coraline's hands._

 _Relish the pain, Inuyasha. It won't last nearly long enough!_

Outside, we find Sango, Miroku and Besa back in the air on Kilala trying to come up with a strategy to get past the barrier:

"The barrier here is so strong..."

"Meaning the Dark Priestess must be inside. Looks like we finally found her."

Besa adds after Sango,

"Yeah, but I got a gut feeling getting past it won't be a walk in the park. (Turns to Miroku) Shall we try another combined effort again?"

Miroku nods, and he closes his eyes while murmuring a prayer...before snapping his pupils open and calling,

"Kilala, take us down!"

The twin-tailed cat demon charges to the barrier, and Besa crosses his wrists activating his crystal shard:

(...Sheen)

The shard emits a thin rainbow of light that surrounds all four, just as Kilala makes contact with the barrier:

(Bzzzt)

But try as they did...the barrier holds out, and pushes the cat demon and her passengers back:

"Aaah!"

"(Rowl)"

Kilala somersaults backwards before steadying herself, the three young teens managing to stay on. Miroku and Besa comment respectively,

"I hate to admit it, but it's too strong for me."

"And even my Seven Light shard didn't help...Shoot, now what?"

Sango suddenly notices another being present down below:

"Uh! Miroku, Besa: Look down there."

"Hm?"

They follow her gaze, and zooming to the ground, we see Kikyō walking towards the barrier, stopping to stare with narrowed eyes:

 _...I feel it. This demonic aura is sated with evil._

The spectators from up above were quite surprised by the wandering priestess's arrival:

"Kikyō!"

"Why is she here?"

...Said priestess then senses their presence, and glances up above:

 _Those are Inuyasha's friends._

Besa stares back and mutters,

"I wonder...Did she sense the Dark Priestess too?"

 _What are you gonna do now, Kikyō?_

Kikyō focuses on the giant barrier in front of her...before continuing her walk:

 _...What could be happening beyond this barrier?_

Somehow...she was able to pass through, much to the shock of the others:

"Uh!"

"You see that? She walked right in!"

"...What is she thinking?"

Scene Shift: Kaede's Hut

We jump back to where the rest of our group was (minus Shippo and Kaede, who were outside and not close enough to the hut to know what was going on), as a large, pink-purple barrier surrounds the hut, while inside, Coraline continues to have another arrow drawn at the perplexed Inuyasha, while Freeman stands near with an equally shocked expression:

 _Damn, this is bad! What are we gonna do?_

 _All it'll take is one bad move, and Inuyasha's gonna get shot!_

 _...Unless..._

He glances down at his shard of the Seven Light Crystal in thought:

 _...It's risky, but if it can create a shield around something with a strong demon aura like Tokijin..._

 _Maybe...(Grip) Okay, standby, Freeman!_

As Freeman prepares to rush in and defend for what could come next, we hear the echoed laugh of Naraku who's observing the scene from Tsubaki's hut with sadistic amusement:

"Choose, Inuyasha: Will you be slain by Coraline, or will you flee and save yourself?...If you run, Coraline will perish under the curse of the Dark Priestess."

(...Pulse)

"Hm?"

He then felt a shift in energy coming from where the jewel rested, and Tsubaki softly gasps, when she sees a ring of ice blue light beginning to manifest around the blackened jewel!

"What's this?!"

 _This Aura...Is this...the young woman's Soul?_

 _...I've never felt such power. Is this reincarnation that powerful?_

Back in Kaede's home, we see Coraline's body beginning to throb in an energy akin to the glow that appears in her eyes:

(Pulse...pulse...)

"Huh? Coraline?"

"Inu...yasha...Take, F-Freeman, and run."

 _I can...feel my Aura Powers...They're, trying to..._

"Coraline...Don't be stupid. As if I'd run, and leave you!"

With that, Inuyasha sprints forward, just as Naraku makes his voice echo in Coraline's mind:

 _"Kill Inuyasha."_

 _...No...If that, priestess can't make me, you won't either!_

 _Now get, OUT!_

(POW)

The redhead's body pulsates with a wave of ice blue energy, and Freeman gasps, before rushing forward to grasp Inuyasha from behind:

"Look out!"

(...Sheen)

Back to Tsubaki's Hut

(SHEEN)

"Uh!" "Rgh!"

Both dark priestess and demon cringe while blocking their eyes, as the jewel suddenly glows brightly in the same energy as Coraline's body does!

"Impossible! Her Soul is fighting my curse!"

...The glow finally dies down, and Tsubaki lowers her sleeve, before looking down to see the tainted jewel...now glowing in a mix of black and ice blue!

"...What has happened? Tell me, Tsubaki."

"I can't say for sure myself...but it seems the girl managed to falter my control over her...But at a cost, it seems: I can sense...her Soul is now trying to overwhelm her."

 _...Just what sort of wretch is this strange woman?_

"...Even so...there's a chance that burst of power may have killed Inuyasha instead of the arrow."

She then smiles grimly and comments,

"Naraku...you are truly evil: To force Kikyō's reincarnation, to try and kill the man that she loves, once again."

(SLICE)

Suddenly, the demon puppet is cut to pieces, and Tsubaki turns to see Kikyō standing in the doorway!

"Hm?! Kikyō?!"

"...Who are you?"

...Zooming away from Tsubaki's hut, we turn briefly to the cloaked stronghold of Naraku, who lets out a short laugh as he observes the events from Kanna's mirror, she and Kagura in attendance as well:

"Ha. It seems Kikyō has made her appearance." Kagura replies,

"Kikyō has? Do not underestimate that priestess...Are you sure we can trust her?"

By her, she meant Tsubaki, and Naraku says with a dark smile,

"Let her continue. We can take care of her after we see what she has planned."

Kaede's Hut

The dark barrier finally dissipates, and inside, we see Coraline still standing upright, her body throbbing more violently with the ice blue glow, she disarmed of her bow and arrow thanks to the earlier energy release...

Inuyasha and Freeman were kneeling towards the ground, a thin rainbow shield dimming away from in front of them...The latter lets out a quiet sigh of relief:

 _Thank god I made the shield in time..._

Inuyasha's focus was on the redhead's glowing body:

"...Coraline?"

(Pulse-pulse-pulse)

"Aaah! A-Aaah!"

Coraline grips the sides of her head in pain, as she thinks to herself,

 _D-Damn: My Aura Powers...They're, trying to, take, over...!_

"Inu...yasha! Help!"

She collapses to her knees, and said dog demon and Freeman rush to her sides:

"Coraline!"

"Sis, what's wrong?!"

"My...My Aura...It's, trying to, overpower me!"

Tears begin forming in Coraline's eyes, and Inuyasha reaches out to hold the struggling redhead:

"Coraline, hang in there. Just breathe; it's okay...You're safe..."

Freeman takes one of his sister's free hands and chides,

"Yeah, listen to him, Cor: You're okay now, and so are we. You managed to stop yourself from firing the arrow."

...Slowly, the pulsing energy ceases, and Coraline takes a few gulps of air, before whispering tiredly,

"...It stopped."

Both boys let out sighs of relief, and Inuyasha asks,

"Are you alright?"

"I think so...I kept hearing, a woman's voice...and then Naraku's, but, my Soul fought back, and used an energy wave to force them out."

Inuyasha and Freeman look at Coraline in surprise:

"...Coraline..."

"Wow, sis: That's amazing."

"Thanks..."

It was then she sensed it:

"Uh!"

She pulls back a bit from Inuyasha to look at him and says,

"I can, sense it: The Shikon-no-Tama. Please...take me there."

By this time, Kaede and Shippo had returned from the river with some more water, only to stop when they see Inuyasha, Coraline and Freeman emerge out of the hut:

"Coraline!"

"Coraline! Lie down; you're too sick to walk!"

...Lumos pops out of the hut and hovers over Coraline, before releasing a burst of energy:

(Twinkle...)

"(Small smile) Thank you, Lumos. (Turns back to Kaede and Shippo) The voices of the priestess and Naraku were evicted by my Aura Powers overwhelming me. If I don't go now, it could happen again."

"You're going to look for the jewel? The Dark Priestess is dangerous. The curse isn't lifted it."

"Maybe not, Kaede, but, my Soul has weakened it a touch...I'm sorry, but I have to do this."

Freeman hands her the ShatterSoul sword:

"Well, I know it'll be a bigger pain in the ass for ya to try and use an arrow, so here."

"Thanks, bro...Can you stay here and protect Shippo and Kaede?"

"(Nod) Of course. (Turns) And Inuyasha? Take good care of her."

Inuyasha nods, and hoists Coraline onto his back:

"I'll protect Coraline. Don't worry."

And he starts his dash off to where Tsubaki lays, much to Kaede's protest:

"Inuyasha!" Shippo watches them go with worry:

"I hope that she'll be alright. She's still in alot of pain."

"Coraline is a strong girl. She will be fine. Inuyasha will see to it. Let us all go inside and wait for them all to return safely."

Freeman lifts Shippo up and adds after Kaede,

"Yeah: Cora's not gonna take this lying down. She'll beat up the Dark Priestess first before a stupid curse gets the better of her."

Shippo smiles and sends his good wishes to the redhead:

"Take good care of yourself, Coraline."

Kaede looks to where Inuyasha ran off with a serious expression:

 _It's taking all of Coraline's will to endure her pain...Inuyasha, you mustn't let her perish!_

 _You must find a way to break the curse and save her!_

...We zoom into the forest, and see Inuyasha leap into the air as he pressed his speed to where Tsubaki would be, while Coraline rode his back. As he lands on the ground, Coraline whispers,

"Inuyasha...I'm, so sorry, for the arrow...and for almost, attacking you with my Aura."

He replies seriously,

"You didn't shoot, and your Soul was only trying to protect you. Don't even think that way."

She nods weakly, and buries her face into his robes while thinking,

 _He's right...but unless something is done...I may not be able to suppress my powers next time._

Meanwhile, Miroku, Sango, Besa and Kilala were in the air again, becoming frustrated by the barrier resurrected by the dark priestess:

"The enemy is so close, yet out of our reach!"

Miroku replies,

"The Dark Priestess's curse is working its evil even as we speak."

Sango comments just as worried,

"Coraline won't be able to endure it for much longer."

"Breaking through this barrier might be next-to-impossible." Besa retorts,

"That can't be true. Kikyō was able to get inside...It was strange, though: She looked at the barrier like she, recognized its power. I'm almost wondering if she might know the Dark Priestess from the past."

"You think?"

"Can't say for sure...The only way to find out is to get inside. So let's all put our hearts together and try again, for Cora!"

The other two nod, and Sango replies,

"Well, it's better than doing nothing. Come on, guys, let's go."

"Right!" "Let's do this!"

"Kilala!"

With a determined growl, Kilala dives at the barrier again...Inside the hut, we find Tsubaki and Kikyō glaring at one another, before the former speaks up first:

"What is this? This girl, Coraline...she is your reincarnation, is she not, Kikyō?"

The other priestess glances over where the nearly complete jewel rested, noticing the ice blue glow that was trying to overtake the black:

 _Hm...The energy of her Soul is trying to cancel the curse..._

 _(Slight nod) Do what you can, Coraline._

"Tsubaki...I see that you've placed a curse on Coraline. Your powers will be useless on the girl."

"Hmph. Don't underestimate me, Kikyō. I've changed since you last defeated me."

Kikyō sees the scar of the fifty-year curse appear over Tsubaki's eye:

"So I see...One glance tells me the entire account: Tsubaki, I know that you've sold your Soul in exchange for youth."

"Clever girl. For youth and for beauty, though."

Flashback

 _We see a younger Tsubaki admiring her reflection in a mirror:_

 _Ah, this youth and beauty...(Frown) Someday, I shall lose it._

 _She looks up as she ponders,  
_

 _Is this the fate of all mortals?_

 _No. If I can take possession of the Shikon-no-Tama_ _Kikyō guards, then my beauty shall become eternal.  
_

 _I can defeat_ _Kikyō now, while she is infatuated with the half-demon!  
_

 _We cut to a while after Inuyasha and Kikyō's discussion regarding using the jewel to change their fates, as she walks through a clearing surrounded by Sakura Trees...  
_

 _Tsubaki comes on scene not too far behind_ _Kikyō, and summons her demon ally:  
_

 _"Arise, my Shikigami!"_

 _The snake manifests and curls around Tsubaki:_

 _"Kill_ _Kikyō, and steal the Shikon-no-Tama for me. Go!"  
_

 _The Shikigami springs forward towards_ _Kikyō, but she swiftly turns around and uses her bow to whack the demon back at Tsubaki!  
_

 _"Aaaaahhhhh!"_

"That day, fifty years ago, you inflicted me with my own curse, Kikyō!"

 _Later on, we find Tsubaki hurry back to her home to see what the curse had done to her:_

 _"My face! My beautiful face!"_

 _Hesitant, she picks up her mirror, only to drop it with a shriek, when she sees the scale-patterned scar the Shikigami curse left behind on her right eye..._

End of Flashback

The scar fades from view as Tsubaki adds,

"I wasn't able to steal the Shikon-no-Tama from you, but I collaborated with a demon, and hence gained eternal youth and beauty...not to mention my own demon power!"

"How foolish."

"You're one to talk. Tell me, how is it that you appear before me, exactly as you did fifty years ago?"

Tsuabki then gasps a bit, when she sees a mysterious Aura appear around the other's body:

"Kikyō! You're...you're dead! (Smirk) That body you're inhabiting is neither mortal nor that of a demon! It's a counterfeit...Kikyō, you walk by the grace of Dead Souls, yet you dare lecture me?"

She does not deny her make-up, but replies,

"I merely came to ascertain the cause of the demon aura. I care not what happens to you, Tsubaki."

She then directs her eyes to the exit, sensing two bodies coming:

"They're coming closer."

Tsubaki is confused...but then turns to see the ice blue light around the jewel get stronger, the black dimming!

"What?!"

We cut over to the forest canopy near the dark priestess's barrier, as Inuyasha and Coraline close in...Coraline suddenly asks,

"Inuyasha...why didn't you run and save yourself?"

"Look, I already told you: I would never leave you, Coraline."

"Am I really worth it, though? The last thing I want...is for your heart to be hurt again like, fifty years ago."

"Well, that's a chance I had to take. I wasn't gonna run away! I'm staying with you, so you better get used to it!"

 _...Inuyasha...(Small smile) Thank you._

By this time, they had reached their destination, and Inuyasha leaps high into the air, giving him and Coraline a perfect view of the barrier:

"Uh!"

Miroku senses them, and turns to see them approaching:

"Inuyasha, Coraline!"

Sango and Besa turn to see as well, widening their eyes, as Coraline raises herself and pulls out her sword:

 _The Dark Priestess is in there...Time to take out that barrier!_

Inside her hut, Tsubaki is taken aback as the jewel continues to gradually lighten and throb from the ice blue glow:

"What's happening?! The jewel is being purified! (Turns to Kikyō) This is the work of that reincarnation of yours, isn't it?! This, Coraline?!"

Kikyō calmly replies,

"I already told you, Tsubaki: A curse from the likes of you will have no effect on Coraline...especially with those mysterious, Aura Reader powers of hers."

"Aura Reader?! What nonsense do you speak of?! How dare you! This is your fault for your unwanted appearance!"

Outside, Coraline takes a deep breath, focusing her spiritual strength into her blade:

"Time to cut this barrier down to size!"

(Sheen)

" _Spirit Slash!_ "

(Slash, pow)

She swings her blade from high above her head, and the slash mark flies through the air before hitting dead-on, forcing the barrier to disintegrate, much to Miroku's surprise:

"Coraline broke through it!"

The excess power of the barrier surrounds the hut in a wind vortex, before disappearing just as quick...Tsubaki looks outside to see what had happened:

 _My barrier...(Looks up and gasps) It's him: Inuyasha!_

"(Grumbles) Oh no...Coraline missed him!"

That didn't escape Kikyō's ears, and she frowns, before shooting two arrows at Tsubaki, with one pinning her robe to the doorway, the other landing dangerously close to her neck!

"Kikyō! Wh-What are you doing?!"

"Silence! What did you just say?! Speak the truth: You had Coraline attempt to slay Inuyasha?!"

"(Smirk) Hah, what ails you? Some unpleasant memories, perhaps? You are correct: I drove Coraline to shoot the arrow...Ironic, isn't it? It was the same way you killed Inuyasha years ago."

 _And who knows? Even though the arrow did miss, I bet the girl almost killed him with that mysterious Soul power of hers..._

...Kikyō's body writhes with anger, and as she steps forward, we see that her rage was so great, her foot burns some of the remains of Naraku's demon puppet!

"Uh!"

She grasps some of Tsubaki's hair and pulls her head backwards, before sending the following warning:

"Tsubaki...do as you please with Coraline, for I have to intention of interfering... _But if you should do any harm to Inuyasha...I will personally see to your demise._ "

The dark priestess winces...but then grabs an arrow from the door frame and tries to take a swing at Kikyō:

"You, wench! How dare you presume I would fear you!"

"Be warned, and heed my words: _It was no idle threat._ "

With that, the wandering priestess fades away, leaving Tsubaki to relax a bit upon the other's departure...Back outside, Inuyasha stops in front of the hut, just as the others come to land:

"Inuyasha!" "Coraline!"

"Sis, you're up!"

Inuyasha turns to them and says,

"Good timing," as Coraline focuses her attention on the hut:

"...The jewel is inside. So is that damned priestess who cursed me and tried to use me as a puppet."

A gust of wind passes...before the hut door creaks open, revealing Tsubaki and her Shikigami at ready, stopping at the foot of the top stair.  
Inuyasha would be the first to address:

"Are you the Dark Priestess?"

"I am known as Tsubaki...Are you Inuyasha? Kikyō's lover?"

"Huh?"

Miroku then asks,

"Hey, Tsubaki: What have you done with Kikyō? I know she was in there!"

Inuyasha widens his eyes at the mention of the wandering priestess, as Sango and Besa press the subject:

"Don't deny it, I saw her as well! I saw her come in here."

"Same here! She walked inside your barrier no problem!"

Tsubaki hmphs with a smirk...before saying to the dog demon of the group,

"That Kikyō...Inuyasha, she came here to ask me to spare your life."

Coraline feels Inuyasha stiffen, and she smiles sadly while thinking,

 _Seems I was right: Kikyō's feelings for Inuyasha remain, even though her darkness is calling the shots..._

Tsubaki adds,

"She can't face death, because she loves you, so she borrows the Spirits of the Dead."

Inuyasha then says to the others,

"Miroku, Sango, Besa! Watch over Coraline!"

They nod, and quickly rush over to the redhead as she was gently set to the ground:

"Are you alright, Coraline?"

"Hangin' in there..."

Lumos floats off of her shoulder, before providing a bit of strength to the weakening girl:

(Twinkle...)

"Thanks, Lumos..."

Inuyasha meanwhile focuses on Tsubaki:

"What's the deal? You seem to know an awful lot about all of us, and you used a foul curse to possess Coraline and get her to try and kill me! I bet you made a pact with Naraku!"

"Ha, and what of it?"

"I'll tell you what: You're going down!"

(Dash)

" _Tessai-_ "

"Draw your sword and Coraline will die!"

Inuyasha freezes in his tracks, and Tsubaki adds,

"Pathetic fool: My curse has not yet been broken! (Holds up the dark jewel) As long as I hold the Shikon-no-Tama in my hand, Coraline's life belongs to me!"

They all see the tainted jewel, and Sango and Besa mutter,

"Why that...!"

"Not good..."

Coraline notices the ice blue outline around the jewel:

 _Huh? Is that...Just like my power...Could it be that my earlier burst of power tapped into the jewel?_

The shikigami slithers loosely around Tsubaki's wrist...as she closes her palm around the jewel and squeezes tight:

(Pulse)

"Aaaagh!"

Coraline cries out in pain, the glow of the black shards emitting from her neck!

"Coraline!" Besa notes the glow on Coraline's skin:

"Those cursed shards are hurting her! (Turn) Hey: Knock it off!"

As Tsubaki opens her palm again, we see the jewel being bathed in black again:

 _The evil has returned..._

 _(Looks to Coraline) The poor girl: Not even she can thwart the jewel's power..._

(Pulse)

"Hm?"

She looks down...and sees the ice blue outline returning over the jewel:

 _Tch, even so, it seems that earlier burst of strength has not left...Her Soul is doing its damnedest, I'll give her that much, but this, plus the breaking of my barrier, was purely due to Kikyō's interference distracting my concentration on the curse._

 _(Flash)_

 _"...A curse by the likes of you will have no effect on Coraline..."_

 _(Flash)_

 _Kikyō certainly thinks highly of Coraline's abilities..._

Inuyasha's eye twitches in anger from Tsuabki's actions:

"Why you dirty, conniving witch!"

She starts walking down the stairs, replying,

"I will do anything order to posses the whole Shikon-no-Tama."

 _Inuyasha: You shall be the first to perish._

...Her curse appears over her eye once again, before her iris glows red, and she releases a demonic smoke from her eye!

Coraline exclaims from her seat,

"Do you see that?!" Besa replies,

"It looks like...a demon! Or a wispy form of one..."

The smoke flies at Inuyasha, who jumps out of the way in time, before running from the charging force...Miroku then realizes what's going on:

"Uh, that priestess: She harbours demons inside her body!"

After another minute or two of chasing, the smoke shoots out in front of Inuyasha, forcing him to stop, as it solidifies into giant, three-tailed kitsune with purple-gray fur!

Inuyasha growls, before leaping at the demon with his claws:

(Slash)

He lands a good hit at the demon, but not enough to kill it...Landing on the ground, he prepares to draw his Tessaiga, but is stopped by Tsuabki warning,

"Do not draw your sword, Inuyasha...or I shall curse Coraline to death."

...He reluctantly releases the hilt of his blade, and Tsubaki laughs before adding,

"Fight your pathetic battle and die at the hands of my demon!"

Inuyasha growls in anger...Coraline looks over at his form with a mix of frustration and worry:

 _This isn't fair...I have to stop this curse..._

 _(Clenches her fist)_

 _And I might have to let my Aura take over to do it..._

"The Dark Priestess has rendered Inuyasha totally helpless." Sango wonders after Miroku,

"But what can we do about it?"

Coraline takes in a breath...before drawing on her Aura powers:

(Pulse, pulse...)

"Huh? Sis, what are you doing?"

"What, I have to. (Shouts) Kill the demon, Inuyasha! I can handle this stupid curse!"

Inuyasha looks over at the redhead, noticing the glow that was manifesting dimly around her body:

"...Coraline? (Muttering) Wait...Gh!"

 _No! She's going to allow her Soul to overpower her again!_

Before he could call back at her to stop what she was trying to do, Tsubaki laughs and shouts,

"Kill him, my precious demon!"

The kitsune leaps upward, and tries to take Inuyasha down with a paw, but he manages to leap out of the way in time:

(Crash)

He backflips onto the ground, before jumping out of the path of another attack, sliding to the ground, and then charging at the kitsune with a counter:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Whack)

"Guh!"

But the kitsune was faster, and slaps Inuyasha to the ground with its paw, who barely manages to roll to his feet again safely...Coraline cringes a bit from the curse and her pulsing power, before muttering weakly,

"...You can do it, Inuyasha..." Tsubaki watches the struggling dog demon with a sneer:

 _(Laugh) Without your sword, you are helpless! Now you shall become fodder for my demon, Inuyasha, hehehahahaha!_

The kitsune and Inuyasha glare at one another with their own growls, the latter muttering,

"Why, you...!"

 _Curse that Tsubaki to Hell! Hang in there, Coraline: I'll destroy this beast and that witch before you exhaust yourself out._

 _Just please, stay strong!_


	69. Chapter 68

**Chapter 68: Tsubaki's Unrelenting Evil Spell**

The kitsune and Inuyasha continue to stare eachother down, before the former snarls and leaps at the latter. Inuyasha dodges, but the kitsune continues its pressure of vicious attacks, turning up the ground...

After a few more misses, the demon finally gets an opening, and brings its claws down on Inuyasha's stomach:

(Slash)

"Aaaaaaagh!" Blood spills as Miroku calls out,

"Inuyasha!"

Luckily, being a half-demon, his strength holds out, and Inuaysha lands on the ground safely, despite having a new wound...Tsubaki then laughs and jeers,

"Now do you understand?! Your measures are all in vain! Surrender and find a new home inside my demon's belly!"

Inuyasha grits his teeth while holding a hand over his wound, before retorting with a grim smirk,

"So what if I can't use the Tessaiga? (Holds out his bloody claws) I only need one arm to take out that repulsive demon (Knuckle crack)!"

"Hold your tongue!"

The kitsune leaps at Inuyasha again, but the latter hops backwards, before releasing his counterattack:

" _Blades of Blood!_ "

(Slash-slash-slash)

He hits the mark, cutting across the demon's face and right eye, causing it to howl in pain...Tsubaki grinds her teeth, while Inuyasha smirks as he lands on the ground again.

"Don't be so sure of yourself!"

She then squeezes the tainted jewel, forcing more pressure onto her curse, and Coraline lets out a cry of pain:

"Aaargh! Aaaah!"

Sango holds her by her shoulders as she, Miroku and Besa look at her with worry:

"Coraline!" "Sis, hang on!"

Inuyasha looks back with concern:

"Coraline! (Glares at Tsubaki) Why you...!"

"Do not forget, Inuyasha: _I hold Coraline's life before my very hand._ "

(Pulse...pulse...pulse...)

"M-Maybe so, but who says, I'm goin' down, quietly?"

"Hm?"

She looks over at Coraline, who glares at her with glowing blue eyes, her body throbbing similarly:

"I'll use, every ounce of my power, to take you with me, after I take down your stupid curse-Aah!"

"Tch..."

Tsubaki sneers at Coraline, before attention is momentarily focused on the kitsune, as the wounds on its face heal over! Inuyasha growls in frustration:

 _Damn...what am I gonna do?_

On the sidelines, Sango asks Coraline,

"Are you alright? Are you in pain, Coraline?"

"Y-Yeah, but pain is the, least of my worries...I-If this curse keeps up, my Soul will invoke last resort, and o-overpower me."

"Overpower you?"

"Mhm...A-And this time, I won't, be able to stop it. My power will explode, and...I won't be the only victim: Everyone in this vicinity will likely get h-hit by the backlash too."

Coraline smiles grimly and adds,

"But hey: Worse comes to worst, if all does go to Hell like that, just g-get out of this clearing, and I'm sure it'll just be me and Tsubaki."

Sango, Miroku and Besa look at her in shock:

"...Coraline..."

Sango looks up to the monk with a serious look and says,

"Come on, Miroku: We need to help Inuyasha. Coraline won't be able to last for very long."

"Hold on: I figure Tsubaki intends to kill Coraline whether Inuyasha wins or loses this battle."

"You mean..."

"Yes. (Focuses ahead) Our only hope is to find a way is to break Tsubaki's curse. Either we destroy Tsubaki, or the Shikigami, her demon puppet."

Besa looks over at the snake demon with intent:

"Hang on...Cora said that she felt fangs bite her ankle when we came out of the Well earlier today, but they felt, transparent, like a phantom bite...It must've been that beast!"

"Just as I was thinking...I'm almost certain that's it."

Miroku rises to his feet and adds,

"Help me out, Sango!" She replies to his charging form,

"Count on it," and Besa says to her,

"Hand Cora to me: I'll keep her safe."

So with that plan made, Miroku runs past the giant kitsune, creating a diversion for Sango to unleash her weapon:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...)

The kitsune turns to the call, and leaps over to slap the boomerang away, while Miroku continues his run to Tsubaki, before throwing some sacred sutras her way:

"Hrah!"

Tsubaki smirks at the monk's attack:

 _Hah, exorcism sutras..._

She then whacks them away with her sleeve:

"They are useless on me!"

The Shikigami raises its head with a snarling hiss, and the sutras burn to ash, much to Miroku's shock:

"Uh!"

"Fool! My curse cannot be broken!"

Miroku then barely dodges the kitsune, but then falls backwards from the force of power:

"Ah! Oh no!"

He's left wide open for another attack, but then Inuaysha jumps in and grabs him just in time:

"Miroku!"

They land safely away from the attack, and Tsubaki jeers,

"You seem to enjoy pain. Just remember that the longer you resist me, the longer her suffering will be prolonged..."

We look over at Coraline, who was laying in Besa's lap, as her breathing becomes strained and heavy while her body throbs a touch more violently from her Aura power:

(Pulse...pulse, pulse...)

 _D-Damn...I don't know, how much, longer I can hold back..._

"It would be so easy to end... _Shall I send Coraline to her very demise this very instant?_ "

Tsubaki squeezes the jewel once again, sending another torrent of pain to the struggling redhead, who writhes and lets out a small scream:

"AAAH!"

Besa tries to urge her to hang on:

"Coraline! Coraline, come on! (Widens eyes) Shit, she's unconscious...Cora! Wake up!"

Coraline's POV

 _I, hear you, Besa. I'll be back in a moment...Just wait for me, bro..._

...Suddenly, there came an odd but quiet sound of...wheels?

 _Huh? That sounds like...a car? But how?_

"...raline! Coraline! Coraline!"

 _That voice...It sounds like..._

"Coraline, wake up, or you're going to be late for your meeting with the professor at the museum."

I snap my eyes open:

 _Akari-sama!_

I look over, and find myself staring at her form...inside my room!

 _What? How? How can I be here?!_

"Come now, Coraline: You're usually up earlier than this."

I sit up, and ask anxiously,

"Where is Sango? And Inuyasha, Miroku? And Besa! This can't be right: How in the heck am I back in this era?!"

"Oh my: Sounds like quite the dream."

 _...Dream?_

Akari-sama begins walking out of the room, and stops at the doorway to add with a smile,

"Hurry and come downstairs. Breakfast will be ready for you."

And she was gone, leaving me to sit on my bed in confusion:

"...Something's wrong. Really wrong."

After a minute, I decide to get dressed and head downstairs for some answers. Souta greets me as I enter the room:

"Oh, good morning, Cora."

"Mornin', Souta, Grandfather."

They nod at me, and as I sit in my seat, the elder of the two notices my troubled look:

"Is something wrong, my dear girl? You look a little rattled."

"Um, well...(Looks up) Is it possible one of you can tell me when exactly I returned home?"

"Returned home?"

"What do you mean? Did you go somewhere?"

 _They have the same look Akari had before: Totally clueless._

 _I'd almost say they're playing dumb, but..._

"Come now, surely you two of all people know: I've been jumpin' back and forth between this era and the Sengoku era for the past couple months now. The old Bone Eater's Well is the gateway, to a world where demons run amok with humans."

Grandfather looks at me with shock:

"Uh! You went into that old well?!"

"Yes! More times I can count, actually! What about Inuyasha? Don't either of you remember him?"

"Inuyasha?" "What on earth is that?"

It was my turn to look shocked:

 _How can they not remember Inuyasha?!_

 _...I wonder...The well..._

I jump out of my seat, and make my way to the outside:

"Please excuse me: I have to go check on something!"

I run out the door, and head to the old well-house, where I would discover...the well...sealed up...

"No...No, this can't be right!"

I hear footsteps stop by the entrance, and hear Souta call down,

"Coraline, are you okay? What's wrong, sis?"

I could only stare at the seals and planks, my mind stuck in a frozen panic:

 _What the hell is going on?!_

Small Time Skip

After eating and gathering my things for this, meeting I had (I asked Akari-sama for details as I had no idea what she was talking about anymore then she did me), I made my way away from home, and found myself wandering the streets of Tokyo, having nothing to do for another two hours until I had to go to the museum...other than rack my brain for an explanation:

 _This whole experience can't have been a dream..._

 _Is this the priestess's doing?_

 _...Or maybe Bill is screwing with my head again. Nah, can't be him: This is too tame._

About halfway through my excursion downtown, I met up with Besa and Freeman, neither showing any signs of battle wear or knowing anything about Inuyasha and the others from Edo (I avoided asking because my gut told me I'd likely get the same reactions the Higurashis gave me)...

"...You feelin' okay, Cor?"

"H-Huh?"

I look up from the pavement and see my brothers staring at me with concern:

"You look bothered by something..."

"Umm..."

"Is something nagging you?"

"Like...boy problems?"

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion:

"Boy problems?"

"What? Don't tell me you forgot about him?"

"Yeah: You and Hōjō have been seein' one another for a few weeks now."

That caught me off-guard:

 _H_ _ōj_ _ō?!_

"Whoa whoa, what?! Who the hell said I was dating Hōjō?! Doesn't he already have a girlfriend, Yumi?"

It was their turn to look taken aback:

"Yumi? Who's she?"

"Are you sayin' ya caught Hōjō cheating on you?"

"No! I'm saying he's been dating her, and we've never been a thing at all!"

Neither brother looked convinced...and then Freeman puts the back of his hand against my forehead:

"You sure you're okay, sis? Maybe you should reschedule that meeting with the professor."

I just sigh in exasperation...A while later, I find myself sitting in a waiting room in the museum, and ponder over this new scenario while waiting for this professor:

 _I don't understand this...Have I somehow been tossed back into my old life?_

"Miss, Coraline Higurashi-Croft?"

I perk up at my name being called by the receptionist:

"Um, yes?"

"Professor Hashimoto will see you now."

"(Slight smile) Thank you."

Come another hour, I walk out of the museum and make my way to the park as I go over what was discussed:

 _That's right, I remember: Before I was pulled into the Well, Akari-sama and I were trying to schedule a meeting with Professor Hashimoto to start some early Anthropology training..._

 _But, we were unsuccessful...Yet here I am, walking away with the green-light to begin apprenticing for my dream career._

I stop to stare at some flowering Cherry Blossom trees, and add,

 _...That is how I envisioned my life to be: Study hard and become an Anthropologist._

 _...But that was...before..._

"...Coraline!"

"Hm?"

I turn to the right, and see Hōjō coming up on his bicycle:

"Oh, hey there."

He stops in front of me, and pulls out a gift wrapped in light blue paper:

"Here, I got something for you..."

Turns out the gift was some bamboo:

"This'll cheer you up, and work wonders on the acupuncture of your Soul. One step and you'll be sold."

I look up at him with a smile between sweet and fake:

"Thank you."

 _At least he remains unchanged...other than not being with Yumi._

 _Wonder where she is?_

I soon cross the streets to head home, my mind still convinced something's wrong:

 _This all seems too plain...Too, boring to be real..._

"I wanna have lots of kids."

"(Giggle) You're such a joker!"

I freeze at the end of the crosswalk, and turn to see some familiar forms in modern clothing:

 _...Sango?...Miroku?_

I rub my eyes with my one hand, and shake my head before walking on:

"No, that's ridiculous..."

Eventually, I return home as the sun begins setting, feeling low and muddled by these strange turns...

"Grandma! Buy me a Shikon-no-Tama key holder!"

"Sure."

"Shikon-no-Tama, you say?"

That caught my attention:

 _The Shikon-no-Tama!_

I look over to see two familiar figures standing by Grandfather, also wearing modern clothing, as they take one of the key-chain fobs:

 _...Shippo? And...Kaede?_

Before I could make any sense out of this, I feel my neck spike in pain:

"Aaah! Aaagh!"

 _What, is, this?!_

My vision becomes hazy...before fading to black...

"Mm...mm?"

I awake in my bed, feeling better, but lightheaded:

 _...What just happened?_

"(Meow)"

"Hm? Oh, Buyo..."

I smile a bit at the cat, before gently picking him up and placing him in my lap, petting him while saying,

"...Buyo, I think there's something serious going on. My mind feels...clouded."

I feel him shift in bliss from my scratching fingers, as I try to figure out what's wrong:

"It's weird...I feel like I should be heading for somewhere and doing something...but I can't put it to words...And, I can't even remember yesterday, if there was one."

Buyo hops off my lap, and as I watch him leave...I saw a shift of appearance...before it quickly went back to normal:

"(Gasp)"

 _What the...That wasn't Buyo..._

I run a hand over my face as I say aloud,

"Now I'm worried...My thoughts feel like the inside of a blender: Everything's too mixed together for any sense to come out."

 _One thing I'm certain of, is this feeling of duty...But for what?_

 _What is it exactly I'm supposed to be doing?_

Time passes, my routine consisting of studying in my room, hanging with my brothers and sometimes Hōjō, and beginning the apprenticeship at the museum, which in my case would be practicing cataloguing and helping out with examining artifacts...

I'm in the backroom of the museum now, wearing a borrowed lab-coat over a plain blue shirt, jeans and my hikers, while looking over some old pottery pieces...I pause to write some observations, while my right hand absentmindedly rubs my neck:

 _This pain is becoming dull...I barely notice it coming now._

Once I was done for the day, I exit the museum, and find myself walking by the fence of Hōjō's school, my mind even more blank than usual:

 _...Who am I?_

 _...What is my purpose?_

 _And why...do I feel this strong rise of nerves, like this is all a sham?_

(Twok, tok)

(Pulse)

"Huh?!"

I feel this, surge of adrenaline at the sounds I heard, and turn to look in the distance where the archery club meets:

 _...Down there. Maybe there I can get an answer!_

I hurry down, just as the instructor makes another call to some other team members:

"Alright: Next up!"

I stare at her form for a minute, narrowing my eyes in thought:

 _Odd...I feel like I know her from somewhere..._

"Ah. You've finally arrived."

"Hm? O-Oh, sorry...Wait: You were expecting me?"

The woman doesn't answer my question, and instead asks one of her own:

"Do you want to try?"

"...Me?"

"(Nod) Isn't that why you've come?"

I stare at the offered bow...before nodding and grasping it:

 _I guess giving a go wouldn't hurt._

She guides me to the firing area, and I ready myself to fire:

"Aim for that target. Take your time."

"Right."

I pull back the arrow on the drawstring...

"Your line is good."

I nod, and stare right at the bullseye:

 _Aim true..._

(Twok, tok)

The arrow does land in the target, but not in the center...I curse quietly, before the woman comments,

"You need more practice. Your concentration is lacking."

 _Oh if only she knew..._

As she turns to walk away, I find myself asking her,

"Have we, met before? What is your-"

"Who are you?"

"...Pardon?"

"Who are you?"

"Me? I'm..."

 _What's wrong with me? I can't even remember my own name..._

"Are you...Are you me?"

"You? I, don't think so..."

"Hm...(Turns away) Watch yourself...or you'll end up killing Inuyasha just as I did."

That name struck something in me:

"Inuyasha?!"

(Pulse)

"Aaah!"

 _"Coraline!" "Sis!"_

 _Those, voices..I know them...Where are they?_

No POV

We return to what's revealed as the real world, and see Coraline writhing in pain from Tsubaki's relentless curse as it messes with her mind. Sango and Besa watch with helpless worry:

"Hang in there, Coraline!"

"Come on, sis, wake up!"

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was pressed with fighting and dodging the kitsune, who shows no end to its attacks...

Suddenly, Coraline weakly cries out,

"In...Inu...yasha!"

Coraline's POV

I'm on my knees gripping the side of my neck, before noticing the background changing into that of a void:

 _This...this isn't real! I knew it!_

I see the woman whose name escapes me walking away, and struggle to stand up while calling,

"Wait! Please! Don't go!"

She does not reply, and I begin running after her, my pain forgotten:

"I said wait! Please, tell me what's going on!"

She turns to me with a stern expression and says,

"Tell me who you are!"

"(Glare) I don't know, and quite frankly, I don't care!"

"This is a world of your making! You have decided who you are. So answer me: Tell me who you are!"

...Suddenly, the entire world freezes, and the woman fades from view:

"Huh?...Now what?"

 **"(Laugh) Oh wow, you really got yourself in a mess this time, huh, Little Doll?"**

 _...That voice...Again, familiar, but no name comes to mind._

I walk a few hesitant steps forward and ask into the void,

"...Is that my name? Little Doll?"

 **"Nope! That's just my personal nickname for ya! Geez, how can ya not remember your name?! The curse of that gray-haired witch can't be that powerful to give you amnesia, can it?!"**

...Next thing I knew, a being shaped like a yellow triangle pops out in front of me:

"Gah! Who are you?!"

 **"Oh-hoh no: You're not starting that game with me like Fushia Arrow was with you, missy! (Groan) Okay, time for some quick therapy!"**

Before I could ask him what he meant, he snaps his fingers, and makes a cane appear...before swinging it to hit the top of my head:

(Bonk)

"Ouch!"

But as it turned out, it actually did more good than hurt:

(Whoosh)

"Uh!"

 _I...I remember it all now!_

 _And, my name is...Coraline. Coraline Croft._

"(Looks up) And you're Bill Cipher, the demon I made a pact with!"

 **"Ding-ding-ding, give the cutie a prize! Glad to see your head's back on straight! Can't have you skippin' out on our deal 'cause of a bit of memory suppression, right~?"**

"(Deadpan) Really? That was your motive?"

 **"Duuuuh! And...maybe I wanted to try doing a good Samaritan act for a change. I can be very unpredictable, as you well know!"**

He laughs and adds,

 **"Not that my interference would matter much: You were actually on the right track all on your own!"**

"...I was?"

 **"Mhm! Your Soul's more powerful than you give yourself credit for...bu~t nothin' wrong with getting some extra help. Oh, and another thing: What you were planning on doin' before this regarding your Aura Reader powers? Bad idea."**

"What do you mean?"

 **"I mean that if you allow yourself to explode your Soul energy, you'll end up doing more damage than you think. I wouldn't be surprised if you'd leave a crater as big as that hag's earlier shield!"**

"Uh! I...Is my Soul really that potent?!"

 **"Mm, yes and no. Depends on how much stress you put on it."**

The world suddenly begins fading out:

"Uh!"

 **"Ulp, looks like you're wakin' up, hun! Oh, word to the wise: If you really wanna get a leg over this curse, don't go into suicide mode! Just stay calm, breathe and dig deep!"**

"How's that gonna help me?!"

 **"You'll get it once you're up, trust me! Now get out there, and show everyone you're done with the reincarnation title!"**

Reality, No POV

Coraline's eyes snap awake:

"Gh!"

Besa and Sango look down in surprise and concern:

"Coraline!"

"Sis, you okay?!"

But her focus was on the dog demon fighting:

"...Inuyasha."

 _...That tears it: This ends now._

As she psyches herself up for battle, Inuyasha slides back on the ground, before leaping up and clawing at the kitsune, it retaliating with a whack from its tail:

"Gah!"

(Crash)

He slides back hard, and the kitsune springs at him, just as Coraline stands up with her sword in hand:

"Inuyasha!"

(Slash)

The ice blue cut mark flies across the grass and dirt, barely missing the kitsune other than a light cut on its right legs, before blasting the side of Tsubaki's hut:

(Crash...)

"Gh! (Focuses up front) Wench! Why are you still able to move?!"

Coraline smirks grimly at Tsubaki and retorts,

"Who knows? Maybe karma's switching sides!"

"Huh, well you've certainly managed to endure my spell. So it would seem that you are Kikyō's reincarnation after all. (Smirk) Although, if you were the real Kikyō, you would've tried and succeeded in shooting me with an arrow, and not that strange sword of yours...meaning you're an imitation...Nay, you wouldn't even be close to being an imitation of Kikyō."

...Coraline feels a chuckle bubble in her throat, before she bursts into hysterical laughter, causing everyone to look at her funny:

"Coraline?" "Sis, are you...feelin' okay?"

Tsubaki narrows her eyes at the redhead:

"...What could you possibly find so amusing?"

Coraline calms down, and says with a smile,

"You know...I gotta give Naraku points for trying: This was actually one of his better schemes!"

She looks up to the sky and shouts,

"And if you're listening to this, you arachnid bastard, as soon as I behead this bitch, I'm comin' after you next!"

That threat does not sit well with Tsubaki:

"You, behead me?! How dare you!"

She then flinches a bit when Coraline directs at her again, a nasty glare on her face:

"But I'll put him as an afterthought for now: My main target is you."

Coraline takes a few steps forward, as her blade begins glowing in rings of blue light:

"I must admit... _I never thought I'd have the pleasure of meeting a priestess who's found a way to completely drown herself in darkness_...At least Kikyō's managing to stay on the shoreline, despite her Soul only being half of what it once was."

"...Only half?"

"Oh, didn't you know? I'm actually not her true reincarnation. I'm really more of a, security box, currently keeping the light half of her Soul safe with my whole Soul, while she's walking around with her dark half...(Sad frown) It's a damn shame that's how things went down after that episode with Urasue, but, at least she hasn't turned evil, thank god. (Small smile) Kikyō is still her. She's just...confused about where her morals are at present."

Inuyasha could only stare at the redhead in amazement:

"...Coraline."

"You, on the other hand, Tsubaki, have submerged so deep into the dark, (Smirk) that I wouldn't be surprised if your wounds were to spout black ink instead of red blood."

"Gh! Wretch!"

"No...Not wretch."

Coraline raises her blade at the ready:

"My name is Coraline Croft: I am my own person, and not a replacement for someone else! And you can take that to Hell!"

(Slash)

She sends another Aura attack at Tsubaki, but just like the first round, it barely misses, landing at the foot of the stairs:

(Crash...)

...In the distance, we see the wandering priestess stare down at the area from atop a cliff-side...before turning to walk away...Back down below, Tsubaki smirks at the attempted attack and says,

"You are a sharp-tongued fool, rushing to your death."

She gestures her Shikigami forward, and squeezes its head to release more of Coraline's blood, dripping from the fangs and onto the jewel. The action intensifies the curse, and Coraline grasps her throat in a way like she was choking, and barely holds her grip on ShatterSoul before collapsing on her front!

"Coraline!" "No, Cora!"

"Coraline!"

Lumos flies over, and cries out in alarm to try and rouse Coraline to move, just as the kitsune springs at her!

"CORALINE!"

Inuyasha wastes no time, and leaps over to snatch up the redhead into his arms as Lumos dives away, while Besa and Sango run fast with Kilala, dodging the kitsune as well!

The dog demon looks down at Coraline with concern:

 _She won't last for much longer..._

He lands back on the ground, and holds her up in a sitting position while urging,

"Coraline...just be strong a bit longer!"

"(Weak smile) No, prob...Sorry, I couldn't land a hit, on Tsubaki. I, tried..."

"Coraline..."

Tsubaki then shouts,

"I've had enough of you two!"

She then sends her kitsune to attack them, but Inuyasha was determined to defend:

"(Growl) I'll never let you kill her!"

(Leap)

"You better stay out of my way! _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(SLASH)

This time, his strength prevails, and he cuts the demon right down its middle from snout to tail! Inuyasha continues his trajectory towards the dark priestess:

"This is the end, Tsubaki!"

(SLASH)

His claws cut down on her Shikigami, and the head of the serpent flies to the grass, wide-open for Miroku to finish it off:

"Well done, Inuyasha!"

He slams the base of his staff into the snake head, causing it to vaporize in a cloud of dust...

"...One down."

Inuyasha says sarcastically to the dark priestess,

"Sorry about your serpent, Tsubaki."

"(Laugh) You're naive. Did you honestly think that the curse has been broken?"

"What?!"

"...The spell still holds her, you fool."

Inuyasha and Miroku turn to look over where Coraline was, and see her bring held up around her torso and shoulders by Sango and Besa:

"Rgh...Hrgh..."

"Hang in there, sis. We gotcha..."

"Be...sa. San-go..." The slayer thinks to herself frantically,

 _She's not recovering, even though the Shikigami was destroyed!_

(Pulse, pulse, pulse)

Coraline's body throbs from her Aura power again, and she wonders with gritted teeth,

 _How...much longer, can this go on? I know, Cipher said that releasing my energy would be bad...but I might not, have a choice in the next bit!_

Tsubaki says in a jeer,

"Whether by the curse or her own Soul, Coraline will die...Oh yes, and the rest of you."

Her scar reappears over her right eye...before it glows in a piercing light! Inuyasha gasps, just as a large swarm of demons comes flying out of Tsubaki's pupil, with one serpentine demon crashing into his torso and into the air, before he beheaded it with his claws! Landing near Miroku, the monk exclaims,

"She had more demons inside her!"

Inuyasha curses loudly as he charges forward to attack:

"Damn that witch to Hell!"

As he uses his claws to cut through as many demons as possible, Miroku joins the dog demon in battle with his staff. Sango would then rush to join the other two with her weapon at ready, calling back,

"Kilala: Stay here and help Besa protect Coraline!"

She runs forward before swinging her giant boomerang on the offense:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin, tok-tok-tok-tok-tok-tok...)

As Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango take on the main swarm, Besa sees three stragglers trying to come at him, Coraline and Kilala in a sneak attack:

"No you don't! Hrah!"

(Slice, slice)

He cuts down on two with his sickles, while Kilala pounces and tears apart the third. Besa turns to the cat demon with a smile:

"Thanks for the cover, Kilala."

...But just as Miroku fends off more demons with a spin of his staff, he senses a shift in the grass:

(Slither)

"Hm?"

Tsubaki smirks...and Miroku realizes,

"(Gasp)"

 _Shikigami! It couldn't be...!_

As the snake's head regenerates in its charge, Inuyasha claws down more demons and curses,

"Damn it: These demons were just a diversion!" Tsubaki confirms:

"Correct, but it's far too late! Shikigami: Bite off that woman's head and get the jewel shards from her!"

The demon snake moves faster, and Besa moves in front while crossing his sickles:

"(Shing) Not while I'm breathing, you witch!" Inuyasha starts running over in their direction:

" Coraline! Besa, no!"

 _Damn it: I won't make it in time, and he's not strong enough to fend that snake off!_

Coraline's POV  


At hearing my brother and Inuyasha, I put all my strength into lifting myself off the ground, panting as my body cools a bit from the build-up of energy:

"(Pant, pant) I, won't lose, to a papier-mâché serpent!"

I feel my muscles urge me to stand, and as I do, I feel a vibration from ShatterSoul:

"Hm?"

 _That's new...Wait...My Soul is building up too much energy, and I need to expel it..._

 _Maybe my sword can help me!_

The Shikigami leaps at our direction, and I rush in front of Besa in a burst of adrenaline, much to his surprise:

"Uh! Cora!"

" _This monster's mine..._ "

(Sheen)

"Die, Shikigami! _Aura Drive!_ "

I point my sword forward, and the serpent lands at the tip...before:

(POW)

ShatterSoul repels it backwards in a burst of ice blue light, some of it shooting through it like daggers!

No POV

"Oh no!"

Tsubaki cringes back, but would not escape the path of her Shikigami, as she is once again struck by her own curse:

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

Everyone else was as shocked, Miroku exclaiming,

"...She threw it back at her!"

Tsubaki thinks to herself in scorn,

 _She threw my curse back at me, just as Kikyō did, just like last time!  
_

 _Why must I be done in my that young wench?!_

She falls on her front, and loses grip on the nearly complete Shikon-no-Tama, it bouncing a bit onto the porch...Tsubaki then gasps when she sees the dark energy leaving the orb:

 _The jewel is being to purify!_

A bright glow of fushia pink light grows and surrounds the jewel, before it's restored to its original colour...but with a faint ice blue outline surrounding it...

Seconds later, the same is done for the shards in Coraline's neck, which then shoot out of her neck:

(Ping)

"Uh!"

"The shards have come out!" Besa sighs in relief after Sango's exclaim:

"Thank goodness that's all over..."

As he moves to pick up the shards, Tsubaki mutters in disbelief,

"I-It can't, be!"

She then hurries to snatch up the jewel while sending a seething glare in the group's direction, Coraline in particular:

"Why, you...!"

Tsubaki then calls on her demons to help her escape the area, as pointed out by Miroku:

"She's getting away!" Inuyasha retorts,

"Not from me! (Unsheathes Tessaiga) I'm not finished with you yet!"

(Swing, slash, CRASH)

He releases the power of the Wind Scar, destroying the hut, and Tsubaki's demons:

"NO, NO!"

...Lucky for her, two demons survive, and help to propel her further into the air, before she fades from the area altogether...Inuyasha sheathes his sword:

"Damn, she got away."

(...Clang)

He turns to the sound of metal dropping, and sees Coraline fall to her hands and knees after letting go of her own blade, her stamina near kaput. He quickly rushes over to check up on her:

"Coraline!"

She grimaces a bit, before looking up at him with regular stormy blue eyes and a weak smile:

"(Pant, pant) Inu...yasha."

Meanwhile, in Naraku's Hidden Castle...

After witnessing all that has happened, Kagura then asks Naraku,

"So is that it? You intend to let her leave, then, with your Shikon-no-Tama?"

"Of course not. I'll soon get it back...and besides..."

"Besides what?"

"(Dark smile) I must give the Dark Priestess the opportunity to seek her revenge."

Kagura replies with a smirk and mocking tone,

"How very kind and considerate of you..."

He does not retort, and merely stares off in thought with an evil smile...

Small Time Skip, Unknown Location

Dawn breaks, and we find ourselves deep within another area of Edo's forests, where the two demons from before disintegrate as Tsubaki rests on top a tree root, her anger rising with every sentence conveyed in her mind:

 _My powers have waned, and thanks to those fools, my demons have all perished..._

 _I was so close to victory...but I can increase my powers immensely, with a Shikon-no-Tama this large..._

 _(...Grip)_

 _I'll defeat you next time...I'll get revenge for this humiliation, Inuyasha and Coraline!_

Time Skip, Goshinboku Village

With the Dark Priestess defeated (for now), our group would make their way back to the village safely, with Inuyasha piggybacking an exhausted Coraline, while the other fighters walked none too far behind.

"Coraline must be so tired..." Miroku replies to Sango,

"You can't blame her: She was under a spell for so long," Besa adds,

"Not to mention her Aura Powers were giving her a trial...But, it looked like that newest attack did some good besides getting rid of the Shikigami: She got rid of that massive energy build-up before it all caved in on her."

The other two nod, smiling a bit with Besa in just as much relief...Kaede, Shippo and Freeman sense their return, and watch from atop a knoll in the distance before the latter bounds over to greet them happily:

"Inuaysha, Coraline! Over here!"

Freeman smiles amusingly at the fox demon's excitement, before calling with a wave,

"Yo, Besa: Good to see ya and the others, bro!"

"(Smiles and waves) Same to you, Freeman!"

Zooming in on Inuyasha and Coraline, the former says to her in a soft voice,

"I'm sorry, Coraline. This only happened because you're with me."

"(Slight laugh) And who says I don't like gettin' involved in your messes?"

"Huh?"

Coraline smiles softly and tiredly before adding,

"It's like you said before: You aren't leaving...and, neither am I. We're joined at the hip."

...Inuyasha smiles at the girl on his back and whispers her name, as the group joins up together again in the evening light, the first star showing its face in the night to come...


	70. Chapter 69

**Chapter 69: The Red & White Priestesses **

It would only be but a couple hours since sunset came and gone with Inuyasha and the others returning to the Goshinboku Village after their battle with Tsubaki, and said dark priestess finds herself wandering down a path deep in the forest, pondering ruefully over the events that took place at her old hut:

 _...Why was I defeated?_

Her mind flashes with the parallels of when Kikyo, then Coraline, each defeated her Shikigami, thrusting her curse back at her...

 _Did I make a mistake somewhere?_

...Eventually, Tsubaki reached her destination: A large structure akin to that of a shrine.

 _No. I've made no errors._

She glances up at the painted Yin-Yang symbol above the entrance way, before focusing on the nearly-complete Shikon-no-Tama in her possession:

 _As long as I have the Shikon-no-Tama, I can start over._

"...Who's there?!"

"Hm?"

Tsubaki looks up, and sees two young ladies standing in the entrance: The first had dark red hair styled in a bob, black eyes, a fair complexion, and wore a priestess uniform dominating in red. The second also had fair skin and black irises, but her hair was longer and dark blue, and wore a blue-dominating priestess uniform.

"How dare you trespass here!"

"If you are human, begone! And if you're a demon, we will slay you!"

Tsubaki calls back,

"Stand down!" She pulls out a slip of paper with the Yin-Yang symbol and adds,

"I am Priestess Tsubaki. I trained at this shrine."

The two young priestesses glance at one another...before deciding to grant Tsubaki entrance. Once she was inside, Tsubaki observes the grounds of the courtyard, commenting,

"Oh, how nostalgic...Not much has changed since I was last here."

She then turns to the other two priestesses, who kneel as they introduce themselves, starting with the redhead:

"My name is Momiji."

"And I am Botan."

"Only you two protect this shrine now?" Momiji replies,

"Yes. You see, the two of us were the master's last disciples."

"I see..."

"Excuse me, Priestess Tsubaki, but were you one of the master's last disciples as well? Pardon my rudeness, but would you mind me asking what is your age?"

Botan was just as curious:

"Yes, it's true: You look very young." Tsubaki replies,

"I am much older than the both of you, of course. My youthfulness is the result of my training."

Botan asks,

"So there is a skill to keep one young?"

"Of sorts, and you two might reap such benefits if you continue your training."

Both girls look to one another in surprise, and Tsubaki adds with a somewhat grim smile,

"It's not very easy, though..." Momiji then asks,

"Priestess Tsubaki: Why did you return to the shrine?"

"...It is because I am being hunted down by a demon." Both girls gasp:

"A demon?!"

Tsubaki wonders to herself,

 _What should I do with these two? Shall I kill them here and now?_

"...We will assist you, Priestess Tsubaki."

She looks to the girls, and Botan adds after Momiji with a matching eager smile,

"Because you are our sister disciple."

"(Light smirk) Oh?"

Small Time Skip, Goshinboku Village...

Morning light streams into the windows of Kaede's home, and Coraline stirs awake, before quietly sitting up, looking around at the forms of her sleeping friends as she thought back to the events from yesterday:

 _...That damn Tsubaki and her curse._

 _Not only did her power cause me to fall under a false reality, but...I nearly lost control of my Aura, twice._

 _...But, I was barely able to get it together the second time, thanks to ShatterSoul._

 _Now I have a new technique under my belt...a dangerous one at that._

She smiles grimly and rubs the muscles in her shoulder while adding to herself,

 _Now I know how Inuyasha must've felt during his struggles with his Soul and his blade..._

"...Hey."

"Uh?"

She looks up and over near the entrance, seeing Inuyasha looking at her from the corner:

"Are you, feelin' alright?"

"(Exhale) I will be...right after I go medieval on Tsubaki and Naraku's asses."

Inuyasha chuckles a bit from her response, just as Shippo stirs awake:

"Mm? Coraline."

Next would be Miroku, followed by Sango and Kaede:

"You're awake, Coraline."

"Feeling better?"

"Coraline."

She smiles at their faces, before feeling a hand on her shoulder, and turns to see her brothers were up as well:

"Morning, stranger."

"Dude...you look like Hell."

Coraline sighs and says to everyone,

"I'm alright, you guys, really...well, physically, at least. But after this latest battle...I think I wanna try drownin' my grimness with somethin' strong."

She looks to Freeman and asks,

"Bro: Can you reach into whichever one of our bags it's in and pull out, the bottle?"

"The Sake?"

"No...I mean, the other bottle."

Freeman forms a confused expression..before he clues in:

"Ooooh...you sure about that?"

"(Nod) Yeah. I don't really give a damn that it's morning. And, don't forget the shot glass, please."

"Mhm."

As Freeman moves to get out the requested items, Inuyasha asks,

"What're you two talkin' about? What bottle?"

"Well, I may or may not have brought a drink stronger than Sake here in my pack...I kept havin' this, feeling that at some point in our adventures, I'd end up bringin' something for us to, 'take the edge off', so to speak."

"...You drink?"

"Not really: I've only had the occasional shot glass since I turned thirteen, and always when Akari-sama or Grandfather was in the same room."

Coraline pauses when her brother hands her the bottle and glass:

"Thanks."

"No prob. Just remember the rule we discussed."

"Yeah yeah: One glass only per day. And if I'm to try for another, you all forbid me by any means necessary...except for breaking the bottle: This kind-of import don't come cheap."

Everyone nods, and Shippo comes to the redhead's side to see the bottle:

"...That's not kanji, is it?"

"Nope. English. This is known as Locke's Moor Whiskey, an import straight from Ireland. Grandfather bought this in secret for my fifteenth birthday a few months ago, and he and I snuck a shot glass each the night before while Akari-sama and Souta slept...Little taste of my home country."

"Aaah..."

Coraline poured the drink to about halfway up in the shot glass, before raising it up to herself while muttering,

"Here's to livin' another day," before downing it all in one go:

(Gulp)

Her face scrunches up a bit from the smoky bitterness:

"Hoh! (Pant) That's good quality..."

"Huh. You definitely drank that with no hesitation."

She looks to Inuyasha and replies dryly,

"That's how ya gotta down it: Straight up with no pause."

Besa smiles a bit nervously and comments,

"Just don't become an alcoholic, okay? I don't think any of us here wanna find out when you get majorly drunk."

"Ha-ha, very funny...(Sigh) But to be a bit more serious, whiskey, like all alcohol, is but a fair-weather friend: It only lasts for so long...and then it hightails on ya, leavin' you with the trials of life to deal with."

Everyone hums in agreement...A little time passes, and we find everyone gathered around the center hearth, as they discuss Tsubaki over some stew prepared by Kaede:

"Was the Dark Priestess who placed the curse named Tsubaki? Fifty years ago, there was a priestess by that name who was equal in status to Kikyo."

Sango asks as she takes her offered bowl,

"Why did she turn into an evil priestess?"

"That I do not know. Perhaps she merely shared the same name with one."

Besa puts a finger under his chin in thought:

"I don't think so: If I remember right from the night before...Tsubaki seemed real bitter whenever Kikyo's name came to her tongue, like she was spitting tar...I'm almost wondering if she might have a grudge against Kikyo for a past wrong."

"A past wrong?"

"Well, wrong in Tsubaki's eyes...It's also fair to say it has something to do with the jewel."

Freeman scoffs and asks rhetorically,

"When doesn't the jewel not get involved? That's what I'd like to know..."

Coraline hms...before tensing up:

"Gh!"

Inuyasha asks her,

"What's wrong?"

"(Sheen) The Shikon-no-Tama is near." Miroku asks,

"Are you sure about that, Coraline?"

"Yes. No mistaking it."

Shippo comments,

"It's a huge shard, that's why."

"It's not just that: Thanks to my expel of power from my Soul trying to overwhelm me, the jewel now has a tiny bit of my residual Aura energy surrounding it in a ring, making it just as easier to track."

Everyone looks at Coraline in surprise, as Inuyasha stands up while asking urgently,

"Which way is it?"

The group heads for the outdoors, and Coraline (sword slung over her back) points forward:

"The jewel is somewhere down that way." Miroku replies,

"We'll have to go after it."

Kaede comes up to the group with a horse:

"Correct. We mustn't pass up this chance to get a Shikon-no-Tama shard back."

Inuyasha looks at her and asks incredulously,

"What are you doing, Kaede? Don't tell me you're coming with us!"

"She is a Dark Priestess, after all, so I thought I as a Priestess should accompany you."

"(Sarcastic) Doesn't 'Priestess' bring someone young to mind?"

"Coraline..."

Said redhead glares mildly at Inuyasha, before saying,

"Sit Boy."

(Gleam)

(Wham)

"Gauh!"

Inuyasha goes down, and Kaede comments,

"Such an impudent fellow," before saddling up on the steed...

"Onward we go!"

"Kilala!"

Kaede rides off while Sango and Miroku ride on the twin-tailed cat demon, and Coraline calls back into the hut:

"Lumos!"

The Will O' Wisp comes flying out, and settles on her shoulder, before she kneels down to help Inuyasha off the ground:

"(Apologetic smile) Sorry 'bout that, but I can't object my elders."

"Why you..."

She then readies herself on his back, and says,

"Come on: Let's catch up with everyone. (Turns to the twins) You guys okay on foot?"

"Yeah, go ahead, sis."

(Leap)

Once Inuyasha heads off with Coraline, it's revealed that poor Shippo got flattened by the former thanks to the 'Sit':

"Uh? Hey, wait up!"

Freeman grabs and sets the fox demon on his free shoulder where his hammer base wasn't leaning:

"Don't worry, kiddo. We'll catch up easy. (Turn) Ready, Besa?"

He finishes clipping his sickles on and replies,

"(Nod) Let's motor."

With that, our last three members rush down the path, just as determined to find Tsubaki and the jewel shard she holds...

Tsubaki's POV, Flashback

 _I remember in the days of my youth, when master and I would pray together in front of the old altar..._

 _"You learn quickly, Tsubaki."_

 _"Do you mean that, master?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _I felt so proud from his praise..._

End of Flashback

I'm in front of that old altar now, and not much has changed other than time...

"Hmph. Sixty years have passed...It's no surprise that my master has died."

"...Priestess Tsubaki."

"Hm?"

I turn to the call from Momiji, and see her and Botan kneeling in front of me.

"Special charms that are unique to this shrine can keep demons from entering. (Looks up) Where could they be located?"

"Let us take care of the demon, Priestess Tsubaki."

Botan adds with a determined smile,

"Even if we cannot slay it, we can at least slow it down."

 _Hm...Are they strong enough?_

"Are you certain? The enemy is a terrible, evil demon."

"But we have trained long and hard as well."

"And therefore it is our duty to fight evil demons."

 _...Why not? They'll make a good enough diversion for those wretches._

"Then you are to keep those demons at bay for as long as you're able."

"Of course!" "Of course!"

No POV

The young priestesses then head for a storehouse to gather as many supplies as they would need for the upcoming battle, settling on some small boxes, charms, scrolls, and even a gold dragon statue...Looking down at their choices, Botan asks,

"Are you sure these are going to be enough, Momiji?"

"I think all of these will work just fine, Botan."

Botan forms a nervous expression:

"It's our very first time, though..." Momiji remained determined:

"And that's all the more reason for doing it!"

"(Smile) You're right: It's all part of training and experience!"

They slide the door open in a slam with the treasures over their shoulders in twin bundles:

"Onward!"

"To slay the demon!"

They march out of the courtyard, with Tsubaki watching them go with a smile of amusement...before forming a frown of intent and turning to walk off to another area of the shrine.

...Her walk ends in front of a large pagoda behind the main shrine in a forest clearing, and she stops at the foot of the stairs as her memory stimulates regarding its significance...

 _(Flash)_

 _A young Tsubaki and her master stare up at the pagoda as he informs her of what it's used for:_

 _"You must never open these doors. This is the Forbidden Pagoda of Many Treasures."_

 _The young girl stares back up at the structure in awe..._

 _(Flash)_

"...Forbidden, is it?"

Suddenly, the wind shifts, and a whirlwind manifests a couple feet to Tsubaki's right, before dissipating to reveal Kagura!

"It's you!"

"Naraku sent me to get the Shikon-no-Tama back."

"This jewel belongs to me!" Kagura counters,

"I could be wrong, but didn't he promise to give it to you, if you fulfilled his wish?"

"And I will fulfill his wish! I'll kill both Coraline and Inuyasha, but to do so, I require the Shikon-no-Tama."

"How will you kill them? They defeated you once already."

Tsubaki looks to the pagoda and replies,

"A great power lies within. (Looks at the shard) A power I plan to use with the Shikon-no-Tama shard."

"It doesn't sound very hopeful to me at all. Shall I tell you something interesting?"

"What is it?"

"(Sly smile) Do you want to know the ultimate way to use the Shikon-no-Tama?"

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

Soon enough, we all reach the grass plains near where the giant jewel fragment would be hiding:

"(Sheen) It's not too much further! Keep true!"

"I gotcha!"

I hear Kilala growl from above, and Sango asks,

"What's the matter, Kilala?" Miroku then calls,

"Over there!"

They land not too far ahead of us, and when we all catch up, I see a strange structure going around in front of the next treeline, made with poles holding up stringed charms...Inuyasha asks aloud,

"What is that?" Kaede answers,

"A barrier! (Steps down from horse) We priestesses put up such paper talismans to keep demons from entering."

Miroku wonders aloud,

"Do you think this is Tsubaki's doing?" Besa replies,

"Possibly, but this is a bit tamed down from what we've seen regarding her abilities..."

 _Hm, good point, bro...Still, we need to find a way through._

"I can feel the jewel shard's energy past this barrier." Inuyasha starts marching forward:

"Damn. I'm gonna tear this stupid barrier apart!"

...Suddenly, Lumos makes a sound of warning, before darting off my shoulder and in front of Inuyasha, stopping him:

"Huh? What's up with you?"

Lumos floats downward slowly, and hovers over a stick with a charm stuck on it, circling it with intent. Inuyasha bends down and asks,

"What is that?"

Shippo comes over to look too, and reaches towards it with a finger slowly...before Lumos stops him with louder outcries:

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Huh? What's wrong, Lumos?"

"He has the right of it."

"Hm?"

Miroku walks over and picks up the charm while commenting,

"This is part of the barrier to ward off demons. If either of you were to touch this, you would've been shocked."

Inuyasha and Shippo wince, before looking to the Will O' Wisp and say together,

"Thanks for the warning."

Lumos chirps in appreciation, while Miroku looks towards the larger string of charms:

"You should all stand back and let Kaede and I dismantle it."

Kaede nods...before we hear the following shouts:

"You've arrived, demon!"

"We've been waiting!"

"Huh?"

We turn our heads to a pair of twin boulders up ahead, where two girls (roughly close to my age) pop out, wearing priestess uniforms and carrying staffs. The one with short red hair asks,

"Are you Inuyasha, the demon who seeks to destroy Priestess Tsubaki?"

He asks back,

"What? You're both on Tsubaki's side?"

"Priestess Tsubaki is our sister disciple!"

"Of course we're her allies!"

"So you're Dark Priestesses then? (Knuckle crack) I won't spare either of you then."

I come to Inuyasha's side and whisper,

"Um, Inuyasha, I don't think these two are fully aware of whom they've sided with..."

Confirming my thoughts, the redhead scoffs and barks,

"Dark Priestess?!" The bluenette adds just as infuriated,

"How dare you insult us!"

"You're not Dark Priestesses?"

"Don't be ridiculous! I am Momiji!"

"And I am Botan!"

"We are priestesses who have trained hard in the Art of Slaying Demons!"

"Don't even mention us in the same breath as a Dark Priestess!"

I hm and say to everyone,

"They seem to be telling it like it is, plus I don't sense anything in their Auras that suggest that they're anything like Tsubaki..."

Sango asks,

"So they're not Tsubaki's helpers?" Freeman answers,

"Either that, or Tsubaki 'forgot' to mention her dark intentions to these two..."

Miroku then steps forward and says to the girls in a cajoling tone,

"Slow down and hold on a minute, you two." But Momiji remains firm:

"Silence! (Point) Your appearance tells me that you're a monk! (Point) And you a demon slayer! (Point) And as for you..."

She pauses at me, before hunching with her companion Botan...They then stand back up and point at me, concluding,

"You're a priestess!"

...That description didn't sit very well with me, but I don't hold it against them:

"Um...I don't think priestess is a good title for me, (Polite smile) but I do dabble with Spiritual power, so your guess isn't too far off."

The girls smile and nod, somewhat pleased with their half-right description, and Besa and Freeman call over,

"Yeah, a warrior may be a better occupation for sis!"

"She's got the blade for it, that's for sure!"

They turn to look at my brothers in thought...before pointing at them and asking,

"Are you two demons or foreigners?"

"Your skin pigment is not typical!"

They both sigh exasperatingly and reply at the same time,

"The second one..."

Momiji and Botan nod firmly, and ask,

"Why do you three collaborate with demons such as these?!"

Their points are directed to Inuyasha, Shippo, Kilala...and Kaede...

"So I get included with the demons?" Shippo wasn't anymore pleased than Kaede was:

"We haven't done any harm to you, or anyone else!"

Momiji gasps, and Botan exclaims,

"Oh my," both adorning small blushes on their faces...

They huddle back down again to whisper with one another...They glance back at Shippo and Kilala, before turning to one another with conflicted expressions. I felt a bit bad for them:

"What should we do, you guys? I don't think these two are really formidable. I'm not even sure if they've had enough field experience with fighting demons..."

Inuyasha scoffs indignantly, and Freeman agrees with my thoughts:

"No kidding: Neither girl looks battle-worn enough. (Chuckle) And judging from the way they were glancing at Shippo and Kilala just now, I don't think they'd have the heart to slay either thanks to each one's cute demeanor."

Miroku then decides on a course of action:

"We're just gonna have to win them over, that's all. (Calls with a smile) Hello there, ladies!"

"I get it!" "I get it!"

I look back to the girls in confusion, as they turn to point accusingly at Shippo:

"You demon: You've disguised your appearance!"

He looks behind him, then tries to move out the line of the point, but neither girl wavers...Botan then says,

"By changing your disgusting looks, you have deceived some poor souls, but you're not going to deceive us!"

Momiji adds,

"Your appearance cannot trick us!"

Poor Shippo became awfully upset by their accusations:

"Auuuh! Who, me?! I'm innocent!"

"Stop actin' so scared, Shippo."

He turns to look at Inuyasha, and the latter adds,

"If they insist on interfering, we'll just have to use force!"

I see him readying to bring out Tessaiga, and I step closer to him while placing a hand on his arm:

"Hang on: Don't just jump to brute force." Sango agrees, adding,

"I'm sure we can talk this thing out..."

Momiji then clasps her hands and says to the staff-readying Botan,

"Time to take action!"

"I agree with you completely!"

(Pat, pat)

"Now now, ladies..."

The girls gasp from Miroku's sudden appearance, and I mutter,

"Oh geez, what are doing now, Miroku...?"

Momiji and Botan were definitely taken-aback:

"When did you...?!"

"How did you...?!"

"If you'll allow me, I can explain exactly what we're doing with that demon over there. (Serious look) You see, it all originated with the Shikon-no-Tama. The demons coveted it with power from Hell..."

...Contrary to his serious tone, Miroku was being really unprofessional and was groping both the girl's butts!

 _(Groan) Really, Miroku?! Really?!_

Both girls shudder, then shriek, before:

(SLAP, SLAP)

"Why you little pervert!"

"You've gone and sold your Soul to the demon, haven't you?!"

Miroku, sitting on the grass with two hand-prints on his cheeks, holds out his cursed hand and calls shamefully yet insistently,

"It's the hand: It's possessed by a demon!"

Inuyasha replies with a frown,

"You're possessed by somethin', but it ain't a demon."

I feel an Aura rise in anger, and turn to see Sango closing her eyes and bowing her head a bit with a disgruntled expression:

"...Sango?"

(Yank)

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!"

I turn back and watch, as Freeman then goes over and hauls Miroku up by his ear, dragging him back over to us while commenting,

"Dude, you need some serious counseling on how to approach women..."

I look back and see Sango trying to fight back an amused smile...and failing:

 _Heh, just keep hangin' in there, Sango. Miroku will grow a pair and focus on you someday, I'm sure._

I jump out of my thoughts to the shout of Inuyasha calling over to the young priestesses,

"Is Tsubaki over there?!" Momiji replies,

"We will not let you pass!"

No POV

Momiji and Botan would then go on the offense, shooting forth several dozens of paper sutras:

"Go!"

The papers then morph into humanoid shapes, continuing their trajectory towards the group, who ready themselves for the attack...

But, we zoom out and see that our little paper army was...in fact little, so small that they only came up to Coraline's boot head in length. Said redhead lightly kicks one paper doll and causes it to fall back with a mini shriek...

"Uh, okaaaay..." Kaede explains what exactly these were:

"Shikigami: These paper spirits have been given Souls which they then control."

Inuyasha pulls out his Tessaiga, and takes down a good portion of the army, while Shippo uses his Fox Fire against the paper dolls while commenting,

"Look how weak they are..." Miroku, waving his staff lightly at the dolls, was just as dejected:

"We can't really take these things seriously..." Sango replies while kicking another doll with her foot,

"That's for sure."

Even Kilala wasn't having trouble in her dormant form, using her paws to attack them like they're cat toys. Inuyasha wipes out the rest with no real effort required...Botan comments,

"That was impressive work, you demons."

We then see that two of the dolls survived, and return to the girls with a thread each. Momiji then says with a confident smile,

"That was all a part of our trick," holding out a silver hair, and Botan adds,

"In order to get these strands of hair from you," she holding a strand of red hair...

"(Gasp) Now I understand..."

Besa asks,

"I'm assuming this is a bad thing, Kaede?"

"Aye: They intend to transpose us into those Shikigami." Botan calls,

"Very clever, old demon!"

"I am a priestess!"

Freeman glares mildly at the girls and calls,

"Oi: Show some respect for your elders, and she tells the truth! Can't either of ya sense her spiritual power?"

The girls ignore Freeman, and fold the hairs into their own pieces of paper twice, before shooting them out:

(Spin...Shine)

Besa asks Kaede while shielding his vision from the ethereal glow,

"Whose bodies will they come out as?"

"I don't know."

Inuyasha says determinedly,

"I'll smash them apart no matter who they are!"

The papers then form into humanoid shapes much larger than the group, and once the transformation was complete, Kaede, Miroku and Sango exclaim respectively,

"What is that?"

"It can't be...!"

"I think, perhaps it can..."

Zooming, out, we see that one paper doll takes the shape of a cartoonish, pudgy and spiteful-expressioned Inuyasha, to which Shippo would recognize the resemblance:

"That's Inuyasha!" He of course, would deny it:

"It ain't nothin' like me!"

Coraline then turns to the other doll and asks,

"If that's suppose to be an imitation of Inuyasha, is that other one...?"

Miroku replies,

"I'm afraid so," followed by Sango:

"Me too," then Shippo:

"Me three: It's not exactly like her, though..."

Looking at the second doll, we find another large, cartoony character that resembled Coraline (including her outfit of a white crop-tank, blue/black/white flannel shirt, olive green jeans and her brown hiker shoes), though with a dim-witted expression on her face...Both dolls hold their fists out in sluggish excitement, and Coraline exclaims with a tone just as agitated,

"The only way those things could ever be me or Inuyasha is if we were looking in carnival mirrors!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Shrine...

Tsubaki had started a fire behind a ceremonial display in front of the pagoda, and knelt down to begin the prayers required to unseal the structure, while Kagura watches from afar against a tree...

"This ceremony of yours is quite elaborate. Is the seal really that strong?"

"This particular ceremony is merely to open the door. There are even stronger seals further in."

Tsubaki then goes back to praying, and Kagura just ohs in half-interest, half-boredom...

Back to the Inuyasha Gang

As the group continued to stare warily at the two balloon dolls, Momiji and Botan clasp eachother's hands proudly at their efforts:

"I think we've outdone ourselves!"

"They're adorable!"

The girls then focus back on Inuyasha and the others, Botan asking,

"Are you surprised, demons?" Momiji then explains,

"These Shikigami don't just merely look like you: Your power has been transferred intact!"

Inuyasha and Coraline shout defensively,

"Looks nothing like me!"

"They're terrible imitations of us!"

Momiji and Botan then command the balloon dolls to begin attacking, and the latter pair charges forward slowly, their movements causing the ground to shake...

"This is gettin' stupid!"

(Leap)

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

But at the same time Inuyasha makes the call, his Shikigami double does the same, punching Inuyasha to the ground! The Coraline double then pulls out a childish imitation of the ShatterSoul sword, and charges up its power, before swinging an Aura Attack at Inuyasha:

(Slash, Boom)

Luckily, Inuyasha leaps out of the way in time, and as the dolls wave their fists in victory, the former exclaims,

"Stay out of my way, Coraline!"

She calls back,

"Hello: I'm right here, and not the one attacking you! Use another term for 'it'!"

Ignoring her, Inuyasha charges at his Shikigami double again...Coraline wonders to herself,

 _If that blimp is suppose to be Inuyasha...Does that mean I might be able to-_

"(Shakes head furiously) No. Bad idea: Even if it did work, I'd end up 'S-wording' Inuyasha too..."

She looks toward her double with a glare:

"Besides, I should focus on taking that faker down."

She pulls out ShatterSoul and dashes towards the balloon doll resembling her, much to everyone else's surprise:

"Huh?" "Sis?" "What're you doing?"

"Taking this blimp down a peg!"

(Swing)

" _Spirit Slash!_ "

(Slash) (Slash)

Unfortunately, the doll would end up doing the same thing, and the both cuts would meet, before Coraline is thrown backwards by the force of power:

"Aaaaah!"

(Dash, grab)

"Huh?"

Inuyasha would then jump in and snatch Coraline into his arms, setting her down on the ground a few feet back while commenting a touch sarcastically,

"Dammit woman, can you try to not put yourself in the line of fire for two seconds?!"

She blushes lightly and replies,

"Sorry..."

He shakes his head at her, before turning to focus on his Shikigami double:

"You got the right idea, though: These fakers need to be taken out."

Inuyasha brandishes his Tessaiga out...while balloon Inuyasha pulls out a sword akin to a child's toy, to which the former would jeer at:

"Ha! What's with that sword?! You're finished!"

But as he charges forward, Inuyasha accidentally trips on one of the sutra mine traps:

(Bzzzzt)

"Gaaaah!"

Balloon Coraline takes the opportunity to swing another Aura-charged attack at him, who blocks it with Tessaiga. He shakes with frustration, before turning to Coraline while pointing his blade at the doll:

"Coraline: Do something about 'that' Coraline!"

"Easier said than done: That doll's packin' as much power as I do! I would've thought you'd have gotten a leg over your double by now!"

"That thing ain't me!"

As they continued to argue while balloon Coraline dances in victory, Miroku comments,

"They seem to be missing the point..." Sango replies,

"We better take care of this."

"Just what I was going to suggest..."

Besa and Freeman nod to eachother, and step forward:

"We'll help too."

"You guys can take one doll, and we'll get the other." Miroku asks,

"You sure?"

"Positive."

So there's a change in opponents, and Sango and Miroku stand in front of the Inuyasha Shikigami, while Freeman and Besa stand in front of the Coraline Shikigami...

"Well, this is awkward..." Freeman nods and replies to Besa,

"Yeah, no kidding. (Turns) I hope you don't take any offense to this, sis, considering what this doll resembles...!"

"I don't care: Just take that thing out!"

The brothers nod, and Miroku says to Sango,

"I'm glad they're taking on 'Coraline' while we take on 'Inuyasha'."

"That thing's not me!"

Ignoring Inuyasha's shout, Sango replies,

"Yeah, I could take on 'Inuyasha' without any second thoughts."

"Yep..."

"Hey! What do ya two mean by that?!"

Both slayer and monk smile nervously as the latter calls back,

"It's not personal..."

Inuyasha rushes forward with his blade at ready:

"Out of my way, you two! I'm gonna finish both of them off using my Wind Scar!"

They take the hint, and the twins look to one another nervously as Freeman stutters,

"Uuuuh, w-we better move too."

"You think?!"

They quickly back away, just as a vortex of wind begins to surround the Tessaiga...

"You're going down!"

But just before he could swing, Momiji and Botan suddenly brandish more sutras, and hold one each while making an upward gesture:

"Hah!"

(Freeze)

"Uh! I-I can't move!"

"Exactly, demon: We'll render you all paralyzed!"

They focus their concentration further, and the power spreads to Shippo and Kilala, causing them to collapse to the ground!

"Shippo! Kilala!" The girls gasp, and Botan says to Momiji worriedly,

"But that cute little one is in pain too."

"He must be stopped: He's a demon too."

Kaede then calls out to them,

"That's enough, you two!"

"Oh no: That demon is still moving!"

"Rgh, go!"

The dolls reply,

"We're going," and begins stepping forward...but are stopped by Miroku, Sango and the twins...

"If you get in our way, we will slay you as well!"

Coraline glares at the girls and shouts,

"Would you two knock it off?! We haven't done you harm nor anything that suggests we're evil, so cool it!"

Kaede then steps over to Miroku and says,

"Miroku, we must subdue those two priestesses first."

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

Freeman then shouts,

"Watch it!"

(Crash)

The imitation Inuyasha tries to swing his blade at them, and they all scramble out of the way in time. Botan warns,

"Don't you dare interfere with us."

"Why, you...!"

The priestesses then notice Inuyasha struggling to get up off the ground using Tessaiga:

"Enough, already!"

The girls further the spell, and Inuyasha falls closer to the ground, but maintains a struggle:

"If you don't, cut it out..."

The Shikigami Coraline then releases another ice blue slash attack, but:

"Inuyasha!"

(Pow)

"Gaaah!"

Coraline jumps in and blocks the attack with ShatterSoul, but is thrown back by the force of power again, crashing a few feet beside Inuyasha!

"C-Coraline!"

"Rgh, I'm alright...(Gasp) Look out!"

He focuses back up front, and barely manages to block the Shikigami Inuyasha's toy sword with his own blade:

(Clang)

"Hrgh..."

(Shing)

"Ggh-gh!"

Coraline then scrambles off the ground, and lends a hand to her friend by using her blade to further push back the giant toy sword!

"Huh?! Coraline, what're you-?!"

"Duh, h-helping you out! (Grimaces, smiles) Let's show these girls what happens when you mess with two swordspeople!"

Inuyasha gapes...but then smirks and replies with a short laugh,

"Why not? Let's do it!"

As the two join forces to add pressure against the shikigami, Botan mutters,

"Stubborn demon...and that girl warrior's assisting him..." Momiji replies,

"We won't be defeated!"

"You there!"

"Hm?" "Hm?"

The girls glance to their right, and see Sango readying to swing Hiraikotsu:

"Comin' in!"

(Toss, spin...)

Momiji and Botan shriek, before moving to duck and cover, their concentration on the demon binding spell broken, as made plain by a happy Shippo:

"Hey, you guys: I can move again!"

Inuyasha was able to move more freely, as well, and he turns to Coraline to ask,

"You ready?"

"Yep!"

They focus back on the imitation Inuyasha, and use all the strength they could muster to push him back while shouting,

"You're, through!"

(SHOVE, Crash...)

The shikigami falls flat on his back, upturning some dust and dirt, and when the could clears, everyone watches as 'Coraline' comes over to check on 'Inuyasha'...

The real dog demon wastes no time, and neither does the true redhead:

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

" _Soul Shatter X!_ "

(SLASH)

Both attacks stream across the grass...before merging together, creating something that had the shape of a claw mark with an X in the middle, the colour a mix of bright yellow and ice blue!

Neither Shikigami double would escape the power, and disintegrated instantly, whule Momiji and Botan were thrown back by the power:

"Aaaaaahhhhhh!" "Aaaaaahhhhhhh!"

They fall hard on the ground, losing consciousness...Inuyasha and Coraline had their blades touching the ground as they breathed heavy from the power release, and the former comments,

"So much for them," while Coraline wonders aloud,

"Did, you see what happened as we unleashed our attacks?"

"Huh?"

...Inuyasha then double-takes and replies,

"Oh yeah: They, combined! How did that happen?!"

"I don't know..."

As the teens ponder over the merged attack, Miroku rushes to check on Momiji and Botan:

"...Nah, they've just fainted, that's all. Fear not, their lives are not in danger. And they don't seem to be hurt."

Zooming out, we see his hands were once again on the girl's rear ends...until Sango pulls him up by his ear:

"Gaaah!"

Freeman laughs at the gesture as he and Besa walk over:

"Looks like that might become a regular technique to use on him."

"Oh geez..."

They stop on Botan's left, as Coraline comes over while kneeling by Momiji's right:

"...What in the world are we gonna do with them?" Shippo asks nervously,

"Coraline, do think they'll attack us again if they come to?"

"Not if they're smart..." Miroku concludes,

"I believe yours and Freeman's observations from before are correct: Tsubaki must've either sweet-talked them or deceived them. In any case, I think they'd understand if we explain ourselves to them."

Inuyasha asks,

"Right, and who's gonna take on such a silly task?"

"Naturally, I will handle this."

"Huh?"

"I will take them both into custody and stay with them until everything is in the open."

"In that case, we better stick back too."

"Hm?"

Miroku looks to the twins, and Freeman smirks while adding,

"Knowing your track record with women, it'd be smarter if there were a few sensible minds present. (Turns) Shippo, you wanna hang back with me and Besa?"

"Sure!"

Miroku laughs nervously, and Besa chimes,

"Plus, the girls would believe us more if there's multiple parties who convey the same tale."

"...I, suppose you make a good point."

Coraline smiles down at Shippo and says kindly,

"I'm sure if you hang back here, it'll be less of a hassle to convince Momiji and Botan that you're a good demon."

"I'll have to be on my toes!" Sango then says,

"Kilala, you stay too."

The cat demon mews with a nod, and Inuyasha says,

"You do what you want. I'm going after Tsubaki!"

Kaede tries to call him back at the same time Lumos makes his warning calls:

"Wait, Inuyasha!" "(Ghostly moan)"

...Unfortunately, he hears neither, and runs smack into the barrier:

(Bzzzzt)

"Gaaaaaaah!"

Inuyasha falls backwards with a stunned expression, and Kaede walks past him with Lumos floating near:

"Wait until I bring down the barrier."

Coraline jogs over to the fallen dog demon, and starts to pull him to his feet while sighing,

"Oh Inuyasha..."

 _He really needs to remember to think before he acts.  
_

Tsubaki's POV

As I continued the ritual, I feel a shift of power, and snap my eyes open:

"It will be open soon." Kagura asks me,

"What's inside that tower, anyway?"

"...A demon."

Flashback

 _I think back to when my master explained it to me in my younger days..._

 _"One hundred years ago, the head priest lost many of his men, and it was all he could do to seal this fearsome demon in this pagoda."_

 _"You mean...a terrible demon is inside?"_

 _"Yes, and each generation made sure that the door remains sealed...Tsubaki, in time, this duty will be yours."_

 _"I understand, master."_

 _"...You must never open the door of the Forbidden Pagoda, Tsubaki."_

End of Flashback  


Just as my memory finishes...the fire goes out, the ritual complete:

(...Crrrreeeeak...)

The doors of the pagoda open slowly, and I rise to my feet, adding to Kagura,

"The demon sealed inside has enormous powers."

She steps closer to me and concludes,

"You intend to use the Shikon-no-Tama to make him obey you."

"Yes, I will indeed."

As I begin entering the pagoda, I add to myself,

 _I refuse to give in yet._

Meanwhile, just outside the Shrine

Inuyasha, Coraline, Sango and Kaede close in on the front gates:

"Hey: I see something up ahead!" Coraline replies to Inuyasha,

"It looks like the shrine Momiji and Botan likely reside in, and I sense the jewel shard's inside!"

Sango asks aloud,

"Do you think Tsubaki's in there?"

Lumos floats up in front of them, ending near the doors...before glowing in and out red and blue!

"Yeah: Lumos's warning glow is enough to be sure!"

Inuyasha kehs, before rushing forward to the gate opening...only to get stuck in yet another barrier:

"Guh! Wh-, What, is this?!"

Coraline calls out his name in worry, while Kaede comments,

"Even the gate to the shrine has a barrier!"

Of course, this time, Inuyasha wasn't gonna let a barrier slow him down, and he puts all his strength in his muscles...before shoving his way through the barrier, cancelling the charm out!

"He broke through that barrier?!"

Everyone enters the gate and into the courtyard, with Inuyasha calling out,

"Show yourself, Tsubaki!"

They all look around...until their gazes stop at the sight of a foreboding red glow coming from the treeline outside the shrine, _where the Pagoda of Forbidden Treasures laid..._


	71. Chapter 70

**Chapter 70: Giant Oni of the Forbidden Pagoda**

When we last left Inuyasha and company, they had just entered the courtyard of the Ying-Yang Shrine where Tsubaki once trained in her youth, determined to find her and recover the giant fragment of the once proud Shikon-no-Tama...

"Show yourself, Tsubaki!"

"Just as I feared: It is the same woman after all."

Inuyasha turns to Kaede to ask,

"Who are you talking about?"

"The priestess who was passed over by my sister, Kikyō."

Flashback

 _We see a younger Kaede walking alongside Kiky_ _ _ō_ down a path in the Goshinboku village, and coming from the opposite direction, was a younger Tsubaki with her master from the Ying-Yang shrine..._

 _Kiky_ _ _ō_ and Kaede step off the path to allow the other pair to pass, bowing in respect, Tsubaki passing with a proud air...Watching them leave, Kaede asks,  
_

 _"Sister, who was that Priestess?"_

 _"Her name is Tsubaki."_

 _The young sister eyes Tsubaki's form with a particular wariness..._

End of Flashback

"I never imagined that she would turn to the dark side..."

Coraline puts a finger under her chin in thought:

 _Hm, if this is the case, then maybe Besa's earlier theory isn't too far off either..._

"Who the heck cares about what happened in the past?! I wanna know where she is now!"

Just as Inuyasha made that claim, Coraline tenses up:

"Uh!"

"What's the matter, Coraline?"

She turns to the shrine, and uses her Aura power to better sense for what they were all after:

(Sheen)

"(...Point) The jewel shard is further in, and I can sense Tsubaki's Aura in the same proximity."

Inuyasha gets excited:

"Alright!"

But Kaede warns,

"Wait: This area could be dangerous." Sango asks her,

"What do you know about this place, Kaede?"

"Legend tells of an Oni that was sealed away in this region."

Coraline hms and replies,

"An Oni...That means 'Ogre' translated from Japanese to English..."

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Hm?"

She and everyone else then focus on Lumos, who was flying around a few feet ahead in a frantic circle in the direction of the pagoda:

"What's wrong with him?" Kaede replies after Inuyasha,

"...It would seem our Will O' Wisp companion senses a shift in dark energy."

Coraline adds,

"And I can sense a slow rise in darkness in Tsubaki's Aura. We better hurry."

So everyone starts heading for the treeline at the back of the Shrine, with Inuyasha leaping ahead while Coraline, Sango, Kaede and Lumos rush not too far behind...

They then see the Pagoda in the distance:

"That way: That's where the source of dark energy is!"

But suddenly, several demons come out from the tree canopy on the sides of the path, forcing them to stop:

"Crap..."

Inuyasha kehs and says,

"Figures they'd be here," before pulling out his Tessaiga:

"Get outta my way!"

(Leap, slash)

He slices one large worm demon down the middle, before cutting down several others. Sango lends a hand with her weapon:

"Hiraikotsu!"

(Toss, spin...tok-tok-tok-tok)

Coraline notices that the destroyed demons did not spill blood and guts, but rather,

"...Paper?"

 _Of course: Shikigami...Ugh, these type of monsters are getting really annoying._

She senses another trying to round up on her and Kaede, and grits her teeth while pulling out her combat knife:

"Take, this!"

(Stab)

She lands the hit right into the demon's skull, and it explodes into paper as well! Kaede commends her quick act:

"Your senses have become sharper, child. Good work."

"Thanks, Kaede. (Turn) But the fight's only getting started."

Her gaze is on the more demons coming out to attack:

 _Let's do this!_

Meanwhile, back on the Grass Plains...

Shippo and Freeman gather up some water into a bamboo and a stainless steel water bottle from a nearby stream while Kilala looks on. A couple feet back, Miroku and Besa keep a close watch on Momiji and Botan, who now had two dry towels folded under their heads, and a dampened cloth on each of their foreheads.

"They should be coming to any minute now..."

Miroku nods to Besa...before widening his eyes a bit when he sees a shift of movement from Momiji:

"Mmm...mmm-uh..."

As her vision readjusts, she sees Miroku hovering over her:

"You've finally come to." She yelps, and retreats back in surprise:

"You again!"

"Calm down. I have no intention of harming you, (Glance) and neither does my companion over there."

Momiji side-glances where he was looking, and sees Besa sitting near Botan. Feeling her stare, he looks up with a small smile:

"Hi. Your friend should be up shortly."

"Uh..." Momiji then focuses back on Miroku as he says,

"I just..."

"Just what?"

He then takes her hands into his and asks the following:

"I just, want to ask if you will bear my children."

...She gives him a 'duh' expression...At the same time, the other young priestess wakes up:

"Mm...huh?"

She gasps lightly at seeing Besa, and he holds his hand out and says gently,

"Easy now: I mean you no harm. (Smile) How are you feeling?"

She takes his offered hand, and Besa pulls Botan up in a sitting position as she replies,

"Um...okay, I guess."

"That's good-huh?"

Miroku suddenly slides over and asks the same question to Botan:

"How about you: Would you be willing to bear my children?"

As Botan gives him her own 'duh' expression, Besa sweatdrops and mutters,

"Miroku, is this really the time?" Momiji was obviously not pleased with the switch-up:

"Not very choosy, are you?!"

"There's enough of me to go around..."

Besa sighs, then pulls Botan's hand out of Miroku's, before bopping the latter's forehead:

(Thump)

"Ow! H-Hey!"

"We're trying to show them we have morality, and this isn't helping!"

"He's at it again, is he?"

Both men turn to see Freeman, Kilala and Shippo returning with the water, and as Freeman rolls his eyes at Miroku, Shippo says to the girls,

"You're both finally awake."

Momiji turns around to see him, and she and Botan immediately go on the defense:

"There's the little demon!"

"Keep your distance!"

Shippo gapes in shock, and Miroku says,

"You're mistaken: Shippo is the one who has taken care of you all this time."

Botan asks,

"This demon has?"

"I was ordered by Coraline and the others not to touch you, so that left Shippo to take care of the both of you ladies."

Freeman adds,

"Yeah: I mean, Besa and I did lend a hand, but this little dude was the main man workin'."

Shippo says indignantly,

"Maybe I shouldn't have bothered," and Freeman ruffles his hair gently while chiding,

"Don't take it personally, kiddo: Keep in mind that these girls haven't been outside the shrine alot. They likely haven't encountered enough demons to know how to tell the good from the bad."

The girls cautiously step over near Shippo, and Momiji asks,

"You mean he's not a bad demon?"

Freeman smiles knowingly and whispers,

"See?"

Shippo smiles a touch, but turns his back on the girls while stating proudly,

"I have never hurt a human."

"Are you certain?"

Botan and Momiji look to one another with a mix of curiousity and uncertainty, as Miroku moves to a stand while saying,

"It's completely understandable that Priestesses such as yourselves would consider all demons were bad."

The girls then let out matching cries, causing him to look at them with worry:

"What's wrong?!"

His expression then shifts into a gape of disbelief, when he sees Shippo being hugged tightly by Momiji, while Botan squeezes Kilala into her own arms!

"So cute!"

Freeman barely holds in his laughter at the sight, while Besa sighs with an amused smile:

"Well, their hostility certainly went out the window real quick..."

Botan then pulls Shippo (whose expression was set in a dumbstruck) into her arms beside Kilala, while Momiji tugs his tail a bit:

"I love his tail!" Then his ears:

"And his ears!"

The final straw was when Botan tries to peck his head with her lips, and Shippo breaks out of her grip while running desperately towards Miroku and Besa:

"Miroku! Besa!"

But he's then caught by Momiji, who pinches his cheeks while cooing adoringly at him. Miroku replies gently,

"That's the price you'll have to pay in order to prove you're not a bad demon."

He then mutters to himself in jealousy,

"Lucky you..."

Freeman then decides to come to the fox demon's rescue:

"Alright, easy there. Shippo can only take so much dotting at once."

He gently pries Shippo from Momiji's fingers, and stands back up while holding the other in his arms.

"(Relieved sigh) Thank you..."

"No prob."

Momiji then asks,

"Tell us: Why do you hunt down Tsubaki?" Botan adds,

"Yes. Isn't that Inuyasha fellow a really bad demon?" Freeman replies with a smile,

"The only thing bad about Inuyasha is when he lets his temper fly, and that's mostly when a truly bad demon hurts the people he cares about."

Besa adds,

"He has a good heart: He just doesn't like being seen as one of those, sensitive types."

The girls hm, then Miroku says,

"Listen: Tsubaki cursed Coraline to send her to her death."

"Impossible!"

"She wouldn't!"

"Now I don't know what Tsubaki told the both of you, but she's a Dark Priestess and she curses innocent people."

The girls take in sharp breaths, and Botan turns to Momiji with intent...

Inuyasha's POV

After a couple more minutes, I use my claws to take down the last of the demons that came attacking, which turned out to be more of those annoying Shikigami...

"Keh, that was hardly worth the effort."

"Indeed. Those Shikigami were not strong at all." Sango asks Kaede,

"Does that mean Tsubaki's power is beginning to weaken?"

"I don't think so."

I look to Coraline with the others confused, while she sheathes her combat knife before bending down to pick up one of the sutras with a neutral expression:

"These sort-of remind me of some old charms Grandfather has stored in the shrine from his old days as a more active priest: They're not meant to be powerful, but act as a distraction...Tsubaki has that large jewel shard, so she could easily create something with more power, but didn't...which means..."

I clue into where she was going:

"(Nod) Right: She probably doesn't know how to use it properly."

I sheathe Tessaiga and add,

"Come on, let's keep moving."

We all continue our run down the path to that tall pagoda up ahead...and along the way, I notice those shredded pieces of paper shoot through the air in that direction too:

 _Huh? Must be returning to that witch Tsubaki..._

Eventually, we reach the clearing where the Pagoda stands...

"This is it?"

Coraline nods in confirmation, and Sango asks aloud,

"What is that Pagoda?"

"The place where you'll die."

We all tense up from the answering voice...before the door creaks open, and a huge gust of wind comes whooshing out:

"Rgh!"

We all cringe, before the wind dies down, and I look up to see,

"Kagura! You again!" Sango exclaims in a low volume,

"I knew it: Tsubaki and Naraku have both joined forces!"

"Naraku's with her, huh? That's all the more better: I'll kill all three of you while I'm here!"

I feel a hand go on my upper arm, and turn to see Coraline looking ahead with her eyes glowing:

"Hold on: I don't sense Naraku's presence here...It's just Kagura and Tsubaki."

I reply with a grunt,

"Figures he wouldn't actually be here: The spectating coward...But ya know what? That's fine. I'll settle for just takin' out the demon who shares his scent."

Kagura holds up her fan and says to us calmly,

"Don't be so hasty: I'm not the one you should be battling, Inuyasha. I merely came here today to witness your tragic deaths."

She then leaps out of the entrance way...making way for a dark-skinned corpse with red eyes wearing samurai gear to trudge out of the tower. But it doesn't faze me: I step up while pointing at the corpse with Tessaiga and say,

"Huh, this'll be easy. It'll probably just be another demon puppet."

(Leap)

"Hrrrrahhhh!"

(Clang)

But I was proven wrong, when the corpse pulls out his own blade to block mine, and pushes me back!

"Inuyasha!"

I slide back on the dirt and maintain my balance, and scoff while muttering with a smirk,

"He's a little stronger than I figured."

 _But at least it won't be a boring fight._

"(Raises Tessaiga) Try and stop this!"

(Slash)

I unleash the Wind Scar straight at the corpse, only for it to be stopped by Kagura's damn fan:

" _Dance of Blades!_ "

(Slice, boom...)

The corpse samurai charges at out of the dust cloud, punching me to the ground:

"Gaaah!"

I hear Sango shout at Kagura angrily,

"You're hardly an observer! _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...)

"Just staving off boredom."

(Whoosh)

Sango's weapon is thrown off by the demon wind, before Kagura catches me off guard with her wind blades:

" _Dance of Blades!_ "

(Slice, crash)

"Gaaaaaah!"

I fall on my stomach a few feet away, and I look up, to see the samurai corpse raising his blade at the ready to chop me down!  
Luckily, I'm faster, and leap backwards to dodge...but I wasn't out of the woods yet:

" _Dance of the Dragon!_ "

(Whooooosh...)

I'm forced to retreat back on the ground to dodge the wind vortexes, but left myself wide open for the samurai:

(Swing, CLANG)

...But...Coraline dashes in and blocks the sword with her own:

"Not on my watch, you zombie freak!"

"C-Coraline?!"

She then lets out a determined cry, and shoves the corpse back, before unleashing her own attack:

" _Spirit Slash!_ "

(Slash)

Her attack was successful, and throws the corpse backwards!

"Yes!"

But then Kagura uses her fan again:

" _Dance of Blades!_ "

(Slice)

Coraline gasps, and I quickly get up and wrap an arm around her waist before getting us out the line of fire:

(Leap)

(Crash...)

We land on the ground safe, and she turns to me with a small smile:

"...Thank you."

"Keh, no problem. Just, remember to keep your head up."

She nods, and I hear an arrow released, and see one of Kaede's arrows fly straight for Kagura! She of course, manages to cut it down the middle, but one half knocks the corpse's sword out of his hand!

I don't waste the opportunity:

"Time for my, _Wind Scar!_ "

(Slash)

This time, the hit is dead-on, and the corpse howls in pain before disintegrating into shredded paper. I hear Coraline mutter in light surprise,

"Another Shikigami..."

"Looks that way..."

I then turn to point Tessaiga at Kagura:

"You're going down next!"

Kagura takes off one of her feathers, and tosses it into the air, before a strong gust of wind surrounds her!

"Stop!"

I try to go after her, but I'm stopped by the wind pressure...The last thing I hear her say before she disappeared was,

"Tsubaki should be your next victim!"

I curse to myself, before I see Coraline step forward while saying to me,

"Never mind her, Inuyasha: We should focus on going inside the Pagoda...The jewel and Tsubaki are in there, and the longer we stand here, the more time she has in finding a way to use the jewel for her own nefarious purposes."

 _...She's got a point._

 _(Groan) Alright, you survive this round, Kagura, but next time we meet, you're dead._

We all enter the structure, and the first thing we see is a stairwell that lead to the underground...

"There was a barrier here to keep something sealed within...but the seal has been broken."

"You mean like those Shikigami?" Kaede replies to Sango,

"Yes, though a seal this strong wouldn't be needed for those spirits." I say to everyone,

"We'll find our answers inside. (Leap) Come on!"

Besa's POV

Once we convinced Momiji and Botan that they were siding with the wrong person, we all began making our way for the shrine, with Freeman and I choosing to jog on foot, while they, Miroku and Shippo rode Kilala not too far above us...I hear Botan ask,

"Tsubaki truly is a dark Priestess?" Momiji adds,

"It's almost impossible to believe." Miroku replies,

"You studied under the same master as Tsubaki, so I don't blame you for being skeptical. Now why don't you come with us and see for yourselves what Tsubaki is truly like?"

I think to myself,

 _Not everyone graduates from school with the same agenda..._

"We better hurry. Hang on tight, ladies."

I don't miss the tone Miroku shifts to at the end of that sentence, and groan a bit before Freeman calls up with a wry smile,

"Oi, Miroku: Keep it in your robes and focus on catching up with everyone to take down Tsubaki!"

I widen my eyes at his word choice:

"Freeman!"

"What? It's the truth."

I sigh in exasperation, before calling up,

"Let's speed up, 'kay, Kilala?"

I hear her growl in confirmation, and she picks up her pace airborne while my brother and I break into a run down the forest path:

 _I sure hope Cora and the others aren't havin' too much trouble with Tsubaki yet._

The Pagoda of Forbidden Treasures, Underground, No POV  


Inside a darkened room, where the walls ran high with rough garnet, we see Tsubaki praying in front of a large slate stone with paper seals tied on by a thick rope...Her eyes suddenly snap open, and the rope breaks, removing the seal!

"Open, Oni gates! Come forth, Golden God!"

...The stone begins glowing a foreboding red, and cracks form on the surface...before:

(CRACK)

It breaks open completely, leaving behind a bottom piece with a dark red liquid oozing within...There then came a deep, raspy and chilling voice:

 **"How dare you seal me within! (Snort) You shall pay with your life!"**

Tsubaki remains calm, and laughs a bit before replying,

"I will give you power! I hold the ultimate power of the Shikon-no-Tama!"

The voice growls, and Tsubaki's cursed eye glows as she urges,

"Surely you desire this power, don't you?"

 **"...Give it to me! Give it!"**

A large, red skinned, clawed hand shoots out of the red pool:

 **"Give it to me!"**

The hand reaches to Tsubaki...but that was what she was waiting for: She then proceeds to suck the Oni into her being through her eye!

...Once the act was done, she clutches her eye while laughing hysterically:

"...Oni. What power...What incredible power!"

(Slam)

It was then that Inuyasha and company burst through the wooden doors:

"We finally found you, Tsubaki!"

"(Turns) You again. I've been waiting for you." Inuyasha then demands,

"Give us the Shikon-no-Tama back!"

"Is that what you're after? (Chuckle) This is incredible..."

Coraline narrows her eyes in suspicion...before gasping when she senses,

"She...Her Aura is melding with a demon's, a powerful one, and the jewel is inside her right eye!"

"In her eye?" Tsubaki says,

"I never imagined it would be this powerful. If only it came into my possession fifty years ago..."

That caught Kaede's attention:

"Fifty years ago? Tsubaki: What happened between you and my sister, Kikyō?"

"Kikyō? You know of her?"

Tsubaki feels her body shake a bit, as her anger rises from the mere thought of the wandering priestess:

"It's all Kikyō's fault! Kikyō, that cold and heartless priestess!"

Inuyasha growls and barks at her,

"Nobody's gonna smear her name!"

"Silence!"

Tsubaki then sends a gust of power at Inuyasha, causing him to fly high into the air:

"Inuyasha!"

He hits the wall, and falls back down in a crouch, wincing from the impact. Coraline rushes to his side:

"Are you okay?"

He grits his teeth, before looking up at the dark priestess while asking,

"So what's next after those demons? What are you hiding in that eye of yours?"

"(Laugh) I'm overflowing with demonic power! It's coursing through my veins!"

Her hands then shift from being pale-skinned and human...to that of the red-skinned Oni! Sango asks,

"Demonic power?" Coraline then widens her eyes when she realizes,

"(Gasp) She absorbed the Oni!"

Tsubaki raises her hands upward while laughing hysterically...Meanwhile, back outside the Pagoda, the other half of our group arrives, with Botan asking,

"What happened to the Pagoda?" Momiji exclaims,

"Impossible! The gates of the Forbidden Pagoda must never be opened!"

Miroku asks,

"You say it's forbidden?" Botan wonders with worry,

"Who could've done this?"

Before a reply could be made, the ground starts to rumble alongside a loud crash!

"What was that?!"

"Look, there!"

"The Pagoda!"

A huge wave of power shoots out of the cracked ground, causing the structure to collapse...and out of the smoke came Inuyasha and the others!

"Inuyasha!" "Sis!" "They're okay!"

Inuyasha is seen running with Kaede on his back, while Coraline and Sango run right behind him, Lumos flying forward ahead all of them!

Next to rise out of the smoke...was Tsubaki, only she had now completely merged with the red-skinned Oni demon, clawed hands and all, mixing with her long silver hair, robes and her glowing right eye! She then speaks in a voice that mixed hers with the demon's:

" ** _Behold, the power of of the Shikon-no-Tama! Witness the true might of the Oni!_** "

Everyone stands dumbstruck by the sight of this new Tsubaki, and she laughs before asking,

" _ **What's wrong? Has my power left all of you speechless?**_ "

Botan mutters with a wobble in her voice,

"The seal has been broken...!" Momiji exclaims,

"Oh no: That's Tsubaki! She wouldn't have dared broken the seal!"

" _ **Now with this power, (Raises her hand) I shall have eternal life!**_ "

Lightning cracks across the sky, and Miroku shouts to the girls,

"Get back now!"

"Right!" "Right!"

Besa and Freeman say to them,

"We'll lead you back aways!" "And protect you!"

"Thank you!" "Thank you!"

The girls and the twins rush to the back, while Tsubaki concentrates the lightning into her hand:

" ** _T_ _his power is unparalleled!_** "

She then sends the lighting ball at everyone, who scramble in different directions to dodge:

(BOOM)

Miroku calls to Inuyasha, who leaps in at Tsubaki with Tessaiga:

"You're, through!"

(Clang)

Unfortunately, no cut was made on her arm, and Tsubaki shoves Inuyasha away, who backflips to the ground while cursing. Shippo exclaims from atop Kilala,

"She's strong enough to throw off the Tessaiga!"

Inuyasha growls at Tsubaki, who jeers,

" _ **Surrender! It's useless!**_ "

"Don't be so sure about that! Have a taste, _of my Wind Scar!_ "

(Slash)

...But not even that worked, as Tsubaki deflects the attack with just her hand! The rest of the group looks on nervously, as Inuyasha mutters in disbelief,

"No way...My Wind Scar didn't kill her!"

" _ **You fool!**_ "

She then zaps another lightning ball at Inuyasha, who leaps away from its path, but is then hurled back after a torrent of lightning bolts upturns the ground!

"Inuyasha!"

Coraline runs off to help the dog demon, while Miroku readies to unwrap the prayer beds around his cursed hand:

"I'll get her! (Rattle) _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whooooooosssssssssshhhhhhh...)

Using her lightning strikes, Tsubaki sends a torrent of rocks at Miroku, who's forced to contain his power before jumping out of the way...Coraline growls and readies her ShatterSoul sword:

"Damn her...!"

(Slash)

She sends an ice-blue slash mark at Tsubaki, cutting her arm some, and causes an outcry of pain to erupt from the Oni-Priestess!

"Nice one, Cor!" But Besa wasn't as ecstatic as Freeman was:

"...It might be too early to celebrate. Look."

"Huh?"

Zooming in on Tsubaki, we see that while the slash of energy did leave some damage, it wasn't enough to kill, to which Tsubaki would point out:

" _ **(Chuckle) You may have power related to**_ _ **Kiky**_ _ **ō's, but you're not much.**_ "

The cut then heals over, much to Coraline's shock, and Tsubaki steps forward while proclaiming,

" _ **Kiky**_ _ **ō was a foolish priestess who squandered the power of the Shikon-no-Tama.**_ " Kaede asks,

"What are ye saying?!"

" ** _I, Tsubaki, am the perfect match for the Shikon-no-Tama!_** "

 _(Flash)_

 _We see the once fully intact Shikon-no-Tama within the hands of_ _Kikyō, as Kaede peers at it with curious wonder:  
_

 _"What is that,_ _Kikyō?"_

 _"The Shikon-no-Tama. I have been entrusted with the duty of keeping it pure."_

 _...Unbeknownst to either, Tsubaki was watching them from afar outside the Goshinboku Village, she carrying a scorned expression..._

 _(Flash)_

" _ **(Laugh) Fifty years have passed, and at last, the power of the Shikon-no-Tama is mine!**_ "

Inuyasha retorts,

"Not for long!"

(Leap)

"You won't get your way, Tsubaki!"

(Whack)

"Gaaaah!"

He falls hard into the ground after being slapped aside by the Oni-Priestess, and Sango makes her move:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, Spin...)

But her boomerang is also slapped aside, and Tsubaki calls out,

" _ **Come for me! The Shikon-no-Tama can take on all of you, and more! (Laugh) There are countless demons who have desired the power of this jewel! I will devour them all, and have their strength and eternal life!**_ "

Kaede exclaims,

"She intends to use the Shikon-no-Tama to absorb demons and gain their power!"

Inuyasha mutters lowly,

"Not if I can help it," and stands up once more. Tsubaki then says to him,

" _ **Half-demon, soon you will be mine,**_ " her cursed eye flashing. He retorts,

"I doubt it."

" _ **(Laugh) Inuyasha, aren't you the one that made Kikyō lose her way in the first place?**_ "

"Why you...!"

"He did not, you Oni witch!"

"Huh?"

Their focus turns to Coraline, who sends a seething glare at Tsubaki while yelling,

"He and Kikyō were sharing eachother's lonely hearts with someone who understood what it felt like to be an outsider! And I too understand that feeling! I had to live my entire life with everyone looking at me like I was a whole different species other than human! What you call losing her way was really Kikyō contemplating the consequences of duty: Everyone winds up looking and treating you like your their hero or heroine, but have no idea how truly hard it is to keep up the act! She was treated like a goddess, when all she wanted was someone to look at her for her!"

Coraline forms a saddened look as she adds in a softer tone,

"...Which makes me wish, that I could have met her when things were, less chaotic...so I...I could've helped her. Be, a friend for her to lean on."

Everyone was quite taken aback by her words, Inuyasha especially:

 _...She...she wants to be a friend to_ _Kikyō? Even after she was nearly killed by her?_

 _...Coraline..._

"The only one here who's lost her way is you, Tsubaki! You've taken your Soul and dipped it in black, not to mention taint the jewel nearly as bad as Naraku did!"

Tsubaki glares at the heated redhead:

"Why, you, wretch!"

(Swipe, WHACK)

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

Coraline was struck hard by Tsubaki's hand, and rolls to the ground face-up!

"Coraline!" "Oh no!" "Sis!"

Kaede rushes to help the girl get up, and Inuyasha turns to growl at the Oni-Priestess:

"You, bitch! You'll pay for that!"

" ** _I shall devour whole, the half-demon that Kikyō could not have!_** "

Tsubaki's cursed eye glows...before a vaccum of wind manifests, threatening to suck Inuyasha into the former!

" ** _Come, and surrender yourself to the power of the Shikon-no-Tama!_** "

Inuyasha cringes back, before using the Tessaiga to keep himself at ground-level:

"Rgh...That thing is powerful..."

" _ **Now explain yourself, half-demon: Why do you not give yourself to the power?!**_ "

"Because it's like Coraline said: You tarnished the Shikon-no-Tama, Tsubaki! Kikyō never did that!"

" _ **How dare you!**_ "

(Crash-crack-crash)

Tsubaki sends some lightning strikes down around Inuyasha in a fit of rage, causing Coraline worry as she struggles to stand up with Kaede's assistance:

"Rgh, In-Inuyasha..."

" _ **I sacrificed everything in order to possess the Shikon-no-Tama!**_ "

Flashback

 _We see Tsubaki leaving the Ying-Yang Shrine after learning what her master had done, despite his protests:  
_

 _"Wait, Tsubaki, stop!"_

 _"No, master! I can never accept this! Why did you entrust the Shikon-no-Tama to_ _ _Kikyō and not to me?!"  
__

 _ _The master couldn't find the answer to that:__

 _ _"Well..."__

 _ _"Why couldn't you have chosen me instead?"__

 _ _Tsubaki continues her leave as her master shouts,__

 _ _"No, Tsubaki!"__

 _ _"I refuse to take second place to__ _ _ _Kikyō!"___

End of Flashback  


" _ **Know the wrath of my power!**_ "

Tsubaki sends another torrent of lightning to the ground, and the twins rush forward before shouting,

"Duck and cover!"

They then hold their Seven Light shards out...and unleash a large rainbow-coloured shield to spread over top the main group, staving off the lightning as best they could!

"Ggh, this lightning is so strong!"

"Just hang on, Freeman!"

As they put as much strength into their shield as they can, Inuyasha was caught under another lightning strike, shocking his body:

(BZZZZT)

"Aaaaaaaauuuuuhhhhhh!"

"No, Inuyasha!"

Luckily, he's okay, and starts his charge at Tsubaki:

" _ **Pathetic fool!**_ "

(Fwooom)

She shoots out a fire ball at the dog demon, but he retorts,

"That Demonic Aura's the only thing keeping you alive!"

Wind twists around his Tessaiga, and the vortex collides with the power of the fireball, before:

"Time for my, _Backlash Wave!_ "

(SLASH)

The combination of power is thrust straight at Tsubaki, and she howls in pain as the wind vortexes slice her body to pieces:

(BOOM)

"The Oni!"

"The Oni is disappearing!"

...With the Oni gone, Tsubaki is forced back into her human form, and as she falls to the ground, she asks herself desperately,

" _ **No, but why?!**_ "

She hits the ground on her side, and Inuyasha lowers his sword when he sees how weakened Tsubaki has become from the loss of power...Nevertheless, holding her injured arm, she tries to keep herself moving, not willing to accept defeat:

"I'm, not finished...I still have, the Shikon-no-Tama..."

...But fate would turn on her further, when:

"GH!"

Her right eye glows...and an Insect of Hell flies out with the Shikon-no-Tama fragment in its legs!

"Hey! My jewel!" Coraline turns to her Will O' Wisp companion and says,

"Lumos: After that wasp and get the jewel!"

He 'nods', and darts after the Insect of Hell, before beginning a tug of war for the jewel...This time round, he's successful:

(Pluck)

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Alright, Lumos!" "Fly back down!"

...But just as he starts his journey back:

(Whoosh)

A gust of wind throws him off balance, causing him to lose grip on the jewel, it landing in Kagura's hand! He tries to take it back, only to be sent flying to the ground by another swipe from her fan:

"Out of my way, you pest!"

(Whoosh)

"(Ghostly moan)"

Lumos drops fast to the ground, but is caught by Sango at the last second:

"I gotcha!"

Inuyasha calls up to the incarnation demon,

"You give that back!"

"So long..."

Kagura then escapes upon her feather...With the power of the demons and the jewel gone, Tsubaki was left with nothing to retain her youth, and would collapse to the ground in her true old and disheveled age:

"Curse, you! Curse you all! (Gasp) My youth is evaporating...(Holds her face) My youth, my beauty...!"

Coraline mutters with surprise,

"She's, become an old woman..." Kaede explains:

"Tsubaki has lost her original demonic powers as well as those of the jewel. Now she is returning to her original form."

The now elder Tsubaki mutters to herself in desperation,

"Oh...exactly where did I go wrong? Did I underestimate that half-demon, or was it Coraline...or was it perhaps the pact that I had made with Naraku? Where did I go wrong?"

Her mind flashes back to her childhood, then her last words with her master...before she shouts to the heavens above,

"I, Tsubaki, am the greatest Priestess!"

...Her body turns to ash, floating away on the wind, leaving behind her robes...Miroku grimly states,

"And that's the end of the Dark Priestess..."

Momiji and Botan step forward to the robes, the former muttering with pity,

"...Poor Tsubaki."

Small Time Skip

With the Dark Priestess Tsubaki no more, it was time for the Inuyasha group to return to the Goshinboku Village. Momiji and Botan see them out of the shrine, and bow in apology for their earlier actions:

"Sorry for all the trouble."

Coraline smiles faintly and replies,

"Hey, no worries. This wasn't your fault."

Momiji then says to the little fox demon,

"...Take care, Shippo," who replies softly,

"You too."

Momiji and Botan wave goodbye, and as everyone starts the journey back, Miroku remarks,

"Turns out we have once again, fallen victim to Naraku's evil tricks." Inuyasha asks,

"Yeah, who did?"

"Tsubaki, and the rest of us." Inuyasha scoffs, then Sango says grimly,

"And Naraku is the one who possesses the Shikon-no-Tama once again."

Freeman smiles faintly and replies,

"Hey, come on, guys: This could've ended alot worse. At least we're all alive, right? Alive and rammin' to fight that bastard another day."

Everyone nods, almost smiling with him, and Inuyasha says,

"I'll get it back from him."

Coraline nods and replies,

"I know so. Besides, as that old saying goes, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger'."

Shippo sighs from atop Besa's shoulder and says,

"I'm so tired..." Kaede then says,

"Well then, shall we head back?"

...As they started their journey back, Inuyasha pauses when he hears a soft rustling coming from the bushes of the forest treeline:

"Hm?"

Coraline notices him stopping, and calls,

"You alright, Inuyasha?"

"...Yeah. Probably nothing. Guess I imagined it."

...Unbeknownst to him, the source of that rustling...was our wandering priestess, who watches Inuyasha from the trees move on to catch up with his friends:

 _Tsubaki was entirely obsessed with the Shikon-no-Tama, so she was doomed to failure..._

"...Obsessed...(Rueful smile) Just as I am obsessed...And yet, what _she_ said before..."

 _(Flash)_

 _"...What you call losing her way was really Kikyō contemplating the consequences of duty: Everyone winds up looking and treating you like your their hero or heroine, but have no idea how truly hard it is to keep up the act! She was treated like a goddess, when all she wanted was someone to look at her for her!"_

 _"...Which makes me wish, that I could have met her when things were, less chaotic...so I...I could've helped her. Be, a friend for her to lean on."_

 _(Flash)_

"...A friend to lean on...Ha, if only that were possible."

She then turns to walk away into the forest canopy, her form fading between the leaves and tree trunks...


	72. Chapter 71

**Chapter 71: Farewell, Days of My Youth**

Come a few days after the endgame of Tsubaki the Dark Priestess, our group would set out on the road again to peruse for more leads regarding the double quest of jewel shards and Naraku's whereabouts...

Today, they find themselves in an open grass field not too far outside another random village, the sky set in a mysterious, dark-clouded overcast. Coraline (she wearing a loose-fit white t-shirt, her camo jean-jacket, blue skinny jeans and her hiker shoes, and two braids styled up front) feels a shift in the atmosphere:

"(Shiver) You all feel that?" Sango nods and replies,

"A strong, demonic aura."

Shippo and Kilala huddle together back-to-back, as do Freeman and Besa (the first wearing a dark blue t-shirt, black pants, and sneakers, while the other wore a button-up dark-green shirt, dark-wash jeans and sneakers), who ready their respected weapons:

"Where's it gonna come from?"

"Who knows..."

(...Rumble)

Something then comes moving through the ground swiftly towards our group, making the dirt shoot up over the green, causing Kilala to growl before shifting into her full demon form. Miroku warns everyone,

"Be careful: The evil is drawing near!" Inuyasha growls and mutters,

"Where are ya hidin'? Come out and show yourself!"

(Rumble...)

Sango calls out,

"It's underground!"

(CRASH)

"(Screech)"

Suddenly, a giant centipede demon comes bursting from the underground, before shooting its acid at everyone, to which they'd all dodge...Well, except Shippo, who was distracted by the contents:

"Yuck! What is that junk?! It's melting the ground!"

"Shippo!"

Luckily, Coraline comes and scoops him up before he got wasted by the acid. She then hops aboard Kilala to get away from another attack, and Miroku calls out while brandishing his staff,

"I'll stop it!"

He jumps to the centipede demon, as Sango and Inuyasha ready their weapons:

"Take this: _Hiraikotsu!_ "

"Hrrraahh!"

Miroku lands a hit on the centipede's head, causing it to howl in pain, and emit red fumes from its wound...Inuyasha readies to go in for the finishing blow:

"It's over!"

"Hold on!"

He freezes at Coraline's shout, and calls back,

"What now?"

Sango also pauses, stumbling a bit from the weight of her weapon, and as Miroku lands on the ground calmly, Coraline adds as she lands with Kilala and Shippo,

"(Point) Look: The demon can't go on."

...The centipede then collapses to the ground, much to Inuyasha's disappointment:

"Thanks for nothin'! I was just about to slice and dice that thing!"

Shippo comments,

"Well, it's no loss: It hardly put up a fight," and Freeman adds,

"Yeah, even Besa and I could've easily taken that thing down..."

Sango sighs and says dejectedly,

"It's disappointing when a demon's appearance is so deceiving..."

Miroku chooses to look more positively at this demon's easy demise, and sends prayers while replying,

"All's well that ends well, and that's what really counts."

(...Distant cheers)

"Hm?"

He then turns to see a large group of villagers several yards away, who were quite pleased to see the centipede demon had been taken out. Inuyasha wonders aloud,

"What's with those guys?"

One middle-aged fellow with a heavy build steps forward to congratulate Miroku on his deed:

"(Bow) Oh, we are forever indebted to you, itinerant monk. You see, that demon has been relentlessly tormenting our village."

Inuyasha asks in slight-shock,

"That demon has?"

Coraline elbows his arm with a half-smile to shush him, and the headmen adds,

"Oh please, let us repay your kindness with a small banquet in your honour."

Miroku turns his gaze to the other villagers, which mostly consisted of men, 'not traditionally' pretty middle-aged women, an elder woman and a pudgy child, and he makes a polite gesture to the headman as he replies,

"I was merely carrying out my duty. I'm afraid I must decline, sir."

"How disappointing, what a shame. (Turns to his side with a frown) How will I ever explain this to the beautiful young girls who eagerly await for you?"

That caused Miroku to perk up, just as the headman turns to walk back:

"Oh well..."

Miroku quickly rushes in front of the man and bows again:

"Whoa-whoa-whoa! Ah, then again, I wouldn't want to be punished by the gods for not accepting your kindness."

Shippo comments from atop Kilala with an unimpressed expression,

"Funny how the mention of young girls can change his mind..."

Sango adds a bit more bitterly,

"He's such a lecherous monk," and Coraline wraps an arm around the other sympathetically:

 _(Sigh) If only Miroku wasn't distracted by each passing eye candy and would focus on the woman he travels with..._

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV  


We're all lead back by the headman to his home, where several tables are laid for us, him and the entire village to sit at and eat together. Even Kilala got her own bowl of food and was happily gobbling it down like we were:

"(Munch, munch, swallow) These beans are cooked so well. (Looks up, giggle) And Lumos is definitely having a blast checkin' out the new faces."

I watch my Will O' Wisp partner gliding around the room, causing a few faces to look up with curiousity, the children especially:

"Wow!" "Look at the orb!" "So pretty!"

Shippo was eating his portion with gusto, commenting,

"It's so yummy! These are great!" Freeman smiles down at him in amusement and chides,

"Watch that you don't eat too fast, little dude, or you'll get the hiccups."

"(Swallow, sheepish smile) Sorry, but I can't help it: It's been a while since we had great food!"

...I then hear him hum in concern, and turn to see him ask,

"What's wrong, Sango? You haven't touched your food..."

I focus on her when she doesn't reply, and see her attention was on Miroku, as he read the palm of a young lady wearing a pink kimono and headscarf. I sigh a bit with a disappointed frown, and Besa asks me,

"What's up?"

"I feel bad for Sango, having to witness all of that..."

He turns his gaze to where I was looking, and sucks in a quick breath before replying,

"Oh yeah. That's gotta sting..." I listen as Miroku says to the girl,

"Your palm says you will be blessed with many offspring. (Takes her hand into both of his) My dear, would you consider bearing my children?"

I see a light blush come to dust her cheeks...before a much older woman with wrinkled skin cuts in and replies to Miroku,

"Yes."

I nearly choke on my food, and I hear Besa do a spit-take, while Miroku's face turns blue with mortification!

"I'll have as many as you want: Fifteen or sixteen, you choose the number. (Starts pulling Miroku away) Let's get to it."

"H-Help, Sango! Don't just sit there and watch, do something! Freeman?!"

My other twin brother just smirks evilly and replies,

"If you're lookin' for a way out of trouble, you're lookin' in the wroooong place, my friend."

He then bursts into laughter after Sango turns away with a pout and replies coldly,

"You finally found somebody willing and able. You have my blessings."

I wince and comment in a low volume with a nervous smile,

"And that, my friends, is why womanizing needs to die..."

Inuyasha just keeps eating, choosing not to comment at all, as the elderly woman continues dragging Miroku across the room between the other villagers:

"Right this way." One of the men calls out jokingly,

"After the young men again, are ya, granny?" She just smiles and replies,

"I may be old, but I ain't rusty!"

Everyone else chortles with them at the situation and just for the sake of the warm atmosphere...I found myself smiling at the sentiment:

"Heh, I suppose family reunions would have a history as well..." Inuyasha asks me,

"What's a family reunion?"

"Well, it's a tradition in which you and your relatives, ranging from parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, cousins, and even further out, come together to reconnect and share in eachother's company. Much like this banquet, it's usually done over a meal."

...I watch as he goes into thought for a moment...before his face sets into a grimace while he replies,

"Thanks, but no thanks!"

I raise a confused brow...before realizing,

 _Oh! Oh geez: (Sweatdrop) I guess that's not really a possibility for Inuyasha and his living family member..._

I watch as he flops backwards while letting out an exasperated sigh, and I lean down while patting his shoulder with an apologetic smile:

"Sorry if I accidentally gave you a scary image there...You should sit back up again: It's not polite to lay back after a meal even if you are a guest."

"Yeah, says who?"

(...Slurp)

"Huh?"

(Slap)

Inuyasha then smacks his face, and sits up while holding something in his palm. Shippo, Besa and I huddle around in curiousity, and I see a familiar flea demon un-flatten himself:

"Myoga!"

He takes in a breath while folding his arms before saying,

"I was a bit concerned about you, Master Inuyasha, so I sought you out, only to find you battling a ferocious centipede. I'm glad you're safe."

Inuyasha narrows his eyes suspiciously at Myoga and replies,

"Funny how you're never found while we're in battle, but you never skip a beat when there's food and women around. You little schemer..."

"Now now, let's not be cruel!"

"Where have ya been this whole time, anyway, Myoga?"

"(Sheepish chuckle) Even an old pest like me has some bedfellows they'd prefer to keep secret, you know."

He wrings his hands mysteriously and while still chuckling weirdly, and I cringe a bit while Inuyasha's eyebrows twitches in disgust:

"Rgh, definitely a creepy crawler..."

He tosses Myoga to a candle, to which he would then run around on the rim in a frantic:

"Hot-hot, hotter than hot!"

I just sweatdrop and mutter,

"Oh dear..."

 _Now we've got two wry men to deal with..._

 _I'd say three, but Freeman's smooth-talk is reserved for men, and he hasn't shown any interest for the ones around here._

Small Time Skip  


Night falls, and as everyone heads to their provided rooms for some shut-eye...Walking down the corridor, I remember something I meant to speak with Sango about, and decide that tonight would be a good time. I catch her just she opens her door:

"...U-Um, Sango?"

She pauses in heading after Kilala and turns to ask,

"Hm? What is it, Coraline?"

"...Before we head to sleep, there's...something, I want to talk to you about, girl-to-girl."

"Oh?"

I felt myself blush in embarrassment, and step in close to her to whisper,

"...It's, about, Inuyasha, and something I did a while back."

"...Alright."

We enter her room, and I use my powers to make sure we didn't have any prying ears...before I told her about my gesture in the aftermath at Togenkyo...

"(Whisper-yell) You did what?!" I whisper frantically back,

"Shhhh! Keep it down! If the guys wake up and find out about this topic again, I'll never hear the end of it!"

She slaps her hands over her mouth...before removing them and asking a touch more calmly and quietly,

"Okay...just to clarify, you only kissed his cheek?"

"Yes! Good lord, Sango, what kind-a woman do you think I am? I may be bold, but I'm not that bold!"

 _Especially since I've never thought about kissing a guy on the lips...until recently._

 _Damn you, teenage hormones!_

An awkward silence falls between us...before Sango asks me,

"...Do you want to kiss him like that, though?"

"H-Huh?"

"Inuyasha."

"I-I don't know...I, do, but I don't, because, I'm worried that...(Sigh) Okay, what I'm about to tell you is something you can't, tell, anybody, especially him."

Sango nods, and I lean in to whisper,

"...I've fallen in love with that wonderfully stubborn dog demon. There, I said it!"

She jumps back and whisper-shouts,

"You have?!"

I nod with a meek smile, and she smiles big while chiding,

"Wow, Coraline, that's...wow, I'm happy for you."

"...I wish I was too...But the truth is, I'm...scared."

"Huh? Scared of what?"

"Well, it's been a long while since the incident at Togenkyo, and...Inuyasha hasn't said one word about, the kiss I gave him."

I felt an insecure frown come to my lips as I add,

"And, I'm, worried that, he might be disgusted or weirded out by it. I mean...given the last time he's been close to a woman..."

"(Frown) I see..."

"Plus, he's my best friend, and I don't wanna ruin our friendship with these romantic feelings. I don't wanna drive him away. (Looks down) I want to eventually tell him how I feel, but...I'm, afraid of the results."

...I feel a hand go on my shoulder, and look up to see Sango smiling sympathetically at me:

"It's okay to be scared, Coraline. It's something all of us women fear when it comes to love...As for Inuyasha's thoughts, you know he's the kind of guy who needs to, process longer than most. I seriously doubt he was disgusted by the kiss; he was probably just majorly surprised."

"...You think so?"

"Mhm...I also think his feelings for you may be close to how you're feeling towards him."

"Uh! S-Seriously?"

"Mm, can't say for sure...but I do know this: If he does reject you, I'll be there to kick his ass before coming back to your side as your crying shoulder."

We both laugh a little, and I hug Sango while replying,

"Thanks. That really helps."

"Of course...Don't give up yet, Coraline."

"I won't...and, Sango?"

"Yes?"

"...Don't you give up either."

"Huh?"

She pulls back with a confused frown, and I giggle a bit before chiding,

"Come on, don't pretend in front of me: I know you're developing feelings for Miroku."

...She turns from my gaze with a light blush:

"Am not."

"You say that...and yet your eyes say differently."

"...Well, it's not like the monk will ever notice me."

I move to get up and head to my room, and pause at the doorway to reply,

"He does...It's just he's so desperate for a woman's affection that he can't slow down for a moment to see the one woman who actually gives a damn."

"Uh...Coraline..."

"(Turn, smile) Goodnight, Sango."

I leave her and Kilala, sliding the door close, and make my way to my room down the quiet corridors while musing,

 _It seems she and I have chosen rather clueless men to be our future boyfriends..._

No POV  


A few hours later, we find everyone resting comfortably resting in their respected lodgings for the night, sleeping soundly in their futons, the only three sharing being the twins and Shippo, with the latter tucked between their bodies while mumbling in his sleep:

"I couldn't eat another bite..."

...Outside in the corridors, leading into the garden courtyard, we find Myoga hopping along the wood panels of the hall in a rather cheerful manner...before switching to a more cautious demeanor as he stops in front of one door:

"Silently, stealthily, sneaks through the night..."

He then slips between the framing, with the mystery of 'what on earth he was up to' still remaining...

Moving along, we check back in on Miroku, who was about to receive a visitor to his room:

(...Step, step, step)

Miroku's eyes open, aware of the presence:

 _A ghost._

(...Slide, step, step, step)

 _I've heard of spirits of children who linger on in mansions after their passing..._

 _This must be one such phantom._

...There comes a shift of clothing, before Miroku springs on the defense:

"Yaaah!"

But he immediately freezes when he sees that the 'spirit', was actually the headman's son!

"(Falls over) Who're you?!"

The young boy gives no direct answer, instead mumbling tiredly,

"...Wee, wee."

Miroku tosses his staff aside while shouting frantically,

"No, not here!"

"Gotta, go..."

He then snatches the young boy up to cart him outside so he could, (cough), 'do his business':

"Just wait! This isn't the toilet!"

...Once that minor issue was taken care of, Miroku would return to his room, and sigh to himself exasperatingly while laying back in his futon,

"If I'm going to be awakened at this hour, I can think of other things I'd rather be doing..."

...About half an hour passes, before Miroku would receive another visitor, much to his annoyance. Thinking it was the boy again, he chides,

"You have to pee again, I suppose? Be a good boy and go by yourself this time, okay?"

...The figure does not move, so Miroku rises to a sitting position, only to find that his second visitor...was a sleepy-eyed Sango!

"Sango! (Looks back and forth) Do you know what time it is?"

He then smiles when he takes a guess as to why she was here:

"What luck: She's finally come sneaking into my bed! (Pats his futon) Lie down, come join me..."

...Sango gives no vocal reply...instead bringing her Hiraikotsu down in a swing!

"Gh!"

(Crash)

Miroku manages to scramble out of the way, bursting through the screen doors to the outside:

(Crash, clatter)

Despite having fatigue laced in her pupils, Sango gives chase, with Miroku calling back,

"Aw, come on, you can't still be angry about earlier!"

(Swing, duck)

"Gh!"

(Crash)

A well in the courtyard takes Miroku's place as a target, and he tries to reassure Sango,

"The old woman was just joking!"

Come another two crashes, and everyone else would wake up and peer out of their rooms to see what was going on, starting with Inuyasha:

"Aw man. What's with all this ruckus out here?"

Then Coraline (wearing a red tank top and black sweatpants):

"(Yawn) What the hell's happenin'?"

Finally, Freeman Besa and Shippo (the third atop Freeman's shoulder):

"Dude..." "Wha's all the noise about?"

"(Yawn) It's not morning yet, is it?"

They all look over into the courtyard as Miroku tries to reason with the attacking slayer:

"Sango, you don't have to be so angry! Come on, I'm telling the truth!"

She ignores Miroku and continues to violently swing her boomerang, before the latter is backed into a wall!...Luckily, there would be a delay in which Sango would stop to catch her breath, and that's when Miroku realized,

"Uh! She's attacking me, in her sleep!"

Shippo yawns again and asks,

"Can't you two keep your little squabbles a bit quieter?" Freeman adds,

"Yeah, no kidding: Mine and Besa's neighbourhood nightlife is more muffled than this..."

They and Besa then turn to head back to bed, as do everyone else...until Miroku calls them back:

"Wait! Sango is possessed by something!"

...Noting that she was readying to swing her weapon again, Coraline shouts over more awake,

"Sango, wait!"

Thankfully, Inuyasha runs over in time to prevent the slayer from attacking any further:

"Stop it, Sango!"

...She then collapses without warning, and Miroku would catch her while Inuyasha took her weapon:

"Sango!"

His hand wanders to Sango's rear as he asks chidingly,

"Are you alright?"

(...SLAP)

Miroku cringes from the new sting on his cheek, as Sango growls in her sleep...before waking up:

"Huh? What's going on? What am I doing here?"

She then sees the slap mark on the monk's cheek:

"Hm? What happened to you, Miroku?"

Shippo comments in mild surprise,

"Wow: She even slaps him in her sleep."

With the air cleared of danger, everyone would discuss what exactly transpired while standing in the courtyard garden:

"Someone bewitched Sango right under our noses."

"U-Uh, I don't remember a thing."

Besa puts a finger under his chin in thought:

"Only questions are who done it, and why?" Inuyasha replies,

"I don't have any idea, but I don't sense any evil in this place," and Coraline adds,

"Yeah, me neither, and Lumos has been quiet as a mouse."

...Suddenly, a certain little flea demon pops up from Miroku's robes:

"A-Are you certain?" Inuyasha would be the first to address him:

"Myoga! When did you jump on Miroku?!" He ignores the question, his mind too focused on something else:

"A-Are you sure you don't sense anything suspicious?"

"(Narrows eyes) Are you hiding something from us?"

"(Panicky) I-uh-er, not especially, no..."

Sango then remembers something:

"Wait a minute: A long time ago, my father told me about demons who only realize their true power after death."

Freeman mutters with a raised brow,

"After death?" Miroku then says,

"The most recent demon we've destroyed was...Ah!"

Everyone else clues in on his train of thought, with Inuyasha asking,

"You mean that giant centipede that was so weak possessed Sango?"

Coraline concludes,

"In that case, tomorrow we better make doubly sure that its buried carcass has been truly sealed of its power."

Everyone agrees to the plan, while Myoga darts his head around cautiously before hopping onto Kilala, to which Shippo would notice:

"Hey, what's the matter with you, Myoga?"

"N-Nothing, nothing at all."

Time Skip, Coraline's POV

Come around dusk, my friends and I would find ourselves back in the grass plain at the large burial mound where the dead centipede demon laid...Inuyasha and Miroku would move aside the two boulders placed on top, before my brothers take two shovels and unearth the body:

(Scoop, scoop, scoop...)

I watch my brothers examine the body for a second, before Freeman calls down,

"Nothin' suggesting this thing's breathin'!"

I nod, and listen as he adds,

"It's just a carcass." Inuyasha replies,

"Well, nothing suspicious about it," with Besa muttering,

"I don't understand what's going on..." Miroku chooses to be cautious for the sake of all of us:

"I think I better seal it with another sutra, just to be on the safe side..."

...I look back down at my open hand, as Myoga finishes his palm-reading:

"Hmm...Coraline, you don't have any luck with men."

"...I don't?"

"You won't find peace or happiness until you leave your current man."

His words made me feel uneasy:

 _Current?_

 _...Could that, be hinting at Inuyasha?_

I give myself a mental head-shake, and briefly glance the area where my...covenant mark laid in disguise:

 _No...I won't believe that. I can't...Not after what I've sacrificed, and what I'll soon be sacrificing._

I then watch Myoga hops onto Sango's open palm to give her a reading:

"What about you, Sango? Let's see...hmm...Your luck with men is no better! You'd best forget about him: He's too much of a womanizer."

"Your Palm-Reading is right on the mark, Myoga."

I frown a bit at her expression:

 _Oh Sango, you don't really believe that, do you?_

...I feel Shippo turn on my shoulder to his right, and he calls,

"What? Are you finished burying the demon already?"

As Inuyasha calls back with the twins,

"No, we're not finished yet!"

"Miroku, come back and lend a hand!"

"Don't be a slacker!"

I hear Kilala growl apprehensively...and turn to look more closely at Miroku's face:

 _Huh? What's wrong wit-Wait...Uh: Oh no!_

"(Fierce) I won't forgive you for this!"

(Swing, CLANG)

I pull out my sword just in time, to block Miroku's staff!

"Rgh, M-Miroku, what the hell?!"

He shoves me back, and charges at Sango, trying to whack her with his staff while she asks,

"What're you doing?! Is this a sort of payback?!"

I hear Inuyasha and the twins rush down from the mound as the former shouts,

"You've finally revealed your true self, you lecherous monk!"

 _No! That's not it: This just like last night!_

As Miroku keeps up the attacks, I run forward and block the next attack, just as Sango shouts,

"I didn't really think you were that type of man, Miroku! I was wrong about you!"

Inuyasha adds,

"And I was right all along!"

As I stave off Miroku, I reply back,

"Hang on: This isn't what either of you think! I can sense a bit of demon power throbbing into Miroku's head! He must be possessed by the same force that got Sango the other night!"

"That's impossible: It would take alot of power to possess Miroku, and I don't sense it!"

"That's precisely my point: I think there's something else going on that the centipede has no real role in!"

I then shove Miroku back, before calling to my brothers,

"Guys, quick: Knock him down!"

"Right!" "Got it!"

They then rush forward, and Besa uses his sickles to hook around the staff and yank it out of Miroku's hands, before ducking and rolling out of the way for Freeman to whack Miroku in the stomach with the base of his hammer:

"Sorry 'bout this, dude! Hah!"

(WHACK)

"GH!"

No POV

Miroku flies backwards from the impact, rolling on the ground before stopping on his side...The twins high-five at their efforts, just as the monk rises on one hand while muttering in a strangely more feminine tone,

"This body is inadequate if even those young men can disarm me..."

Inuyasha calls over with a confused expression,

"What happened to your voice? Why are ya talkin' like that?"

Coraline folds her arms with a closed-eyed frown and states,

"See? Told ya: It's not the centipede, but he's definitely possessed by some other force..."

Miroku mutters,

"Why, you..."

...Suddenly, a tiny figure jumps out of Miroku and flees, leaving the monk to dart up while asking,

"What on earth happened to me? (Grimaces) And why do I feel a bruise forming on my stomach?"

"Uuh, that would be my fault. Sorry, dude, but it was for your own good."

He looks over at the apologetically-smiling Freeman, as Coraline kneels down to check on the monk:

"How are ya feelin' now: No longer possessed, I hope?"

"I, don't know what you're talking about..."

Coraline then stiffens, when she feels a hand caress the side of her rear...before jumping up with a yelp and angry blush:

"Okay, yep: That definitely covers it! Geez, Miroku, I thought I was off your radar!"

Looking up, Miroku grins embarrassingly at a looming Inuyasha...Freeman calls over with a wry smile,

"Guess the saying 'old habits die hard' remains true, eh?" Besa just facepalms:

"Oi..."

Inuyasha mutters in agreement:

"That's for sure...Hm? (Turns) Hold on: There's something evil coming this way."

Everyone tenses up...just as a loud rumbling came ringing through the underground...and another giant centipede like the first one comes bursting out of the dirt and grass behind Sango!

"Ah!"

Miroku asks aloud,

"What is that?!" Coraline wonders,

"It might be the mate of the centipede we killed the other day!" Sango asks,

"Could it be that this is the one that possessed us?"

The centipede then spews acid at her, and she dodges, leaving the ground behind her as the target:

(Sizzz...)

The demon would switch aim towards the others, who scramble out of the way, with Inuyasha taking Coraline to safety himself. Miroku calls out in warning,

"Be careful: This stuff is acid!" Freeman retorts,

"We kind-of knew that from yesterday, but whatever!"

Inuyasha sets Coraline on the ground at a safe distance and tells her,

"Stay here," before running at the centipede with his Tessaiga:

"Take this! _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

The centipede howls as it's hacked in two, and falls to the ground, just as the sun began rising for a new day, lighting the area...Inuyasha sheathes his blade, and Sango comments,

"That's the end of another troublesome centipede..." Miroku pulls a sutra out at the ready:

"Looks like I better seal up its powers..."

(...Hop, hop)

Something jumps off the carcass, signalling that this wasn't over yet...Miroku places the sutra on the centipede's body, and does the necessary prayer:

"This puts an end to this affair..."

...We then hear a low growl come from Inuyasha, as he lowers his fists while his eyes briefly flash a yellow-pink! He then proceeded to...laugh hysterically, causing everyone to look at him funny:

"...What's with him?"

"Did his screw come loose?"

"Yo, Inuyasha: You okay?"

"Inuyasha?"

He does not answer, and stops laughing to focus an expressionless gaze at Kilala and Shippo, with the cat demon's fur fuzzing defensively. Inuyasha lets out another growl, before taking off after Kilala on all fours, shouting,

"Come back here! You'll never escape me!"

Coraline winces and woes,

"Oh great: Him too?" Sango notices how strangely Inuyasha was moving:

"Watch how he's running: He kind-of looks like a flea."

"A flea?" Inuyasha calls after the retreating cat demon and fox child,

"I'll get you!" Shippo exclaims,

"What's going on? Now Inuyasha's gone crazy!"

"I'm coming, Myoga~!"

"Inuyasha's calling you!"

Said flea demon pops out of Shippo's hair and replies,

"That's not Master Inuyasha!"

"Whuh?!"

"You'll never get away from me!"

The possessed Inuyasha then leaps up high, and blocks Kilala, forcing her to screech into a halt, while Shippo falls off at the dog demon's feet:

"Aaaaah!"

Shippo looks up, and asks uncertainly,

"...Is that you, Inuyasha?"

...The answer that came, was not one anybody would be prepared to hear:

"(Shy, feminine tone) Don't think that you can escape from me, you naughty little rascal~. (Slides down right sleeve to show shoulder) I'm all yours for the taking, my sweet foxy darling~."

Shippo waves his hands frantically and calls out in a panic,

"Inuyasha, snap out of it!"

"We're meant for eachother..."

Shippo tries to back away with a squeak of fear and mortification:

"What about my dreams of falling in love with a woman?! Not a possessed male half-demon!"

Just as Inuyasha reaches to Shippo's hair:

"Inuyasha, Sit!"

(Gleam)

(Wham)

"Guh!"

Coraline uses the subjugation beads to stop him, he slamming the ground face-first...He rises up a bit a few seconds after and calls Coraline out, his voice back to normal:

"What'd you do that for, Coraline?!" She smiles nervously and replies,

"To save you from what could've been the most disturbing experience for you...and for Shippo..."

"Huh? Did I do something wrong?"

Freeman mutters,

"Nothing a couple therapy sessions can't fix," and Besa elbows his ribs...Shippo then shouts heatedly,

"Would you get off me, you rabid dog?!"

Inuyasha squints at the fox demon, before shoving the other into the dirt...Miroku then leans down to ask,

"Inuyasha, what do you have there in your hand?"

"Hm?"

He sits up, and opens his palm, revealing Myoga! He squeezes the flea demon between his fingers to stop him from leaving, despite the other's protests:

"Release me, please!"

"It's Myoga!"

"Let me go, Master Inuyasha! I beg you!"

Shippo stops squirming, deciding his efforts were fruitless, and as he lifts his head up, he sees another tiny body leap out of the former's clothes:

"Coraline, it's a flea: An unfamiliar flea!"

"...I see them!"

"It came out from Inuyasha's body!"

Besa looks more closely at the new face and replies,

"...Actually, I believe they're a she."

Indeed: This flea was female, with long grey hair, long eyelashes, and was wearing a dark-blue patterned kimono with a pink wrap skirt. She walks on Inuyasha's hand towards the struggling Myoga:

"I'll never ask for another favour; just let me go!"

"Myoga: This is the end of the line for you!"

She then reaches and grabs him by his robes while adding fiercely,

"I'm telling you, you cannot get away this time!"

Coraline then asks,

"Um, pardon, but who exactly are you, ma'am?"

Noticing the intent stares, the female flea quickly pulls out a comb and makes herself a bit more presentable:

"Oh dear, how rude of me. (Kowtows, smile) My name is Shoga, and according to our parent's wishes, Myoga and I are betrothed to be wed."

"Not true, not true!"

"(Looms over Myoga) You be quiet!"

"Yes'm..."

"Hm? Old lady Shoga?" Coraline lightly slaps Inuyasha's shoulder and scolds,

"Hey: Show respect to age for once, will ya?"

Shoga didn't seem overly offended:

"Oh, it's all taken. When a flea reaches my age, she wants to settle down and have a family. (Turns with a sad expression) But you know my Myoga here..."

 _(Flash)_

 _We see Myoga hopping from pretty girl to pretty girl in one village...as Shoga watches from an alleyway atop a cat._

 _(Flash)_

"For years, he's been such a womanizer! Whenever there's a handsome woman around, he steals up to flirt with her without a word of apology to me! He leaves very little a clue to track him down, and I'm left helpless to wait for his return! (Glares at Myoga angrily) This time I hunted him down, swearing to lug him back home even if I had to use a little bit of force!"

Shoga seizes Myoga's robes again, causing him to panic more as Miroku and Sango to exclaim,

"Scary!"

"Myoga: Are you prepared?!"

"No! Heeeelp! Release me, Master Inuyasha!"

His response?

"...Nope. No can do."

"Why, tell me why!"

Inuyasha raises Moyga to his glaring eyes and states,

"You knew that Old Lady Shoga was the one who bewitched us all along, Myoga."

Miroku and Sango gasp, before reflecting similar glares at the flea demon. Freeman hms disapprovingly and says,

"Not cool, Myoga..."

"Please! Surely you wouldn't rob an innocent fellow of his precious youth, will you?!"

Shoga's hair bristles as she yells,

"Precious youth, my feet! I should strap you to my back if that's what it takes to get you home!"

Inuyasha agrees:

"Good plan." Miroku then speaks up:

"Now now, old lady Shoga: I think you should forgive him."

Coraline sees the hidden mischief in the monk's eyes, and adds,

"He's right: Why physically take his freedom away, (Smirk) when you can do a better job romantically by getting married?"

...The two fleas stare blankly at her for a second...before Shoga's face bursts into a huge blush while Myoga starts to sweat profoundly:

"Get married?!" Shippo climbs onto Inuyasha's hands with a coy smile:

"And then you can start a home together!"

"Oh dear..."

Shoga draws some circles on Inuyasha's hand shyly, and Shippo giggles,

"She's embarrassed!" Sango replies with a smile,

"A female's still a female, even if she is a flea," and Besa adds,

"I'm sure if we ask the headman back in the village, he could act as the efficient."

Myoga desperately tries to protest:

"There's no need for the headman! Please, please!" Inuyasha squints his eyes at him and says,

"Myoga doesn't seem very pleased about this..."

Miroku and Sango reply with rather vengeful smirks,

"He'll just have to reside himself."

"You will make a fine couple of fleas."

Myoga was left with no back-up, and he would proceed to cry a river of cowardly tears, while Shoga remained blushing and bashful...

Small Time Skip

Once they got back to the village, the group would ask the headman to act as a marriage go-between, to which he would happily oblige. He was now sitting in his home next to Miroku dressed in finer clothing, a tea set placed in front of them, while the others sat across from them in a formal manner.

Kilala would then enter the room with the soon-to-be new husband and wife, Shoga dressed in the traditional white kimono of a bride, and Myoga dressed in black, his hat hung low over his face. As the group claps, Shoga shyly says to the other,

"Myoga...At last, we are flea and wife! (Nudge) Don't be so shy, dearest, (Giggle). (Nudge) You could at least say you love me..."

...No response is given, causing Shoga to turn to Myoga in suspicion:

"Hm? Myoga?"

...A few seconds later:

"Aaaaah!"

Everyone rushes over to see what was the matter:

"Hey, what's wrong?" "Lady Shoga?"

"Shoga?"

"What's the matter?" "Did Myoga faint or something?"

"...Ooooh no..."

The last voice would be Freeman's, when he sees to Shoga's dismay,

"This isn't Myoga! (Sniff) He switched places with some strange flea!"

Said regular flea hops away, and Inuyasha darts up while exclaiming,

"That Myoga: He ran away!"

...Cutting just outside the room, we see a cat jump onto a roof of another home and stretch their limbs, with the runaway groom as their passenger:

"Run, run! Run to the ends of the earth, please!"

(Slurp...)

The cat tenses up, before complying to Myoga's wish...What he didn't know, however, was that Shoga caught onto his escape plan pretty quickly:

"Why that Old Geezer! Get back here!"

Everyone watches as Shoga hops out the headman's home and in the same direction the cat darted off to:

"You won't get away with this!" Myoga urges the cat on:

"Run, run for my life!"

"Come back here!"

As the group watches them go, Shippo comments,

"When it comes to fleeing, Myoga is definitely the best."

Everyone else just lets out a breath of exasperation at the flea's antics, with the final shouts from Shoga and he being,

 _"Stop, Myogaaaa!"_

 _"No Way!"_


	73. Chapter 72

**Chapter 72: Naraku's Barrier - Kagura's Decision**

Another night in Sengoku Edo, with the sky fairly clear, allowing the stars freedom to twinkle as bright as they wanted to, while showcasing the moon that would soon vanish from the naked eye...

Zooming down to just outside the treeline of a new forest, we see Sesshomaru, Jaken, Rin and A-Un progressing on in their travels across a quiet grass field, with the little girl of the group pausing her step and turning her gaze to the sight above them:

"(Soft gasp) The moon is about to disappear...Ah: A shooting star!"

She folds her hands over her torso and closes her eyes as she makes her wish:

 _I wish I can stay with Lord Sesshomaru forever and ever._

"...Rin."

"Uh?"

She looks up as Sesshomaru says to her,

"Don't fall behind."

"Oh, (Nod) yes, my lord."

As she moves to catch up with the group, Sesshomaru glances around the area noting,

 _Hmm, something feels strange...A-Un, why are you so restless?_

...Moving to another area, hidden from the eyes of mortals and demons alike, we see Kagura sitting atop a roof of Naraku's castle, as her gaze falls on the glowing sphere that was falling under shadow:

 _Tomorrow is a new moon._

 _...Even the moon has time so it can hide in darkness._

She places a hand over where her heart would've been and adds ruefully,

 _With Naraku holding onto my heart, there's nowhere for me to run._

(...Roaring)

"What?"

Kagura looks up again, and sees a large horde of demon spirits flying and disappearing into the purple-hued clouds:

 _The demon spirits that Naraku kept around him..._

 _Uh! They've gone through the barrier!_

Time Skip

It's now daytime, and we move to a mountain pass, tall peaks as far as the eye could see, and lush green forests pocketing the ground below, where we see a familiar wolf demon slide to a stop on a cliff-side, as his friends call,

"Wait, Kōga!" "Kōga!"

Ginta and Hakkaku finally catch up (along with a few regular wolves), and the former says to Kōga,

"(Pant, pant) Let's rest a bit. I just can't keep up with this pace!"

Hakkaku adds,

"Even the wolves are out of breath. Give us a rest, would ya, Kōga?"

Kōga comments a bit bitterly,

"Damn you pathetic weaklings. If I had to wait for the both of you, we wouldn't reach Naraku's castle in a hundred years."

"Is that where we're going? You mean to tell us that we weren't just running around in circles?"

"No chance. (Looks overhead) I can smell his foul odour: Naraku is nearby...Aye, I'm sure of it."

Kōga thinks to himself determinedly and fiercely,

 _This time, I will attack his castle...and kill him!_

He remembers what he had learned regarding the trickery of the despicable demon and his subordinate, Kagura, adding,

 _I'll avenge my comrades who were deceived and slaughtered...without fail!_

Meanwhile, in another part of the Forest-Mountain Pass...

The Inuyasha gang was on a new path, exiting the thick pines and entering an area with fewer trees and more dry ground with little patches of grass, as the dog demon tries to hone in on Naraku's scent...

The keyword being try at this current moment, for as the new moon approaches, his demon abilities were slowly starting to weaken.

Shippo asks from atop Freeman's shoulder,

"What's the matter, Inuyasha? Isn't this the right direction?"

"Shut up! Stop yakkin' and let me concentrate!"

Sango and Miroku were standing behind Inuyasha, as she asks,

"Sniffing around on all fours won't get us any closer to finding Naraku's castle, will it?"

Inuyasha keeps trying to use his nose...but curses when he can't get anything:

"Aw, damn it all..."

"Inuyasha, maybe your nose isn't working right now: Tonight is the first night, remember?"

Coraline raises a brow at Shippo's words...before realizing,

"Oh shoot: It's the New Moon again, isn't it?"

Sango and Miroku comment with wide eyes,

"New Moon?"

"That's right: The Night of the New Moon is when Inuyasha loses his powers and becomes a mere mortal."

Besa, who was standing by his sister, says with a slight smile,

"Well, I dunno if 'mere' is the right term. He's still a force to be reckoned with even in human form. He just has to work harder for victory, is all."

Coraline frowns slightly and replies,

"Still, closing in on Naraku with that time approaching...Inuyasha, I don't think it's a good idea to go on the offense right now. Even if we do find the bastard's castle, you won't be able to fight the way you want to without your demon strength."

"We've made it this far. I ain't holdin' back now."

"...That's my point."

Inuyasha looks up at Coraline in confusion as she adds matter-of-factually,

"Why throw away all that we've worked towards in one charge that could blow up on us if we're not all at our par?"

...Before a respond could be made, there then came the sound of rushing wind, coming from a skinny tornado whirling up from behind the group!

"Look: A cyclone!"

"And it's coming this way!"

Miroku shields Sango back with his arm as they back away from the cyclone's path, as it passes over the unsuspecting Inuyasha (crashing him to the ground), and dissipates in front of Coraline to reveal Kōga!

"Yo, Coraline."

"...Kōga."

Freeman goes over to the flattened Inuyasha (who also had two muddy footprints on his hair) to help him up:

"Dude: You alright?" Sango comments,

"Well, that's what you get for sniffing around on the ground..."

As Inuyasha is lifted to a stand by Freeman, Coraline flashes a worried smile at the dog demon, before Kōga asks the former,

"Hey, mutt: You followed the scent around here too, did ya?"

"Huh, you mangy wolf..."

He then readies to pull out Tessaiga as he bursts out in a spat of anger,

"I'll kill you!"

"Nope!"

(Clang)

Coraline acts fast, and blocks Inuyasha's sword with her own, much to everyone's shock:

"...Wow!" "That was quick." "Nice reflexes, sis!"

Inuyasha grits his teeth, before pulling his blade back while asking in irritation,

"Why'd ya do that, Coraline?"

"Because there's only one person to be concentrating your blade on, and it's not Kōga!"

She sighs heavily as she sheathes ShatterSoul, before walking over to Inuyasha's side and gently tugging his head down by his ear to add in a whisper,

"However, if wolf-boy makes any beelines to try and flirt with me, I give you the green light to sucker-punch him in his gut."

Inuyasha widens his eyes...before grinning slightly and whispering back,

"Deal."

Coraline giggles a bit at the excitement that flashed in his amber eyes, shifting her hand down to hold his arm lightly, before turning to focus on Miroku as he steps up to the wolf demon to ask,

"Kōga: Did you come to find Naraku's castle as well?"

"Yeah. I dunno why, but I'm picking strong hints of his foul scent. It's never happened before."

Sango comes up beside Miroku as she wonders,

"That must mean...!"

"The barrier around Naraku's castle has weakened."

Kōga adds,

"In any case, if I follow his scent, I'll find his castle."

"...I don't know if scent-tracking might be enough."

"Hm?"

His and everyone else's gazes turn to Coraline as she folds her arms in thought:

"Maybe his barrier has weakened, but there's also the possibility that Naraku could be employing a trick of sorts by covering this path in his scent."

Besa rubs his chin with a hm and a frown:

"That's a fair point: A strategy like that would definitely be up Naraku's ally...Hang on: Coraline, do you think you can try using that Aura ability to seek his castle again like that time before?"

"Aura Seeker? Hm...I dunno: Last time I did that, Lumos and I got bombarded by bursts of Naraku's lingering Aura...But then again..."

(Sheen)

Coraline peers around the path with glowing eyes, and notes,

"...These pockets of miasmatic power aren't as strong, so they're too recent to cause any real damage if I use my own power...Yeah. Yeah, maybe I can use it aga-"

"No way."

"Huh?"

She turns her regular eyes to Inuyasha, who was staring at her with a frown as he says,

"I'm not riskin' you getting hurt again by that bastard's energies, so you can toss that plan to the fire."

"(Glares) Oh yeah? Who says you'll stop me?"

"I do, duh!"

"Hey, I'm an independent woman: I can do what I damn please!"

As the redhead and dog demon growl at one another in irritation, Kōga breaks the small spat when he comes over in front of them with prying and confused look:

"What's going on? Somethin's different about you. (Sniff, sniff...) You don't smell like a mutt. Did you take a soak in the river or what?"

Coraline and Inuyasha widen their eyes, as she grabs onto his side protectively:

 _Oh crap! Can he sense Inuyasha's-_

Her worries would immediately be interrupted when Kōga suddenly barks,

"Oi! Since when did you two hook up?! Damn you, mutt: Swoopin' in after I got my heart stomped!"

"Huh?!" "Wha-?!"

Inuyasha and Coraline look to one another...before blushing madly and jumping backwards with matching yelps:

"W-We're not a couple!"

"Where the hell you get that idea, ya fleabag?!"

"Tch, could've fooled me..."

As Kōga turns his head away with a slight pout, Besa watches him with an astonished look:

 _Wow...I guess that last confrontation really did knock some sense into him._

"Hey, Kōga, wait uuuup!"

"Huh?"

Focus is then turned to the opposite direction, where we see Ginta, Hakkaku and the small wolf pack come barreling down the path:

"We finally caught up with you!"

Kōga sees them coming, and decides to leave his suspicions on Inuyasha and Coraline for another day:

"Oh, right: I don't have time for this. (Turns with a wave) Later, Coraline!"

As Kōga starts rushing off in a cyclone, Inuyasha calls to him,

"Are you runnin' away again?!"

"Naraku's head is mine!"

Ginta calls to his friend,

"Come on, Kōga, slow down! Wait for us!...Hm?"

His attention is then distracted, when he sees a certain young man in the Inuyasha group:

 _(Gasp) Freeman's here!_

 _...Okay, I better give it to him now while I have this chance._

So while Hakkaku continues on after the whirling wolf demon, shooting a,

"Oh, hello, Coraline," along his way (she smiling and waving back), Ginta stops in front of Freeman with a pant and a smile:

"Hi...Freeman, right?"

"U-Um, yeah. Hey, Ginta. What's up?"

Ginta looks down with a slight blush...before reaching into his fur-lined armour for something:

"...Here."

Freeman takes the item, and looks down to see a scroll, and a small, strange-looking instrument shaped like the head of a sparrow, made from shiny black glass-stone:

 _What's this? Looks like...a bird whistle?_

"Read the scroll and you'll understand."

"Hm?"

He looks back up at Ginta and his sheepish smile:

"Wish I could stay, but I better hurry to catch Hakkaku so we can catch Kōga. (Runs off) See ya around!"

"Uh, y-yeah, same!"

With that, Ginta was gone, along with Hakkaku and the small wolf pack...Freeman looks back down at the items in his hand, and shrugs, before unrolling the scroll...When he finishes reading it, a small, rosy blush is on his face:

 _O-Oh my gosh..._

Meanwhile, Inuyasha mutters,

"Damn that fleabag Kōga," with Sango asking Miroku,

"Do you think we should go after him?"

"No, I think it's better not to do anything tonight."

Inuyasha was not pleased to hear such a plan:

"What?! Are you crazy?! He's gonna show us up!"

"Calm down yourself down, Inuyasha, or would you rather have Naraku see you in your human form as well? If he learns that you lose your powers some nights, your life will be in danger. You'll have to be extra careful around Naraku."

Inuyasha growls, but knew that Miroku was right, and chose not to retort:

 _Damn: What lousy timing, and just when Naraku's scent is all over the place!_

Scene Shift: Naraku's Hidden Castle

Kagura was now wandering the darkened corridors of the structure, passing several rooms with white-papered wicker doors, and finding several skeletons laying about on the wood floor:

"Ugh, the air in this castle is so stifling...All the vassals of this castle were exposed to Naraku's toxic miasma and died."

She then stops, sensing someone near, and turns to see Kanna standing behind her, expressionless as ever.

"Why are you sneaking up from behind like that, Kanna?"

...Kanna does not reply verbally, instead holding her mirror up to the other to show an image of Kōga!

 _Him again? Kōga, leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe...  
_

 _Is he near this castle? Is it a coincidence, or perhaps...?_

Kagura kneels down to her incarnation sister's level to ask,

"Kanna, tell me: Does Naraku know about this?"

"...He doesn't. He's gone."

"Hm..." _That's right: Naraku disappears once in a while..._

"...Kagura?"

The wind sorceress rises to her feet and says to Kanna,

"I'll go and kill him. There's no need to wait for Naraku's orders."

"You better not, Kagura."

"Hmph. I _despise_ Naraku's method of resorting to trickery. I'll kill for jewel shards: I need no schemes."

Kanna replies cryptically,

"It's in Naraku's hands...Both life, and death. We are all merely Naraku's tools."

"...I could care less. He's not here now."

With that, Kagura heads off to find Kōga, leaving her sister to watch over things in the castle...

Time Skip

Night falls once again, and we catch up with Kōga's group, as they look around in an open grass field, the air quiet but restless...Ginta and Hakkaku notice that the grounds were starting to cloud:

"This is a strange fog..."

"I can't see a thing!" Kōga curses,

"Damn! The scent is strongest right here. Naraku's castle must be close by..."

...Suddenly, a loud collection of moans and groans comes ringing from the sky, and Hakkaku points upwards while calling,

"Hey, Kōga: Look there!"

And coming on a black cloud out of the sky...was a huge progression of skeletons clad in samurai armour and armed to the teeth!

"Skeletons with swords?"

(Swipe, boom)

"Gh!"

Kōga then hops out of the path of a wind blade, with Kagura hopping down a few feet away seconds after:

"Hello. It's been too long, Kōga."

"Not you again..."

The skeletal warriors land on ground-level shortly after, with Ginta muttering apprehensively,

"W-What's with those skeletons?!" Kagura explains:

"They're the guards of the castle. They're countless in numbers." Kōga replies edgily,

"Wind Sorceress Kagura: I haven't forgotten your despicable face, not for even a minute! Hell, how could I? You're the one who killed my comrades! Prepare to die! (Dash) It's payback time for all you did!"

"I missed you too. I was so close to getting your jewel shards, and now I'll get them this time for sure!"

 _Hm...I'll be easy to slow him down. I'll make him dance for me._

" _Dance of the Dead!_ "

She sends the skeletons at Kōga, who begins knocking them down one-by-one:

"More tricks! (Punch) Hrah! (Kick) Grah!"

" _Dance of Blades!_ "

(Swipe)

"Not this time!"

Kōga speedily dodges each wind blade, and leaps in Kagura's direction, fist raised:

"Surprise!"

(Crash...)

"(Smirk) Got her...huh?" But Kagura managed to elude the wolf demon, jeering from up high,

"Fool! I'll cripple you! _Dance of the Dragon!_ "

(Whoooosh...)

She upturns a gust of wind, which picks up the scattered skulls from the ground, creating a tornado of bones around Kōga! Hakkaku and Ginta exclaim,

"Now what?!"

"A whirlwind of bones, that's what!"

Kagura laughs as she lands swiftly on the grass again, while Kōga tries desperately to fight off the flying skulls and search for a way out...

"You can choose your own fate, Kōga: You can let the skeletons or the whirlwind slice you to pieces, or you can leap out and be slain by me. _Either way suits me fine._ "

The other two wolf demons duck behind some tall boulders, commenting with worry,

"Kōga's strong, but he doesn't stand a chance against that thing. What are we gonna do now?"

"Well it's not like we're strong enough to help..."

The sounds of the wolf demon's grunts and shattered skulls echo out of the tornado, and Kagura chuckles at the sight, causing Ginta and Hakkaku to shiver:

"Look at that wench: I think she's actually enjoying this!"

"If we can get that powerful fan of hers, we might have a chance at rescuing Kōga."

"Yeah, you're right. Get up close and snatch it from her."

"Huh? Who?"

"You, of course!"

"Are you kidding me?! She notice me before I even get close and hack me to bits!"

Ginta looks back to the battle in thought:

"Then how are we gonna fight Kagura and that wind?...Mm? Wait, the wind: Yes, that's it! That's the way!"

He then takes off from the area, with Hakkaku chasing after him:

"Ginta, stop acting foolish!"

Meanwhile, in a secluded part of the forest...

The Inuyasha group finds an old shelter to use for camp tonight, and while he and Coraline sit by the fire outside on the barren ground on a fallen log, the others were in the hut discussing the situation:

"Kōga's actions are proof that Naraku's barrier has become earlier."

Freeman replies to Miroku,

"True enough, but like Besa and Cor pointed out earlier, this could also be another trap of sorts: Lowering his guard so that we lower ours, and he gets the jump on us all in an instant."

Sango nods:

"We should at least verify the exact location of the castle." Shippo replies,

"We can't take Inuyasha in the state he's in."

"We won't, 'cause Miroku and I can go alone." Miroku adds,

"And if Inuyasha objects to us leaving him behind, we'll have Coraline make him 'Sit'. Then we can simply knock him out."

Shippo sighs,

"Ooh, not that method again..."

Cutting to the outdoors, Coraline adds another branch to the fire as she hms in thought:

"I think my last tongue-lashing may have finally broken through to Kōga: He didn't try flirting with me this time...I got a bit nervous when he was suspecting something different in your scent, but, (Blush) th-thank goodness he was distracted by, other things..."

"Kuh, yeah well, as long as he's done with those sweet words, that's all that matters to me...What the hell's he playin' at, anyway? Thinkin' we're a couple..."

"Heh, yeah...What indeed..."

Inuyasha picked up on the drop of volume in Coraline's voice, and turned to see her gazing into the fire with a smile he couldn't identify:

"...Is somethin' wrong?"

"Huh? N-No, nothing's wrong...I just...well..."

"What?"

Before the conversation could go further, Ginta's call came ringing from the treeline:

"Inuyashaaa!"

"Hm?" "I know that voice..."

Then came Hakkaku:

"Coraliiine!"

Said redhead sprang to her feet when she realized,

"Crap: If that is Ginta and Hakkaku...! Inuyasha, head for the house!"

"Huh?"

The door to the house slides open, causing the others to look up in confusion:

"What's the matter?"

"What's up?"

Coraline lightly shoves Inuyasha inside, handing him his Tessaiga before informing the others,

"It's Kōga's buddies: They've come back. Not sure why, but they can't see Inuyasha."

Sango widens her eyes and nods in agreement:

"Yes: They can't know of his current appearance."

As the two wolf demons close in, Ginta calls out frantically,

"Coraline, Coraline! Quickly, we need your help!"

Once they caught their breath, Ginta and Hakkaku sat with Coraline, Miroku and Freeman by the fire so they could explain the current situation their comrade was facing...

"What?! Kōga and Kagura are battling?!" Ginta replies worriedly,

"Yes, and things don't look too good for Kōga right now," with Freeman commenting,

"Damn, I was hoping it'd be a while longer before we saw that wind witch again..."

Back inside the abandoned home, Inuyasha listens to the conversation from a small, barred window, with Shippo clinging to one of his arms incase the dog demon made any movement for the outdoors:

"Inuyasha, you mustn't show yourself."

"Keh, you don't need to worry about that. There's no way I'm gonna help Kōga."

 _If Kagura's shown up, then that means Naraku's castle is nearby._

 _Still, Naraku had set up a barrier to prevent us from getting close...I don't like the looks of this._

Sango then rises to a stand, ready in her slayer gear:

"I guess we have to go and check it out."

"Sango?"

"Inuyasha, you're going to stay here with Coraline and her brothers, okay? You wanna keep your mortal state a secret, don't you?"

Besa nods and adds,

"Yes: There's no need for all of us to rush at once, plus even if Kagura's out and about, who says that _he_ is?"

Inuyasha replies bluntly,

"Kuh, you gotta be kidding!"

(Slam)

He then moves to kick the doors open, and the wolf demons gape at Inuyasha's current physical state with wide eyes...before:

(Bonk, punch, CLONK)

The last three from inside the house call the dog demon out on his actions:

"What are you doing?!"

"What an idiot!"

"Inuyasha, was that really necessary?"

He ignores them and says to the newly beaten Ginta and Hakkaku seriously and edgily,

"Listen up, you two: If you tell a Soul about this, I'll kill you both!"

"Guh!" "Got it; we won't!"

Coraline groans at the rashness:

"Dear lord..."

And while Freeman checks up on Ginta and Hakkaku, Miroku comments nonplussed,

"Well, he shut them up real good. So, shall we go?"

Back to the battle

As the whirlpool of skulls continued to press on, Kagura notes,

"Mm, I can smell blood in the air...(Spins her fan) Go: Twist and turn harder!"

As the wind does her bidding, she calls out to the fighting wolf demon in a jeer,

"What's the matter, Kōga? Too scared to come out, or...are you already dead?"

Inside the whirlpool, Kōga struggles to fight off the incoming bones while cursing Kagura:

"Damn that witch!"

(Cut, cut, cut)

As his skin is sliced by the sharper fragments, he thinks to himself in frustration,

 _It's useless: No matter how many bones I destroy, there's countless more!_

 _My strength won't hold out forever...What'll I do?_

As he looks up to the top of the whirlpool in thought, Kagura closes her fan with a sadistic smile and decides,

"Maybe I'll let him out. If I slash him into too many pieces, I'll have a hard time finding the jewel shards."

"No need to worry about that!"

(Leap)

Kōga then hops out of the whirlpool!

"(Gasp) He's up there!"

"Damn wench!"

"Well, you're pretty persistent, aren't you? But not for much longer..."

"You're dead, Kagura!"

But before he could land a swift kick to the incarnation, a horde of skeletons is summoned right behind Kōga, with several heads biting into him!

"Aaaaargh! I-I, can't, move!"

"You fool: You can run and jump, but you can never escape my wind! _Dance of Blades!_ "

(Swipe, SLICE)

Blood spills from Kōga's legs, along with the two jewel fragments:

(Ping...)

 _My Shikon-no-Tama shards!_

The wolf demon falls hard to the ground, the jewel shards landing a distance away from his grievously-injured body, leaving them free-access for Kagura to grab for herself:

"Now then...I have the two jewel shards from your legs. You're just an ordinary demon now... _It's time to finish you off._ "

"Damn you..."

As Kagura chuckles smugly while readying her fan...suddenly:

"Kagura!"

(Toss, spin...)

Hiraikotsu comes barreling through the air into the wind sorceress's direction, forcing her to call upon some skeletons to block it! As Sango catches her weapon on the rebound while aboard Kilala with Miroku, Kagura takes a feather from her hair:

"Your life has been spared, Kōga."

The wolf demon growls at her, before Kagura makes her escape upon her feather...

"She got away..."

"Miroku, look at Kōga!"

"Hm?"

As slayer and monk turn their gazes to the wolf demon, his comrades come running to his aid:

"Kōga!"

"Ah, look at your legs!"

"She took the Shikon-no-Tama shards from both of your legs!"

Coraline comes running over with her brothers, and winces when she sees the deep cuts:

"Damn, I don't think there's much I can do for injuries like that...(Turn) Freeman, Besa: Can you guys see if your crystal fragments can at least scar them over?"

"(Nod) Yeah." "We'll give it a shot."

Inuyasha steps over and says bluntly,

"Why bother? He's gonna die anyway." Kōga turns to retort,

"You mutt...huh?" But his tone drops completely when he sees the dog demon's new appearance:

"Inuyasha?"

"Huh, you know, you're pathetic, Kōga: Gettin' all cut up like that by Kagura."

Shaking off his surprise, the wolf demon replies,

"Look who's talkin': You're nothin' but a weak mortal."

Inuyasha just scoffs and looks away, while Ginta and Hakkaku huddle together on the side in thought:

"You see? I told you he was just a half-demon, Hakkaku."

"You were right..." Kōga then says,

"I've heard that - gh - that half-demons fear for their lives...I also heard than when they're in their mortal state, they never appear before an enemy. You're pretty gutsy, you know, darin' to come around me lookin' like that, Inuyasha."

"Hmph, (Smirk) yeah, you're right. So now that you know my secret, Kōga..."

Inuyasha clicks out his Tessaiga, and Kōga springs to his feet knowing what the former was implying:

"You wanna fight?!"

"I'm gonna have to finish you off right here and now!"

Just as Coraline makes a move to protest, Kōga winces before dropping back into a kneel from his injuries, to which Freeman and Besa would rebuff him on:

"Dude, don't go fightin' a battle neither of you will win, especially with your injuries."

"He's right: This isn't gonna prove anything other than the two of you are brawny ignoramuses that Naraku won't see as real opponents. Now sit down and let us heal your cuts."

...Kōga reluctantly sits back on the ground, and the twins hold out their crystals to the wolf demon...before:

(Sheen) (Sheen)

"Uh!"

A thin layer of rainbow-coloured light surrounds Kōga...and his injuries are healed, with the cuts in his legs scarring over!

"...How did you...?"

The twins laugh a bit at Kōga's expression, and reply,

"Trade secret, man."

"Now gather up whatever strength you have and save it for Kagura, alright?"

The wolf demon just nods blankly, while Coraline comes to Inuyasha's side and lightly grasped his arm that held Tessaiga with a calm smile:

"Now with that taken cared of, shall we move on and find Naraku?"

"Uh...yeah. Hey wait a second, (turns to twins with a glare) who are you two callin' an ignoramus?!"

Kōga also circles back on the comment:

"Yeah, what the mutt said!"

The twins smile and laugh nervously, while Coraline rolls her eyes with a worried smile:

 _Oh boy._

Kagura's POV

I've gotten away far enough that those fools would not be able to follow me...and bitterly remark to myself,

 _Hmph, serves him right!_

 _...Still, how is it that both Kōga and Inuyasha got so close to the castle?_

 _It must mean that Naraku's barrier has weakened._

 _That's right...Naraku isn't here...! He's gone..._

...I change by flight direction, and head for an open grass field to lay on while thinking about my newly-found movement:

"(Sigh) What a relief...Indeed."

I look at the jewel shards I stole from the wolf and ask myself,

"Why should I hand them over to Naraku?"

 _Now is the time to escape, while Naraku's barrier is weak!_

 _But...Naraku..._

I recall that he continues to hold my very heart in the balance of Life and Death, much like, Kanna said earlier today...I shake my head ruefully at my predicament:

 _It's no use!_

I fall back with another sigh...

 _I can't escape from his grasp._

As my gaze turns to the sky...I see a shooting star take flight:

"Hm? A shooting star."

...That's when the image of a certain sword came to mind...and I sit up in revelation:

"There is someone who can help!"

 _...Sesshomaru..._

"Yes! (Tosses up the jewel shards) He can help me!"

I catch the shards as I think to myself with a determined smile,

 _He has the power to sever the bond between Naraku and I!_

...If only I had known...just how deep that bond laid.

Naraku's Hidden Castle, No POV

...Somewhere deep within a dingy and darkened basement, where water leaked into small, dirty puddles...we see the despicable half-demon Naraku, resting among a number of demon carcasses in his guise of Kagewaki...

 _Kagura...you have escaped._

His eyes snap open, glowing a lethal white!

Back to the field

Somewhere on the other side of the grass plain, Seshomaru and his charges come walking along in the night, with Jaken pointing out the glitter in the sky:

"It sparkled! A star just sparkled! Did you see, Lord Sesshomaru?...Uh, hello?"

The dog demon does not respond, and Jaken thinks to himself a bit sullenly,

 _Hah, lately, Lord Sesshomaru has been doing things that not even I, his vassal, cannot fathom._

 _(Bows his head) I'm so lonely._

He glances back at Rin, who was asleep atop A-Un and adds,

 _That child, ignorant of my woes, and does nothing but sleep the days away..._

Before he could continue his laments, Jaken forces himself to stop from bumping into Sesshomaru, who had stopped suddenly:

"O-Oh, Lord Sesshomaru!"

As they overlook the cliff-side they've come to, Sesshomaru finally vocalizes a response to Jaken:

"...His scent, is in the air."

"Huh? (Sniff...) You're right! It's the scent of that Naraku fellow who was so rude to you, Lord Sesshomaru! Is he, nearby?"

(...Whoosh)

A huge gust of wind blows by, and Jaken exclaims,

"Wh-What's going on?!"

The gust is so strong that the sleeping Rin was pushed off of A-Un, and Jaken is rolled back next to her...before Kagura makes her appearance:

"...Yo."

"Y-Yo yourself." Ignoring Jaken, Kagura turns her focus to the dog demon:

"Sesshomaru: I assume you came here following Naraku's scent as well?"

The imp runs to Sesshomaru's side (with a sleepy Rin crawling near) and exclaims,

"Lord Sesshomaru: This wench is Naraku's incarnation!"

Said dog demon addresses Kagura:

"Wind Sorceress Kagura, if I recall."

"So, you remember me. I am very flattered."

Sesshomaru readies to pull out Tokijin, before Kagura says to him calmly,

"Take your hand from your sword. I didn't come here to fight you, Sesshomaru...I have a proposition you might be interested in."

"Proposition?"

She holds out the jewel shards:

"You know what these are, Sesshomaru: I'll give you these Shikon-no-Tama shards...In return...I want you to, kill Naraku."

Jaken yells,

"Whaaaat?!"

"...Free me. Release me from his grasp."


	74. Chapter 73

**Chapter 73: The Howling Wind of Betrayal**

Continuing where we last left off, Kagura had just offered Sesshomaru a deal in which she would hand over the jewel shards she had just acquired in exchange for having the latter destroy Naraku and free her from his control...

As they stand eye-to-eye atop the grass-covered cliff-side overlooking the plains below, Kagura says to Sesshomaru,

"You have the power to do it. Once you've killed Naraku, all the Shikon-no-Tama shards will be yours."

...He does not reply, so she adds,

"Let's use those shards to provide ourselves a little amusement."

"...You intend to betray Naraku?" Kagura scoffs and replies bitterly,

"It's not as though I've _chosen_ to live under his command...What do you think of my plan? Joining forces would be for mutual benefit."

Sesshomaru's reply was blunt but honest:

"Unfortunately, I have no interest in the Shikon-no-Tama. If you wish to become free, use those shards for yourself to destroy Naraku."

"Tch...Are you afraid of him?!"

"I'm saying I'm under no obligation to assist you."

Kagura glares at Sesshomaru angrily, and he adds,

"If you do not have the resolve to go it alone, don't even think about betraying him."

"Foolish coward! And you call yourself a man?!"

Rin and Jaken gasp from the sidelines BY A-Un, as Kagura tosses her feather out while muttering in a brooding tone,

"I misjudged you."

(Whoosh)

"Pathetic fool!"

With that, the scorned incarnation was gone...As she flies out of sight, Jaken opens his mouth to comment,

"Huh! That despicable woman! You know, I wonder if she truly intended to make you her protector. (Folds his arms) Talk about gall! Where on earth does she get the nerve?! An incarnation: That's all she is!"

Rin then says,

"You're so strong, Lord Sesshomaru. You don't even need the power of the Shikon-no-Tama."

Sesshomaru replies to neither, but thinks to himself,

 _Wind Sorceress Kagura...I wonder if she can use the Shikon-no-Tama and kill Naraku herself?_

 _...Either way, it does not concern me._

With that, he begins walking away, with Jaken and Rin moving to hurry with him:

"Milord, where are you off to? Are we leaving already?"

...But then the imp circles back to get A-Un:

"O-Oh, I forgot something! (Grabs the reins) Come along!"

Meanwhile, Rin catches step with Sesshomaru and says,

"Lord Sesshomaru...I'm not lonely anymore, but I wonder if maybe Kagura is..."

The dog demon does not reply, and we hear Jaken asking from the back in a way of changing the subject,

"Um, Lord Sesshomaru, what shall we do about dinner?"

Coraline's POV

With Kōga's injuries healed courtesy of my brother's Seven Light shards, I hand over the first aid kit so they could wrap some bandages around his legs to further protect his scarring cuts incase they reopen...

"Alright, that should do it. You can try standing up now, but mind your pressure."

Kōga nods to Besa, and Freeman finishes on some minor first aid for Ginta and Hakkaku, after noting a few bruises:

"There. You might feel a bit of numbing for the next half hour, but it'll help get rid of those bruises faster, 'kay?"

The boys nod and reply,

"Thanks." "Y-Yeah, thank you."

I don't miss the quick exchange of stares and light blushing between Freeman and Ginta as the former caps the muscle cream, and smile a touch in amusement:

 _Oh geez. Neither one is making it subtle..._

"Hey sis, mind takin' this and slippin' it back into by satchel?"

"Oh, no prob, Besa."

But just as I make a move forward, I feel a hand close over my upper arm, before pulling me back...Let's all take a wild guess as to whose hand it was?

"(Sigh) What's wrong now, Inuyasha?"

"Nothin'...as long as you stay here beside me."

 _Oh god, his over-protectiveness shines no matter what form he's in..._

Freeman rolls his eyes while Besa raises a brow at Inuyasha:

"Really? Dude, get a grip on yourself, will ya? Kōga's lost interest in Cora, so what's the big deal if she walks near him to grab something?"

Inuyasha growls a bit at Besa, and I glare lightly at him while slapping his arm:

"Hey: Don't growl at my brother."

"Tch, yeah, right. Anyway, (focuses on Kōga) if your injuries are fine, just run on home...ya puny little wolf."

It was Kōga's turn to growl, and he rises to his feet before retorting,

"Who are you to talk: Standing there all weak and mortal, Inuyasha. You don't have the right to criticize the shape I'm in!"

As Hakkaku holds his hands out to his companion in a calming gesture, Inuyasha lets my arm go to ball his fists while barking,

"Huh, I'm not like this by choice, idiot!"

"You wanna fight?!"

"You bet, if you're up to it!"

By this point, they were up in eachother's faces, while grinding their teeth in a sizing matter...As my brothers facepalm in exasperation, I call out in as calm a tone as possible,

"Ahem, fellas: Can we save this contest for another date and focus on finding the jewel shards that Kagura has?"

...After a couple minutes, everyone's attention is brought to the same page, and we head off to hunt down Kagura (minus Ginta and Hakkaku, after Kōga told them it was better they stay out of this fight), our direction being down a path running along the edge of a rocky hill.

I'm running alongside Sango, while Miroku and my brothers jog not too far behind, and Kilala was carrying Shippo, Inuyasha and Kōga...

"Why do you have to come along, anyway?!"

"Shut up! Those shards belong to me and I ain't gonna let you have them!"

I roll my eyes at the dog and wolf demon's attitudes, just as Miroku comes up to my left side:

"So Kagura hasn't returned to the castle yet?"

"Doesn't seem like it, and it's strange...I can feel the shards are moving as if they're trying to put as much distance between them and the castle as possible."

Lumos, who was flying alongside me, chirps in confirmation, and Inuyasha wonders aloud,

"Does that mean that Kagura is stealing the shards on her own?"

Miroku replies,

"It's possible. Don't you think this whole thing is strange, Inuyasha? Even the barrier: Why were you and Kōga able to pick up the scent of the castle? The barrier has weakened...It must mean that Naraku's own powers are weak."

 _Weakened now...just like, Inuyasha..._

I gasp and slap my forehead in realization:

"Of course: Naraku is a half-demon!" Sango adds on,

"He used the body of a human named Onigumo, and gathered the power of countless demons..."

Freeman remarks with a shiver,

"One greed-ridden human plus hundreds of dark demon spirits...Yep: That sounds about right."

I hm in thought...before wondering,

"...Inuyasha loses his demon strength come the New Moon...Uh! What if Naraku also has a day when his powers become restricted similarly?"

Inuyasha replies just as surprised,

"Then he has a weakness too!"

Naraku's Castle, No POV

Just as our ragtag group comes to that revelation regarding Naraku's true origins, we turn to the inside of the castle, specifically, the dingy, darkened basement where he currently rests:

Getting a better look, we see that he's not so much resting in one piece, but rather that his head is what remains in tact for his Kagewaki guise, with veins extending from it to the numerous, grotesque, pulsating demon parts!

...He is roused a bit when he senses a presence, and looks down to see Kanna before him, holding out her demon mirror to show the image of the wind sorceress flying away on her feather to who knows...

"Kagura...It's useless to flee."

Kagura's POV

Getting nowhere with that stubborn dog, I decide to turn and make off for elsewhere, now passing over a mountainous forest...

I clench the jewel fragments in my hand in anger for his attitude:

 _Ugh, the impudence! How dare he say those things to me! Damn him!_

 _(Flash)_

 _"If you do not have the resolve to go it alone, don't even think about betraying him."_

 _(Flash)_

...Thinking on Sesshomaru's words, I look at the shards again, wondering,

 _Hmph...I'll use them myself...and kill Naraku!_

Back to the Inuyasha Gang (joined by Kōga), No POV

As they all continue heading down the path outside the main forest grounds, Kōga suddenly calls out,

"I can smell Kagura here!"

He then hops down off Kilala, and begins running ahead, shooting to the twins,

"Thanks for helping me! I'm going on ahead!"

Coraline calls,

"Hang on a sec!" As Inuyasha grumbles,

"Why that...!" Besa calls up ahead,

"Are you sure you should be runnin' right now? We may have healed the bulk of the injuries, but there's still the risk of re-opening!"

"My wounds are fine now! Unlike that twerp, Inuyasha, I'm a real demon!"

Obviously, that insult wouldn't sit well with our currently human dog demon:

"What?!"

"See ya!"

"Who do you think you're callin' a twerp?!"

Freeman sniggers and whispers to Coraline,

"They actually made it about forty-five minutes without barking at eachother. That's gotta be some kind-a record."

The redhead playfully nudges her brother with a half-smirk, trying hard not to laugh herself...Miroku then says to Sango,

"Sango, Kōga doesn't have his Shikon-no-Tama shards anymore. He doesn't stand a chance!"

"We'll follow him. (Turn) Kilala, let Inuyasha down!"

And by 'let down', Kilala took it as the go-ahead to tilt her body and have Inuyasha (and to a lesser extent, Shippo) roll off her body. As they tumble to the ground, Sango hops aboard her twin-tailed companion before calling back,

"Inuyasha: I want you to keep out of sight for a little longer."

As she heads on ahead, Inuyasha exclaims,

"Aw come on, you gotta be kidding me!"

(Swing, grasp)

(Grab)

Next thing we knew, Coraline and Freeman take hold of Inuyasha's arms to prevent him from moving, while Besa stops Miroku from swinging his staff down on the dog demon's head!

"...Besa?"

"You talk to Inuyasha about not being so hasty, yet you seem to forget your own advice."

Meanwhile, Coraline and Freeman say,

"Please don't get mad at Sango, Inuyasha."

"Yeah, she's just lookin' out for your best interest like we all are. And who cares about that wolf demon? For all we know, he's gonna get his ass kicked again by Kagura."

Inuyasha stares at the two humans for a minute...when suddenly:

(Buzzzz...)

"Huh?"

They all turn to the sky behind them, and see a horde of the Insects of Hell heading their way!

"Oh crap, not those wasps again!" Miroku states,

"Naraku's making his move," and Coraline starts tugging Inuyasha towards the treeline:

"Come on: You need to make yourself invisible until you can transform back."

"(...Frustrated growl) Fine! But only to stop your badgering."

...We now catch up with Sango and Kilala, as they close in on the wind sorceress up ahead near the end of the forest:

"Kagura!"

(Toss, spin...WHACK)

Her feather is hit by Hiraikotsu, and Kagura is forced to land on the dirt-packed field below, just as Kōga comes to face her:

"Kagura, you witch!" Kagura jeers irritably through her teeth,

"What, is it this time? Looking for more punishment?"

"Don't kid yourself: You stole my jewel shards! I'm takin' 'em back!"

"Yeah? And you're relying on help from Inuyasha and his pathetic friends? (Holds out the shards) Without these, you're too scared to fight alone, are you?"

Kōga growls at the incarnation, before calling back to Sango,

"I'll beat Kagura! Don't even think about interfering!"

"What, Kōga?!"

"Don't forget: I still have my claws!"

With that, the wolf demon charges in for his first move, as Kagura readies her fan:

"Just try it... _Dance of Blades!_ "

(Swipe, boom-boom-boom...)

Kōga manages to dodge for a bit, but is then hit by one of the wind blades from behind and thrown to the ground:

"Yaaargh!"

 _Damn, it's all I can do to keep dodgin' her! I can't get close!_

"Just hurry up and die now!"

(Swipe)

More wind blades are thrown at Kōga, whom without his enhanced speed could only dodge to keep his life...As he pauses to catch his breath, Kagura unleashes more attacks while shouting in frustration,

"I don't have the time to bother with the like of you!"

(Swipe, boom)

Another blade lands more successfully at Kōga, knocking him down to the rocky ground again. Sango calls to him from above, to which he calls back,

"Stay back!"

He scrambles off the ground to keep moving from Kagura's attacks, who comments,

"You're infuriating!"

...But her real frustrations were directed to what Sesshomaru said to her...

 _(Flash)_

 _"...If you wish to become free, use those shards for yourself to destroy Naraku."_

 _(Flash)_

...She pauses her attacks to look at the shards in her hand:

 _Hmm...Alright, I will._

Kōga cringes from the pain of the attacks while laying in a large crater ("Damn it, all..."), as Kagura clenches her palm over the jewel shards determinedly:

 _I will use them!_

Sango notes the pause, and calls down with a confused glare,

"What's happening? This isn't even a fight, Kagura!"

...It was then, that a massive horde of demons broke through the cloud cover, heading straight for them all!

"Naraku's demons!"

Kagura stares at the snarling, hissing and buzzing demons with angry apprehension:

 _Naraku..._

Sango readies to unleash her weapon:

"He always sends so many demons to attack! Hr-gah!"

(Toss, spin...tok-tok-tok-tok)

She takes down several demons, before catching Hiraikotsu on the rebound and flying higher on Kilala to fight more...Kagura continues to look upward while wondering,

 _Hasn't Naraku realized that I tried to betray him?_

 _...Or is it me that he intends to get rid of in this attack?_

"Thanks for the target, Kagura!"

"Uh!"

She snaps out of her daze too late, just as Kōga comes charging in:

"Die!"

(PUNCH)

"Gah!"

She's sucker-punched by the wolf demon, causing her to lose her grip on the jewel fragments!

"The shards!"

Kōga wastes no time and sprints toward the open opportunity:

"They're mine!"

" _Dance of the Dragon!_ "

(Whoosh)

Kagura sends her demon wind at the wolf demon, and his hand and upper arm are cut badly, causing him to yell in agony from the pain:

"Gaaa-aaaah!"

It was then that Inuyasha and the others appear from the edge of the forest, gasping from the sight, of Kōga being mercilessly attacked by the demon cyclones...!

"Keh, Kōga doesn't even have the strength to fight right now."

Coraline cringes and replies after Inuyasha,

"Grh, he'll be hacked to pieces unless we do something!"

Kōga yells again as the cyclones cut into his body...and Coraline couldn't stomach the sight any longer:

"That tears it, I'm going in!"

(Shing)

She pulls her sword out and starts making her first steps to the fight, only to be stopped by Inuyasha:

"Hell no: You're not going anywhere near that field! I'll do it."

"...Inuyasha..."

"(Turn) And you three, don't try to stop me." Miroku asks in surprise,

"You're going to save Kōga?"

"Get serious! I just want the jewel shards." As he starts sprinting to the battle, Inuyasha adds,

"If Kōga gets killed in this battle, then Kagura will make her escape! I can't stand around and do nothing!"

Coraline tries to call him back:

"Inuyasha, wait, please, come back!" Shippo adds his worries:

"Don't let her see you!"

But their cries fell on deaf ears, and Inuyasha continues his rush past Sango, who asks,

"Inuyasha? What's up?!...Huh?"

She then looks to her left...and notices the sky was beginning to light up in the coming morning! Everyone else clues in on it too, with Besa pointing out,

"Look: The sun's coming out!" Coraline thinks to herself,

 _Of course: Inuyasha knew that daylight was approaching! He'll soon be back in his half-demon state!_

 _...But if he rushes onto the battlefield too fast before his transformation..._

 _God, you better have timed this out right, Inuyasha, or you're screwed!_

As Inuyasha ran closer to the field, his thoughts were on the human friends of his circle:

 _Coraline...Sango...Miroku...Freeman...Besa. You're all mere mortals, yet you've fought so hard!_

 _All because you believed in your own power...I can't hold back knowing that!_

The sun was nearly over the horizon, with the sky lighting up in its brilliant blue, just as the cyclone around Kōga finally dissipates, leaving the grievously-injured wolf demon to writhe in pain while laying on the ground on his side...

"Kōga, you're a glutton for punishment, aren't you? How about surrendering here?"

He just glares at the wind sorceress, too exhausted to make any sort of smart retort, and she brings her fan down, sending a giant cyclone to come crashing down on him!

"Kōga!"

"Get outta there!" "Kōga!"

...Smoke and dust billows from the impact, and Kagura thinks to herself,

 _I've done it._

...However:

"(Gasp)"

...Peering within, we see the silhouettes of Inuyasha standing in front of Kōga, who was being held up by Miroku and Besa! The smoke clears a little, showing Inuyasha in his human form for about thirty seconds...before his body throbs, and shifts back into the half-demon we all know!

"(Smirk) Kagura...It can't be much fun killing a half-dead wolf, can it?"

"...Inuyasha?"

"(Pulls out Tessaiga) I'll take you on from this point!"

Kagura narrows her eyes suspiciously at the dog demon:

 _I know I saw it...For a moment, I saw Inuyasha..._

Back on the sidelines, Shippo asks Coraline and Freeman with worry,

"Do you think, that maybe Kagura saw Inuyasha in his human state?"

"...Hard to say."

"But it's not impossible..."

As Inuyasha and Kagura continue to glare hard at one another, Kōga remarks with heavy breath,

"That, Inuyasha...Is he crazy, butting into my fight like that?" Miroku and Besa reply,

"Well you're lucky that he did."

"No kidding: A few seconds too late, and you'd been sliced and diced by that cyclone, Kōga."

"Kuh, what a laugh...He came to save me...knowing that Kagura would discover his dirty little secret."

Kagura realizes,

 _I see! There was no moon last night!_

"...Inuyasha. So, you lose all of your powers on a moonless night."

"Heh, and what if I do? I'm back now, so who cares?"

(Dash)

"Hrrraaaahhhh!"

"You're right: It doesn't matter anymore...'cause you're gonna die right this minute! _Dance of the Dragon!_ "

(Whoosh)

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

Both attacks meet in a clash...before Inuyasha's overpowers Kagura's, forcing the cyclones to dissipate and allow the Wind Scar to continue its trajectory!

"What happened?! How did he cut through my whirlwind?!"

Coraline was impressed:

"Incredible...!" Freeman jeers,

"Ha: Let's see you dodge now, ya wind witch!"

Kagura was stuck frozen, staring at the Wind Scar with a look of terror:

 _He's going to get me!_

...But she would continue to live, thanks to the demon horde that dives down to block the sword attack:

(BOOM)

...All that was left was numerous carcass pieces to rain down to the ground, with the wind sorceress having taken the opportunity to make herself scarce...Sango was in awe over the action:

"...All of Naraku's demons...!" Miroku comments just as surprised,

"...They protected Kagura."

Meanwhile, Besa was staring at the area where the wind sorceress was a moment ago in thought:

 _And yet, she didn't make any beelines to even run...Kagura was frozen.  
_

 _Come to think of it, she wasn't really putting up much of a fight like she usually does: She seemed, desperate to end this as quickly as possible, almost not caring if her attacks even landed a hit..._

 _And she made no move to head back to the castle when she had the jewel shards...but heads back now empty-handed._

"(Muttering) What on earth was going on through your mind, Kagura? Have you, lost your loyalties?"

Inuyasha sheathes his sword, panting while muttering angrily,

"Kagura...she escaped again."

He turns behind him to add,

"Hey, ya puny wolf, I hope you learned your lesson: Never interfere in my fight with Naraku!...Huh?"

But Kōga wasn't paying attention: He was busy rummaging in the large crater left by the giant cyclone behind him for the jewel shards that weren't taken...

"Found 'em! My Shikon-no-Tama shards!"

"What?! Give 'em here!"

Inuyasha leaps down to try and nab the shards from Kōga, but the latter hops out of the hole before the former could reach him:

"No way I'm doin' that!"

He then puts the shards back into his shins once more, before standing to add fiercely,

"Remember this, you mangy mutt: I've sworn to avenge my comrade's deaths! I'll be the one to take Naraku's head, not you! Don't forget that!"

With that, Kōga takes off for elsewhere, but stops when Coraline calls,

"Kōga, please wait a minute!" He does, and she asks,

"Um, what you saw last night...regarding Inuyasha's form...please, keep this information to yourself."

Freeman steps by her and adds,

"Yeah, and when you see Ginta and Hakkaku, can you remind them to do the same?"

"Oh, don't worry: I could care less about what shape that Inuyasha takes...and I doubt they will too."

And he speeds off...Shippo wonders,

"...Does that mean he won't tell?"

Miroku and Inuyasha come over, and the former answers,

"I think we can count on Kōga...The problem is Kagura."

"...I'm not so sure about that."

"Huh?"

Everyone turns to Besa, who looks to the sky as he thinks aloud,

"...Something in my gut's telling me that this fight may have revealed more about where she stands as a subordinate for Naraku then we realize."

Kagura's POV

I return to the castle with ease, but as I walk down the skeleton-ridden corridor, my mind was muddled by the events from only a short while ago:

 _Naraku knows nothing of my treachery...That's why he used demons to save me._

...I then spotted my sister, Kanna, walking down another hall, oblivious to my arrival...I decide to follow her:

 _Kanna...Where is she going?_

I watch as she moves down a set of stairs for a cellar, and I watch from up top, before slowly and silently heading after her...only to find another cellar entrance with a chain attached:

 _...Another room beneath the cellar?_

Ignoring this feeling of caution that stirred in my being, I open the doors...only to be seized by my neck by a bulbous tentacle:

"GH!"

I hit the ground hard, and struggle to get back up...when I hear the voice of the one person I thought had left this place for a while:

"Kagura...did you enjoy yourself outside?"

 _...No...No, it can't be!_

I look up...and gasp in horror, when I see Naraku's, head, among various attaching demon body parts!

 _These, demons...Naraku builds his body with these demons?!_

 _He's a half-demon like Inuyasha!_

 _...Which means...my origins...My god: I must've been one of these demon parts!  
_

"Kagura...While I slept, you left the castle...Don't try to deny it."

I was too horrified by my own thoughts to come up with a reply, and the next thing I knew, four tentacles seize me by my arms and legs, pressing me dangerously close to his face!

"Kagura...you are still a part of me...Would you like to return to my flesh again?"

Swallowing a lump (and my pride) down my throat, I croak out,

"N-No, please, wait! (Cringe) I, promise I won't do it again! Ngh!"

"Hm...This will be your last chance."

I cast my eyes to the ground as I mentally curse,

 _I cannot escape from Naraku on my own!_

 _Inuyasha...I'll let you live for a while longer. You're my precious trump card._

...For reasons I could not fully understand, Sesshomaru's image came to my head as well, but I shook him away, knowing that I had no hope of ever getting his help...at least not now:

 _...It seems freedom will be eluding me for a while longer...But I'll bide my time._

 _I'll wait out the day when this bastard will meet his end: Damn you to Hell, Naraku!_

Inuyasha Gang, No POV  


Morning has come to show itself in full, and the group makes their way down a new dirt path leaving the dry, rocky barren grounds to their next destination, greenery and rolling hills as far as the eye could see...Miroku then comments on the events from only a few hours ago:

"This'll make our lives alot harder...Now that Kagura knows of Inuyasha's secret, we'll have to make ourselves alot stronger, Sango."

She nods, and Besa and Freeman add to one another,

"Guess we'll be steppin' up more too, brother."

"Yep, but then again, haven't we been workin' hard enough already?"

Inuyasha just smiles smugly and replies,

"You don't need to worry about me. Besides, I'm the one that comes through when it matters the most."

Sango retorts a bit riled,

"Give it a rest!"

Inuyasha smirks at Sango, Miroku just smiles, and Coraline shakes her head before saying lightly,

"Hey, easy does it, you guys...You know, if you think about it, Inuyasha had to keep his human form under wraps by every means available before he met all of us...Just goes to show he really counts on us when the going gets tough."

"(Looks sideways) Yeah, that's what you think!"

Miroku replies,

"Don't be embarrassed, Inuyasha."

"I ain't embarrassed." Shippo says to him,

"I think you are!" Sango adds,

"(Giggle) It's not even an issue."

"That's for sure."

Inuyasha growls, before waving his fist at everyone who was bugging him:

"Would you get off my back for once?!"

"You can always count on us, Inuyasha."

"Knock it off, would ya?!"

Shippo yelps in mock fear, and Freeman holds him close while saying in a dramatic tone,

"Stay with me, little fox: I shall protect you from the aggravated dog demon!"

He then rushes ahead with a laugh, as Inuyasha calls,

"Hey, come back here!"

Coraline shakes her head again with a smile as she watches Miroku puts an arm around Inuyasha, who shoves him away:

 _He always acts so tough...but he trusts us so deeply, like we all eachother._

 _...That's why he doesn't lose hope during New Moon._

 _Maybe that's the secret to his strength._

...As she was contemplating her friend/secret crush's value of trust and friendship, we zoom in on Freeman, as Shippo notices the whistle that was around his neck tied on a drawstring:

"Huh? Hey, what's that?"

"Hm? Oh, this? It's a special bird call that's suppose to summon a sparrow demon messenger, or at least according to the scroll that Ginta gave me yesterday before he left with Hakkaku to catch with Kōga."

"Ginta? Why'd he do that?"

"U-Um, he, wanted to keep in touch with me. You know, become friends..."

"Oooh. That's nice of him."

"(Smile) Yeah...it is."

But Freeman's light blushing said something more, as his memory recalls what was said in the letter:

 _"Dear Freeman,_

 _Okay, so...how to start? I know we don't really know one another too well, but, I'd like to get to know you. You seem pretty cool, for a human, I mean, and...oh the heck with it, I think you're good-looking, okay?_

 _...That wasn't easy to say, because, no one else in my tribe knows that I like guys, and...I could see it in the way you and I were staring at one another that you understand that feeling: That, desire to be with someone in every way possible, even though most people around you will ask 'What are you doing?', or something else stupid._

 _Obviously, with our situations, we can't see eachother in person too often, so I came up with the next best thing:  
You see, in my tribe, there used to be this old message delivery system that leaders would use to stay in tabs with one another, involving a type of bird demon called Yosuzume, or 'Sending Sparrow'. It's become a bit out-of-date in recent decades, but can still be accessed. That's where the whistle comes in: Just blow into it twice, and the Yosuzume will come and take your ready message to deliver to me. It'll know where I am; I've got a copy of the whistle too._

 _Anyway, I am well aware that our chances of ever becoming...you know...are pretty slim, but I'd really like a friend to talk to who can relate to these, feelings._

 _...That's all I'm really asking. Plus, this could be a good way of keeping eachother informed on what's going on with the business of the jewel and Naraku. I doubt_ _Kōga and Inuyasha will be real thrilled about that idea, but I bet Coraline and your brother might find it interesting.  
_

 _So, I hope to hear from you soon. Best wishes,_

 _Ginta._

 _P.S. The Yosuzume might be a bit apprehensive to trusting you at first given your, human blood, but just be patient."_

Freeman subconsciously grasps the whistle, while mentally replying to the message,

 _...I'd like that very much, Ginta. I'll send somethin' back as soon as I can, promise._

By this point, Inuyasha had enough of the teasing from his friends:

"Would you people stop getting under my skin?! I'm serious: That's the last warning!"

Coraline lets out a laugh, before doing something both playful and crazy: She snags Inuyasha's Tessaiga!

"Huh?! H-Hey, Coraline!" She rushes up the path while calling back,

"(Laugh) Try and catch me if you can, Inuyasha!"

He stares at her giggling form for a minute...before breaking out a grin and calling,

"Oooh, you better run!"

And everyone bursts into laughter, as they watch Inuyasha chasing Coraline down the stretch to get back his sword, as the sunny skies brighten the road ahead...


	75. Chapter 74

Hey all! Just thought I'd wish a late Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, first of all:

Mine went good; got some nice gifts, shared some smiles and laughs with family, the usual for each year...

Anyway, enjoy the latest in this adventure!

* * *

 **Chapter 74: Shippo vrs Souten - Thunderous Rivalry**

It's a new day in Sengoku Edo, with sunny skies luring travelers to the red dirt road for promised adventure...One of those said wayfarers, was our little fox demon Shippo, who was enjoying some quiet time in a wide, flowery field with a lollipop in his mouth, lost in his own world:

 _They call me Shippo, the Fox Demon of Justice!_

 _Followed by my vassals, Inuyasha and others, I roam the countryside, conquering evil demons._

 _Strong as I am, even I need to take a break time to time, to rest my weary body..._

 _But not for long, 'cause trouble always beckons..._

...Suddenly, dark, shadowy clouds roll over the blue skies, causing Shippo to pause his stroll and look up:

"Hm?"

(...Crack...crackle...BOOM)

"Waaah!"

A strike of lightning comes barreling down in Shippo's direction, and he runs around in a circle panicking...only to find that the attack wasn't so much an attack, but a message delivery, namely, an arrow with a scroll attached:

"A message..."

He picks himself up from the dirt, and moves to take the message off the arrow to read...

"What?! A challenge to a duel? (Flips paper) Thunder demon...Souten?"

 _I had been challenged to a duel to the death. Yes, it was just another day in my life as a brave warrior!_

Scene Shift: Rocky Mountain Range

As Shippo contemplates over what was just sent to him, we turn to a landscape abundant in rock-littered ground and towering mountain peaks, with the sky casting ominous clouds that rang with constant lightning strikes and rumbling thunder...

Zooming up, we see a small cloud heading for the old, run-down residence of the deceased Thunder Brothers, Hiten and Monten...Inside, was a small silhouette of someone writing on another scroll with an ink brush...

"Souten." The figure pauses, and the entering cloud adds,

"I have delivered the letter. The time has come, the day for which I have waited for so long...Souten, I beg you to do your upmost as the sole survivor of the Thunder Demon Tribe."

A lighting flash displays the thunder pike that once belonged to Hiten...and the figure Souten grins.

Back to Shippo

He's now sitting in the middle of the green field, as he unfolds the message to find out what's going on:

"Hmm, let's see...'To Fox Demon Shippo: To uphold the Thunder Demon Tribe's honour, I challenge you to a duel to the death. I'll wait for you at Raimei Valley today at sundown. If you flee, your friends will pay with their lives'."

"A challenge to a duel?"

"Gah!"

Shippo jumps and whirls around to see that his friends (minus Freeman, who was preoccupied with something...) were reading over his shoulder. Miroku remarks after Coraline,

"You know, Raimei Valley isn't too far from here, Shippo." Sango asks,

"Isn't that the same place that the Thunder Brothers used to live?"

Coraline ponders the question:

"Sounds right...I've never considered that Hiten and Monten would have extended relatives, but there you are."

Inuyasha scoffs,

"Kuh, they've got guts sending a challenge like that..." Shippo then barks at everyone for their snooping:

"Hey: Who said you could read my letter, huh?!" Besa then wonders aloud,

"It's strange, though..."

"What is?"

"Well, if I remember right based off of what Cora regaled to Freeman and I the one day, it was Inuyasha who actually dealt the finishing blows, not you, Shippo. Wouldn't it make more sense to seek vengeance on him?"

Inuyasha agrees:

"Good point," but Shippo shrugs and argues nonchalantly,

"Inuyasha is a half-demon. They probably figure he's not good enough for them."

"What?!"

(BONK)

"Ow!"

Shippo cringes from the new bump on his head...before attention is momentarily drawn to the following sound:

(Fwwwooooeeeeeeee)

"Huh?"

The group looks up and behind them, and watch as Freeman blows into the black glass-stone whistle that was given to him a few days ago by Ginta.

"Yo, Freeman! What are ya doin'?"

He blows the whistle once more, and turns to call back to his brother,

"You'll see in a second!"

...A moment of silence passes, before another sound rings with similarities to that of a sparrow, but more projected with a slight rasp!

"What was that?!"

"...Look, up there!"

Everyone follows Sango's point, and coming from one of the dark clouds...was a large bird that had all the features of a common tree sparrow, with the rich chestnut crown and nape, a small black path on the pure white of its cheeks, a lead blue beak, and its upper feathers a mix of light brown with black outlines, tan-white on the underbelly, and the area leading from bill to throat a pure black. However, this bird was twice the size, had a red stripe on the upper beak matching its eyes, and carried a strange light black haze around its body!

"A demon!" Sango exclaims,

"That's no ordinary demon: It's a Yosuzume, a Sparrow demon. They're quite rare."

Inuyasha readies to unsheathe Tessaiga:

"Is it dangerous?"

"It depends on the region, but they can be either benevolent and malevolent...Though considering Freeman just summoned it, I doubt it has a mission to cause harm."

...The dog demon lets his sword hilt go, and everyone watches, as Freeman cautiously approaches the bird demon, holding out a small scroll in the process:

"...What's he doing now?"

"He must be sending a letter back to Ginta."

The group looks down at Shippo in mild surprise and curiousity:

"Ginta?"

"One of Kōga's friends?"

"What's up with that?" Shippo holds his hands up in an 'I dunno' gesture:

"I'm not really sure, but Freeman told me that Ginta wanted to stay in touch with him, like, long-distance friends or something..."

...As the sparrow demon takes flight again (after calmly allowing Freeman to tie his letter around its leg), Coraline watches her brother's body language and facial expressions...before a knowing smile broke onto her own face:

 _Hm, something tells me there's more to this than simply becoming letter buddies..._

Freeman lets out a breathy sigh, before making his way over to the others:

"I'm sure most of you are a bit confused by, what just happened. See, Ginta gave me this whistle (holds it out from his neck) that can summon a Sparrow Demon that used to be a part of this old letter delivery system the Wolf Demon Tribe once practiced, before it became outdated. He and I...well, we want to get to know eachother, and Ginta figured this could be a good way to keep tabs on what's going on with the jewel shards and any possible sightings of that bastard Naraku."

He looks to Inuyasha and adds quickly,

"Of course, he and I know you and Kōga might not be as thrilled by the idea..."

"Meh, whatever. As long as you're not giving that mangy wolf a head-start on the jewel or Naraku, do what you want."

"Got it."

Besa walks over to his brother with a teasing smile and asks,

"Why am I getting this feeling that there's more to this than companionship?"

"...I-I-I dunno what you're talkin' about."

"Oh? Why are you stuttering, then?"

"Uh-um, well..."

"...Nice answer, real intelligent." Freeman shouts with a bright blush,

"Shut up!"

Besa just chuckles at him, while Coraline shakes her head with her own smile:

 _Yep, thought so...Well, I dunno what sort of chance you guys have, but good luck to you both, bro._

She then goes to kneel down by Shippo, and gets back to the current issue:

"Anyway, getting back to you, Shippo: Will you accept the dueling challenge from Souten?"

Freeman forms a look of confusion, and Besa quickly catches him up with the other letter...

"Ooooh...Man, that's rough."

Shippo folds his arms smugly and replies,

"There's no choice: I avenged my father's death, so it's only a matter of time before someone comes after me. (Nods to himself) This is my destiny as a brave warrior."

"Kuh, listen to the big talker." Shippo counters Inuyasha's scoff:

"You're just jealous 'cause I'm waaay better than you are!"

Inuyasha gains a riled tick-mark and clenches his fist at Shippo's arrogance, while Coraline smiles worriedly at them:

"Easy, you two..."

Sango and Miroku then kneels down to ask the fox demon,

"Do you want us to help you out, Shippo? We can make it affordable for you."

"Just say the word and we'll be there. All I want is an introduction to a pretty girl."

Coraline just barely holds back her laughter as she chides,

"Good grief, you guys: You choose now to start charging?"

Inuyasha scoffs and turns his nose away:

"Kuh, I won't lift a finger even if you beg me."

"Don't worry."

Shippo turns to look out to the horizon with a confident smile:

"I can handle the Thunder Demon Tribe!"

(Crackle, boom)

...But another crash of thunder and lightning reveals that Shippo was more nervous than he was letting on.

Small Time Skip

(Crack, boom...)

Moving along, we find Inuyasha and the others standing on a cliff-side overlooking the rocky face of Raimei Valley, as lighting continues to attack the sky-touching mountain peaks in the distance...

"There's the valley where the Thunder Demons used to live..."

Miroku comments after Sango,

"That's one strong demonic Aura," with Inuyasha adding,

"Yeah, there's no shortage of lightning either."

Coraline shivers from the area's atmosphere:

 _Suddenly, I can feel myself on that little cloud again next to that creep Monten before Inuyasha and Shippo came to rescue me..._

 _Speaking of Shippo..._

She looks down to see the fox demon trembling a bit, despite trying to keep a straight face. Sighing quietly, Coraline squats down and chides gently,

"Shippo, it's okay to ask for help. Don't let your pride get in the way of your goals."

"I can't do that! If I did, my honour as the recipient of the challenge would be disgraced!"

Inuyasha suddenly comes over to 'test said fox demon's bravery':

"Boo!"

"Waaaagh!"

Shippo yelps in fright, and Inuyasha laughs as he straightens up while retorting,

"What honour? You're already scared outta your head!...Huh?"

Hearing no response, he looks down, and finds Shippo to have fainted from the sudden scare...Sango comments with worry,

"This isn't looking good," followed by Miroku:

"I agree," then Inuyasha:

"Me too."

Coraline just groans while the twins mutter,

"They're not really doin' Shippo any favours with their attitudes..."

"I know, right?"

Meanwhile, back at the Thunder Demon Residence...

As Souten continues to scribble away on the parchment, the cloud asks,

"Souten, what are you writing?"

We zoom out a bit, and notice that the thunder demon is actually a young girl (likely no older than Shippo), with black hair tied into two pigtails going out the back, peach skin, pointed ears, red eyes, wearing red bead earrings, and armour similar in style to the deceased Hiten...

"Koryu, stop floating around and come here."

"Okay!"

A red-skinned hand pops out of the cloud, and whacks itself lightly three times:

(Pop)

The cloud cover disappears, revealing a small red dragon with big eyes and tiny wings! He floats over to Souten who begins regaling the plan:

"This is our strategy for defeating Shippo. I want you to memorize it very well."

"Our strategy? Does that mean you're not gonna fight fair and square, Souten?"

Souten puffs her cheeks out and shakes her head violently before slapping her hands on top of some drawings she's already done:

"Do you honestly think that a little child like me stands a chance against those ruffians?!"

"(Sweatdrop) Good point."

Souten starts by pointing to an ink drawing of a vicious-looking Miroku as he activates his Wind Tunnel:

"This monk, named Miroku, has a Wind Tunnel that sucks up everything in its path."

Next, was an ink drawing depicting a vicious Sango aboard a fierce Kilala with her Hiraikotsu at ready:

"Sango, is an expert demon slayer, and she has a demon feline named Kilala."

"I knooow; I'm the one that did all the research."

Ignoring Koryu's comment, Souten then points to an ink image of the twins (also drawn exaggeratedly vicious) holding their weapons out:

"Next, is these two strange-skinned human twins, Freeman and Besa, who may not fight as much as the others, but are troublesome enough."

The final image would be of a vicious Inuyasha piggybacking a crazed-expressioned Coraline, as she holds her bow and arrow at the ready, with her sword handle peeking from behind her hair:

"And on top of that, Inuyasha and Coraline are even worse! How many demons do you think have fallen at their feet?!"

Koryu makes a noise that suggests no interest in the subject, and Souten folds her arms as she declares,

"I couldn't possibly survive a fight if I fought fair, and that would mean the absolute extinction of the Thunder Demon Tribe!"

"If you feel that way, shouldn't you just forget the duel and live in peace?"

Souten stomps on an ink drawing of Shippo and shouts,

"No chance! They're my sworn enemies! I must get Shippo, at the very least!"

"(Sigh) Oh boy..."

Souten then points at Koryu and orders fiercely,

"Stop your complaining and out this plan into action, because they're already closing in on us!"

"Gaah, alriiiight!"

(Zip)

Coraline's POV

A couple of minutes have passed, but not alot of distance has been covered...as Shippo has decided to delay his duel by walking as slowly as possible...But judging from the annoyed look on Inuyasha's face, Shippo's worries should be directed at him and not this Souten character:

"Grr, Shippo...speed it up...! Just quit stallin', would ya?!"

While my brothers, Sango, Kilala and Miroku sat on the side of the mountain path waiting for our group to move along quicker, I was trying to keep the atmosphere from getting more tense then it was:

"(Holds out hands) Calm down, Inuyasha. (Looks down) He has a point, Shippo: Slowing your steps isn't gonna help things. Besides, didn't the letter say you're supposed to meet Souten by sundown?"

"That's right: The letter!"

Shippo takes it out of his robes...and peers it over for a few seconds before asking,

"Say, uh, Coraline...?"

"What's up?"

He points to where his name is and asks,

"Are you sure this says 'Shippo'?"

"...Quite sure. I mean, admittingly, sometimes I need to go over my Kanji studies when I read and write English of Gaelic for longer periods so I remember what's what...Why do you ask?"

"U-Uh, look again, it's pretty squiggly. Uh, it doesn't say, 'Inuyasha'?"

I sweatdrop and reply,

"...Not unless Souten wrote the wrong symbols, but I seriously doubt it."

 _Hoh boy, he's really trying everything under the sun to get out this..._

Inuyasha asks him with an incredulous expression,

"Are you saying you can't even read your own name?"

"Of course I can! I was just double-checking, okay?! (Tears up) It's me they want! They're challenging me!"

Shippo begins to try moving again, but slows his trek further by lifting a foot...and putting it back again:

"J-Just, wait, Souten. I-I'm, coming...!"

I sigh as Freeman says to him with a sweatdrop smile,

"Shippo, quit actin' like you're on a treadmill..."

I hear Inuyasha growl, and turn around to see him pull out his sword still in its sheath:

"I can't stand it!"

"W-Wait, Inuyasha...!"

...Thankfully, Inuyasha's plan to get Shippo moving wasn't as bad as I thought it would be: He's now using the sheath to shove Shippo along the mountain path, while we walked alongside and behind...As he kept trying to dig his heels into the ground, Shippo shouts,

"Alright, everyone: I don't need anyone's help this time, so lay off!"

Inuyasha replies, still pushing him along with no effort,

"Keh, except to get there. Now keep it movin', would ya?"

I chide to the aggravated dog demon,

"Take it easy: Shippo's having enough of a hard time psyching himself up..."

Shippo then says to me nervously,

"Coraline, you better take cover somewhere. I-I'll be battling someone from the dreaded Thunder Demon Tribe."

"(Small smirk) Tch, like those losers scare me...(Gentle smile) But if that's your wish..."

He then looks to Sango and Miroku with shiny eyes and says,

"Same goes for you too."

...I hear Sango whisper to Miroku,

"He's practically begging us for help, Miroku."

"Yeah, that's obvious..."

Finally, he asks my brothers,

"You guys better keep away too, and focus on protecting Coraline with Inuyasha, okay?"

"Alright..." "If you're sure..."

I slap my hand onto my face while groaning internally,

 _Damn it: Shippo really needs to stop looking at Inuyasha's lone wolf strategies when it comes to battle..._

 _Not that Inuyasha's been using such lately, but still..._

"Okay, not that this isn't getting us anywhere, but even this is too slow!"

"Huh?"

I snap out of my thoughts, and turn to Freeman, who now holds a sneaky smile:

"...Bro, what are you thinking?"

"Don't worry: I got a faster way of moving Shippo along, and it's painless...Besa?"

"Right."

Besa forms a smile with a mix of worry and play, before rushing up to snatch Shippo into his arms:

"Waah! Besa?!"

"Nothin' personal, my friend."

Freeman then runs forward ahead all of us...before:

(Toss)

"Waaaah!"

Besa throws Shippo up in the air, before the latter is caught by Freeman!

"G-Guys! What-Why-?!"

"Relax, we won't drop ya!"

They continue with this strategy, and I gape in shock...I hear Miroku comment,

"Well that's one way to do it, I suppose," and I snap out of it before running to catch up with them while shouting,

"Guys, knock it off! Shippo's a fox demon, not a football!"

No POV

...Unbeknownst to the group, up ahead and upward on a cliff, was Koryu, as he struggles to push a large boulder in place for the first part of Souten's plan:

 _(Flash)_

 _"First, we're gonna separate Shippo from the others with a large boulder."_

 _(Flash)_

He grits and grunts more, before finally succeeding in shoving the boulder down! By this time, everyone catches up to one another, and Coraline scolds her brothers for their actions and convinces them to put Shippo down...

"Honestly, what were you two thinking?"

"That Shippo's not gonna feel better about this until he gets there and gets this challenge over with?"

Coraline sighs dramatically while looking at the sky at the simple answer, and Inuyasha comments with a smirk,

"Keh, I didn't think they were doin' anythin' wrong: That was way faster than my plan."

Before the conversation could go any further:

(...Rumble)

"Huh?"

They all look up...and see the boulder barreling right for them! Coraline gasps, and Inuyasha quickly gathers her into his arms before leaping onto a rock ledge away from the boulder's path:

"Coraline!"

Sango and Miroku fly up on Kilala, while Freeman and Besa scramble to climb up near Inuyasha and Coraline:

"(Pant, pant) Wait...we're short one."

"Shippo!"

Inuyasha watches as the fox demon runs around in a circle while panicking:

"What's that idiot doing?!"

(Crash)

"Aaaaahhh!"

The boulder crashes onto the ground near Shippo, and the impact throws him off the cliff! It continues to chase Shippo in its trajectory down the rock face:

"Waaaah!"

Koryu chuckles from the air:

"Excellent! Things are going just as planned..."

It would be another thirty seconds of trying to escape on foot, when Shippo remembers,

"...Wait, what am I thinking?! (Pulls out a leaf) _Transform!_ "

(Pop)

He shifts into his pink balloon form, sighing in relief as he escapes from the boulder...only to be snared in a net just seconds after!

"Whuh?!"

The source is revealed as Koryu, who begins carting Shippo away to the Thunder Demon Tribe residence, as the latter cries out,

"Somebody help meeee!"

Everyone watches from the ground below:

"Shippo!"

"Dang it, it was a ploy!"

Inuyasha and Miroku comment after Coraline and Freeman,

"Ugh, that klutz!"

"He's done for..."

The twins slide down back on the path as Besa calls,

"Come on: We better hurry before they get too far!"

Everyone nods, and Kilala steps down briefly to have Besa climb aboard before taking off for the skies, while Inuyasha mutters,

"Damn, Shippo's hopeless," before leaping down to grab Freeman and leaping off to find the fox demon...

Small Time Skip, Shippo's POV

As soon as I was taken back to the old, disheveled home where Hiten and Monten used to live, I was tossed in a cage by that little dragon...Shaking off my fears, I then begin shouting for whoever was in charge:

"Hey, lemme out of here!"

I then hear a laugh coming from my left, and turn to see a kid about my age:

"Welcome, Shippo!"

 _...No way. That can't possibly be...Souten...could it?_

I turn away and reply dryly,

"I'm not wasting my breath on small-fry like you. Who's the leader around here? Get the leader of the Thunder Demon Tribe right now."

"That's me."

"Wha-?!"

I gape in shock, and turn to the kid to exclaim,

"You must be kidding!"

"I'm obviously the leader! Can't you tell?"

 _Uh, no: That's why I asked in the first place..._

I shrug my shoulders and comment,

"This is so stupid: I don't have time to waste on a little kid like you."

"Shut up! Don't you treat me like a child!"

I reply in a teasing tone,

"Oh yeah~?"

I then pull out one of my toys and start playing with it, bouncing the red ball on a string back and forth on the ends of the mallet...

"Wow, that's a very nice plaything you have there...Can I play with it?"

"See?! I knew you were a kid!" Souten stomps in place childishly and replies heatedly,

"Aaah, I am not a kid! And besides, you're one to talk!"

"What?! I'm a full-fledged demon!"

"So am I, now give that to me!"

"No way!"

"Give it to meee!"

"No way!"

I suddenly hear that small dragon mutter,

"They're both childish, if you ask me," and Souten throws a scroll at him:

(Whack)

"Gah!"

"Move, Koryu! Don't you have some things to do?!"

"Yes, I've got things to do."

No POV

While Shippo was stuck dealing with the child Thunder Demon, Souten, we check back with Sango, Miroku and Besa, as they comb the skies aboard Kilala to find any trace of where the fox demon was taken to...

As they pass over a dense forest, they notice a small trail of smoke streaming from the trees up ahead:

"Hm?"

"Where's that smoke coming from?"

"Dunno...maybe its a traveler's campfire?"

Peering below, we see Koryu was the cause, as he waves a fan to blow up the smoke from a burning leaf pile...

 _(Flash)_

 _"Next, we take that feline, Kilala: Big or small, she's still a cat, so she should still get intoxicated by this silver vine."_

 _(Flash)_

"It's hard work being the bad guy all the time..."

Just as Koryu makes that comment, Kilala flies over the smoke...and growls in bliss, her face and fur flushing a bit...

"What's the matter, Kilala?"

"Do you smell that?"

"...Oh crap, it's silver vine! Cats get hooked on this stuff faster than they do on catnip!"

"You're not seri-u-uh!"

Before Sango could finish her sentence, Kilala suddenly dives downward to the source of the smoke, as her three passengers cry out in surprise!

...Once they were ground-level, Kilala quickly shifts to her dormant form, and nestles onto the leaf pile without a care:

"(Mewl...)"

"(Sigh) Looks like we've fallen into another trap..."

"We'll just have to walk from here..."

Besa kneels down near Kilala and scratches behind her ears with a mildly exasperated smile:

"You just couldn't resist, couldn't ya, girl?"

"(Mew)"

"(Sigh) This is why I'll never understand cats..."

Suddenly, there came the sound of a woman sobbing, and the three teens turn to see a woman with long black hair in a light-gray headscarf, wearing a blue/green striped kimono with a light-cream skirt wrap, back turned to them...Miroku of course would be the first to speak to the woman:

"What seems to be the trouble, miss?"

Sango sweatdrops, and we see that Koryu was hiding in a thick bush nearby, imitating the voice of a lady in distress (indicating that the woman was a dummy of sorts):

"Please, find it in your heart to help me..."

Sango calls to the monk,

"You better be careful, Miroku: This is probably another trap!" He replies in a serious tone,

"Now Sango, you know I live my life according to the sacred teachings, and I will never turn my back on anyone in need. If this is indeed a trap, I will gladly fall into it."

Sango tilts her head down in exasperation:

"How incredibly selfless of you, Miroku," while Besa eyes the 'woman' in suspicion:

 _Something about this seems too coincidental..._

As Koryu continues his imitation, he remembers what Sotuen said in their plan to take down Miroku and Sango:

 _(Flash)_

 _"Miroku's weakness is women, and because of that, Sango can't leave him alone. This is how we'll kill two birds with one stone."_

 _(Flash)_

"Oh please...won't you come a little closer?"

"Yes, of course, it would my-"

(Clap)

"Hold on a second."

"Huh?"

Miroku turns to see Besa by his side, who then moves ahead of the former towards the 'woman':

"I'll lend her a hand. Stay here."

"Besa?"

"Be careful, Besa."

He continues his steps, and kneels down to lightly clap the 'woman' on the shoulder:

"Tell me what's goin' on, ma'-"

(Rumble, crash)

"Whaaah!"

The ground suddenly gives way, leaving behind a large pit, to which Besa would fall into along with the dummy!

"Besa!"

"Oh no!"

As Sango and Miroku rush to the edge of the pit to look down below, Koryu quietly curses:

"Shoot! Wrong human!...Oh well, at least they're distracted..."

As he silently makes himself scarce, Sango calls down below,

"Besa, are you alright?!"

He shakes his head of any dizziness, and shouts from the pit bottom,

"...Been worse! At least you guys didn't fall with me, thank god!"

He then looks to see the head of the fake woman break off:

"Hm...Guess my instincts were right: This lady was a dud. (Looks up and hollers) The ventriloquist must be nearby, and of someone's setting traps, then we can't be too far from where Shippo is!"

Miroku calls back,

"Good point, but we should focus on getting you out there first!"

Shippo's POV

Once that dragon was gone, I try to demand my release:

"Let me out! I thought you said you wanted to duel with me!"

"(Smug smile) Don't even bother trying to waste my time, Shippo." I frown at Souten's expression:

 _Tch, that smile reminds me too much of Hiten's...Wait, what?!_

"What's that?! (Pulls out the message) Wasn't it you that sent me this letter?"

"You fool: That was just a trap to lure you here!"

"A trap? (Glares suspiciously) So what are you planning to do with me?"

"(Sniggers) I'm gonna kill you nice and slow."

"What?!"

"(Laugh) Go ahead and scream! The louder the better!"

I grit my teeth at the cruelness in Souten's words:

 _The creep...Hang on a second..._

"...Oh, I get it: You're weak." That shuts him up, and I add,

"That's why you don't wanna fight."

Sotuen's eyebrow twitches in annoyance, before he reluctantly replies,

"Hmph, I'll have to admit, you're pretty shrewd..."

He then gestures to a bunch of papers ranging from lists to profile pictures sprawled across the floor, boasting smugly,

"But I'm a genius: I've come up with dozens of strategies to compensate for my diminutive size!"

"That's playing dirty, you coward!" Souten counters,

"You're the coward, looking to your friends for help instead of standing up for yourself!"

"I did not ask for their help: They just came along!"

 _Besides...what's wrong with having friends who will always have your back?_

"Save your breath on your excuses, weakling!"

"I am not a weakling!"

We then hold out drawings of eachother wailing like babies, Souten's being ink and mine crayon:

"Weakling, weakling, weakling, weakling!"

"Coward, coward, coward, coward, coward!"

No POV

We finally zoom in on Inuyasha, Coraline and Freeman, who are now traveling along a path cut deep into grainy dirt void of trees and other plant path, with the former asking aloud annoyed,

"What are Miroku, Sango and Besa doing?" Coraline comments with a worried frown,

"They were behind us not too long ago," with Freeman adding,

"I just hope they didn't get slowed down by a trap like that boulder..."

Up ahead, Koryu peers from behind a small rock:

"Alright, here they come..."

 _(Flash)_

 _"Inuyasha is helpless against Coraline. We'll get him to 'Sit'!"_

 _(Flash)_

...It was then the third plan was put to action, namely, a dummy version of Coraline popping out to face our three teens:

"Inuaysha! Sit!"

...And of course, nothing happens, other than Inuyasha, Coraline and Freeman gaping in dumbfoundment at the sight:

"...Uh..."

"Whaa..."

"The heck?" Koryu tries again, controlling the dummy:

"Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit!" Shaking out of his stupor, Inuyasha calls out,

"Hey!"

The dragon pops out from the fake Coraline's hair and exclaims in frustration,

"Oh come on: Why doesn't Coraline's 'Sit' work?!"

Freeman snorts in amusement and quirks,

"That's suppose to be my sister? Tch, baaaad impression, dude..."

"She's identical."

Coraline raises a brow and comments,

"On what planet is that dummy a copy of me? Besides, the S-Word only works for my voice, not anyone who tries and fails to pretend to be me."

Inuyasha flexes his claws at Koryu threateningly and says in a low tone,

" _I hope you're prepared to meet your maker..._ "

"Uuuhhh...Well, I should probably getting back now."

But before Koryu could make his getaway:

(Grab)

"Stop! You're staying." Koryu replies nervously,

"I'd love to, but..."

Shippo's POV

After drawing for a while in a feverish pace, both Souten and I were exhausted, leaving our pictures scattered across the floor. As we catch our breath, Souten asks,

"Well, do you give up?"

"Hardly! You're the one who's gonna have to surrender here!"

Souten looks at one of my drawings and comments,

"I have to say, you sure brought along some strange writing tools..."

I hold up a few of my crayons and reply,

"These? Coraline gave me these things: They're called crayons."

"Wooow, I love 'em. Give them to me, would ya?" I turn my nose from him:

"No way, not a chance!"

"Give 'em to me, stingy!"

"Let's see...If you let me out of this place, I might reconsider."

Souten was taken aback, and seeing that, I smirk to myself, before quickly whipping up a rainbow on a fresh sheet of paper:

"See~? Isn't this beautiful?"

He then starts rolling around on the floor in a fit, wailing,

"I want 'em, I want 'em, I want 'em...!"

"Then all you have to do is let me out."

Souten calms down and sits up before responding,

"You don't think I'm gonna fall for that old trick, do ya? I'm just gonna kill you nice and slow."

I hold out my purple crayon and counter,

"Then how about we duel, and the winner can have the crayons!"

"...Oh yeah! That's a great idea!"

As Souten begins unlocking the cage, I turn my back to snigger smugly to myself:

 _Heheheh, this Souten might be a real dufus..._

No POV

As Inuyasha takes Koryu into custody, Coraline looks the latter over and comments in curiousity,

"Huh...Never thought I'd live to see a dragon this small." He shouts back a bit insulted,

"Hey, watch it!"

"Don't flatter yourself."

(Punch)

Inuyasha bonks him on the head, before asking,

"You're the Thunder Demon familiar, aren't you?"

"I belong to the honourable Dragon Clan!"

(Bonk)

"Quit talkin' so big, you slimy worm."

Despite the pain, Koryu was holding out for his activation of power:

 _Just one more time..._

"Hey! What do ya think my head is made of, anyway?!"

"Shut up!"

As Inuyasha raises his fist to punch Koryu's head again, the latter thinks in anticipation,

 _Excellent: Now I'll make my escape..._

But then Freeman grabs Inuyasha's wrist lightly as he and Coraline chide,

"Come on, man: It's not worth the effort."

"Freeman's right, Inuyasha: Save your energy for finding Shippo and that Souten character, not beating the crud out of little dragons."

Inuyasha scoffs at them, but lowers his fist anyway after Freeman lets go. Koryu eyes both human teens in annoyance:

 _Stay out of it, Coraline and Freeman!_

"I don't need your stinkin' pity: I belong to the Dragon Tribe, so go ahead and hit me all you want!"

Inuyasha looks to Koryu with a jeering smirk:

"You know, you're pretty brave for a little dragon..."

Koryu sweatdrops nervously:

 _Oops, I should've said I was a snake..._

Freeman looks at Koryu seriously and says,

"Look, why don't you just tell us where Shippo and Souten are, and we can all walk away without giving eachother migraines?"

"Oh yeah, like I'd tell you people!"

Koryu then bites Inuyasha's hand, who winces before growling,

"Why you...!"

(Bonk)

And Koryu receives a third punch from Inuyasha, but that was exactly what he was waiting for:

"(Mutters) That's it."

(Pop)

"Wha-?!"

"What happened?!"

"Did he just turn into smoke?!"

Koryu, back in his cloud form, laughs from up above and jeers,

"Shocked? When my head is struck three times, I transform into a lightning cloud!"

He then starts shooting multiple bolts of lightning shaped like arrows at the teens:

"Take this, you fools!"

"Agh!" "Whah!"

(Boom-boom-boom-boom...)

"And this and this and this!"

Luckily, Inuyasha acts fast, and places his fire rat robe over Coraline, who pulls Freeman under it with her, before the former leaps up to face Koryu with his Tessaiga:

"Kuh, why didn't you come at us from the start? Hrraaaahhh!"

(Slice)

He successfully cuts the cloud in two...however:

"(Laugh) It's useless, it's useless!"

Koryu rejoins his cloud form back into one, much to Inuyasha's surprise:

"Huh?!"

"Damn: The Tessaiga isn't gonna cut it this time!"

"Not good..."

Koryu cackles again before jeering,

"Farewell, Inuyasha! Your time is up!"

...At the same time, Shippo and Souten were getting ready to face eachother in the courtyard of the ruined residence, glaring and growling at the other:

"This is the end for you, Shippo!"

"That's what I was gonna tell you!"

(Leap)

"En guard!"

Freeman's POV

With no other choices open, we all began running from Koryu, as he kept up his dang lightning arrow attacks:

"Take that and that and that and that!"

(Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom...)

"Damn! What now?!" I reply to Inuyasha frantically,

"I dunno, but we better come with somethin' fast!" Coraline comments,

"I doubt the Wind Scar's gonna work on a cloud..."

(Slip)

"Oh shit!"

Coraline suddenly trips on a loose rock, and because we were sharing the fire rat robe, I got pulled down with her:

"Gyah!"

Inuyasha stops and turns to us with worry:

"Coraline! Freeman!"

I prop up on my knees and call back,

"We're okay!"

I then hear Koryu laughing, and turn to see him getting ready for another onslaught:

"I'll take care of those humans first!"

Two bolt arrows come shooting out, the one for my sister moving way too fast for me to shove her away from:

"Agh!" "Aaah!"

"Coraline!"

(TOK)

"Aaauh!"

...I barely scramble out of the way from the arrow aimed for me...while Inuyasha employs the human shield tactic for Coraline!

"...Inuyasha!"

"Inuyasha, no!"

 _Damn!_

Shippo's POV

"Take this! _Fox Fire!_ "

(Fwoom)

" _Lightning attack!_ "

(Bzzt)

(Boom)

Both of our latest attacks meet in a clash, and after landing on the ground, I say to Souten impressed,

"Wow, you're an awful lot stronger than I would've figured!"

"(Proud smile) Of course, I mean, who did you think you were dealing with here?"

I rise to my feet with a determined smile and call,

"Alright, I'm gonna have to get serious!"

"So am I!"

 _Heh, this isn't so bad: This might turn out to be more fun than I thought..._

No POV

Koryu cackles proudly at his efforts:

"Even Inuyasha is helpless against my arrows!"

Coraline and Freeman scramble to their feet as the lightning arrow disintegrates, and move to check up on Inuyasha:

"Inuyasha, are you okay?!"

"Just say the word, man, and I'll use my crystal!"

...But much to theirs and Inuyasha's surprise, he sits up with no issues...

"Inuyasha?" "...You're okay?"

"Sure, I'm okay: Those arrows are ridiculous, they didn't even hurt."

"What?!" "No way!"

Koryu was also in shock:

"What?! That's ubsurd! Take that!"

(Shoom, grab)

Inuyasha easily catches the arrow, before gesturing it to the other two teens:

"Here: Just give yourselves a little poke in the hand..."

Coraline and Freeman hesitantly do as Inuyasha tells them...and feel no pain. The human teens laugh a bit and say as the arrow dissipates,

"You're right: That feels good."

"Yeah, better than acupuncture."

Koryu becomes angered by this turn in events:

"I'm not gonna stay here and be insulted!"

"Ooh no, you're not goin' anywhere."

(Leap)

Inuyasha then hops up in front of Koryu, who yelps, before the former asks with a threatening smile,

"You change back if you're hit three times, right?" Koryu tries to feign ignorance:

"U-Uh, I dunno..."

"Don't play dumb!"

(Bonk, bonk, BONK)

(Pop)

"(Groan) How cruel-hearted..."

After falling to the ground, Koryu is then snatched up by his tail by Inuyasha, who demands,

"Now, ya little worm, you're gonna take us to this Souten person."

Thunder Demon Residence

The fight between Shippo and Souten continues, with the demons colliding with one another, before landing on opposite sides of the courtyard, each carrying a toy in one hand...

A bit of Shippo's sleeve rips, as he compliments,

"You're good."

A piece of Souten's armour breaks as she calls back,

"So are you."

They then each employ more of their demon magic:

" _Fox magic: Smashing top!_ "

" _Thunder magic: Falling Daruma!_ "

The darumas and tops collide and cancel eachother out, turning back into regular toys...But neither party was done:

"Just try and stave of my wailing mushrooms!"

"You just try and fight off my laughing acorns!"

Each child throws their mushrooms and acorns at one another until there are twin towering piles...before collapsing on their backs in exhaustion...

"(Pant) Hey, Souten, isn't it about time you gave up?"

"(Pant, pant) You're one to talk! Which means more to you: Your life or your crayons?"

...Suddenly:

"Shippooo!"

"Yo, little dude, you up here?!"

Shippo bolts to a sitting position as the acorns disappear and exclaims,

"Oh, Inuyasha, Freeman: You guys are alive!"

Souten looks over as she sits up (the mushrooms also disappearing), becoming shocked when she sees Inuyasha, Coraline and Freeman at the gateway:

"(Gasp) Inuyasha! And those two!"

She then sees Koryu in Inuyasha's hand:

"Koryu, did you fail in your mission?!"

"Please find some way to forgive me, Souten..." Inuyasha points a finger at Souten in disbelief and asks,

"Hey, wait...! Don't tell me this is...!" Shippo replies,

"Yeah! This is Souten, the one who sent me the challenge!"

Coraline looks over the thunder demon child in mild surprise:

"...You sent Shippo the challenge, huh?"

She then walks over and kneels in front of Souten, clapping a hand on her shoulder:

"U-Uh, hey, wha-"

"Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you or anything...(Slight smile) You share alot of physical resemblance to Hiten."

"Grh, don't talk about him so causally! After all, you have a part to play in his demise!"

"(Frown) Maybe so, but if you know what he and his brother did while they lived, you can understand why my feelings are bitter regarding my recollection...(Smile) But I won't hold it against, you, of course. After all, you're your own person."

Souten could only stare at Coraline with confusion, as Inuyasha mumbles,

"You mean to tell me we've been runnin' around in a panic because of some little kid?"

Shippo scoffs and folds his arms before saying,

"I told you guys I didn't need any help!"

Coraline then asks Souten,

"So tell me, young lady, how old are you?"

Shippo gapes and freezes (for he thought Souten was a boy), as Souten scoffs a bit and replies a tad reluctantly,

"...In human years, about seven. Dunno why I should have to tell you, anyway."

"Hm, so you're about a year younger than my kid brother, Souta...Look, Souten, I dunno what side of the story you've been told, but I highly recommend giving up your conquest in vengeance."

"Huh?"

"(Bitter smile) Take it from one girl to another: Even if you achieve that goal, you won't feel anymore different than you do now...other than a bittersweet memory that'll come and bite you in the ass later on."

"Uh..."

As Souten contemplates Coraline's words, Shippo slowly thaws out of his freeze in finding out Souten's gender:

"A girl?! That's a girl?! No way!"

Freeman kneels down by him with an amused smile and says,

"Don't worry, Shippo: You're not the first to make that mistake. (Laugh) Just be glad you don't live in my era, otherwise you'll get majorly confused on the subject..."

Shippo sighs disinterestedly and stands up while commenting,

"This is stupid...I'm going home..."

Souten sees the fox demon walking away, and calls,

"Hey, wait, Shippo: Are you running away from me?!"

He just keeps walking and does not reply, and Coraline looks to Freeman with a raised brow, who shrugs in return...

"If you're leaving, you're admitting defeat!"

...He stops:

"Oh, that's right." Shippo then takes out the box of crayons and tosses them to Souten:

"Here. You can have these."

Souten catches them, and looks back up at Shippo, only to blush a bit when she sees his facial features reflecting a more mature persona:

"Be a good kid and behave yourself, okay? And don't you even think about vengeance anymore."

With that, he continues his exit, as Coraline and Souten look on, before the older teen turns to share a look with her brother...both forming a proud smile at Shippo's act:

 _He's growing up._

Shippo narrates to himself as he leaves the courtyard,

 _And so, my battle had ended. I had succeeded in overcoming a vendetta, and that evil, conniving duo Souten and Koryu learned their lesson, and never challenged me to a duel again._

Eventually, the teens and fox child would find Miroku, Sango, Kilala and Besa, as the first two pull the fourth out of the pit with a vine rope:

"Phew, finally, I'm out...Oh, hey guys!"

"There you all are!" Coraline then notices someone missing:

"...Um, where's Kilala?" Sango replies,

"(Sigh) She's still lounging on the sliver vine pile."

"(Slight laugh) Silver vine?"

Sango nods with an exasperated smile, and everyone laughs a little when they see the cat demon still in her blissful daze...

Time Skip

A day or two passes, and we find Souten humming to herself as she colours with the crayons she won from Shippo...When she finished her latest masterpiece, she holds it to her eyes with a giggle and blush, and we see it to be a mature version of the fox demon in question...

Speaking of which, we find Shippo once again lost in his thoughts while standing in a field with the wind blowing lightly against his hair, his gaze holding determination and anticipation for the adventures ahead:

 _With this experience, I have grown even more mature._

 _Many enemies still lay ahead, waiting to test my strength. I could not stand idle, or look back._

 _Yes. This was the path of a warrior like myself, whose destiny, was to fight._

Unfortunately, Inuyasha would cut into Shippo's tranquility with the following:

"Quit puttin' on the act!"

(Bonk)

Holding his pained noggin, Shippo wails childishly,

"Coraliiine, Inuyasha's picking on meee!"

"...Inuyasha!"

"No, wait, Coraline...!"

...But instead of the 'Sit' command like he was anticipating, Coraline just lightly whacks the back of Inuyasha's head while scolding,

"Just let him have his moment, okay? And Shippo...take this opportunity to be the bigger man."

She then walks back to the others, and both boys watch her go with dumbfounded expressions:

"...That wasn't what I expected at all."

"Me neither..."


	76. Chapter 75

Hey all! A new year, a new chapter! Happy 2018!

...I wish I could be a bit more cheerful. However, something has recently surfaced in the review section that has rubbed me the wrong way, and I feel the need to bring it to attention:

A few of you anonymous commenters have been accusing me of reviewing my own story under different aliases. What in the world makes you think that I have such a low confidence in my own writing that I would stoop so low as false advertisement?! I do not submit to the ideals of fake story buzz, and I find it extremely insulting that you think I would (more so than when someone accused my OC of being a Mary Sue in my other story).

I believe my writing is good, and I don't need to generate a bunch of sweet words in the reviews to tell myself that. Hell, even if this story didn't have the amount of reviews it does now and had just one or two, I would have continued without so much as a bat of an eyelash.

...That being said, I think I understand where this accusation may be stemming from, which is why I must make the following requests.

To the guest reviewers, **JDJPJST** and **738** : While I have been flattered by the many positive comments you've been sending, perhaps it may be best if you could, step back for a little while, and let others have their moments in the sun?

Also, some of you have been kind-a, parroting their questions. Again, I'm flattered by your interest, but I think it'd be easier for myself and all of you if we move in a 'one question per chapter' scenario, and try to keep each question you ask as unique to the last one as possible.

...That's my speech of the day, and I sincerely hope this doesn't become a problem again.

Anyway, let's all get back to why we're all really here: The story!

* * *

 **Chapter 75: Terror of the Faceless Man**

"Hah!"

(Clang, clang)

"Hrah, take that!"

(Shing...)

It's been a few days since the encounter with Souten, sole survivor of the Thunder Demon Tribe, and we turn tail to modern Tokyo, specifically, the abandoned warehouse district, where Coraline and her brothers are currently training with Master Yoshi, the focus of the day being weapons practice.

Right now, it would be Besa who makes his next move with his sickles, trying to disarm his teacher's hands of his katana:

(Clang)

But Master Yoshi easily blocks and pushes him back, before testing the younger's blocking skill:

(Clang)

"Hrrrgh..."

(Shove)

"Gah!"

Besa falls backwards to the crushed, concrete-powdered ground from the overwhelming strength, while Master Yoshi prompts,

"Remember to keep your arms straighter as you block, Besa."

"Mrgh, right..."

Next to attack, was Freeman, who swings his hammer to the ground:

"Hah!"

(Slam, rumble)

A shot of seismic vibrations travels through the dusty pavement straight for Master Yoshi, who leaps into the air to dodge it, before thrusting his katana at the other:

(Clang, clang, CLANG)

"Waaah!"

Freeman is thrown to the ground, landing a few feet to the right of Besa, as Master Yoshi smiles a bit and comments,

"Shaking an enemy off-balance is well and good, but it must not be your only move at your disposal. Strive for balance and power, Freeman."

Said boy salutes a thumbs-up with a grunt, and Master Yoshi turns attention to the last teen: Coraline. She readies her ShatterSoul Sword in her left hand, before charging at her teacher with a war-cry:

"Hrrraaaahhh!"

(Clang, clang, clang...)

But it would only be three minutes, before Master Yoshi easily disarms her, and slams her into a nearby wall of an old warehouse building barely standing from weathering:

"Gh!"

"You are distracted, Coraline. A warrior must have a clear head in order to combat fluidly."

He releases her, and turns to the other two teens as they pick up themselves off the ground, before announcing,

"That will do for today. All of you have made significant improvements, but there is a long way to go. We shall continue training tomorrow."

"Hai, Sensei." "Hai, Sensei." "Hai, Sensei."

Small Time Skip

With their training done for the day, Coraline, Freeman and Besa decided to head over to WacDonald's for some lunch and discuss earlier:

"(Grimace) Damn, Master Yoshi's not makin' it easy. I don't think my shoulders have ever felt so sore."

"Well what did you expect? He did say that this was gonna get harder. (Yawn) I find it a miracle that we're all still awake, considering how early we woke up for practice."

Coraline was only half-listening, her mind wandering between subjects:

 _I hope that essay I turned in for Science class was decent enough. That was a bitch of a topic to cover..._

 _It's strange, though: Inuyasha didn't seem too antsy in me leaving this time, but maybe it was because my brothers vouched for me this time, and mentioned the training we would be doing with Master Yoshi..._

 _Speaking of, I gotta be better at tucking my thoughts away to focus on combat. If that had been a battle against a strong demon, I'd be toast._

 _...And on the subject of demons...I haven't heard anything from Cipher for a while. I wonder where he is?_

"...Yo, sis!"

"Huh?"

She finally snaps back to reality, and turns her gaze from her food to her brothers, who were eyeing her oddly:

"You okay there?"

"We called ya five times and you weren't hearin' us."

"Oh, sorry about that. I was, just thinking..."

"About?"

Coraline takes a sip of her soda through the plastic straw before replying,

"...Lots of things. Too much at once. (Weak smile) Unfortunately, Master Yoshi was right earlier: I'm distracted."

"Hm..." "Hm..."

The twins look to one another, before Freeman says a bit cautiously,

"Coraline...we've been noticing you're spacing out a bit more in these last couple weeks."

"...Have I?"

"Yeah...Is everything alright? Is there, anything you need to talk about?"

Coraline was a bit taken aback by the concern:

 _Oh no...Do they suspect?_

 _No. They can't be. I've been doing a hell of a job keeping this pact a secret..._

 _...I feel bad, though: After all, we did make that promise to not keep secrets back when we met up in Trinity Headquarters..._

 _(Sigh) Still, this isn't a good thing to be telling them._

Coraline forms a reassuring smile and replies,

"I'm okay, guys, really. There's just been alot on my plate lately, and I've been having a bit of a trial keeping it all in check. But hey, nothin' I can't handle, right?"

Besa hums, and smiles a bit before saying,

"Well, if you're sure..."

"I am. If there was something I needed to tell you guys, I would be spilling like a waterfall."

 _But for now, I need to dam the top with concrete...until I can get this all figured out._

Time Skip, Higurashi Shrine/Residence, Coraline's POV

A couple hours pass, and I return home in the late evening, finding myself in a light blue sweater and soft grey pants while writing some notes for my history class in the living room:

 _This is an easy subject, because my interest levels are high...  
_

"I got an eighty-two on my math test!"

"Good job, dear. You studied hard."

I hear Souta approaching me from the kitchen, as he chimes,

"Look, sis, I got an eighty-two!"

I look up from my papers and text to see the tell-tale red ink on his test paper:

"(Smile) Nice work, little bro. Keep up the hard work, and you might hit perfect next round."

"You think so?"

"Mhm, totally."

Akari-sama then calls us for food:

"Coraline, Souta, time for dinner."

"Okay!" "Coming!"

I'm now sitting at the dinner table with everyone, the meal this evening being croquette:

"Thank you, Akari-sama. (Munch, munch) Mmm, good as ever!"

"You are eating over on the other side, aren't you?"

"Mhm. Mostly wild fruits, roots, fish and the occasional game animal on a good day, but nothing as good as the food you make."

Akari smiles in appreciation and replies,

"Then eat up while you're here, dear."

Souta then asks,

"How come Freeman and Besa aren't here tonight?"

"They had some things to take care of at their apartment, and Shuji invited them to his place for dinner tonight."

"Ah...So when are you three goin' back, Cora?"

"Hm...Well, the plan is to get a goodnight's rest, then head down to the dojo for some hand-to-hand combat training tomorrow. We'll likely head back to Edo around late afternoon."

Akari then asks me,

"How did your training go today?"

"(Weak smile) Could've gone better, but definitely not worse. My mind was wandering a bit, so I missed my marks a few times."

Grandfather comments while eating from his bowl,

"That's no surprise. You've got alot on your plate as it were."

"No kidding...At least my Science grade has bumped up to a B- so it's no longer an issue to plague me."

I take a bite more of my croquette and add,

"As long as I keep my head above water, all should turn out fine."

After dinner, I hop into the shower, letting the heat of the streaming water cool the raging aches in my muscles:

"Aaahhh, that's much better..."

 _If only hot showers existed in the Sengoku period..._

Once I was through, I dry off, change into some clean pajamas, and sprawl across my mattress in bliss:

"Haahh...Moments like this where you really appreciate what you have..."

"(Ghostly moan...)"

I turn my head left, and see Lumos float into my room through my window:

"Hey, Lumos. How's it goin'?"

He spins around me a few times, before settling on my side table, making a sound akin to his own version of content.

"Heh, guess we're in the same vote then."

I move to lay on my back again, and wonder aloud while staring at the ceiling,

"...I wonder what everyone in Edo's doing right now?"

Pulling back the covers of my bed, I add,

"Well, I guess I'll find out tomorrow. I just hope they're staying warm tonight...'night, Lumos."

He chirps softly back, and I drift to sleep, my mind manifesting dreams filled with swords, demons...and jewels.

Sengoku Edo, No POV

As Coraline settles into her bed for the night (her brothers likely doing similar in their home), we zoom in on Inuyasha and the others, as they sit around a campfire on a large, flat rock by the riverside, barbecuing some fish to eat...

"(Munch, munch) It's lonely without Coraline and her brothers here."

Inuyasha replies to Shippo indifferently,

"You think so? Nothin's different."

"You liar. You haven't been kidding anyone: You've been in a daze since she left. It's totally obvious that you miss her."

(Bonk)

"Ooow! What'd you do that for?!"

While Inuyasha effortlessly holds a ticked-off Shippo back with his palm, Sango asks,

"When did Coraline say she and her brothers were returning, Inuyasha?"

"Let's see...(Counts his fingers) One, two, three, tomorrow."

Hearing that, Shippo trades his anger for an expression of excitement:

"They're gonna come back tomorrow? Well then, we better head back to the village so we can greet them!"

Inuyasha then comments a bit annoyed,

"You know, we've been roaming around the countryside without any luck at all."

Miroku replies matter-of-factually,

"Without Coraline around here, we can't get any leads on the Shikon-no-Tama." Sango adds,

"And there's been no signs of Naraku either."

Inuyasha growls and mutters bitterly,

"If only I could catch a scent of him, I could get on his tail no problem."

...Speaking of said demon, we now turn to a large cliff overlooking a small canyon far off from where our group was, where Naraku and Kanna currently stand...His right arm suddenly jerks...before rising up without control, and having purple-coloured flesh bulging out!

"...You wanna come out?"

(Jerk, jerk)

"...Then allow me to grant your wish."

The purple flesh spreads over his fingertips...before the entire mass detaches off of Naraku, falling to the chasm below!

Kanna looks down and asks,

"...Who was that? My brother?"

"He's nothing like the rest of you."

Naraku turns to leave and calls Kanna:

"Let's go."

...Unbeknownst to either demons...the flesh mass still lived, and began slithering away to parts unknown.

We jump now to an open grass field, where a group of bandits have set camp for the night:

"Awesome! Which village will we hit next?"

"Someplace of many women and drink!"

As the leader's fellows all laugh and agree to the plan, the mass of demon flesh from before slowly creeps up on them...

"...Huh? Wha's that?"

"Boss! Come over here!"

"What is it now?"

The leader stands up to walk over to where a couple bandits had gathered, and looks down to see the demon flesh mass:

"What is that?" "Is it alive?"

The leader snorts in disgust and says,

"That thing is disgusting. Let's kill it."

The bandits agree, and begin thrusting their swords and spears into the flesh to try and destroy it...

...Suddenly:

(Shoom)

A hand comes out of the flesh, and grabs hold of one of the bandit's swords!

"Uh! A hand?!"

But it wouldn't just be a hand: Next thing the bandits knew, a bare-skinned man of strong upper build and long, black hair emerges from the purple mass, with the iconic spider mark burned in his back!

"W-What is that thing?!"

"Just look at him: He hasn't got a face!"

The bandits would have no time to ponder further, when the faceless man suddenly springs on them, killing them all instantly!

...Yet the cause of his rage and outcry of frustration, would not be directed at the bandits...but rather at one startling question:

"(Pant, pant) Who am I?!"

Time Skip

Come the next morning, Inuyasha would be leading Miroku, Sango, Kilala and Shippo down a path in the older growth of a forest nearing the Goshinboku Village, when his nose picks up on a familiar scent...

"Inuyasha, are you sure about this?" He replies to Miroku,

"Nobody could mistake Naraku's disgusting stench. This way. It reeks all over in Naraku! Him and the scent of human blood!"

...But instead of finding said demon, they come across the camp of the bandits, along with the corpses laying scattered face-down on the ground...Shippo steps off of Miroku's shoulder to get a closer look at the corpses and wonders,

"Do you think they're all dead?"

Inuyasha bends down to grab one body and comments,

"They're bandits..." But when he turns the body over, he immediately drops it with an expression of shock:

"W-What the hell?!" Miroku asks,

"What is it?"

"Come and have a look at this: His face has been carved right off!"

Sango looks at another body:

"...This one too."

"Really?" Miroku examines the head of another bandit, and finds the same result:

"Him too."

As he sends prayers, Inuyasha comments in mixed shock and horror,

"Every last one of them...had their face hacked off!"

Shippo trembles back and cries out,

"Let's get outta here!"

"...I've never seen anything like it." Sango was just as baffled as Miroku, but suspected,

"Naraku's behind this." Inuyasha asks aloud infuriated,

"Yeah, but why would he steal their faces?!"

Scene Shift: Riverside

We catch up with the source of this new terror, aka, the faceless incarnation, as he kneels by the clear water to take a look at his reflection, with a horse he also stole from the bandit group tied to a nearby oak tree by their reins...We see he is wearing the face of the bandit leader...

The identity does not satisfy him, and he rips the face off, before trying another one...Success alludes him, and that face joins the rest on the bottom of the riverbed, leaving the faceless man to sigh in disappointment...

"...Demon. Are you the source of evil?"

The incarnation turns around, and 'sees' a handsome monk dress in simple robes and a younger disciple standing nearby. The student cringes back and exclaims,

"Master Muso! That thing has no face! What is it?!"

"...Stay back and out of danger."

"Yes, master."

The student monk rushes away from the area, leaving Muso to face the incarnation alone:

"Demon. Where do you come from?"

"...Where you ask? I don't know."

"Why have you done such a cruel thing to all those people?"

The faceless incarnation rises to his feet, and begins approaching the monk:

"Give me your face..."

"You want a face? Is that why you killed those people? Despicable savage!"

"I want your face!"

The student watches from behind a boulder with worry:

"Master's in danger..." Muso remains calm and fearless:

"You are nothing but pure evil. (Holds his staff out) Perish!"

"Give me your-"

(Pow)

"Aaagh!"

Muso then whacks the faceless incarnation with his staff, releasing some of his spiritual power! The student monk is amazed:

"He did it!"

...Unfortunately, the monk's power would not be enough to defeat the incarnation, and the latter would flex his fingers, before grasping the former's face!

"Gh!"

The incarnation leans in threateningly towards Muso, and the monk's yell would ring with the whinny of the spooked horse, leaving the student to cry in grief over losing his master, before running for his life:

"Nooo!"

...A moment passes, before the faceless incarnation walks over to the water to see his reflection, now occupying the countenance of Muso! He is pleased by his new identity:

"Oh yes! I have a new face! Finally! Hehehahahaha!"

Leaving the monk's body behind, the incarnation is then seen on a path overlooking some flooded fields, he also dressed in the hat and robes of the poor victim...It was then a warrior comes walking by...The demon stands to face the other:

"Hello. Nice face, don't you think?"

"Rgh, impudence! Move or I'll slay you!"

"Now that I have a fine face, next I will need a fine weapon. Your sword will do nicely, don't you agree?"

The warrior slices the demon's hat in two, but does not faze the other, causing the former to gasp:

"Yes indeed: It's a fine sword alright."

"Who are you, a demon?!"

Once again, little time would be wasted on such questions, before the warrior is killed and stripped of his clothing and weapon, and the demon rides off on his new horse with a laugh...

His next location would be a random village, and would not show mercy to those occupying: The fire bell would ring, over the sound of raging flames destroying many huts, screaming men and women as they meet death by fire or blade, and the incarnation's cruel laughter of enjoyment in his actions!

...He would then be seen resting on a grassy hillside, examining his bounty he plundered from the newly devastated village, chuckling a bit as he held some silk...He then sighs, and lies back on his side, playing with some gold and jewellery with a listless gaze...

This state would not last long, however, when he suddenly throws a pot against a rock in frustration:

(Shatter)

"Why?!"

He kneels near the ground, holding some of his loot, his mind trying to narrow down on something that seems...missing:

"...It's not enough! I want more, more of something...What is it?"

He rides off again on the horse, pausing by a cliff overlooking another, yet very familiar village...

"Heheheh, maybe that village will be next..."

...Suddenly:

(Heartbeat)

 _Mm? That, village..._

 _(Flash)_

 _Kaede's hut..._

 _The Goshinboku Tree..._

 _The cave of Onigumo..._

 _(Flash)_

"...Strange, those memories..."

With a new motivation writhing within, the incarnation begins directs the horse to ride swiftly towards the Goshinboku village...but would only get so far, when Inuyasha runs out from the tree cover and blocks his way:

"You hold it right there!"

"Whoa!" The incarnation halts the horse, and addresses the dog demon:

"Speak: Who are you?!"

"Someone who's been out looking for you."

Modern-day Tokyo, Higurashi Shrine/Residence

At the same time the incarnation and Inuyasha came face-to-face, Coraline and her brothers will have finished packing for their journey back to Edo, and began making their way towards the Bone Eater's Well.

"...Lumos, time to go!"

Said Will O' Wisp flies down from the top of the Goshinboku Tree, and hops into the redhead's satchel pocket, before she and the twins kept moving along to the well-house.

Today, Coraline wore a red tank-top, a black button-down shirt, dark-blue jeans with two rips in her right knee and lower leg, her black combat boots, and her hair was in a ponytail. Meanwhile, Freeman and Besa wore similar outfits of black t-shirts, light-blue jeans, and black/white sneakers, but with the former wearing his leather jacket, and the latter a white zip-up sweatshirt.

As they stood at the bottom of the stairs, the teens turn with smiles to wave the Higurashis off:

"Well, we're off."

"We'll see you all soon!"

"Bye for now."

"Later, sis, guys!"

"Be careful now."

"Do your best, you three."

With a nod, the three move to sit on the edges of the well...before sliding inside:

"Hup!" "Downward!" "To parts unknown!"

(Glow...)

...As the light of the portal fades from view, Akari comments with a smile,

"It never ceases to amaze me..." Souta asks aloud,

"How come they're the only ones who can go?" Grandfather answers,

"It's their fate. That's the only explanation."

The other two hum in thought...before Akari remembers something:

"Oh, right: I better go shopping so I can stock on food for them when they get back."

"I'll go too!"

"And so shall I..."

...Just as the eldest Higurashi exits the well-house, he pauses to look back at the well for a moment, adding to himself with a somewhat sad smile,

 _If only Mathias was here to see this...He would be so proud of her._

Back to Sengoku Edo  


We now turn back to the dirt path between the treeline and a canyon wall where Inuyasha and the no-longer-faceless incarnation are facing off, as the former places a hand on his Tessaiga and demands,

"Where's Naraku?"

"...Naraku?"

"Don't play innocent: You're another one of his incarnations! You reek of his stench!"

Sensing that Inuyasha knew more than he did, the incarnation asks the other,

"Do you know anything about me at all? Could you tell me who I am, where I'm from?"

"Shut up!"

Sango then comes to Inuyasha's side and informs him,

"Inuyasha, I think he's the one responsible for all the killings, not Naraku."

"Kuh, one thing is certain: He definitely has the same scent as Naraku."

Miroku, with Shippo on his shoulder, would be the last to come, and he asks the incarnation,

"Are you the one who killed the bandits and stole their faces?"

"(Smile) Yes, that was me. But they were all so ugly, that I couldn't use them. (Touches his face) But this one is beautiful."

Inuyasha asks,

"Did ya steal that face too?"

"Yes. I wanted to have a handsome face...And money, women...I wanted it all, and I stole everything. But it's not enough: There's something else...Tell me, what is it that I'm craving here?"

"Why you...!" Sango sees no signs of an act:

"He's not joking!" Shippo comments,

"He doesn't even know who he is...He's nothing like Naraku's other incarnations..."

Up in the sky, we see one of the Insects of Hell spying...and sending the image back to Naraku through Kanna's mirror...

"Hmph, excellent. They've found eachother."

 _He's the most abominable creation of my flesh yet._

 _I'm sure you'll agree, Inuyasha..._

"(Smirk) Now then..."

Getting back on scene, Miroku then says with a glare,

"You were the one that attacked the village and set it ablaze!"

"Yes, I did. I thought that if I slaughtered some people, it might help restore my memories. It didn't work, but I did have myself a good time."

Inuyasha asks heatedly,

"Who the hell are you?!"

"I told you, I can't recall...Oh I know: How about calling me Muso? Yes, call me Muso. That will do quite nicely. It's the name of the young monk who gave me this face. Kind of him, wasn't it?"

"'Gave you his face'?! You slaughtered the poor guy!"

"Why are you looking at me like that? I don't like that."

"The feeling's mutual."

"You know...I don't really like the look of your face. Say, have we met before?"

"I dunno, but obviously this conversation's going nowhere fast."

Sensing what his next action will be, Miroku quickly steps over to Inuyasha's side to protest:

"Inuyasha, no!"

"Obviously, someone who smells exactly like Naraku is killing innocent people! He deserves to die!"

Inuyasha then pulls out his Tessaiga, just as Muso gets ready to charge at him via horseback:

"Just try it!"

(Leap)

"Die!"

(Slash)

"Aaargh!"

Muso's arm is hacked off, and he falls off the horse, as it runs off...Shippo exclaims,

"He did it!"

However, Sango would see that the job was not done:

"Not yet!"

...We then see as Muso rises, that no blood is shed, and that he doesn't show signs of feeling pain, much to Miroku's shock:

"What's his body made of?! It's like, clay or something!"

(...Buzzzzz...)

"Huh?"

The group then looks to the sky...and sees a large drone of the Insects of Hell heading their way!

"Naraku's poison insects!"

The wasps then barrel down to Muso, before forming into one mass over his wound...and reforming his arm!

"His arm is back!" Miroku then realizes,

"He's absorbing the poison insects into his body! My Wind Tunnel will be useless against him!"

Muso flexes his reformed fingers, and laughs a bit in astonishment:

"I'm more amazing than I thought I was!"

He then gestures to the Goshinboku Village:

"So what's in that village over there?" Inuaysha asks,

"Huh? What're you talking about?"

"That village is calling me. If I slaughter the villagers, maybe this time I'll remember something."

Inuyasha begins charging at Muso again with a war-cry, but he just chuckles, before his right arm shifts into a brown-shaded whip, blocking the Tessaiga!

"What?!"

Muso then tries to hit Miroku, who blocks it while telling Shippo,

"Stay back!"

"Owaah!"

The fox demon is knocked off, while Miroku barely jumps back from another attack...Muso pulls the whip arm back, and looks at it with surprise and delight:

"Nice! This'll do just fine."

He then whacks Inuyasha in the face, sending him backwards, before Sango takes a turn at trying to take Muso down:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...)

"Hm, there!"

(WHACK)

Muso uses the whip to thrash the giant boomerang away, and Miroku comments,

"We've got a fight on our hands. We must use extreme caution!" Sango agrees:

"Yes, especially since he's Naraku's incarnation."

Inuyasha continues to try and land a hit, regardless:

"I'll bring him down!"

(Shoom)

"Aaaaaaagh!"

Unfortunately, Muso was able to split the whip into three, and shoot the segments at Inuyasha, one landing in and out of his throat!

"Inuyasha!"

"How's that?"

Inuyasha lands back on the ground hard, and moves to sit up while cursing his failed efforts:

"Damn..."

"...Inuyasha!"

"Huh?! (Turns his head right) Coraline's come back!"

And coming down a path in the forest cover, was said redhead, along with Freeman and Besa:

"Inuyasha!" "Hey, you guys!" "We're back!"

Shippo calls out to the teens:

"Coraline! Freeman! Besa!"

"Sorry we took so long!"

"Yeah, training went a bit longer than we expected!"

"Plus downtown traffic was a bit-"

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Huh?"

Before Freeman could finish his sentence, Lumos suddenly darts out of Coraline's satchel, and zooms in front of the three teens, forcing them to halt:

"Whoa!" "Lumos!" "What's wrong, man?"

The Will O' Wisp makes cries of warning, and begins throbbing in and out red and blue, just as Inuyasha yells,

"Stay back, Coraline! Stay back!"

But the warning would come a bit late, and Muso would see her:

"(Gasp) That woman...!"

 _(Flash)_

 _Kiky_ _ō_ _tending to Onigumo..._

 _(Flash)_

"What was, that vision...?"

Inuyasha struggles to stand upright, as he adds to his warning,

"He's one of Naraku's incarnations! Stay back and out of danger!"

The three teens cringe, and take a defensive step back, with the twins moving to stand at their sister's sides protectively, weapons raised...Muso continues to gape at Coraline:

"...That woman...who is she?"

 _And why is it, that despite not looking like, the woman in the vision, she triggered it?_

"Are you gonna gawk or fight?!"

He snaps back to reality, but not fast enough to escape having his whip-like arm sliced by Tessaiga:

(Slash)

Shippo cheers from the sidelines by the three modern teens,

"Yeah! Now you got 'im!"

Muso stumbles back, his mind still fixed on Coraline and the vision:

"...That woman...Who is she? I know her...yet don't...Uh! I remember: I know who she is!"

"You won't be babbling for much longer. You're dead!"

Both dog and incarnation demon charge, before the latter regrows his whip arm and shoves Inuyasha away harshly:

"Out of my way! Woman!" Sango tries to stop him:

"Got 'im! Hr-gah!"

But her Hiraikotsu misses, with Miroku moving to chase after him:

"Rgh, wretched demon!"

Muso laughs, before shooting his whips at Coraline:

"Come to me!"

Inuyasha calls over,

"Run for it!"

Coraline makes her move to turn and run, while Freeman and Besa stand to cover her escape:

"Don't worry, sis, we got your back!"

(Slice, wham)

They knock the whips off-balance...but then had the wind knocked out of them in a counter-attack:

(Whack, whack)

"Aaaaaghhh!" "Auuuuhhhh!"

Coraline whirls around in worry as she watches her brothers slide hard into the dirt and grass:

"Freeman! Besa!"

The whips then turn towards her, and she shucks off her satchel, pulls out her sword and combat knife, before trying to block and hack away the whips:

(Slice, slice, slice)

"Back, off, ya freak!"

But she would only succeed for so long, before Muso overpowered her, and seized her my her wrists and torso, forcing her to drop her weapons:

"Aaah!"

"Coraline!" "Coraline!"

"Cor!" "Cora!"

Muso laughs and exclaims,

"You are the one!"

Coraline struggles hard against the whips:

"Let me go! Who are you and what do you want with me?!"

"It is her! It is this woman that I've been missing! Hehehahahahaha!"


	77. Chapter 76

**Chapter 76: Onigumo's Memory Restored**

We continue where we last left off in our tale, as the Naraku incarnation, Muso, now holds Coraline hostage in his whip-like arm:

"(Laugh) It was you that I had desired, woman!"

He then begins retracting Coraline to him, despite her heavy protests and struggling:

"Let, go of me! Inuyasha, help!"

Said dog demon starts charging to them while shouting,

"Hands off!"

(Slash)

Using his Tessaiga, Inuyasha cuts Coraline free from Muso!

...But as the arm disintegrates, we see more Insects of Hell approaching...Inuyasha turns to Coraline and says urgently,

"Get out of here, Coraline!"

"Rgh, right!"

She scrambles to a stand, and rushes out of the area, picking up her weapons along the way, while the poison wasps form a new arm for Muso...He then scoffs at Inuyasha and says,

"That's the last time you'll interfere!"

He tries to attack the other with his whip, but Inuyasha easily cuts it away:

(Slash)

Yet Muso's priorities were more fixed on Coraline, and he began to try and chase after her:

"Hold it!"

Inuyasha blocks his way, and points his Tessaiga threateningly at the incarnation before demanding,

"What do you want with Coraline?"

"Coraline? (Frown) You're mistaken: That woman is mine."

(Slam)

"Guh!"

Muso then swipes Inuyasha back with his whips, before directing them to form a cage around Coraline:

"She belongs to me!"

"Agh!"

She struggles against the whips, before pulling up her combat knife:

"Get, off me!"

(Stab, hack)

Coraline successfully cuts back two of the whips, and begins pulling herself away! However, two other whips wrap around her left wrist (that held her sword) and ankle, forcing her to stay on one place:

"No! Agh!"

Inuyasha growls before charging with his Tessaiga again:

"Why, you...!"

(Whoosh...)

A wind vortex begins forming around the blade, before he leaps up and strikes the arm:

"You're going down!"

(SLASH)

Inuyasha unleashes the Wind Scar, freeing Coraline again! The attack continues to travel up the appendage, and hits Muso full-blast!

...And yet, he sends the following message to the redhead:

"Woman!"

"Huh?!"

"...You belong to me! You're mine!"

He is then swallowed by the power, and disintegrates...Everyone stared at the area that now holds the three-clawed cut mark in the ground, as Shippo wonders aloud,

"...Why do you think he wanted to capture Coraline?" Miroku replies,

"Well, Shippo, one thing that we know for sure is that he was one of Naraku's incarnations. The spider mark on his back proves it."

Coraline pushes herself to a stand, and moves to examine the cut mark in the dirt while noting uncertainly,

"...There's no way he could've survived a direct blow from the Wind Scar...And yet, I feel something in my gut that's telling me this isn't over..."

Inuyasha agrees:

"Yeah...He went down too easy."

"...Inuyasha!"

"Hm?"

Their attention is then cast down the hill, as Kaede comes walking towards the group from the village. Coraline calls back to her:

"Kaede!"

"What was all that commotion about?" Inuyasha replies bluntly,

"You're too late to be of any help."

"Uh? What happened?"

"Nothing. Just forget it...It's all over for now...(Looks down) At least I think it is..."

Scene shift: Campsite

We now look in on the wandering priestess Kikyō, as she tends to a camp of injured soldiers in an area of dry dirt surrounded by grass. She walks up to one older gentleman with a wooden container of water and asks,

"Do you feel any better yet?"

"(Smile) Yes, thanks to your care."

"I'll change your poultice later on."

Suddenly, another solider rushes up to her with an urgent expression:

"Lady Kikyō!"

"Hm?"

Once he explains his news, she has the soldier lead her to an old shack, where the student monk from before now sat, burying his face into his knees and crying in grief and fright...Kikyō gently asks,

"Yes, what is it, monk?" He hesitantly looks up, his fear evident...

"There is no need to be afraid any longer."

"...M-My mentor, Master Muso was killed and his face was stolen. Stolen!"

"That's terrible...! Who did it?"

"It was a man that had no face at all! And on his back, I saw the mark of a spider!"

Kikyō's eyes narrow, recognizing such a description:

"...A spider?"

The student monk cringes and shakily utters,

"It was horrible! Horrible!"

With that, he began sobbing again, and Kikyō asks the soldier,

"Take him inside to rest."

"(Nod) 'course."

While the soldier tended to the fearful student, the priestess finds herself wandering the nearby woods as she thought about what she was just told:

 _A spider on his back? It must have been one of Naraku's incarnations._

 _...That demon. Now what is he up to?_

Unbeknownst to her, Kikyō was being watched by Naraku, courtesy of his Insects of Hell and Kanna's Mirror...

 _...Kikyō._

 _(Flash)_

 _"Naraku...You have good reason to be concerned about me. Do you know why? Beside inside you, the heart of Onigumo beats strong."_

 _(Flash)_

...Naraku mentally shakes the words of the wandering priestess away, before rising to a stand and leaving the room...We then shift to the basement of the demon's hidden castle, and find Kagura chained to a wall by ember-glowing shackles, her body showing signs of severe fatigue:

 _Damn, that Naraku._

 _How long does he intend to keep me imprisoned like this?!_

 _Curse him!_

Just as she finished her bitter thoughts, Naraku appears out of the darkness to address the wind sorceress:

"...Kagura."

"Naraku!"

"...Do you wish to be freed?"

"(Bitter smile) I promise you: I won't try to run away again."

"Follow the one who calls himself Muso."

"Muso?"

"Yes, he is your younger brother."

Naraku raises one of his hands...and cancels the power of the chains, releasing Kagura:

(Clink)

"Ugh!"

She falls to the floor and thinks to herself,

 _Muso...another of Naraku's incarnations..._

Naraku adds as Kagura picks herself off the ground,

"Inform Inuyasha and his clan of Muso's whereabouts."

Kagura was obviously taken aback:

"Do what?!" Naraku chuckles, and says,

"There's only one possible place that Muso could be heading for..."

...Back on the field where Inuyasha and company fought Muso...we see the flesh of said incarnation begin to reform into a mass, then his arm...before reforming his entire body!

"...Damn. How dare he do this to me!...Who is this man, Inuyasha?"

He then gasps, feeling something stir in the back of his head:

"Inuyasha!...I think I know him...from somewhere..."

The spider burn reforms on Muso's back, as he asks himself,

"...Who am I, I wonder?"

Time Skip, Goshinboku Village

Come the next morning, out of concern that Coraline may not be safe with the uncertain outcome of Muso being gone or not, everyone would be recommending that she return to her era for the time being. However, our redhead would be less than pleased with such a suggestion:

"What?! (Glare) No way!"

"Don't be so stubborn, now get movin' back to the well!"

"If you think for a second I'm gonna let some damn incarnation intimidate me, you got another thing coming!"

Miroku cuts in between Inuyasha and Coraline's arguing to try and calmly talk some sense into the heated redhead:

"Coraline, I think it would be wise for you to lie low for a little while, at least until we know for sure what Naraku is up to."

Sango and Shippo agree:

"He's right."

"You're safer on the other side."

But their tones did nothing to cool her temper; if anything, it added fuel to the fire:

"...What's wrong with you all? You've never let any of the other subordinates of that demon bastard get to you before. I'm certainly not running for the hills."

"That's not what we're trying to tell you, sis." Coraline barks at Freeman,

"Then what the hell are you trying to tell me?! If it's to start playing the D.I.D. card, then forget it: I'm not some helpless woman that can't fight her own battles!"

Shippo makes a face before asking in a whisper,

"What does D.I.D. mean, Besa?"

"Damsel In Distress."

"Oooohhh..."

Besa nods, before focusing on Coraline with a concerned and serious expression:

"Come on, Cora, that's not what any of us are suggesting. There's just something, off about this particular incarnation, and we only want what's in your best interest, that's all."

Coraline scoffs bitterly and retorts,

"...'My best interest'? Tch, more like you all want to control my path and steer me from danger."

"Auh! No, Coraline, that's-"

"Don't even bother denying it: I know that has to be the truth, or part of it. But let me tell you people something: I've accepted that safety for me is impossible a long time ago, and I'm not about to use my friends as human shields when I know I'm more than capable of taking on any challenge that comes my way...I'm just sorry that you guys can't seem to grasp that this time."

With that, Coraline lets out a huff, and starts jogging off to the riverside out of the village...Once she was out of sight, Freeman groans with a facepalm and mutters,

"Oh boy. Leave it to Cor to know how to blow up faster than a raging volcano..."

Shippo asks timidly,

"Should, one of us try to go and talk to her?"

"Nah. Knowing sis like the back of my own hand, talkin' to her now isn't a good idea: She needs some time to cool off."

Sango looks to the direction where Coraline ran off with a worried frown:

"Still, leaving her by herself may not be wise..."

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Huh?"

It was then that Lumos came flying out of Kaede's hut, and he bops in front of the group with intent, having overheard the entire conversation.

"...You wanna go after her, Lumos?"

He 'nods', before floating off to find Coraline...Besa comments,

"Well, at least Cora won't be off someone's radar..."

...At the same time, just outside the village, a warrior carrying a spear was patrolling down a path, when Muso suddenly pops out of a bush:

"Greetings."

"Hey, what the hell do you want?"

"Hmm...That's some fine armour you're sporting."

"Hn?! What?!"

Moments later, we find Muso walking across a tall grass field, now wearing the armour of the unfortunate warrior, before coming across the Cave of Onigumo...

"What is it about this place?...It looks so familiar..."

Coraline's POV

I'm standing on the shoreline while skipping/throwing some stones across the water, trying to blow off some steam from my earlier build-up of anger...but with little success:

"Ugh, this sucks! Everyone's so antsy about this Muso character, that they seem to forget that I'm not scared...Rgh!"

I toss another rock into the river in a spat of frustration:

(Splash)

"(...Ghostly moan)"

"Hm?"

I turn behind me, and see Lumos coming my way...

"Oh, hey, Lumos. (Small smile) I'm actually glad to see you and not the others right now."

My Will O' Wisp friend comes to float by me, and we stare out to the other side of the river for a bit...before I quietly ask,

"...You don't think I'm incapable of fighting my own battles, do you, Lumos?"

He chirps softly and bops 'no', and I sigh before plopping down to sit on the rocky shore while replying,

"Thanks. At least someone doesn't...But then again, the others likely don't either."

 _They know that I've become strong...They're just, worried about me like any other friends would be._

I let out another breath, and stand up again to pace up and down while thinking over what's going on currently (with Lumos floating in similar fashion):

"But back to now: Inuyasha's being particularly cautious this time...That's not like him. He's fought a number of Naraku's incarnations already, and not a one's left him worried, save perhaps Goshinki who bit his Tessaiga in two..."

 _What makes Muso different?_

(Pulse)

"Huh?"

I pause in my pacing, when I felt something...off:

"What, the..."

Lumos must've sensed it too, for he began bobbing up and down in excitement. I turn to the right, where some trees were growing on top an old mound, narrowing my eyes in suspicion:

"...There's someone, or something, there over the next hill."

Feeling like doing something other than brood and think, I began jogging to the mound, with Lumos following...Once we got through the trees growing over it, I look down from the edge of the mound, to a field of tall grass...where I saw,

"(Quiet gasp) Muso!"

 _So he's alive after all..._

...He looks up briefly in my direction, and I duck behind a tree trunk to escape his view...After a minute of nothing, I peer back, and see his focus was actually on the mound:

"Hm..."

I move to crawl to the edge again, this time keeping as low to the ground as possible and using the tree roots as camouflage, and strain my ears to hear the incarnation say,

"Hm? Something's up ahead...A cavern."

 _Cavern?_

Curious, I quietly move from my spot, and speed down the mound to circle to where Muso walked. I peer around the corner, and watch, as he walks inside the cavern and stops over at an area that was barren of plant life, before laying down, remarking,

"I've been here...I'm certain." I furrow my eyebrows in confusion:

 _What's going on? Is Muso's memory starting to return?_

 _...And why, do sense something off, yet strangely familiar about this area?_

Inuyasha's POV

With the twins volunteering to stay with Kaede and keeping an eye on Coraline, I lead everyone else away and down a path to find Naraku...I narrow my eyes in frustration at the thought of Coraline's earlier attitude:

 _Damn girl, she had to choose now of all times to act stubborn..._

 _What the hell's she even thinking anyway? Of course I don't think she's helpless!_

 _...But at the same time, I just...I don't want her to get hurt._

 _Why can't she see that?_

I would snap out of my thoughts when Shippo asks,

"Hey, Inuyasha..."

"Yeah?"

"...Where are we going?" I reply in an obvious tone,

"Naraku's castle."

"Sooo you know where it is now?"

"Of course I don't, idiot!"

"Then we're just walking around in circles?" I shout back irritably,

"Stop asking dumb questions! We are backtracking the path that Muso took here!"

I hear Sango ask,

"Should we stop in on all the villages he raided?" Miroku replies,

"Yes, we should, as well as the sight where the bandits were all slaughtered."

But just as we come to forming a plan of action, I see a figure blocking our way...

"Kagura."

"(Stands up) Yo."

 _Great, another incarnation to deal with..._

I ready to pull out Tessaiga and ask,

"You witch! What're you doin' here?" What she said next, I did not see coming:

"I haven't come to fight. I simply came to tell you where Muso is."

Sango and Miroku ask,

"Muso?"

"You mean that demon is still alive?" I keep a straight glare to mask my surprise and mutter,

"Yeah, something told me we weren't through with him yet...How come you're so helpful all of a sudden?"

"You're familiar with the cave where Kikyō and Onigumo stayed? Well that's where Muso is heading."

This time, I couldn't contain my shock:

"What?!" Miroku was just as taken aback:

"Muso's gone to that cave?"

"Well, I told you all. (Folds out her fan) Farewell." Miroku calls her to a stop:

"Wait! Did Naraku send you here to tell us?" She replies a bit bitterly,

"What do you think?"

"Does he know about Inuyasha's secret?" I turn to bark at the monk:

"Shut up, Miroku! What are you thinking?!"

 _...Although I'm a bit curious myself..._

"Secret? What secret? I dunno anything about it."

With that, Kagura takes her leave aboard her feather...

"And there she goes. What was that little visit all about?!" Miroku replies,

"Last time we saw her, she was betraying Naraku to steal the jewel shards..." Sango comments,

"It didn't seem like she was helping us to get back at Naraku."

"I wonder if she told Naraku about what she saw that night, about how Inuyasha becomes mortal during the New Moon?"

I narrow my eyes in thought:

 _...No. There wasn't anything in her expression that said she was lying._

"Either way, she's still not our ally."

Shippo then asks,

"What are we gonna do now?"

"You mean about Muso? Maybe we should take Kagura's word for it and believe her..."

I hear Sango and Miroku make sounds of surprise, while Shippo folds his arms and comments,

"Well, there's a change: Most of the time, you would just jump and take off at the chance to fight..."

I bend down and bark,

"Save it, would ya?!"

"Aaaawuuuh! I only meant that I, uh..."

Miroku cuts in and asks,

"Inuyasha, what are you so on edge about?"

I stand up to face him and reply testily,

"I'm not upset, alright?!"

He and Sango scrutinize me...and I growl before reluctantly adding,

"...This Muso guy is really starting to get to me!...What's his deal, anyway?!"

Kagura's POV

I'm flying off back to Naraku's castle after saying what I had to say to Inuyasha's crew...with my thoughts clouded by that demon's latest plan:

 _I can't understand Naraku..._

 _(Flash)_

 _"Go to Inuyasha and tell him where to find Muso, then stay near and keep watch over him."_

 _(Flash)_

 _...It's like he's curious of Muso's actions..._

That's when it hits me:

"(Gasp)"

 _Does that mean that unlike me, Muso isn't under Naraku's control?_

Kaede's POV

Feeling that this whole situation has something to do with the place where Naraku was first created, I decided to leave to the cavern where the thief Onigumo once laid, with the young twin men accompanying me...

"So this cave that we're heading to...It once held this, Onigumo character that sold his soul to demons and became the Naraku we all know now, right?"

I reply patiently to Freeman,

"Yes, that is correct."

"...Yikes."

As we continue our trek through the tall grass, Besa suddenly pauses:

"Hm?"

"What is it, bro?"

"(Narrows eyes) I see someone standing by the entrance...Uh! I think it's Coraline!"

"What?"

We turn to his direction of sight, and see a familiar figure with long red hair walking to stand in the entrance...

 _It is her!_

 _...What could have possessed her to come here?_

Coraline's POV

I have since moved from my spot around the corner, and was now watching from the mouth of the cave, as Muso goes into deep thought, his hand reaching beside him...

 _Wait a second...This cave..._

 _Uh, of course: This is where that thief, Onigumo once laid fifty years ago!_

 _God, how did I not see that sooner?_

 _...But then...why is Muso here?_

 _...Unless...could, this incarnation...represent-_

Before I could finish my thought, Muso suddenly sits up, causing me to flinch back in surprise:

"Uh!"

(Slip)

I stumble and almost trip on myself, but steady my balance at the last second...Unfortunately, that action alone would stir enough noise for Muso to know he wasn't alone here:

"Hm? Who's there?"

 _Shoot!_

It was too late to try and run, before he and I met eye-to-eye:

"...You again!"

He rises to a stand and remarks,

"The woman; the one I had desired, even if it meant having to sell my Soul to demons!"

 _Sell his..._

"(Gasp) My suspicions were right: (Glare) You're him! Onigumo!"

He seemed taken aback by my characterization, but shakes it off and began running towards me! I try to step back, but he was too fast, and stops right in front of me, grabbing my wrist:

"Uh!"

Lumos starts floating around us in a panic, as Onigumo chides,

"I finally remembered what pained me: It was Kikyō I had longed for! And it, it has to be you!"

I could see a hidden desperation in his eyes, and I try to reason with the demon:

"Wait, Muso-er, Onigumo, you've got it all wrong: I'm not her! Kikyō is-"

"...Sis!" "Coraline!"

"Huh?"

I turn around, and see my brothers and Kaede rush up a couple feet from where Onigumo and I stood! Kaede widens her eye at him, and draws an arrow at the ready:

"You again! I know you!"

"Uh! Kaede!"

I try to rush down, but Onigumo pulls me to his torso, wrapping an arm around my waist to keep me still:

"Don't, move."

"(Squirm) Rgh, let go!"

Freeman then asks,

"Wait...Kaede, is this man-"

"I once knew this demon, but his name wasn't Muso! Why would he show himself here after all these years that passed?!"

Knowing what she was going to do, I nod at her, before moving to elbow the demon hard in his stomach:

"Agh!"

(Twok)

I duck down just as the arrow releases, but Onigumo manages to slap it away like it was nothing! But at least it was enough of a distraction for me to break free from his grasp...

"Stay out of my way, old maid! I have come seeking that woman! The woman who's heart beats like Kikyō's!"

I was taken aback by his description, and he turns to see my expression:

"Yes. I know you do not look like her...but there's no mistaking the Aura I sense. You beat with her energy, so you must be her in a new form!"

 _...I suppose that's one way to describe mine and_ _Kikyō's connection. He's sharper than I gave him credit for._

 _ **No kidding.**_

 _Uh! Cipher!_

 _ **Right as rain, Little Doll! Look to your right...**_

I do as he says...and watch, as he appears in some sort-of cave-drawing form on the rock! I gasp, but then hear his voice ring with laughter in my head:

 _ **Don't worry; only you can see me.** _

_...Why are you here, Cipher?_

He doesn't answer verbally, instead pointing to the entrance of the cave with one of his thumbs...

 _What? What about the ca-_

 _Hang on...No...Don't tell me that the second crystal's-_

 ** _Bingo!_**

I turn to look down on the ground with a silent groan:

 _...Oh hell. What a time to know that info.  
_

 _Couldn't you have told me soo-_

But when I turned to mentally bark at the dream demon...

 _Aaaand he's gone again...Dammit._

 _(...Sigh) I'll just have to backtrack here later. Right now, I have this incarnation to deal with._

Kaede's voice snaps me back to reality:

"I knew it: You are the fugitive, Onigumo!"

"Out of my way!"

Just as he prepares to attack Kaede again:

"Stop!"

(Shing, slash)

I pull out ShatterSoul and cut the whip vine away! He's visibly stunned by my move, and I shout at him with a determined glare,

"Leave her be! I'm your target, aren't I?"

I then slide down to the tall grass and started jogging from the cave entrance while adding,

"I you want me so bad, then come and get me! Freeman, Besa: Protect Kaede!"

"Sis!" "Are you nuts?!"

Mus-I mean, Onigumo tries to slow me down with his vine arm again:

"Stop!"

But I spin and hack the vines away with my sword, before continuing my run. He then demands,

"Who are you, woman? Who are you, and why does your heart beat with Kikyō's?!"

 _...Oh if only you knew the truth._

"Coraline!" "Sis, watch out!"

I stop and turn to face the whips again, this time channeling my Soul energy into my blade:

(Sheen)

"This time, I got him..."

But before I could unleash my attack:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash)

...A familiar dog demon beats me to the punch!

"Inuyasha!"

He lands on the ground swiftly and asks in a shout,

"What are you doing, are you crazy?! Why didn't you go home?!"

I glare back and retort,

"Oh please, like you didn't see this coming?"

He just growls at my stubbornness, before we're both interrupted by Onigumo:

"Hah! Inuyasha, always interfering!"

"What did you say?!"

I widen my eyes when I realize,

 _He addressed Inuyasha like he knew him...His memory really has returned!_

"Coraline!"

"Huh?"

I turn to Shippo's shout, and saw he, Sango and Miroku coming down aboard Kilala. Said demon slayer looks at me a bit disapprovingly and calls down,

"You were suppose to go home!"

 _Tch, there's those words: Suppose to..._

I glare icily at her and turn with a huff, catching her off-guard:

"...Coraline?"

I then hear Miroku say,

"Sango, look down there: It's Muso!" The incarnation then says,

"My memories have returned. I was a bandit, long ago when Kikyō and I stayed here in this cave."

Inuyasha rushes a bit forward and barks,

"Kikyō?! What're you talkin' about?!" Kaede whispers,

"Inuyasha: Muso is Onigumo."

"Onigumo?! The bastard who sold his Soul to demons and became Naraku's very core?"

Onigumo smiles bitterly and replies,

"Hmph. You flatter me, Inuyasha."

I turn to Miroku's direction (he and the others having gathered into one group) as he remarks,

"I see: Onigumo's entire body was badly burned. Even his face was scorched off. And that is why he kept stealing the faces of his victims."

Inuyasha finishes putting the pieces altogether:

"Onigumo's heart must've burst from Naraku!"

"I've remembered everything, including how Kikyō died back then."

"(Growl) Damn it! You're the one who injured her, you bastard!"

Though he does not deny the claim, Onigumo saw differently:

"That's ridiculous! Why do you think I fed my very Soul to the demons I summoned? I wanted possession of the Shikon-no-Tama and a healthy body, so I could steal Kikyō away and leave this cave. But when I got my new body, nothing went as I had planned."

 _Because Naraku was in control by then...Onigumo no longer had control over his destiny._

"The first thing that I had done, was cut down the very woman I had sold my body and Soul for."

I frown in thought:

"I see: So you, Onigumo, were stuck in a backseat role as soon as Naraku was born from your devoured Soul."

Kaede comes to my side and adds on,

"Yes. Naraku was created from hundreds of demons...and those demons had but one desire: The death of my sister, the priestess."

Onigumo frowns a bit sadly as he continues his lament:

"Kikyō followed him...that half-demon, Inuyasha, straight into her very demise...Kikyō perished, and the Shikon-no-Tama was burned along with her corpse. At that very same time...someone purged me into a deep, dark, place..."

Inuyasha remarks,

"That must've been Naraku."

Onigumo hops down from the mouth of the cave and slowly moved to stand a couple feet from Inuyasha while replying,

"I don't know how many years exactly I laid dormant for, but when I awoke, I had been hurled into the outside world again."

 _It sounds like he doesn't remember every last detail, or at least not the parts about Naraku..._

I wasn't the only one who thought similarly, for Miroku suddenly moved forward to ask Onigumo in a stern tone,

"Have you not received orders from Naraku?" The incarnation scoffs and replies,

"I take orders from no one. I slaughter everyone I hate, and burn them to the ground! (Focuses on Inuyasha) Now then, Inuyasha...you're first."

(Glow...)

A red light suddenly manifests around Onigumo's body, and I hear Lumos chirp urgently by my side:

"Yeah, I know, Lumos: His darkness is rising with the fuel of Anger and Hate."

"Why do you still live? Kikyō is dead!"

Spikes then pop out of his arms, tearing off the sleeves of his kimono!

 _Uh oh..._

Inuyasha retorts,

"You're one to talk! What are you doin', comin' back to life like this?"

"I'm gonna kill you first, and then I'll deal with that woman!"

I didn't expect that change:

"Auh, as if, you brute!"

I grip ShatterSoul at the ready, while Inuyasha dashes to stand protectively in front of me:

"You're not laying a hand on Coraline! You've gotta get through me first!"

"Fine! Then let's get on with it, shall we?"

(Buzzzz...)

I then look up to see more of the Insects of Hell:

 _Oh great..._

Sango and Freeman call out,

"Poison Insects!"

Miroku turns to mine and Kaede's direction and says,

"Kaede and Coraline: Get back and out of danger!"

I was reluctant at first, but my brothers come to my side and gently steer me back with their hands on my shoulders:

"Come on, sis."

"Yeah, better to not be in the line of fire right now."

"...Fine."

I let them lead me out of the main area, as Inuyasha says,

"Kuh, I dunno why Naraku let you out, (grasps Tessaiga's hilt) but you'll get the exact same treatment I give him!"

(Shing, charge)

"Here's payback for Kikyō!"

"Try it!"

Onigumo stretches one of his whip-like arms at Inuyasha, who uses Tessaiga to cut it in half...However, instead of destroying it, the wound in the arm closes around Inuyasha, before the entire arm lifts him into the air!

"His scar closed in on the sword!" Miroku remarks after Shippo,

"I see, it all makes sense now: Muso has the power to regenerate his body!"

I suddenly feel my legs run forward, and I charge at the arm while replying back to Miroku,

"Yeah, and what of it?!"

I then jump up, and bring ShatterSoul down on the arm:

(Slash)

I cut Inuyasha free, and he lands on the ground safely, though obviously a bit surprised by my move:

"...Coraline, why'd you-"

"To help. Duh!"

He looks at me with an unreadable expression...but then shakes his head with a sigh:

"You're just liable to make trouble, aren't you, woman?"

"(Wry smile) Whatever to keep you men attentive."

Onigumo then cuts in:

"It seems that your strange swords are not useful against me. How very unfortunate."

"Damn you...!"

"Who asked for your opinion?!"

No POV

As Inuyasha and Coraline stand against Onigumo, Miroku says to himself while gripping his cursed hand,

"I knew I should've sucked him up with my Wind Tunnel while I had the chance."

Besa replies back,

"Even if you did, the poison insects from before would've gotten you...Still, I can't help but wonder: Is Naraku protecting Mus-or should I say, Onigumo?"

"It's lookin' that way. He must've sent the poison insects to prevent me from using my Wind Tunnel."

Sango then asks aloud,

"Then why does Muso insist that he takes orders from no one?"

"I don't understand what his motivation is..."

Freeman hms in thought:

 _Hang on...If Muso's more independent than the rest of Naraku's incarnations..._

 _Is it, possible that Naraku might have..._

 _If he did, then why?_

As everyone goes into thought, Inuyasha and Coraline prepare to charge Onigumo from two directions to catch him off guard:

"Hraaaahhhhhh!"

"Yaaaaahhhhhh!"

Scene Shift: Injured Soldier Campsite

As the wounded warriors rested, we find Kikyō wandering back from a walk in the forest nearby...only to stop, when she sees a few of the Insects of Hell buzz by:

 _The insects again..._

"...Naraku!"

And low and behold, said demon makes a personal appearance from behind a tree:

"I wanted to see you in person."

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to test my new power."

"I told you before: A half-demon who harbours Onigumo's heart has absolutely no power to kill me."

Naraku's dark smile does not waver:

"You speak the truth, Kikyō...Indeed, if I still had Onigumo's heart, I wouldn't be able to lay a hand on you, now would I?"

He steps in close to the priestess, adding while reaching a hand out,

"Even though your body is mere artifice." Kikyō's eyes narrow in anger from the insult:

"You wretch!"

"I knew you weren't real, and yet I was still unable to reach out and strike you..."

(Grasp)

"Uh!"

"You, a woman made up of nothing but clay and bones."

Kikyō breaks free from his grip on her neck, but he just laughs mockingly at her. She grits her teeth hatefully at Naraku, before drawing an arrow to fire...

But then she lowers it, when she sees the veins in Naraku's right hand beginning to throb:

(Bu-Bump, Bu-Bump...)

Naraku examines his hand with a look of confusion turned disappointment, when the hand suddenly shifts into something more, _demonic..._

He quickly reverts his hand back to normal, before turning to walk away...

"What's wrong, Naraku? Weren't you here to kill me?"

He stops and turns to reply to the mocking priestess,

"Don't sound so self-assured. It was not out of fear that I decided to spare you. Consider yourself lucky."

He turns back to his front and continues to walk away, adding,

"I will not kill you... _I will break you_."

Naraku glances down at his hand, remarking in his mind,

 _Onigumo's not yet completely severed from me..._

Back to the Cave of Onigumo  


Inuyasha and Coraline were continuing in their battle with Onigumo, having a bit of difficulty in keeping up with the pace of the whip vines:

(Slash, slash)

"Rgh!"

(Slam)

"Gah!"

"Inuyasha!"

(Block, slam)

"Aaaaah!"

Both dog demon and redhead are knocked to the ground, before scrambling to run and dodge multiple attacks from Onigumo:

"(Laugh) What's the matter?"

The teens duck and roll to eachother's side, and Inuyasha whispers,

"Stay low for a second, okay? I'm gonna try the Wind Scar."

Coraline nods, and Inuyasha leaps out of the tall grass, taking Onigumo by surprise:

"Die!"

"Uh!"

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

Onigumo is hit full-blast by the attack, and Kaede asks aloud from the sidelines,

"Is he dead?"

Miroku replies,

"We can't be sure. Not with his ability to regenerate."

As the smoke clears, Coraline sensed something traveling across the ground:

(Sheen)

 _Uh! One of his tentacles!_

She quickly runs to Inuyasha:

"Look out!"

(Shove)

"Guh!"

Coraline pushes him to the ground just in time to dodge the whip tentacles, while Sango cuts at it with Hiraikotsu:

"Hrrrah!"

(Toss, spin...TOK)

Inuyasha and Coraline lift themselves up, and he says to her,

"...Thanks."

"No problem."

They then focus up front, as Onigumo lifts himself to a stand in one piece:

"Your efforts are futile."

Coraline grits her teeth and takes a step forward with her blade at ready:

"Try me then! _Spirit Slash!_ "

(Slash)

The ice blue slash mark hits Onigumo from behind, and destroys his limbs!

"...Hopefully that did something." Inuyasha replies to her,

"There are only so many times he can keep regenerating."

"Just was I was thinking...Let's cross our fingers that we're both right."

...Unbeknownst to our fighters, Kagura was watching from up on a cliff:

 _Muso said that he doesn't take orders from Naraku..._

 _So he's not under Naraku's control?_

 _How can he be a part of Naraku, yet free from him?_

"Fools! You still don't understand that it's impossible to destroy me!"

Miroku looks on at the risen Onigumo in some shock:

"He's regenerated again!"

Inuyasha holds his Tessaiga out by Coraline's ShatterSoul at ready, cursing,

"Damn it all..." Coraline mutters just as frustrated,

"For god sakes, there has to be a way to end him...but what?"

...Just when things weren't bad enough, a tail suddenly springs out from Onigumo's body, to which Shippo would point out fearfully:

"He's transforming into something else!"

Besa calls out,

"Cora, Inuyasha, be careful!"

The sword-wielding teens watch with wide eyes, as Onigumo's body shifts into that of a scorpion, save his torso up:

"Impossible!"

"He's a shape-shifter!"

"It appears that I'm getting accustomed to this body of mine."

Onigumo then stretches a clawed hand towards the two, and Inuyasha wraps an arm around Coraline before leaping into the air to dodge:

"Hrh!"

(Boom)

"Gh! Inuyasha, above us!"

"Huh?"

The demon's tail suddenly appears behind the two, and before either could dodge fast enough:

(TOK) (SLICE)

"GUH!" "AGH!"

"Inuyasha!" "Coraline!"

The dog demon was pierced by the scorpion tail, while Coraline was badly cut on her side from the scales!

Both teens shudder from their own forms of pain, as Coraline thinks to herself while holding on tight to Inuyasha,

 _O-Oh, damn! What, now?!_


	78. Chapter 77

**Chapter 77: A Three-Sided Battle to the Death**

With the scorpion tail piercing through Inuyasha's chest, said dog demon would be vulnerable to being pinned to the ground, the impact causing Coraline to lose her grip on him and fall to the dirt, shooting more nerve pain into her new injury:

"Gh!"

 _Damn, scales..._

"What's the matter, Inuyasha? Can't move?"

Inuyasha pushes himself up, and glances down at Coraline, noting the cut on her side:

"Uh! Coraline, are you-"

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay...Looks worse than it is..."

The dog demon flashes a look of concern at the girl, before turning to glare and growl at Onigumo, shoving the tail out of his chest:

"Aw, save it!"

He then runs at the incarnation with Tessaiga raised in the air, but Onigumo stretches his whip arm at the other, trapping Inuyasha in a vice-grip! Everyone else widens their eyes, and Coraline struggles to stand upright while muttering,

"Gotta, get him, down...!" Inuyasha's focus was on the incarnation, hateful glare set:

"W-Why, you...!"

"Inuyasha. This time, I'm going to slice you to pieces!"

Onigumo takes his other arm and prepares to thrust it at Inuyasha, but:

"Not on my life, you're not!"

(Clang)

Coraline manages to block the arm with her ShatterSoul sword!

"Uh!"

"The, only way, you're killing him, is by going, through me!"

(Sheen)

Her eyes begin to glow, her blade following similarly with ice blue rings billowing up and down, before she pushes the arm away while leaping back, readying her next attack:

"Inuyasha: Let's try both our attacks together, like last time!"

He widens her eyes at her, before nodding firmly:

"G-Got it!"

The Tessaiga's blade is then blanketed by a vortex wind, before both teens unleash their respected techniques:

" _Wind Scar!_ " " _Soul Shatter X!_ "

(SLASH) (SLASH)

The three-clawed slash and X-shaped slash meld together about halfway, forming the ice blue/yellow claw-X, blasting Onigumo to pieces!

(BOOM)

...The pieces of flesh rain to the ground, and Inuyasha lands safely before pulling the arm on his neck off:

"Tuh, hands, off..."

Coraline rushes to his side:

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I'll live...And you?"

"I'm hangin' in there..." Coraline wipes some sweat from her forehead:

"But that last attack did drain me some...grh!"

She then presses her hand to the cut on her side, feeling the sting:

"I didn't, expect the scales to be sharp enough to claw me. On his tail, I mean..."

Inuyasha just stares at her...before his attention is drawn to the flesh of Onigumo, when it began moving on its own to a specific origin:

"Damn it...He's not dead yet."

(Cloth ripping)

"Hm?"

He then watches as Coraline tears a piece off of the shirt she was wearing, before wrapping it around her side where her cut was. She replies,

"We'll just have to keep going until something sticks. He's gotta have some sort of Achilles's Heel."

"Hm?"

"It's another way of saying weakness."

"Ah...You sure you can keep going?"

"I'll be fine...After all...(Smile) I'm fighting alongside you."

Inuyasha was taken aback...but then smiles a bit at the determined redhead. Meanwhile, Kaede watches the moving demon flesh and remarks,

"This will never come to an end..."

It was then that Miroku noticed something:

"...Uh! Look at that!"

(Ba-Bump...Ba-Bump...)

His gaze was on a large piece of flesh the rest was moving towards...A spider mark glows briefly on it, to which Miroku and the twins would note:

"A spider...!"

"Just like the mark on all the other incarnations!"

"...But there's something about this one that seems, different..."

Onigumo was then back in full form, but with more spikes growing from his back, as Sango would note:

"He's transforming again!" Kaede wonders,

"What do you think his body is made of?" Miroku replies,

"Naraku is basically an amalgamation of demons, bonded into one by the bandit, Onigumo. If Naraku was created from his flesh, then perhaps..."

Freeman finishes:

"Yeah! Naraku must've released some other demons while he ejected Muso!"

Kagura continues to observe from atop the cliff, wondering,

 _Is he different from us?_

 _Is he special somehow, even to Naraku?_

Miroku's thoughts on Onigumo were different:

 _Why is Muso able to regenerate? What is his secret?_

Inuyasha and Coraline stand at the ready, the former growling,

"Why, you...!"

"I told you you'd never be able to destroy me."

Inuyasha springs forward at Onigumo:

"Curse you!"

But the incarnation saw the move coming, and uses his tail to smack the other to the ground:

(SLAP)

"Guh!"

"Inuyasha!"

As Coraline rushes to help the dog demon up, Shippo (who's sitting on Besa's shoulder) grasps his skull with worry and shuts his eyes:

"I can't watch this! Isn't there something we can do?!"

"I wish I knew..."

Kaede notes,

"Inuyasha is starting to fatigue, which is to be expected after using the Wind Scar so many times."

Freeman adds,

"And Cor's barely keeping upright from her injuries and the amount of Soul Power she unleashed earlier..."

Sango comments,

"Both have withstood Muso's relentless attacks. Neither can take much more of this..."

We zoom in on Inuyasha, who was panting heavily while Coraline knelt by him in front of a large boulder:

"Hang in there, Inuyasha. (Turns right) Lumos, assist!"

The Will O' Wisp hears her call, and flies over quickly to the teen's sides. Coraline then asks him,

"Please, Lumos, lend us your strength."

"(Ghostly moan)"

Lumos floats over each teen, and releases some of his energy:

(Twinkle...)

Inuyasha's breathing becomes less heavy, as does Coraline's, and both thank the Will O' Wisp, before the latter sends the orbed creature away...Onigumo jeers at them, specifically the dog demon:

"Look at your pathetic self, Inuyasha, relying on aid from the maiden. Had enough already?"

Both teens snap at the incarnation:

"Shut up!"

Shippo then calls,

"Inuyasha: Use the Backlash Wave! Use it on Muso to blast him to bits!"

Inuyasha rises to a stand and growls back a bit irritably,

"Don't you think I would've done that already if I could, Shippo?"

"It won't work on him?" Sango realizes why:

"The move utilizes the opponent's demonic Aura. But Muso's been only using brute strength."

As Onigumo closes in on Inuyasha and Coraline, Sango begins moving to help, but is stopped by Miroku, who calls out,

"The Wind Scar is the answer, Inuyasha!"

"But, Miroku..."

"Try striking him one more time with your Wind Scar!"

Inuyasha starts charging forward:

"Don't need to tell me that!"

(Leap)

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH, Boom)

"(Pant, pant) How's that?"

(...Ba-Bump)

Unfortunately, while the hit was dead-on, the flesh of Onigumo's body begins forming up at the piece with the spider mark again, before regenerating in full form once more!

"He's coming back! This is going to go on forever as long as he can regenerate..."

Miroku runs to Inuyasha's side to inform him,

"Inuyasha! The pieces of Muso's flesh all accumulate towards the spider marks."

"What're you talkin' about, spider marks?"

Coraline was also confused, until she uses her Aura Sight to peer into the flesh mass, and narrows down the area:

 _..I see it!_

She runs over to the men, and points to the area in question:

"Right there, on his back!"

Miroku nods, and adds,

"Muso regenerates by gathering his flesh towards that scar. The mark was pulsating; that's probably where his heart is."

"It's so strange, though..."

"Hm?"

Inuyasha and Miroku look at Coraline confusingly, as her glowing eyes narrow at the scar:

"He's made from demonic energy on the outside, but...I'm sensing the Aura of a human underneath. And it's fighting to break out. (Eyes return to normal) That's probably another reason why you can't use the Bakuryūha, Inuyasha: His Aura's acting as if it's still in a human body, so by some weird technicality, he's not using demon power."

The men hm, before Inuyasha says,

"Well, whatever's going on, it's worth a shot to aim right there."

By this time, the incarnation was back in full form, and he jeers,

"You're wasting your time, Inuyasha. You're already out of breath, and we've only just started."

Inuyasha ignores Onigumo, as he goes into thought on how to execute his next move:

 _The track of the Wind Scar goes straight to Muso...I'll use it to strike straight into his heart!_

"Die, Inuyasha!"

(SLASH)

Said dog demon unleashes the Wind Scar, and it travels down the track straight at Onigumo!

"This is it..."

...But suddenly:

" _Dance of Blades!_ "

"Kagura!"

(Slice, boom)

The wind sorceress cuts into the battle, using her wind blades to momentarily collide with the Wind Scar! But it would not save Onigumo from the bulk of the attack:

"Aaaaaargh!"

...Once the light and dirt cloud cleared, Miroku steps up and asks aloud,

"...Is it over?" Inuyasha replies,

"Hardly. Kagura used her Dance of Blades to divert my Wind Scar so it wouldn't strike Muso's heart."

"At least we've discovered one thing: Muso's vulnerability is his heart."

"Keh, and he's not hiding that fact, either."

Coraline then points out a small swarm of the Insects of Hell buzzing down to the flesh mound:

"Maybe not, but they might!"

The swarm carts the spider-scarred flesh off, causing the rest of the flesh to float after it...

"Come on, let's follow 'em."

"Right behind you!"

"Right...Sango, Freeman, Besa, stay here and look after things."

As the three teens rush off, Sango calls back to Miroku with a reassuring smile,

"Will do!" Freeman adds,

"We got things here! And Cor, be careful of you cut!"

"(Distant) Right!"

As she watches the three teens run off for the forest where the poisonous wasps fled to, Kaede comments in some surprise,

"I can't believe, that the bandit, Onigumo, has come back after all these years..."

"It's obvious that Muso is not just another incarnation of Naraku."

Sango agrees with Besa:

"I agree: Muso has Onigumo's heart."

"It's strange, though..." Shippo asks Freeman,

"How?"

"Why would Naraku let him go? Does he not need the heart of Onigumo to live...or..."

Zooming in on Inuyasha, he thinks as he chases the Insects of Hell,

 _Naraku tried to get rid of Onigumo's heart because it still loved Kikyō. Then Naraku could try to destroy her, for to him, Onigumo was a liability._

 _That's must be why he cast Onigumo from his body!_

As Coraline ran alongside Miroku, she thinks to herself on the situation,

 _If he truly is trying to rid himself of the heart that gave birth to him, why is Naraku using Kagura and his wasps to protect Onigumo?_

 _He doesn't seem to be that attached to his other incarnations, anyhow..._

"Does this mean...Naraku still needs Onigumo?"

Small Time Skip, Muso/Onigumo's POV

Thanks to those insects, I was able to get away from Inuyasha and his companions before they could attack me again...I'm now kneeling by a pond deep in the woods, washing my face while brooding about how close I was to meeting my demise:

"Damn that Inuyasha! I was so close to killing him...(Looks around) Where am I? What is this place?"

(...Rustle)

"Rgh!"

I hear something coming up behind me, and I turn around, only to find some strange...but vaguely familiar character wearing a baboon pelt cloak around his body:

 _...Who is that? Wait...is he...  
_

"Onigumo...or should I say, Muso. Imagine, meeting eachother like this face-to-face."

"You...I know you!"

The man laughs, and I stand up in the water before asking,

"Are you Naraku?"

"Did you enjoy the outside world after fifty year's absence?"

"Fifty years?! Is that what you said?"

"Muso: I demand that you return to me."

"You must be joking!"

"The thought repulses me as well, but you were released too early, I'm afraid. And that is why you must come back to me now."

"Too early?! How dare you say that after keeping me locked away for fifty years!"

"It couldn't have seem more than a second to you."

 _The arrogance!...Wait...It was him!_

"I remember everything now: You're the one who killed Kikyō fifty years ago!"

He doesn't deny, but counters,

"And in your twisted greed, you summoned the demons right to your side. Those same demons that devoured your flesh, wished to kill Kikyō."

 _Does...does that mean...her death is my-No! No, it was his fault!_

"It was your desire, not theirs!"

"...I was not the one to blame. I, am Naraku, and you should know that by now."

"I have heard enough! The only thing I desired was to make Kikyō my woman!" _  
_

Yet as I said that, my memory recalls when I, cut her down...

"Damn it!"

"Kikyō has been resurrected. She looks exactly as she did before."

That news caught me off-guard, and I turn back to Naraku to ask uncertainly,

"She's...back?"

"Yes, although she's not exactly the same as before."

That piece of the news mattered not to me:

"...Kikyō is alive?"

"(Chuckle) Want her?"

"Where is she? Where is Kikyō?!"

"I'm afraid I cannot grant your wish...Return, to me."

Next thing I knew, several tentacles came springing from the demon, and I am forced to run and dodge, determined not to submit to his ways again:

"I'll never go back to you!"

I make it back into the tree cover and add,

"This time I'll make Kikyō my woman!" _  
_

...Unfortunately, he was faster than I imagined he'd be:

(Dash)

"I don't think so."

"Rgh! Persistent bastard! (Stretches out his whip arms) Go away and leave me alone now!"

"Not this time."

No POV

As Naraku and Onigumo kept up their battle, Kagura watches from behind some trees, all the more intrigued by the second's origins:

 _Muso is trying to escape from Naraku?_ _Is he planning to defy him?_

 _...I see: Naraku doesn't control Muso's life!_

 _So that's the difference between him and me..._

After another few minutes, Naraku finally manages to pierce Onigumo through his back, and pin him to a pine!

"Gah!"

"You will return to my body."

"...What's goin' on, Naraku?"

The demon glances to his right, and sees Inuyasha:

"Inuyasha..."

"What's the deal? You couldn't possibly have any use for Onigumo's heart. (Looks at incarnation) You don't need him. That's why you dug him outta your flesh and cast him out, so tell me: How come you're tryin' to take him back now?"

"I thought Muso would be able to kill you, but it seems I was mistaken. So he's coming back; it's as simple as that."

But Inuyasha saw through the lie:

"Nothing's that simple with you. Somethin' very precious got mixed in and accidentally got released with Muso, otherwise there's no way you'd take back his heart after all that trouble to get rid of it."

"(Sneer) Oh my, how clever. Don't tell me you're actually using that head of yours to think."

"...Don't you dare insult Inuyasha like that, you arrogant bastard!"

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Coraline comes running from the tree canopy, bending down to catch her breath!

"Coraline? Where's Miroku?" She replies to Inuyasha,

"(Pant, pant) He's coming. I just, wound up sprintin' faster than him this time..."

Once she got her breathing on track, she straightens up, and watches as Naraku removes his tentacles from Onigumo, causing the incarnation to collapse to the ground.

 _...Is he..._

(Sheen)

"No. (Frown) He's not dead yet. Rgh!"

Coraline then clutches her injury, feeling it throb again. Naraku sees the blood darkening her makeshift bandage and chuckles a bit:

"I see that Muso did accomplish something: That's quite a cut you have there, woman."

"(Glare) Yeah, so what?" He merely smirks at her, before turning to Inuyasha to ask,

"What will you do now?"

"I can destroy Muso anytime, (Pulls out Tessaiga) which means you're at the top of my to-do list."

(Leap)

"Hrrah!"

(Swing)

With that, Inuyasha began his assault on Naraku, who backs away and uses his tentacles to block each of the dog demon's thrusts...Meanwhile, Coraline's eyes were on Onigumo...as she watches the wounds on his back begin to heal over!

She gasps, and he rises on his arms, glancing eye-to-eye with the redhead for a moment, then watches a bit of the battle between both half-demons...

"Onigumo?"

He grins, before grabbing Coraline's wrist and running off from the area, taking her with him:

"You're coming with me."

"Uh!"

Kagura watches the incarnation take off with the girl:

 _Is he serious?_

 _...And taking Coraline with him...What does he want with her?_

As he continues to block Inuyasha's Tessaiga, Naraku calls to Kagura,

"...Don't just stand there: Kagura, go after Muso."

She looks at him, and he adds,

"Don't let him escape...As for the girl...she is not a priority, this time."

With that, Kagura boards her feather and begins chasing after Onigumo, who kept pulling Coraline along down a path into the forest:

"Rgh, O-Onigumo, where are we going?! Let me go!"

"You're the only link I have to Kikyō right now! You will help me find her, once we elude Naraku!"

"...Onigumo..."

 _He's really become that desperate..._

Meanwhile, the wind sorceress thought to herself,

 _Muso and I were both created from Naraku's flesh..._

 _I act according to Naraku's wishes, but Muso is escaping..._

Suddenly, Onigumo stops, prompting Coraline to do the same:

"...Onigumo?"

He says nothing...before he smiles and says,

"Change of plans. Come."

He turns around and heads back to the area where Inuyasha and Naraku are, taking Coraline along with him, much to Kagura's shock:

 _What is he doing now?_

Back in the small clearing, the fight between Inuyasha and Naraku continues, with the former cutting down on the tips of the latter's tentacles:

(Slash)

However, that proved to be an unwise move, when the opened tentacles began expelling Naraku's miasma, forcing Inuyasha to leap back...It was then that Miroku finally caught up:

"(Pant, pant) Inuyasha!"

"What took ya?"

"What's Naraku doing here?"

"He's tryin' to take Muso back." Miroku gasps, and Inuyasha smirks while saying to Naraku,

"I'll bet releasin' Muso made you alot weaker than you used to be, Naraku. Am I right?"

Naraku's hair flies up in the air and shoots towards Inuyasha in an infuriated response, but the dog demon readies his sword:

"Die!"

(SLASH, Boom)

Naraku was able to leap out of the way of the Wind Scar, jeering,

"Don't presume to understand me, Inuyasha. You are nothing."

(...SHOOM)

...It was then that a whip-like tentacle shot into Naraku's chest, courtesy of Onigumo!

Inuyasha and Miroku exclaim:

"Muso!"

"It can't be: He killed Naraku!"

Kagura was equally as shocked:

 _He did it! He killed Naraku!_

"(Laugh) You fool! You didn't think I'd let you get away, did you?"

...Naraku suddenly grins, and Coraline gasps, realizing:

"...No...He still lives!"

Onigumo looks at her with disbelief, but then his attention would be on Naraku, as the demon suddenly zooms in on him!

"Uh! My, arm's being absorbed!"

He releases Coraline's wrist from the shock, and she runs over to Inuyasha and Miroku to get out of danger:

"Coraline!"

"Guys!"

The three look back to the scene, as Naraku says to Onigumo,

"You saved me the trouble, Muso. I need you to come back to me now."

"Rgh, d-damn, you!"

More tentacles spring from Naraku and envelop Onigumo, destroying all possible options of escape, and began to slowly pull him into the other's body:

(Glow...)

"Rgh! No! I've lost, control of my body! Grrah! Let me go! Release me at once!"

Kagura watches on from her spot behind the trees, wondering with some fear,

 _Will that be the fate I suffer, if I should choose to defy him as well?_

Onigumo's pleas become more desperate:

"Stop! Let me see Kikyō! I must see Kikyō!"

He turns his head and meets Coraline eye-to-eye one last time:

"P-Please, girl: Help me! You have her within you! Help me reach Kikyō!"

She could only remain frozen, knowing that there was nothing she could do to help:

 _...I'm sorry, Onigumo._

(Pulse)

"Huh?"

Coraline looks down at herself, feeling something beat within her, that did not feel like a heartbeat:

 _...Was that...No. Not my Soul...It was...the light half of Kikyō._

 _...Is she just as saddened by this turn for him as I am?_

"Kikyō...! Kikyō...! _Kikyōōōōō...!_ "

And with that final cry, Onigumo was fully absorbed into Naraku...The demon laughs darkly and comments,

"Such bitterness...Such festering greed...Give it up, Muso. Kikyō is exactly the same as you, made of nothing but clay and dirt. Her Soul is a mere phantom of the past."

Once the light had died down, no trace of the incarnated thief would be found...Inuyasha exclaims,

"...He absorbed Muso!"

"(Chuckle) You see, I require Onigumo as a link to my own body. Your conjecture was indeed accurate, Inuyasha."

"A link?"

Miroku takes a half-step forward and asks Naraku with a stern tone,

"Answer me this, Naraku: You've swallowed Onigumo's heart again, so does that make you, a half-demon?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"A while back, the impenetrable barrier around your castle weakened. Inuyasha and Kōga...in fact, anyone with a keen nose can find it. (Side-glances Coraline) And given opportunity, I am sure Coraline could've easily tracked your Aura. (Focuses up front) You couldn't have wanted that."

Inuyasha eyes the monk with confusion:

 _What's Miroku trying to figure out?_

"I see, monk. So you wish to know if even I have a period of weakness, don't you? If I am indeed like all half-demons?"

"I know that your powers had weakened at that time, Naraku."

Inuyasha and Coraline look to Miroku in surprise at his deductions, while Naraku just chuckles before replying,

"But when that event occurs is a half-demon's deep dark secret...Let's hear about you, Inuyasha."

"What?!"

"Do you, like so many other half-demons, lose your powers and hide in fear from your enemies during such times?"

"Gh! Why you...!"

Coraline moves to grip Inuyasha's arm in a protective gesture, her hand reaching to her combat knife:

 _One more bad quip against Inuyasha, and I swear to god, I'll decapitate him...!_

 _...But you know...thinking on that comment...does this mean Naraku doesn't know..._

Miroku raises a mental brow at the change of direction in the subject, also noting the lack of knowledge:

 _Interesting...Judging from Naraku just said, Kagura hasn't told him about Inuyasha's night of weakness during the New Moon..._

"...Monk."

"Huh?"

"As you surmised, I have periods when I cannot move. However, I choose that time myself, at my own free will."

That caught the three teens off-guard:

"What?!"

"There's no way you can do that!"

"Impossible!"

"You are vastly different from me, because you were born from a human and a demon, Inuyasha. (Looks back) Don't you agree, Kagura?"

She gasps, recalling what she saw in the deeper basement of Naraku's castle before:

 _When I found him in the cellar, it looked like he was reconstructing his body..._

As a drone of the Insects of Hell appear behind Naraku, he explains what happens during his drop of power:

"During my time of weakness, I experiment. What is strong, I take to make stronger. I then cast out the weak, and become even more powerful."

Miroku asks within his mind,

 _He can reconstruct his own body?_

Inuyasha curses almost in time with Coraline's cuss, and Naraku chuckles again before adding,

"I'm a half-demon right now. There's no mistake...but unlike some other half-demons, I don't lose my powers and cower in fear."

Inuyasha growls, and replies back,

"Keh, you sure can talk about yourself for days, but I got better things on my mind!"

(Leap)

"Die!"

(Swing, CLANG)

But when Inuyasha goes to try and cut down on Naraku with his Tessaiga, a barrier suddenly erupts around he and Kagura, blocking the dog demon's attack!

"Guh!"

Inuyasha is forced to jump back, and the light dissipates a bit, leaving the barrier a coloured mix of dark fushia and light blue...

"What is that?" Miroku and Coraline reply respectively,

"A barrier!"

"And a strong one at that. (Sheen) I can see Naraku using his Aura to construct it, along with the power of the demon bits that he uses to make his body."

Inuyasha scoffs,

"It won't stop me! _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

...But despite it being a direct it, only the ground around the two demons is upturned, and not even a dent was made in Naraku's barrier! Miroku exclaims,

"The Wind Scar didn't work! I'm pretty certain that Naraku's barriers weren't that powerful before..."

Coraline grits her teeth, before pulling out ShatterSoul:

"Then maybe my blade will work!"

But before she could charge up her attack, Inuyasha stops her by placing a hand on her shoulder:

"Huh?"

"You've already used too much of your spirit power before against Muso, and I have a bad feeling that even your attacks won't work."

"Inuyasha..."

"I'd listen to him if I were you, woman."

They both focus back up front with hateful glares at the smug Naraku, who adds,

"I'll say it again: I only continue to grow in power."

(Boom, whoosh...)

He then begins releasing a poisonous smoke cloud from the bottom of the barrier, prompting Miroku to push Inuyasha and Coraline back:

"Get back! It's a miasma!"

The poison then swirls into a cyclone around Naraku and Kagura, carrying both demons away and out of sight...

"He's gone...!"

"It seems that Naraku was speaking the truth about his powers..."

"Yeah. I turn into nothing but a weak human on the Night of the New Moon, but Naraku's, different from me?"

"Yes...If Naraku is able to reconstruct himself and get stronger...then I'm afraid that we might be in real trouble."

Coraline frowns seriously at the men's words, before replying,

"...Then we'll just have to get stronger than him in kind...(Smile) I know we can do it, too."

"Huh?" "Hm?"

She turns to face them and adds softly,

"It's like Freeman said before: We'll always have the one thing Naraku will never have...Something worth fighting for."

Inuyasha and Miroku look at Coraline with surprise...before smiling faintly and nodding.

Time Skip, Campsite of Injured Soldiers

As the evening comes rolling in over the landscape, one of the soldiers resting by an open campfire feels a shift in the atmosphere inside a passing breeze:

"...I feel an ominous wind."

Kikyō, who was carrying a basket of herbs, pauses in her step when she feels the change too:

"Hm?"

She turns her eyes to the sky...and watches as a faint, spectral cloud of miasma rolls by...

 _It's Naraku...I know it is him._

"...What is it, Lady Kikyō?"

She snaps out of her daze, and smiles softly before replying,

"It's nothing to worry about, so I think it's best you rest at ease, old man."

"Of course."

Scene Shift: Goshinboku Village

Once they all gathered up again, Inuyasha and company would return to Kaede's hut so the more injured of their party could have their injuries tended to...

"No way! Naraku can now project a barrier strong enough to block the Wind Scar?!"

Coraline, whom after having her side bandaged, pauses her medical attention on Inuyasha's torso and nods to Freeman, while he scoffs. Miroku confirms what the three witnessed:

"Yes, Naraku is definitely becoming stronger. On top of that, he's a half-demon, but unlike Inuyasha, he doesn't lose his powers during the New Moon. Instead, Naraku says he can choose his day."

"Are you saying we can't know when his powers will be weakened?"

He nods at Sango and replies,

"Correct...I thought we'd be able to defeat him if we only knew when he was powerless."

Besa puts in his thoughts:

"Well it's not like there was a guarantee his demon strength would be lost during that specific time anyhow. After all, everybody functions differently, and it's more likely that every half-demon has their own unique time-frame for when they become mortal...Still, I agree: Being able to choose a random date does make this whole war all the more dangerous..."

Inuyasha pulls his white haori back on, frowning a bit at the dismal outlook:

"Huh, what's everyone gettin' all serious about? At least we know now that he does have a period of weakness. It's like Coraline said earlier: I just have to get stronger than him. Just let me handle things."

Everyone looks to him in mild surprise at his optimism, with Coraline smiling a bit and muttering,

"I actually meant we as in all of us, but whatever keeps your chin up..." Miroku comments,

"Inuyasha, I've never heard you sound so positive."

"I'm always positive, ya creep!"

While the twins snicker, Sango whispers to Coraline,

"If this is his good side, I'd hate to see him gloomy..."

"Yeah...By the way, Sango: I'm, sorry about that icy glare I sent your way earlier today. That was mean of me."

"Oh, that? (Reassuring smile) It's okay, Coraline."

"No, it wasn't. I...I was being childish. It's just that with how everyone kept saying I'd be better off staying in my era where Onigumo couldn't reach me, it felt like, you all forgot about my opinion, that I wasn't, you know, defenseless..."

Sango gapes a bit at Coraline with surprise, but then shakes her head with a gentle smile:

"Uh...Oh Coraline...of course we'd never forget your opinion, and we all know you're not to be taken lightly. But, I am sorry if you felt like that."

"It's okay. I should've known that wasn't the case. I think this round of fighting was just more intense than usual for all of us..."

"Mhm."

After a little while, Coraline then remembers some other business she wanted to take care of:

 _Oh! I just remembered: The Seven Light Crystal...Cipher said that it should be in Onigumo's Cave..._

 _Hm, the only question is how am I going to go down there without anyone tailing me?_

 _...Ah: I got it!_

She then stands up, and begins walking towards the flap door, prompting a few of her friends to ask,

"Coraline?" "Where you goin', sis?"

"...I just remembered: I accidentally left my satchel on the field near where we first fought Onigumo today. I better go get it."

"Do you want one of us to go with you?"

"Nah, that's okay, Miroku: I have my knife with me incase I run into trouble, and it's not too far away."

After receiving a borrowed flashlight from Besa, she sends a small wave, before leaving the hut, then starting her jog...to the direction where Onigumo's Cave would be...

At the same time the redhead began her trek, we find Kikyō walking alongside her shinidamachū in an open field, her mind wandering:

 _I understand now: I am Kikyō, yet not Kikyō. That's why I resisted..._

 _Yet, why?_

She pauses to gaze up at the star-filled sky:

 _Why does my heart yearn so?_

"...Inuyasha...Which does my heart wish for?"

Coraline's POV

 _Wow...the sky is so clear tonight. If I wasn't so focused on my secret mission, I'd probably be stargazing by the river right now._

After a good deal of jogging/running, I made it back to the old cave where the thief, Onigumo once resided...before he became the half-demon we know now.

I walk up to the entrance, feeling that old energy that was there before, except it seemed, weaker than before:

 _Must have something to do with the poor fool gettin' reabsorbed into Naraku..._

I felt my face form a sad look, remembering the desperateness in his voice during his last stand:

 _(Flash)_

 _"P-Please, girl: Help me! You have her within you! Help me reach Kikyō!"_

 _"Kikyō...! Kikyō...!_ **_Kikyōōōōō...!_** _"_

 _(Flash)_

 _Even if he did somehow escape Naraku, his wish would remain out of his reach no matter what he did..._

(Pulse)

"Mm?"

I feel that beat inside my Soul, and place a hand over my heart, smiling sadly, knowing what it really was:

"...I know. You feel bad for him too, don't you, Kikyō?"

Shaking my head with a sigh, I focus back on my true objective, and walk inside, using the flashlight my brother lent me to navigate the dark, rocky walls:

"Okay...Now where could it be hiding?"

 _Maybe a change in perspective will help..._

(Sheen)

Using my Aura Sight, I comb my eyes all over the area, waiting for some little detail to jump out at me...After about fifteen minutes, I finally spot it:

"Uh! There...in that far corner."

I quickly make my way over to the right corner of the cave, and could see a heart-shaped outline shining beneath some rock...

"That has to be it..."

I cancel out my power, and wrack the spot with my knuckles:

"Hm...Doesn't seem too thick...If I use the handle of my knife, I should be able to chip the rock away and get the crystal out."

Nodding to myself, I stand the flashlight up on a flat part of the cave floor so I could still see what I was doing, before unsheathing my knife:

"Okay, here goes. (Swing) Hrh!"

(Crack)

"Mph!"

(Crack)

"Hrah!"

(Crack...Tok, CRA-Crumble...)

After a few good hits, I was able to chip the loose rock away, revealing the object of my quest:

"(Grin) There you are..."

I put my knife back (brushing the rock dust off in the process), and tug on the crystal to pry it out:

"Mmph...Rrr-gah!"

(TOK)

I cough a bit from the rock dust, before looking down at the heart-shaped crystal now in my possession:

"Finally...I found the second one."

 _Now all that's left, is to wait for Cipher to give word on when we'll finalize our deal..._

 _Soon...Soon, this'll all be worth it._

I wrap the crystal in a light green cloth, then place it in my back pocket of my jeans, before starting my way out...Yet as I made my way back outside, I found myself gazing at the inside of this cave with normal eyes, finding myself, captivated by its symbolism:

 _To think...This is the birthplace of that bastard demon, Naraku..._

 _This is where the whole story began._

I pause over at the spot barren of moss and grass, where Onigumo had laid twice now:

"This is the area, where Onigumo had been forced to lay, his body too horribly scarred and burned to ever move again...I wonder what happened to him to cause him such pain? What did he do?"

 _Well, whatever happened, he must've pissed someone off real bad to receive such a revenge attack..._

"...Despite his injuries, however, Onigumo's desires kept him alive, as well as Kikyō's tentative care. (Sad smile) That was incredibly kind of her to do, but, maybe she saw something in the thief that suggested he wanted to rise from his past ways...But maybe I'm giving Onigumo too much credit. After all...(Frown) he was foolish enough to sell his Soul to demons for a moving body, just so he could steal the Shikon-no-Tama...and Kikyō's heart."

...I turn away from the spot, and make my way to the entrance...only to end up meeting with someone outside:

"...What are you doin' back here?"

"Huh?"

I look up, and see Inuyasha standing off to the right side with his arms folded and his usual scowl on his face.

"Inuyasha...Did you, follow me here?"

 _I should've known I wouldn't be able to evade him..._

"I could smell your scent heading in the wrong direction for where the well was, so I went out to tell ya, only to see you joggin' this way with a look that said this was your real plan."

I widen my eyes a bit at his sharpness, and he walks up to me to add,

"Now I'll ask again: What are you doin' back here? This isn't a good place to go explorin' by yourself..."

I keep a straight face, but inside I was almost on the verge of a panic attack:

 _Damn! What do I do?!_

 _I can't tell him my real reason for being here; he'll go ballistic!_

 _...Wait...okay, I know what to do._

 _Technically, this won't be lying, because this is partly why I wanted to come here, but...I can't reveal my pact with Bill._

I take a deep breath, before replying calmly,

"I know...but, my curiousity got the better of me. I, wanted to see this entire place for my own eyes without interruptions..."

"Why?"

"Well...this is where it all started, right? This whole mess with the Shikon-no-Tama."

He widens his eyes a bit at my statement...before asking,

"What do you mean?"

I walk back to the mouth of the cave, he following, and I repeat my thoughts from earlier to him:

"This is where Onigumo, the thief that was scarred and burned nine ways to hell was forced to spend the rest of his days, with Kikyō as his only real company...In the time he was cared for, his lustrous greed for the jewel fed to another desire, which was to steal away the said priestess who decided to give a damn about his life..."

I hear Inuyasha growl a bit at the thought of Onigumo's desire for Kikyō, but made no protest for me to stop speaking, so I continued:

"In that event, he was blinded by a love that could never be requited, and chose to sell his own being to demons in order to regain movement again...There enter Naraku: A half-demon who's only agenda was the same as the demons that played a part in his creation, which was to take out the guardian of the Shikon-no-Tama, and steal said jewel for his own nefarious purposes."

I smile bitterly as I thought of what has happened since then:

"But what Naraku didn't count on was the following: Kikyō choosing to follow the man she loved rather than save herself, my entrance to this world which would free you, the shattering of said jewel, her eventual resurrection, and then...Onigumo's return to the land of the living to try and reclaim what he lost."

"Hm...Speaking of Onigumo...I caught a glance of him taking you away earlier while I was fighting Naraku."

Inuyasha turns to me with a serious expression and places a hand on my shoulder before asking,

"He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine. If he was gonna try anything, I would've had one of my blades in him like that...He, actually, wanted me to help him find Kikyō."

"What?"

"I think his desires were becoming more desperate at that point. He looked, prepared to try anything to escape Naraku and find the woman he became infatuated with so long ago...He, even called out to me to help him as he was being dragged into Naraku's body."

"Yeah, I remember that part. He said that, you had Kikyō within you or somethin'..."

"Mhm. I think, he could sense the part of her Soul that's inside me, and thought I would somehow be able to track down Kikyō for him...But, he changed his mind halfway down the path, likely wanting to try and finish Naraku off so he wouldn't be chased by the demon anymore...If only he knew that would be a grave mistake..."

Inuyasha could only stare at me in wonder, while I moved to sit down on the rock surface overlooking the tall grass leading to the river, a sad frown back on my lips:

"...I of course, can't do that. I don't have a clue where she is...and I didn't have the heart to tell him. I could only watch with pity as he was dragged into Naraku again...Heh, maybe I'm just goin' soft, though, feeling sorry for a thief who traded everything, only to get suckered by the demons...Still, insane though he was, Onigumo was certain of his wishes. I could, see it in his eyes."

I hear Inuyasha scoff a bit as he sat down beside me, before replying,

"Certain or not, he chose his own fate, and karma came to bite his ass in more than ways than one."

"Fair point...(Sad smile) And yet, her heart was bleeding as he was pulled into oblivion."

"Huh? Who's heart?"

"Kikyō's."

"Uh! What do mean by that?"

"...Her light half of Soul: It was, pulsing a bit as I watched Onigumo's last struggle, and it did it again once when I was standing at the mouth of the cave here a little while ago...She felt bad for him."

I hear no response come from Inuyasha, and I turn to look at the beautiful sky with a somewhat happier smile:

"That's something I kind-of admire about Kikyō: Before all this, she must've been one of the more compassionate priestesses, willing to see the good in all, human or demon."

I turn to look at Inuyasha and add,

"I mean, she obviously saw it in you, that you were more than just a half-demon. She saw a kindred spirit: Someone with a heart as equally lonely as hers."

"...Coraline..."

I just smile and shake my head, before turning back to the night sky, deciding to change the subject:

"...The stars are quite beautiful tonight, don't you agree? It's incredibly difficult to get a view like this in my era."

"...That right?"

"Yeah, but that's what happens when you have light pollution: Because we humans have invented and put so many electric lights on, it's dimmed out the natural lighting in those heavily-populated areas. You'd have to go out to where there's virtually no human activity to get a better view."

"Ah...That kind-a sucks."

"(Slight laugh) Just a bit...But I've come to see it as another excuse to have a nighttime adventure once in a while. Seek out what's not seen during daylight, and go where others dare not go."

"Heh, that does sound like you."

We both laugh a little, and sit in silence for a while...before we decided to start heading back for Kaede's. As we started walking through the tall grass, I say to my friend,

"Hey, Inuyasha..."

"Mm?"

"...We're gonna win this war. You know that like I do, right?"

He takes a few minutes to think...before he lightly grabs my hand and replies softly but determinedly,

"Yeah...I do. We will win."

And no more is said, as we enter the village, the crystal's weight feeding to my guilt in this secret pact...but not so much that I'd waver in my mission, for I knew in my heart...it would work itself out in the end...


	79. Chapter 78

**Chapter 78: Tōtōsai's Rigid Training**

It's about mid-morning in Sengoku Edo, the early dew drops still glistening on the grass blades, as three young travelers start their trek back to an old, mysterious well...

"Alright, time to head back and update on home."

"Yep..."

As they steadily trug along, Coraline and her brothers spot Shippo hopping after a grasshopper, having little worry in the world. They smile at his childish antics, before waving off:

"See ya later, Shippo!" "Catch ya later, kiddo!"

"We'll be back in a day or two!"

"Bye! Come back soon, and don't forget our yummy ninja treats, okay, Freeman?"

As that twin calls back,

"Of course," Coraline looks around and notices someone missing:

"Hm...Say, Shippo: You wouldn't have happened to see where Inuyasha's gotten to, have you?"

"Huh? Yeah: He took Kilala and left first thing this morning."

Sango and Miroku catch up as the former chimes,

"I think he was going somewhere far away," and Miroku adds in an afterthought,

"There's only one place he could be headin'..." Coraline asks,

"And that would be...?"

"There is only one man who understands Tessaiga's true power and that is the man who forged it."

Sango immediately knew who the monk was referring to:

"Oh, you mean Tōtōsai? Inuyasha must be planning to break through Naraku's barrier."

Besa hms and replies,

"That makes sense," while Coraline wonders,

"But is there anything more the old man can provide? I mean, given what he's said already regarding the Backlash Wave..."

Freeman shrugs and says nonchalantly,

"I guess we'll find out when Inuyasha's back."

 _I just hope the swordsmith doesn't drive him so far up the wall that he'll decapitate Tessaiga's creator._

Scene Shift: Tōtōsai's Lair

As Mōmō the three-eyed cow ate some grass outside the old volcanic cave covered by a demon's skull, with Kilala hanging around with her, inside, Tōtōsai was hammering away at a piece of metal for a new weapon while Inuyasha sat near, trying to talk to the other about finding a way to bypass Naraku's new power:

"Tōtōsai, you must know a way that I can break through any barrier no matter how strong it is."

The swordsmith pauses his work and ponders the thought:

"A technique to break through any strength...It's not like there isn't a way, more like there is a way."

"Which is it?! I have to get stronger while Naraku's laid out and out of commission!"

Tōtōsai hms and scratches his head, but his thoughts were drifting to other priorities:

 _Oooh, it itches! That's right: I haven't bathed in over a week..._

Inuyasha watches the swordsmith, his thoughts more focused:

 _Knowing this old fart, he probably won't just come out and tell me the answer...I gotta be patient and pry it out._

"You gotta help!"

Meanwhile, Tōtōsai had shifted to scratching himself all over:

 _Oh, dear, I'm itchy! My back is itchy too!_

Inuyasha continues his persistence, trying to remain as cool as he could:

"Tōtōsai, I need you to teach me how to bust through Naraku's barrier!"

 _Oooh, the itch! I need a bath!_

"Isn't there something I can do as training?!"

 _A bath...I'll need a few things to get ready..._

"Oooh, but I'll need so much water..." Inuyasha raises a brow at the mutter:

"Water?"

 _It's so much hard work..._

Inuyasha continues to look confused, as Tōtōsai kept thinking within and aloud,

"There needs to be enough water from the bottom of the valley to fill the tub, then the wood out back has to be cut into small pieces of kindling for the fire!"

 _Aah, humbug: Preparing a bath is so much work for one person..._

Not aware of what the old swordsmith was really talking about, Inuyasha moves to a stand with eagerness of getting started on 'training':

"Cut the wood? Is that my training?"

"Training?"

"...Master!"

"Hm?" "Huh?"

Tōtōsai and Inuyasha then hear a young man calling from outside, and go out to see a small lynx demon kowtowing in front of the entrance, to which the former would recognize:

"You again. What is it this time?"

"I'm not goin' away 'til you help me."

Getting a better look, this young demon had tan-coloured fur all over his body and dark brown hair cut short on his head, small cat ears, whiskers, a short bushy tail, black eyes, paws for hands and feet, and wore a dark blue kimono with an aqua green undershirt and dull blue pants.

Inuyasha asks causally,

"Hey, who's the little fox demon?"

"I'm no fox! I'm a lynx! And I've asked Master Tōtōsai to train me."

"Oh yeah?"

"He's gonna teach me all the techniques I need to break through a demonic barrier!"

As said swordsmith scratches an area on his, (cough) rear, he thinks to himself,

 _It really itches...Wait: I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth!_

He then clear his throat and says more seriously,

"I want you two to fetch some water and chop up the firewood."

Inuyasha got enthusiastic:

"I knew it! That's my special training!"

"Nawwh, don'tcha know anything?!"

"Hm?"

He looks down with an annoyed glare at the lynx demon, who states matter-of-factually,

"The fetching of water builds up essential muscles, and the cutting of the wood improves your swing while fighting. Every single tack has a special significance."

Inuyasha's eyebrow twitches, as the lynx proudly adds,

"Father told me that's been a tradition on the continent for four thousand years."

"Oh yeah? (Looks to Tōtōsai) So I finally worn ya down and you're gonna teach me how to break the barrier!"

"No, I simply wanted you to help me wi-"

Inuyasha slaps the swordsmith's back a bit hard while adding without listening,

"Why didn't ya come out and tell me from the start?"

"Hm?"

"Oooh, so I guess in order to learn this special technique of yours, I gotta build up my strength first."

Inuyasha folds his arms with a determined smile:

"Fine then: I'll stay here and train with ya!"

"Hold on!"

Attention is turned back to the lynx demon, as he points to a shabby-looking hut and says,

"I've been staying in that hut for ten days waitin' for him to teach me, makin' me senior apprentice!"

"You, senior?"

"Don'tcha know anything? In the world of humans, there's a whole system of apprentices: The one who came first is a senior brother. Now quit your dawdling and follow me, junior!"

With that, the lynx demon begins heading off to start on the 'training', leaving Inuyasha to fume:

"Junior?!"

"Now hurry up, little brother!"

"Feh, this is ridiculous..."

"(Distant) What's takin' ya?!"

Though somewhat frustrated, Inuyasha begins to head off to catch up, calling back,

"I'm coming, ya little pest!"

Tōtōsai watches them go with an incredulous expression:

 _They seem to be under the wrong impression...(Smile) but I'm gonna get my bath!_

Inuyasha's POV

 _I took off without sayin' a word to Coraline and the others, and learning this skill from Tōtōsai might take longer than I thought..._

I'm now sitting on a rock by the river in the lower valley below the old man's cave, watching as the little lynx tries to carry a pail of water that was obviously too big for him...

"Hey, kitty! That's too heavy for a little guy like you!"

"Don't call me 'kitty', the name's Bunza!"

I hear something in his back pop, so I know he's definitely pushing it. I calmly call to him,

"Careful you don't hurt yourself, Bunza."

"Mind your own business! I'm gonna train real hard and Master Tōtōsai will teach me the method first!"

 _...He's got the determination, I'll give him that._

"Yeah, whatever you say. How come you're so desperate, anyway?"

...He doesn't answer my question, and a few seconds later, Bunza falls face-first to the ground, the water spilling from the pail on him...I sigh a bit tiredly, before deciding to cut the kid some slack and give him a hand.

...I'm now walking up the path back to Tōtōsai's, with three pails of water on a pole slung over my right shoulder...plus the stubborn lynx:

"Hey, let me down! Let me down now, junior! You listenin'?! This won't get me anywhere! Put me down at once! Don't you make me angry! Are you even listening?!"

I hear him slip out of the pail harness and try to climb the pail to reach me, but pulls another muscle in his back. I look to him and chide,

"Look, I told ya, you're going to hurt yourself."

"Whatever it takes to learn the skill!"

 _...Sheesh...He's like a mix of myself and Shippo._

As soon as we made it back to the cave and dropped off the water, we got started on chopping the firewood. Of course, I had an easier time in wielding an axe than Bunza, who could barely lift his up. At one point, he almost cuts me, but I scrambled back in time:

"Hey, watch what you're doin', you fool!"

I notice how exhausted Bunza was, and while my tone suggested annoyance, I just didn't want him killing himself:

"Go sit somewhere out of trouble!"

"No! I gotta keep up the training..."

He tries to lift the axe again, but the weight ends up making him stumble backwards, before the axe drops and pivots the little lynx into the air!

"Waaah!"

"Oh no!"

I drop my axe, and speed over to catch Bunza in time...

"How many times do I gotta tell ya? You're gonna get hurt!...Huh?"

It was then I notice how flushed and sickly he looked...

"Hey kid...you're burnin' up!"

 _Shoot! He must've reached his limit!_

I rush him to the old shack and lay him down on a pile of straw, covering him up with a blanket before heading out to grab a basin of water and cloth to help bring his temperature down. As we sit in the hut now, he tells me something that shocks me:

"Are you serious?! You mean to tell me you haven't eaten for days?!"

I put the cold cloth on his forehead, and he replies with a weak voice,

"...Thanks. Sorry 'bout this."

"Kuh, and you stayed in this drafty old hut for ten days, huh? Well it's no wonder you've come down with a fever."

"But I didn't have any choice. I have to learn how to break the barrier..."

"First, you gotta get better. I'll bring you somethin' good to eat later, okay?"

As I begin heading back outside, I hear Bunza ask,

"I don't get it...So how come you're being so nice to me?"

I pause...before replying simply,

"Who knows...Maybe it's because one of my friends is the same age as you are."

With that, I leave to let the kid rest...

At the same time, in Kaede's Hut, No POV...

"Ah-ah-achoo!"

Shippo suddenly lets out a sneeze as he sits with Sango and Miroku in front of a fire inside Kaede's Hut, prompting the demon slayer to ask,

"What's the matter, Shippo?"

"I think I'm getting a cold." Miroku makes another suggestion:

"Either that, or someone is talking about you behind your back."

Shippo rubs his nose while looking up in thought...

Back to Tōtōsai's

While Bunza was sleeping off his fever, Inuyasha continued his 'training', he now fueling up a kiln outside the cave with firewood and using a bamboo tube to blow on the flames:

(Fooooo...Foooooo...)

"Great idea, Tōtōsai! This'll build up the strength in my lungs!"

At the top of the kiln, said swordsmith was relaxing in a large tub of the hot water:

"Haaah, what a fine bath..."

"Old man: Just holler if there's anything else I can do for my training! The faster I master this technique, the better!"

Tōtōsai looks down at the dog demon in confusion:

"Training?"

It was then that another elder demon came hopping by:

"Hey, hold on here!"

"Hm?"

The swordsmith looks down, and sees Myoga addressing him from atop the tub rim:

"I hear you're making Master Inuyasha train; is it true?"

"Well, actually, I only wished for some help in preparing my bath. Fetching water is such a chore for an old man. It's not my fault if he thinks this is some kind of training..."

They look down at the 'hard-at-work' Inuyasha as Tōtōsai adds,

"He's the one who's jumping to all of the wrong conclusions..."

Myoga watches the dog demon and comments with some nerves,

"I've never seen Master Inuyasha working so hard. (Turns to Tōtōsai) Do you have any idea what'll happen if he learns the truth?"

Both elders envision such a scenario, the outcome being rather, violent...

"The mere thought of it is making me shake with fear!" Tōtōsai was just as nervous as Myoga:

"Oooh, and it's giving me goosebumps!"

It was then that Inuyasha comes up to check on the old swordsmith:

"Huh? I came to scrub your back, but you look cold. (Turns back) I'll go back and stoke the fire."

As the dog demon heads back down, both elder demons look to one another nervously...

Small Time Skip

As evening rolls in, we find Inuyasha and Bunza eating together in the old shack, the latter eating his share of fish and rice rather ravenously (though given how long he's gone without eating, it's understandable why he'd be scarfing it all down...). Inuyasha watches the lynx eat, before he decides to give him his own fish:

"Here. Have mine too."

"Hm? You sure?"

"You're sick. Just take it, okay?"

"Thanks."

As Bunza starts digging into the second fish, Inuyasha decides to pose that earlier question:

"...How come you wanna train so bad?"

The young lynx pauses, looking a bit unsure of telling his story, which Inuyasha would notice:

"Aw, forget it. You don't hafta talk about it if it's that hard for ya."

...But then Bunza places the half-eaten fish down, and forms a serious expression before complying with answering:

"A demon by name of Nanafushi took over the mountains where me and my lynx tribe live."

Flashback

 _We see several lynx cats being attacked by a giant demon with the resemblance to that of a praying mantis..._

 _Zooming out, the mountain is now clouded with a massive barrier with the cats standing outside it, gazing at the landscape helplessly..._

"He blocked off the mountain with a barrier, so we couldn't even gather food. We were totally disrupted."

 _The lynx tribe is then seen having a meeting led by a larger anthropomorphic lynx Bunza was standing by..._

"My father's the tribe leader, and he said that Tōtōsai is the only one who can make a weapon strong enough to break the barrier, and that Tōtōsai would know the technique to do it. But the old man's eccentric and refuses to teach just anyone. Well, that's what father told us..."

 _With that thought in mind, some of the lynx demons decide to fare elsewhere, not having confidence in Bunza's father..._

"People are starting to doubt and turn their backs on Dad..."

End of Flashback

By this point, Bunza was fighting not to cry tears of frustration:

"It's, maddening! I want everyone to look to father as their leader again!"

Inuyasha listened to the lynx demon's tale from start to finish without interrupting, and Bunza wipes his eyes before adding determinedly,

"And that's why I have to learn how to break down the barrier, for my father's sake!"

He then goes back to eating the fish...only to pause, when he hears a mewing coming from outside:

"Who's there?"

He rushes outside, and finds an orange tabby-furred lynx laying on the ground unconscious:

"Torako! Torako, is that you?!"

Bunza brings the tabby lynx inside the hut, and offers the fish to his exhausted companion before asking,

"What're you doin' way out here, Torako?"

Torako doesn't reply in people speech, instead meowing four times anxiously, which Bunza would understand:

"That's terrible!"

"Hm? What'd she say, Bunza?" He replies to Inuyasha,

"My father's gone to attack Nanafushi!" The dog demon widens his eyes, and Bunza adds,

"Even though he doesn't know how to break the barrier, he went inside to take back the mountain for the lynx tribe..."

He grits his teeth while forming a fiercely determined expression, before taking off from the hut, much to Inuyasha's protest:

"Wait, Bunza!"

But the young lynx's mind was fixed on one person:

"(Pant, pant) Father...Father!"

He runs up past Tōtōsai's cave, before he spots a particularly sharp sword among an array of new weapons...Meanwhile, the swordsmith was sleeping outside on top a large wooden table, when the sound of Bunza running past with the sword in hand stirs him awake:

"Hm? Huh? (Looks around) I could've sworn I sensed somethin' just now..."

Myoga peers around and asks,

"You did? Like what?"

"...Old man!"

It was then Inuyasha runs up to Tōtōsai (with Torako in his arms) to ask,

"Did Bunza come around this way?"

"Huh? (Widens eyes) Oh! Maybe that's who it was!"

"Which way did he go?"

"Guh, that way?"

Inuyasha begins running in the direction Tōtōsai was pointing, muttering to himself,

"Crazy kid," leaving the swordsmith blissfully unaware of the situation, his mind on the bath he had earlier:

 _Aaah, that feels much better..._

Inuyasha's POV

Thinking fast, I get on board Kilala with Torako to search for Bunza from the air...I ask Torako,

"Is this the way?"

She meows in confirmation, and we eventually find a line in the trail down below that had been drawn into the dirt thanks to the large sword Bunza was dragging along:

"Huh? There he is!"

 _Oh for god's sa-He's seriously trying to use a blade that large?!_

"Bunza! Bunza!"

I have Kilala fly down so I could scoop up the lynx, much to his surprise:

"Inuyasha!"

We're now all flying along to where the lynx demon tribe's mountain is, and I call back to Bunza,

"I'll help you save your father!"

"...No thanks."

"How come?"

"He's my father! I'll rescue him! It's got nothin' to do with you, it's not your responsibility!"

I growl in exasperation at this kid's stubbornness before I shout,

"Spare me!"

I hear him make a sound of anxiety, before I add a bit more calmly but sternly,

"You were the one who said we were brothers. Senior and Junior brothers...Isn't that enough?"

...I hear no response, so I make a fist a him and bark,

"I'm still waiting!"

He then nods several times quickly...Eventually, we made it to where the huge barrier was, with the rest of Bunza's tribe hanging around outside.  
As we land, I notice one lynx demon that was inside the barrier, but had fainted:

 _...That must be Bunza's old man._

"Father!"

"No, wait: He's trapped inside the barrier!"

Bunza stops and looks at me with disbelief, before looking back and replying,

"You're right! Still, how'd he get inside there?"

One of the other lynx demons walks up to Bunza and explains what happened, he translating for my ears:

"Nanafushi wanted to kill father, so he opened the barrier to let him inside...Father knew it was a trap, but he went inside to save the rest of the tribe! (Raises the sword) My father put his life in jeopardy and chose to fight as the brave leader of the lynx tribe!"

I knew what Bunza was planning on doing next, so I step up to do the work for the kid:

"Hold it. I'm gonna go in."

"No! He's my father, and it's a son's duty to save his own father!"

 _Keh, maybe...but I can name a certain girl who would argue it can be the other way around too..._

"Then I'm goin' in as your junior! (Smile) Is that alright, big brother?"

"(...Smile) Sure thing, junior."

So with that decided, Bunza and I walk up to the barrier to enter together. I tell him reassuringly,

"Your father is going to be alright. I'm sure we can make it in time to save him."

Next thing I knew, the kid leaps up in the air with a war-cry to attack the barrier with the sword he took from Tōtōsai's!

"Stop, Bunza!"

(Swing, Bzzzt)

"Aa-aa-aaaah!"

Unfortunately, he wasn't strong enough to break the barrier, so the energy threw him back onto the ground.  
I run to his side and scold him for his recklessness:

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"It didn't work...I couldn't do it! I wasn't strong enough to save my father!"

It pained me a bit to see his heartbroken expression, but I chide back encouragingly,

"Don't be so sure. (Looks at the barrier with a smirk) I think your attack has left Nanafushi pretty worried..."

...And inside, I see some trees rustle, and an owl flies out while screeching nervously, while something big skulks in the shadows...

"That's him!"

A pair of red eyes leers menacingly from between the tree trunks, and Bunza adds more nervously,

"Here he comes..."

"Yeah, that's right..."

The beast finally pokes his face out, their guise being an ugly-looking giant mantis, and I holler out tauntingly,

"Why don'tcha quit hidin' like a coward and come out and fight us?"

Nanafushi takes the bait and shows himself fully...

"That's more like it, mantis!"

The demon then tries to hit us with a miasma of sorts, so I use my fire rat robes to shield Bunza and I, before snatching up the kid to leap out of firing range...I cover my nose from the strong scent and grumble,

"Some nerve. Fightin' from behind the barrier..."

I then pull out my Tessaiga and call,

"You're done, coward!" Bunza was in awe at my blade:

"Whoa! Look at that!"

As Nanafushi growls at us, I say to the kid,

"We weren't in training with Tōtōsai for long, but now's as good a time as any, to start roping the rewards. This guy's gonna be my guinea pig. We only trained for that one day...I'm puttin' everything we learned into this sword!"

"Yeah! You show 'im, junior!"

"Watch this..."

I begin building power into my Tessaiga, before unleashing it all on this bug-eyed creep:

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

My attack travels up the entire barrier...before it dissipates completely! Bunza cheers in victory, but the fight wasn't over yet, on account that Nanafushi was still standing...

The monster leaps at us, and I charge back, before hacking one of his legs off!

...But upon landing on the ground, I turn around and see that the mantis was not gonna go down without a fight, as his leg grows right back!

"Kuh, you wanna another go at me? Fine!"

I charge at him, and he tries to claw me with one of his arms, to which I'd dodge, before bringing the Tessaiga on him again:

"Hrrraaaaaahhhh!"

(SLICE)

...This time, I got him right down the middle, and his body disintegrates flesh and bone into nothing...

"That was amazing...Hey, junior: Master Tōtōsai taught us more than I realized!"

I move to a stand and smile at the kid while replying,

"Looks like. Ya know, Bunza, I do feel an awful lot stronger than I did before."

Time Skip, No POV

Come the next morning, Inuyasha would ready on Kilala to head back to Tōtōsai's, with the lynx demon tribe seeing them off from a cliff poking out from the mountain forest, including Bunza:

"Keep up with your training!"

"Same with you, Bunza! You saved your father; now you must become the tribe leader one day!"

"I'll see you again, right?"

"Definitely!"

With that, Inuyasha and Kilala fly off, while Bunza runs to the cliff edge to call out once more,

"Come back and see me sometime...okay, brother?"

Eventually, the dog demon and twin-tailed cat demon make it back to the swordsmith's volcanic cave safely...

"Where have you been, Inuyasha?"

"Uh, just out. Anyway, I have to thank you. That training of yours was great! I'm alot stronger than I was before I came."

Tōtōsai gapes at Inuyasha...before forming an apologetic expression:

"Stronger...mmh...I shouldn't have made you do those things."

"What're you talkin' about?"

"Mmm...This is hard to admit. You have in fact become stronger and I dunno what I'd have done if you'd been hurt if you confronted Naraku's barrier...Oooh, thank goodness you're okay..."

"I still don't know what you're talkin' about."

"There's no way you could've gotten any stronger..." That was when Inuyasha slowly clues in on the truth:

"You mean, that, training was...?!"

"What training? I simply wanted to take a bath."

Inuyasha's jaw drops, and Myoga hops onto his shoulder to chime,

"What a surprise...You jumped to the wrong conclusion."

Tōtōsai laughs nervously and says,

"You see, I haven't bathed in such a long time, heheheh..."

Inuyasha's expression (as accurately fantasized by the elder demons) grows dark and menacing:

"Old man...You're saying there's no method to breaking Naraku's barrier?"

"Daaah, i-it's not as though they're isn't, b-b-b-but it's not as though there is!"

(...BONK)

Luckily, the swordsmith would not be murdered today, and only received a bad bump on the head courtesy of a pissed off dog demon:

"That'll teach ya!"

He then walks out of the cave to board Kilala and head off back to the Goshinboku Village, grumbling,

"Useless old man...All that hard work for nothin'!"

 _With how vague and senile that fool is, I'm better off askin' that Yoshi character for training tips. From what Coraline and her brothers have told me...human or not, he may be more useful._

Back in the cave entrance, Tōtōsai watches the dog demon go while muttering,

"He's such a rash young man, and he left just when I was gonna tell him!"

Myoga asks,

"Tell him what?"

"He must be laboured so hard and persevered, so I thought I'd teach him the method in becoming stronger, thus enable him to break the barrier."

"Is it the method I'm thinking of?"

"Yes! You tell him for me, would ya?" Myoga nods:

"Count on it...(Smile) By the way, you're lucky you only got away with just one lump."

Small Time Skip

After a while of flying through the skies, Inuyasha and Kilala would close in on the Goshinboku Village, specifically, Kaede's Hut, with the dog demon thinking to himself,

 _I was away the whole night without telling everyone. They must be worried..._

Once they land, Inuyasha pushes back the wicker door and calls cheerfully,

"Dry your tears everyone, 'cause I'm back!"

...But when he gets a better look inside, he sees that the others were digging into a large amount of ramen, potato chips, and various other treats! Miroku and Sango comment respectfully in jubilant tones,

"Ninja food is always so delicious!"

"There's nothing that even competes with this flavour!"

Coraline looks up at the approaching dog demon and smiles:

"Hey, Inuyasha. Welcome back!"

"(Rushes up eagerly) Ha! Where's mine?" Shippo replies,

"You weren't here, so I ate it."

"You what?!"

Freeman lightly scolds the fox demon:

"Shippo, you know better than to tease Inuyasha about food."

Coraline lightly shakes her head, before reaching behind her satchel to pull out two prepared cups of ramen, and two apples to give to the agitated dog demon before his temper could flare:

"Here: I had this gut feeling you'd be returning today, so I saved these for you."

Inuyasha stops glaring at Shippo, and turns with a look of surprise at the smiling redhead:

"You did?"

"Mhm."

"Um, (takes the offered food) thank you...Were you worried while I was gone?"

"A little, but I knew you'd come back...just like you know I'll always come back from my era."

Inuyasha sits down and looks at the food, then back up at Coraline, noticing her smile looked, brighter than usual:

"...What's with that little grin on your face? Somethin' good happen in your era?"

"May~be..."

"Keh, then spill it already."

"Alright: The reason there's a bigger spread of food than usual, is me celebrating getting an A+ on my Science Exam!"

Inuyasha cocks his head in confusion, and Coraline giggles a bit before adding,

"It's the highest mark you can get on an exam, which pretty much puts me among the best of the best in my schooling."

"Ooooh...Good for you."

She smiles and nods, before asking with a more curious expression,

"Sooo, how'd it go at Tōtōsai's, assuming that is where you headed off to yesterday? Did you find a way to strengthen Tessaiga's blade?"

Inuyasha makes a disgruntled expression and scoffs, prompting Coraline to ask with a sad smile,

"That bad, huh?"

"Oh where do I even start?"

Besa chimes,

"The beginning would be good..."

Inuyasha takes a couple bites from one of his ramen bowls, before obliging, and the rest of the morning would be filled with the story of Bunza and the mantis demon...


	80. Chapter 79

**Chapter 79: Shiori's Family & Inuyasha's Feelings**

It's another fine, sunny day here in Edo, and yet as we zero in on the calm shorelines of a coastal section, we see a small progression of people who's mood could be anything but.

Walking up front was a young woman with long black hair tied back, and dark brown eyes, keeping a serious and stoic expression on her features, while two men (plus some others bringing up the rear) carry a sedan holding a little girl with silver-grey hair, tan skin, wearing a simple white kimono, and in no way hiding the anxiety corroding her being...

Suddenly, the sky darkens overhead, and the progression stops, waiting for the source to show themselves...

It would be revealed as a giant bat demon with long white hair and skin in similar colour to that of the young girl, who upon landing on the ground, would cast his eyes to her:

"You've brought the girl..."

...She opens her eyes, revealed to be a beautiful shade of purple, and gazes at the demon in surprise...and worry.

Time Skip

Night falls, and we jump over to a small forest clearing where Inuyasha and the others have decided to set camp at for the night, after traveling for another few days in search of jewel shards and Naraku...

As they sat around the fire, Coraline and the twins decide to teach the rest how to play Poker (minus Inuyasha, who wasn't interested), which come round two, would become rather tense.

"Hmm..."

This time, it was down to just the redhead and Miroku, while Sango, Shippo and the twins watch with nervous expressions. Shippo asks in a whisper,

"Who do you guys think is gonna win?"

"Dunno." "Could go either way."

After another minute, Miroku smirks and says to Coraline,

"I will see your chocolate wafer and raise you a small bag of potato chips."

He places the ante in the middle, adding to a medium-sized pile of treats, before Coraline smirks back and replies,

"Oh yeah? Well I'll see your chips, and raise you, a packet of gum."

The audience quietly gasps:

"Goodness, neither one's giving an inch."

"We've got a standoff, people." "Who's gonna win?"

"I can't watch!"

The monk and redhead stare eachother down for a few minutes...before Miroku lays his hand down face-up with a triumphant smile:

"Three of a Kind. Ha! I win!"

Coraline frowns...before she smiles evilly and shows her own hand:

"Full House."

"What?!"

She laughs at the look of disbelief on Miroku's face and chimes,

"Gotcha!"

Miroku groans while facepalming himself, while Shippo compliments Coraline's skill:

"You're good, Coraline!"

Sango smiles teasingly at the monk and says,

"I can't believe you, Miroku..."

Freeman laughs and chimes,

"I can: Cora's a card-shark at Poker."

Miroku sighs, before focusing his attention on the card designs:

"These western karuta cards are fascinating." Besa corrects him:

"Not karuta: Playing cards." Miroku, Sango and Shippo ask confusingly,

"Playing, cards?"

"Mhm, and it's not just Poker: There's all kinds of games you can play with these cards."

"You mind keepin' it down?"

"Huh?"

He and the others look behind them at Inuyasha, who was laying propped on his side a little ways from the fire, occupying a disgruntled scowl:

"Can't ya play more quietly?"

Coraline gathers the cards up to shuffle and retorts back,

"Instead of complaining, why don'tcha come over and play a round?"

"Not on your life."

Shippo looks at Inuyasha's form and asks aloud,

"What's he so angry about?"

Sango answers,

"He's in a bad mood." Miroku tries to reason with Inuyasha:

"Sitting there and feeling sorry for yourself won't make Tessaiga any stronger."

Said dog demon darts to a sitting position and barks back,

"Butt out! You're wrong again!"

Coraline pauses in her shuffling...and lets out a sigh as she thinks aloud about their current situation:

"His mood is justifiable, though, considering what we witnessed regarding Naraku's new power...That damn barrier..."

Miroku adds,

"Until he's able to break through it, we can't even get near Naraku..."

Sango comments,

"Yes, this is definitely a problem," but then Freeman argues,

"Still, it's not a good enough reason to get discouraged: That's when the bastard will really get a leg over."

Inuyasha stands up and says to everyone,

"You people don't need to worry. I'll take care of it."

Shippo and Sango ask,

"Oh yeah? How are ya gonna do that?"

"Have you come up with some new ideas?"

...Inuyasha doesn't answer verbally, his twitching eyebrow and ears saying it all...Shippo exclaims,

"I knew it: He's all talk!"

Coraline starts up the shuffling again and chides,

"It's not like he isn't thinking about it at all...It's just gonna take time before the idea jumps up."

Inuyasha shouts at everyone,

"Knock it off, would ya?!"

"I'll take care of this problem for ya!"

"Hm?"

Everyone's heads dart up from the new voice, revealed to be Myoga, who was currently sapping some blood from Inuyasha's neck:

(Slurp...)

(Slap)

"Master, Inuyasha..."

"Myoga. It's you again."

Said flea demon floats down into Inuyasha's palm, before popping back up to say with confidence,

"I know how to handle Naraku's barrier."

"What do ya know about it?"

"First, let me tell you how much trouble it was finding you..."

"Spit it out! Tell me and you can suck as much blood from Coraline as you want!"

That did not sit well with Coraline:

"(Glare) Excuse me, but I'm not a walking blood bank!"

Oddly enough, Myoga was not taken by the 'offer' and remained serious:

"Look, this is no time for telling jokes, I'm afraid. You must go immediately to the Cave of the Demon Bats."

Coraline and her brothers ask confusingly,

"Demon Bats?"

Myoga explains:

"The Cave of the Demon Bat Tribe is located near a village on the western shore. The cave is protected by an impenetrable barrier, and no one is able to destroy them. The guarding of the barrier has been passed down from generation to generation. The current guardian demon, must be slain. In other words, you must kill the demon guardian who has the power to retain this barrier, and let Tessaiga suck its blood."

Miroku and Sango summarize,

"By killing such a strong opponent, the Tessaiga will absorb the demon bat's power..."

"And that would make the sword much stronger."

Myoga nods:

"Yes, exactly...Now then, Coraline, about our little deal..."

(Slap)

"Doh!"

Said redhead whacks the flea demon on her neck with a calm expression:

"Nice try, wise guy..."

Inuyasha stands up with an excited smile and calls,

"Alright, what are we waitin' for? Time to go demon hunting! I'm in if that's all it takes to make the Tessaiga stronger! I'll kill a thousand of them if I have to!"

With that decided, Miroku contacts his companion, Hachi, and we soon find our group traveling aboard his gourd form, en route to the west coast to find the demon bats and slay the guardian of their barrier...

 _If only they knew, just how difficult this task was going to be..._

Time Skip

Daybreak comes and goes, and we turn to the village by the sand near the said cave, huts scattered on the sandy dirt above the shore, and a couple cedar canoes sitting by the edge ready to be used when needed. But turning to the beach itself, we see a group of villagers began beating on the woman whom lead the progression yesterday:

"You, wench! I should've known you would lie to us!"

(Whack)

"Uh!"

One man hits her with the blunt end of a spear, knocking her into the sand, and he adds fiercely,

"You promised us that our village wouldn't be attacked if you gave them your daughter! Well?!"

Two others join in just as angered:

"More villagers have been killed! You promised it wouldn't happen!"

"Why do they keep attacking?! She's probably in league with those demon bats herself!"

The first man growls,

"She deserves no mercy from us! Attack!"

With that, the men charge at the woman, she bracing herself for the brutality...But then:

(PUNCH)

"Agh!"

The first man with the spear was suddenly knocked flat onto the ground, courtesy...of Coraline!

"Gh-huh? Who are you, and what gave you the right to-Uh!"

The man freezes mid-sentence, when he saw the death-filled glare Coraline was sending his way...

"...Coraline!"

Inuyasha then rushes on scene, looking at her for a moment...before focusing his attention on the man she punched to the ground:

"We heard you mention the Demon Bats. Tell me where I can find their cave, old man."

Meanwhile, the others come over to the woman, with Besa kneeling down to check on her condition:

"Are you alright, ma'am?" She nods, while Miroku glares at the men and shouts,

"How dare you attack a defenseless woman!"

The second and first men answer Inuyasha's question, albeit on the bitter side:

"How the hell would we know where the cave is?"

"Why don'tcha ask that lying wench there? The traitor dares to call herself human, but she bedded with one of the demon bats and bore him a child!"

(Yank)

"Gah!"

" _What, did you, say?_ "

Suddenly, before anyone could stop her, Coraline grabs the first man by his kimono, her eyes reflecting hate while her tone was filled with rage:

"You dare accuse this woman of not being human, but as far as I'm concerned, you and your cohorts are the monsters. It's people like you that _make, me, sick._ "

(Sheen...Sheen...)

If things weren't already tense enough, her body and eyes then began to glow in and out!

The others gasp, and Shippo stutters,

"W-What's going on with Coraline? I've never seen her so angry before..."

"...Oh shit: I think I might know." Everyone looks to Freeman, as he adds in a serious tone,

"She was abused as a child by kids and antagonized by the adults in her old home, and if it was anything like what was happening now..."

The others clue in, and Sango exclaims,

"Uh! Then this must be triggering her memories of that time!"

And indeed, the demon slayer was right: As she continued to grasp the man in her fist, Coraline's mind raced with flashbacks of when she was brutalized for being among the abnormal...

 _(Flash)_

 _"Loser!" "Freak!"_

 _(Punch, kick, kick)_

 _"Agh! Stop it, please! It's not dangerous! I'm just able to see things you can't!"_

 _"All the more reason you're a freak!"_

 _"Ha, more like a monster or a witch!"_

 _"Witch, witch, witch!"_

 _(Kick, kick, kick)_

 _"(Sobbing) Stop it! Stop iiiitttt!"_

 _(Flash)_

...Coraline's free hand clenches hard, her knuckles cracking, as she kept seeing the faces of the jeering children and the impassive, glaring adults who did nothing, reflecting in the man's features as well as his comrades:

 _...Those, brats...Their damn parents did nothing. Nothing!_

(Grasp)

"That's enough, Coraline. Put him down."

"Hm?"

She snaps out of it, and the throbbing energy stops, her gaze turning to Inuyasha, who was staring at her with seriousness while holding her wrist firmly that held the man up:

"This fool's not worth your energy."

Coraline stares at him for a minute, her Aura calming down and ceasing its energy throb...before nodding silently, releasing the man and turning her focus to the others, and the woman:

 _...The child of a demon, hm?_

Small Time Skip

The group would soon find themselves inside the home of the woman (her name revealed as Shizu) who was being antagonized, her hut built outside the village itself, further projecting the isolation and bitterness between her and the other villagers. As they all sat around a fire, she asks,

"Why do you wanna know the location of the Bat Demon Cave?" Inuyasha replies bluntly,

"Why else? I'm gonna destroy them."

She looks at him warily, before Miroku cuts in:

"Inuyasha, hold on. (Turns to Shizu) The villagers said that you gave your child to the Demon Bats. What exactly did they mean by that?"

"For many generations, this region has been the hunting ground of the Demon Bat Tribe. They're terrifying: They prey upon humans and animals, and feed on their blood. But, Tsukuyomaru was not like the others..."

Flashback

 _We see a rather handsome demon bat, with white hair tied into a long, top-knot ponytail, wearing a fine kimono and armour, standing by the ocean during a moonlit night..._

"My daughter's father was different from the other demons..."

 _He walks up to Shizu, who held the infant Shiori in her arms, and smiled at him, before turning her gaze to their daughter..._

"He did not kill humans, and after Shiori was born, the other bats stopped attacking our village. I assumed he convinced them to do so..."

 _Tsukuyomaru's hand then reaches out to gently stroke the baby's head lovingly..._

Pause Flashback

"Finally, our village was at peace."

"Was?"

"Shiori's father passed away, and then there was no one to stop them."

Continue Flashback

 _Several red-skinned Demon Bats are seen flying towards the village, prompting two men who were preparing a boat to run and warn everyone:_

 _"Uh!" "The Demon Bats!"_

 _One demon swoops down from the sky, and snatches up one of the men, killing him in a violent way...Similar if not worse fates would be subjected to the rest of the villagers, their screams of terror mixing with the screeches of the bats..._

"Soon after, Shiori's Grandfather, Taigokumaru, came to see me..."

 _We see the giant Bat Demon from before in front of Shizu and Shiori's home, as he and she spoke with one another..._

"He promised to leave our village alone if I gave up my daughter."

End of Flashback

"You see, he and Shiori's father were the guardians of the barrier, and the duty passed on through generations. As Tsukuyomaru's daughter, Shiori had inherited his guardian powers."

Sango and Freeman ask,

"But why did it have to be Shiori?"

"Yeah, if that Taigokumaru character's already got the guardian power..."

Shizu explains:

"The power to create the barrier wanes with age. Once the guardian passes on the duty, he loses his power."

Miroku summarizes,

"In other words, you're saying that your daughter is the only one left with the power to protect the barrier."

She does not reply, her thoughts clouded by another memory...

Flashback

 _We see a couple young boys picking on Shiori down on the beach by the water:_

 _"Eww! Look at the demon girl! Hahahaha!"_

 _"She's a half-demon!"_

 _She's shoved twice before falling to the ground while the boys laugh mockingly at her...Eventually, Shiori returns home, tears streaming silently down her eyes. Wiping them away, she then enters the home, and softly greets Shizu:_

 _"I'm home, mommy."_

 _"Welcome home, dear. Oh! Shiori, how did you get all those cuts on your face?"_

 _She rushes over to check on her daughter, who replies,_

 _"It's nothing. I just fell on the beach."_

 _But Shizu easily saw the entire truth, and hugs her daughter tightly, letting her own tears flow...Shiori smiles sadly and asks,_

 _"What's the matter? I told you, I just fell, that's all."_

 _"Sh-Shiori...I'm so sorry."_

 _The little girl gasps, before burying her face into her mother's shoulder, both sobbing at how sad their lives have become..._

Pause Flashback

"I agonized over what to do, but in the end, I gave my daughter to Taigokumaru."

Continue Flashback

 _We return to a few days ago, when Shizu and the villagers brought Shiori to Taigokumaru..._

 _"Have you brought the girl?"_

 _"As promised, I brought Shiori. In return, never attack our village again!" The Demon Bat agrees to the terms:_

 _"Very well. I give you my promise." Shizu turns to her daughter:_

 _"You must go with him, Shiori." But the little half-demon was having second thoughts:_

 _"Mommy, I've changed my mind. I'm afraid of him."_

 _The two men who carried her on the sedan try to reason with her:_

 _"You must go with him."_

 _"Yes, for the village."_

 _Shiori looks to Shizu with begging eyes:_

 _"Mommy!"_

 _But Shizu was forced to remain strong, and looked away...With that, Shiori had no choice but to follow her grandfather, stealing glances behind her in her steps..._

 ** _Please, forgive me. You'll be happier with them._**

End of Flashback  


With that part of the tale out in the open, Miroku and Inuyasha ask,

"Pardon my asking, but she is a half-demon, correct?"

"How could a half-demon child have such powers?"

Shizu looks to Inuyasha and replies,

"I see you too are a half-demon. You should know better that half-demons are accepted by neither their demon, nor their human brethren."

Coraline looks to the dog demon with a neutral expression, and nods:

 _And I too know that feeling...for according to the villagers of Majora, I was but a freak of nature._

Myoga, who was sitting atop the subjugation beads, asks,

"What do you think of this, Master Inuyasha?"

"Kuh, dunno..."

Shizu then adds,

"Shiori had ample power to fulfill her duties. That's why...I thought it may be best for her to be with them, and especially, if it would save our village...(Clenches her fists angrily) But the Demon Bats didn't keep their word."

...A moment of silence blankets the home...before Inuyasha rises to his feet:

"Take me there. I want you to take me there, to the old man, old what's-his-name."

Coraline readies to grab her sword:

"I'll go with you."

"No. I can handle this on my own."

"But..."

He shoots her a look...and she retracts her hand from her blade, as he adds,

"I'm the only one who needs to see them."

Inuyasha's POV

With everyone else back at Shizu's place, she leads me to the hideout of the Demon bats...We're now traveling along a steep, narrow ridge on a sea cliff, but while some of me was focused on the travel...my mind was also thinking back to when I had a harder time living...

Flashback

 _It was when I was younger, years after my mother passed, leaving me on my own to survive..._

 _I was running for my life in the cover of the night, passing through a river to try and avoid these three large and ugly demons who were chasing me...I look back for a second, before tripping on some old tree roots. Of course, I wasted no time getting back up, and continued my sprint, only to get trapped at a cliff edge:_

 _"Gah!"_

 _...I could hear the demons closing in, making my heart race something bad...Luckily, there was a nook under the cliff edge big enough for me to hide in, so I quickly made my way in, and waited until the demons gave up and went away..._

 _I felt so helpless back then, but at the same time...so, mad at myself for hiding like a coward._

End of Flashback

 _...Shiori may not be living a great life, but she's better off than I was at her age._

 _At least she still has one parent around to care for and about her..._

"Tell me, what's on your mind, Master?"

"Just thinkin' about old times..."

...I then realized who was asking, and I look down at annoyance at the damn nosy flea demon:

"Myoga! Who said that you could come with me?!"

"What's the problem? It's not like I'm in the way."

"Go back, Myoga. I told everyone I was goin' on my own."

"Don't be so harsh."

Before we could argue further, Shizu calls from up ahead,

"...It's this way."

"Let's keep going, Master, come on."

"...Hmph, it's your life."

"By the way, that look you gave Coraline before you left...You were stopping her from coming because of what happened earlier, correct?"

"Tch, like I have to explain anything to you..."

 _...But yes. The way she looked before...if I hadn't stopped her, she probably would've lost control of her temper and Aura.  
_

 _And right now, I can't afford that._

 _...Though, I can't really blame her for nearly losing her cool, considering...how much hers and Shizu's experiences match._

Meanwhile, in the Cave of the Demon Bat Tribe, No POV...

We see Shiori kneeling on the ground within a purple-coloured barrier, holding a red crystal ball with a piece of dark-hued coral lining the inside...

Suddenly, a hunk of animal meat is thrown down near her, startling her out of her daze. She looks up to see the provider was one of the regular demon bats:

"Eat. I can't have you dying of starvation."

He laughs a bit, before turning to fly to another part of the cave. Shiori looks down depressingly...

Just outside the cave, we see Inuyasha and Shizu standing across the sea from the entrance on a boulder, the waves shelling a bit viciously...

"It's that cave there, where it's glowing."

Shiori feels their presence, and looks up to see her mother:

"(Happy gasp) Mommy!"

"Shiori..."

Inuyasha looks down at Myoga and asks softly,

"Hey, Myoga...are you sure this is gonna make my sword become stronger?"

"Yes, but unfortunately, you must first slay the girl."

Shizu and Shiori call out to one another:

"Shiori! Shiori!"

"Mommy!"

...It was then that the latter's grandfather would appear:

"I was wondering what all the ruckus was about...It seems, we have visitors."

Inuyasha asks Shizu,

"Is that him?"

"Yes, that's him." She then addresses Taigokumaru with a glare:

"How dare you deceive me!"

He of course feigns ignorance:

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You promised to leave the village alone if I gave you my daughter, but you didn't!"

"Indeed. Don't tell me that you honestly believed that? As if I would keep a promise, to a human."

"Then return my daughter to me!"

Shiori cries out for her mother, as Taigokumaru refuses Shizu's demand:

"I will not. Shiori will remain the guardian of the barrier for the remainder of her life. She inherited the duty from her father, and she is doing a fine job. Indeed, it is hard to believe that she has a human for a mother."

Shizu grinds her teeth in anger, before Inuyasha tells her,

"Calm down. We're gonna have to take your daughter by force."

"You actually think, you can win?"

"That cocky old bat is standing in front of Shiori...If I attack now, I can slay him without hurting Shiori!"

He then pulls out Tessaiga at the ready, before unleashing his attack:

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

...But as the seawater splashes back downward, we see that Taigokumaru was protected from the clawed attack by a purple barrier!

"He repelled my Wind Scar!" Myoga exclaims fearfully,

"The rumours were right: The barrier of the demon bats is virtually impenetrable!"

Taigokumaru then asks Inuyasha,

"Who are you, and what do you want?!"

"It doesn't matter who I am! Just give the girl back!"

"I see: The mortals must've sent you. Then you, must, PERISH!"

(Pow)

Taigokumaru then sends out a ring-shaped beam at Inuyasha and Shizu!

(BOOM)

...Thankfully, Inuyasha was fast enough to grab the woman and leap out of the line of fire, landing on another boulder nearby...

"Next time, I won't miss!"

Shiori whimpers fearfully from her place on the ground, while Inuyasha growls at the bat demon:

"Damn you...!"

"Stop!"

"Huh?"

Shiori couldn't take the sight, and pleads with tears streaming from her eyes,

"Please don't do this, grandfather! Don't hurt mommy, please! I promise to guard the barrier, so please...just don't hurt my mommy!"

Taigokumaru stares the the crying form for a minute, before turning to address the dog demon and mother:

"Did you hear that? This young child has far more sense than either of you."

"Save it for someone who cares!"

"Let me ask you this: Do you think Shiori will be happy back in the human village? I don't. The villagers ostracized her because she is a half-demon. They didn't hesitate for a second to sacrifice her life for the sake of their own. How can I give my precious granddaughter back, to such selfish humans?"

Shizu bows her head in shame, knowing that what her father-in-law said was true...Inuyasha makes a noise of exasperation, before sheathing his Tessaiga, while Shiori continues to cry...

Time Skip

Night blankets the village, and we find our group sitting around the fire in Shizu's home, as she and Inuyasha tell them what happened at the cave...Sango asks,

"It didn't work?" Shizu signs and says more to herself,

"I should give up."

Coraline looks at her sympathetically:

"Surely there must be a way..."

"Taigokumaru spoke the truth about Shiori: The villagers didn't accept either of us. Maybe she's better off there..."

"Kuh, you don't know anything..."

She looks with everyone else at Inuyasha, who remarks bitterly,

"Demons never accept half-demons, even if they're related by blood."

Coraline looks at him silently while thinking to herself,

 _He's not wrong, I mean, look at him and his brother...But at the same time...I'm, not sure if he's right..._

"I'm a full-blooded demon and I haven't had any problems accepting you, Inuyasha."

Myoga agrees with Shippo:

"That goes for me too!" Inuyasha looks more at Myoga with a threatening smile and replies,

"That's only because I protect you both."

Miroku gets the discussion back on topic:

"Anyway, our hands are tied if you're unable to break the barrier," Sango adding,

"And that's precisely the reason we came here, right?" Inuyasha turns his head with a scoff and replies,

"Kuh, even I know that much."

Freeman and Besa think to themselves on the situation with grim expressions,

 _This is so cutthroat, killing a half-demon just to destroy a barrier and have the blood increase Tessaiga's power._

 _The poor kid's so young. There's absolutely no way Inuyasha can go through with killing her._

They then notice Coraline moving to a stand, her expression looking worse then theirs:

"...Sis?" "You alright?" She replies in a dead tone,

"...I need some air. I'll be back."

She then exits the home, leaving her friends to stare at the door with concern...

Scene Shift: Cave of the Demon Bat Tribe

As she sat at her place near the entrance, Shiori muses to herself sad and frightened,

 _Mommy...I miss you...If only father were still alive._

 _...Why did he have to die?_

Taigokumaru watches her sobbing form from afar, saying to himself,

"I suppose she does miss her mother...Unless something is done, there's no telling when she'll ask to return to the village. (Grins) Then...I must destroy them all! The entire village, and your mother as well!"

...Suddenly, Shiori is interrupted from her crying, as she watches a large horde of demon bats begin flying out of the cave, unaware of what her grandfather just ordered...

Back to the beach

We now zoom in on Inuyasha, as he sits on a cliff edge overlooking the ocean by himself, his mind lost in thought once again, remembering back to when he first learned the term 'half-breed', and the silent answer his mother gave him when he asked what it meant for him...

Not too far away, was Coraline, who was walking along the shoreline, as she thought of what her father told her about being an Aura Reader...

Flashback

 _We see a five-year old Coraline, wearing a pair of blue overalls and white t-shirt, as she sat in her father's lap in his study, learning more about her special trait..._

 _"Aura Reader?"  
_

 _"That's right, dear."_

 _"So what exactly am I seeing in people, father?"  
_

 _"Well, Coraline, what you see is the energy within a person that makes up their Soul."_

 _"Their Soul?"_

 _The older man nods, and Coraline hms while looking down...before asking,_

 _"Do all people have badness in their Souls acting as leader?"_

 _"Hm? What brings about that question?"_

 _"Well...(Sigh) There's a bunch of kids who pick on me, saying my glowing eyes are weird, and they either run away, or call me mean names and push me...I see a mean energy in them when they do it too."_

 _Mathias looks at Coraline in surprise:_

 _"Uh...Coraline..."_

 _"I just...I just wanna know if it's true...and if not, why?"_

 _She looks up at her father with misty eyes and asks further,_

 _"Why are they being mean, father?"_

 _"...Oh Coraline..."_

 _Mathias hugs his daughter close and strokes her hair as he gently replies,_

 _"Not all humans have their darkness dominating them...As for your other question...the reason they are being mean to you is because they are choosing not to understand you."_

 _"Hm?"_

 _"Human nature has the tendency to jump to fearful conclusions when it comes to topics not easy to explain. If someone can't understand something that appears frightening, they automatically become afraid themselves."_

 _"Oh...Father?"_

 _"Yes, dear?"_

 _"...Do you think, that I'll find someone who understands and, wants to be my friend?"_

 _"I'm certain of it...It just might take some time before that special person comes along. But when they do, hold onto them with all your might, for having a good friend is the best thing to strive for in life."_

 _"I will, father. Promise."_

End of Flashback

Coraline wipes her eyes of some forming tears, and looks up to where Inuyasha was perched at, before a small smile comes to her lips:

 _...And you were right, Father. I did find that special someone, along with a bunch more someones I now hold dear._

She decides to head up to the cliff edge to join the dog demon...

"...Inuyasha?"

"Hm?"

Inuyasha breaks out of his thoughts, and turns to see Coraline standing near:

"It's you."

She nods, and moves to sit beside him, asking,

"I'm, assuming you must be in thought about Shiori...and comparing her to how you used to live life as a kid?"

He doesn't reply, merely looking at her with a look of surprise at her deduction, before turning away with a small scoff...Coraline then says to him,

"You have a heart of gold, Inuyasha."

"Kuh, I do not, Coraline, don't be stupid...!"

She lightly shakes her head, knowing he was just being prideful, before turning to look at the stars in thought:

"...We've both been through some hard times, haven't we? I can't speak for your experience, but, it can't have been any better than mine was...(Smiles softly) But you know what? Who cares what those antagonists said? We've turned out fine, and now we have Miroku, Sango, Shippo, my brothers, Myoga...Heh, but you knew that already, right?"

"Yeah, I know..."

The air grows quiet for a minute...before Coraline decides to be bold, and lightly kisses Inuyasha's cheek, much to his shock:

"Wh-Wha-?!"

"Thank you, for being there that day, and every day after that..."

"...Coraline..."

The teens find themselves lost in eachother's gaze, neither wanting to interrupt this moment of, tranquility...But then Inuyasha's ears pick up on a troubling sound:

"(Stands) Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

Coraline then follows his gaze, and gasps when she sees,

"Oh no...Those are...!"

And as we look towards the ocean, we see the giant horde of demon bats, _heading straight for the village!_


	81. Chapter 80

**Chapter 80: The Red Tessaiga Breaks the Barrier**

As the demon bat swarm continued its path towards the village, we find the rest of our group standing outside Shizu's home, while she and Hachi stand in the doorway, gazing at the monsters. Sango and Besa exclaim,

"The Demon Bats are coming!"

"And they definitely got that murderous look abound...!"

As the bats swoop over the home, Shizu immediately knew where the target of attack would be:

"They're heading for the village..."

By this time, Inuyasha and Coraline had ran down from the cliff-side and were sprinting to everyone else:

"What are you people gawking at?! Let's get going!"

"We need to stop those flying rats, fast!"

Miroku nods before taking off with them:

"Right!"

As he heads off with Inuyasha and Coraline, Freeman turns to Besa and Sango to say,

"We better get ready too. We got a real fight on our hands."

"Mhm." "Right."

We zoom up to the demon bats, and see that Taigokumaru was among them, carrying Shiori in his hand, she holding the crystal ball from before...

As soon as they were close enough, the demon bats began their assault, swooping down and destroying everything within reach:

(Crash, crash...)

The villagers scramble every which way in a panic, unprepared for the attack, before many became fodder for the bloodthirsty demons...Shiori watches the destruction and chaos from above, scared and devastated:

"The village..." Taigokumaru chides to his granddaughter,

"They don't deserve your sympathy. Not after they treated you and your mother so poorly. Don't worry: Just protect the barrier with me, and I will spare your mother's life. Do as I say. Annihilate the village!"

Just as the demon bat army swoops down again:

(Dash)

"Hold it right there!"

(Leap)

" _Iron Reaver...!_ "

(Slash)

Inuyasha arrives on scene and takes down a number of the demon bats with his claws! Landing in a slide across the sand, he shouts up at Taigokumaru,

"Old man: You won't get away with this!"

"Grh, you're becoming quite the nuisance!"

Taigokumaru then directs his army to attack Inuyasha, with one grabbing him and throwing him to the ground. Luckily, he's fast enough to recover...

" _Spirit Slash!_ "

(Slash)

It was then that an ice blue cut flies through the air, taking down another portion of the army!

"We're right behind ya, Inuyasha!"

The rest of the group comes to pitch in, with Miroku knocking down a few bat demons with his staff:

(Whack, whack)

"Hrrah!"

Besa using his sickles to hack them away:

(Slice, slice)

"Rrrah!"

And Freeman whacking a few bat demons into eachother with his hammer:

"Take, this!"

(Wham)

"Agh!"

(Crash)

On the sidelines was Shippo and Hachi, acting as the cheering section:

"Give those demons what for, you guys!"

"Nice moves, Miroku! Nice moves!"

Coraline, Miroku and the twins reach Inuyasha's side, the redhead greeting the dog demon with,

"Hey, stranger."

"Keh, took you long enough. And what was with the hold-up, anyway?"

They turn their gaze to the sky as Inuyasha asks,

"How many of these things are there do ya think?" Coraline replies,

"Alot. That's how many."

"Let me take a shot at 'em!"

Their gazes then turn to Sango, as she flies in on Kilala, slayer gear on, and makes her move with her weapon:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin, tok-tok-tok)

"Yeah, you got 'em, Sango!"

But just as Freeman made that cheer, Taigokumaru flies into Hiraikotsu's path, and uses the power of the barrier to deflect the giant boomerang away:

(Pow)

"Shoot, the barrier...!" Shippo exclaims from atop Miroku's shoulder,

"Yeah, it deflected Sango's Hiraikotsu!"

Sango catches her weapon on the rebound, as the elder bat demon laughed smugly...The demon slayer lands down with the others, as Miroku notes,

"It's not looking good, and with Shiori around, I can't even use my Wind Tunnel on them either."

Taigokumaru asks mockingly,

"What's the matter? Can'tcha make a move?" Inuyasha curses,

"Damn it all: There's gotta be a way to get Shiori out of the old man's grip..."

"Please, think of something!"

"Huh?"

He turns his gaze right, and sees that some of the villagers were still alive, pulling themselves out of the splintered wood and upturned dirt/sand craters:

"All our lives depend on you!"

"The Bat Demons will slay all of us!"

Coraline turns to see them as well, and couldn't help but glare:

"Tch, so some of the cowards are living, huh?"

Inuyasha side-glances her warily at how bitter she sounded, but focuses on the villagers:

"Kuh, no need to ask me for favours: I was gonna finish him off anyway. (Turns to the sky) But first, I gotta get Shiori away from him."

"You can't! That's insane!"

"And besides, the girl is on the demon's side!"

"Hmph. You want me to kill her too, then?"

The villagers reply defensively,

"W-Well, there's not much choice."

"After all, she was the child of a demon..." Coraline was disgusted by their attitudes:

"...And you dare call yourselves human beings? Shiori and Shizu gave up their lives to save you lot, and yet you still treat them like trash! I hope karma pays you all back ten-fold after this is all over!"

Her brothers clap their hands on her shoulders to keep her calm while Shippo was just as angered:

"Talk about being selfish!"

Sango comes over to Miroku and whispers,

"Hey, Miroku: I don't think there's anyone Inuyasha or Coraline despises more than people like this."

"Yes, seeing as both of them have been treated badly by people such as them..."

Inuyasha stares at the survivors for a moment further, before turning to address the other half-demon caught in this mess:

"Did you hear that, Shiori? (Walks closer) What do you want to do? You heard what these people said about you: Going back to the village might not be a good idea. Do you still want to go back?"

Shiori gazes at the dog demon:

 _That's the man who was with mommy today..._

"If you decide that you want to go home, then I'll help you get there!"

Taigokumaru cuts in:

"You'll help her? (Chuckle) You fool: Don't tell me you think you can defeat me, Taigokumaru!"

He then charges up his beam attack from before, and Inuyasha rushes to grab Coraline while warning everyone to,

"Run!"

(Boom)

They all manage to dodge in time, as the beam of sound waves leave a gaping hole in the sand...

"(Laugh) I see you're also half-demon. That undeniable stench is overwhelming!"

Inuyasha retorts sarcastically,

"Oh really? Are you goin' somewhere with this?"

"You're recalling your own situation, and that's why you're feeling sympathy for Shiori."

"She's got nothin' to do with it! I just can't stand rotten old bats like you, is all!"

Shiori wonders to herself in surprise,

 _He's a half-demon? Then he's just like me!_

"Shiori, make up your mind: Do you want to go back to the village or not?"

 _I do. I want to be with mommy...but...I can't..._

"...Hm?"

She then notices Shizu running on scene:

 _Mommy?_

"Shiori..."

"(Soft gasp) Mommy!" Taigokumaru tells Shiori,

"If you don't stay and protect the barrier with me, your mother will die. You understand that, don't you?"

She looks down at the red orb in her hand, her heart caught in conflict:

"...What do I do? I dunno what I should do!" Taigokumaru puts the blame on Inuyasha:

"How dare you confuse the girl!"

He reaches for Tessaiga and calls to the girl again:

"Shiori, look after yourself!"

"Curse you!"

Dodging another sound wave attack, Inuyasha then leaps up and tries to cut down the giant bat demon with his blade, but:

(Pow)

"Gh!"

Tessaiga's power was not great enough to cut through, so he is forced to retreat back onto the ground...Besa curses,

"Damn, that barrier's just too strong for Tessaiga right now..."

Taigokumaru laughs and says to Shiori,

"Fine work, my girl. You know what to do..."

She does not reply, her eyes saying differently...Inuyasha growls as he tries to come up with a plan:

 _If could get even a tiny part of Taigokumaru's body outside the barrier, I would at least stand a chance._

 _Doesn't the girl have the power to adjust the size of the barrier?_

Before he could think further, a bunch of white rings appear around Taigokumaru, prompting Inuyasha to turn and shout,

"Look out! Everyone out of the way!"

The group rushes from the line of fire, before:

(POW)

(Crash, crash, boom...)

Multiple sound wave beams shoot down and crush numerous parts of the village, as well as kill several more villagers!

...As the sandy dust clears, Coraline looks at the destruction with wide eyes:

"...The village...there's nothing left..."

Thankfully, some lives remained, and one man pleads weakly,

"P-Please, help us..."

Taigokumaru tells his cohorts,

"I have no use for this village. Destroy every one of them!"

Shizu then steps up to try and stop the chaos:

"...Taigokumaru! I beg you to stop!"

Freeman mutters,

"It's Shiori's mother, Shizu! Is she crazy?!"

The woman remained strong and states with a glare directed at the demon bat,

"This village was safe from your attacks when your son, Tsukuyomaru, was alive! That was because he protected us! Your son wanted Shiori and I to live happily! He prevented attacks on our village! Please, I beg you to honour your son's wishes!"

"You want me to honour his wishes?! (Laugh) How ludicrous! (Eyes flash red) Tsukuyomaru was indeed my son, but he was a fool! Falling in love with a mortal, he hastened his demise!"

"Uh! What do you mean by that?"

"Just as you said: He said he would protect this village...He said, that unless we abide by his wishes, he will abandon his duty as guardian of the barrier, and would leave the tribe! Even his heart was stolen by the mortal! _That's why..._ "

Shizu and Inuyasha clue into what Taigokumaru had done:

"Why, what..."

"That's why, what...Don't tell me, that you killed your own flesh and blood!"

"I did. I took great pleasure in hastening his trip to the Netherworld!"

Shiori gasps, and Shizu faints from shock, as the elder demon bat adds cruelly,

"I had Shiori, so the boy was of no use to me."

Coraline rushes to catch the woman and hold her up:

"Shizu! Shoot...Lumos, I need your aid!"

The Will O' Wisp pops out of Shippo's trick bag, and floats over to assist his partner, while Inuyasha growls in disgust at Taigokumaru:

"Taigokumaru, you don't deserve to live! (Lists up his sword) I can fix that for ya!"

"(Laugh) Try if you dare. As you can see, Shiori can't adjust the size of the barrier. When you slay me, you will also take the girl's life."

"(Growl) Damn you...!" Miroku asks,

"Are you able to do it, Inuyasha?"

Coraline watches as Lumos sends his energies to Shizu while wondering with worry,

 _There has to be a way to take down Taigokumaru without Shiori getting caught in the middle..._

 _She has difficulties controlling her power, so at present, it looks like there might be no way of doing this without her life being in jeopardy._

"What's the matter, fool? Are you going to kill me or what?"

"Oh shut up, you old bat! I'm tired of playing games!"

"Oh? You mean up until now you've gone easy on me? In that case, I dare you, to use your full power!"

(Pow)

The elder bat demon then sends his sonic wave attack again, which Inuyasha would leap away from before counterattacking:

"Gladly! _Backlash Wave!_ "

(SLASH, Whooooosh...)

 _There's a hole in the barrier from the old man's attack. My Backlash Wave should go through it and reach him!_

Taigokumaru watches as the vortex shoots closer, actually getting nervous from the power:

 _The Demonic Aura from his attack is twisting in my own, and it's heading straight toward me!_

Inuyasha watches his attack move and silently orders,

 _Now go through and blast his head off!_

(BOOM)

The attack connects...but surrounds the barrier rather than go through it...

"The barrier's bending!"

"Did it work?"

...The power settles...and we see that the barrier was still intact, leaving everyone in shock:

"...Even the Bakuryūha wasn't enough...!" Shippo exclaims after Coraline,

"And Taigokumaru wasn't even hurt!"

Inuyasha curses:

"Damn! I was a second too late!" Taigokumaru laughs before saying,

"Fine work, my sweet girl."

...

...

...But Shiori...was feeling anything but, now realizing her true mission:

" _Get out._ "

"Hrh?"

Her body surrounds itself in a fiery Aura, and she turns to send a seething glare at her grandfather before adding fiercely,

" _I will avenge...my father's death!_ "

Her eyes flash white...before:

(Pow)

"Aargh!"

Taigokumaru is thrown out of the barrier!

"How dare you! And you, a mere half-demon!"

 _I never expected she possessed such great power. Even I was unable to control the barrier as she does!_

Said barrier then dissipates...before Shiori starts to fall out of the sky!

"Oh no!" Shizu starts running to her falling daughter:

"Shiori! Shiori!"

Taigokumaru remarks,

"Even though my granddaughter is a mere half-demon, I would never allow the humans to have her!"

He then begins charging his sound wave attack, prompting Coraline to run after Shizu:

"Wait, Shizu, look out!"

"Mommy, no!"

Coraline reaches her and pulls the woman behind her, as she readies her ShatterSoul sword:

 _I dunno if I'll be able to block or cut, but I'll go down trying!_

"Say your prayers, old bat!"

(SLASH)

Inuyasha then jumps in and uses the Bakuryūha once again, cutting through the sound waves:

"Not again!"

(...POW)

"GAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The bat demon would not escape its power this time, and was instantly destroyed by Inuyasha's attack!

"He did it!"

"With the Backlash Wave!"

The twins cheer after Miroku and Shippo,

"Yes!"

"Alright: The sucker's been terminated!"

Inuyasha takes in some fresh air, and then sighs with relief, as Coraline and Shizu smile and mutter,

"Thank god that's over..."

"Yes..."

"Over here, people!"

Gazes then turn to see Hachi, as he brings over Shiori, whom was only tired and thankfully not hurt:

"There."

Mother and daughter immediately began running to one another:

"Shiori!"

"Mommy!"

Shizu embraces her daughter, and softly chides,

"Shiori, I'm so sorry. That must've been so terrible for you..."

But the little girl was just happy to see her mother was okay:

"I missed you..."

As the group watches the heartwarming scene with touched smiles, Inuyasha catches their attention when he says,

"Well, guys, we've done all we can. Let's get goin'."

But then Myoga hops onto his shoulder and shouts,

"What do you mean, what do you mean, what are you talking about?!"

"Myoga, what are you still doin' here?"

The flea hits Inuyasha's shoulder with a paper fan and says sternly,

"Have you forgotten our reason for coming here?! You need to slay the demon that protected the barrier and have Tessaiga suck its blood! So make up your mind: Do you want to make the sword stronger or don't you?!"

Unfortunately, Shizu does not miss a single word, and immediately goes on the defense for her daughter's sake:

"(Gasp) You came here to kill my girl?!" Inuyasha replies a bit reluctantly,

"Yeah, at first...(Smile) But don't worry: I may be half demon, but I'm not evil enough to kill a little girl."

Miroku and Sango add reassuringly,

"Especially when she's so sweet and innocent."

"And a half-demon like him."

Inuyasha then says,

"I'll just have to find some other demon that can put up a stronger barrier and kill them instead."

Myoga comments with mild surprise,

"You've changed, Master Inuyasha: You weren't like this before!"

"What's that suppose to mean?!" Besa chides with a mildly nervous smile,

"He's just complimenting your maturity, Inuyasha."

Coraline just smiles and shakes her head, before turning to flash an assuring look at Shizu, who smiles and nods in return...

"Well, I suppose we'll be on our way."

"Farewell."

"Wait!"

The gang stops at Shiori's call, and her mother says her name in confusion, while she holds out the red crystal sphere:

"...Take this."

She then tells Inuyasha what he must do...

"You want me to break the orb?"

"Mhm. Smash it to pieces. This blood coral crystal is a precious heirloom passed down to each guardian of the Demon Bat Barrier. This is what gives the ability to put up the barrier, and it stores up the power of each generation of guardians, like my grandfather's, and my father's. So I think if you break this, you'll be able to strengthen your sword. That's what you want, isn't it?"

Myoga was ecstatic:

"We couldn't have asked for anything better! Smash the crystal, Master Inuyasha!"

He definitely wasn't complaining:

"Yeah, good idea. The sooner we get rid of that evil thing, the better."

...But just as they come to that decision...suddenly:

(Heartbeat...heartbeat...)

The crystal starts to throb, before slowly expelling fumes of dark-red light! Lumos starts moaning rapidly while his body blinks red and blue, indicating this wasn't good, as Sango exclaims,

"The orb is releasing a Demonic Aura!"

Shizu rushes to take the orb out Shiori's hands:

"Let go of it! Rgh!"

She's then forced to drop the orb herself, when it glows orange and burns her palms!

"Mommy...your hands!"

The orb then releases more energy, creating a small barrier around itself! Coraline groans,

"Oh great: The crystal must have sensed our intentions and is invoking its own protection!"

Inuyasha comments,

"I should'a known it wouldn't be so easy to break...Keh, (Smirk) this is getting amusing."

He then pulls out Tessaiga at the ready, before leaping up to attack:

"But not for me!"

(Clang)

"Rrrgh! Aaah!"

But he's then thrown back by the power of the barrier, and Coraline rushes to see if he was okay:

"...You alright?"

"Yeah, sure."

The barrier then dissipates...before its replaced by the fumes of red energy, and the crystal echoes with a familiar and menacing voice:

 **"...I would never let you go that easily, Shiori!"**

Shiori recognized it instantly:

 _That's grandfather's voice!_

The fumes thicken, and Taigokumaru's spirit reforms within and out, jeering,

 **"Simply releasing the crystal could not separate your bond with the Demon Bat Tribe, even though your mother is mortal!"**

"Taigokumaru!"

"Grandfather!"

 **"Now I'll kill you this time!"**

The specter demon bat then dives down to attack the mother and daughter, while Inuyasha tries to stop him:

"Oh really?!"

(Clang)

"Guh!"

But he's thrown back by Taigokumaru's power!

"Inuyasha!"

 **"Shiori, join me and all the others in Hell!"**

She and Shizu hug eachother tightly, bracing themselves...just as a different barrier appears around their bodies!

 **"What?!"**

(Smash)

 **"Gaaauh!"**

Taigokumaru is blocked, and the power of the barrier causes parts of him to break off! Everyone gasps, with the twins shouting,

"Did you see that?!"

"He was blocked!"

As the little girl and mother part, each confused on what just happened...a familiar ghostly hand appears and strokes Shiori's head:

 _"Shiori..."_

 **"Curse, you, girl!"**

Inuyasha watches the bat demon struggle to stay together, and thinks to himself,

 _The bat's power is getting weaker! Now's my chance!_

"Let the little girl go free! Hrrrah!"

(SLICE)

He successfully cuts down on Taigokumaru, and as the demon bat spirit splits and disintegrates to pieces...a crack forms in the crystal sphere...before splitting into two equal pieces!

"Whoooa! The crystal broke!"

...The two pieces then glow transparent, and start to emit a softer red ring, it traveling to Tessaiga's direction...Its wielder mutters calmly,

"Now it's really over...Hm? Wha-?!"

He then becomes awestruck, as his blade begins to glow red in similar fashion with some pink-red sparks!

"My sword! The blade is turning red!"

Coraline and Miroku smile excitedly as they realize,

"Then that means the Tessaiga has absorbed the crystal's energy!"

"Making Inuyasha's sword a great deal stronger!"

...The red glow then dies down, and the Tessaiga reverts back into its dormant form, with Inuyasha sheathing it...Shiori kneels down to pick up one of the crystal pieces in curiousity, before Inuyasha addresses her:

"Shiori."

"(Looks up) Thanks for helping."

"Keh, I'm the one who should be thanking you for saving me. You weakened the old bat's power."

Shiori shakes her head:

"I wasn't the one who did that. (Gazes at the crystal piece) Someone put his arms around us, around me and mommy. He wanted to protect us."

Shizu comes beside her daughter and chides,

"That was Tsukuyomaru...That was your father, Shiori."

Coraline smiles, catching a glimpse of a certain spirit fading into the night sky with her Aura Sight, before saying to Shiori,

"It's only natural that through life and death, your father will continue to hold you and your mother dear...He wanted you to live free and happy."

She then side-glances Inuyasha with some intent, and he gives her a 'What?' expression in return, to which she would just shake her head at...

A few minutes later, the group readies to leave the beach village and the freed half-demon girl and mother...when Lumos suddenly picks up on something:

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Hm? What is it, Lumos?"

The Will O' Wisp floats over to the twin crystal pieces laying in the sand, and circles around the left one with intent, prompting Coraline to move to his proximity for a closer look:

"...What are you trying to tell me? Is there...still something there?"

Lumos makes his body throb in the white-blue glow...and Coraline immediately got the silent message:

 _Oh! He must want me to use my Aura Sight...Alright._

(Sheen)

Coraline then gasps in surprise, and Besa asks,

"What's wrong, Cor?"

"There's, still a small bit of the barrier energy! It's nothing serious, of course, but...Strange...I would've thought the Tessaiga had absorbed it all. Why is there that little bit left?"

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Huh?"

Lumos then comes by Coraline's thigh, and circles around the area where her combat knife was:

"...What? What about my knife, Lumos?"

He goes back to the crystal piece, and circles it again, causing Coraline hm in thought:

 _The last bit of the demon bat barrier energy...and my knife..._

 _How do those fit toge-_

 _...Wait..._

"...I wonder..."

She then unsheathes her combat knife, and gazes at the blade...before hovering it over the crystal piece...

Nothing happens for a minute or two...until:

(Gleam...)

"Uh!"

Everyone gasps, as the crystal emits a smaller ring of the red light, before the blade of the combat knife begins to glow red with pink-red sparks as well!

...Once it dies down like it did with the Tessaiga, Coraline stands up and turns to everyone while looking at her blade in astonishment:

"...Uuuuh, what just happened?"

No one could find an answer at first, until Freeman snaps his fingers when he remembers,

"Oh, right: I almost forgot that your knife can absorb demon blood too and strengthen itself from the power laced within...Except, there wasn't any blood involved...or was there?"

Coraline replies a bit unsure,

"Hm...That was a blood coral crystal, so, maybe it's a case of freaky technicality...?"

Shippo shrugs his shoulders and says nonchalantly,

"Sounds as good an answer as any." Miroku ponders,

"Still, I can't help but wonder...could Coraline's combat knife now have the power to break strong barriers as well?"

She herself replies,

"It's possible, but I doubt it'll be as strong as Tessaiga is now...(Smile) But, I guess now we have a back-up weapon available for when we do confront Naraku, right?"

She looks to Inuyasha, who shakes out of his stupor and replies,

"Feh, guess so...What I'd like to know is why your knife got included in this upgrade."

Besa holds his hands up in an 'who knows' gesture and says,

"I think this'll just be one of those mysteries to think about on a later date."

Everyone nods in agreement, and after Coraline sheathes her knife back into its holster, Inuyasha gets everyone going again:

"Heh, come on, let's go." Hachi moans,

"I'm starving..." Shippo chimes,

"Me too!" Miroku asks,

"What are we waitin' for?" Sango calls to Shiori and Shizu,

"Goodbye!"

Coraline smiles as she thinks to herself,

 _I know that Inuyasha wanted to help Shiori all along, and forgot about making his blade stronger for her sake..._

 _When he did that, Tsukuyomaru was prompt to lend a helping hand..._

She glances down to her sheathed knife, and looks to the sky as she added,

 _And I have a feeling he also had something to do with what happened just now regarding my knife..._

A short while later, we find everyone riding the skies on Hachi's gourd form again, with Inuyasha and Coraline sitting beside one another up front, Shippo, Sango and Miroku behind them, and the twins bringing up the rear...

The fox demon was currently watching Inuyasha's body language, and asks aloud curiously,

"I wonder what Inuyasha's thinking about..." Myoga comments from his shoulder,

"Indeed. He is awfully pensive for someone who doesn't spend much time thinking..."

Unfortunately, the flea demon wasn't as quiet with his observation, and Inuyasha turns to glare at the two:

"You were saying?"

Miroku then thinks aloud about Shiori and Shizu:

"Such a shame. I fear that their problems may not be over, Shiori and her mother, I mean."

Inuyasha scoffs a bit and replies,

"Oh don't worry about those two: A good half-demon can't go worryin' about every little hardship."

Miroku takes his staff and lightly pokes Inuyasha's head while chiming,

"Yes indeed, and here we have a fine example of how a half-demon should behave."

Sango jokes,

"Let's hope Shiori doesn't become as warped."

"(Multiple tick-marks) What do ya mean by that?!"

"That's more like the Inuyasha!" He growls at Shippo and asks testily,

"What are ya gabberin' about?"

"It's strange seeing you lost in thought. Growling suits you alot better than thinking."

The twins fight to contain their laughter, as Myoga adds,

"That's one thing he doesn't have much practice in."

Inuyasha shouts in annoyance,

"Shut up, Myoga! I'll kill ya both!"

He then starts chasing after Shippo and Myoga in a circle on Hachi, the last two calling defensively,

"We were worried about, is all!"

"What he said, what he said!"

"Stop making fun of me!"

Hachi calls back with a knowing smile,

"Hey, don't blame me if you fall off!"

Coraline smiles in amusement as she watches the dog demon try to catch the fox and flea demon, while musing,

 _Inuyasha didn't offer a last word of advice to Shiori...because he thought that silent acknowledgement of strength and perseverance would be best._

 _I'm more than sure she got the message._

As Inuyasha tries to pry a kicking Shippo off his head, he then notices the soft eyes that Coraline was sending his way, and was a bit concerned:

"(Walks over) Hey, what's the matter, Coraline?"

She shakes her head with a smile, before gently pulling Shippo off his head, and leaning in to peck the dog demon's cheek:

"Just thinkin' about strong hearts."

"H-Huh?"

Inuyasha hops back a bit in surprise, as a light blush comes to dust his cheeks from the gesture...Everyone else watches the moment in shock for a second, before Freeman and Besa start teasing the dog demon and his light red face:

"Aww~, that was so cute..."

"(Smirk) Gettin' a bit hot for ya, Inuyasha?"

He snaps out of his daze, as the twins burst into laughter, and he turns to growl at them in embarrassment:

"What are you two jokers talkin' about?!" They reply between chuckles at the same time,

"Your blush, that's what!"

"I am not!"

"Are so!"

"Am not!"

"So!"

Sango and Shippo start to giggle as well, and Miroku says to Inuyasha teasingly,

"Now now, my friend, no need to get so defensive. Even men can blush from a gesture such as that."

"For the last time, I was not, blushing!"

As that argument went about, Hachi mutters to himself with an exasperated smile,

"I shouldn't have come," while Coraline shyly covers her smiling face, it too occupying a blush:

 _Oooh boy. That might not have been the right moment to do that..._

 _But I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Besides..._

 _If fate decides we aren't meant to be...I should at least have a few opportunities to kiss that boy while I can._


	82. Chapter 81

**Chapter 81: The Plot of the Panther Devas (or Why Cat Karma's a Bitch)**

It's a new day in Sengoku Edo, and we find ourselves back in the Valley of Ryukotsusei, where Sesshomaru, Rin, Jaken and A-Un have arrived at, specifically, the cliff edge overlooking the mountain face where the dragon demon once laid dormant before his demise by the hands of Inuyasha...

As she sits upon A-Un's back, Rin asks curiously,

"Where are we now?" Jaken answers,

"The place where a giant demon called Ryukotsusei was sealed into a dormant state...Strange, though, that it was completely destroyed like this..."

He turns to Sesshomaru and asks,

"Lord Sesshomaru, do you honestly think this was Inuyasha's doing?"

"It's anyone's guess how he would've accomplished this."

"Indeed. Imagine Inuyasha defeating such a formidable foe. It took everything your father had to seal Ryukotsusei into dormancy..."

Jaken then notices that everyone else was making their way out of the valley without him, and rushes to catch up:

"Gah! Don't leave me behind, Lord Sesshomaru!"

He ignores the imp, deep in his own thoughts...

Time Skip

It's now nighttime, and we move on to a section of forest, where Kōga and his friends were traveling...

Somewhere nearby, two red-eyed figures swiftly dash from branch to branch, causing the wolf demon leader to tense up:

"Hm?"

One of the regular wolves traveling with him senses the figures as well, and as they growl, Ginta asks,

"What's the matter, Kōga?"

"Don't you two smell that stench?" Hakkaku replies,

"I don't smell anything." But then he and Ginta take in a second breath, and find the scent:

"(Sniff, sniff) Wait. It stinks like a bunch of cats."

"Well, they're not from around here."

They then find the source down on the plains, being that of some sort of cat demons rushing to somewhere...After watching from a cliff edge for a few minutes, Ginta wonders aloud,

"Hm, I wonder what they want?" Kōga just shrugs and replies,

"Who cares what they want," before moving to walk away...Hakkaku and Ginta ask,

"Are we leaving?"

"Are you just gonna let them go?" Kōga replies casually,

"Yeah, you got it. We don't need to go lookin' for trouble."

Ginta and Hakkaku look to one another, deciding that their friend/leader was right:

"I guess so..."

"Yeah, they've got nothin' to do with us."

Moving along, our next stop would be a large cave where Ryoakan, the giant wolf-like demon who guards the forest grounds, was sleeping soundly...

That is, until the pack of cat demons from earlier comes running by the cave entrance, the noise stirring him awake:

"Guh!"

He rushes out to watch the group pass, his expression set in panic:

"...What are they doing around here?!"

His question would go unanswered, as the cats run off into the dark horizon...

Time Skip, Goshinboku Village, Kaede's Hut...

"Ugh, she's late!"

"She sure is, and so are the twins."

As the sun streams over the village, we find Inuyasha and Shippo sitting on the roof of Kaede's home, the former becoming restless due to a certain redhead's absence for the past few days...

"She's been gone for three days now!"

Inuyasha then moves to get off the roof, prompting Shippo to ask (yet likely already knowing the answer),

"Where are you going, Inuyasha?"

"Where else? I'm gonna get Coraline back!"

Shippo pauses before his next shout, and smiles as he watched the dog demon disappear over the hill to where the Bone Eater's Well would be lying:

 _I just hope he remembers the twins too._

After some mad-dashing and jumping, Inuyasha would reach the old well, before hopping in to use the portal...

Present-Day Tokyo, Higurashi Shrine/Residence

At the same time Inuyasha made his way through the well, Sota and Akari would be returning home from shopping and school respectively...

(Ka-chank)

"I'm home, gramps!"

The elder Higurashi looks up from his newspaper, and greets one of the new arrivals:

"Hello, Souta."

Zooming out, we see that Inuyasha had already settled in, he currently holding Buyo in his lap...Souta and Akari would greet him with friendly smiles:

"Inuyasha, you're here!"

"Nice to see you again."

"Where's Coraline?" Souta holds a finger to his chin and answers,

"Uuum, I think she and the twins are still at their martial arts class."

Akari adds,

"They should be returning here in the next bit."

Cutting to the downtown area, we find said teens leaving the doors of the dojo, with Master Yoshi waving them off:

"I shall see you three again soon. Continue to practice."

"Hai, Sensei."

"See you again, Sensei."

"We'll work hard, Sensei, promise."

Come a half-hour later, the three teens were making their way up the shine steps, talking about their latest lesson:

"That was definitely a workout."

"Yeah, and you were totally ownin' it today, Cor: Those flips and jumps you did were awesome!"

"Haha, I dunno about awesome, but I think I've improved since last time. And you guys are definitely getting better: Freeman, you were really close to doing a perfect split-kick, and Besa, you've got the double-Phoenix punch down pat!"

They smile proudly at one another, and as they close in on the front door to the house, Coraline hms and wonders aloud,

"So given how many days we've been hangin' here in our era, how high do you guys think the odds are that Inuyasha's gonna be in the living room?"

They smirk lightly and reply at the same time,

"Real high."

Inside, Inuyasha was playing with Buyo, teasing the animal by tugging on his tail...

(Ka-chank)

"I'm back!"

"So are we!"

"By popular demand!"

The three teens laugh at Freeman's line, and Inuyasha perks up at hearing their voices:

"Just the people I was waitin' for. Hey, yo!"

Coraline would pop her head into the living room first upon hearing his shout:

"Yo to you too. Um, not that I'm not glad to see you, but how come you're here?"

"What else? I came to get you and your brothers."

She sighs with an exasperated smile and replies softly,

"That's nice, but you didn't have to..."

"Tch, sure I did, otherwise you'd take forever to come back!"

Coraline cocks a brow and replies,

"Oi, cut me some slack, would ya? I was over in your era for longer this time."

The twins pop up on the other side of the doorway and add,

"Besides, we had a bit more to catch up on than usual."

"Yeah, Master Yoshi wasn't exactly lenient this round: My muscles are gonna be barkin' at me for a fortnight."

Inuyasha sighs while moving to a stand before replying,

"Just get your stuff together and we'll go."

Coraline gives him the 'Are you kidding me?' look and says,

"Like, right now? Come on, at least let me shower first: I worked up a powerful sweat from today's training."

Akari's voice then comes in as she asks,

"And why not have dinner before you leave?" Inuyasha replies,

"We can eat when we get back there."

"Are you sure about that? It's steak."

She holds up the package of meat, and Inuyasha's attention was immediately caught:

"Huh? What's steak?"

Coraline lightly smirks and whispers to her brothers,

"Well, seeing as he's distracted, I'm gonna slip into the bathroom and clean up."

"Go ahead, sis."

"Just don't be too long: I'd like to take a quick shower myself."

Small Time Skip, Sengoku Edo

As the sun begins to set, we check in on the rest of the group just outside Kaede's hut by the stream, as Shippo informs Sango and Miroku of where Inuyasha had taken off to...

"So Inuyasha went back to get them?" Shippo nods, and Sango chides,

"It's for the best; we need them to come back, Coraline especially."

The little fox demon sulks a bit as he laments,

"I wish I could go see where Coraline and her brothers live one time..."

"...Master!"

Shippo's head then perks up, when he hears a familiar voice calling, and all three turn to see Hachi peeking out from behind a tree with a nervous expression:

"Please help me, my lord."

"It's the old raccoon dog."

"Hachi. So what are you doing around these parts?"

The tanuki slowly moves from behind the tree trunk and replies to Miroku,

"Well, I...well I had no choice but to hide in human territory. Y-You see, those awful demons from the West are in the neighbourhood!"

Miroku rises to a stand with Sango and says,

"Why don't you just start from the beginning."

"T-The cats!" Sango asks,

"What cats?"

Even Kilala mewed in curiousity...Hachi starts explaining, albeit a bit in a panic:

"Okay okay okay: The cat demons are killing every demon they cross paths with! And they're searching high and low for the jewel shards!"

Miroku just tilts his head, more confused:

"W-What?"

"Oh yeah, and I didn't want to get caught, so I ran all the way here!"

"Who are these demons?"

"I told you, they're cats, and they're not just any old, ordinary cat demons too!"

Shippo asks aloud,

"Am I the only one who's still confused?"

"Let's just get outta here before it's too late!"

...But just as Hachi made that wail, Sango looks up to see someone approaching:

"Miroku, look..."

Coming down the shrine steps, was a young woman with short red hair that stood up, matching-coloured cat pupils, pointed ears, wearing an outfit consisting a yellow gi top, a tan fur pelt and leg warmers, and dark brown leggings with matching arm guards. She also had a tail that matched in colour to that of the fur pelt, and wore a red scarf around her neck and sash as a belt.

"I hear there's a priestess in this village..."

Hachi breaks into a nervous sweat, confirming this cat woman was a part of the trouble that has stirred up recently...She reaches the bottom of the stairs, and points to Kaede's while adding,

"This must be where she lives right here."

Kaede peers through the window with a wary expression, before moving to pull back the wicker door and address the cat demon:

"What business do ye have with me?"

The girl examines the priestess...but then shakes her head furiously:

"No no, you can't be her! She's young, carries a sword, and wears strange, male-like clothes!"

Miroku mutters to himself,

"I wonder if she's talking about Coraline?"

Hachi then pulls on his sleeve to get his attention:

"Please, my lord, please!" Shippo suddenly started panicking too:

"Miroku!"

"Slow down: What's the matter?"

"You smell that? It's the smell of cats!"

Hachi then points at the cat demon and shouts,

"It's the-e-em! The cat demons of the West!" The girl replies,

"Cat demons? (Smirks) Hmph. My friends and I are Panther Demons. Don't lump us together with common cats, (Glare) or you'll make us angry."

The tanuki panics and ducks behind Miroku, who stands on the defense with his staff, while Shippo darts behind Sango as she readies Hiraikotsu. Kaede then asks the panther demon,

"What do ye demons want here?"

"We are after the jewel shards."

The girl then raises her hand, and summons several other panther demons to her side!

"Better hand them over."

Miroku glares at the girl and replies strongly,

"I'm afraid we can't help you there," and Shippo adds,

"Yeah, that's for sure: We don't have 'em!"

"Heh, so where is this, priestess who wields a blade?" Sango retorts,

"Why should we have to tell you that?"

One of the other panther demons flexes out their claws, with the others following, before the girl gave the order:

"Take them!"

They all attack, with Miroku blocking two clawed blows with his staff, Sango swinging and missing with her boomerang, and Hachi trying to run and hide, only to get blocked by two of the demons:

"Gaaaah!"

He tries to go back, but is further blocked, so he decides to escape by jumping into the river:

(Splash...)

And Hachi wasn't the only one having issues: Poor Shippo was also being chased by some of the panther demons.

"Aaaah-Owaaah!"

(Twok)

Kaede then releases an arrow at the panther girl, who leaps into the air to dodge, landing atop the structure to the stairs...She looks around, before deciding to call it a day:

(Finger snap)

"Back to me!"

The others join up top with her, and she adds,

"It looks like we won't find the priestess here, (pulls out a smoke bomb) but we'll be back."

(Drop, POOF)

And just like that, the panther demons were gone...Shippo stops running, and looks up at the gateway wondering,

"Did they run away?" Miroku replies seriously,

"Yeah, but I don't think we've seen the last of them." Sango comments,

"It's a good thing Coraline decided to go home when she did."

"But I'm thinking it may be best if she stayed away for a little bit longer..."

But as Hachi pulled himself out of the water, Shippo reminds everyone,

"She's on her way. Inuyasha went to get her and the twins, remember?"

Present-Day Tokyo, Higurashi Shrine/Residence

While waiting for dinner to be ready, Inuyasha found himself playing with Buyo again, this time holding the cat up by his paws like he could stand up...But at this point, Buyo had gotten weary of the teasing, and decided to retaliate:

(Scratch)

"Ow, that hurt!"

As Inuyasha nursed the new minor wound on his hand, Grandfather Higurashi calls from behind his newspaper,

"That's enough, stop teasing the cat."

"Humph, I was just playing with it."

Besa then walks into the living room, a small towel wrapped around his shoulders to keep his grey t-shirt dry (having just exited the shower after his sister and brother), also wearing a pair of green khakis and white socks, and bends down to gently scratch Buyo's head while lightly smirking at Inuyasha:

"Oh yeah? I think Buyo might tell a different story if he could talk."

"The young man's correct: One should never get on the wrong side of a cat." Inuyasha asks,

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"They say a cat's curse lasts seven generations. A cat's vengeance runs deep."

Inuyasha waves a causal hand and scoffs,

"Keh, as if a cat's curse could do anything to hurt me."

He then goes back to teasing Buyo, now holding him up by the pack paws...Besa sweatdrops and mutters,

"Okay, now we've gone from teasing to just plain cruel..."

It was then Coraline, wearing a white t-shirt, grey sweatpants and socks, pokes her head in from the kitchen, along with Freeman (he wearing the same outfit as Besa):

"Uh! Inuyasha, that's not how you play with a cat!"

The redhead thwacks the back of his head, prompting him to release Buyo:

"Ouch! Hey!"

"Hay is for horses...Speaking of which, dinner's ready."

Tonight's dinner would consist of seasoned steak with a side of vegetables and a bowl of rice, with Inuyasha's being of a somewhat larger portion. As they all ate, Akari asks,

"Why don't you stay and leave tomorrow?" Souta adds,

"Inuyasha, you can crash with me and the guys."

Said dog demon doesn't reply, he too invested in wolfing down the steak with both hands...Coraline shakes her head with an exasperated smile:

 _Guess that's what happens when you don't grow up with utensils all the time..._

She and her brothers nod to the family, silently agreeing for Inuyasha.

Meanwhile, back in Sengoku Edo...

We find ourselves in an abandoned field, where the redhead panther demon girl from before meets with three others:

The first was a woman with long light blue hair and matching eyes, pointed ears, a dark blue cat tail, a dark blue kimono with only the left sleeve, tied with an obi that also holds a katana, and a protector, while her upper right arm had two blue stripes around the limp.

The second was also female, another redhead (hers being a shade or two lighter) with waist-length hair and a flower tucked behind each of her pointed ears, green eyes, and wore a short-skirted green/pink kimono with a pink sash tied around the middle in a bow, greens socks and sandals. Unlike the other three, no cat tail is seen on her person...

The third panther demon was a male, heavy built, with spiky dark brown hair and eyes, pointed ears, a thickly-furred brown tail, and wore a metal shoulder-plated green vest with three bangles on each side, dark pants and shoes with a fur pelt and leggings, dark-coloured arm bands, and a gold panther head-shaped circlet.

"...Well?" The first redhead replies to the bluenette,

"I heard that the Shikon-no-Tama shards were kept by a strange priestess, but she wasn't there. And besides, we ran into some trouble."

She turns to the long-haired redhead and asks,

"Could you come along with us?" The bluenette says,

"Go with her, Shunran."

"Mm, alright." The male panther demon asks,

"What are you going to do, sis?" She replies,

"I need to go talk to someone. I'm going to go find him."

"You sure about going alone?"

"I'll be fine. You give Karan a hand."

He looks to the other girls and says with a smile,

"Yes, of course."

They too nod, and the bluenette adds,

"We'll all meet up later at the entrance to the valley, shall we?"

She then gestures the rest of the posse to disperse, before heading off in the opposite direction of the other three...

Time Skip

Come the next day, we find ourselves at the Bone Eater's Well, with Inuyasha hopping out first, followed by the twins (wearing matching outfits of black khakis, green t-shirts and black hightops) who pulls themselves out onto the lip of the structure, before the former reaches down to pull Coraline out (she wearing a grey tank-top, blue jeans with a small rip in her right knee, and her black combat boots):

"Here, Coraline. You okay?"

"Mm, yep, all good."

"Coraline!"

The four teens jump at Shippo's exclaim, and turn to see him sitting on the ground playing with cards, Miroku on his left reading a book lent to him from one of the twins, Sango on the right cleaning her filter mask, Kilala napping on her lap, and Hachi lazing on his side...The monk would be the first to comment on the arrival:

"You know, it's really too bad that you've come back," followed by Sango:

"It's a shame you didn't stay away longer..."

Inuyasha moves up from the ground when he fell backwards and barks,

"What kind-of greeting is that?!"

Coraline and Besa ask more calmly,

"What's going on, you guys?"

"Did, something happen while we were gone?"

"Technically speaking, it's about to start." Inuyasha growls at Miroku's cryptic answer:

"Stop with the mumbo-jumbo!" Shippo replies simply,

"Definitely cats." Hachi snaps awake from his daze and sputters,

"Lots and lots of cats!"

The three modern teens tilt their heads in confusion:

"Cats?"

And Inuyasha just looked majorly perplexed...

Scene Shift: Riverside

While Inuyasha, Coraline and the twins return to this new and oddly-described problem, we zoom in on Rin, as she stomps her feet around in the water to scare some fish towards a certain imp:

"That's the way, Jaken! You can do it!"

As he tries desperately to catch some of the fish with his bare hands, Sesshomaru lays against a tree on the bank, while A-Un rests nearby his left...

"No, to the right! To the left! In front of you! Back!"

"Behind?"

"Now left! Right!"

"Right?"

"On the side!"

"Which side?!"

"No, there!"

"Here?"

Eventually, Jaken succeeds in catching one fish:

"I got one! I caught it with my bare hands! Did you see?!"

"You're so amazing, Jaken! You're the greatest!"

"I am great!"

As the two cheered on the accomplishment, Sesshomaru moves to walk downstream on his own...Further up, we see a foot belonging to the bluenette panther demon from before step onto the water, her touch causing it to freeze over!

After a few more steps, Sesshomaru pauses, as he watches the river gradually turn to solid ice, while the surrounding paths and thin shoreline becomes covered in permafrost...

"If it isn't Tōran."

...She walks out of the chilly fog:

"Its been a long time, Sesshomaru."

"I thought you were dead."

"That's a fine way to greet someone. (Chuckles) This time, I'm gonna settle things once and for all."

Sesshomaru replies coolly,

"We settled things a long time ago, but if you insist, you won't be as lucky as you were fifty years ago."

"You're still as boorish as ever, I see. I agree that things will turn out differently then they did fifty years ago, though...Our master is waiting for you."

"...Master?"

"Yes, the one who leads the Panther Tribe. I realize that your dear father is dead, but our master is going to be resurrected, at long last."

"(Narrows eyes) Resurrected? For what purpose?"

"To attack the lands in the East once again, but more importantly, (Glare) to get revenge, on all your kind."

"I will personally see to it that he never breathes again."

"I'm glad to hear that you've accepted my challenge." Sesshomaru moves to grab Tokijin's handle, but Tōran says, **  
**

"Come now, don't be so hasty. We won't battle out here."

She spreads her arms, and the ice block river begins to crack and fall apart:

"Come to our castle! Then you can bring all the reinforcements you require!"

(Crack, crash, splash...)

Sesshomaru remains impassive, as the cold atmosphere fades away along with the panther woman, leaving everything as it was before her arrival...

"(Distant) Lord Sesshomaru!"

Rin then comes running up the path with a string of fish in her hand, blissfully unaware of what just transpired:

"Look how many fish Jaken and I just caught!"

Jaken and A-Un weren't far behind her, the former calling,

"Don't leave me behind!"

Rin calls Sesshomaru again, before reaching his side to show him the catch:

"See?"

He ignores her, and addresses his other vassal:

"Jaken."

"(Pant, pant) Yes?"

"The Panther Demon Tribe is back."

"Gaaah! What are they doing here again?!"

Sesshomaru then turns to look down at the young human girl:

"Rin, listen."

"Mhm?"

"You are to wait here with A-Un."

"Alright. I won't move from here."

Sesshomaru then starts his way downstream again, with Jaken following after him as quick as possible:

"Wait, my lord!"

Rin waves them off with a smile:

"Don't forget to come back and get us! We'll be waiting!"

Back to the Bone Eater's Well

"Cat demons, you say?"

Hachi nods at Inuyasha, then says while placing one of his paws against his head,

"You know, I distinctly remember something similar happening like this fifty years ago..."

"Fifty years ago?"

"Yeah: A tribe of cats swarmed in and attacked from the West."

"Are you sure about that? Sounds like one of your tall-tales."

But Miroku thought aloud,

"Wait a minute, Inuyasha...do you think it could've happened while you were sealed to that tree?"

"Huh, I guess, but I wouldn't know about it."

Shippo chimes,

"I've never heard of it either." Inuyasha teases,

"Maybe that's 'cause you're just a brat."

At that insult, Shippo tries and fails to punch Inuyasha, who easily holds him back with his palm:

"Am not! Quit treating me like a kid!"

Coraline smile-glares at the two, before switching to a more serious expression:

"So what exactly happened, anyway?" Hachi replies nervously,

"I escaped before the cat demons could arrive."

Miroku mutters with a deadpanned expression,

"Now it's believable..."

"I had returned after learning they were gone, and sure enough, there wasn't a single cat demon in sight."

Freeman and Besa ask,

"Just like that? Really?"

"What made them decide to leave?"

"Oh deary me, I'm afraid that's all I can remember...!"

"Your story is true."

Hachi jumps from the new voice that answered, and everyone looks around as they add,

"You truly are strangely dressed for a priestess..."

Coraline instantly knew the voice meant her, and she glared in distaste from the label:

"Hey! Who are you calling a priestess?! And where are you?"

Shippo exclaims,

"The cat demons!"

It was then Karan appeared with her brother from the treeline on the right in front of the group, and she says to Shippo,

"Stop calling us cats, you raccoon-dog."

He replies bristly from around the corner of the Well,

"Excuse me! I'm a fox!"

Everyone then moves to a stand on the defense, with Inuyasha asking in a partially-annoyed tone,

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

"It's not you that we're after. (Points at Coraline) We want the priestess with the Shikon-no-Tama shards."

Coraline glares from the repeated title, and her brothers come to stand at her sides protectively:

"Uh, how about we don't do that but say that we did?"

"Plus, Cora's a warrior, not a priestess, so quit assumin' things."

She smiles and nods at them, and sends her own words at the panther demons:

"I dunno what you panthers want with the jewel shards, but I'm not about to hand them out like candy. If you want them so desperately, you'll have to get past myself and my friends."

Karan was a bit taken aback by the remark, but then smirks and replies,

"Huh, finally, someone who recognizes our nature. And if that's your decision, fine then, _warrior_."

Coraline frowns a bit at the obvious mocking, and Inuyasha moves by her to whisper,

"Don't worry. I won't let them take you or the shards."

She smiles a bit and nods, just as the male panther demon takes notice of Inuyasha's make-up:

"(Scoff) You're a half-demon." He retorts,

"Got a problem with that?" Karan then asks,

"You wouldn't happen to be Inuyasha?"

"Huh?" Inuyasha was a bit confused by her address, and Miroku asks him,

"You know this demon?"

"I've never seen her before."

"You must be him...Sesshomaru's younger brother."

Inuyasha was a bit taken aback, but then smirks grimly and replies,

"Keh, yeah well we're not exactly a close-knit family."

Karan then says to her brother,

"Let me take on Inuyasha. Shūran, you take on the monk and the demon slayer." **  
**

"Right. (Growls)"

With that, both panther demons leap into action, as Inuyasha sprints forward:

"Well, bring it on!"

(Fwoom)

"Guh!"

He then barely dodges a fireball sent at him by Kuran...She lands back down and says,

"I won't kill you now, but it sure will be a good fight."

She then cloaks her entire body in flames!

"Just try and come after me!" Inuyasha flinches from the heat, but calls back,

"Sure, it's your funeral!"

Meanwhile, Shūran tries to swipe at both Sango and Miroku, but they easily leap out of the way, causing him to stumble and fall on his front...Coraline watches from the side with the twins:

"Looks like they're all doing okay so far."

"We should clear out of the area while we can."

But just as they ready to get out of the clearing:

(Pulse)

"Hm?"

Coraline senses something coming up behind them:

 _...Another demon!_

A breeze flutters by, carrying a strange, sweet fragrance mixed with some flowers...Coraline wasted no time:

"Guys! Flip out!"

The twins nod, not questioning her reasoning, and duck and roll away to the sides, while she back-flipped into the air, and over the third panther demon that had showed herself, Shunran!

"Wha-?!"

 _She sensed me! But how?!_

Coraline lands on one hand, and flips twice more, before standing upright once more...Sango turns to see that Kilala had fainted from the flower shower, but that the three teens were okay:

"Kilala...! Uh, are you three alright?"

"Yeah, we're good!"

"That was close!"

"Nice job with the detection, sis!"

She smiles and nods at Freeman, before turning to address Shunran with a serious glare:

"Who are you, and what did you do to Kilala?"

She was taken aback, and Shūran turns to see what had happened:

"Gh, damn!"

 _Looks like we'll have to keep going without the illusion..._

He smiles, before raising his fist, and activates his power, causing electrical currents to start buzzing from his circlet! He lets out a war-cry, before releasing the light:

(Bzzz-Pow)

Everyone cringes from the flash, and as Coraline stumbles backwards, she feels someone karate-chop her on the back of the head:

(WHACK)

"UH!"

 _Oh, crap..._

...Once the light dies down, Besa and Freeman look up to see,

"Uh, Cora!"

"Where'd she go?!"

Their answer would come in a smug laugh, and they turn to see the three panther demons in a line, with Shūran holding an unconscious Coraline in his arm! **  
**

"Heh, she has the Shikon-no-Tama shards alright."

Inuyasha moves to get up, and gasps before crying out Coraline's name in worry. Karan comments,

"That girl seems to mean alot to you, Inuyasha."

He struggles to stand up and calls with a growl,

"Yeah...and you better let her go!"

"You'll have to come to our castle if you want her back... _if you can, that is._ We'll be waiting for you, Inuyasha."

The three demons then fade away, taking Coraline with them!

"No, stooop!"

But just as Inuyasha starts to make chase, he's blocked by some of the panther demon subordinates:

"Rgh, out of my way!"

He swipes his claws at them, but they just leap back before jumping out of sight altogether, which only adds to Inuyasha's anger:

"Damn it! (Starts running) I'm goin' after them!" Shippo hurries onto his shoulder and says,

"I'm going with you!"

Sango checks up on Kilala, before saying to the others,

"We'd better go too, Miroku, guys."

Miroku asks,

"How's Kilala?"

"She's fine. I'm sure she'll come to in a minute."

Hachi then comes over to the four and bows while saying to Miroku,

"Eh, my lord, I'll be leaving now."

"Ooh no; you're coming with us!"

The tanuki tries to bail, but the twins loop their arms around each of his and start leading him along to where Inuyasha took off to:

"Wrong direction, dude."

"Come on, don't be such a chicken. We'll be right beside you the whole way."

"Mmm...I'm not sure if I find that reassuring..."

We catch up with Inuyasha, as he and Shippo continue speeding through the forest, the former hell-bent on getting his friend back:

"(Pant, pant) Where are they?! Where'd they get to?!"

"Calm down, Inuyasha. This place reeks of the cat's stench."

"Yeah...You're right."

The dog demon pauses, and sniffs around for the panther demons...

"This way."

"Inuyasha!"

He turns around, and sees everyone else rushing to catch up:

"Where's Coraline?"

"Better yet, where are those three creeps that took her?" He calls back,

"I'll find her, don't worry! This way!"

(Dash)

Meanwhile, back at the river...

We find Sesshomaru and Jaken walking steadily along a cliff-face upstream to where the castle of the Panther Demon Tribe would be, the latter feeling rather nervous for his lord's life:

 _I hope Lord Sesshomaru doesn't intend to take on those demons all alone..._

"No, that would be too dangerous, even for someone as strong as my master...!"

He begins making jittery noises of unease, but then stops when he sees someone up ahead:

"Hm? Hey, I know him!"

And kneeling on the ground a few feet in front of Sesshomaru, was Ryoakan!

"Lord Sesshomaru. I, Ryoakan, would be honoured to serve under you again."

Said dog demon continues his trek and replies dryly,

"Not necessary."

"Please, my lord, I beg you to reconsider!" Jaken rushes to catch up:

"Don't leave without me!"

Sesshomaru then stops, before saying to the other demon,

"...Ryoakan."

"(Perks up) Yes?"

"Leave before I lop off your head." Jaken tries to persuade otherwise:

"Perhaps you should consider accepting his assistance. We need help!"

"Not necessary."

"Maybe we can get Inuyasha's aid this time..."

"Jaken."

"Y-Yes?"

"...Only you need accompany me."

Jaken was stunned by his lord's words:

 _...Lord, Sesshomaru...!_

He then breaks into a run to follow step with Sesshomaru, heartfelt tears flying from his eyes:

 _I shall follow you to the ends of the earth!_

But then he pauses, when he contemplates on the negative side of his proclamation:

 _...If this turns out poorly, I'll have to pay for it with my life!_

Inuyasha's POV

My friends and I are now rushing across the plains, with Miroku and Sango riding on Kilala, the twins riding on Hachi, and Shippo on my shoulder, all of us determined on rescuing Coraline...

Suddenly, I spot a familiar twister up ahead:

 _(Groan) Oh great, not him..._

"Hey, isn't that Kōga up ahead?"

I stop, and the twister dissipates to reveal that mangy wolf:

"Hey, mutt: Where's Coraline?"

"Kuh, like it's any of your business!"

 _Especially since you have like, zero chances with her...(Head shake) Focus, man!_

"I've been picking up the foul stench of cats here in this area alot lately. So tell me why Coraline's scent is mixed up with it now!"

I cringe back a bit with Shippo, before retorting,

"What're you gettin' at?"

"I better not find out that Coraline's been kidnapped by cat demons, you mutt!"

I grit my teeth, choosing not to respond, and he barks,

"You, fool! She was captured?! What were you thinking?!"

"Shut up! It wasn't like I handed her over on a platter!" I hear Freeman call down from atop Hachi,

"Yeah, plus those panthers weren't exactly making it easy: If it hadn't been for Cor, we would've been knocked unconscious by some sort of illusion attack! Hell, I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd have started her own cat-fight with the demon if that other one hadn't used a lightning flash to blind us all!"

I turn to look at him in surprise:

"Wait, what? She sensed the illusion coming?"

"More so she sensed the demon coming, but yes! And I dunno if you saw, (Chuckle) but she did some pretty bad-ass back-flips to get away from the female demon!"

 _...Oh yeah...She looked real flexible doin' that._

"Kōga!"

I snap out of my thoughts when I hear the wolf's buddies calling for him, and he mutters to himself,

"I don't got time for this," before he starts rushing off...

"Kōga, wait!" "Here we go again..."

As those two rush off to catch with the wolf, I grumble to myself,

"Damn that Kōga: Always butting in..." Miroku says to me,

"We can't be too picky about our allies at a time like this." Sango and Shippo add,

"He's right, and besides, while his feelings for her have wavered, Kōga will still stop at nothing for Coraline."

"Yeah, and he sure is strong too."

I grasp Shippo's head and toss him backwards for Miroku to catch while shouting,

"Spare me!" Cooling a bit, I add ruefully,

"I'm not relying on Kōga's help. (Turns to the front) I'm gonna save Coraline on my own!"

Time Skip, Coraline's POV

 _Well, this is a fine mess...I dunno what feels worse: The rope on my wrists, or this big lumix's hand on my arm._

Somewhere about halfway towards this valley, I aroused from my forced sleep, and tried to escape my captors. I got about as far as kneeing the male (Shūran, I think his name is) in his gut and forcing him to drop me, before turning to run in the opposite direction we came, only to get into a fight with the two girls...

After a couple minutes, it ends with me pinned to the ground, sporting a bruised cheek, partially bloody knuckles, a scratch mark on my arm, and a couple other bruises that my clothes were covering (which by the way, now had a few dirt stains), before my wrists are tied behind my back...

We're now entering the valley, I being lead along by Shūran to prevent me from trying to escape again, while the girls walked on his left, shooting dirty looks at me every few minutes due to the scratches and light bruising they now have thanks to 'yours truly'. I just smirk darkly back at them:

 _May not have gone as planned, but it was totally worth it._

I focus back to the front, and spot another woman clad in blue (including her hair) up ahead:

 _Oh great, another panther demon..._

The short-haired redhead says to her,

"We got them. We got the shards."

Shūran holds up the bottle with the three shards my friends and I have worked hard to collect and protect. I growl quietly, and the bluenette turns to look at me:

"Who's this strange-looking young girl?" The redhead answers,

"Seems like she's Inuyasha's wench."

I shake off Shūran's arm (much to his surprise) and turn to glare hard at her:

"Watch your tongue, you flea-bitten feline! I have a name: It's Coraline, so use it!"

The long-haired redhead gasps, and the short-haired ginger glares back at me before shouting back,

"Who are you calling flea-bitten, you boy-clothed wretch?!"

I snicker at her lame insult:

"Really? That's the best you can come up with? Wow, if that's all you got in terms of name-calling, it's no wonder I was close to kicking your ass a while ago."

She hisses, before trying to take a swipe at me, but I just roll with the attacks backwards and side-to-side:

"Rgh, stop, moving!"

"You stop being a caddy woman." The bluenette then cuts in sternly:

"That's enough, Karan."

We both pause, and turn to her, just as Karan tries to protest:

"But-"

"Karan..."

...She growls, before backing off, and I settle back into a comfortable stand, before I ask the following:

"So what's your deal with Inuyasha, and why do want the jewel shards? Surely you're knowledgeable of the horrible consequences countless others have faced from possessing even one shard of the Shikon-no-Tama..."

She asks back on the first half of my question, ignoring the second:

"Inuyasha? The younger son of the old mutt?"

 _Old mutt?_

 _...Oh: She must mean Inuyasha's father.  
_

The long-haired girl replies,

"Yeah! He's alive! Isn't that a surprise?" Karan then says,

"She seemed like good bait, so we brought her along." I mutter sarcastically,

"Just bloody fantastic: Once again, I'm bein' used as a beacon signal...(Looks up) Okay, so if your real quarrel's with his father, then tell me why Inuyasha has to be involved."

The long-haired girl turns to me with a menacing smile and replies,

"We're gonna kill him."

...A part of me was worried, but after so many attempts on all our lives, threats like these have become a bit dull. I roll my eyes and mutter,

"Tch, typical."

The demons stare at me a bit weirdly for my nonchalant attitude, but then focus back on their own topic:

"What do you think, Tōran?"

"I don't need bait for Sesshomaru. He'll definitely come."

 _Sesshomaru too?_

I hm and reply,

"You sound quite sure of yourself...Tell me your story: What do panther demons such as yourselves have against Inuyasha's father, he and Sesshomaru? Does it, have something to do with whatever went on fifty years ago?"

She (Tōran) looks at me eye-to-eye in surprise for my interest, but before she could reply:

"...Coraline!"

I look up, and see Kōga and his buddies up above on a cliff edge!

"Kōga! Ginta! Hakkaku!" He calls down in a heroic tone,

"I'm here to save you!"

The other two wave with reassuring smiles, and I couldn't help but smile back:

 _I may prefer Inuyasha's help, but annoying as Kōga is sometimes, at least he means well...and I definitely prefer his company over a bunch of bristled cats any day..._

Speaking of, Karan calls up,

"Hey! You're not invited to this little party, wolf-boy!"

She then readies to unleash some flames, and I cry out,

"Watch it!" before using my body to slam into Karan:

(Fwoom)

"Uh!" "Uah!"

Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to stop the fire, but at least I redirected it from hitting the guys:

 _That was close..._

I feel a hand hoist me up to my feet, before being tossed over someone's shoulder:

 _Craaaap, here we go again..._

No POV

Once the flames die down, there would be no traces of the panther demons or Coraline, infuriating Kōga:

"After them!"

Just as he leaps down to the valley path, several of the panther subordinates jump out to attack him, but he easily kicks them aside:

"Grh! (Kick) Hah!"

The demons then start running off into the valley, with Kōga making chase:

"No you don't!"

...Suddenly, Inuyasha appears, and begins running ahead, much to Kōga's dislike:

"Who asked you for help, mutt?!"

"I'm the one who's gonna do the saving here!"

"Not if I have any say in it! She needs my help, dog-face!"

Eventually, the two reach a gigantic wall of soil that was blocking the path:

"Huh?"

"What's with this wall?"

Inuyasha starts shouting for Coraline:

"Coraliiine!"

As his shout echoes, Kōga starts calling for her too:

"Where are you?!"

"Coraliiine!"

"Say something! Can you hear me?!"

It was then that Ginta and Hakkaku catch up:

"What's wrong, Kōga?"

"Where did the cats get to?"

"We've lost them: They've vanished without a trace!"

Inuyasha was having a tough time tracking the panthers too:

"I can't pick up the scent of the cats or Coraline."

"Yeah. Their scent has completely disappeared...just like with Naraku's barrier."

Inuyasha gasps, realizing what he had to do:

"Barrier, you say?"

He then pulls out Tessaiga, prompting Kōga to ask,

"What are you plannin' to do with that sword?"

...He then looks more intently, and widens his eyes when he sees a strange energy surround the blade:

 _What's happening to his sword?_

Inuyasha focuses on Tessaiga's power...before activating the new ability granted to him by the bat demon's blood coral crystal, much to Kōga's shock:

 _It's...it's glowing red!_

"Hrrrraaaaahhh!"

(SLASH...)


	83. Chapter 82

**Chapter 82: Target - Sons of the Great Dog Demon**

Continuing on with our story, we now find ourselves at the castle of the Panther Demon Tribe nestled within the Western Valley, complete with a giant bronze statue of a feline deity standing atop the gateway...

Inside, down in the lower floors, Coraline is shoved into a jail cell by two of the panther demon subordinates, with Tōran looking on:

"Rgh!"

She stumbles but maintains her balance, and turns to the entrance with a glare as the door closes. Tōran says to her,

"Stay in there and don't do anything foolish."

With that, she walks away, leaving Coraline to brood while rubbing her sore wrists:

 _At least they had the decency to remove the rope..._

 _Still, that doesn't make my mood on these panther demons any better..._

 _(Flash)_

 _Back at the Bone Eater's Well, Inuyasha asks Karan and her brother in a partially-annoyed tone,_

 _"Who are you, and what do you want?"_

 _"It's not you that we're after. (Points at Coraline) We want the priestess with the Shikon-no-Tama shards."_

 _Coraline eyes narrow at the label as her brothers come to stand at her sides protectively:_

 _"Uh, how about we don't do that but say that we did?"_

 _"Plus, Cora's a warrior, not a priestess, so quit assumin' things."_

 _She smiles and nods at them, and sends her own words at the panther demons:_

 _"I dunno what you panthers want with the jewel shards, but I'm not about to hand them out like candy. If you want them so desperately, you'll have to get past myself and my friends."_

 _Karan was a bit taken aback by the remark, but then smirks and replies,_

 _"Huh, finally, someone who recognizes our nature. And if that's your decision, fine then, warrior."_

 _During the fight:_

 _(Pulse)_

 _"Hm?"_

 _...Another demon!_

 _"Guys! Flip out!"_

 _The twins nod, not questioning her reasoning, and duck and roll away to the sides, while she back-flipped into the air, and over the third panther demon that had showed herself, Shunran!_

 _"Wha-?!"_

 _She sensed me! But how?!_

 _Coraline lands on one hand, and flips twice more, before standing upright once more..._

 _"Who are you, and what did you do to Kilala?"_

 _Shūran then uses his lightning ability:  
_

 _(Bzzz-Pow)_

 _Everyone cringes from the flash, and as Coraline stumbles backwards, she feels someone karate-chop her on the back of the head:_

 _(WHACK)_

 _"UH!"_

 _Oh, crap..._

 _(Flash)_

 _...If only I was a bit faster in reacting to that second attack._

Letting out a puff of air, Coraline moves to sit with her back against the wooden frame of the cell, leaning her cheek into her palm, her elbow propped against her bent knee, while the other leg was stretched out:

 _I guess I'll just have to hang tight until Inuyasha busts in with everyone to get me._

"...Hm?"

She then felt a stare, and perks her head up, only to see several pairs of eyes looking back at her!

"Huh?! Who are you?"

 _Wait...are those...humans?_

 _...What the hell is going on here?_

Meanwhile, down in the Lower Valley...

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

Inuyasha unleashes the power of his newly-strengthened Tessaiga against the giant wall blocking the path to the Panther Demon Tribe's castle, leaving a claw mark in the rock-hard soil...before it faded away altogether!

As the red sheen fades from the blade, Inuyasha smirks and remarks,

"Heh-heh, I knew it: It was just a barrier."

(...Whooooosh)

Kōga then sprints past him using his tornado speed boost, calling back,

"That wasn't bad for a mutt like you!" Inuyasha calls back heatedly,

"What did you say?!" Ginta and Hakkaku run to catch up with the other wolf demon:

"Hey Kōga, wait!" "Slow down, boss!"

"Hey!"

"...We're here, Inuyasha!"

Said dog demon turns around to see the rest of the group catches up (minus the twins and Hachi):

"It took ya long enough."

"What is that?" He replies to Miroku,

"The castle entrance. The cat demons must be hiding inside it." Shippo remarks,

"If they're around, Coraline must be here too."

"Yeah. Let's go!"

(Leap)

Small Time Skip

As night comes to greet Edo, the group finds themselves within a reasonably large town, which judging from to the blanket of silence, was void of any civilians...

"What is this place?" Sango replies to Inuyasha,

"It seems like a regular village," with Miroku adding,

"You know, it's a pretty good-sized town built around the castle..." Shippo wonders,

"Why here of all places?"

He then hops off of Sango's shoulder to look within one of the homes:

(Slide)

"What's a village doing here?"

As he looks around, Sango comes in and points out,

"No one seems to be here." As they come back outside, Miroku exits another home, also abandoned:

"No one's around, but it looks like people live here. And there's no signs of Kōga and his men either."

Inuyasha replies,

"Yeah...By the way, where are the twins?"

"They should still be with Hachi, and given how scared that badger is, it may be a while before they arrive."

...Suddenly, more than a dozen of the panther demon subordinates appear on the rooftops, surrounding the group! A few hop to the ground, and we see that Karan is leading the charge...Inuyasha growls and exclaims,

"That's where you were hiding!"

He then draws Tessaiga and tries to cut Karan down, but she easily jumps away onto another roof...The subordinates then attack, with Sango dodging two attacks before trying to hit back with Hiraikotsu, Miroku blocking others away with his staff, and Shippo running down the stretch while calling out,

"Coraline, where are you?!"

He's then stopped by more panther demons, before he pulls out a cherry bomb from his trick bag:

 _Good thing Freeman and Besa gave me these..._

(Poof)

With the demons distracted by the cherry-red smoke cloud, Shippo makes a mad dash away, only to have more panther demons make chase:

"Ooowahhh!"

Inuyasha spots the fox demon in trouble:

"Shippo! _Wind Scar!_ "

(Slash)

He destroys some of the panther demons, yet also throws Shippo off-balance, prompting Miroku to call,

"Watch where you're aiming! They could be hiding Coraline in any one of these houses!"

It was then that the panther demon subordinates begin retreating, with Inuyasha making chase:

"Stop! You won't get away!"

The others follow on Kilala not too far behind them, and circle to block the demons from escaping...

"You certainly are impatient!"

"Huh?"

Inuyasha and the others turn around to see Karan poised on the roof behind them:

"How rude, breaking our barrier and busting in like you did."

"Stop yakkin' and tell me where Coraline is!"

"Don't worry; she's safe." That wasn't a good enough answer for Inuyasha:

"Come on: Answer me!" Karan looks up at the moon and says,

"When the moon is directly overhead, we plan to sacrifice her to our Master."

"Sacrifice? (Growl)"

"(Turns back) Naturally, you'll be joining her."

(...Fwooosh)

Suddenly, a hazy black smoke began fumigating from the panels of the nearby homes, clouding the area around Inuyasha and company:

"What's happening?"

"Where's this smoke coming from?"

"Don't worry: I think this is just a smokescreen."

But Shippo was smelling something contrary to Sango's assurance:

"What a stink..."

Kilala was also being bothered by the scent of the smoke, and reverts back to her dormant form with a whimper...Inuyasha raises a sleeve to his sensitive nose as well:

"(Muffled) Damn..."

"Hold on, Inuyasha!"

"My, power..."

Karan laughs before explaining what this smoke was:

"How's that for potent? Considering how keen our sense of smell is, it must be even worse for you dogs."

Miroku asks in a firm tone,

"Is this another trap to stop Inuyasha?"

"Yes, but it's not exactly going according to plan..."

The panther demon subordinates then throw down several spears, which would be blocked by Miroku and Sango. Karan orders,

"Capture them before they escape!"

(Pow)

"Huh?"

But then, a bright blue light emits behind the house she was standing on...before:

(BOOM)

It was smashed to smithereens! Luckily for her, Karan leaps away before she could get hit...

Everyone cringes from the power behind the explosion...before the source calmly walks out from the billowing smoke:

"Huh? Sesshomaru...!"

His eyes were on the panther demon responsible for the ambush:

"What is the meaning of this, Karan? Is it me that you had business with, or is it these people?"

"The elder brother has arrived. Your timing couldn't have been better. Sons of the Dog Leader: We'll be waiting at the castle."

With that, Karan and her subordinates leave the area...Attention would then focus on Inuyasha and Sesshomaru:

"(Growl) What the hell are you doin' here, Sessshomaru?"

"Just what I was thinking. Leave while you can."

"Hm? What did you say?"

"This, is my war. I won't let you get involved."

"Huh, I don't need to have your permission! Coraline's been captured by those demon cats!"

"You're such a fool!"

(Pow)

"Gah!"

(Crash)

Sesshomaru then uses the Aura of Tokijin to throw back Inuyasha into a nearby home! As he rises out of the rubble, Inuyasha asks,

"Hey! What're you comin' after me for?!" Sesshomaru replies furiously,

"Silence, Inuyasha!"

The younger dog demon was taken aback by how seriously angry the elder sounded:

"...What the hell...?" Sheathing his blade, Sesshomaru adds,

"...Remember your past, Inuyasha: You lost your heart to a mortal and ended up under a spell for years. Consequently, you have no right to be a part of this battle."

It was then Jaken came rushing up to the elder dog demon:

"Eh, Lord Sesshomaru, we need all the allies we can get. We mustn't get too choosy at a time like this."

...He was then trodden on by Sesshomaru's foot, he continuing on without saying a word...Shippo shivers and mutters,

"That guy's scary..." Sango makes note of the dog demon's current mood:

"I've never seem him look so upset." Miroku turns to the younger dog demon and asks,

"Was it something you said, Inuyasha?"

"I dunno."

"Master!" "Inuyasha!" "Everyone!"

The two look up, and see Hachi and the twins had finally arrived:

"Hachi, it's you!" "About time you two caught up!"

(Pop)

The tanuki reverts back to normal, and lands on the ground smoothly with the twins landing on both his sides. Sango then asks,

"I thought you'd run off on us, Hachi." He rubs the back of his head nervously and replies,

"I did, or at least I was trying to..." Freeman pats his back and adds,

"But we steered him in the right direction, with a little help from a third voice..."

(...Hop)

And that third voice, would be Myoga the Flea, he hopping onto Inuyasha's cheek:

"Master Inuyasha! (Slurp...)"

(Slap)

"I've, come to lend my assistance..."

"What're you doin' around here, Old Man?"

The whole group was soon aboard Hachi's gourd form, as they traveled steadily along to where the castle would be...

"Something tells me this has to do with the great war that your father raged many eons ago..."

"Eons ago?" Shippo was as confused as Inuyasha:

"Wait, didn't Hachi say that it happened fifty years ago?"

"No no, it was earlier than that. It was back when your father was still in the Western Province."

"Well that's all news to me."

"The cat tribe of panther demons attacked the West, and tried to conquer all other demons. But, your father stepped in order to stop them..."

Flashback

 _We see an army of the panther demon subordinates readying to engage in battle, with the silhouettes of the four Panther Devas over top them..._

 _Above them, is a monstrous cat demon with horns in the sides of his neck wearing armour..._

"The Panther Tribe demon was an enormous cat. Your father protected his men, and battled the demons."

 _On the other side, was Sesshomaru, leading another army of demons of various species..._

 _His father, in true form, then springs at the giant panther demon, each one giving their all in this battle..._

 _In the end, it would be the giant cat who fell to flames..._

"Naturally, it was your father who emerged victorious. The other demons who escaped domination of the Panther Tribe, were extremely grateful."

End of Flashback

"However, a cat's anger runs deep, and they cursed your father and his family for all eternity, and they swore they would one day get their revenge."

Inuyasha remarks,

"So it's true that a cat's wrath runs seven generations."

The twins look to one another and shiver:

"Guess we'll have to thank Grandfather Higurashi for his advice on cats next time we see him."

"Amen to that..."

Myoga continues:

"Like you, Lord Sesshomaru did not participate in the great war either. But I'm certain the cats are coming after him to get their revenge."

"What were you doin' when this was all going on?"

"(Hops up and down) Naturally, I was watching over his home while he was away!" Inuyasha mutters,

"That's typical..." Miroku then wonders,

"You know, it was so strange that he was adamant on wanting Inuyasha to leave, wasn't it?"

Inuyasha scoffs,

"Kuh, he just doesn't wanna admit to himself that a half-demon can share his bloodline..."

Myoga remarks,

"Still, I think it would be noble for the two of you to join forces and fight your father's enemy together."

"I'm not gonna have anything to do with Sesshomaru or my father! I came to take back the jewel shards and Coraline, and that's it!"

Myoga sighs...before hoisting his luggage onto his shoulders:

"Well, gotta run!"

(Hop, zip)

"Farewell!" Shippo watches the flea demon drop down from the air:

"Myoga's getting away!"

"Well, that means trouble." And right Miroku was:

(Fwoom, fwoom)

"Gaaah!"

Suddenly, several fireballs come shooting at Hachi:

"Aaaah! Hot, hot, hot, hot!"

(Pop)

He reverts back to normal in a panic, causing everyone to fall down to the ground...Inuyasha then turns to face Karan:

"Are you gonna ask your brother for help?" As she laughs, Inuyasha retorts,

"Not likely..."

Meanwhile, somewhere in a dark forest...

We catch up now with Kōga and his friends as they continue their search for where Coraline was being held...

"Damn! No trace of Coraline anywhere...Where could those rotten cats have taken her, anyway?"

"Say, Kōga?" He turns to Hakkaku and asks back,

"What is it?"

"Isn't this the cat demon's hideout? Should we really be attacking them on our own?"

"What are you suggesting?" Ginta replies,

"Well, we could join Inuyasha and the others..."

"Not on your life! You don't actually expect me to ask that mutt for help?!" Hakkaku quickly replies,

"No, no, of course not! What we actually meant was we could offer to help him!"

"Kuh, I'm not as helpless as you two seem to think I am..."

"We just think it may be the easiest way to help rescue Coraline." Ginta adds,

"Yeah yeah! We were just thinking of her, that's all."

"...You must be Kōga of the Wolf Demon Tribe."

The two others jump from the new voice introduced, but Kōga assures them,

"Whoever it is doesn't smell like a cat. Who's there?"

Stepping out from the bushes, was Ryoakan, who Kōga recognized:

"You're Ryoakan."

Ginat and Hakkaku relax and ask aloud,

"You mean, the demon who's the Keeper of the Forest?"

"The demon from Hell who gobbles up anyone who happens to get lost?"

Kōga then asks Ryoakan,

"What're you doin' around here and what do you want?"

"That's what I was about to ask you. You're not accompanying Lord Sesshomaru, are you?"

"Sesshomaru? Who the hell's that?"

"You don't know?"

"Nope."

Speaking of Sesshomaru...

We cut over to him facing several panther demon subordinates, being led by Tōran:

"You summoned me here to come. Now let me see your so-called master."

"All in good time, once the preparations are complete. In the meantime, won't you stay here with me?"

Jaken then steps up and says,

"Let me take care of the wench, Lord Sesshomaru. Feel the power of the Staff of Two Heads!"

(Fwoooom)

The old man head opens its mouth and unleashes a torrent of fire, to which Tōran would counter with a current of ice...As both attacks collide, Jaken calls out,

"Be strong, staff!"

Unfortunately, the panther demon's strength prevails, and Jaken was thrown off by the ice wind, before crying out in fright as several icicles fly his way!

(Shatter)

Thankfully, he's saved when Sesshomaru draws Tokijin and blocks the ice...Tōran then summons an ice spear and comments,

"I am indeed impressed. You weapon is formidable!"

(Leap, swing)

At the same time, Inuyasha and Karan were engaged in battle, he dodging a few of her fireballs, before slugging her in the cheek:

"Agh!"

"Damn you!"

Nearby was everyone else of the group, with the twins riding Hachi again while the others rode Kilala...They fly to the starting fire, and Sango calls down for the dog demon first:

"Inuyasha!" Next were Shippo and Miroku:

"Where are you?!"

"Inuyasha!"

They then spot a figure standing in the middle of the flames...

"He's there!"

"Kilala!"

...But Besa and Freeman sense something wrong:

"Wait..."

"That, looks like..."

They squint their eyes...before widening them when they realize,

"Oh crap!" "Guys, wait: It's a trap!"

But their warning came late: The figure, _Shūran_ , then uses his lightning ability to attack the group!

(Ka-pow)

"Aaaaah!" "Aaaaah!" "Whaaaaah!"

As they all fall from their respected rides, Freeman and Besa managed to reach out and grip eachother's hands:

"Bro! The shield!"

"Right!"

(...Sheen) (...Sheen)

Back to Sesshomaru

As he and Tōran continue to clash against one another, she comments,

"Ah, the memories...It is exactly like the last time we fought. Back then, it was a draw. But today, you won't be so lucky."

"I would hardly call that a draw. You simply retreated in defeat."

"Now now, you're one to talk with all the men you lost."

That seemed to strike a nerve, in which Sesshomaru would push forward before unleashing Tokijin's Aura at Tōran:

(Pow, crash...)

She leaps out of the way in time, with another village home taking the attack in her place...As she lands, she says to Sesshomaru,

"I wasn't nearly as determined back then as I am right now...because now we have our Master."

Several panther demon subordinates spring at Sesshomaru...who easily destroys them with one swing from his sword:

(Pow, BOOM)

...Once the explosion dies down, we see several more homes have taken damage...Surveying the area, Tōran remarks,

"Now things are completely different..."

Flashback

 _Sesshomaru observes a desolate landscape, spotting a large group running across the plains..._

"Fifty years ago, the Panther Demons that my father fought, came back..."

 _It was then several demons, Ryoakan included, came to the dog demon:_

 _"Lord Sesshomaru. My men and I have come to lend our assistance."_

 _"Let's get them!"_

 _"We'll teach those cats a lesson!" He turns to the demons and asks,_

 _"Why do you wish to assist me?"_

 _"We are indebted to your father for the last war, so we would like to assist you, my lord."_

 _"What are we waiting for?"_

 _"It's been so long since we fought those cats!"_

 _...Suddenly, Jaken comes running from the forest:_

 _"Lord Sesshomaruuuuu! I bring, terrible news!"_

End of Flashback

Closing the memory, Sesshomaru turns to one pile of rubble, thinking of the imp that always followed him:

"...Jaken."

Back to Kōga's group and Ryoakan

"What do you mean, slowed him down?"

"What do you mean, route?"

Ryoakan replies to Ginta and Hakkaku,

"In the end, me and my men failed Lord Sesshomaru. We said we'd defend the front lines, and he was battling in fine form at the time..."

He recalls when the Four Devas used their abilities during the battle, forcing him and his fellows to retreat, but Ginta and Hakkaku saw differently:

"(Whisper) I guess they lost."

"(Whisper) Yeah, and ran away." Ryoakan bellows,

"I FOUGHT FOR AS LONG AS I COULD! THOSE CATS WERE NOTHING BUT COWARDS!"

Kōga cuts in before things got anymore heated:

"That's enough. Who cares about what happened in the past? Just how deep is this forest, anyway?"

Hakkaku and Ginta agree:

"I'll say..."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say we've been goin' around in circles..."

Ryoakan was as suspicious, and spews out several three-eyes wolves to check into it:

"Alright! They'll sniff out the area."

The wolves run about, but seemed a bit, disoriented...

"What the...?"

"I'll take over now."

(Leap)

Kōga hops up a tree to get a better view, but cringes when he feels a strong gust of wind try to push him. He kicks it down, and leaps high above the trees, to see Shunran and some other panther demons standing nearby in another clearing!

"(Gasp) It's her!"

He lands back down and begins running to her:

 _She's put up a Demonic Aura!_

He then tries to lunge and attack at Shunran, but she leaps away in time:

"I see you have a couple of jewel shards!"

She then casts a gust of wind with the illusionary flowers at Kōga and company, with Ginta and Hakkaku calling over the rush of air,

"What's goin' on?!"

"How should I know?!" Kōga calls back,

"Don't breathe in this scent!"

He then tries to attack again, only for Shunran to dodge while giggling...Just when he does get a swipe, she bursts into a shower of flowers! Ryoakan exclaims,

"She's a sorceress!" Hakkaku comments,

"It looks like they've trapped us inside the forest."

Kōga lands back down with a frustrated growl:

"Rgh! The only thing I can smell now is flowers!"

"...Kōga!" "Ginta! Hakkaku!"

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Freeman and Besa come running out of the trees, their bodies glowing a bit from a rainbow-coloured sheen! Once they reach the wolf demons and forest guardian, Kōga asks,

"You two? Where'd you come from, and what's with the glow?" Besa replies,

"We're not exactly sure ourselves. We got thrown off by one of the panther demon's attacks back in the old town, and woke up near the woods just as our shield finished dissipating."

Freeman adds,

"Our crystal shards just won't shining, but it looks like it's doin' us good if we found you guys through that demon aura."

The twins turn to another direction, narrowing their eyes:

"It's like, our senses have been hyped up something crazy..."

"Yeah, and I'm catchin' somethin' stronger coming from that way, which must mean the castle of the Panther Demon Tribe's over there somewhere."

The four demons look at Freeman and Besa with surprise, and Ginta remarks,

"...Well, seeing as they can see where the cats are, maybe we should follow them."

Hakkaku nods in agreement, and Kōga sighs before stepping over by Freeman to say,

"Alright. If you two know which way's out of this damn forest, lead us that way."

The twins nod, before all six start running to where the castle would be...

Coraline's POV

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse then I've already discovered, Shūran suddenly appears and tosses Miroku and Sango into the cell, both stripped of their weapons!

"Miroku! Sango!"

 _Damn it!_

"You and your friends will be sacrificed and be offered to our Master."

"(Narrows eyes) What master? What do you mean?"

"You will give us your jewel shards and your lives, and our master will be resurrected."

Shūran then closes the cell door, and walks away, leaving me to become a bit more anxious of our situation:

 _...This is bad._

 _At least my brothers, Inuyasha, Shippo, Kilala and Hachi are still out there, so not all hope's lost._

 _I just gotta stay calm, and wait..._

 _But if all goes to hell...I'll fight tooth and nail to get outta here._

Meanwhile, back in the abandoned town, No POV

We see Jaken, who managed to escape unharmed in the earlier explosion, wandering around to find his master:

"Where could he have gotten to? Lord Sesshomaru? Where are you? I can't find you..."

His attention is then drawn to several panther demons approaching him from behind:

"Guh-uh, stay away!"

But he ends up backing into another panther demon:

"Grh-rh! Not cats again!"

He then yelps and runs off, with the panther demons chasing him. He tries to stave them off with the Staff of Two Heads, but some jump over the attack and close in on him:

"Gaaaah!"

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash)

Inuyasha then jumps in and takes down those demons, prompting the rest to turn and flee...Jaken decides to follow their example in the other direction:

"My chance to get away!"

Unfortunately, he wouldn't get far, as Inuyasha leaps in front of his path:

"Waah!"

"Hey."

Jaken tries to run the other way, but is grabbed by his robes and lifted to Inuyasha's eye-level:

"Have you seen my friends around here?"

"No, but would you happen to know where Lord Sesshomaru might be?"

"How would I know? Besides, what the heck is he doin' here? This isn't any of his business."

Jaken furiously barks back,

"How dare you say that and defile your father's memory!"

"Now you've totally lost me."

"Your father waged war against the Panther Demon Tribe a long time ago."

"Oh that? Myoga told me. But I thought Sesshomaru didn't even fight in that battle."

"The Panther Tribe showed up again fifty years ago bent on revenge...Your father had passed on, but they came to ravage the countryside and kill his people. But at that time, you weren't much help!"

"Hm?"

Flashback

 _Continuing off after the demons led by Ryoakan offered to aid Sesshomaru, Jaken arrives with some troubling information:_

 _"Lord Sesshomaru! I bring, terrible news!"_

 _"What is it?"_

 _"Forgive me, but I acted on my own and went to fetch Inuyasha. He may be a half-demon, but he's still your father's son."_

 _"I see...Where is he? What? Is he too cowardly to show himself, or did he simply refuse to come to his brother's aid?"_

 _"Neither. I'm afraid he's been placed under a spell." That caught Sesshomaru by surprise:_

 _"A spell?"_

 _"Indeed. He lost his heart to a mortal priestess, and fell prey to her sacred powers."_

 _"(Frown) How foolish of him."_

 _"Yes...(Turns to see the demon group) Who are those demons?"_

 _"My father saved them in the great war..." Jaken was happy to hear that not all hope was lost:_

 _"We have allies. How wonderful. I was concerned, I admit, but now that your father's allies have arrived, we can go into battle with confidence."_

 _...Sesshomaru doesn't reply, and merely steps on Jaken as he walks off._

End of Flashback

"Of course, Lord Sesshomaru had never expected you to come to his assistance, but victory would've been so easy if we had the Tessaiga, the sword that was forged by your father."

"Kuh, Sesshomaru can't wield my sword."

"That's not the point, you ungrateful son!" Inuaysha turns away from Jaken:

"Would you stop harpin' me about the past?"

"Huh?"

Inuyasha then starts leaping off to find everyone, with Jaken calling,

"Wait, please don't leave me!" The dog demon says to himself as he was mid-air,

"Now I get it: All that stuff happened while I was under the spell."

Castle Jail Cell, Coraline's POV

After about ten-fifteen minutes, Miroku finally stirs awake, before going to gently wake Sango:

"Where, are we?"

"Yeah..."

I smile and say to them,

"Welcome back to the real world, you two."

They turn to me as I kneel down on one knee with an arm resting on top:

"Coraline!"

"Coraline! I'm glad you're alright...Wait, what happened to you?"

She was obviously talking about my minor injuries, but I just shake my head with a smile and reply,

"Oh these? I woke up about halfway to the valley, and tried to escape the three panthers. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan, and they just tied my wrists together before dragging me along...Still, totally worth the scratches and bruises I gave those bitches for every hit they gave me."

Sango gapes at me in surprise...before shaking her head with an amused smile:

"Good grief: I think you've been hanging out with Inuyasha for too long."

I just laugh at her response...Miroku then turns his head to the door and remarks,

"So, is this some kind of prison cell they've put us in?" I reply with a straight face,

"Afraid so...and we're not the only humans captured..."

"Who else is in here?"

I turn to the back of the jail cell:

"See for yourself..."

Our eyes fall on a huge group of villagers, whom I learned occupy a town not too far from the castle.

 _Not a good place to call home, if you ask me..._

"Who are they? Do you think they're the villagers?"

"No wonder there wasn't a sign of life in the town." I explain to Sango and Miroku,

"Based on what I could gather, these people had escaped the harshness of war and built the town as a safe haven."

"I see: It's a perfect place to hide in peace."

"It was, until those damn panthers discovered the place and took over. Things only got worse from there..."

One of the men trembles and mutters,

"You've got to help us, or else we're all going to be killed by those cats." A woman holding their child adds,

"I'm afraid...Why did those demons have to come?"

I smile sadly at how desperate and frightened they sounded, before walking over to say with courage,

"Please don't worry: Help is on the way, I promise. Those panthers we'll regret the day they were born!"

One young, frail man replies worriedly,

"The demons will get wind of it for certain."

"The one coming has strength that has surpassed many demons. Trust me: He won't stand idly by and let these panthers win."

Not all of the villagers were convinced:

"I'm terrified!"

"Oh lord, please help all of us..."

But a few seemed to perk up, and one man asks,

"Um, who's stronger than the cats?"

"(Smile) His name is Inuyasha. There's also someone by name of Kōga who has formidable strength, and their own respected allies. Plus, my brothers are still out there, and they won't stop at nothing until they see me safe."

Miroku then says something that threw me off:

"I wouldn't be so sure about Sesshomaru, though."

"Whoa, what?! Sesshomaru's here?!" Sango explains:

"He's here battling the Panther Demon Tribe."

"Hmm...Wonder what his gambit is?"

Courtyard, No POV

As Coraline was trying to keep everyone's spirits up in the dungeon, we turn to the outdoors where a simple yet elegant altar has been set up, the embers of the two fire posts casting shadows on the ground...

Tōran is the only soul there, placing a holder with the three Shikon-no-Tama shards stolen from the Inuyasha group in the middle of the set-up.

As the jewel shards emit a soft glow, she looks up and remarks,

"The time has almost come...Soon, you will be resurrected, Master."

And following her view, we see the giant carcass of the panther demon that fought Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's father many years ago...!

The Gates

At the same time, Sesshomaru reaches the bridge leading to one of the entrances to the Panther Demon Tribe's castle, while on the other side, stood Karan cloaked in her fire elemental energy:

"Huh. It's the older brother again."

At a second gate, Shūran begins battling against Kōga, Ginta, Hakkaku, Ryoakan and the twins using his lightning attacks:

"Go home, wolf! You're not wanted here!"

(Bzz-crack)

Everyone scrambles to dodge the lightning strike, while Kōga leaps up to counterattack the panther demon:

"Get, outta my waaaay!"

Finally, at the third gate, Inuyasha and Jaken arrive to face Shunran:

"Jaken to the rescue!"

"You're here...(Giggle)"

"Kuh, (Pulls out Tessaiga) where have you got Coraline?!"


	84. Chapter 83

**Chapter 83: The Panther Tribe & The Two Swords of Fang**

As everyone else is preparing for what comes or was already engaged in battle, we turn back to the abandoned town in the aftermath of Karan and Shūran's attack, as Shippo pulls himself out of the rubble of one destroyed home:

"Uh! That's right: Coraline was abducted by the Panther Tribe, and it's up to us to save her!"

After recalling all that has happened so far, Shippo looks to see Hachi and Kilala laying unconscious not too far away...yet does not see the others who were with him:

"Miroku! Sango! Freeman?! Besa!" It was then Myoga hops over to him:

"Oh, you're alive, Shippo!"

"Hi, Myoga. Where is everyone?"

"Probably deep within the castle..."

Speaking about said structure, we jump now to one of the three gates where Inuyasha and Jaken are, as they face with Shunran. Inuyasha demands,

"Hurry up and move outta my way, or you'll regret it!" The panther demon replies,

"Just try and get past us!"

Inuyasha readies his blade:

"Huh, bring it on."

He then leaps up and tries to strike Shunran, but she uses her illusion abilities to split into three images and fade from view:

"Wha-?! Guh!"

Inuyasha just barely balances himself upon landing, and turns around, only to see multiple giggling images of the panther demon pop up across the sky!

"What is this?! (Leap) Damn it!"

He tries to attack again, but his blade only meets with fake images, who continue to laugh tauntingly all the while in each failed swing...

Meanwhile, at another gate, Kōga continues to butt fists and kicks with Shūran, and lands backwards before sprinting ahead to try and land another attack:

"Get outta my way!"

"No chance!"

Shūran then proceeds to rush forward and tries to land hits to Kōga, but he manages to leap back from each strike...He then goes to land another kick at the panther demon, but:

"Huh?"

"Die!"

(Bzz-crack)

Lightning shoots out from Shūran's circlet, to which the wolf demon would barely dodge, meaning Ryoakan would take the hit:

(Bzzzt)

"Gaaaaah!"

He falls backwards and faints from the power of the attack, causing concern to fall over Hakkaku and Ginta:

"They got Ryoakan!"

"What is that?! Is it lightning?!"

Freeman and Besa kneel down and check the demon's injuries:

"...He's still breathing, but he definitely got hit hard."

"Yeah...but I'm sure our Seven Light shards can help him."

As the twins start using their crystal shards to heal Ryoakan, Shūran says to Kōga with a laugh,

"Not too bad, little man." The wolf demon growls as he ponders,

 _He doesn't move quickly, but his lightning is deadly._

And at the third gate, Karan tries to attack Sesshomaru with her fire magic, but he blocks with Tokijin...

" _Fireball!_ "

(Fwoom)

Sesshomaru holds out Tokijin and sends its Aura at the fire attack, blasting through it, before hitting Karan:

"Aaaaahhhhh!"

She crashes into the wall, before falling into the moat, extinguishing her elemental aura:

(Splash, sizzzz...)

As she growls at the approaching dog demon, suddenly:

(TOK)

Sesshomaru is forced to leap out of the path of an icicle spear, as it unleashes its ice power, freezing the area around it all the way to the forest treeline!

On the other side of the bridge, is Tōran...Karan calls to her with some relief:

"Tōran!"

The ice elemental panther demon addresses Sesshomaru:

"What a surprise. I thought you would be weaker than you were before..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're short an arm. Who could've done such a thing to the mighty Lord Sesshomaru?"

As she laughs, Sesshomaru's eyes narrow, before he leaps up and swings Tokijin's Aura at Tōran, she shooting her ice current at him! Both attacks collide, before ending in a draw:

(BOOM)

Sesshomaru lands on the bridge, while Tōran lands on the roof of the gate entrance...

"At last, the celebrations are about to begin. We'll be waiting for you!"

She lets out another laugh, before vanishing in her icy winds...

Back to Kōga and company

(Crack-boom, crack-boom, crack-boom)

After dodging three more lightning strikes, the wolf demon falls back behind a boulder, with Shūran mockingly asking,

"What's the problem? Not holding back on my account, are ya? Come and get me!"

Kōga says to himself,

"His lightning bolts are fast, but that's all he's got goin' for 'im. Alright!"

Using his enhanced speed thanks to the jewel shards in his legs, he leaps from behind the boulder and sprints towards the panther demon:

"You're dead!"

"Too slow!"

But Kōga rushes from side-to-side, before quickly appearing in front of Shūran!

"Oh no I'm not!"

"Huh?"

"You are!"

(KICK)

"Uuuuhhh!"

The panther demon's hit hard in the stomach by Kōga's foot, forcing the former to jump back...

"Hah! Had enough?"

"Retreat, Panther Tribe!"

The rest of the panther demons follow Shūran, and head over the gate to the inside of the castle...

"Heh-heh, serves you right! (Turns behind him) How's the big guy doin' back there?"

Hakkaku replies from up top Ryoakan,

"He's breathing," and Ginta adds,

"He's no longer injured thanks to Freeman and Besa, but I don't think he even fainted...more like he's sleeping..."

The twins nod in confirmation and Kōga replies,

"Huh, then leave 'im. (Turns to the front) Let's go...I know Coraline's in there."

The twins turn to one another and whisper,

"Yeah...so do we."

Inuyasha's POV

I keep slashing at these annoying images of this damn panther girl, but kept comin' up with nothing but flower petals and giggling..I stop for a second and grumble to myself,

"I can't tell which one of them is real..." Jaken then comes to my side and asks incredulously,

"What are you doing, Inuyasha?"

"Shut up!"

"(Raises his staff) Let me handle this! Now behold as I dispel the illusions!"

(Fwooooommmm...)

The fire from his staff destroys the fake images, leaving only the one panther girl!

"Is that the real one?"

"Mhm."

She says to Jaken,

"Oooh, not bad for a little imp."

"Your tricks can't fool me! Don't underestimate my power!" I mutter,

"Huh, now that I know who I'm dealing with..."

(Dash)

"Hrrrraaaahhhh!"

(Swing)

My sword makes contact with damn flower petals again, and she calls over the wind,

"Let's continue this at the castle!"

And then the panther girl was gone...

"(Growl) Damn her and her stupid tricks!"

 _But never mind her: I gotta get in there and find Coraline!_

No POV

In the courtyard by the altar with the jewel shards and giant demon carcass, a blue hemisphere shines off to the side, while the four Panther Devas and their subordinates kneel in front of the set-up, waiting for their master to come back to the land of the living...

"The time is almost upon us, Master...The moon is almost directly overhead. In moments, the dogs that we despise will be slaughtered, and the Panther Tribe will rule over these lands!"

(...Glow)

A red barrier forms around the area, just as Sesshomaru arrives, and tries to use Tokijin to destroy it:

(Swing, clang)

But, his blade would not be strong enough, and he would be forced to land back on the ground:

 _...A barrier._

Tōran turns to him and says with a menacing smile,

"Soon, our Master will be resurrected. Sesshomaru, prepare to die!"

The jewel shards emit a soft glow...before the carcass of the panther demon giant roars! It then reaches down and grabs the altar, gobbling down its contents! The panther demons become excited, and Shūran mutters,

"Our Master has awakened!"

The carcass then speaks, with the jewel shards glowing inside his neck:

 **"Give me blood...flesh...and Soul!"**

...The blue hemisphere then glows brighter, before breaking away, revealing Coraline, Sango, Miroku and the villagers, now standing on an stone platform! Miroku asks aloud,

"What's this?" Sango replies,

"It's the Panther Tribe." Coraline narrows her eyes and mutters,

"Great. Now what?"

"...Coraliiine!"

They turn to the right where the shout came from, and see,

"Kōga!"

He leaps up and tries to bust open the barrier with a kick, but is thrown back by the power:

"Grh!"

He lands down by Ginta, Hakkaku and the twins, and as he rises, he mutters,

"Damn it: A barrier!"

Tōran laughs hysterically and calls out,

"As if fools like you could break the Great One's Barrier!" Shunran jeers,

"Stick around and join us for dinner: We're having Sacrificial Lamb!"

The carcass then starts reaching its hand down to Coraline, Miroku and Sango, with the second saying,

"Find yourself another meal!"

He then removes his prayer beads to use his Wind Tunnel, but:

(Pulse)

"Uh!"

Some other force stops him, and he falls to his knees, prompting Sango to rush to his aid:

"Miroku!"

The hand continues to reach down, and Coraline rushes in front of the slayer and monk, arms outstretched while gritting her teeth for the inevitable...

But then:

"Coraliiiiine!"

Inuyasha finally arrives, his Tessaiga glowing red and ready to cut down the barrier, to which Sesshomaru would note:

 _...The Tessaiga is red!_

(SLASH)

One Wind Scar later, and the barrier is completely destroyed! The cat carcass turns to him and growls, while the panther demon subordinates are shocked stupid...

"(Smirk) Sorry to keep ya." Karan grinds her teeth and barks,

"The mutt...He broke our Master's barrier!" Tōran wasn't anymore pleased than she was:

"How dare he...!"

Jaken meanwhile rushes to his master's side:

"Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru! (Pant, pant) I have searched everywhere for you! (Looks towards Inuyasha) Inuyasha has surprised me: When did he learn to become so powerful and wield the Tessaiga like that?"

The dog demon does not reply...Inuyasha runs over to Coraline, who hugs him around his shoulders:

"Inuyasha!" He places an arm around her in return:

"Coraline. Are you alright?" They pull back, and Coraline grins while replying,

"I am now that you're here, but I never had any doubts you'd come."

...It was then she felt a reassuring hand go on her shoulder, and she turns to see Kōga:

"No need to worry now, Coraline."

"Uuuh, thanks?" Inuyasha growls and barks,

"Hands off her, Kōga!"

Freeman then rushes over and says urgently,

"Uh, hate to interrupt, but we still got a problem to deal with! (Points up with a gasp) Look out!"

 **"Give, me, blood...!"**

Freeman then takes Coraline's hand and drags her away from the area with Kōga following, leaving Inuyasha as the target for the giant hand:

(Slam)

"Inuyasha!"

"Rest assured, Coraline, it's gonna be easy to get'cha outta here."

She turns to glare at Kōga and says fiercely,

"As if I'd leave without everyone else!" The twins nod and add with serious frowns,

"She's right."

"We need to get these villagers out of the crossfire."

...Inuyasha then manages to push the heavy palm back, before using Tessaiga to cut it into pieces, with the carcass howling in pain! Tōran growls,

"That brat, he's attacking our Master!"

Coraline then looks up, and sees a familiar glow in the carcass's neck:

 _There! That's where the jewel shards are!_

She rushes to Inuyasha to tell him:

"Inuyasha, aim for the throat: That's where the Shikon-no-Tama shards are."

"Gotcha. I'll get 'em back."

"I know you will...In the meantime, I better help lead these villagers to safety."

She runs onto the stone platform and starts directing:

"Everyone, stay together and run for your lives! (Points to the nearest gate) Head for the entrance there!"

They nod and begin sprinting for freedom, but Tōran then orders,

"Stop them! Don't let them escape!"

A group of the panther subordinates block the villager's way, much to their fears:

"We're doomed!"

"There's no way out!"

Coraline hurries over, gesturing her brothers to help, and they stand bravely against the panther demons:

"What's up with you dolts?! If we're suppose to be live sacrifices, what's the point in kill us?! Honestly!"

"Yeah, so get outta the way or we'll kill you!"

"What they said!"

With that, Coraline began slugging a few panther demons with her bare fists, while Freeman used his hammer to knock/push some aside, and Besa used his sickles to swipe the air threateningly to scare the panthers back...Ginta and Hakkaku were impressed:

"Would you look at them go!"

"That's our friends!"

Kōga then says to them,

"Alright, don't just stand there: Clear the way for them!"

With that, the wolf demons run to lend a hand, using their own strengths to punch and kick the panther demons aside...At one point, Ginta and Freeman found themselves back-to-back:

"Oh, hey!"

"Hey...You know, for a human, you're a pretty good fighter!"

"Uh...(Smile) Thanks! So are you, as a wolf demon."

They grin at one another, before continuing the fight...Meanwhile, Sango holds up Miroku, as he tries to get his breath back:

"Are you okay? Miroku?"

(...Tok, tok)

"Huh?"

It was then that Miroku's staff and Hiraikotsu landed in the ground, courtesy of Hachi and Shippo flying aboard Kilala:

"Up here, Miroku!"

"Sango!"

They grin while readying themselves with their weapons:

"Help has arrived."

"Let's get going."

"Right!"

(Toss, spin...tok-tok-tok-tok-tok-tok)

(Whack, whack)

With most of the panther demon subordinates taken down, Coraline and her brothers lead the villagers to the gate:

"Hurry, everyone!" "This is the time!"

"Quick, run for it!"

"Coraline!"

"Hm?"

She pauses, and sees Hachi holding her sword and combat knife:

"Here, catch!"

(Drop...grasp)

She grabs each weapon in both her hands, and quickly attaches them to her thigh and back, before calling up with a smile,

"Thanks, Hachi!"

 _Now I feel more ready to fight..._

We cut back to Inuyasha, as he tries to land a hit to the giant cat carcass's skull:

"Die!"

(Clang)

Though there's no cut, the carcass was thrown backwards, and falls on his back:

(Crash...)

"Master!"

The Panther Devas rush to their master's aid, and he utters,

 **"Give me blood...and, Soul..."** Tōran replies,

"We will! Please, wait a little longer! Master, I promise I will bring you the head of the Dog General's son on a platter!"

Hearing such, Inuyasha retorts,

"Huh, I don't care who this master of yours is! I'm not letting you use human flesh and blood to resurrect him!"

Tōran pulls out a sword from her side and calls back,

"We will and you shall be our first sacrifice!"

"You might not feel that way once you've felt how sharp my blade is!"

Sesshomaru and Jaken observe the scene from the sidelines, the former recalling back to the end of the last battle with the Panther Tribe fifty years ago...

Flashback

 _We see numerous carcasses of panther demons and other species strewn across the plains...Sesshomaru and Jaken survey the damage:_

 _"Aaah, another glorious battle, my lord, and a victory for you!" Sesshomaru saw differently:_

 _"There was no victory. They fled from battle, that's all."_

 _He holds up the Tenseiga:_

 _"I cannot use this sword. The Tenseiga is a Sword of Healing. I cannot kill my enemies with this...I need the other sword my father left behind...The Tessaiga."_

End of Flashback

Tōran lunges at Inuyasha with her ice spear, but he dodges and unleashes his blade's power:

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

Sesshomaru watches while thinking to himself,

 _I need it, and yet I do not have the power to wield it..._

Shunran and Karan then jump in to battle, combining their powers to slow Inuyasha:

"Rgh..."

"You're, through!"

Shūran then jumps down and pins Inuyasha to the ground:

"What's the matter? Can't you use your sword like this?"

Before any retort could be made:

(Pow)

Sesshomaru leaps in and blasts the Four Panther Devas with Tokijin's Aura!

...Once the air clears, we see the panthers down on the ground, while Inuyasha manages to lift himself up and glare at Sesshomaru:

"I told you not to interrupt!"

"Stay there where you are. These panther demons belong to me."

"(Rises to a stand) Not this time! You're the one that'll have to back up!"

"Enough!"

(Dash, clang)

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha meet in a clash Tokijin against Tessaiga, before Inuyasha shoves back the other's sword:

"No chance! Rrraaahhhh! Outta my way!"

The older dog demon dodges, and as they continue to fight, Jaken clutches his head and mutters,

"Why can't they join forces instead of fighting eachother?"

Sesshomaru swings Tokijin at Inuyasha, who blocks with Tessaiga:

"Back down!"

"I don't need any help from you."

"Oh yeah?"

While this was going on, the cat demon carcass sits back up with a growl, while the Four Panther Devas watch the fight between the half-siblings with disbelief:

"Are they out of their minds?" Shunran comments after Karan,

"It's hard to believe they're brothers!" Shūran then says,

"Yeah, what in the world are they thinking?" Tōran replies,

"The Dog General's sons are fighting eachother, which means that we must stay united. (Smirk) We'll combine our powers and strike them all at once."

The other three agree wholeheartedly to that plan:

"Alright!"

"Oh yeah!"

"Right!"

But just as they charge up their quadruple-elemental attack, the giant carcass demands once again,

 **"Give, me, life...!"** Tōran tries to assure him:

"Yes, Master, please be patient! We shall offer you their Souls in but a moment!"

...But the giant cat had run out of patience:

 **"Give me your Souls!"**

He sends his claws down on the Devas (minus Tōran), and they all cry out in pain, before their lives are absorbed by the cat carcass! Tōran was appalled:

"H...How, could he...?!"

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru watch, as the corpse transforms into the living giant panther demon, fur and all, letting out a feral growl!

"He devoured his own kin so that he could revive himself..."

The giant turns his eyes down on the dog demons:

 **"You, two...Sons of the Dog General...You're, next."**

His eyes glow red...Meanwhile, Tōran is left in agony, as she gazes at the dead bodies of her sisters and brother:

"Shunran...Karan...Shūran...It, can't, be...!"

 **"Dogs...You will now feel the full extent of my wrath!"** Inuyasha retorts,

"Time to wake up from your pipe dreams! Maybe my sword can help!"

The giant panther tries to claw Inuyasha, who leaps back to dodge, while Sesshomaru leaps up to attack with Tokijin's Aura:

(Pow)

It lands a good hit, but not good enough to kill, and the panther giant slaps Sesshomaru away, he landing safe on the ground. Inuyasha then takes a turn:

"Outta my way! _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

"Dead on."

...But as the energy fades, we see that the panther demon was still standing!

 **"(Chuckle) No such luck!"**

"You've got the strength to fight my old man, I'll give you that much. Hah, you won't get past me, though!"

Jaken calls,

"Don't be so sure, Inuyasha: He's become more powerful than Ryukotsusei. He has the power of the Shikon-no-Tama shards now!"

The panther giant them shoots its claws at Inuyasha, who uses Tessaiga to knock them aside, before both he and Sesshomaru dodge a lighting attack...

Meanwhile, outside the castle, everyone watches the action (or what they could see) from the ruined town, with one villager crying out,

"It's the huge panther demon!"

Shippo exclaims from Miroku's shoulder,

"Look: The panther king's come back to life!" Miroku mutters,

"I thought he needed a live sacrifice..." Kōga jokes casually,

"Maybe he had some fresh dog meat."

"No...He took the lives of his own kin."

"Huh?"

Everyone turns to Coraline in confusion, as she cancels out her Aura Sight, a grim expression on her face:

"I can sense one Devas is alive...but the other three Auras are gone."

They all widen their eyes, and Coraline whispers to herself,

"Inuyasha's Aura's still bright as ever...I know he'll prevail."

 _Good luck, my friend...and be careful._

Back inside, Sesshomaru knocks aside more of the claws, before leaping up to attack the Panther King:

"Perish!"

(WHACK)

"Uh!"

But he was hit rather violently by the panther demon's horn, causing worry to stir in Jaken:

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

Luckily, the dog demon recovers and somersaults to a crouch back on the ground...

 **"(Chuckle) You shall be my next victim!"**

Inuyasha then leaps up and begins hitting the giant's horn over and over, but no effect is made...Jaken rushes to his lord's aid:

"Lord Sesshomaru! Uh, my lord...what is it?"

He then quiets down fast...when he sees a dangerous gleam beginning to erupt in Sesshomaru's eyes:

"... _Curse him._ "

His eyes begin glowing that demonic red, and he stands up, sheathing Tokijin, preparing to shift into his full demon form...

Until:

(Throb)

"Rrh! The Tenseiga..."

His eyes go back to normal, and he looks down at the sheathed fang sword:

"...You wish to be drawn."

He looks back up, just as Inuyasha is thrown back to the ground:

(Crash, slide)

 _Father...Why did you leave me the Tenseiga? I still don't understand..._

Nevertheless, Sesshomaru steps forward, before leaping up, and slashing the Tenseiga across the Panther King, much to Tōran's and Inuyasha disbelief:

"Uh...!"

"What was that?!"

Seshomaru lands and sheathes Tenseiga, just as the Panther King turns to to him to jeer,

 **"You can't harm me with that useless sword! It's blade is far too dull! Vanquish!"**

...But upon reaching out, the giant demon suddenly collapses, while Auras begin spilling out his body!

 **"Aaagh! My, power...! What's, happening?! I'm losing my power! (Reverts back into a carcass) What have you done to meee?!"**

Sesshomaru just walks past Inuyasha, telling him,

"...You finish him off with the Tessaiga."

Though somewhat confused, Inuyasha doesn't question his older half-brother, and readies his blade against the Panther King:

 **"GIVE ME, MY, SOOOOUUULLLLL!"**

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

The giant is thrown back and hit hard, and he howls in pain, before falling on his back...Inuyasha then hops up and cuts open the carcass's throat to get the jewel shards:

"I'm taking these back, thanks."

Tōran growls at the dog demon, but her attention is then drawn to the soft groaning...coming from her brother and sisters!

"Uh...Tōran."

Shunran blinks awake after Shūran with a tired expression, while Karan shoots up awake:

"Uh!"

"You're all alive!" Karan asks,

"What, the hell, just happened to us?" Shūran replies,

"Yeah, I was sure that the Master had killed us all..." Shunran wonders,

"Someone must have saved us..."

Jaken steps up to explain:

"It was none other than Lord Sesshomaru!"

"Huh?"

"Your own master took your lives, but Lord Sesshomaru used his own sword, the Tenseiga, to bring you back to life."

Tōran was taken aback:

"He saved us?" Karan growls,

"That mutt?!" Jaken scolds,

"You should at least show some gratitude! (Looks around) Isn't that right, Lord Sesshomaru? Where is he?"

He then realizes the dog demon must've left:

"Oh! (Starts running) Please don't leave me behind again!"

Inuyasha then calls down to the Four Panther Devas:

"So, you wanna pick up where we left off?"

Tōran glares at Inuyasha...but then smiles, and looks away while replying,

"No, we shall return to the West."

The others were confused:

"Hn?"

"Tōran..."

"This is finished. There is no reason for us to take revenge. (Looks up at Inuyasha) You can tell Sesshomaru I said that."

Inuyasha replies while sheathing Tessaiga,

"Kuh, we're not exactly a close-root family, if you know what I mean."

"Hm. Just tell him next time you see him."

He calls back while walking out,

"...Alright."

Time Skip

Come the next day, the villagers see Coraline, Miroku, Sango and the twins off from their town, each one having a bundle in their hands...

"We are forever indebted to you all." Coraline smiles and says to them,

"Your village shouldn't be in danger anymore, now that the Panther Tribe has returned to the West."

"Thank you so much. Finally, we can live in peace."

"(Nod) We'll be on our way then."

Nearby across the bridge, all the others including Inuyasha, Shippo, Hachi, Kilala, Kōga, Ginta, Hakkaku, and Ryoakan were leaning against and/or sitting on a boulder.

Ryoakan was in tears because he wasn't able to participate in the battle last night:

"I wanted to assist Lord Sesshomaru so badly..." Kōga chides to him casually,

"It's too late now," and Ginta adds,

"Well, there's always next time, I suppose."

Inuyasha sighs and thinks aloud on the Panther King:

"With guys like that around, it's no wonder humans are scared all the time."

Shippo agrees:

"Yeah, they give a bad name to the rest of us demons." Hachi chimes,

"Yes indeed."

Kōga doesn't miss a word and comments,

"Keh, what's the matter? You actually expect a thank you from those mortals?"

Inuyasha growls back,

"You again? Why don't we finish off that little score of ours?"

The wolf demon slides off the boulder and replies,

"Sure, thought you'd never ask!"

"(Unsheathes Tessaiga) You shouldn't be so lucky!"

"Fellas, if we could cut the testosterone crap out, please!"

The two demons turn to look over at Coraline, as she approaches them and comments while shaking her head disapprovingly,

"Honestly, we all just took on a tribe of crazy cats last night. Can't we just shake hands and see eachother another day?"

They stare at her for a moment...before looking away with huffs and muttering,

"Whatever."

Scene Shift: Open Field

Somewhere far enough away from all the action that took place overnight, we find the young Rin softly singing to herself while sitting on a boulder, with A-Un laying by in the grass with little wild daisies scattered around:

" _Hm-hm hm hm, hm-hm-hm,_  
 _hm-hm hm hm, hm-hm-hm..._

 _In the mountains, in the breeze,_  
 _In the forest, in my dreams,_  
 _Lord Sesshomaru, where are you?_  
 _Jaken is serving under you too..._ "

"...Rin."

She gasps, and turns to see the dog demon and imp have returned:

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

"Let's be off." "Oh, hurry up."

She hops down to the grass and runs to catch up:

"Coming!"

Rin takes A-Un's reigns, and pulls him along to walk with Sesshomaru and Jaken once again, heading off for parts unknown:

" _I will wait for you, on my own,_  
 _Please return to me, waiting on my own..._ "


	85. Chapter 84

**Chapter 84: Only You, Sango**

It's a rainy night here in Sengoku Edo, the specific location being a large castle, with several foot soldiers posted around the grounds, awaiting an attack of unknown origins...

It was then the earth began to shake:

(Rumble...)

"A demon is coming!"

(CRASH)

"(Roar)"

Suddenly, a giant bear demon with black fur, an armoured underbelly, and glowing red eyes came smashing in through the castle wall!

"Attaaack!"

The soldiers begin charging at the beast, but the demon swipes them away with its paw...Another part of the army readies their bows and arrows:

"Fire!"

(Twok)

A flurry of arrows fly and hit the bear demon, but no damage is made, other than making the beast even angrier than before...

Come the morning, rain falls over strewn bodies and weapons, with only a small portion of the army escaping to an encampment to recover. Among them, is a young man sitting with six generals, who decides that this was the last straw:

"(Stands up) It's the only choice we have."

"My lord, there must be other options..."

"Stop wasting my valuable time! Find her, and leave no stone unturned!"

The generals bow in accordance to the order, and the young lord smiles...

Coraline's POV

 _Yet another rainy day..._

My friends and I are now traveling along a path to parts unknown, myself wearing my red/black/white flannel shirt buttoned up over my blue t-shirt to keep the chill out, green jeans, and my black combat boots.

I'm also wearing my thin, red hooded rain slicker (poncho style) overtop to stave off the rain...and I wasn't the only one: My brothers and I decided a while back to buy a rain slicker each for our friends here in Edo from this little thrift shop, they each buying matching green ones for themselves.

We bought a small light blue one for Shippo, a deep purple one for Miroku, pink for Sango, and red for Inuyasha. We even found a small pet rain slicker for Kilala in yellow!

Needless to say, they were all pleased by the little gifts come the first sign of rain the other day, and though Inuyasha was a bit reluctant to wear his at first, his quickly soaking red robes persuaded him otherwise...

Speaking of:

"Ah-Achoo! Lousy weather..." I glance sideways at him with a knowing smile and say,

"I keep telling you to put your hood up..."

He just scoffs and replies,

"Isn't it enough that I'm wearing this weird thing?"

"(Rolls eyes) Whatever...Just don't come cryin' to me if you catch a cold."

"I'm not a weakling, unlike some people..."

"Never said you were."

Besa calls from under the black umbrella he was using,

"Maybe you and Inuyasha should share an umbrella."

I start blushing a bit from the image of he and I that close to one another:

"Ah-heh, yeah, I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"You know damn well why, you little sneak."

He just laughs, and Inuyasha asks me with a grumble due to the inclement weather,

"You wanna explain?"

"Nope."

...A few steps later, I notice no one following me:

"(Stop, turn) What's up?" Miroku and Sango reply,

"Something's coming...I can feel it."

"Me too...Humans." Inuyasha adds,

"Yep, and lots of 'em."

I hm and wonder,

 _A company of soldiers maybe?_

Upon turning back to the front, I use my Aura Sight to do a follow-up check:

 _Yep. About a dozen or more humans..._

They soon come into view out of the misty fog, and my guess was right: It was a small company of soldiers. We step to the side to allow them to pass, but they stop and kneel in front of where Miroku and Sango stood:

"Would you be Sango, the Demon Slayer and her travel party?"

Inuyasha makes a sound of confusion, and I hear my bros whisper to eachother,

"What do think they want?"

"Dunno...Maybe a job call?" Miroku replies,

"Yes, this is Sango here."

"I am Takedake Kashi of Asahi Court. We have come to speak with Sango."

We move into a nearby wilderness hut, and while the rest of the soldiers waited outside, we heard Kashi out:

"I have been asked to request that you destroy a demon that plagues our castle nightly. We will not question your methods, and if necessary, we will evacuate the castle."

The vassal pulls out a sack of money:

"Consider this an advance payment. If the demon is destroyed, you will receive the other half of the sum. I believe that this offer is fair. What do you say?"

Sango replies,

"But, that's far too much money." Miroku agrees:

"Yes, it's twenty times, much more than she normally gets paid."

"Then will you accept?" Sango waves a hand in some protest:

"The offer is too generous. Sorry, I must decline."

"You cannot refuse!"

"Huh?"

We all turn to the entrance where the voice called from, and see a young man with short black hair tied back in a tiny ponytail wearing finer samurai armour drop down from a white-haired steed. His eyes and smile were directed at Sango:

"It's been far too long, Sango."

"Uh...do I know you?"

I turn to her and ask in a low voice,

"Are you sure there isn't anything familiar about him?" Shippo chimes,

"He sure seems to know you..."

The young man speaks up again:

"Well, I can't blame her for not remembering. It was an awfully long time ago."

He then enters the hut, removes his hat, and kneels down in front of Sango while taking her hands!

"Come. Let us retire to the castle where we can talk in leisure and become reacquainted with one another."

...I then feel a nudge, and turn to Freeman with a raised brow:

"What?"

He points at Miroku, and I turn to see him, glaring, at the joined hands...My eyes light up, and I turn to grin at my brother:

"(Whisper) No way...!"

"(Whisper) If that don't confirm it, I dunno what does."

Small Time Skip, No POV  


With the young lord and his soldiers leading, the Inuyasha group arrives at the Asahi Castle, which left Coraline and Shippo in awe:

"Holy Hera, this place is huge!"

"What a fine castle!"

They then enter a large room to have an audience with the young lord and his six generals, with Sango, Miroku and Coraline sitting up front Freeman, Besa and Inuyasha, and Shippo and Kilala sitting off to the side behind Coraline...

"Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Takeda Kudanoske, Lord of this castle."

Coraline was a bit impressed:

"(Whisper) Goodness, he's the lord of this castle?" Shippo whispers back,

"No wonder he's so formal..."

Sango then finally recalls who he was:

"Wait a minute, now I remember: That snotty-nosed, little-I-I mean, young lord."

Takeda didn't appear offended by the description:

"I'm glad you finally remembered me. Yes, it's been six long years since already..."

Flashback

"My castle had been plagued by a demon, and we had hired you and the other slayers..."

 _We see the demon slayers (including Sango's Father) charge to attack the giant bear demon, with a younger preteen Sango making the finishing blow:_

 _"Haaaah!"_

 _(Toss, spin...TOK)_

 _The demon is cut in half through its torso...Watching from afar, was the younger lord, his father, and Kashi, the former using a telescope to get a better look, sniffling a bit from his runny nose, his cheeks donning a light blush._

"You fought a magnificent battle. You shone like a single white lily in the battlefield. You were absolutely, awe inspiring."

"I was?"

 _We cut to the aftermath of the battle, with the young Takeda holding a young Sango's hands in congratulations..._

End of Flashback

Takeda then stand up and announces,

"But enough of the past, I will get to the point!"

He moves to kneel in front of Sango, and takes her hands again before asking,

"Sango, slay the demon for us at once, then become my wife!"

That threw everyone sideways:

"Wha-?!" "Marriage?!"

"Whoa man, isn't it a bit early to think of getting hitched?!"

Sango could only gape, while Miroku remained silent...Takeda adds,

"I decided from the very moment I saw you...you're the woman who would be my wife! Sango, it's only you!"

The slayer's cheeks colour, finding it hard to respond:

"Uh...o-only me?"

"I hope you'll accept my proposal. (Stands and directs) Servants: Prepare rooms for our honoured guests!"

"(Collective) Yes, sir!"

Miroku shuts his eyes, not saying a word, and Sango side-glances him...

Small Time Skip

"How come she gets the royal treatment?"

And by she, Inuyasha was grumbling about Sango, whom had a more lavish meal compared to everyone else, who got rice, soup and a third dish...Coraline smiles and shakes her head while picking up her chopsticks and rice:

"So Sango's portion's a bit larger than the rest of us. That's what happens when someone is trying to win another's affection: They use gifts like food."

Though judging from the conflicted frown on Sango's face, it didn't seem to be working:

 _What'll I do? How will I turn him down?_

It was then Miroku suddenly stands up and starts walking off...

"W-Wait, where are you going, Miroku?"

But any worry would be shot down when everyone sees him taking the hand of a maid:

"Would you consider bearing my children?"

The maid gasps, and Sango falls over from her seat, while Coraline and Besa facepalm and the other three gape...The maid smiles with a blush and replies with a giggle,

"Surely you jest with me, you itinerant monk."

"Not at all. I assure you, I'm entirely serious."

But as soon as the maid closed the door...

(SLAP)

"Yow!"

(Slide)

Sango slams the door back open, and walks out with a huff...Inside, Miroku was sprawled on the ground, with Shippo muttering,

"What an idiot," and Freeman adds,

"And idiotic timing, too."

Sango stomps down the corridor, grumbling with a frustrated glare,

"The nerve of him! Flirting like that!"

Just as she turns the corner, she bumps into Takeda! He steadies her out of reflex, and they find eachother staring into one another's eyes in a daze, with matching shades of pink dusting their cheeks...

Coraline's POV

As soon as Besa helped Miroku off the ground, the monk went to sit down and continue eating his meal, a red hand mark plastered on the side of his face...

"Good grief. Now that hardly called for such brutality, (sip)."

I reply in kind with a serious frown,

"I say it was called for: You couldn't have picked a worse possible time to flirt with another woman in front of Sango when she's already in enough of a crisis regarding matters of the heart."

Shippo agrees:

"No wonder Sango was so angry..."

Inuyasha, who was lazing on his side, holds a hand up and asks,

"What's the big deal? It's not like she hasn't seem him at it before. He flirts with practically anything that moves!"

I sigh and reply,

"That's only the surface context, Inuyasha. You need to look more deeply."

"Like what, for instance?"

"I can tell from the look on her face that Sango likely doesn't know what she wants, other than Miroku to speak up and say his peace."

"His peace? What're you gettin' at?"

I just blow out another breath and reply dryly,

"You'll just have to figure it out on your own. I'm not giving the answer away..."

 _Geez, some days he's on, other's he's off..._

I look to Miroku with a smile and muse,

 _This might be the perfect opportunity for him to tell Sango how he really feels. He's obviously worried that she'll say yes, but I don't think Sango will..._

 _Hm...I wonder...When they do become a couple...what could their wedding be like?_

I try to picture the future...and came up with the following:

 _A scenic shrine near the Goshinboku village, and in front, stood Miroku, dressed in a black haori and a white hakama, while Sango wore a pretty white kimono with a cherry blossom patterned robe on top, and her hair tied up with white lilies._

 _There's a priest who announces their matrimony, and the happy couple takes three sips from three cups of sake, before turning to all of us with blissful smiles._

 _I stand with everyone, dressed in a red and blue kimono, and my bros are dressed in matching black and green haoris and hakamas, and I hear a happy laugh come from beside me. I turn to see Kohaku, wearing a light purple haori and a gray hakama, waving at his sister..._

I snap back to reality with a soft gasp, and smile brightly:

"I really do hope that can happen..."

"Hope what can happen?"

"Huh?"

I turn to see Besa looking at me with interest. I wave a hand for him to come closer, and I whisper the fantasy that came to me...

"Oh wow. That's quite vivid."

"Yeah. (Looks at Miroku with a sad frown) Only factor is if he and Sango can meet the first step."

"Hmm...Let me talk to him."

"Huh? Besa?"

He doesn't answer me, instead moving to a stand and grabbing Miroku:

"Come on, Miroku."

"Besa?"

"I wanna have a chat with you, man-to-man."

"Man-to-man?"

Besa just shakes his head with a small smile and pulls Miroku to the door:

"Don't ask questions, just follow me."

With that, they left the room, leaving the rest of us confused:

"Uh..." "Huh..."

I turn to everyone else with an unsure smile and say,

"I guess it'll be just us until they get back, eh?"

Besa's POV

After slipping my sneakers on, Miroku his sandals, I lead him into the courtyard, thankful that it stopped raining...

"Now what is it you wanted to talk to me about, Besa?"

"Come now, surely you know? Miroku, you need to own up to how you feel about Sango, preferably before she decides to accept Lord Takeda's proposal of marriage."

"And that would be a problem, I take it?"

"Well duh, it's a problem: You don't seriously expect me to believe that you're gonna just stand on the sidelines like a fool, are you?"

"(Looks away) It's a decision that Sango has to make herself. And as far as I can tell, it's none of our business."

I fold my arms with a skeptical frown:

"Is it? I'm not so sure...But still...between you and Lord Takeda, I suppose you would dull in comparison. (Unfolds arms) But it's your own fault by wearing your heart on your sleeve so freely: With your past actions, it'd be a miracle if any woman took you seriously."

He forms a serious frown, which prompts me to nod:

"You see what I'm getting at, then? You can't fool me, Miroku: You are nervous about this because Sango's the first girl you've actually given more than a second thought to."

"Is that about all that you wanted to say to me?"

I was a bit taken aback by a hidden coldness his tone was laced with:

"Hm?"

"If so, then I'll be on my way, for there is something I'd like to go and check on."

With that, he turns and walks off, leaving me a bit confused:

"Uh...Miroku..."

 _What was that look? His eyes...it was like he was glaring at me..._

 _And come to think of it, he's done that a few times in the past whenever I was the only one within Sango's proximity._

 _...Could, he be..._

I widen my eyes, before moving to follow him.

Freeman's POV

I watch as Inuyasha, Shippo and Kilala wolf down their food like nobody's business, and laugh a bit before calling,

"Guys, slow down a bit: No one's gonna burst in and take your food."

They just hm in reply, prompting Coraline to laugh too:

"What a bunch of gluttons."

"Yeah..."

 _I wonder how Besa's doing talkin' to Miroku?_

Miroku's POV

Brushing off Besa's words, I begin touring the grounds of the castle, examining a few scrolls in the storehouse, before moving to look at some claw marks made by the bear demon in another part of the courtyard:

 _Goodness, they must be rather large to leave this much damage to the castle..._

"...Hm?"

I sense two bodies in the distance, and look up to see Lord Takeda and Sango walking somewhere...

 _Sango._

I rise to my feet, my eyes not leaving the area where the two vanished to...until I hear someone walk up to me:

"Uh-huh, looks like I was right: You're jealous of Lord Takeda's charm and worried about Sango's feelings."

"Besa..."

He shakes his head and puts a hand on my shoulder with an intent look:

"Just admit it to yourself, Miroku: You're in love with her."

"Hm..."

 _...Why must it be him that suddenly becomes the voice of reason?_

No POV

Sango continues her walk with Lord Takeda, and they approach the garden, she wonders to herself with worry,

 _What should I do? I don't wanna hurt him..._

Meanwhile, the lord thinks to himself,

 _How can I prove my feelings to her?_

They stop on the bridge over the pond, both lost in thought...Nearby, Besa and Miroku crouch behind a flower bush, the first watching the scene intensely, while the second looked down with a thoughtful expression...

Back in the dining room Inuyasha, Shippo and Kilala had gotten started on devouring a plate of buns, and Freeman zips over to grab one each for himself and his sister:

"Thanks."

"No prob. Better have 'em now before the vacuum cleaners do."

Sango's POV

As we stood on the bridge, Lord Takeda spoke up above the silence:

"Sango."

"Yes? What is it, my lord?"

"Don't call me lord. Please, (Smile) call me Kuranosuke. You can even call me 'runny nose' if you'd like. (Laugh) I'm just kidding!"

I almost crack an amused smile, but chose to stay on topic:

"Listen, we need to talk..."

"Sango...With the state of the world, there are few people I can trust. Evil demons about in the mountains and rivers, and mortals resort to trickery and betrayal. Some call this a Hell on earth, but I'm not satisfied to accept things the way they are."

He turns to me and adds,

"I swore that the woman I chose to spend my life with would be the woman I loved with all my heart and soul."

"...But, why did you choose me?"

"I may be the lord of a clan, but I am an excellent judge of character, (Chuckle)."

Lord Takeda then took my hands into his:

"Sango...I love you. I truly love you."

 _Oh,_ _Kuranosuke...If only this were the man I fell for saying these words._

"...I'm flattered. I'm happy to hear how you feel."

No POV

Besa listened to the whole confession with wide eyes:

 _Oh wow...How on earth she's gonna turn him down is anyone's guess._

"...Hm?"

He then hears footsteps retreating, and turns to see Miroku walking away without a word.

"(Whisper) Miroku...Gh, Miroku, hold on!"

As he goes after the monk, Takeda asks Sango,

"Would you please be my wife, Sango?"

Her answer?

"...No, sorry, I can't accept."

"But whyever not?"

"There is something I must do before I can possibly consider marriage...I'm certain it will be very difficult to accomplish, perhaps, even impossible...But I must try. I must carry out this deed, or else I won't be able to go forward in life. And that's why I must move on and continue this journey. (Looks up) Please, you must find someone more suitable as your wife!"

"...No one is more suitable than you."

Sango was taken aback, and Takeda continues:

"I waited six years. It matters not how many more I wait until you return."

She could only stare at the young lord in amazement...

"Sango, I understand perfectly how you feel, and so I will wait forever."

"No, I didn't mean-"

"Please come to me anytime you require my assistance. I promise I do everything in my power as a lord to help you!"

And with another laugh, he walks away, much to Sango's protest:

"Uh...no, wait!"

Small Time Skip

And she wasn't the only one having trouble getting someone to listen: As the evening started coming, Besa had chased Miroku to another part of the castle.

"Miroku, stop!"

He finally manages to rush in front of the monk and halt him, before trying to talk some sense into the other:

"You can't just walk away like this. For all we know, she didn't accept and neither of us got to hear. But whatever the case...to remain silent and not breathing word about how you feel...(Glare) That's incredibly cowardly and you know it."

"If Sango's happiness is our primary concern, then shouldn't we allow her to make her own decisions?"

"I never said she has no right to her own decisions."

"Her destiny was shattered by Naraku and now she must fight to survive. Now she has the chance to marry and settle down. Which lifestyle do you think will bring her more happiness?"

"...Neither."

Miroku was taken aback by Besa's blunt answer, and the latter continues:

"What you seem to forget is how much happier she has become in spending time with all of us. I mean okay, so Naraku shot down her old life, but who said that was her destiny to begin with anyway? And marriage? Psh, please, like she's going to throw away her goals to settle with a man she barely knows...There's only one man that stands a chance in terms of starting a future together once Naraku is vanquished...and that's you."

...The monk does not respond for a minute, before he asks with a frown,

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"What is your take on Sango?"

Besa furrows his eyebrows in confusion:

"What in the world are you talking abou-Wait...Oh my god...You think that I-"

He then bursts into laughter, prompting Miroku to ask,

"What? What's so funny?"

Once he gets his breath back, Besa grins at the monk and replies,

"Oh geez, Miroku, you didn't honestly think I harboured feelings for her, did you? Don't get me wrong, Sango's a great girl, but, I only see her as a friend, or a sister."

Miroku felt an embarrassed blush dust his cheeks:

"W-Well, it's just, you seem to always find a way to stand with her without provoking her temper..."

"That's because I have good ears and listen, which you seem to be lacking as of late."

"Huh?"

Besa shakes his head, and claps Miroku's shoulder with a wise smile:

"It's one thing to listen to a woman vent, but you also have to put yourself in their shoes. Listen to them as if you're listening to your own reflection. My brother may argue it's a one way ticket to the friend-zone, but...isn't it good enough to be a long-term friend than be a passing flame?"

"Uh...Is that what you think?"

"That's what your history is reflecting, my friend."

With a pat on his back, Besa chides to the monk,

"I'll leave you to your thoughts, but don't forget this chat, okay?"

Miroku nods, and the dark-skinned boy walks away, leaving the other behind to watch him go in astonishment:

 _...Well this was more enlightening than I perceived it to be._

Small Time Skip

Night comes to blanket the castle, and we zoom into the dining room briefly, with Inuyasha, Shippo and Kilala asleep and piled on one another, much to the amusement of Coraline and Freeman:

"Good grief."

"Hey, at least they're not causing trouble."

(Slide)

"Oh, Besa." "Hey bro."

Besa waves a hand in greeting:

"Hey."

"So, how'd your chat with Miroku go?"

He sits down with his brother and sister and replies simply,

"I think I may have given him more advice than he expected..."

Jumping back outside, we watch as Sango comes walking down the corridor by herself, deep in her own thoughts...

"Hm?"

She then spots Miroku sitting by himself on the porch, looking up at the twinkling sky. He senses her, and turns to meet Sango eye-to-eye, before sending a smile. Sango was a bit taken aback, and looks down, her nerves getting the best of her...Miroku gets up, and both start walking towards one another, avoiding eachother's eyes, but as they pass, Miroku whispers,

"...I wish you happiness."

Sango freezes, and turns to face the retreating form of the monk...But before she could make any sort of reply:

"The demon has come!"

Everyone hears the foot soldier's shout, and move to gather themselves up before meeting the soldiers in the courtyard, where the giant demon bear was...The only ones who weren't present yet were Miroku and Sango, but Inuyasha's focus was on the demon:

"What took ya so long?!"

He pulls out Tessaiga, just as Miroku comes to his side:

"Inuyasha!"

"It's about time."

Sango came next, dressed in her slayer gear and with Hiraikotsu over her shoulder. Inuyasha then says,

"Don't matter: I'll take care of that demon with one strike of my sword."

But then Sango rushes up front and says,

"Stay out of this, Inuyasha, and let me handle it!"

"What's the problem? I can handle that little demon on my own."

"No. Slaying that thing is my job! Besides, I wouldn't mind blowing off a little steam right now..."

Noting a fiery aura that was appearing around her, Inuyasha lowers his blade and replies,

"Uuh, okay."

Coraline side-glances Miroku with a wary expression:

"I'm hoping this has nothing to do with anything you might have said to her, Miroku..."

"N-No, I mean, I don't think so..."

Sango lets out a war-cry and sprints forward, prompting the demon bear to try and swipe her with its paw:

(Swing, tok)

But she uses Hiraikotsu to block, before she jumps up, twists her body, then kicks the demon right in its jaw! She lands on the ground, sweat building but grinning, before rush forward to slug the bear with her boomerang, then somersaulting to kick it in its head again!

Shippo, who was clutching onto Inuyasha with Kilala, comments a bit nervously,

"Boy, I've never seen Sango look so fierce in battle!" Inuyasha replies,

"I don't think there's a person in the world who could defeat Sango right now..."

Coraline pinches the bridge of her nose and states,

"Take note, gentlemen: This is why you should never get on a girl's bad side. We will always find a way to kick ass."

Miroku grimaces while breaking into a nervous sweat, and Besa comes comes over to whisper,

"Don't get too worried: I think this is more frustrations about her own life than man problems..."

Freeman adds,

"Still, better the bear than you."

Takeda arrives on scene and is taken aback by the level of skill Sango was displaying...She kicks the bear's face once more:

"This'll finish you off! _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...SLICE)

Her weapon cuts the demon bear in two, and as it falls, Sango calmly catches her boomerang without so much as an eyelash bat...!

The twins and Coraline then broke into cheers:

"Yes!" "Alright!"

"Way to go, Sango!"

She smiles and starts jogging to the group...but then:

(...Twitch)

The demon bear's paw jerks, and everyone gasps, as the beast suddenly rises, paw in the air, ready to retaliate against Sango!

She shuts her eyes with a wince...

(SLASH)

Blood drips on the ground...but it did not belong to the demon slayer, as she was safe within Miroku's arms! Takeda sighs in relief, and zooming in, we see that the monk's arm was injured:

"M-Miroku!"

Sango pulls back her hand, and sees it coated with Miroku's blood...He smiles with a slight grimace and says to her,

"You miscalculated, Sango. (Looks up at the demon) While I was watching you fight, I realized that this demon is actually a ghostly spirit seeking vengeance. It cannot be destroyed in the usual way."

As the bear demon spirit prepares to attack again, Sango unsheathes her katana, while Miroku pulls out a sutra:

"I'll exorcise, this demon!"

He tosses the paper charm forward, and it lands on the spirit's forehead, before it lets out a howl, dissipating into nothing...!

Coraline rushes to check up on the slayer and monk, while Takeda observes from afar...a smile of understanding appearing on his lips.

Time Skip

Come the next morning, our eyes turn to a storehouse being opened by two servants, and tons of wooden bear figurines spilling out...

"Bear ornaments?"

As the gang looks at some of the items, Shippo wonders,

"Is that why the bear spirit was so vengeful?" Miroku answers,

"No, it's not that simple. (Points with his staff) Take a look over there, if you will."

And inside, we see a large bear skin hanging on the wall of the storehouse...

"Wow...A giant bear pelt."

Coraline looks at it with her Aura Sight and adds,

"I can sense fragments of a Demon Aura in the fur, but I think most of it left with the spirit last night...I suppose this would explain its rage."

Freeman shrugs and comments,

"Well wouldn't you get pissed from being made into a wall decoration?"

Besa nudges his ribs lightly with a smirk, Inuyasha bites back a laugh, and Sango groans,

"That's the same demon bear we slayed six years ago! (Glares at Kashi) We told you way back when to offer your prayers and bury the thing!"

Kashi slaps his forehead and replies a bit nervously,

"Please allow me to explain...We were following your instructions, and were about to bury the demon. Suddenly, our late master stopped us and gave us new orders: We were instructed to make wooden carvings of the bear demon and market these tokens as regional keepsakes in order to restore the clan's finances. The wooden carvings were soon followed by the 'Big Bear Bean Jam Cakes', the 'Big Bear Towels' and the 'Big Bear Wooden Coins'."

Coraline raises a brow and asks,

"I'm gonna take a wild guess that none of these sold?"

Kashi and the other servants bow in embarrassment:

"Not a one."

So with that, the group decides to help correct the late lord's mistake and burn the pelt of the demon bear so its spirit wouldn't make any returns...

Later on, everyone prepares to leave, each wearing their rain slicker ponchos again, with Miroku holding his hat, the twins each holding up an open umbrella, and Hiraikotsu standing beside them under a tree...

The weapon's owner (also wearing her rain slicker and hat) was over by the castle gate speaking with Takeda once more:

"Kuranosuke..."

"Nevermind. Don't say another word...I think by now, I have an excellent understanding of how you feel."

Sango gazes at the smiling lord with admiration at his patience...

"Go on now. Your friends are waiting."

"Yes."

She bows in goodbye, before turning to rush to the others, and Takeda watches her go while vowing,

 _Sango...Do not think I have given up on you._

He throws his head up to the rain with a smile, his heart not wavering...

Soon, the group was on their way again in the wet weather, with Sango and Coraline walking alongside one another. The latter notices that the former was deep in thought:

 _Hm...Wonder what's on her mind now?_

She snaps out her own thoughts when she hears Freeman call out,

"Hey, Miroku: Somethin' wrong with your hat?" He holds it up and replies,

"I got it, but the strap is broken, I'm afraid."

Besa hms, and then moves up to Sango's right side, before holding his umbrella to her:

"Here."

"Huh?"

He pulls on his hood, and just smiles, nudging his head towards the monk...Sango takes it, and then walks over to Miroku, holding the black umbrella over his head. He notices the lack of raindrops falling on his head and turns around, meeting eye-to-eye with a shyly-blushing Sango:

"(Smile) Thank you."

"Mhm."

They are soon walking alongside one another, sharing the umbrella, and Sango asks,

"How is your wound?"

"Fine."

"Good...Um, Miroku..."

"I'm glad."

Sango looks at Miroku confusingly, until he adds,

"It turns out we'll be able to continue our journey together."

She was touched by the sentiment, and smiles while her cheeks light up...The others don't miss a beat, and Inuyasha (he carrying Hiraikotsu) asks a smiling Coraline,

"So what are they so chummy about?"

"They're finally making process with eachother's feelings. (Glances sideways) Good move with the umbrella, bro."

"Thanks...I thought they deserved a little moment like that."

Freeman then grimaces and points up front:

"Uh, I think little may be the appropriate time-frame..."

They all look at him confusingly, before watching as Miroku...reaches a hand out and gropes Sango's behind!

"Uh!"

(SLAP)

"Gah!"

The umbrella goes flying, and Sango would catch it, before moving to walk alone, while Miroku nursed his slap mark with a nervous smile...

While the others sigh at the mood kill, Sango walks on with an exasperated blush, but looks back, before giggling to herself. The sun streams its rays through the clouds, putting an end to the rain, as the slayer lets out a laugh, while Miroku glances at her with a smile...


	86. Chapter 85

**Chapter 85: Jaken's Plan to steal Tessaiga**

Darkness caresses the land and skies of Edo, with the luminous moon glowing a harvest orange through the clouds...

Kagura readies herself to fly out of the area of Naraku's castle again, and looks up at the moon briefly, scoffing in jealousy at its freedom that she could never possess...

Moving down below and far away from the despicable demon's fortress, we turn to a wide, open field, the only sound being the distant howl of a wolf, and Rin's draw of awed breath, as she looks around at the peacefulness that blankets the area...

(Stomach grumble)

"Hm?"

The silence would be broken, when Rin's hunger came to voice itself, and as she places a hand on her stomach, Sesshomaru's voice broke in:

"Rin."

"Yes? What is it, my lord?" The dog demon replies, his gaze fixed on the sky,

"If you're hungry, you must fend for yourself." Rin raises a hand and says casually,

"Alright! I'm off!"

She then rushes off to find some form of nourishment, while Sesshomaru continues to stare at the orange moon in thought...

We then see Jaken leading the small party of himself, A-Un and their passenger, Rin to find food, with the imp grumbling to himself,

"Doh, goodness: Lord Sesshomaru's instructed Rin to fend for herself, so why did he then order me to accompany her?"

Rin asks curiously,

"How far are we going, Master Jaken?" He replies exasperatingly,

"Until we find food; what do you think?!"

She hms...before asking another innocent question:

"Master Jaken: How exactly are you of any service to Lord Sesshomaru?"

Jaken took the question as an insult, and he stops before whirling around at Rin to yell,

"I serve him a numerable ways!"

Not fazed by his temper, Rin asks back,

"You do?"

"Yes! Er-eh, for instance..."

Jaken trails off, trying to come up with an appropriate example...before his thoughts turn to the colour of the moon:

 _(Gasp) Inuyasha's Tessaiga turned brilliant red!_

Recalling when Inuyasha broke the Panther Demon King's barrier, he builds on the subject regarding the Tessaiga's new power:

 _I can't begin to fathom how Lord Sesshomaru feels._

 _Inuyasha's sword is becoming extremely dangerous. It can even break through a demon barrier!_

 _It's true that my lord has his own sword, the Tokijin, as well as the Tenseiga, but no good can come from Inuyasha wielding such a deadly weapon._

He then opens his eyes, when he concludes,

 _I know: I simply have to take it away from him._

He laughs to himself, his mind already cooking up a scheme...Noticing his lack of attention, Rin calls on the imp back to reality:

"Master Jaken..." He turns to her and announces,

"Listen here, Rin: Today, you shall witness the great amounts I go to serve our lord! No vassal has served him as I am about to!"

Time Skip

Morning light soon comes to grace the land, and our attention turns to deep within a bamboo forest, with the long shoots of bark surrounding a dug-in dirt path on both sides, the ground a mix of grass and thick, soft moss...

On one end of the path is Inuyasha, Coraline, Shippo and Freeman, while on the other end stood Sango, Miroku and Besa, all engaged in another game that the three modern teens taught the others how to play.

Today, Coraline was wearing a turquoise fitted t-shirt, light blue jeans, and her brown hikers, with her hair tied back in two braids. Meanwhile, the twins wore semi-matching outfits of gray t-shirts, black jeans, and black/white sneakers, with Freeman donning his black leather jacket, and Besa a dark blue sweater.

Inuyasha says to Coraline in an eager tone,

"Come on, let's do it again!" She giggles at his excitement and replies,

"Right!"

She, he, Shippo and Freeman face the others with determined smiles, before waving their closed fists and shouting,

"Rock...Paper...Scissors!"

They each hold up 'Rock', while the other group holds up 'Scissors'...Shippo cheers in victory:

"Yeah, we win again!" Inuyasha chuckles and comments smugly,

"Nothin' beats the sweet smell of victory, am I right?"

Freeman grins and replies,

"Damn right," and the boys high-five, before Coraline calls them back to attention:

"Okay, let's see..."

The first group then moves forward in step to the following syllables:

"Ir-on Rea-ver, Soul Stea-ler..."

They turn around to where the others are, and Inuyasha calls back teasingly,

"Okay, ready to lose again?"

Coraline lightly slaps his shoulder with an amused smirk, before calling down the path,

"Can you all hear us back there okay?" Sango calls back,

"Loud and clear!"

Zooming in on the second group of players, Miroku sighs and droops his shoulders in disappointment from losing another round, prompting Sango to say to him,

"I wish you would stop sighing all the time. It's more irritating than losing the game."

"We would've had another chance at a draw if you, (looks at Besa) and you hadn't showed the same scissors hand I had..."

Besa rolls his eyes in response to Miroku's light complaint, and the monk suddenly widens his eyes when he guesses Sango's motive:

"Ooh, I understand, you wanted to lose on purpose so you could stay behind from the others and be with me."

His cursed hand reaches to touch Sango's behind...but ends up blocked by her weapon.

"No such thing! We simply lost, and nothing else."

Miroku shakes his hand and looks at it with a serious expression:

"The curse of this damned hand runs deeper than I expected."

Sango side-squints the monk and thinks to herself,

 _It's your personality that's cursed..._

Besa muses,

"Actually, Miroku, it's become a known fact that in this game, people tend to tie more with those they know well than with complete strangers."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Heh, mine and Freeman's record is forty-five straight ties in one game."

Miroku and Sango gape at Besa:

"Whoa!" "That sounds like a long game!"

Speaking of, the gang gets back to theirs:

"Rock...Paper...Scissors!"

And Inuyasha's team once again bests Miroku's with 'Paper covering Rock':

"Yes! We beat those guys again!"

As Miroku groans, Shippo adds,

"And we did it with Paper: That makes it the Wind Tunnel!"

So the four move to the step of the attack's syllables:

"Wi-nd Tun-nel!"

As we move to a more dense part of the forest, we hear Miroku calling the others out on their victory:

"Now listen, are you sure you're not cheating?" Sango chides his attitude:

"Stop being such a poor loser!"

...We then see Jaken slide down one stalk of bamboo, laughing at the childishness of the group:

"Rock, Paper, Scissors!" He starts running in another direction:

 _Oh, they're coming this way at last!_

"Now hurry up and come out, No-Man! What's taking you so long?!"

...His shout would be answered, when a man with no face, short black hair in a topknot, bare foot, wearing worn clothing consisting of a moss green haori with a blue overtop, and a grey hakama, comes crawling out of the dirt-packed ground, kneeling in front of the imp:

"You summoned?"

"No-Man, Inuyasha and his friends are coming, so get close to them and steal the Tessaiga! You are a demon born from the regrets of man, so you should be able to grasp it. Now set out and steal it!"

No-Man asks in a slow tone,

"The, Tessaiga?"

"It's Inuyasha's precious treasure."

"Is it, valuable?"

"Mhm. Find it and bring it back to me!"

Cutting back to Inuyasha and the others, it looks like the game's victors are becoming rather obvious:

"Rock...Paper...Scissors!"

Inuyasha and Shippo hold up 'Paper', and Coraline and her brother hold up 'Scissors', which beats the others once again:

"Yes, another win for us!"

Shippo compliments Coraline's skill:

"You're good at this, Coraline."

"Thanks. It's all about anticipation in this game...Alright, we won with scissors, so...Hi-ra-i-ko-stu!"

The rest of the team follows Coraline's steps, and back down the path, Sango laments,

"I can hardly seem them anymore..." Miroku asks with a touch of envy,

"If we can't see them, how are we gonna know if they cheat?" Sango replies dismissively,

"There you go again," while Besa smiles exasperatingly and comments,

"I think we might have to call it quits soon..."

...It was then the three feel something off in the air, and turn to the right with suspicious glares:

"Hm?"

"Miroku."

"What is that?"

Coraline feels a familiar pulse in her blood, and Lumos pops out of her satchel, also on the defense:

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Inuyasha, guys: Something's coming this way."

"What?"

The turn around to the bamboo...just as it begins to blanket in a thick, light grey fog...

"What is this?"

"A mist?"

Coraline disagrees:

"No, it's too thick to be mist...more like smoke."

Sango asks the two with her,

"Think it's a mountain fire?"

"No, not likely."

"We would've smelled burning wood if it-Gah! What was that?!"

Soon, the foggy smoke was so thick that no one could see eachother...Sango then feels the same something Besa felt brush her, and immediately accused Miroku:

"Get your hands off me!"

(Slap)

"Ow! It wasn't me, Sango!"

On the other end of the path, the rest of the group was coughing badly from the thickness of the smoky fog, before Coraline felt the force touch her:

"Ah! Hey, get off!" Inuyasha calls out for her:

"Coraline!"

...Lumos then makes his body glow brighter, and hovers at a certain spot with intent, sending Inuyasha the message to hit there:

"(Punch) Why you...!"

...A few seconds later, the fog clears, leaving everyone to recover their sinuses from the strange event...But as soon as Coraline reached into her jeans pocket, there would be a new problem to deal with:

"Oh crap! The jewel shards: They're gone!" Inuyasha shouts,

"What do ya mean they're gone?!"

Freeman realizes,

"Hang on...this smoke was a rouse: Someone or something did it to take the shards!"

We cut back into the forest where the bamboo trees shifted into regular oak mixing with the brush, as Jaken paces up and down on the mossy grass waiting for his subordinate to return:

 _What's taking that bumbling fool so long?!_

It was then No-Man steps into the area:

"Hm?"

As his head heals from an injury (confirming that Inuyasha landed a fist into his skull), the demon says to the imp,

"Master Jaken, I brought your treasures."

"Excellent! Did you get the Tessaiga?"

The first thing the demon brought out of is robes was...a few of Shippo's fox toys?

"Here."

"That's not it!"

Next was was purple/yellow checkered handkerchief, and a chain of copper coins:

"That's not it either!"

Then a red cloth:

"I have no need for those!"

And finally, No-Man holds out Coraline's Mp3 player with headphones attached, two sweets, a pencil, the bottle of shards, Shippo's snake skin charm, and a comb:

"What about these treasures?"

...Jaken jumps up and bonks the demon numerous times on the head with his staff, prompting the former to drop the items to the ground, while the latter shouts,

"You fool! These aren't treasures!"

He lands down and kicks dirt and sand at No-Man, before hopping up and down in a tantrum:

"Why didn't you bring me back the Tessaiga?!"

As his head balloons back from the repeated blows, No-Man asks somewhat clueless,

"Tes-saiga?"

Jaken climbs up his staff to the demon's 'eye-level' and explains,

"Inuyasha's sword!"

"Oh...All he had was a rusty old thing."

"Fool! That's the (tips over) o-o-o-o-one!" As he picks up the items, No-Man replies,

"It didn't look nearly as valuable as these treasures..."

Jaken springs back to a sitting position and shouts,

"Stop babbling nonsense and go get me the sword!"

No-Man sighs, but walks off to do as Jaken commands, with the imp grumbling,

"Doh, what a dimwit..."

Rin then pops out from behind a nearby tree and asks,

"Master Jaken, are you certain that the demon can handle this?"

The imp looks down in disappointment:

"If only I had some henchmen, this job would be much easier...(Looks up in thought) Aah, for the old days, when I was the commander and had many serving under me..."

Flashback

 _We see Jaken, sword in hand, sitting atop a sedan being carried by a few imps, while many others stand around him with spears at the ready over a dark-clouded backdrop..._

"Back then, I had hundreds of demons and controlled the plains of Musachi..."

 _He and the imps would soon engage in bloody combat with several different species of demons, varying from badgers to snakes to horned humanoids..._

"We were in battle with the demons that controlled the eastern mountains..."

 _Cut to a profile of a tall, dark grey-skinned demon with claws, wearing a muted pink robe, pink-red eyes, and long, thick white hair..._

"Their leader was Becuni, whom despite being several hundred years old, was a formidable foe."

 _The demon then seizes Jaken into its hands, who writhes and yells, as he's pulled closer to the other's open jaws..._

"Just then...!"

 _Sesshomaru then appears on scene, and says to Becuni,_

 _"You're in my way. Step aside."_

 _The demon paid no attention, but Jaken's eyes were on him:_

 _"Who is that?!"_

 _Sesshomaru calls out again, his body glowing in a demonic aura:_

 _"I said you're in my way."_

 _He pulls out his poison whip:_

 _"Understand?"_

 _The whip cuts through Becuni's arms effortlessly, freeing Jaken from the other's grip! As he falls down, watching Sesshomaru kill the rest of Becuni's army with no mercy, he wonders in awe,_

 _...Who is he?_

 _As soon as he lands on the ground, Jaken pushes himself up and calls to his army,  
_

 _"Stand down: Clear a path for him!"_

 _The imps do as he commands, and Sesshomaru walks among the imp army with a cool air, while they (including Jaken) kowtow in respect..._

 _As he passes Jaken, the imp looks up at the demon in awe:_

 _He's, beautiful..._

 _"Look at him...He's so dashing!"_

 _...Jaken then rises to his feet, and starts following the dog demon, much to the other imp's confusion:_

 _"Master Jaken!" He stops briefly to send the following message:_

 _"Forget me and live on your own accord!"_

 _"Master Jaken!" "Wait, come back!"_

 _But the imps could only watch, as their leader leaves...Jaken follows Sesshomaru into a deep forest, kowtowing in front of the other:_

 _"Forgive me for following you. It may not have been your intention, but you saved my life. It would be an honour to become your servant."_

 _Sesshomaru continues on, not saying a word to the imp...Looking up, and sensing no signs of his life being in danger, Jaken continues to tail him:_

 _"A-A moment of your time!"_

 _Their next destination would be a large waterfall, with Jaken kowtowing on one rock, while Sesshomaru reaches into the billowing water...pulling out the Staff of Two Heads!_

 _He looks over at Jaken...before tossing him the staff:_

 _"Here."_

 _Jaken fumbles but catches the staff, and looks at it, before turning his gaze to Sesshomaru:_

 _"Thank you...What is it?"_

 _"I entrust it to you if you know how to use it." Jaken gasps, before bowing and holding up the staff in a thankful gesture:_

 _"I am most honoured...Tell me...what is your name? I-I mean, I must know!"_

 _"...Sesshomaru."_

 _"Ah...Sesshomaru."_

End of Flashback

"It's been several decades since that day, and I have long thought of how to repay my debt of gratitude..."

Jaken frowns and concludes,

"I cannot leave this to that bumbling demon."

He gets up and rushes off in the direction where No-Man went, while Rin watched him go with a worried frown:

"He sure finds ways to keep himself busy..."

Moving back into the bamboo cover, we see No-Man kneeling by a burning pile of leaves, using a fan to wave the smoke out...

It was then Inuyasha and the others come out from the thicker part of the stalks to confront him:

"Kuh, so you're the thief, are you?"

Coraline glares at the demon and demands,

"Give us back the jewel shards you took or face our wrath!"

Sango wasn't anymore pleased than she was:

"You've got some nerve stealing from us in broad daylight."

Not paying attention to the rising tempers, No-Man walks up and starts looking for the true object of his quarry:

"The sword...the sword...Oh, there it is."

Everyone moves into defensive positions, while Inuyasha pulls his sword out threateningly:

"What're you doin'?"

"Give me the Tessaiga..."

But as soon as No-Man's fingertips touched the blade:

(Bzzzt)

"Uh!"

He was thrown backwards by the Tessaiga's power! Inuyasha chuckles at the failed attempt:

"He bounced right off the Tessaiga's barrier." Sango comments,

"That's what happens when a demon tries to touch your sword..."

The group then moves to surround the demon, who was reeling in pain on the ground courtesy of Tessaiga's power. Freeman folds his arms and furrows his eyebrows in confusion:

"Who is this guy, anyway?" Shippo answers with a sympathetic frown,

"In this age of civil war, many men have gone to fight battles and have returned to find their land, their farms and even their homes destroyed or stolen. The combined sadness and bitterness of their losses gave rise to this demon's birth."

Sango frowns and says,

"How tragic. I feel sorry for him." Besa adds dryly,

"He's a bit too pathetic to really take down, isn't he?" Coraline nods:

"Yeah. Let's just let him off as long as he returns the things he stole from us."

No-Man rises to his feet, and lifts his haori, causing the items he stole from the group to tumble to the ground:

"Oh, there's the bottle of shards! And, my Mp3 player?"

"And my spinning top!"

"And my things too!"

As everyone takes back the items that belong to them, No-Man turns to walk away from the area, with Shippo calling to his back,

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

The demon pauses to send a nod, and Coraline adds,

"Let's hope this doesn't happen again, or you'll end up on the sharp end of one of our blades!"

No-Man waves at the group, and Miroku chides,

"If you'd like, I'll read a sutra to calm your spirit."

The demon does not reply, and turns to keep walking...Freeman and Besa then use some sand and dirt to douse the fire:

"There. Now they're won't be any forest fires."

"Okay, we can go now."

As the group moves on their way, Inuaysha comments No-Man's nonchalant behaviour:

"Took that pretty easily." Sango and Miroku reply respectively,

"Strange demon."

"Takes all kinds, even when it comes to demons."

Unbeknownst to them, Jaken then walks on scene, grumbling,

"Curse that blasted demon!"

He then smells something burning, courtesy of a dying ember catching on his clothes:

"Hm? Who's cooking? (Looks back at his robes) Oh, that'd be me...Gah!"

He dashes off in a random direction while squawking,

"Help, I'm burning up! Water-water-water-water-water-water, where the waaaaaa-aaaaa!"

His trek takes him to the edge of the forest, namely...off a cliff!

"Help, help, help, help, help, help, help hel-"

He cuts himself off, when he sees that there was no ground under his feet anymore...

"Daaah! Going, dooooowwwwwnnnnnnn!"

...Back on the forest path, Coraline pauses, when her ears catch the tail-end of Jaken's shriek:

"...That was odd."

"What?"

"I might be imagining things, but did anyone else hear a yelp just now?"

The others shake their heads, and Inuyasha says to Coraline,

"You're definitely imagining things," and Miroku adds,

"We've already taken care of the demon, so let's keep moving ahead."

"Hm, alright."

Besa suggests,

"It might just be an echo from somewhere else. Sound travels weirdly in deep forests."

Way down below the bamboo-oak forest, we see a majorly disheveled Jaken push himself up onto a boulder, while crying out angrily,

"Curse you, Inuaysha, you wretch!"

Rin comes flying by on A-Un and says to the imp worriedly,

"That must hurt, Master Jaken."

"Of course it does!"

"Well I suppose you're giving up then." Jaken scrambles to his feet and shouts,

"Never! Now would you stop interfering and questioning my every move?! Now be off!"

"But I thought you said you wanted me to see you in action..."

As she and A-Un fly off to land somewhere else, Jaken denies his claim:

"I said no such thing!" He then clenches his fist and remarks,

"Just you wait, Inuyasha...I will take the Tessaiga away from you! Just you wait and seeeeee!"

Small Time Skip

We cut back to the Inuyasha group, as they reach a more dense part of the forest, with a mix of red cedar and breech trees surrounding them, along with thick bushes decorating the ground, some carrying white lilies...Inuyasha comments on earlier events:

"Well that took a big bite out of the day..." Coraline replies,

"Yeah, but didn't anyone else find it strange that the demon seemed to be going after Inuyasha's sword?"

They all hm, but don't give the matter anymore thought than needed...They soon come across another demon, they being Jaken in the disguise of an older imp with white hair, bushy eyebrows, moustache and beard, he sitting on a tatami, with a signboard standing on his left. He calls to them in an older and weedy tone,

"Greetings, young travelers."

"Hm?"

The group stops, and Miroku reads the sign displayed:

"What's this? 'In training...Offering free advice and weapon sharpening'."

Inuyasha wasn't all convinced:

"I dunno about you guys, but I don't like the looks of this old guy." Jaken says to him,

"Keep it coming, sonny. You're only adding to my character."

 _Hehehe, this incense has dulled Inuyasha's sense of smell. He has no idea who I am!_

"What will it be? Can I sharpen your lives or your knifes?"

"Sharpen a life?" Miroku asks Inuyasha,

"So why don't you let him work on your sword, Inuyasha?"

"(Grips the hilt) On my sword?" Jaken replies,

"Yes. I'd be honoured." Sango smiles and comments,

"Huh, how unusual to find a sword-sharpening monk." Coraline muses,

"You never know what sort of profession you'll come across here in the Sengoku Era...Hm..."

With that, Sango places her Hiraikotsu on the sharpening tablet:

"No charge, right?" Next was Miroku's staff:

"How generous of you."

Besa then places his sickles into the growing pile:

"Pardon me for adding on." Then Shippo tosses on his spinning top:

"Don't forget this!"

"Um, just hold on..." Miroku chimes,

"Well, that's about all that needs sharpening. We'll be back later to pick them up."

With that, the group walks off, with Inuyasha holding onto his blade and Coraline her two blades:

"Do a good job, old man!"

"See you soon!"

...As soon as they were gone, Jaken scratches his fake hair in frustration for his plan backfiring again:

"Bllrgh, Inuyasha! Alright, I'll sharpen them!"

He holds up one of Besa's sickles and says to himself determinedly,

"If I can do a good job on these weapons, then he'll want me to do his sword as well, and that'll be the perfect opportunity to steal it from him!"

He starts with the sickles, placing each blade onto the tablet, and rubbing it up and down to sharpen the dullness away. He would do the same for Shippo's top, then Miroku's staff, and then Sango's Hiraikotsu, working feverishly but with a careful eye...

While he was hard at work, we cut over to the nearby river, where Rin was, she bathing A-Un, rubbing a wet cloth over the dragon demon's scales...Her mind wanders to the callus words sent to her by Jaken, and she hmphs, before thinking to herself,

 _Alright, Master Jaken: I'll stay away if that's what he wants._

"...Hm?"

She then spots a light pink lotus flower floating along in the water, and is sparked by inspiration:

"Oh! That's a good idea!"

She hops down from the rock she was standing on and says to A-Un excitedly,

"Come with me!"

We move back to the weapon sharpening stall set up by Jaken, as everyone returns to collect their weapons, his incense close to burning out...Shippo picks up his top and exclaims,

"Wow, that looks excellent!"

Miroku drops a leaf over the blade end of his staff, and it cuts in two:

"Yes, this is nicely done, monk-in-training!" Sango marvels over her Hirakotsu's new shine:

"My weapon's never look so good!" Besa was just as pleased with his sickles:

"Wow, this is great! No way I'll have trouble with fighting a demon now."

Inuyasha mutters,

"Guess I should've left my sword with the old guy..."

Shippo looks over to see that Jaken was asleep on the tatami, snoring rather loudly...

"That's too bad: He's word so hard, he's fallen asleep." Coraline chides,

"Let's leave him to rest then," with Miroku adding,

"He deserves to not be awoken."

Inuaysha concedes and says,

"Oh well. My loss, I guess...Hey, wait, Coraline: How come you didn't give him your blades?"

As the group readies to leave, she simply replies with a shrug,

"Just didn't feel like it. Besides, I know a few good sharpening and buffing techniques myself, and I work hard to make sure they're battle-ready before and after."

...A while later, as the sun lowers from the sky and casts pink, orange and red into the atmosphere, we find Jaken rousing from his sleep, a small thank-you note plastered onto his person:

"(Snore...) Mmm...Huh?"

His eyes snap open, and he quickly finds the weapons gone along with their owners:

"What happened?! The weapons are gone! I've been had, I've been duped!"

He hits himself in the face at his blunder and screeches while beating his fists on the tatami,

"Inuyasha was suppose to leave his sword here, so I could sharpen-I mean, steal it!"

Jaken suddenly stops, when another idea comes to his mind:

 _Wait...There might still be a way._

He moves to an area littered in boulders and small rocks, the ground reduced to grainy sand, and plasters a red paper sutra onto one, before performing an odd intricate dance, then hitting the sutra with the butt end of his staff...

(Sploosh)

The spell activates, and hot water starts to spill out from the rock! Jaken jeers,

"Just you wait, Inuyasha, for tonight, you shall lose possession of your precious sword!"

He lets out a smug laugh to the skies, as the water pools around the rocky area...

Small Time Skip

As evening falls, we turn to a small clearing within the nearby woods, as A-Un watches Rin gather some small pink petaled flowers into a bouquet...Once she deemed the amount in her hands to be enough, Rin stands back up with a smile and says,

"I've picked all these flowers for Lord Sesshomaru. (Looks to A-Un) I better go."

...But come another hour or two later, Rin and A-Un would find themselves rather turned around within the mimicking trees and shrubs growing in the thick forest...

"Uh, oh...I can't remember which way to go. I must've gone too far. I think I'm lost."

Rin looks to the left head of the dragon demon and asks,

"Can you smell any trace of Lord Sesshomaru?"

They shake their head 'No', and the young girl forms a small frown of disappointment:

"Oh. Then we really are lost. I'll have to go back to Jaken."

At that, A-Un turns to move out to where they remember the imp was last...

Meanwhile, just outside the forest, Inuyasha and the others were setting up camp for the night, getting a fire going, and finally stopping to rest. Coraline drops to her knees and mutters,

"Ho-ly, my legs haven't felt this sore for a while..." Sango was also feeling fatigue in her lower appendages:

"Mine are too..."

Miroku looks over into the distance between some skinny tree trunks, and spots a source of water:

"Huh? Is that...a hot spring?"

Besa walks up to stand at his side, and peers his eyes over where the other was looking:

"...Looks like."

Coraline hears them and perks up:

"Out here? Really?"

Everyone decides to check it out, and finds the spring in the next clearing over, the water steaming and giving off a clean air...

"Wow, that looks fantastic!" Sango was as pleased as Freeman was:

"That was lucky." Miroku offers with masked slyness,

"I guess you wanna bathe with me."

She side-glares the monk, before thumping him on the head with one end of her boomerang:

"Gh! On second thought, maybe not..."

Freeman laughs and whispers,

"That was a fail straight up..."

Coraline puts down her satchel and grabs out a towel and a pair of clean clothes:

"I believe the saying goes, ladies first. Shippo, you're welcome to join us if you wish."

"Okay!"

With that decided, the men head back to the camp for now and give the girls and fox demon some privacy...Jaken peeks out from behind a tree nearby the spring, grinning to himself while thinking,

 _Heheheh, I'll sneak Inuyasha's sword away while he's bathing in my hot spring._

But when he looks over the rocks, he sees that it was just Sango, Coraline and Shippo in the water right now:

"This feels terrific!"

"Aah, I'll say it does..."

The imp becomes disappointed at seeing his plan was not going as he had hoped:

"Doh, no Inuyasha...Maybe dog demons don't like water..."

Back at the camp, Inuyasha examines Miroku's staff and Besa's sickles with some envy:

"Maybe I should've asked him to."

"The sharpening monk, you mean?"

"Yeah. It seems like he knew what he was doin'."

Jaken listens from nearby, and wonders,

"If he's looking for the sharpener, I can make that happen. Then I can take his sword away from him! Oh, very well..."

But just as the imp scrambles to put on his disguise, Coraline called from the spring,

"We're done, you guys!" Inuyasha calls back,

"Coming!" Miroku chides to the men,

"Let's be on our way, then." Besa nods, and Freeman grins while exclaiming,

"Hot water, here we come!"

Jaken whirls down where they were and mutters,

"They're going in? Make up your mind!"

Over in the spring, the men strip before moving into the hot spring with matching sighs of bliss, Freeman quoting,

"Oh yeah, that's the ticket..."

As Jaken peers over the rocks to spy, Inuyasha calls out,

"No peeking!"

Thinking he was spotted, the imp ducks and exclaims,

"Sorry, didn't mean to!" But Coraline's sarcastic response would snap him to realization:

"Yeah, sure, smart guy: Like I'm the pervert of our group?"

"...Oops! I guess he wasn't talking to me."

As their faces flush from the heat of the water, Miroku blissfully muses,

"This really hits the spot..." Inuyasha agreed:

"Yeah..."

The twins only hmmed, content smiles on their faces...Jaken chuckles and starts creeping over to where the Tessaiga rested:

"Take your time and have nice, long bath...Mm? Oh! I found the sword! Yes!"

But as soon as his fingertips touched the sheath:

(Bzzt)

The barrier zaps him, and his body combusts into blue flames:

"Gaah!"

His body goes back to normal upon hitting the ground, and he mutters,

"It's my fault, I shouldn't have been so hasty..."

Jaken then spots Inuyasha's Red Fire Robe, and gets an idea:

"Wait, I know!"

He takes the top half and walks over to the sword again:

 _I'll go like this..._

Up above, Rin rides the flying A-Un, her frown turning into a smile when she spots the imp below...Zooming in, we see that Jaken has tied the robe around the sheath of Tessaiga, and was now dragging it away on the ground with a smile of victory:

 _My intelligence is truly formidable!_

We check back with Inuyasha, Miroku and the twins, still relaxing in the hot spring, before they notice a familiar shadow gliding across the sky:

"Huh?"

"What's that?"

They then recognize the form to be A-Un, and immediately stand up on alert:

"Sesshomaru!"

"Or his dragon at least."

"Still, doesn't mean he's not nearby."

But just as those conclusions were drawn, the men then felt a wave of nausea hit them and began to wobble on the spot:

"A-Ah, oh man..."

"W-What's, happening...?"

"My head..."

"So, dizzy..."

All four would then fall backwards into the water with a splash, prompting Coraline to rush over in concern:

"Inuyasha! Guys, are you-"

She then cuts herself off in shock, when she sees the dog demon's naked body, unconscious, floating in the spring water:

 _...Oh...shit!_

Coraline's face lights up a bright red, and she whirls around while covering her face in a mix of shame and embarrassment:

"O-Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Inuyasha mutters, still a bit dizzy,

"S-Sesshomaru is..."

Sango runs over, dressed in her slayer gear, and informs the redhead,

"I'll go and try to slow him down. You take care of these four."

Coraline nods meekly, and Sango calls for her cat demon companion:

"Let's go, Kilala."

...As soon as they head out, Coraline stutters to Inuyasha, her cheeks still rosy,

"O-Okay, h-how d-do you want to d-d-do this?"

"(Weakly points) Over there, over there, my clothes, get my clothes!"

She sees the clothing of all four men laying nearby the spring, and runs over to get Inuyasha's first:

"Okay, clothes are here...But-Oh crap: The Tessaiga!"

Jumping over a ways into the forest, Jaken continues to drag the sword away down the path with a happy smile, before he stops to the following call:

"Master Jaken, I found you!"

"Huh? (Turns around) Rin! What're you doing here?"

She replies as the two-headed dragon demon lands on the ground,

"I can't seem to find my way back." Before the imp could make any reply:

"Stop right there!"

Sango and Kilala appear overhead, heading right for them! Jaken exclaims,

"I've been found out! Hang on: Rin is human, so she should be able to hold onto the Tessaiga..."

He quickly unwraps the sword from the fire robe and hands it to the girl while urging,

"Rin, hurry and take this to Lord Sesshomaru at once!"

"But how?"

It was then Sango throws down her weapon towards the imp:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...)

But Jaken uses the Staff of Two Heads to deflect the weapon with fire, and says to Rin,

"Hurry and go while I deal with this demon slayer!"

He knocks A-Un's side with his staff, prompting the two-headed dragon demon to take off to the skies with Rin...

"You're not going anywhere!"

Dodging another attack from Jaken, Sango orders her companion,

"Let's cut 'em off, Kilala!"

"Not, so, fast!"

Jaken would block the slayer and cat demon with a third shoot of fire, forcing them to tumble backwards before regaining their balance. Just as the imp smiles poudly at his success, Inuyasha voice cuts in:

"That's far enough, Jaken!"

He looks to his left, and sees the dog demon (with just his bottom robe layer on) running over with the rest of the group (the other men also dressed)! Inuyasha leaps in front of Jaken and demands,

"Give me back my Tessaiga!"

"I dunno anything about it."

"What?"

Just as Inuyasha takes a step forward, A-Un circles back to the area, and shoots out a twin lightning attack from their mouths, blasting Inuyasha off his feet:

"Guh!"

"Master Jaken!"

"Rin, you fool! Why did you return?"

Miroku rushes over with Shippo to check on Inuyasha:

"Inuyasha, are you alright?"

"Yeah..."

Meanwhile, Coraline's focus was on A-Un's passenger:

"Hang on..."

 _Is that...a little girl? Who is she?_

Tossing the flowers aside, Rin reaches her hand down to Jaken and says,

"Come on, take my hand!"

"Rin!"

The imp does so with no protest, and A-Un starts to float up again...

"Hold on tight; I've got you!"

Rin struggles to pull the imp up, and chooses to cast away the Tessaiga for another free hand, and uses both to pull Jaken onto the dragon demon:

"Rgh...rgh!"

Once he was settled on, Jaken asks the young girl in a softer tone,

"Rin, but why did you come back?"

"Huh? Because...I couldn't help but worry about you, Jaken."

Jaken was taken aback, and shuts his eyes in thought...before opening them again to ask,

"Oh, right, where's the Tessaiga?"

Rin gasps, and looks back down below, Jaken following suit, and they watch as Inuyasha takes back his sword. The imp exclaims,

"I don't believe this!"

His face then colours over in a shade of blue, before he faints...

"Hello? Is something the matter? Jaken!"

Back down on the ground, as Inuyasha ties Tessaiga back onto his hip, he grumbles,

"Damn that Jaken. He's gonna pay for this next time I see him!"

Sango comments,

"It seems that he was after the sword and not you." Miroku found this odd:

"Strange that there's no sign of Sesshomaru..."

Inuaysha concludes,

"Jaken must've come up with this plan all on his own."

...Sango then notices that Coraline was quiet the whole time, and says to her,

"Coraline, you look pale. He didn't steal anything from you too, did he?"

The redhead smiles halfheartedly and replies,

"Nope. Everything's here. My mind's just, wandering a bit..."

"Heh, nothing dirty, I hope. You know, 'cause of what ya saw earlier..."

She glares at her smirking brother Freeman and punches his shoulder:

"Shut up, you pervert! My mind's clean of such images, unlike yours!"

He just laughs, and Besa faceplams, while Coraline and Inuyasha share a quick glance at eachother...before blushing a bit, both still embarrassed by before.

As her blush cools down, Coraline muses to herself,

 _Good grief, what a night..._

 _Anyway, it looks like no one else saw her. That young girl...She came to Jaken's rescue._

 _It's strange: Sesshomaru has boasted on and on about his hatred of humans, and yet it seems he now has one traveling with him and Jaken..._

 _Wonder what could've brought about that?_

Scene Shift: Watermelon Field

We rejoin Rin, Jaken and A-Un, as they stop in their travels in a large field of watermelons, the sweet fragrance enough to lure any hungry traveler to stop and eat...

Unfortunately, the imp's appetite did not exist, he sulking over his plans to steal the Tessaiga all backfiring:

 _All that work for nothing..._

Rin remained as positive as ever, as she looks over the melons for one to take:

"They all look delicious. Which one should I choose, Master Jaken?"

"Who cares? Leave me alone!"

"Maybe I'll have two, or three."

As Jaken looks up to the sky, the moon still shining the brilliant orange, he thinks to himself,

 _Lord Sesshomaru and his whims: Why does he insist on keeping a human girl at his side?_

Rin digs into a melon, marveling at the flavour of the juices:

"This is one is sweet too. (Looks back) Watch over the other ones for me, okay, Master Jaken?"

He hmphs, but muses,

 _Oh well, no sense complaining._

 _(Flash)_

 _"...I couldn't help but worry about you..."_

 _(Flash)_

 _If Rin hadn't returned at just that moment, I would've suffered a terrible beating at Inuyasha's hands._

...Suddenly:

(Whoooosh)

A strong gust of wind comes blowing over the field, before the demon incarnation Kagura lands down between the imp and young girl!

"It's you again!"

"Hmph. Sesshomaru can be so careless, taking his eyes off his ward."

She uses her fan to send another gust of wind against Jaken, knocking him off his feet, before dissipating as quick as it came...But when he moves to stand up, Jaken found himself the only one left in the field!

"Rin! Rin! Riiiin!"

But his shouts would go unanswered, for the poor girl was already too far away, upon Kagura's feather, _heading on a straight course to Naraku's castle...!_


	87. Chapter 86

**Chapter 86: Sesshomaru & the Abducted Rin**

At the same time Rin was taken away by the Wind Sorceress, Kagura, back in the Goshinboku Village, Inuyasha and the others had returned for the night to rest, now sleeping inside Kaede's Hut, bodies laid or propped up against the wood walls of the elder priestess's home...

But the peace would soon be disturbed, when Inuyasha's nose picks up on an unsettling scent:

"Uh!"

His eyes snap awake, and he quickly heads out the wicker door, the quiet echoes of his hurrying feet not escaping Coraline's ears:

"Mm...Hm?"

 _...Inuyasha?_

She moves to get up and follow him, grabbing her own blade along the way, and as she exits the home, she meets with her Will O' Wisp companion who floats down from a nearby oak:

"(Ghostly moan)"

"(Whisper) Hey, Lumos...Which way'd he go?"

Moving to just outside the backwoods of the village south, the deep orange glow of the moon casting ominous shadows from the tips of the leaves and branches, Inuyasha looks into the air, growling in agitation...

"...Something's coming, isn't there?"

"Hm?"

He turns around, and sees Coraline walk over to him, Lumos floating on her left. As she moves to stand on his, she asks with a serious stare cast to the skies,

"What are we up against this time?"

"...Naraku."

The redhead cringes, but nods all the same, while the Will O' Wisp glows in and out red and blue, his own senses up...

And they wouldn't be the only ones aware: Somewhere else in an open grass field, as the tall green blades swayed wildly with the shifting winds, Sesshomaru's sense of smell also picked up on the scent of the diabolical demon.

 _Hm...The scent of the wind has changed._

It was then Jaken finally reaches the dog demon to report what had happened earlier in the watermelon field:

"(Pant, pant) Lord Sesshomaru! Young Rin has been abducted: Naraku's incarnation, Kagura came out of nowhere and, took off with Rin!"

He stares at the imp with no reply made, but something deep in his gold irises seem to reflect a type of concern at hearing this news...

" _...Let me reassure you, Lord Sesshomaru..._ "

Sesshomaru and Jaken turn around to the sound of Naraku's voice, and see his baboon fur-disguised form fade into view between his Insects of Hell:

"If you heed my request, I shall return Rin in good health."

Jaken's large eyes bulge and he points to the demon with a squawk:

"H-auh! It's Naraku!"

Sesshomaru remains cool and calm, but there was a camouflaged undertone that said he was obviously not pleased to see Naraku again:

"We meet again. So, what do you have up your sleeve this time?"

"Nothing special: I simply want you to kill Inuyasha."

...Another breezes rattles the grass, before Sesshomaru scoffs in a slightly amused air:

"Huh. Why are you going to all this trouble for something so trivial?"

He then sprints forward and uses his claws to decapitate the demon puppet, the head dropping to the ground before disintegrating into clumped soil, along with the rest of the body...

"Gah! What, is that?!...A demon puppet?"

"Does Naraku honestly believe he can threaten me into action by endangering the life of a mere mortal?"

Jaken looks up at Sesshomaru and asks with some surprise,

"Will you turn your back on the girl? Will you forsake her?"

...He does not reply, and merely turns to walk to elsewhere, much to the imp's confusion:

"Wait! Lord Sesshomaru! Where are you going?! (Starts chasing) Where are you heading, my lord?"

...The mutant wasps continue to tail Sesshomaru and Jaken, giving eyes to Kanna's demon mirror, seen by the true Naraku within the walls of his fortress...He smiles, knowing that the dog demon would be nearing:

 _So, Sesshomaru...you've come._

Coraline's POV

As soon as we rushed back to Kaede's to inform everyone what Inuyasha sensed, we scrambled to get our gear and weapons before heading out to see if we could finally narrow down Naraku's location.

I'm running between my brothers through the forest from the village to elsewhere, while Shippo rode on my shoulder, Sango and Miroku on Kilala, and Inuyasha ran/leaped ahead of us, with Lumos flying around us all.

Freeman calls up to Inuyasha,

"You sure it's Naraku were on the trail of this time?" The latter calls back,

"Yeah! I know his stench! Look out, Naraku: I'll find you this time, and I'll kill you!"

I flash my eyes a glowing ice blue, and pick up faint traces of Naraku's Aura, confirming our directional path:

"Auh! I can sense Naraku with my Aura Sight! It hasn't been this strong before, so his defenses have definitely dropped! Lumos, can you sense him as well?"

My creature partner chirps wildly, emitting the red and blue throb once more, his way of saying 'Yes'. Sango was rather suspicious of this strange turn (as were the rest of us):

"He's gone out his way to hide himself all this time. Why would he show up now?"

Miroku was also feeling cautious:

"Yes, that bothers me too..." Freeman offers up a suggestion:

"Maybe he's reaching a new peak of power and is no longer feeling the need to keep up this hide and seek chase!"

Besa adds,

"Either that...or he's finally getting impatient with ending our lives."

I voice my own opinion:

"Whatever the reason, let's all use caution: There's no telling what that bastard could be planning this round!"

I get a collective hm of alertness, and we keep up our pace, determined to not be caught unawares:

 _Just you wait, Naraku. This time, we'll take you down!_

No POV

We turn our eyes to a hillside littered with grave stones and markers of the forgotten deceased, nestled between several young beech trees, and on the tip top, stood a large hut surrounded by glowing orbs of light...

Inside, was the unconscious Rin, her body highlighted by the glow of a single candle...

"...Nnn...nmm."

She blinks awake, and the events from earlier come rushing back:

 _Oh, now I remember: That Kagura lady took me away._

 _I was abducted._

She pushes herself up on her knees with her hands, and looks around the hut's interior:

"...Where am I? Huh?"

Rin senses another presence, and turns to the corner left, to see Kohaku, dressed in his simple blue kimono, sitting with his kusarigama laying in front of him, looking out a barred window with an expression of forlorn.

Taking her melon into her hands (which she managed to hang onto during her kidnapping), she asks him,

"...Who are you?"

Kohaku does not reply...An odd silence falls into the room, before Rin puts her melon down, and tries to head out the hut. That was when the young demon slayer finally spoke up:

"No, you can't go outside!"

"I have to get back."

(Slide)

But as soon as she pushes the doors open, Rin would discover that any chances of escape for her were next-to-impossible, due to the number of demons floating and crawling around the area!

One demon, resembling a bony snake with the head of a bird skull and spiked hair, comes down and lets out a snarl, prompting Rin to close the doors with a shudder of fear...She then slowly walks over to the wall on Kohaku's left, and sits down with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"I told you not to go outside. If you do, they'll tear you apart."

"...Who are you? Were you brought here against your will like I was? We could run away together!"

"My job is to guard you."

Rin sighs in disappointment:

"Oh, I see..."

...After another moment of silence, Rin decides to try and make the best of it by trying to get to know her guard:

"Oh, you didn't tell me your name. You can call me Rin if you want. How old are you, and how come you're a guard here? Does that mean you're a demon like the others? Tell me: What do you like to eat? Do you like melons?"

Kohaku was a bit surprised by how calm Rin seemed, but replied dryly,

"Yeah, I guess...You sure talk alot."

It was Rin's turn to be taken aback, and she turns away from Kohaku with a sulky sigh while muttering,

"I know...but I get scared when I'm not talking."

 _I wonder if Lord Sesshomaru will come to rescue me..._

Speaking of, we catch up with the lord dog demon and his vassal imp, as they reach an area of the field with large, jagged boulders plotted around the grounds. Jaken then looks up at Sesshomaru to ask,

"If I may be so bold as to ask, what is your plan to approach this, my lord?"

Sesshomaru does not reply, his trek coming to a stop, as his eyes catch the sight of a gigantic, blurry, transparent force emanating down below the hill...

"Why did you stop? Is something the matter?"

"(Narrows eyes) Naraku's castle is here."

Jaken gasps, and peers around the area up ahead, but not catching the sight of anything remotely relating to a towering fortress:

"...I don't see a castle, my lord."

But Seshomaru waits patient...Suddenly, the air in front of them ripples like water in a river, giving away the location of the barrier!

"Daaaaaaah! T-The barrier has opened up!"

Looking inside, we see the tall stone walls and towers of the demon's castle, and Sesshomaru wastes no time in beginning entry, with Jaken scrambling to follow:

"My lord!"

As soon as they were inside, Sesshomaru and Jaken made their way to the castle courtyard, the grounds carrying a black, misty haze, and the sky overcast with dark clouds, making the entire castle more dark then it already appeared.

Jaken shivers, but keeps his step with his lord:

"W-W-Wait!"

Sesshomaru's attention was on the demon hidden within the doors of the section in front of him, already seeing into what Naraku was doing:

"...You purposely leaked your scent, reveal your castle, so that I would follow you here."

...The torches posted around the courtyard perimeter alight with a hot blue flame, and the voice of the castle owner echoes a counter reply:

" _Would you have come otherwise?_ "

Naraku then fades into view on the front steps, cloaked in his baboon 'guise once again (whether truly or through another demon puppet is anyone's guess...). Jaken cringes back in a gape, and Naraku adds on,

"I must inform you that the mortal girl you seek is not here in my castle. She would never be able to survive in his airless atmosphere of this poisonous miasma. The girl is under my protection outside these castle walls. I assure you she is unharmed... _for now._ "

"Naraku...do me the honour of at least recognizing that I am not here simply to save Rin."

Jaken looks at Sesshomaru in shock, and Naraku replies with an air of amusement,

"Of course. You of all people seem to despise taking orders from others. You will not kill Inuyasha when told to do so, nor did you come to look for the girl. I realize that you, are here to kill me."

"Hmph, (Small smirk) you sound as if you have lured me into a trap. Perhaps later I'll have you explain yourself..."

Sesshomaru raise one of his clawed hands, cracking his knuckles:

" _If you should survive the night, that is._ "

Naraku does not faze from the threat, he smiling darkly to himself:

 _Heh-heh, Sesshomaru...You will assist me, whether you like it or not._

Coraline's POV

As we continue our rush down the forest path, my brothers and I find ourselves having trouble keeping up the pace with everyone else, and call them to slow down:

"Inuyasha, slow your pace a bit, please!"

"We're losin' ya, dude!"

"Yeah!"

(Pulse)

"Uh!"

Just as Inuyasha and the others stop for us to catch up, he asking a bit urgently,

"What's the hold-up?!"

I felt it...A pulse from the jewel.

"(Looks up) The jewel shards...I'm picking up a wave nearby."

That caught everyone's attention, and Besa asks,

"From which way?"

I turn my gaze to my right, where a small mountain was standing in the distance:

"That way, towards that peak over there."

"So you think the shards are in those mountains over there?"

I nod to Miroku, and Sango asks us all,

"What should we do?" Miroku decides for us:

"We'll go after the jewel shard. (Turns behind him) Inuyasha, you go and try to find Naraku's castle."

"Right. Make sure you get the jewel."

With that, Inuyasha turns to continue his sprint in the direction where Naraku's Aura was radiating, and I call after him,

"Good luck, and be careful, Inuyasha!"

Taking a deep breath to calm my worries for my friend, I turn to my right where Lumos was floating:

"Alright, Lumos: Let's sync up our energies to better track from this point, okay?"

He 'nods', and Shippo hops off my shoulder to Besa's, before I holds my left hand straight out for my Will O' Wisp partner to rest on my fingertips...

(Gleam, throb)

He emits a white-blue glow, and his energy travels up my arm to the rest of my body in waves, my eyes shining as bright...Once the process was over, Lumos moved to rest on my shoulder, while my irises now carried a white-blue ring around the usual stormy blue.

"Alright, everyone...onward and upward!"

"(Collective) Right!"

With that, we all began running in the direction of the jewel shard, with the thought of Naraku tucked away temporarily:

 _As soon as we find the shard, we'll come runnin' to you, Inuyasha._

 _In the meantime, just keep true, fight hard, and battle smart!_

Inuyasha's POV

As I keep running through the woods in the direction my nose was telling me to go, I couldn't help but wonder,

 _What's going on? I'm starting to lose Naraku's scent..._

 _Does that mean the barrier's back up around the castle?_

 _I've gotta hurry before I lose him!_

I remember back to first time that bastard used his new barrier, and how even my Wind Scar failed to break it...But I shake the thought off, for I now hold a new power in my blade that's gonna trump that shield no problem:

 _He won't escape this time!_

Back inside Naraku's Castle, No POV

As Sesshomaru continues to eye the dark-ridden half-demon with disdain, Naraku laughs and jeers,

"Lord Sesshomaru, I am honoured by your visit...So in return, I shall gladly accept your challenge."

His back then hunches, before red-shelled claws erupt from his back, along with several black-skinned tentacles, ripping apart his robes, and revealing his upper body in full...And yet, that was the only part of him that seemed recognizable: The rest of him waist-down was made of various, grotesque demon parts, ranging from tendrils to centipede demon torsos, and even his arms had become spindly and monstrous!

"Gaaah! Wh-What's he become?!"

As Jaken scrambled behind Sesshomaru in fear, the latter calmly replies,

"Huh. A collection of rejected demons...Is this your true form, Naraku?"

"True form? No... _my body is far from being complete._ "

Naraku then uses one of the crustacean-like claws to try and attack Sesshomaru, but the latter dodges, while Jaken was thrown off-balance by the upturn of dirt:

"Daah!"

Knowing he didn't stand a chance in this fight, the imp quickly ducks behind a nearby wood pillar, while Sesshomaru lands gracefully on the ground with a scoff:

"You'll destroy me for refusing to do as you wish?"

Naraku only stares at the dog demon, while a few feet behind the latter next to a lookout tower, stood Kagura, who was a bit confused as to what her master was up to this time:

 _I don't understand...What would Naraku gain in Sesshomaru's death?_

...That's when it hits her:

 _(Gasp) Could that be what Naraku's planning?!_

Meanwhile, near the Graveyard Hill...  


Coraline was riding with Sango on Kilala, while Miroku and the twins ran alongside eachother, Shippo on the monk's shoulder, heading for the area where the redhead was sensing the jewel shards are:

"It shouldn't be too much further now, just at the end of this path." Miroku calls up to her,

"I don't like this, considering we're so close to Naraku's Castle..."

"I was just thinking that myself...Not only that, but...it seems to be just a single shard."

That caught Sango's attention, and Coraline knew why:

 _If we're that close to the demon's castle...then it must mean that the shard I'm sensing, could be Kohaku's._

Sango keeps her eyes to the thinning treeline ahead of them all, her thoughts lingering on one question:

 _Is it Kohaku?_

Zooming in on the demon-guarded hut atop the grave-littered hillside, Rin decides to break into the watermelon she still had from the field, and even shared it with Kohaku.

"This melon is so sweet."

"Haah...Would you like another piece?"

Kohaku nods at Rin:

"Yes, thank you."

She holds out another slice:

"Here you are...If you like it that much, I can always go steal some more."

As she bites into her own piece, Rin suddenly asks with a sad frown,

"You don't remember anything, Kohaku?" He replies monotonously,

"No, I don't."

"Not even your mother, or your father?"

"(Looks away) I've, forgotten."

"Huh...I've never heard of a person forgetting everything."

He doesn't say it aloud, but Kohaku thinks,

 _It's not that...It's just that...I'm afraid I might remember something frightening..._

"I guess everyone has things that, they don't wanna remember..."

Kohaku looks back at Rin, who stares at her lap with a distant and slightly bitter smile:

"I'm the same. My parents and brothers were attacked by thieves. They tried to get away, but...they were killed...I still have nightmares about, the night it happened. It still scares me..."

She then looks eye-to-eye with the amnesiac demon slayer and asks,

"Am I talking too much? You know, people have always been telling me to be quiet."

"...It's okay. I don't mind if you keep talking. I don't, get to talk much."

Back outside, as the demons curled around the hut, we find Coraline and the others emerging from the cover of the beech trees, prompting the beasts to turn and hiss or growl at their arrival...

Hearing the shift, Kohaku moves to take his kusarigama into his hand, then quickly step over to the candle to blow it out, making the inside of the hut fall into shadow, the moonlight barely casting a muted glow from the paper-lined doors.

"What's the matter?"

"Keep quiet."

Kohaku then sneaks over to the doors, and slides one open a bit, with Rin crawling over to look for herself. Upon seeing Sango, Kohaku's eyes widen a bit in shock:

 _It's her again!_

 _Her face is the only thing I remember...I can't get her out of my mind._

With the memory of Sango's agonized expression freshly resurfaced, Kohaku grips the side of his head with a wince of pain, his mind pulsing to erase the amnesia...

Back outside, everyone watches in respected silence as Sango's eyes shined with pensiveness, knowing that her brother must be in there:

 _Kohaku, are you inside? Kohaku..._

Naraku's Castle Courtyard

After a few more minutes of intense silence, Sesshomaru reaches to his left side with his right hand, and unsheathes Tokijin. Naraku just scoffs with a smile, before shooting out several fat tentacles at the dog demon, who would bring Tokijin down in a swing, unleashing the sword's Aura and cutting the appendages back effortlessly!

The pieces rain on the ground, before Sesshomaru says to Naraku,

"Naraku...you're such a lowly demon. You will never have the power nor the resources to harm me."

The other just chuckles at the arrogance...before silently calling his fallen tentacles to form back up again, much to Kagura's shock:

"(Gasp)"

The detached tentacle then crawls over and seizes Sesshomaru's leg, causing him to look down at it, giving Naraku the advantage of surprise to send more to attack! Thankfully, Sesshomaru was wise to the tactic, and leaps into the air before using Tokijin to cut away at the appendages again, the pieces showering like a thick, disgusting rain...

"(Lands) Ha. How long to do you intend to keep up this ludicrous farce?"

Naraku does not answer aloud, smirking at his true intent:

 _(Chuckle) Every time you hack away a piece of me, you're slowly covered by pieces of my flesh...and then..._

Kagura sucks back a sharp breath:

 _I knew it: Naraku is trying to absorb Sesshomaru into his own body!_

And looking to the ground, we see that some of the pieces of tentacle, were vibrating like a heart skipping beats...

Meanwhile, just outside the barrier, Inuyasha arrives at the same hill clearing that Sesshomaru and Jaken were standing in a little while ago, and picks up on his half-brother's scent:

"Huh?"

 _What's going on? Sesshomaru's scent comes this far, but then it vanishes..._

He then pulls his Tessaiga out, when he realizes,

 _Wait: Maybe this is Naraku's castle!_

He then charges forward, entering the liquid-air barrier, and struggles against the forceful power trying to throw him back, but would not be swayed:

 _A demonic aura and toxic gasses?! This has got to be Naraku's barrier! I'm sure of it!_

He uses a good amount of strength to leap into the air, and his Tessaiga blade wraps itself in the pink-red energies from the demon bat blood coral crystal, before dissipating to leave behind a blood-red sword!

" _Tessaiga!_ "

(SLASH)

His Wind Scar cuts a heaping gap into the barrier, revealing the stone-walled fortress to Inuyasha's eyes:

 _There it is! Naraku's castle!_

...Back in the courtyard, Naraku feels a shock pass through his veins, and looks up to see rings of yellow billowing over his transparent barrier!

 _Who's there?! Someone is breaking through my barrier!_

He turns behind him and orders,

"Kagura: After him."

She gasps, sends a glare at her master, but does as he commands, rushing off to the entrance of the castle...Naraku then turns back to Sesshomaru as the latter asks with slight mock,

"An unexpected guest, Naraku? How very unfortunate for him. I assure you, his journey here will be in vain..."

The dog demon raises Tokijin at the ready:

"By the time he arrives...(Swing) you'll be dead!"

He then sends a wave of the sword's aura straight at Naraku, hacking his more demonic half into pieces, blood spilling in tremendous amounts!

...But Naraku wasn't fazed, as he watches more of his flesh scatter around Sesshomaru:

 _(Laugh) Just a little longer. Soon, you will be absorbed into my body. You will be one with my flesh!_

At the same time, Kagura flies out of the castle walls on her feather, before spotting Inuyasha running on foot to the structure:

"(Gasp) Inuyasha!" She then notices the change in his sword:

 _...The Tessaiga's blade is red!_

Kagura lands on the grass in front of Inuyasha, stopping him in his tracks:

"Hm? Kagura."

"So it was you who broke through the barrier, Inuyasha."

"In the flesh, Kagura. Take my advice: Stand back. You're no match for me any longer."

She growls with a seething glare, and Inuyasha demands again,

"Back off and let me pass, or I'll have to kill you!"

She does not move...but then looks behind her and sees that a swarm of the Insects of Hell have come:

 _Nrh...The Saimyōshō._

"I can't let you pass, because I'm under watch myself."

Kagura swipes out her fan, and Inuyasha forms a look of confusion at her words, while she herself thinks,

 _I better at least put on a show in fighting him._

She then sends her wind blades at Inuyasha, who uses the Tessaiga to block them with ease! But the dog demon felt no real effort made into the attack:

 _What's going on? Kagura's wind has no power at all..._

"If you're gonna fight me, you better get serious!"

Inuyasha sprints to attack, sword in the air, while Kagura leaps up and sends more wind blades at him. But those were just as easy to cast aside, annoying the dog demon greatly:

"You'll have to do better than that!"

Kagura then jumps back to dodge the rouge blade, and looks up at the Saimyōshō, then back at Inuyasha, while thinking to herself edgily,

 _I know I'm not serious about fighting him...I'll have to take this up a level._

But before she could carry out such, Kagura feels another presence closing in from the air. She turns around, and sees a horde of demons flying right for the area! She smiles, and takes off one of her feathers, deciding they would pick up her slack:

 _Perfect. They can take care of him._

With that, Kagura leaves back for the castle, leaving Inuyasha to fight the demon horde:

"Keh, no problem."

A wind vortex surrounds his crimson blade, before he unleashes his attack:

"Try this: _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

But while a good number of the demons are destroyed, more kept swarming down at Inuyasha...

"You're dead!"

(SLASH)

Inside the courtyard, with the grounds littered in pieces of Naraku's demonic flesh, most of it surrounding Sesshomaru, the half-demon lets out a loud laugh, as his plans come to center.

Up in the air, Kagura watches Inuyasha hack down more of the demons coming to attack him, before feeling a shiver down her spine, and turning back to the castle:

 _Perhaps I overestimated Sesshomaru..._

"Out of my way! Wind Scar!"

(SLASH)

More demons bite the dust, and Inuyasha starts a sprint in the direction of the stoned fortress, yelling at the other demons,

"Step aside! Hrrraaaahhh!"

Kagura looks back at him and concludes,

 _Sesshomaru may be doomed, but with that sword, Inuyasha could probably defeat Naraku._

She looks back at the shadowed castle...and smiles:

 _Then I will be free!_


	88. Chapter 87

**Chapter 87: Vanishing Point - Naraku Disappears**

We pick up on the action within Naraku's castle courtyard, just after Sesshomaru landed a very damaging attack to the half-demon's lower and more monstrous body...

But as we turn our eyes to the ground littered with pieces of bloodied flesh, we see that this was exactly what Naraku had planned, as each one starts to quiver and vibrate, forming back together, and aiming to ensnare the dog demon come Naraku's call.

The despicable demon smiles...but:

(Pulse)

He feels another familiar presence approaching the front entrance of the castle...

 _He's heading this way. Kagura must've failed._

"Naraku."

He turns his eyes back on Sesshomaru:

"You seem pretty preoccupied by what's happening outside these walls..."

"Lord Sesshomaru, I'm afraid that'll have to cut your visit short. I will have your power... _Every last bit of your demonic power._ "

A spectral air billows Naraku's hair, as he sends his fallen demon parts to fly from the ground and envelop Sesshomaru!

" _I shall have it all for myself._ "

Soon, Sesshomaru is almost completely ensnared by the newly reformed tentacles, save his head, preventing him from moving at all...Jaken watches from behind the wooden pillar, fearful for his lord's life:

 _L-Lord Sesshomaru!_

"Daaah! Th-This is terrible!"

But his attention would then be preoccupied, when another stray tentacle part tries to get him:

"Guh! _Staff of Two Heads!_ "

(Fwooom)

The old man head spews fire at the tentacle, but it only turns an angry red, before proceeding to chase the imp around the lookout tower:

"Oh no, it didn't work! Heeeelp!"

As this was going on, Kagura flies overhead Inuyasha on her feather, as he sprints towards the high stone walls of Naraku's castle, determined not to lose this opportunity to slay the evil inside...

Back inside the courtyard, the tentacle chasing Jaken gives up, while he hides behind a small rock embedded in the ground, casting his gaze towards the trapped Sesshomaru:

 _Can he save himself?_

His question would receive an unpleasant answer, when the tentacle mound closes over Sesshomaru's head, enveloping him completely!

"Uh! I don't believe it! My lord has been engulfed!"

The tentacles then morph into a dark green fleshy mound, and Naraku starts to slowly move his fully attached tendrils towards the mass, intent on absorbing Sesshomaru into his body along with the latter's power!

"U-U-Uh, (Gulp) a death too cruel..."

Just as Jaken makes that worried observation, Inuyasha was closing in, running up the cobble-stone walls of the castle...Naraku by this time has thrust his tendrils into the flesh mound, and was now absorbing Sesshomaru's demonic energies:

"(Chuckle) At last, I have obtained the powers of a full demon."

"Naraku!"

He freezes, and turns to look up behind him, as Inuyasha comes leaping in:

"No wonder you've been hiding your true form!"

"Inuyasha!"

"You're dead! _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

Inuyasha thrusts his Tessaiga down, sending his clawed attack straight at Naraku! But the other wasn't worried:

"I think not!"

...But he would be.

Naraku does erect his demonic barrier around his body, but Inuyasha just kept up the pressure with his newly strengthened sword, and the clawed attack splits the ground, before forcing the barrier to dissipate, allowing Naraku to become vulnerable to the Wind Scar's damage!

To say that he was shocked that his barrier failed would be an understatement: As he watched his demon flash fly, Naraku thinks to himself in disbelief,

 _He...He's broken through my barrier!_

Inuyasha lands on the ground with ease, his Tessaiga blade reverting back to its normal colour:

"I found you, Naraku, and today, I'm going to destroy you!"

Despite the damage taken to his body, Naraku still scoffed at Inuyasha's claim:

"Don't make me laugh! Do you really think you can slay me?"

...Kagura arrives overhead the courtyard on her feather, her mind wandering on the young half-demon and his power:

 _He can. Inuyasha's strong enough now..._

Her eyes then turn to the flesh mound holding Sesshomaru, and she immediately became concerned:

 _I don't believe it! Naraku has already engulfed Sesshomaru's body!_

 _...Then Naraku must be defeated, before he's had a chance to absorb Sesshomaru's demonic power._

The grounds fall silent, save the rumble of thunder in the dark skies overseeing the grounds, as Naraku thought over recent events:

 _...My mistake. I never expected Inuyasha to get this far._

Nevertheless, he laughs, and says to the other,

"Inuyasha. You've grown strong enough to break through my barrier."

Said dog demon lifts his Tessaiga at the ready:

"Naraku, you bastard, you won't escape this time. Prepare to die!"

He sprints forward, intent on beheading if not obliterating the demon before him. Naraku scoffs and replies in kind,

"You may have grown more powerful, but you are certainly no match for me. Now perish!"

He then sends his tentacles at Inuyasha, who runs from side to side to dodge, not once slowing his speed, before leaping up to cut the appendages away:

"Not this time!"

(Slash)

The pieces rain on the ground, and Inuyasha lands before continuing his sprint to Naraku, who sends more tentacles to attack:

"I'm not done with you yet!"

Inuyasha leaps up to dodge, the tentacles splitting the dirt upon impact, before he cuts them away again:

"Oh yeah?!"

(Slash)

"Naraku! Rrraah!"

(SLASH)

He then sends a Wind Scar at the bulk of the appendages, destroying them just as Sesshomaru did with Tokijin...But this was what Naraku had wanted to happen, before he would invoke the same strategy he used only moments ago:

The fallen pieces of flesh reform detached from Naraku, before ensnaring Inuyasha from the torso down!

"What?! What's happening?!"

As Inuyasha struggles to break free, Naraku chuckles darkly before replying,

"I'll engulf you body and soul, just as I did with Sesshomaru."

"What?! Sesshomaru?!"

Inuyasha then sees the pulsing flesh mound behind Naraku, and became all the more determined to escape the tentacles...Kagura watches from the skies, and became doubtful of the situation:

 _I was wrong. Naraku's still too strong for him..._

"You're too late, Inuyasha. I have already consumed Sesshomaru. I don't know that your half-demon power will do me any good...but still I'll absorb your body into my flesh!"

Inuyasha calls back with some strain in his voice,

"Don't assume, I'm as weak, as Sesshomaru!"

He then puts all his muscle power into the arm that held Tessaiga...before finally slashing the tentacles away, much to Naraku's shock! Inuyasha sprints forward:

"This is the end, Naraku! You're going down this time! Now, DIE!"

(SLASH)

Naraku would not escape the Wind Scar this time, and he is hit full-blast, parts flying, and the flesh mound holding Sesshomaru is also hit!

Thinking his lord has perished, Jaken breaks down into tears:

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

...But then, the partially damaged flesh mound, is cut away by a blue demonic aura, courtesy of Sesshomaru's Tokijin, he still alive and standing!

"Sesshomaru!"

"Huh? (Ecstatic smile) My lord, you're alive!"

Sesshomaru steps away from where he was trapped, his foot crushing a piece of Naraku's tentacle. He scoffs with a taunting smile, addressing the demon, who was still alive, but has taken more extensive damage, both his arms gone:

"Naraku. Ironic, isn't it, that the flesh you used to bound me would be your shield against Inuyasha's Wind Scar?"

Inuyasha rushes over near Sesshomaru and says to him,

"Move it! I'm taking Naraku down!"

"No. Naraku belongs to me."

"Not likely! This time, you won't interfere!"

Suddenly, Naraku rises off the ground, a mass amount of tentacles making him appear taller and more menacing:

"I should absorb both of you while you bicker!"

"What's that?!"

"(Laugh) Die!"

Naraku then shoots down several sharp-pointed tentacles at Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, to which both would leap away from, the appendages splitting the dirt ground below. But Naraku wasn't going to give an inch:

"You cannot escape my attacks forever!"

Inuyasha circles around while dodging some more of the tentacles, before using Tessaiga to hack them away:

"Just die, will ya?!"

Sesshomaru follows through similarly, using the Aura of Tokijin to blast the appendages to pieces...This strategy goes on for a while, before Inuyasha finds an opening to use his Wind Scar at the main mass:

"This should finish you off once and for all!"

(SLASH)

Naraku was frozen with shock that the attack made contact:

"What's happening?!"

The tentacle mass breaks and falls apart, and Naraku, now reduced to his torso and head, falls onto the pile of flesh, completely defenseless!

"One more should do it!"

Sesshomaru dashes up beside Inuyasha, not wanting his brother to be the last-attacker:

"I told you you let me take him."

"Back, down!"

But Sesshomaru does not heed Inuyasha's warning, and thrusts Tokijin's Aura right at Naraku, who cringes in pain from the impact, before growling in anger...He then releases a black-purple miasma, cloaking he and the rest of his body, prompting Inuyasha and Sesshomaru to leap back and avoid getting engulfed by the toxic fumes!

Inuyasha covers his nose with his sleeve and mutters,

"...A miasma...!"

The cloud of poison then spins into a massive sphere vortex, before morphing into a skinny tornado, with the Saimyōshō buzzing around it as it takes to the skies...Naraku's voice then comes booming through the atmosphere:

" _Lord Sesshomaru...I shall withdraw for now..._ "

Inuyasha growls at the escaping vortex of misama...before sensing something rising in Sesshomaru, and turns to see his body engulfed in a demonic red aura, his facial features showing signs (purple stripes and crimson eyes) of readying to shift into his full demon form!

"Fool! Don't think you could ever escape my grasp!"

" _(Laugh) Lord Sesshomaru. Rather than transforming and hunting me down, shouldn't you be rushing to the side of that young, mortal girl?_ "

That caught the dog demon's attention, and he forces his demonic energies down, his concealed concern beginning to show itself...

Graveyard Hill

At this time, inside the hut guarded by demons, Rin kneels by the wall near the doorway, watching Kohaku's form carefully, noticing he had fallen silent shortly after his headache episode:

"...Kohaku? What's the matter?"

He does not answer, his eyes dilating out of focus...as the jewel shard embedded in his back glows.

The Castle Courtyard

Inuyasha looks back at his brother with a confused eye, wondering what Naraku meant in his words:

 _What mortal girl? Who's he talking about?_

" _Your companion, Rin, is with the boy, Kohaku..._ "

That caught the younger brother's attention:

 _Kohaku?!_

" _Inuyasha, even you should know the implications..._ "

With that, the miasma could dissipates, Naraku's laughter booming over the castle while Inuyasha grinds his teeth with a growl, knowing that the evil demon was about to order something terrible with the zombified young slayer.

Back to the Hut

Rin becomes frightened by the silence, and tries to get Kohaku's attention again:

"...Kohaku?"

He turns to the young girl, eyes completely glazed over, indicating his inner control was gone...

Inuyasha's POV

I continue to stare up at the sky where the cloud of miasma disappeared from, still confused by what was going on between Naraku and Sesshomaru...The bastard's voice then booms over the courtyard again:

" _I was so close to gaining control of Sesshomaru's demonic power...and I would've succeeded, if I had not miscalculated Inuyasha's powe_ r _._ "

I then watch as Kagura flies overhead on her feather, following the Insects of Hell...My ears catch her muttering to herself,

"Naraku has vanished...and so has my chance at freedom."

 _Huh...so she really has lost her loyalty to Naraku. Guess that explains why she was fighting so weakly earlier..._

 _But that's not my main priority right now, is it?_

I sheath Tessaiga, before saying aloud to myself,

"He's gone...His scent and every trace of his whereabouts. He was badly injured too. Where could he be?"

I then turn to Sesshomaru, wanting answers about this, Rin person:

"Hey, Sesshomaru. Did Naraku take somebody as a hostage? A friend of yours named Rin?"

...He doesn't answer me, but I swore I saw something in his eyes that reflected...concern. Next thing I knew, he starts to float away:

"Huh? Wait! Where are you going?!"

But he just takes off out of the castle, not saying a word:

 _What the hell's gotten into him now?_

I then pick up on the familiar squawk of that annoying imp, Jaken:

"Lord Sesshomaru! Please don't leave me behind!"

 _He'll know._

I stop the imp in his tracks by pinning him with my foot, and then lifted him up to my eye-level by his robes:

"Huaaah! What do you want with me?!"

"I want some answers, what else? What is going on between Naraku and Sesshomaru?"

"I'm under no obligation to speak to a half-demon like you?"

 _Oooh, he wants to play that game, huh?_

(...Bonk, bonk, BONK)

After leaving a few good bumps and bruises on his head, Jaken complies more pleasantly:

"I meant it's a terribly long story..."

"Then make it short."

Graveyard Hill, Coraline's POV

Just as we make it to the area where the jewel shard was, which would be inside the hut up ahead, the demons guarding it begin to ready their charge against us. But we weren't afraid:

"Here come the demons..."

I ready my combat knife, while Miroku readies his staff, my brothers their sickles and long hammer respectively, while Sango leaps forward with her Hiraikotsu:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ Gyah!"

She cuts down a good number of the demons, while Miroku knocks down more with his staff, and my brother Freeman jumps up to swing his hammer down on a particularly large snake demon's head:

"Take, this!"

(Whack)

The demon howls, before their skull breaks apart, leaving just the body behind...Miroku then notes what the demons seem to be up to:

"Oh, now I understand: They don't want us to get near that house."

Besa adds while decapitating another demon with his sickles,

"That has to be where the jewel shard is! Wait...over there, on the left side!"

I look in the direction, and see Kohaku and the little girl from before beginning to ride away on another serpent-like demon:

 _(Gasp) So that was Kohaku's shard I sensed!_

 _And that young lass...She was the one who saved Jaken before..._

 _Why is she with him?_

I snap out of my thoughts when I hear Sango yell her younger brother's name, and turn to watch as she rides after him aboard Kilala, but was having trouble due to the demons blocking their way:

"Damn you! Out of my way!"

Kilala tries to help by using her jaws to rip some of the demons apart, but the pressure was still too great...So while Besa rushes over to Sango's proximity to help her, and Freeman to Miroku's, I form a determined frown, before shifting Shippo to rest on my shoulder, stand up from the grass, knife in my hand:

"Come on, Shippo: We're going after them!"

"Coraline, look up!"

I do as he advised, and see two demons, one with tan scales and more dragon-like, the other blue and with the likeness of a water serpent, dashing towards me!

"Grrr, bring it on!"

I take my knife, and lunge forward, stabbing the dragon serpent demon right into it's brain, but was whacked by the water serpent demon's tail:

"Aaaah!" "Owaah!"

Shippo falls off my shoulder and rolls to the ground a couple feet away, and I fall on my side, hitting my elbow real hard:

"Grgh..."

I push myself up, just as the serpent charges right at my head:

 _Oh shit! I can't dodge it!_

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash)

Thankfully, Inuyasha comes just in time, cutting the demon to pieces! As the flesh falls to the ground around us, I rise to my feet, my eyes on my saviour:

"...Inuyasha."

"Coraline. Kohaku was here, wasn't he?"

"Yes. He can't be too far ahead, for I can still sense his jewel shard around just outside this area."

Lumos then comes flying to my side, moaning at me in concern:

"(Slight smile) I'm okay, my friend, don't worry. For now, stay with Shippo and help him and everyone else out."

The Will O' Wisp 'nods', and I sheath my knife, before moving to climb onto Inuyasha's back, just as Sango called him from over with the demons:

"Inuyasha!"

Besa slashes another demon away with his sickles, and calls to me,

"Coraline! You and Inuyasha headin' after the kid?"

"Yes!"

Inuyasha lifts himself with me, and calls to Sango,

"We're going ahead! We don't have any time to lose!"

(Leap)

...We're soon off and into the forest cover, and we catch eachother up with recent events:

"So Kohaku is still under Naraku's control..."

"Yeah, and he's probably planted a suggestion in his head, to kill the hostage...Naraku had the girl abducted so he could by some time to escape from Sesshomaru."

"Damn...So then the young girl and Sesshomaru must be traveling together...How odd, considering his attitude towards the human race..."

Inuyasha was as surprised as I was:

"I know. To Sesshomaru, humans are no better than insects. I can't believe he'd have a mortal as a companion. One thing I do know is that he won't let Kohaku live, not after what Naraku did. Sesshomaru will kill the kid for sure."

I feel a shiver run down my spine:

"Such a cruel twist to this whole gambit. This isn't even Kohaku's fault: His Soul is being suppressed and manipulated by the jewel shard."

"It's gonna be a lousy finish, no matter how this ends."

I nod, and my grip on his shoulders tightens a bit:

"We must reach Kohaku before Sesshomaru."

"Yeah."

 _Inuyasha may be the only one to stop his half-brother...but at the very least, I have to get the little girl out of the line of fire._

 _She may be a stranger...but she doesn't deserve to be caught in the thicket of this fight._

No POV

Meanwhile, in a deeper part of the forest where the beech trees grow thick with the oaks, Kohaku walks silently while holding Rin's hand, she becoming increasingly scared by this new turn:

"Kohaku, why did we leave the house? I saw some people outside before we left...Please tell me where we're going now."

He does not say anything in reply, and as they reach the edge of the woods, Rin calls,

"Kohaku, say something!"

(...Pulse)

The young slayer feels the jewel shard vibrate in his back, and he stops...before hearing the voice of the despicable Naraku ring in his mind:

 _"Kill her."_

Kohaku takes in a sharp breath, and his grip on Rin's hand tightens...before he pulls her to him, raising his other hand that carries his kusarigama!

Naraku's image flashes in his mind once again, while Rin sees the glaze in Koahku's eyes, and becomes very concerned...

(...Slash)

A cut is heard through the long grass, scaring off a flock of small birds and we see Rin has fallen back onto the ground, staring at the young slayer who tried to attack her in shock:

"...What're you doing, Kohaku?"

He does not answer verbally...instead bringing his sickle down in another swing! Rin shrieks, and ducks down just in time, before turning to run as far as she could from the other:

"Why're you doing this to me, Kohaku?!"

Her ankles are then ensnared by the chain of the kusarigama, and she falls forward with a yelp, the impact knocking the wind out of her...Kohaku then walks forward to the young girl's side, and kneels down to turn her body facing up, before raising the sickle blade at the ready!

...But...he pauses, as his gaze falls on Rin's face...Naraku's image fades into his mind, and the demon's voice urges him to continue with the act:

 _"Kill her."_

...Kohaku's eyes would then look sideways, to see Sesshomaru, whom was standing almost directly behind him...The area is filled with an intense quiet, the only sound being the gentle rustling of the grass in the breeze...

The jewel shard in Kohaku's back then softly glows, before he turns to look at the dog demon with a blank expression...then rise to his feet, turning to him with the stance of someone ready to fight.

"Oh? (Raises claws) You turn your blade toward me?"

Kohaku says nothing, raising his kusarigama higher...

"Kohaku!"

(Punch)

"Uh!"

Inuyasha then leaps on scene, suckerpunching the demon slayer in his cheek, knocking him off his feet!

"What're you doing, you fool?!"

Sesshomaru would then turn to see Coraline rushing over to Rin's side, holding the younger girl up in her arms, fingertips feeling for a pulse:

"(...Relieved sigh) She'll be fine. She should wake up momentarily."

Inuyasha nods at her:

 _Hm...We made it in time._

He then turns to face his older half-brother:

"You heard her: The girl's alright, so let the boy go free!"

Sesshomaru's answer?

"...Stay out of this, Inuyasha. It's useless to try and interfere. This boy seems compelled beyond reason to die before my hands."

Inuyasha turns his gaze to Kohaku's form, noting the intent in his stance despite the blankness of his expression:

 _(Growl) This must be another of Naraku's suggestions: To attack Sesshomaru, and have Kohaku die in the process!_

Just as he comes to that conclusion, Kohaku sprints forward at Sesshomaru, before thrusting his kusarigama at him!

But Inuyasha uses his Tessaiga to knock it away, before Sesshomaru uses his demon speed and charges at the young slayer, grasping him by his throat, and raising him high in the air, just as the chained sickle drops to the ground with a rattle...

"Hmph. How generous of you, disarming the boy for me. I had no idea that you held such strong feelings for me, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha barks back while pointing his blade at Sesshomaru,

"Let's get one thing straight, Sesshomaru: I'll kill you if you don't let him go!"

Sesshomaru's grip on Kohaku's neck tightens, and Coraline calls from the grass as she held Rin,

"Don't do it! Can't you see he's not of his right mind?!"

Inuaysha furthers his own demands:

"Set the boy down!"

Sesshomaru ignores them, his eyes on Kohaku, noticing the glaze and numbness in his irises:

 _...This boy...He shows no signs of suffering...He shows no fear..._

 _I despise the look in his eyes._

After another minute of intense silence...Sesshomaru releases Kohaku, the boy dropping on his behind. Inuyasha and Coraline stare at the dog demon in astonishment at the act...before the latter turns her attention to the sound of a soft groan, and looks to see Rin waking up while rubbing her eyes:

"Hm? Oh. (Slight smile) Welcome back to the real world, lass."

Rin then sees the elder dog demon, and was ecstatic for his arrival:

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

She then turns her eyes to Kohaku, and frowns sadly and confusingly:

"...What happened, Kohaku?"

He does not answer, instead picking up his kusarigama, and taking off from the area, heading for the trees...Sesshomaru does not leave his spot, prompting Inuyasha to ask,

"...Aren't you going after him?"

He does not answer, watching as Kagura appears from nowhere, and takes the amnesiac slayer away on her feather, they flying off to who knows.

"Huh? Kagura..."

Coraline then moves to stand up, leaving Rin to kneel on her own, and says to Sesshomaru with a serious gaze,

"...Thank you...for allowing Kohaku to live." He replies back simply,

"The boy was trying to die at my hands..."

Inuyasha asks with surprise,

"You mean...you knew that?" Sesshomaru looks to his half-brother and says bluntly,

"It was Naraku's doing, and I refuse to play by his rules."

With that, he begins to walk off from the area, and Rin quickly gets up to follow him, but not without slowing a moment to smile back at Coraline:

"Goodbye!"

She focuses back up front, and Inuyasha and Coraline watch the pair leave with shocked expressions, the redhead muttering,

"...I suppose there's more to him than meets the eye...I just hope the lass knows what she's getting into."

Time Skip

As the sun rises over the grass field, we turn to the middle of the greenery, where everyone of our group has gathered with one another after the big battle the other night. By this time, everyone has caught eachother up with the details of what had happened at the graveyard hill, and within Naraku's castle walls, before finally ending here...

"Oh, so Kohaku ran off again..."

Coraline nods, and Inuyasha says to Sango in a soft tone,

"I'm sorry...If I had killed Naraku, Kohaku might have been freed."

"It was lucky enough that Sesshomaru refrained from killing him, but still..."

Sango shakes her head at Coraline and says to both her and Inuyasha,

"Don't apologize," before she and everyone look towards the horizon, she adding mentally,

 _I'm just glad he's alive..._

Inuyasha's thoughts, were on the demon responsible for this mess:

 _Where could Naraku have disappeared to?_

 _A wound that serious, he wouldn't be able to put up a strong barrier..._

 _Where could he be?_

...We cut briefly to said demon's castle, and standing alone among the battle-damaged courtyard, was our wandering priestess, Kikyō, she too wondering where Naraku had vanished to:

 _...Did Naraku lift his barrier, leaving his castle visible?_

 _In that case, he must've abandoned it and is hiding somewhere new._

 _Strange: Until now, I've been able to sense his barrier..._

 _...But this time, it's as if he's vanished into thin air, leaving not a trace behind._

She stands in the middle of the courtyard for a while longer...before deciding to leave, concluding,

 _I don't like the looks of this._

Coraline's POV

With the fight against Naraku done for this round...and for god who knows how long after, we all decide to make our way back to Goshinboku Village to rest up...

But just as I make my move to follow beside Inuyasha to leave this field, I suddenly feel a burning sensation on my left wrist, and wince from pain:

"Mph!"

I look down, and watch with wide eyes, as my Egyptian-eyed covenant mark begins to fade into view!

 _...Oh god...!_

"Cor? You alright?" "What's wrong, Coraline?"

I snap back to reality, and look up to see everyone staring at me with concern, and I force a small smile onto my face, softly replying,

"I'm, okay. I think I might've just pulled a muscle in my wrist when I killed that demon last night..."

They seemed to buy it, and Besa walks over to check it to be sure:

"Hm...Well, I don't feel any high aggravation, but it might be a good idea to have Kaede look at it when we get back, just incase."

I nod, keeping the soft smile up, but as we begin walking away as a group, inside, I was becoming scared...really scared:

 _It's a good thing no one can see the mark but me...but why?_

 _Why is Bill making it show now?_

 _...Unless...of course. I have both crystals now, which means we can finalize our deal._

 _Which also means...he'll soon show himself outside the mindscape._

Unknown Location, No POV

Unbeknownst to Coraline...the sanity-questioning dream demon was already making his entrance to the real world...

We turn our eyes to a oak and pine forest clearing, where a deep crater stood, boulders scattered randomly around the edges, the area in the middle flat with deep red-brown dirt...

Suddenly, there is a stirring in the quiet, as an energy causes the ground to rumble, tiny stones quivering and shaking, before a large yellow orb manifests...A booming, nasally and slightly high-pitched laugh runs its course, before the orb morphs into the one-eyed triangle being himself!

 **"Oh man, finally, that stupid Spider hightailed it! I was gettin' real bored of just waiting around!"**

...His eye then forms a 'smirk' of anticipation, as he thinks about the deal he made with a certain redhead:

 **"Now then... _Time, to collect._ "**


	89. Chapter 88

Hey, people!

Please excuse the delay (and for the one soon to come), but I wanted to be sure I got this chapter right.

If you haven't already guessed, this will be the last guest installment of Bill Cipher the dream demon (Look back to chapter 53 for the disclaimer).

After this, we will not see him again, other than possible name referencing in future pieces for this story.

Anyway, enjoy, review, and be ready for the aftermath chapter coming after this one!

* * *

 **Chapter 88 (Special): Croft & Cipher - A Deal's Pay-up**

"Coraline...Cor!"

"Hm?"

"Are you okay? You've been actin' a bit, antsy, these last two days..."

"For the fifth time, bro, I'm fine. Now can we please just focus on getting back to the village?"

Come the second day after Naraku mysteriously 'up and vanished' from his castle, we find our group making their way down a worn dirt path over the rolling green back to the Goshinboku Village, taking things a bit slower as to not overexert themselves anymore than they did during the multiple battles the night before last...

But while most have relaxed slightly if not extremely suspicious of the despicable half-demon's disappearance, Coraline was all the more tensed, the fault being that of another demon that was neither friend nor foe: Bill Cipher, a dream demon to which she had formed a pact with to rid herself of a guilty weight off her Soul (figuratively and literally), and to help protect someone she's come to hold dear in her heart...

The problem she was currently faced with, is finding a way to meet with the demon and not arouse suspicion from her friends:

 _...What the hell am I gonna do?_

 _There's no telling yet just how far I'm gonna have to travel to meet with Bill, not to mention how I'll slip past the watchful eyes of my friends and siblings..._

 _Inuyasha will be the hardest to dodge: He was so close to discovering me with the second crystal back in Onigumo's Cave._

 _...Damn, I've really dug my grave, haven't I?_

As she was in thought, Besa glances his eyes over his shoulder and up and down her form, noticing how nerved and frustrated she looked, and how she was walking slower than everyone else, like she was trying to distance herself from the group. He turns to Freeman and asks in a whisper,

"Hey, bro?"

"What?"

"Is it just me, or does Coraline seem a bit more, paranoid?"

"...Yeah, I've been noticin' too."

"What're you guys talkin' about?"

They look up at Shippo, who was sitting on Miroku's shoulder, and Freeman replies with a small frown,

"Coraline: Something's wrong with her, we just know it."

"Like what?"

"Haven't you noticed she's been, distancing herself from all of us as of late?"

Shippo looks back at Coraline, and sees that there was a few feet of space between her and the rest of the group:

"Oh yeah..."

"Not only that, but, she's been spacin' out, like she's here but not here, you know what I mean?"

By this time, Miroku and Sango were into the conversation, and decided to voice their thoughts:

"Yes, I've been noticing that as well. Something is clearly plaguing her thoughts..."

"Hm...She's acted like this before, but not this strongly."

Inuyasha just kept walking ahead, but his ears had picked up on the words, and was also wondering about Coraline's change of mood:

 _...What's goin' on with you now, Coraline?_

 _What are you not telling everyone?_

His pondering would soon be interrupted, when his eyes catch the strangest sight over the next hill:

"Huh?"

He stops, and everyone else pauses, with Miroku asking as he notes the surprise in the dog demon's features,

"...What is it, Inuyasha?"

"(Point) Down there. That tree, look."

Everyone follows his point, and would also widen their eyes, when they see the following: Just near the bottom of the hill, was a young beech tree, except unlike most species, this one was shaped like a figure-eight with yellow polka dots decorating the bark, and its leaves were purple!

"What the...?"

"That's the weirdest-looking tree I've ever seen!"

"Is it a demon tree?"

"Can't be..."

As soon as Coraline caught sight of it, she immediately felt a shiver go down her spine:

 _...Oh no: Don't tell me that's-_

"Owaaaah! Look up there!"

She snaps out of her mini panic attack at Shippo's yelp, and looks to the sky to see...skinny bales of wheat and giant, rainbow-coloured flowers, flying through the air, each with their own fluffy white wings!

Besa exclaims,

"What the hell?!" Freeman mutters with a dumbfounded frown,

"Looks like somethin' you see when you're really high...(Rubs his eyes) We haven't smoked somethin' without knowing it, right?"

Attention would then be directed at Kilala, when everyone hears her growling at something:

"Huh?" "What's up, Kilala?"

Looking down about a third of way to the bottom of the hill, we see the little cat demon, fur standing on end, glaring at...some long grass? The group walks off the dirt road and over to where Kilala was, with Sango kneeling by her partner with a confused frown:

"...Is there something wrong with this grass, Kilala?"

She then reaches her hand towards the tall blades...only to snap her wrist back fast, when the grass suddenly opens a mouth full of sharp teeth and tries to bite her!

"Uh!"

Kilala hops back with a growl, also dodging the bite, while Miroku places his staff in front of the slayer protectively:

"Gh! Are you alright, Sango?"

She blushes slightly from the monk's protective gesture, before replying,

"I'm fine. I pulled back just in time...What in the world is going on here?"

"I don't know...I would say this is Naraku's doing, but...this seems too strange to be his activity."

Inuyasha nods in agreement:

"Yeah, and I'm not pickin' up the bastard's scent...Still, doesn't mean a demon isn't responsible."

"Hey, guys! Come check this out!"

They turn their heads to the bottom of the path leading into the forest cover, and on the left side, stood Freeman, who was waving his hand down while his other pointed at a giant boulder sitting behind him. Everyone else comes walking down, and Inuyasha asks,

"What now?"

"This rock...Look what's plastered all over the surface."

"Huh?"

Everyone looks up, and sees the following: Multiple, golden impressions of an Egyptian-styled eye sitting in the middle of a triangle, looking like they've been branded into the stone!

Coraline would recognize the symbol instantly:

 _(Gasp) Bill! So this is his doing!_

 _ **...** **Little Do~ll...**_

"Rgh..."

She then grips the side of her head, feeling a pounding in her skull, as the said dream demon's voice began crooning in her mind:

 _ **Li~ttle Dooollll...**_

 _(Grit) B-Bill...!_

 _ **(Laugh) You like the little spout of chaos I created? I did it just, to get, your attention...But I'm sure you know why already, don'tcha?**_

 _Please...S-Stop...!_

 _ **Time to pay up, kiddo! Why don't we meet up now?**_

 _I-It's not a good time! The others; they-_

 _ **Excuses, excuses...Hmm...Maybe you need to be better-persuaded?**_

 _Wait, no-!_

A finger-snap echoed through her ears, one only she could hear...before she felt a worse pain corrode through her head, as Bill's laughter rang through her ears:

"Aaagh!"

The others would turn their heads from the stone at her cry, and widen their eyes, when they see Coraline kneeling on the ground with her lands covering her ears, her face set in a grimace of pain:

"Coraline?" "Coraline, what's wrong?!"

"Are you okay?"

She could barely hear them, as the echoes got louder, with Inuyasha, Kikyō and Naraku's voices joining the mix, causing small tears to form in the corners of her eyes:

 _I...c-can't...take, it!_

Inuyasha then takes her shoulders and shakes them, trying to snap her out of it:

"Coraline! Coraline, what's going on? Say something, dammit!"

"I-Inu...yash-Uuuuhhhh..."

But the mental pressure became too great, and Coraline would pass out, with Inuyasha's concerned shout of her name being the last thing she heard...

Mindscape, Coraline's POV

 _"Mmm...rgh-h-huh?"_

 _It must've been not even a minute after I fell unconscious, before I awoke again...Only problem was, I wasn't 'awake awake', rather that my consciousness awoke within my mindscape, which was being invaded by the presence of Bill. How do I know this?_

 _Because I was sitting in an endless seas of wheat, sky as wide as I can see, but with no colours other than white and gray._

 _"Oh great..."_

 _I move to a stand, and peer around, seeing nothing for miles and miles, before deciding to call out the one responsible:_

 _"...Where are you, Cipher?! Come out and face me!"_

 _...Nothing happens for a few minutes, causing me to groan in frustration. But then, I hear the crescendo of laughter I've grown to hate, before a ball of blue fire shoots out from the sky, landing a couple feet in front of me! I cringe back from the heat, covering my face with my arm, before looking up to see the blue fire surrounding me in a large ring._

 **"...Hey there, Little Doll! Been a while, hasn't it?"**

 _"Uh!"_

 _I whirl around to the right side, and standing in front of me, was that little triangle-shaped menace, 'smirking' at me:_

 **"So~, what'd ya think of the masterpiece I created in the real world? Really somethin', huh? And that's just a taste of what I can really do!"**

 _I narrow my eyes at him and ask,_

 _"Why, though? What was the point of doing that and making everyone's hair stand on end?"_

 _He replies as if it was the most obvious thing in the world,_

 **"Uuuh, because I can? Duh! Plus I might've wanted to test out their detection skills on whether they could sense a demon from the Nightmare Realm, and guess what? Big Fat F! Red Sword couldn't even detect my scent!"**

 _"They still know it was a demon responsible!"_

 _I take a deep breath, trying not to blow up anymore than I was, before asking a touch more calmly,_

 _"Look: I know you want to wrap up our deal, and so do I. But weren't you the one who said we're better off keeping this 'hush-hush'?"_

 **"Chill-lax, Little Doll, I getcha! I was just celebratin' that Spider finally am-scrayin' so I wouldn't have another demon botherin' me."**

 _I furrow my eyebrows:_

 _"Spider?...Wait: You mean, Naraku? You've known about him?"_

 **"Well of course! I already told ya, I'm practically omniscient!"**

 _Curious of his knowledge, I then ask,_

 _"...Does that mean, you know where he is now?"_

 **"Ah-ah-ah~! Nice try, kid, but that info will cost ya another fee, and I've already been lenient enough with the first extension of our deal!"**

 _Something in the way he said that struck some more anger in me:_

 _"...Lenient? You call giving me nightmares for weeks, making your voice boom so loud in my skull that I wind up shouting at ya and prompting my friends to look at me like I'm going bat-crap crazy lenient?!"_

 _He brushes off my outburst with a wave of my hand and replies casually,_

 **"It is for a dream demon like me...Now then, let's move onto talking about the meeting location!"**

 _He snaps his fingers, and ground starts quaking, while the wheat around me extending to the edges of the blue flame circle dries and dies out, the barren dirt sinking, leaving me standing inside a crater of sorts:_

 _"What, the...?"_

 _I look up at Bill confused, and he explains:_

 **"Somewhere in the woods leaving that certain village is an area that looks like this. That's where I'll be waitin' for ya! And before you ask me for more details, your senses will pick up on my energies, and your mark will start to glow brighter the closer you are to the area. Once you arrive, we'll start goin' over the details of the ritual...Got it?"**

 _"I...guess so..."_

 _He obviously sensed the uncertainty that was rising in my being, and he floats down to wrap a skinny black arm around my shoulder, causing me to flinch, before he asks,  
_

 **"Aww, what's wrong, Little Doll? Don't tell me you're havin' second thoughts again!"**

 _"N-No, of course not! I just..."_

 **"You're worried about your friends discoverin' our little secret? (Laugh) Don't get jittery on my account: I'm sure you'll find a way to dodge 'em long enough for you to come runnin' to me."**

 _"(Shudder) Could you not say it like that? It sounds wrong." He lets out another chuckle and replies,_

 **"Of course it sounds like that! All of this is wrong! But it's so wrong, it's right, the best kind-a wrong there is!"**

 _I wasn't sure if I could believe him, but I couldn't make any sorts of protest if I wanted to, for I was too far in to just walk away..._

 _Suddenly, the landscape started to fade away, and I feel Bill's arm leave my shoulder:_

 **"I'll leave ya to it, then. Good luck's all I can say! See you so~on, Little Do~ll!"**

Reality

(Jolt)

"Uh!"

My eyes snap open, and I immediately shot up into a sitting position, my right hand grasping where my erratically-beating heart was. My body shook as I took in some deep breaths, trying to calm down, reminding myself I wasn't in the mindscape anymore:

"(Pant, pant) I'm okay...I'm awake...I'm alright..."

"Are ye sure about that, child?"

"Gh!"

I snap my eyes over to the left side of my body, and found myself staring at Kaede, she stirring something in a pot over a roaring hearth. She must've sensed my distress, for she gently chided,

"Easy now. Ye are back in the village now, inside my home..."

I slowly looked around, my mind still a bit rattled, but remembering where this was:

 _Right...I'm safe, inside Kaede's Hut._

"...Where is everyone?"

"Right here."

"Huh?"

I turn towards the doorway, and watch as everyone else comes walking inside, starting with Sango and Kilala, then Miroku, my brothers with Shippo on Besa's shoulder, the last being Inuyasha, who was looking at me with a mix of suspicion and worry...

Once they were all seated, Shippo, who was sitting near my hip with Kilala (she rubbing her head affectionately on the back of my hand with a mew), places a hand on my arm before asking cautiously,

"Are you okay, Coraline? You look a bit pale..."

I swallow dryly, forcing a lump of anxiety down my throat before replying softly,

"I...I think so. Just, had a bit of a nightmare, is all."

 _Which is unfortunately more real than they realize..._

I then ask after taking in another breath,

"How long was I unconscious?" Miroku replies,

"Not too long, thankfully. We arrived in the village only a few hours ago..."

"Ah...I see."

I then hear a low growl roll through the room, and look over to see Inuyasha giving me a scowl...I look away, trying not to form a guilty look on my face:

 _Thanks alot, Bill. Now he definitely knows something's wrong._

"What happened back there, Cor? You looked like you were havin' a fit or something."

My eyes turn to Freeman, who was giving me a serious expression that matched Besa's, and I scramble to come up with a viable excuse that wouldn't be so far from the truth that they'd realize:

"Um...I'm, not exactly sure. That, strange symbol we saw burned all over the rock. As soon as my eyes caught it, I felt this, pulsing in my skull, followed by a really loud blaring. It was so loud, I couldn't take the pressure, and...well, you all know the rest."

"...That's it?"

I turn to Inuyasha and answer back,

"Isn't that enough?"

His eyes widen a touch at my response, taken aback slightly by my attitude, yet chose not to comment...but Sango did:

"Coraline...is there something that you haven't been telling us of late?"

My muscles stiffen, and I side-glance the slayer before replying,

"Uh...no, I don't think so."

"Are you sure? It's just...we've all been noticing a change in your demeanor."

Miroku speaks up and adds,

"You've been more quiet than usual, and, have been carrying an expression that suggests an appending fear."

I smile nervously, thinking just how close they are to knowing what's going on, yet so far:

"I'm okay, you guys, really...I guess I'm just a bit worn down from the recent Naraku activity and, his disappearance has left me a bit worried for what could come next. The thoughts probably caused a mild anxiety attack...That's all."

...None of my friends seemed overly convinced by what I said, but seemed to sense my apprehensiveness to speak, and chose to change the subject. So for the next while, we'd be explaining to Kaede what had happened recently regarding the spider-scarred half-demon...Or rather, the others would speak, while I snuck over to where my satchel was propped against the wall, and checked inside to see that my two Seven Light Crystals I gathered were inside and hidden in their pieces of cloth.

 _(Sigh) Good. Still here...Now...how am I gonna get outta here to meet with Bill?_

 _Thanks to my fainting spell, now I've got eyes burning into the back of my head...the strongest being Inuyasha's._

 _...God, this sucks. Just how much longer can I keep lying?_

I then feel a light burning pain in my left wrist, and look down to see my covenant mark showing itself like an evil tattoo, like it was taunting me with its existence and mocking me for my deal. I curse quietly under my breath, before letting out a sharp exhale, deciding I needed some fresh air.

"...Huh? Where ya headin', sis?"

I pause about halfway out the door, satchel over my shoulder and my knife strapped to my thigh, before replying quietly,

"...Just to the river. I, need to go clear my head in the open air. I shouldn't be long."

Before anyone could protest me leaving, I continued on my way, finding myself jogging all the way to the clear, blue water sitting in a strip outside the village...Once I reached the stony shores, I plopped to the ground with a huff, and reached into my bag to pull out, the bottle of whiskey and shot glass:

 _Hard to believe I still have any of this stuff left..._

With no hesitation whatsoever, I poured myself a full glass, before stuffing the bottle back into the bottom of my bag to cloak any temptations of having more than intended, and then downing the shot in one gulp:

"(Grit) Hoh! Ah...Well, that helps...but not by much."

I stare out into the distance for a little while, not trusting myself to speak, my fingers gripping the shot glass tight, as I fought the urge to throw it into the river...

"Okay, what the hell's goin' on with you?"

"Hn!"

I snap out of my daze with a slight jump, and whirl my torso around to see Inuyasha, who was walking towards me with the look of an interrogation officer:

 _Oh, fuck, he couldn't be comin' here at a worse time if he tried._

Shaking my head, I turn back to the river, not wanting him to see the pain and conflict that was tearing me from the inside out...But knowing him, he wasn't gonna take my silence lightly, and he would crouch down on my left side, his stare piercing right through me:

"Somethin's obviously eatin' at you, and I'm willing to bet it has something to do with that craziness from earlier before you passed out."

I tried not to flinch, but was unsuccessful, and he hms in confirmation:

"So I am right...Coraline, what's going on?"

"...I...I don't know what you mean."

"Aw, don't give me that bullcrap! You suck at lying about these things and you know it, so stop tryin' to beat around the bush and start talkin'!"

I grimaced from his angry tone, knowing he was right about my track record about lying...for the most part:

 _Tch, he thinks I'm a terrible liar, huh? It's been months and he hasn't once found out about Bill..._

 _Nor does Inuyasha know, about how much I've grown to love him._

I guess I must've been too quiet for too long, for I hear another growl rumble from the back of Inyasha's throat, before he grabs me by my shoulders and turns me to face him eye-to-eye:

"Uh!"

"Coraline, I won't ask you again: Start, talking! What the hell have you've been hiding?!"

Just before I could respond...I hear a chorus of very familiar and annoying laughter:

 _Oh god, not again...!_

The sound was coming from in front of us, and I turn to the river...before gasping when I see multiple copies of Bill's eye looking at us from in the clear blue!

"Huh? Coraline?"

I ignored Inuyasha, my glaring eyes focused on the irises of that damned demon:

 _You...You, bastard!_

"Screw off!"

I shove my friend's hands off me, before taking out my knife, and proceeded to slash and stab at the water, trying to erase all traces of the reflections and drown out the laughter:

"Stop, taunting me, you, three-sided freak!"

I was so concentrated on eliminating the eyes and stopping Cipher's chortling, I almost didn't feel Inuyasha seize me around my middle to drag me out of the water:

"Coraline, what the heck are you doin'?! Stop! Calm down!"

My arm kept swinging my knife through the air blindly, as my eyes clouded over with tears of stress I could no longer keep bottled up:

"Damn, you...Damn, you, to hell, you bastard dream demon!"

I felt Inuyasha stiffen, and mutter,

"...Dream demon?"

"...What's going on down here?" "Coraline?!"

"Inuyasha!"

By this time, the laughter finally stopped, and I fall limp in Inuyasha's arms, watching the eyes fade away from the water, one of them winking at me intently, while my ears pick up on the frantic footsteps and shouts of the others running down from the village to see what was the matter:

"What happened?"

"Was there an attack?"

"What the heck is goin' on?"

...Hearing their concern, made me shake to the core, and the tears fell faster from the corners of my eyes, prompting multiple sets of eyes to fall onto my form. I feel Inuyasha set me to my feet, but he didn't relinquish his hold on me, not that I really cared at the moment. Miroku then asks in a serious tone,

"Inuyasha, what happened?"

"Honestly, I don't have a clue: She just suddenly leaped from the ground and started hacking at the water, screaming at something that wasn't there...or was it?"

I feel his irises direct to me, before he asks a bit more calmly then before,

"Coraline...please, tell us what's going on. Who's hurting you?"

I struggle to bite back a sob, before replying in a quiet, hoarse voice,

"...I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because then you'll try to stop me from doing something extremely crazy."

"I don't understand."

I sigh, before gently moving his arms off me, and turning to face Inuyasha with a troubled expression, my voice coming out a bit stronger:

"Inuyasha...I've, done something bad, really bad, back during the day, I asked you if I could stay with you here in this era."

He widens his eyes at me, before narrowing them in a serious manner:

"What sort of bad thing? What did you do?"

"I...made a deal with someone, a terrible deal...in order to right a wrong I've dealt since my first steps here."

 _Or I at least consider it a wrong in my eyes..._

Everyone forms worried and confused expressions at my cryptic words:

"Huh?" "What're you talkin' about, sis?"

"Right a wrong?" "What?"

I take in a shaky breath, and add with a calmer but somewhat dead voice,

"I've finished my tasks required for this deal...so now I have to go meet with them, or this is going to tear my sanity to pieces. I know you'll likely try to stop me from doing this...which is why...you'll have to forgive me for what I'm about to do next."

Before Inuyasha could reply, I form a determined frown, before gripping his shoulders, and releasing my Aura energies from my body to his:

(Sheen, pow)

"Guh!"

His body is wrapped in a light ring of the ice blue glow, he now temporarily frozen. I then turn to the direction of the others, eyes still shining, before sending a similar wave of power at them, freezing their bodies as well:

(Pow)

"Uh!" "Owah!"

"Guh!" "Coraline!" "Cor!"

"(Mewl)"

With that done, I cancel out my Aura, and move to grab my satchel from the gravel shore, before walking back to send the following message into Inuyasha's ear:

"...Kikyō's not the only one with the power to stop interference."

He makes a sound of shock from my words, and I lightly peck his cheek, before stepping away, a sad and guilty expression on my face:

"...I'm sorry."

I then take off in a run from the area, ignoring the sounds of my friends calling my name, my instincts telling me to head for the forest in the Southeast:

 _Alright, Bill...Let's get this done._

Inuyasha's POV

 _What, the hell, just happened?!_

As soon as Coraline was gone from the area, I immediately tried to break free from this, spell or whatever it was, but was unsuccessful:

"(Struggle) I, can't, move! Dammit! Can any, of you?!"

Sango replies in a strain,

"N-No, we're just as stuck, as you are!" Shippo exclaims,

"What's, happening?! Are we, stuck like this forever?!"

"Not, if I, can help it."

"Huh?"

My eyes dart over to where Freeman was standing, and I watch, as he sideglances his brother before saying,

"Besa...Can you reach, m-my wrist?"

"I'll, try! No, guarantees, though..."

He then starts to very slowly and forcefully stretch his fingers towards Freeman's wrist...I then realize which wrists they were:

 _Their Seven Light Shards! Wait...can they use them to break this control?_

I keep watching, mentally crossing my fingers that they would pull it off:

"Rgh, c-come on..."

"Almost, th-there...!"

After about ten more painstakingly slow minutes, Besa finally reaches his hand to Freeman's:

"Got it!"

"Okay...now, focus!"

They each take a matching breath in, closing their eyes in concentration...before:

(...Sheen) (...Sheen)

The crystal shards glow, and we're all bathed in that rainbow-coloured light, the power canceling out the energy that was holding us in place:

(Shatter)

"Uh!"

We all fall down on our sides and knees from the sudden release, breathing heavily from the wave of power that hit us. Shippo says to the twins,

"(Pant, pant) Great job, you guys! We're free!"

They give him matching smiles and thumbs-up, a bit too winded to speak. I then stood up straight, my face set in irritation and anger for what had happened:

"(Growl) Just wait 'til I get my hands on her...! Damn it, Coraline, where did you go?!"

"More importantly, what sort of deal did she convey and with who?"

I whirl back to Miroku, but then remember what Coraline was doing before she used her Aura powers on us:

"That's right...she was cursing at someone, attacking the water like someone was there...She also mentioned, 'three-sided freak' and 'bastard dream demon'."

Everyone tenses up at my words:

"Dream demon?!"

Shippo fearfully stutters,

"Y-Y-You don't think that, N-N-Naraku could have something to do with this, could he?"

"No...this isn't his doing. If it were, we would've figured it out by now, and she said that this deal she made has been goin' on for a long while."

Sango nods in agreement with me, and concludes,

"Then this must be the work of another demon, who's clearly been torturing Coraline's mentality if she's this badly on edge...They must also be quite powerful if they've gone this long without being detected."

Miroku adds,

"And this also means that spout of, 'Weirdness', from before was their doing."

Freeman then says,

"Then what the heck are we still standing around for? We need to track down Cora and fast!"

We all nod firmly, and I start leading the charge to where Coraline ran off to, following her scent to the treeline of the deeper forest grounds:

 _Coraline...I dunno what the hell you think you're doin', but I'm not about to let you get away with keeping a secret like this!_

 _I'm gettin' answers, one way or another!_

Small Time Skip, No POV  


At the same time Inuyasha and company had broken free from the Aura Energy that binded them to the spot temporarily, Coraline had reached the deepest parts of the southeastern forest, where the trees grew immensely tall and thick, roots sprouting from the moss-covered grounds, and large, thorny bushes scattered the landscape like a bad rash:

"(Pant, pant) Ouch!"

Coraline winces through her teeth as another thorny branch scratches her arm, but she did not deter her pace:

 _Gotta keep moving...Where to now?_

She uses her Aura Sight to seek out any signs of demonic activity...and saw,

"(Gasp) Up ahead...A barrier!"

 _And it feels similar to Bill's Aura...This has to be it!_

Coraline then feels a twitch of pain in her wrist, and looks down to see her covenant mark glowing brighter:

 _Oh yeah. I'm definitely heading in the right direction._

After several more minutes of frantic running, she reaches the end of the thicket, and comes across an area similar to what she saw in her dreams: A ginormous, deep crater, with smooth, red-brown dirt at the bottom, a couple boulders scattering the area's inside, and floating in the middle was,

"...Bill!"

The three-sided entity, currently surrounded by a pyramid-shaped, yellow barrier, looks up from his fingers, and 'smiles' when he sees Coraline standing on the edge of the crater:

 **"Aah, right on time, Little Doll! I knew you'd make it! So, not that I really need to ask, but do you got the goods?"**

Coraline slides down to the crater floor, and walks over to the demon while replying with a straight face,

"Yes. I have them."

She puts her satchel down, and reaches inside to grab out two objects wrapped in their own cloths, one light pink, the other a mint green:

"Two Seven Light Crystals, as promised."

She unwraps the heart-shaped crystals, and holds them up in one hand each towards Bill, who lightly gasps before complimenting on the redhead's efforts:

 **"Nice~ work, kid!"**

He then snaps his fingers, canceling the barrier, before floating up to Coraline to take the crystals into his own hands:

 **"Rea~lly nice work...Maybe you humans aren't so useless in getting things done. (Laugh) Though I did give you the instructions, so I gotta tip my own hat to me too!"**

His 'smile' then shifts into a 'smirk':

 **"Now then..."**

Using his powers, he causes one crystal to float out of his hand wrapped in a yellow light, and under his hat:

 **"I'll be saving this one for my own personal use...This other one will be used for the ritual."**

"Yeah, you said something about a ritual when you came to me in the mindscape...What on earth are you plannin' on making me do?"

 **"Mmm, nothin' too strenuous...But are you familiar with the phrase, 'An eye for an eye'?"**

Coraline stiffens a bit, and gulps while nodding warily...

Meanwhile, Inuyasha and others had just entered the forest at around the time Bill took down his barrier, which allowed the dog demon to finally pick up on the dream demon's scent:

"Huh?"

He skids to stop in the mossy grass, prompting the others to stop as well:

"What is it, Inuyasha?"

"What's wrong, dude?"

He sniffs the air...before answering Miroku and Freeman's questions with a growl:

"There's a demon not too far ahead...but, I've never smelled one like this before."

Shippo and Kilala decide to use their noses too...and found themselves on edge:

"(Growl)"

"Y-Yeah! This scent is way different from other demons! It's like...they're not from here at all."

Sango narrows her eyes in thought:

"Hm...In that case, we better be on our guard. Aside from what we've seen already, there's no telling what sort of power this demon may have."

Miroku nods in agreement, while Inuyasha scoffs,

"Tuh, I don't care how strong this demon is. The longer we stand here, the longer Coraline's alone with them, so let's keep moving!"

With that, he starts leaping off again, with Sango and Shippo boarding Kilala in her full demon form, and Miroku and the twins rushing right or close behind Inuyasha, all worried for Coraline's safety and wondering what could've possessed her to convey a deal with such a creature...

And they would not be the only ones closing in on Bill: Somewhere over the next mountain over, at the bottom pool of a waterfall spilling fresh water from inside the old rock, was Kikyō, walking in the direction of the crater with her shinidamachū at her side.

 _...This demonic aura...It is unlike anything I have ever felt before._

 _I sense, darkness...but the motive behind it is murky...unclear..._

She pauses, narrowing her eyes in thought, before continuing forward:

 _I must see the being behind such an aura._

 _If they are anything like that loathsome half-demon...they cannot be allowed to linger here._

Coraline's POV

I'm now standing a few feet back from the middle of the crater, as per Bill's instructions, watching as he used his finger like a laser to trace out a large ritual circle into the dirt, using twenty-six of the strangest symbols I've ever seen, including one that looked like a really dumbed-down drawing of an umbrella:

"Huh? What, on earth is that language? It looks like what would happen if you squashed down the Rosetta Stone..."

* * *

Note: If you want a better visual to the mystery language mentioned, go to the Bill Cipher Wiki page, and scroll all the way down to an image in the trivia section. It's not hard to miss. Also, I do not own any references to _Wikipedia_ or its sibling sites.

Back to the story!

* * *

Bill lets out a loud laugh at my description and replies,

 **"That's a good one! But no, this isn't even close to Hieroglyphs, Demotic or Greek. This one actually originated in my dimension."**

"The Nightmare Realm?"

 **"No, the Crab Nebula; of course the Nightmare Realm! But your race's ancestors found out about it when I came strolling in one day a couple hundred-thousand years ago, ya know, to cause some chaos, (Laugh). Oh, and just to clarify, I mean a different earth, not this one. No one of this dimension will have even heard of me...'til today!"**

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion...until it dawned on me:

"Wait...are you implying that the Multi-Verse Theory is true?!"

 **"Smart girl! Right on the dot! Can't tell ya how many different universes there are, though, 'cause even I don't know. And not only can I enter different spaces, I can also visit different times of said space, or at least I can now do the second one since my screw-up in that sleepy town..."**

"You mean, that 'Weirdmageddon' event, right?"

 **"Right!"**

"...What exactly was your goal with that, anyway?"

 **"Achieve universal domination, create a world where time's meaningless and chaos rules over reason, and a bunch of other things that could make your head spin! Unfortunately, my buddies and I were still stuck in the Falls 'cause of some odd barrier, and then I got tricked by Six Fingers into being eliminated in his brother's mindscape! What a rip-off!"**

I found myself smiling wryly and joke,

"So you wound up getting conned by humans. Wow, that must've stung your ego, huh?"

 **"Watch it, kid."**

I hold my hands up in a defensive gesture, but then grip the side of my head from an oncoming headache:

"Good lord. Multi-worlds, time being overcome, chaos trumping reason? That's alot of information to take in..."

Bill scoffs and replies,

 **"Well duh it's confusing to you. You're only human. You crazy meatsacks are only good for one thing: Sparking insanity from the most sane concepts."**

"Oh? Give me an example."

 **"War."**

...I had no comeback to use against him, because when you think about it, he's not wrong:

 _Humanity does seem to follow a trend of fighting for reasons that could just as easily be solved with talking about it like it is._

He must've read my mind again, for the dream demon replies to my pondering as if I said it aloud,

 **"Exactly! I mean sure, some of your wars are pretty hilarious to watch, but others are just plain stupid! Like fighting over which religion's the best? Pfff, yeah, that's re~al smart..."**

By this time, he had finished 'drawing' the symbols for the ritual circle, before turning to me while waving his hand in a 'come here' gesture:

 **"But never mind Philosophy, back to business: Come stand in the middle here in front of me."**

I obediently do as he asks, and move to stand in the inner circle of the entire structure, before looking up at the demon:

"Okay...what now?"

Bill makes the heart-shaped crystal in his hand hover between us, before explaining the next part:

 **"Now comes the 'eye for an eye' part: In order to use this Seven Light Crystal for the ritual, it will need the blood of the Soul-to-be-extracted to be dripped on it."**

"S-Seriously?!"

 **"Couldn't make this up if I wanted to, and hey, could be way worse: At least you're not giving up a limb or your freedom."**

He looks down at where my knife was and adds,

 **"Just use your knife to make a cut in your hand, plain and simple!"**

 _...Oh god, what the hell did I just sign up for?_

But even with my nerves rising a bit...I still reached down to pull my weapon out of its holster. I look up at Bill with a serious stare covering my worries and ask,

"You're sure this is necessary?"

 **"Yep!"**

I gulp nervously, before lifting my right hand up in front of me, and readying my knife in the left...

Just as the sharp end of the blade barely even touches my skin:

"Coraline!"

"Uh!"

I freeze, when I hear the voice of a familiar dog demon:

 _Inuyasha! Oh crap, he's tracked me down already?!_

I whirl around back to where the forest began, and gasp when I see him leap out of the trees, landing on the edge of the crater! The others would follow fast behind him, with Sango and Shippo aboard Kilala, while Miroku and my brothers came running over on foot:

"Coraline!" "Cora!"

I began to shake, knowing there was no way out now:

"...Damn...!"

 **"Don't worry, Little Doll."**

"Hn?"

I look back at Bill, who was 'smirking', which meant,

"...You knew they'd come right now, didn't you?"

He nods, and I look back to the others while thinking,

 _Ooooh, this is gonna get bad really fast!_

No POV

As soon as the rest of the Inuyasha gang reached the giant crater, they would look up in shock at the sight of Bill:

"Uh!" "What the-?!"

"Whuh?!" "What the hell?!"

"Owaaaah! What the heck kind-of demon is that?!"

Bill just lets out a laugh at their expressions, before floating up a little above and beside Coraline to address the new arrivals:

 **"Well well well, look who's finally arrived! Nice to finally see you in person, Red Sword!"**

Noticing that the triangle-shaped demon was looking at him, Inuyasha growls on the defense while brandishing out Tessaiga:

"And how the hell do you know who I am?"

 **"Oh, let's just say a little bird told me, or rather, her memories did..."**

Bill bends down and wraps one of his thin, black-skinned arms around Coraline's shoulder, causing her to stiffen a little:

"Mph..."

 **"Gotta say, she's been real entertaining in messin' with during our deal, haven't you, Little Doll?"**

She says nothing, looking down in shame, while the others look in confusion at the familiarity:

"Huh?"

"She's not shrugging him off."

"Could it be...?"

"Yeah! This must be the demon she was talking about back at the river!"

Shippo calls from the top of Kilala's head, not wanting to believe this was happening,

"Coraline, please tell us he's lying!"

 **"She can't, Trick Bag."**

"Huh?"

Bill looks up at the spectators and 'grins' with his eye before jeering,

 **"It's funny how dumb you all are, not seeing this sooner! Then again, she did do a good job hiding our deal, going behind your backs to gather the items needed to pay me."**

He uses his other hand to stretch back behind himself and Coraline, before bringing it back to show off the first Seven Light Crystal, causing the twins to gasp at the same time when they recognized the make:

"That's...!"

"A full Seven Light Crystal?!"

 **"Right on the dot, Geminis!"**

They form funny looks from the nicknames, but shrug them off when Bill continues:

 **"There's this beauty, plus another one tucked under here, (tips his hat), for my own personal use. Little Doll did a real good job finding them, too, thanks to guidance from yours truly!"**

Inuyasha lets out a loud growl, before barking,

"Stop calling her that, ya arrowhead weirdo! I've heard all I need to: You've obviously been manipulating her somehow, and I'm putting a stop to it right now!"

 **"Oooh, I wouldn't do that if I were you, Red Sword. You might be swinging at more than you can chop!"**

That taunt would be all Inuyasha needed for motivation to leap up and try to strike down the dream demon with his blade:

" _Tessaiga!_ "

Coraline gasps, and makes a move to scramble away, but Bill holds her in place with a hand on her upper arm:

 **"Ah-ah, hang on a second..."**

"What're you-?!"

 **"Just watch."**

...And as soon as Inuyasha came within a couple feet of the demon and Coraline's proximity:

(Finger snap)

(Whoom)

The same yellow, pyramid-shaped barrier appeared, only this time, it was large enough to surround the area of the ritual circle created by Bill!

(Clang, pow)

"Aaaagh!"

Inuyasha would be thrown back by the power of the shield, and land face-up on the ground above the crater!

"Inuyasha!"

As Miroku moves to help the dog demon up, Bill lets out another chorus of laughter and exclaims in mirth,

 **"Oh man, that was a riot! Sorry, Red Sword, but it's gonna take alot more than some dog fang to cut down on my power, and that includes your recent power upgrade from those flying rats that were once the demon bat tribe!"**

Inuyasha's eyes bug out in surprise, and Miroku asks,

"How do you know about that?"

 **"Oh I know lotsa things, Black Hole! I'm the closest you're ever gonna meet to an omniscient being! I know you're sportin' a hand cursed to act like the world's most powerful vacuum cleaner, (Points to Sango) that Boomerang lost her people in a gnarly demon horde attack while her mini me brother's currently playing 'I know nothing', (Points to Inuyasha) and that ever since Red Sword got screwed over by Fushia Arrow, it's been one disaster after another just to stay alive!"**

Said monk and demon slayer flinch back upon being reminded of their misfortunes, while Inuyasha furrowed his eyebrows in confusion:

 _Fushia Arrow? Who's that suppose-_

 _(Gasp) Wait..._

 _(Flash)_

 _"Inuyasha!"_

 _(Twok, TOK)_

 _(Flash)_

 _...Kikyō._

"(Growl) Just what the hell kind-of demon are you?!"

"He's a dream demon."

"Huh?"

Focus turns to Coraline, who looks up with dulled irises, her face set stoic yet guilt-ridden:

"And he's not from around here, believe it or not. He's from a place known as the Nightmare Realm, a dimensional space outside our world...He hasn't been manipulating me, either."

"Guh! Y-You mean...!"

"Yes...I made this deal willingly."

Coraline holds up her left wrist...and the covenant mark reveals itself, causing a collective gasp to befall the others, with the twins shouting,

"The Faustian Covenant!?"

Miroku turns to them and asks,

"You know what that is?" Freeman replies,

"Yeah. Came across it once in an old book when we snuck into the restricted section of the library in our old town. Long story short, it's a type of contract between a demon and a human, where the demon grants a wish to the human...in exchange for their Soul."

Everyone grimaces at the thought, until Bill comments dismissively,

 **"Tch, that's just the standard deal most demons make with humans!"**

"Huh?"

Eyes turn to him, who looks at his fingers with a bored expression while musing,

 **"That type has been done to death so many times over the last hundred centuries in alot of different dimensions I've visited, it's become a clique! Or at least I think it is; you live as long as I have, you get bored real quickly. Plus, my taste for Human Souls has fleeted since the Black Plague. (Shudder) Worst time for demons to go hunting for a meal, but it was good entertainment to watch those humans dropping like flies while having no real clue what started the disease."**

He then 'smirks' and adds,

 **"I've since moved into a system of, 'help me to help you' deals: I do a job, and then they have to one for me in return. In the case of Little Doll, I grant her not one, but two favours, and all she had to do was gather the tools for me. (Laugh) 'Course, the poor thing also had to deal with me poppin' into her mindscape every now and then and endure some nightmare torture, or just annoying her to keep me amused!"**

The group standing on the edge of the crater gapes in shock from Bill's nonchalant (and somewhat sadistic) humour, before Sango asks Coraline,

"...Is this true?"

"...Yes."

She then looks down at her combat knife, then over at Inuyasha, before forming a firm frown:

"And I'm not backing out now. Not while I've come this far."

Next thing everyone knew:

(Slash)

"Aagh!"

Coraline makes an incision into her palm!

"Coraline!" "What the hell?!"

"Why did she-?!"

Grinding her teeth, the redhead drops her knife, before turning her eyes to the Seven Light Crystal hovering above Bill's hand. She squeezes her hand into a fist, forcing her cut to release more of her blood..and then stretches it over the clear, heart-shaped gem:

(Drip, drip, drip...Gleam)

The crystal then glows a blackened red, before shattering into thirteen individual pieces, and moving to hover between two of each of the twenty-six symbols. Bill lets out a chuckle at the action and chimes,

 **"You see? This is all her doing, her choice! And ya wanna know the funniest part? She's done all of this, just to protect two lives she's come to hold in her heart so dear."**

Coraline grits in pain from her self-inflicted injury, before muttering,

"Bill...please, don't-"

 **"Why not? It's not like you can deny it anymore after all they've seen! It was your selfless heart that got ya into this mess in the first place!"**

That shuts the redhead up real quick, and she turns her head to the side, avoiding his eye...

"What's he talkin' about, Coraline?"

"Gh!"

She darts up to meet the amber irises of Inuyasha, who was looking at her with a mix of betrayal, confusion, and worry:

"Why did you do this? Why?"

"...I...I-I..."

Just before she could form some sort of reply, she picks up on a familiar Aura:

"Uh!"

 _...She's here._

 **"Ah, Fushia Arrow, right on schedule!"**

She whirls around behind her, and looks over to the far corner where the forest meets the mountain pass...to see several of the shinidamachū float out from the trees, followed by the wandering priestess. Most of the group gasps, while Inuyasha stood frozen, his eyes on the women caught between life and death:

"...K-Kikyō."

She looks over in his direction, her blank face masking her surprise at seeing him in the area as well:

 _Inuyasha?_

 _...Were he and his friends lured here by the demon aura as well?_

Kikyō focuses down at the crater, her eyes narrowing as she gazed at the triangle-shaped entity:

 _Such an oddly-formed demon...He is no doubt the cause of this clouded darkness._

 _...I also sense a powerful barrier surrounding him and...Coraline._

 _Why does she stand by the demon?_

 **"Nice of ya to finally join us, Fushia Arrow!"**

She darts her eyes up with a frown at Bill, as he 'smiles' and adds,

 **"Now that everyone's here, the real fun can begin!"**

The priestess readies an arrow on her bow, and asks in a stern voice,

"Who are you, demon? What is the meaning of your presence?"

 **"Whoa, easy there, hotshot. If your hostility's got anything to do with that annoying half-spawn Spider, you can count me out of his playbook!"**

While Coraline watches Kikyō with a careful eye, the others mutter confusingly,

"Spider?"

"Who's he talkin' about now?"

It then dawned on Besa:

"(Gasp) Naraku!"

 **"Bingo, Gemini One!"** Taking a brave step forward, the twin asks, **  
**

"Are you saying you have no affiliations with him?"

 **"Right again! I was actually waiting until he started another round of Hide and Seek before I emerged here out of the mindscape so I wouldn't have to run into him and deal with his shit. And why would I? I mean, come on, a half-demon, wanna-be evil having to scramble around for pieces of a shiny rock to help power up his chaos? Talk about pathetic!"**

Sango narrows her eyes at Bill and says to everyone else in a lower tone,

"He seems to be telling the truth." Miroku agrees, if still rather suspicious:

"Yes, and yet his motives don't seem to be rationally clear..."

Shippo shivers on top of a growling Kilala and stutters,

"U-U-Uh, he's giving me the willies. I don't trust this guy, Naraku or no Naraku."

 **"(Chuckle) Probably the right way to go, Trick Bag."**

The fox demon jumps from Bill's address, and the latter adds,

 **"I've got powers that could turn this entire world upside down with just a flip of my hat, and enough energy to kill a hundred priests and priestesses with just the snap of a finger!"**

He turns his eye to Kikyō:

 **"Which is why you're better off not firing that bit of stone and wood, hun. I'm no ordinary demon that can be taken down by a silly little Sacred Arrow! In fact, if not for Little Doll here, I could just as easily steer your powers right back at ya, destroying that ceramic decoration you're currently calling a body, and eliminate any chances of you avenging your death!"**

The priestess gasps at Bill's deductions...before very reluctantly lowering her bow.

 **"Ha, thought so."**

"That's enough, Bill!"

 **"Hm?"**

He looks down at Coraline, who glares at him while saying,

"She...she doesn't deserve to be belittled like that. Not after, all the pain she's had to endure."

Kikyō looks at Coraline with surprise for the defense, and Bill laughs before chiming,

 **"Ah, that's right: You want to put and end to the pain, don't you? Give her back something you've been holding hostage in your body for the longest time."**

Coraline nods numbly, and Inuyasha asks himself,

 _Give something back to Kikyō?_

 _...Wait...No!_

"Guh! You don't mean-"

 **"Huh, looks like you're smarter than I thought, Red Sword! That's right: Little Doll wants to return that extra piece of another inside her body to the original source!"**

Bill lets another chortle ring as he slaps a palm onto his forehead:

 **"Oh man, you gotta love the selfless hearts! Those humans are the most fun to watch, burying themselves in guilt and the need to make things right, even at the cost of their lives!"**

...The grounds fall silent, aside from Bill's laughter, as the group stares down at Coraline in disbelief, while she turned away from their eyes, biting her tongue to force herself not to break down in tears again:

 _This...This is even worse, then those nightmares of falling through the Well to never return to this time again._

 **"Alright, Little Doll: Time for the final step."**

She snaps out of her thoughts, as Bill makes his cane appear, and uses it to 'write' out something in blue, flaming letters:

 **"All you gotta do now, is say this incantation, and I'll take care of the rest...'Course, since you've given me alot of good laughs in our time together, I'm willing to give you this last chance to back out if you want to."**

"What?"

 **"I'm serious. You can just walk away; I've got all I need with the second Seven Light Crystal you got for me! But, if you do go forward, just know that once you recite the incantation...there's no turning back."**

Coraline gapes at the dream demon in shock, before forming a straight line with her lips, and turns to look at the ignited letters in the air:

 _...What do I do now?_

 _Do I still, go forward...or should I exit while I still have the opportunity?_

 _...Why is he offering a way out, anyway? That seems too generous of Bill to do that..._

 _Unless...he must sense my doubt. He knew this is how it would turn out._

She mutters a curse, before turning her eyes to look at Inuyasha's form...then at Kikyō's...before looking down at herself, concluding her morals:

 _...No. I can't stop._

 _This may not have turned out the way I wanted it to, or, maybe it did, I dunno...but-_

"...I didn't come this far, just to wuss out. I want...I want them to be at peace with themselves, even if this costs me my own."

Inuyasha doesn't miss a word with his sensitive ears, and mutters Coraline's name in shock, before calling over from the top of the crater,

"Wait, don't-"

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha...but you will not deter me from my goals."

She looks over at Kikyō, and adds mentally,

 _Nor will I allow her, to continue wandering the earth as only half of what she once was._

The redhead takes a deep breath, before moving to the exact center of the ritual circle, and turns to face and read aloud the blue-flamed words, sealing her fate:

" _Videntis ominum. Magister mentium et anima mea..._ "

The circle outline glows a mix of yellow and black-red, and her eyes begin glowing yellow, her voice raising in volume:

" _Magnesium ad hominem. Magnum opus!..._ "

Her friends, minus Inuyasha, who's brain had froze from dumbfounded shock, call over the sound of charging energies,

"Coraline, stop!"

"Don't do this!" "Coraline!"

But she does not heed them, already too far into the incantation to pause:

" _Habeus corpus! Inceptus Nolanus overatus! Magister mentium, Magister mentium, MAGISTER ANIMA MEA!_ "

(SHEEN)

The entire circle and its symbols glow a blinding swirl of white-yellow mixed with crimson red, forcing the spectators to shield their eyes from the light, while Bill lets out a booming cackle, and Coraline is hit square in her chest by thirteen lines of power from the crystal shards:

(Pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow)

"UH!"

Her body is suspended into mid-air, before she is zoomed in on by the dream demon, who reaches into her torso, creating a warp wave to avoid any actual tissue damage, _and yanks out her Soul!_

"GUH!"

(Heartbeat...)

...Coraline's eyes roll into the back of her skull, her mouth open in a frozen gape, before her body is wrapped in a transparent barrier similar to the one that was surrounding the ritual circle, only this one also had black chains wrapped around it...

The area falls silent, voices caught in individual throats. Even Kikyō was frozen to the spot by what she just witnessed:

 _...Did...Did she just...?!_

 _Why...why on earth would she-?!_

Inuyasha finally dislodges his and croaks in a shout,

"C...CORALINE!"

 **"Chill-lax, Red Sword. She's not dead."**

"H-Huh?"

He darts his eyes up to Bill, who was currently holding an orb in his hands, ice blue with splashes of fushia pink:

 **"Or at least she isn't so long as her body remains in the suspension animation chamber. Meanwhile, her Soul is right here in my very hands! I could very well do whatever I wish with it...but, a deal's a deal."**

The three-sided demon scrutinizes his eye on the orb...forcing it to shift its colours so it shone as a half and half scheme. He then sits it a few feet in front of him, before saying more to himself,

 **"Now here comes the more delicate part..."**

(...Shing)

One of his hands then morphs into a very thin but very sharp black-shaded blade, prompting a heavier wave of concern to pass through Coraline's friends:

"Wh-What's he doing now?!"

"Could he be-?!"

"I think, he is...!" "He wouldn't!"

And before anyone could call a protest:

(Swing, SLICE)

Bill brings the blade down on the orb, splitting it into two equal halves!

 **"Whoo! Right down the middle, perfect cut! Next,"**

(GRIP)

 **"We squee~ze each part until they feel like spheres again...!"**

Inuyasha became horrified by what he was seeing, and screamed,

"Stop it! Stop hurting her Soul, you bastard!"

 **"Shut up, Red Sword. I know what I'm doing, and if ya keep trying to interrupt me, (Eye glows red) that's when things are gonna go real awry for Little Doll, so unless you wanna say goodbye to her for good, zip it!"**

The dog demon lets out a feral growl of rage at Bill, but knew in his heart that there was nothing he could do now, and slumped his shoulders in defeat:

 _Fuck...Coraline...please...don't, die._

(...Glow)

Suddenly, the spaces between Bill's clenched fists start to glow in their own lights of ice blue and fushia pink respectively, which signaled that his work was done:

 **"Aaaand, ta-da!"**

He opens his palms...revealing two orbs, the pink one only half the size of the blue. Miroku eyes the orbs and asks in bated whisper,

"Are, those suppose to be...?" Bill answers his question:

 **"Just like that, we now have two Souls, or rather, one full Soul and one half of another! Hmm...now where was the half suppose to go again? Oh, right!"**

He spins around to Kikyō's direction:

 **"Hey, Fushia Arrow...Catch!"**

The demon tosses the smaller pink orb straight at the priestess, hitting her square in the chest:

(Pow)

"Uh!"

Inuyasha momentarily focuses away from Coraline's body, concerned for the other woman's life:

"Kikyō!"

The priestess's body floats a few feet off the ground, bathed in a softer fushia-coloured light, as the orb enters inside her, and fuses with a dark pink orb:

(Pulse...pulse...pulse...)

 _What...What is this?_

 _I...I feel...like my spirit is being, rejuvenated._

 _How can this be?_

 **"And this is just the tip of the re-fusion! Check out this next part!"**

(...Crack...Crack)

Suddenly, Kikyō's skin begins to crack like pottery clay, as pointed out by Shippo:

"Look: Her skin is cracking! What's happening to her?!"

 **"Simply this, Trick Bag..."**

(...CRACK)

 **"It's not just Fushia Arrow's Soul that's being restored: I've also decided to include a new body just for the heck of it. Ha! How's that for a twist?"**

"(Collective) What?!"

Indeed, what Bill said was no lie: Much like what happens when you place a clear jar of water into a freezer, we watch now, as pieces of the graveyard soil pottery fall from the priestess, revealing a new body of true flesh, bone and blood for Kikyō!

As she settles back onto the grass again, Kikyō holds her hands up to her face, touching her new skin with eyes as wide as saucers:

"Uh...U-Uh...!"

 _I...I am in living flesh again!_

 **"But this doesn't change your fate completely, I'm afraid."**

"Huh?"

Everyone focuses back on Bill, who alliterates,

 **"Technically, you're still a part of the walking dead category, and will have to continue relying on the energy of other Souls to stay on this dirt, but now that number's been cut down in half, at best. But hey, two out of three's not bad, right?"**

He then turns to the barrier-enclosed body:

 **"Alright, all that's left is putting this other Soul back. (Chuckle) This is the easiest step."**

Bill snaps his fingers, breaking the chains around the barrier, before it dissipates as well, leaving behind a suspended body for all to see. He floats overtop the torso area, before flipping his hand over that carried Coraline's Soul:

 **"Back ya go, Little Doll!"**

The orb gently drops downward, before reentering its source, causing a wave of ice blue energy to billow through Coraline's body:

(Wobble...)

...The body then floats down to rest on the red-brown dirt, the ritual circle fading away from existence...before we see soft rises and drops around her chest, indicating that Coraline was alive!

Bill shrinks the shield back, just as everyone comes running down into the crater (minus Kikyō, who was still in shock from her transformation) to see if the demon was true to his word:

"Coraline!" "Cor!"

Inuyasha reaches her side first, and crouches to get a closer look at her face, seeing no signs of injury nor smelling anything off:

 _...She's alive...She's okay._

He lets out a big breath of relief, his own body shaking a little from the events...

"Inuyasha...is she...?"

He looks over at Shippo, who was standing near him on his right, and whispers,

"...Yeah. She's okay. Coraline's okay."

Shippo lets out his own sigh of relief, with the others following shortly after:

"Thank Buddha..." "I'm so relieved..."

"Sis..." "Thank you, god..."

Even Kilala mews in happiness learning that Coraline was gonna be alright, before Bill breaks in with a light scoff of amusement,

 **"Well duh she's okay! I don't make it a habit to let my charges die, least not anymore...Oh, before I forget."**

He zooms in on Inuyasha, who jumps to stand on the defense, the others just as wary, before the dream demon holds out the shrunken pyramid shield:

 **"Gotta fulfill the other bargain. This is for you."**

The barrier breaks down into a dust-like light, and floats into Inuyasha's body, his body emitting a similar glow...before fading away as quickly as it came.

"Huh? What was that?"

 **"Mm, call it an extra protection for your Soul."**

Inuyasha looks up at Bill in confusion, and the other explains:

 **"You see, this whole thing started with Little Doll just wanting to make things right between hers and Fushia Arrow's spiritual fates, but then after witnessing your episodes of your demon ego calling shots, she got real scared for your life. It was then I decided to be nice and offer an extension to our deal: I'd grant a barrier around your Soul to prevent your egos from going into cage matches, in exchange for another Seven Light Crystal. Of course, this barrier doesn't offer too much of a guarantee: Your demon ego still has the chance of taking over your consciousness, but not so much to the point where you'll be consumed by it."**

"...Are, you saying...that I won't become a full beast now, if my demon 'ego' tries to take over me?"

 **"That's all up to you, Red Sword. All depends on how strong your will is when you're stuck in a corner and death comes pounding at the door."**

Inuyasha nods, swallowing a lump in his throat, doing his best to take this information in. He then looks over at the unconscious girl and asks with a slight wobble in his voice,

"And...Coraline did, a-all of this...just to help, Kikyō and I?"

 **"That's right...She pretty much walked through Hell for the two of ya kids."**

Bill turns his eye over at the girl and adds,

 **"Pretty crazy what selfless humans like her will do for others, without once considering their own lives. By the way, it'll be at least four, five days before she wakes up."**

Sango hesitantly asks,

"Why, is that?"

 **"Because, Boomerang, her body needs to readjust to having just the one Soul and not a Soul and a half. She'll be relying on her own strengths from this point on, and not the combined strength she once held with help from Fushia Arrow's power."**

Bill looks at Coraline's form once more, before deciding it was time to take his leave:

 **"Well, I've had my fun here in this dimension, but now it's time to move onto the next!"**

He takes off his hat, before flattening it into a big, black two-dimensional circle, and placing it on the edge of one end of the crater...Come a few seconds later, it would be filled with a swirl of rainbow colours, changing into a gateway out of this world!

The demon would pull out his hat from behind his back again (like it never left to begin with), sits it on his pointed head, before floating over to the wormhole:

 **"See ya, strangers! Tell Little Doll I said bye for me, 'kay?"**

"Wait!"

 **"Hm?"**

He pauses halfway, and turns to look over his shoulder at Miroku, who stood up from beside Sango before asking,

"Why did you do this? I find it hard to believe an individual such as yourself would have done this simply for just one working Seven Light Crystal...What is your other motive?"

Bill rolls his eye and mumbles,

 **"Always the paranoid ones, humans...If you must know, Black Hole, I've been workin' on trying to clean up my karma since a 'certain disaster' a long while back. Little Doll's actually my first success story!"**

"Success?"

 **"Yep. Most of the other humans I've formed a deal with wound up either dead or their covenants ended too quickly because of the usual selfish reasons like Greed and Revenge. But her...she's the first human with the right amount of selflessness that's both entertaining...and just slightly admirable, which made her the perfect candidate for my next deal."**

"And, the crystal?"

 **"Souvenir, mostly...But I might use its power for my next project if and where I come across it. But not to worry! I don't plan on coming back to this dimension anytime soon! You poor Souls already have your hands full with that busted rock and the ones coming after its pieces. If I threw my hat into the ring, (Chuckle) I'd more than likely destroy you all and the ground you stand on, including that blatant excuse of a demon, Spider!"**

Everyone cringes defensively, and Shippo stutters in a low tone,

"C-Could he really be that s-strong?"

Freeman whispers back,

"Hard to say, kiddo...but based on what we've all seen already...I'm almost ready to believe it."

Inuyasha mutters with narrowed eyes,

"Tch, I don't care how strong he boasts to be...As long as he leaves, that's all that matters."

His clawed hand reaches down, and grips Coraline's, as he adds,

"I don't want him anywhere near Coraline then he already has been..."

Bill catches the gesture, and chuckles to himself mentally:

 ** _Looks like things are gonna be just fine, like I knew it would...Once again, Little Doll, good luck...with everything._**

 **"Anyway, I've stalled long enough for ya people! I'm outta here! (Waves his hand) See ya never!"**

With that, Bill dives into the rainbow wormhole, before it shrinks into nothing, the dream demon leaving the dimension for good...


	90. Chapter 89

Hey guys! So sorry it took so long to get this chapter ready; my creative process and desire to actually type was running on empty for these last few weeks, and it was only these last few days I decided to finally get my arse in gear. But I promise that the wait will be worth it.

...I think the title pretty much says what's coming up ;)

You'll also notice that one of the female characters will be acting somewhat on the OOC side, but not too much so that it deters her mannerism and personality.

Anyway, I'll leave it all to you, the readers, so without further ado, please enjoy the concluding second half of this thrilling segment in my story!

* * *

 **Chapter 89 (Special): Soul Sisters & A Dog Demon's Love**

Continuing where we last left off, we find our ragtag group still standing in the old crater within the Southeastern forests near the Goshinboku Village, shortly after Coraline had preformed a risky ritual involving her Soul with a sanity-questioning demon from beyond this world...

Getting a closer look at her form, we see that while their was signs of fatigue in her being, Coraline did not appear to be injured in any way, or so Miroku would note as he crouched down to check her vitals:

"Hm...Other than a great amount of spiritual exhaustion, I see nothing that says the demon has done Coraline wrong...Still, what we witnessed..."

No one else dared speak, still in shock from what the redhead had just done, when Lumos, whom had been hiding out in Coraline's satchel this whole time in fright from the dream demon, finally emerges into the atmosphere, and floats over to his partner's side, hovering over her head while sending soft moans of worry...Shippo would the one to break the silence with the following question that was on everyone's minds:

"S-So...what do we do now?"

...Inuyasha suddenly moves to stand up, gently picking up the unconscious girl to hold securely in his arms, his head cast down with his bangs shadowing his eyes:

"...We take her back to Kaede's, and, wait for her to wake up...for however long it takes."

Everyone widens their eyes a bit at how, gutted the dog demon sounded, but nod all the same, wanting nothing more but to get their friend somewhere safe to rest. With that decided, the group would slowly make their way out of the area, Inuyasha leading the way...

But as soon as he exited the crater, the dog demon would find himself blocked by another set of feet:

"Hm?"

He looks up, and forms a surprised look, when he sees that the feet belonged to,

"...Kikyō?"

The wandering priestess had finally overcome her earlier shock, and came over to where everyone was exiting from, now gazing at Coraline's form with an expression of deep regret:

 _...Coraline..._

The others come to join behind Inuyasha, looking at Kikyō with puzzled expressions:

"Huh?"

"Kikyō?"

"Oh geez...I, forgot she was still here."

They snap out of their whispers to the sound of hushed crying, and look up to see the source, was the priestess herself. Inuyasha felt his heart clench at seeing his past love in tears, and asked,

"...What's the matter, Kikyō?"

"I...I feel like such a fool, a cold-hearted fool."

"What?"

Wiping her eyes, Kikyō looks up at everyone with a troubled expression and says,

"Ever since I was brought back into this world, I...I've done nothing but think so selfishly. I've, hurt people I shouldn't have...And my Soul...it knew this, or rather, my more rational side did, but it was locked away inside the girl...With it back inside me, completing the rest of me, I, can now feel all that it witnessed during mine and Coraline's encounters..."

She grips her robes where her heart was and cringes at the emotions arising inside herself:

"It's a feeling I can barely face, for I know...that no good has been done by my person in this last while. I am a failure as a priestess...and a human."

Everyone looks at her in shock for her words, and Kikyō turns her teary-eyed gaze to the unconscious redhead, before reaching to softly touch the other's cheek:

"Yet despite that...this girl...She saw me as lost, misguided, and wanted to help me. (Sad smile) I only wish, I could've been less callus towards her, then maybe...she wouldn't have had to go so far..."

"...Kikyō..."

Wiping her eyes again, she looks up eye-to-eye with Inuyasha and asks,

"Inuyasha...if it shall not be an inconvenience, I would like to join you all back to the village. I, want to be there to personally apologize for the pain I've caused Coraline, as the first step in making amends with those I've wronged."

The dog demon stares at the priestess caught between life and death for several minutes...before nodding wordlessly.

Time Skip  


As soon as Inuyasha and company returned to the Goshinboku Village, Coraline would be brought to Kaede's to be looked over by the elder priestess. One could only imagine the shock that would wrack through her when she saw that her sister, Kikyō, would be among them, a new glow to her skin, and an expression of clarity and guilt upon her face. But as soon as the incident regarding Coraline's dangerous deal was explained, Kaede would immediately drop any rising suspicions, her concern turning to the redhead in question.

Of course, much like Miroku had noted before their departure from the crater, the elder priestess could not find anything physically wrong with Coraline, but rather the issue leaned to matters of the spirit.

"All we can do at this point, is make sure the child is comfortable as she rests...It is hard to say when she shall wake..."

So for the next while, everyone would be waiting in bated breath for Coraline to wake up to the real world once again.

Freeman and Besa would venture to the modern era following the first day back in the village to inform the Higurashis what had happened, and that Coraline's return would be delayed longer than usual, before coming back shortly after to wait with everyone else in Sengoku Edo, vowing not to go back to their time until their sister was awake...

Miroku and Sango would board Kilala and leave to the abandoned village of the demon slayers for about three of those days, the intent to check up on its state as well as tend to the grave sites. But in actuality, they just didn't want to make themselves stir crazy by waiting on pins and needles for their friend's condition to better...

Shippo had become despondent, his heart aching in a child's worry over Coraline, and found himself wandering to the river outside the village to just sit and think, trying his hardest not to let the worst possible scenarios cloud his judgement...

As for Inuyasha, his mood had definitely taken a downward drop: He had hopped up to rest on the branches of the tree next to Kaede's hut during the morning after the first day back, and hasn't moved since, his expression one of worry, sadness...and grief...

Then there was our fair priestess caught between life and death, Kikyō. Her behaviour had also changed rather dramatically: She will have settled into her old home that became her sister's after her demise, not once leaving Coraline's side, tending to her like she was her own kin. The priestess was also considerably calmer, gentle, and seemed, more alive then she has been since her revival by the ogre witch, Urasue...Yet she could not find herself enjoying this rejuvenation, for like everyone else, she was concerned for Coraline's health. Luckily, she wasn't alone in her constant attentiveness, thanks to the aid of Lumos, who stuck to his partner's side like glue, using his energies every now and then to give a boost to Coraline's Soul, as his way to help her get her strength back...

...Eventually, come five days later, our redhead would finally grace the world again.

Coraline's POV

(Twinkle...)

"Mmm..."

 _Huh? What's...that sound?_

"(...Blink, blink) Hm?"

"(Ghostly moan)"

 _...Lumos?_

"Lu-mos? Is that you...?"

"Ah, good. You've finally awoken."

"Huh?"

 _Since when can Lumos use human spee-_

 _...That wasn't him._

I force my eyes to focus more clearly, and found myself staring at my Will O' Wisp circling above my head in excitement, before turning my face to the left side where I heard the voice come from, only to see one person I never expected to be at my side:

"...Kikyō."

She smiles sadly at me, an expression I haven't seen on her face before, and says to me,

"Your companion has been constantly sharing his energies with you, so that you would not weaken in these last couple days you have been resting."

"...Couple? How, long was I asleep?"

"About five days."

"...Oh."

 _Wow...I've never slept that long before._

The inside of the hut falls quiet for a minute or two, before I found myself smiling faintly at the woman kneeling before me:

"Well, I must say, Kikyō: You are a sight for tired eyes like mine. And, you look, better than before, more like the woman you were, back in the day."

"Heh. That is kind of you to say...but I am not sure if I can ever return to being the me from the past...Not after all I have done since my return to this world."

"Uh...Kikyō..."

"...Why did you do this, Coraline? Why go through that kind of pain and suffering, just to return my Soul to what it once was?"

I was taken aback by how, guilty she sounded in her asking, and pushed myself up to a sitting position to stare at her with a look of obviousness and empathy:

"...Because you didn't deserve to be left wandering the earth broken and lost. It wasn't fair that you were brought back to life, only to suffer in ways worse than you did when you were dying. To, have to relive that emotional pain...the betrayal, the loss, the heartbreak that shouldn't have been..."

I reach out to grab her hand, feeling skin that was all flesh, no trace of fired clay:

"Kikyō, I could feel every emotion that you felt and, likely still feel, through your light half of Soul as it sat within me. It screamed and cried for you, wanting to return to you and help you find balance. It, made my heart ache, and I was filled with the desire to save you from this suffering in any way possible. I admit, what I've done was not rational, but I do not regret my deed for an instant."

The undead priestess gaped a little at me, finding her voice caught in her throat. I feel my lips tug up into a smile again, before moving to stand up, my knees shaking a little, but otherwise I felt fine:

"You know what? Maybe we shouldn't talk in here. Let's head somewhere in the fresh air, shall we?"

"Uh, are you sure you can walk at this moment?"

"Mhm. If you haven't already guessed yet, I'm not one of those people who can lay about for too long. The sooner I get the blood in my legs pumping, the better...besides..."

I turn around to Kikyō, extending my hand towards the other woman with a friendly smile:

"I think this may be a good time for us to really get to know one another without all of the demon and jewel drama blocking us...would you not agree?"

...She stares at my offered hand for a few minutes, before taking it with her own small smile:

"...Yes."

So after slipping on a red flannel shirt over my white tank top (obviously someone changed my clothes in these last couple days while I was sleeping, and I'm not gonna bother asking who), and tying on my brown hikers, we began to exit the hut, Lumos acting as our guide. We took our time walking, given that I just woke up, our hands clasped into one another, the feeling similar to when one of my brothers sometimes held my hand:

 _...Is it possible, that I just gained a sister?_

No POV

At the same time, Kaede was returning from gathering some more medicinal herbs from her garden, only to find herself staring at the retreating forms making their way out of the village:

"(Gasp) Coraline...and my sister? What on earth...?"

Inuyasha hears her stunned mutter, and finally hops down from the nearby tree after laying about it in a depressed state for the last couple days:

"What's going on?"

"...I am not sure. But look over yonder."

Following her point, Inuyasha turns his gaze to where the village exited to the riverside, and widens his amber irises, when he sees,

 _Coraline! She's awake!_

 _...And, Kikyō...They're, together? Where are they going?_

Feeling a worry bubble in his stomach about the idea of those two being alone together, Inuyasha prepped himself to leap after the two women, only to pause when Kaede holds a hand out to his torso:

"One moment, Inuyasha. I sense no ill will between either lass...I believe Coraline and my sister, simply wish to speak with one another somewhere else where ears cannot pry."

"...Really?"

"Aye. I am quite certain."

He turns to look in the distance, as Coraline's flannel shirt and Kikyō's white haori flap out of view behind the side of a hut leading to the path to the river:

 _...Coraline...Kikyō..._

Small Time Skip, Kikyō's POV

Leaving the village behind, Coraline and I would eventually come to the area atop the mouth of the cave in which the thief, Onigumo, once laid, where moss and grass intertwined with the thick roots of the trees. Neither one of us knew what could have possibly possessed us come here, and yet it was this place we were drawn to...

"I'm starting to think this daft cave has a mind of its own and likes to lure people to it for the sake of messing with their sense of perception."

I turn to look at the young woman with red hair with amusement in my eyes from her statement, before turning my viewpoint back to the narrow strip of water in the distance below us:

"...I believe the significance lies in what this cave once held, which is why we have subconsciously chosen this area to walk to."

"Hm, fair enough...Too much darkness has come to roost in these hills the last couple decades, hasn't it?"

"Indeed...and all for the Shikon-no-Tama."

I hear Coraline make a sound of distaste:

"Yeah, that damn jewel...As far as I'm concerned, it's an omen of death."

"Uh! (Frown) Do you not think that description is rather callus?"

"Not at all, especially if you look at the jewel's track record: Countless lives have been lost, human and demon, not a one achieving their wishes. The Shikon-no-Tama has a history as bloody as the wars outside Japan...No matter how much one may try, the good seems to always be outweighed by the bad. If anything, this world may be better off if the jewel never existed to begin with."

 _Hm...She may be right about that._

"...You have quite a blunt honesty."

"Heh, well that's just a part of my personality: I don't like to beat around the bush if I can help it. If it can be told, I usually end up being the conveyor of the truth...Yet ironically, I've kept alot bottled up inside over these last couple years."

"Oh?"

"Yeah...I've been living on the rougher side of life for a long time, and these last five years or so have been particularly challenging. It's, sometimes a miracle just to wake up in the morning, brave enough to face the day."

"...Tell me about it."

Though surprised by my interest, Coraline obliges, and for the next little while, she regales to me her story: Where she was originally from, the good and the bad of growing up in Majora Village, the tragedy that was her father's murder, and her eventual journey to the lands of Edo in her world. I was shocked that such a strong woman had to face such adversity...and yet at the same time, I felt, I could relate to her.

"...I understand how it feels to be separated from the rest of the human race. When I began my training as a priestess, I was suddenly no longer considered an ordinary girl, and the villagers began treating me differently, as if I had become a goddess. (Sad smile) The only one who could still see me for me was my younger sister, Kaede: She knew there was more to me than just having such pure power...But even with her, I still felt, alone, isolated..."

"Mm, that sounds about right...God, why can't people just treat eachother equal and not force categories and ranks?"

"Who knows? Perhaps those individuals cannot accept the idea of a select extraordinary mixed within the regular, and choose to either ridicule or place them on an altar."

I feel my smile become more bitter as I thought about my previous duties as a priestess:

"While I may have been revered, at the same time, I was feared and hated by those who sought the prize of purity I was tasked to guarding."

"You mean, demons, right, and the occasional greedy humans?"

"Yes, though it seems both species have evened themselves out in recent decades when it comes to, competition..."

"Hmph, no kidding...Though I'd say it's leaning more to demons again in recent months, thanks to that bastard, Naraku."

I feel a frown of distaste form at the mention of the half-demon's name:

 _Speaking of him...I wonder where that despicable spider has vanished to?_

"...I think he's setting himself for destruction."

"Hm?"

"He thinks that by gathering every bit of the jewel, he'll gain absolute power...But really, he's only increasing the number of enemies to creep up and corner him, before the final blow comes crashing onto his being like a hammer on a nail made of glass."

I let out a small chuckle at how confident she sounded:

"I am glad one of us thinks so...But let me remind you that the journey to end him will not be an easy one."

"Tch, I know that...So does everyone else, Inuyasha especially."

"Ah yes...Inuyasha...You and he, have an interesting relationship."

Coraline turns to me with a confused expression, before answering rather defensively,

"How so, and this better not be a quip about me and him, 'being together' or anything, 'cause, it isn't like that..."

I then hear her mumble solemnly,

"If anything, you two stand a better chance."

My eyes widen a little from this new tone of insecurity:

 _Wait...could this mean, there was more to her act than simply protecting...?_

 _...Oh Coraline..._

"Are you saying that, you restored my spiritual strength...so that Inuyasha and I could be together?"

She does not reply aloud...but I see her head bop up and down the tiniest bit, her eyes reflecting both envy and selflessness. I could not respond right away, as my mind spun with new shock over what this young woman had been doing and was offering to give up:

 _She has done nothing but reach out to me, despite what I've done..._

 _And here, this woman, is willing to lay down her feelings for him, just so I could have the chance to try and rekindle what I had lost._

 _...Not even I could be this selfless, past or present._

 _Still...I must know..._

"Tell me, Coraline: What are your current feelings towards Inuyasha?"

"What?"

"Do you still see him as no more than a good friend, a companion...or does your heart yearn for more?"

I listen as she swallows thickly, a sign of nerves, before answering my question:

"I...I want...t-to be with him, like a lover would be. I love him."

I feel a gentle smile curve onto my lips, knowing this would be her answer, and patiently listened to her as she continued her thoughts:

"A-At first, I thought this would die off like a fleeting crush, that it was just some weird test life devised to see how I'd do before beginning the whole dating, er, courting process...But then...as time went on, I felt myself get closer to him, and that crush turned into a love I longed to be requited."

"(Nod) It was similar for me back when I was truly alive: I too felt that it would pass like a leaf in the wind...But the more time we spend around eachother, the less I thought of any time before he came into my life. I had, someone who could truly understand what it meant to be standing outside of everyone else, and not in a pleasant way."

"Exactly...Heh, you might find this a bit funny, but it was actually your real reincarnation who helped me realize I had fallen in love."

"Oh really?"

"Mhm...Her name is Kagome. Her spirit has been frequenting to the Goshinboku Tree since her unfortunate death more than five years ago in my time, but it was only in recent months that she and I had actually met face-to-face. It was, thanks to her that I had possession of the Shikon-no-Tama and your Soul in my body to begin with."

"Interesting..."

"Despite her age, she knew exactly what to do in terms of prying out my emotions...(Sigh) But it was soon after returning to this era after, what happened between you and Inuyasha that night, that I felt a weight of guilt begin to crush me anew."

"Guilt?"

"Oh come on, you of all people should know what I mean, Kikyō: Putting aside that I was harbouring half of your Soul, I've been stealing away your man. He was yours first. And why shouldn't he choose you? You're beautiful, wise, calm and steady...while I'm just a Plain Jane riddled with instability, and about as wise to danger as a stick of dynamite to a lit match. Nothing about my life has been anywhere close to stable, even now with this cool-down period...It's a wonder I'm not dead yet..."

Silence falls between us for several minutes...before I finally spoke up:

"You're wrong."

"Wha-"

I immediately turned to her with a stern expression, she flinching back a bit in surprise:

"K-Kikyō!"

"If that is what you truly believe, then you are a bigger fool than I have been."

"Uh, (Glare) where are you going with this?!"

"He has fallen for you, Coraline, just as you have for him, regardless of your trivial insecurities. And quite frankly, I find it rather disappointing someone as strong as you thinks so little of yourself!"

Her mouth falls shut in shock from my words...before she asks timidly,

"...You think I'm strong? You?"

"Yes. I never once doubted your capabilities, even while I was drifting in my more dark persona...You call me a calm and steady individual, but you are merely seeing a reflection of what I once was. In reality, I have become a rather vengeful and angry woman. (Bitter laugh) To say that I am a priestess is laughable now: I am really just a specter who is only trying to mimic the role."

"...Kikyō..."

"While I am, grateful for what you've done, this new body of flesh and new strength in my Soul does not change much other than reminding myself of my morals, and that my methods as of late in attaining retribution for my demise have been far from being right."

She makes an expression that said she was ready to protest, but I hold I hand out to stop her:

"There is nothing to say that can make my mistakes justifiable...nor anything you should be sorry for. (Sad smile) Your act, while reckless, has helped clear my mind and heart, and deterred me from walking any further down that dark winding road I had been wandering down. For that, I thank you..."

"I...Kikyō, I don't know what to say..."

"Just say...that you will be the woman that he needs."

Coraline chokes and sputters,

"W-What?!"

"While it may not have seem like it...I have been slowly accepting that what I had once, cannot be returned. I was desperate, longing to go back to when life was not so dramatic and complex, and where he and I could find peace and content...But even if Naraku had not gotten in the way, I can now see that it was simply not meant to be for Inuyasha and I...But you..."

"Me?"

"You are a better match for him than I am, for you understand him better than I had the pleasure to. I could only relate to him in terms of being alone and different. You see past his outer labels for the man he is, and wish for him to be more comfortable with who he is, while I merely offered a way out, as it were."

"But...you were doing it for love, weren't you?"

"Perhaps...but if I truly loved him, I would've accepted his half-demon blood wholeheartedly as you did."

"...Oh wow..."

"Heh, oh wow indeed. I feel rather stupid for not realizing this myself a long time ago...Coraline..."

I take her hands into mine, and look at her straight in the eye as I tell her,

"Do not let Inuyasha and mine's history stand in your way of, claiming him as your own. It will hurt...but I'd rather he be happy with a woman who will love him for everything he is and has, then continue to search for something that cannot be found."

"...Kikyō...I..."

"Please..."

She gulps with a shaky breath, before whispering,

"...But what if he doesn't feel the same?"

I almost laugh at how unsure she sounded, the poor thing, but I smile and chide,

"I doubt that he doesn't. I've seen how he looks at you...But you will not know unless you make it known."

"(Deep breath) You're right...Okay, I will. I will try and see what happens."

We then move to hug one another tightly, a feeling of nostalgia and, dare I say, sisterly understanding passing through us...We say like this for a few minutes, before I hear Coraline let out a giggle similar to how my own blood kin, Kaede did when she was young:

"What is it?"

"Not much...Just that I think I gained a new sibling, Soul Sister."

I make a noise of surprise, and retract back to stare at this strange girl with wide eyes:

"Soul Sister?"

"(Laugh) You seem surprised, but surely you felt it too. This, new connection between us stronger than how we were once tied to one another...Strange as it may sound, Kikyō, I don't want you out of my life."

...A new smile of amusement and deep appreciation formed on my face, and I let out a small but cheery laugh:

"You truly are a strange young woman...but, I like the sound of that. Soul Sisters..."

We both let out hearty laughs, and smile at one another as if the past meant not a thing, which truthfully, it shouldn't:

 _This is the start of something new for the both of us...Something beautiful._

Coraline's POV

Not too long after our heart-to-heart chat, Kikyō and I decide to walk back to the village, figuring that by this time everyone will have caught onto my awakening. My stomach churns at the thought of having to face my friends and brothers and speaking about my, current actions...But my heart was fluttering more at having to face Inuyasha again:

 _His reaction will be the most unpredictable of all. It's more likely he'll use anger first...before just expressing his worry._

 _...As for, my feelings for him...Oh god, I can't even come up with a scenario for that one._

I feel my feet clop over the wooden bridge of the irrigation stream, before meeting packed dirt again, and I turn the path past the home that sat nearest to the village border, only to meet the sight of several familiar figures standing by Kaede's home. The first to notice our returning presences was Freeman, he dressed in a simple green tee, leather vest, blue skinny jeans and his black/white hightops, who turns his eyes from Shippo (he on the other's arm) and towards our direction:

"(Gasp) They're back!"

Everyone turns around to see us, and the multiple stares makes my nerves rise higher. A hand grasping my right pulls me away from the path of a panic attack:

"Hm?"

I turn to Kikyō, who gives me a smile of encouragement:

"It is alright. They are just very happy to see you up and moving about...Don't let your fears get the better of you."

"R-Right...(Small smile) You too, you know, when you speak with him..."

She nods, her eyes dilating a bit sadly, but not in a bad way:

 _For we both have to face the truth of life..._

I was brought out of my thoughts when a small, fox-tailed child came tackling my chest:

"Coraline!"

"Oh! Shippo!"

"You're okay! (Sniff) You're really awake and walking! I'm so happy; please don't scare us like that again!"

I could feel his anxieties overwhelming him, his shoulders shaking with sobs of relief. Fighting back tears of my own, I pulled the little fox demon into a tender hug, whispering soothingly,

"Oh Shippo, please don't cry. The last thing I want in the world was to make you worry this badly...Please forgive me."

"I hope you meant that for all of us."

I look up in confusion, and see my twin brothers, Sango and Miroku giving me smiles of mixed relief and exasperation, Kaede a mildly worried smile, while Inuyasha...his face was stuck in an expression I couldn't decipher. Smiling sadly, I reply,

"Of course I do, Sango...I'm, so sorry to all of you. (Looks down) I never meant for it all to go this far, or for him to be that callus. I just, wanted to get it over with without too many hitches."

Besa shakes his head and scoffs,

"Well it sure didn't turn out that way, that's for sure."

I nod numbly, while Kikyō clears her throat and speaks up softly:

"I am sure you all wish to hear from Coraline regarding what has happened in these last couple days...however, I must borrow one of you..."

She turns her eyes to Inuyasha, and walks over to place a gentle hand on his shoulder:

"Inuyasha?"

"Uh...Kikyō?"

"I must speak with you, about something we should have spoken about civilly since...well, since the beginning of our reunion. Will you join me at the place where we first spoke to one another face-to-face?"

He looks at her with both confusion and surprise, before turning his amber irises to my own stormy blue, but I just smile and say,

"...It's okay. Go with her; you two really do need to talk. I'll be hanging around here for a while, anyway."

There's a pause...before Inuyasha nods, and follows Kikyō away from the village to the rolling green that meets the treeline to the forest of the half-demon's namesake...

"You and she seem rather calm around one another, Coraline."

I turn back to everyone else and reply,

"Yes, well, we had one of those conversations that really opened up alot of closed doors, Miroku. I feel like mine and Kikyō's bond has, strengthened for the better."

"Really?"

"Really really...So, (Sigh) how do you all want to do this?"

Knowing that I meant my explanation for my crazy deal with that dream demon, Kaede suggested,

"Perhaps we should start by sitting inside my home, and speak over some stew. I imagine ye are quite famished, child?"

I nod, and we all head back inside the hut, sit down in a circle around the hearth where a stew was just finishing its cooking time. Once we all got a bowl each, I began my speech, using some of the words that I used when speaking to Kikyō upon first waking up...

"So overall, your goals were indeed what the demon spoke of: Ye wished to not only restoring my sister's spirit, but to also provide further protection to Inuyasha's being."

Swallowing another bite of my second bowl of stew, I nod in confirmation:

"That's right, Kaede. I am of course, well aware that what I did was wrong, that I shouldn't have kept this a secret for you all...But it was a wrong that I wanted so badly to become right, and I knew that you would all try to stop me the second I let the details of my deal with Bill slip through my lips."

"Still, to go so far for the sake of two lives...I don't quite understand why you were so willing to put your life at risk in such a way."

Miroku nodded in agreement with Sango:

"Indeed, especially when the one you conveyed a deal with was a demon on the borderline between sanity and insanity."

I say nothing, which gave Besa the go-ahead to ask,

"Why, sis?"

"Why? (Bitter laugh) That's a good question...one that I both have and don't have an answer to."

Everyone makes noises of confusion, and I swallow down more stew, forming a depressed frown on my lips:

"I guess one way to explain my choice, is that it's become almost natural to make personal sacrifices."

"Personal sacrifice?"

"That's right, Shippo...I think it started a few years after my mother passed, when my father was just barely connected to the world around him, his grief threatening to swallow him whole. To see him look so, sad and lost behind the smiles he forced onto his face...it was depressing and confusing for me. So for his sake if no one else's, I became his new rock, and did all that I could to make sure his head was above water, while at the same time, blocking out any possibilities of a relatively normal childhood, so I could toughen up my own being, and prepare myself for when things got real rough in the future."

"Oh..."

"Then when he was killed, I made yet another personal sacrifice, giving up hope of recovering like a normal kid would, choosing to journey across land and water to reach people who I knew could help me. I shut down my happiness and more positive emotions, just to save myself from getting my hopes up too high, incase it all went to Hell in the end. Thankfully, it didn't, and I made it to Japan, but I was a different person by that time: A girl too scared to settle down, too cautious and hostile at times...The Higurashis helped restore some of my self-security, but even nowadays, I still feel like a bit of an outsider. To remedy those thoughts, I would sacrifice any free time from my schoolwork to do favours for Grandfather and Akari-sama. If not, I would spend numerous days locking myself in my room to work like a mule and not sleep half the time, (slight laugh) until Grandfather breaks in and literally shoves me out the door so I could get some fresh air. But sometimes that wasn't always a good idea, for I used to disappear for about three our four days wandering outside Tokyo to the more rural countrysides with no real goal other than to just, be somewhere else."

Freeman cuts in and adds for everyone else,

"Yeah. Eventually, Besa and I caught onto the wandering acts and began chaperoning her so she at least wasn't by herself during her, 'spontaneous expeditions'."

I smile a bit as they laughed, and chided,

"Sorry I put you guys through that, by the way."

"Nah, it's okay. Got us out of our apartment, and you never changed your starting point, so it was easy to catch up with you after Miss Higurashi gives that warning phone call."

I nodded, before finishing up my reasoning:

"So long story short, if I wasn't doing something for others, I felt no purpose, and became lost...In fact, if it hadn't been for Lady Centipede dragging me into the Dry Well that day, I would still be stuck in that sad routine. The jewel, meeting each of you...it gave me new hope, even at the expense of the time I'd be giving up."

...My friends of Edo could only stare at me in amazement for a couple minutes, and I went back to finishing my second bowl of food to distract myself. It would be Sango who broke it with the following soft remark:

"...You really have been sacrificing alot since you first came here, haven't you, Coraline?"

I nod, my mouth too full to reply verbally, and I hear Miroku sigh before his hand comes to rest on my shoulder:

"You shouldn't have to put everyone first before yourself all the time. Your happiness matters too."

"I know...but it's hard. I, try to think of a future where I can be happy and content, but it always fades away faster than it forms. I've, forgotten how to be happy without giving up something as simple as time."

"Then we just need to remind you how."

"Huh?"

I look up into his brown eyes, and he smiles at me before saying,

"Starting today, we shall begin your re-education in being happy without personal sacrifice. It will be a long lesson, especially with all that is currently going on regarding our war against, Naraku, but I know it can be done."

"Miroku..."

He turns to everyone else and asks,

"What say the rest of you? Will you help me teach her happiness isn't just found through self-sacrifice?"

"Yeah!" "Totally."

"Of course."

"Mhm, I like the sound of that idea!"

"Aye, monk, an excellent plan."

 _...Everyone..._

I felt a big smile spread onto my face, the corners of my eyes forming appreciated tears:

"Thank you...all of you. And again, I'm truly sorry for making you all sick with worry."

They just smile and shake their heads at my repeated apology:

"It's fine; you're forgiven, Coraline."

"Don't apologize, sis." "It's okay."

"What matters is that you're safe and awake."

"Yeah! We forgive you, Coraline!"

"Ye have been through enough hurt as it is, child. It is better to forgive and move on with our lives."

I nod and mutter,

"Right..."

But then I form at small, insecure frown, remembering the other person I owed an explanation to, in more ways than one:

 _Inuyasha..._

At the same time, Inuyasha's POV

As soon as we left the village, Kikyō and I walked over to the hillside where one could see the entire place and beyond towards the next forest, the sinking sun casting a soft, yellow-orange glow over the horizon...

We're sitting down in the grass now, just taking in the tranquil quiet, a soft breeze blowing by that tousles the hair of the woman beside me in a way that made her look as beautiful as she was when I first laid eyes on her:

 _It's like we never left this spot at all...or at least I wish it could be like that._

"...It's been such a long time since we sat in eachother's company like this, with no real friction between us."

I nod in agreement, turning my eyes towards the distant view of nature:

"Yeah...Too damn long if you ask me."

We both let out short-lived laughs, before I suck in some air between my teeth and ask,

"...So was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"...Us, and where we should be in terms of a relationship."

I cringe internally:

 _Knew it..._

"Inuyasha...you and I both know that what we've been chasing this last while cannot be found without a bad ending, correct?"

"What?"

"I know. I did not wish to believe it either. That was what I was truly angry about: Having our budding relationship stamped out so soon before we could see what it would become. I did not want to accept that we could not be...That is why I chose to lash out at you like I did, as a way to not fuel such thinking, not to mention that we didn't know at the time who was to blame for our betrayals."

"I...I see..."

Though I could not say it aloud, I realized that the reasoning for her actions towards me since her resurrection, had applied to my own in a way: I chose to use my anger to cloud any possible thoughts of accepting what had really happened back then, which would only hurt her and I more than before we figured out who was responsible for the deception.

"...Kikyō...Are you saying, that we shouldn't be together, or give up on the idea, even after all that we've been through?"

"That is exactly what I am saying. I of course, do not regret ever meeting you, Inuyasha. You helped me see past my lonely existence, and gave me something I should have kindled more than I did those decades ago: A friend who understood."

"A...A friend?"

She smiled sadly and nodded:

"I would say love, but looking back now, we never really got that far, did we? Perhaps, a growing affection and fondness for eachother's company, but not true love...Am I right or wrong?"

I wanted so badly to scream and shout that she was wrong, but, my voice was caught in my throat, for I knew deep in my heart,

 _...She's right. We never got that far._

"But you and Coraline...have gone far in ways we could have tried if not for that fateful day."

I widen my eyes at her words, before forming a small, inquisitive scowl at the woman:

"Where are you going with this, Kikyō?"

"Simply this, Inuyasha: You and Coraline are more destined to be together than we ever were, and you should tell her that."

...I fell backwards in shock, before scrambling up to my feet while shouting in a stutter,

"Wh-Wh-What?! C-Coraline?! Are you serious?!"

She laughs lightly at my reaction, before standing up with me while replying,

"You cannot fool me so easily, Inuyasha: I know how you feel for the girl. Your own eyes reflect how deeply you have fallen for her, even if the rest of your face does not say so. And, I cannot blame you for forming such a connection with her: She has a wise perspective about the world and people I wish I could have. She does not judge what is seen on the outside, but rather the inside, and knows how to use her blunt honesty to really open one's mind to other possibilities. She is able to adapt quickly to situations, and has the heart of a fighter, but will be passive when she can. Heh, in all honesty, she reminds me of you."

"...Me?"

"Yes. You and she have lived rather similar lives, and developed similar ways of coping with the trials of life you've both been forced to face...All the more proof she is a good match for you. I both envy and admire her for that."

 _...Kikyō..._

She steps up to me so we're only less than a foot from eachother, and cups my cheek with one of her hands:

"Please, Inuyasha. We must not let ourselves be weighed down by our past any longer. It is, time for us to let go of what cannot be, and move on to what can be achieved."

I move one of hands on top of hers, and ask in a whisper,

"...But what will you do? Where will you go?"

"I am not sure, but I shan't be leaving this earth yet, for there is one matter that must be taken care of before I can truly be a peace."

"And what's that?"

"Naraku's demise."

I flinch at how cold her voice became, and she smiles bitterly before adding,

"Until the one who first condemned me to death is destroyed, I will still be a wandering specter for some time."

I mutter a bit childishly,

"...You're no specter."

"(Chuckle) That is kind of you to say, and yet that is what my being has become...But worry not for me."

She leans in and places a quick, chaste kiss on my cheek, before whispering more happily,

"Truthfully, it is the idea of you living on that will bring me true peace."

"Uh...Kikyō..."

She pulls away, and begins walking away, while calling over her shoulder,

"Live on, Inuyasha...for both of us."

I nod, swallowing a lump in my throat, and fought back tears while I watched her form become smaller and smaller, leaving to wherever she planned on going next:

 _...Goodbye for now, Kikyō. I hope you find peace soon._

Small Time Skip, No POV

The wandering priestess would make one more stop at Kaede's home to say her goodbyes to her sister, Coraline and everyone else, before she left for parts unknown, feeling her presence would be needed elsewhere and that she had done what she had to in her old village...

We now zoom in on said hut situated by the staircase, the twilight beginning to blanket over the grounds, as Coraline watched the skies cast splashes of deep orange, red and purples from the doorway, while everyone else sat indoors...Well, almost everyone:

 _Inuyasha hasn't come back yet from the hills..._

 _His mind must be stuck on whatever he and Kikyō spoke about. Can't really blame him for that, either._

 _...Her smile looked both sad, and happy, before she left._

"Hope you'll be alright, wherever you are, Kikyō..."

Just as she whispered that under her breath, Coraline felt someone walk up to stand by her. She turned her eyes left, and saw it was Sango:

"Still no signs of him yet, huh?"

"Yeah...But I know he'll come when he's ready."

"Better yet...why not go to him?"

"Huh?"

Sango gives the redhead a knowing but gentle smile, and chides,

"I think I know another reason why you did what you did, and it relates to why Kikyō had such a clarity and softness in her being before she left, right?"

"Uh...(Nod) Mhm."

"(Slight laugh) Then don't just stand here. Go now; find him and say what you've wanted to say to him for so long now."

Coraline's mouth gapes...before forming a small smile of its own:

"Okay...I'll do it. Mind telling everyone where I've gone so no one has a panic attack?"

"Of course. Now get going."

With that, the redhead begins walking away in the direction of the forest treeline outside the village, with Sango watching her go with an encouraging...yet slightly envious smile:

 _If only I had her courage in terms of matters of the heart...but that issue can wait for another day._

At the same time Coraline began her trek out of the village, Inuyasha was circling back from his walk towards the Dry Well and over to where the Goshinboku Tree would be sitting, his face set in a thoughtful frown:

 _Man, this both sucks and feels weight-lifting...I guess, thinking about it now, maybe she and I were never really, 'in love'._

 _She my have been my first love, but, maybe Kikyō wasn't the one after all._

 _Heh, guess that means what Freeman said back then was true. He's smarter than he makes himself sound..._

Letting out a breath, his mind drifts towards another woman he's held to his heart for a long while now:

 _And then there's Coraline, that sharp-tongued woman who's gotten under my skin since day one._

 _Not in a bad way, though...She's, more than I deserve, really._

 _She took the time to actually, try and understand me, and has become the one person I can truly trust with everything that makes me who I am._

 _...And, she's trusted me with her own problems, from her enemies to her own insecurities._

Giving his head a shake, Inuyasha runs a clawed hand through his hair as he mumbles,

"Gods...I've really made her a part of me without realizing it until now...Even so...can I, really say those words to her?"

Just as he asks himself that question, his nose picks up on a familiar scent:

"(Sniff) Hm?"

 _Huh, speaking of her...What's she doin' out here this late?_

Picking up his pace a bit, Inuyasha starts walking in the direction where the fabled tall, old oak would be. As soon as he was a few pines away, his ears pick up on a soft melody being sung:

"Huh?"

Peering around the trunks, his amber irises widen, when he sees the source was Coraline, sitting on the giant ancient roots of the Goshinboku Tree, her feet lightly kicking up and down while her eyes were on the sky peeking out from the cluster of branches above her, her mouth curved in a smile as she sang the words to the song.

(Note: I own not any references to the song _Dream Without You_. Those rights belong solely to _Leah Daniels_.)

 _...Wow...I've never heard her sing like that before._

 _She...sounds so beautiful._

Inuyasha kept his gaze on her form, as his ears zeroed in more closely to each word that spilled from her mouth, and found himself wondering about the lyrics:

 _Giving up, slowing letting go?_

 _Dreaming without who? Does she mean...me?_

 _What are you thinking, Coraline?_

After another minute or two, the grounds fall silent as Coraline croons the last line of the song through her lips on a soft, high note...

"...That was really good."

"Uh!"

She jumps a little from the voice that broke through the quiet, and turns to see the dog demon walk into view, a small smile on his face:

"Never heard you like that before...Bit of a sad choice though, isn't it?"

"Um...(Smile) Maybe, but it all depends on how you sing a sad song if it'll truly be that way."

"Keh, fair enough..."

An awkward silence fell between the two, before Inuyasha walked up to the roots of the ancient tree and climbed up to sit beside Coraline...It would be the latter who started their next conversation with a nervous expression:

"...I can't even begin to imagine how furious you must be with me...You know, for what I've been doing these last few months in secret."

"Hmph...Well, actually, I'm not as mad as I was in the beginning of the whole reveal. Disappointed, maybe...but my anger pretty much died in these last couple days as I waited for you to wake up."

"...I see."

"...Now there's only one thing I want to know, and that's why. Why did you do all of this, Coraline? Was what that triangle-shaped menace said true, or was he bullshitting the whole time?"

Coraline almost cracked a smile at how Inuyasha worded his question, but opted for a frown while taking a deep breath before answering,

"No...What Bill had said to you all was pretty much on the money."

Fighting the urge to growl, Inuyasha kept his cool and asked in a surprisingly calm tone,

"...But why? Why do something this stupidly insane for me, for Kikyō, both of us?"

"(Sigh) Well, part of it is related to what I already explained to the others not too long ago: I've become, too accustomed to making personal sacrifices for the sake of others, and I don't really know how to live life any other way than that. Another, had to do with the pain I felt in the half of Soul that, heh, well once resided inside my being: Her light half was horrified by what she had become since her resurrection, and wanted so badly to go back to her to try and fix her mistakes. I just, couldn't take the weight of that guilt anymore, and Bill knew that, so he offered me a deal that was too good to pass."

"...Okay...And what about, what that demon gave to me?"

Inuyasha places a hand over his chest, and adds,

"That, shield for my Soul, or whatever he was babbling about...When did that part of the deal come?"

"Around the time after that craziness with that moth demon, Gatenmaru, and you went to go fight Ryūkotsusei to strengthen your bond between yourself and Tessaiga. I guess, Bill was sensing how grim my mood had become thanks to recent events, and felt sympathetic due to a similar experience with a friend of his where he came from. Anyway, he offered up an extension to our deal, and, admittingly, I almost passed on it, because..."

"...Because?"

"Because I knew that with or without an extra protection, you'd find a way to prevail over your demon ego's control. You're that strong, Inuyasha. But, seeing how, lost and, dare I say, disgusted with yourself you seemed before you left for Tōtōsai's...it hurt me to see you in such a state. I wanted to do everything I could possibly do to prevent you from feeling that vulnerable again, even if it meant having to go behind everyone's backs to do it. I know it was wrong, I know I should've said something, but sometimes you gotta do wrong in order to meet right. Nevertheless...I'm sorry."

...Neither one says anything for a moment, before Inuyasha sighs and replies,

"It's fine. You're forgiven...but there's a bit more to this, isn't there?"

"Um..."

"Thought so...What's the other reason you did this, Coraline? I get most of what you've said now, but, there has to be more to it than simply trying to help Kikyō and protect me, which by the way, that last one, you shouldn't be doing. Between the both of us, I'm the one who's suppose to be protecting you."

Coraline laughs a little at how stubborn Inuyasha's tone got near the end of his latest remark, before softly stating,

"Well...people are known to do the craziest things...when they're in love."

The dog demon nearly felt his heart stop beating at hearing those words, and he jumps down from the roots in shock while sputtering,

"Wh-What?! Say that again?!"

The redhead pushes herself down off the tree roots, landing smoothly on the grass, and faces Inuyasha with a brave yet very nervous expression. Taking a deep breath, she finally pours her heart out to the man before her:

"I...I did all of this...because I love you, Inuyasha. I've loved you since day one, but didn't realize it until I was away for a short while after, that moment you and Kikyō shared in the moonlight's glow of this very tree. You're not only my best friend, but the one man who actually gets me, who understands me. You see me as I am both inside and out, something that no man in my era has ever done before or after first entering this one."

"...Coraline..."

"I love how raw and real your emotions are, from your anger, to your sense of humour, your compassion and sensitivity to others and yourself even when you don't always show it. You have a strength as deep as your Soul, something I sometimes wish I had more of. You've stuck by me as I've stuck by you, even when we piss eachother off to no end. We always find a way to make up afterward, no matter what. But most of all...I just, love you for you."

Inuyasha was struck frozen, unable to form a reply to the confession from the young woman before him...

"But...I understand if my love is unrequited."

"Huh?"

"(Sad smile) Your heart was hers first after all, and first loves are never easy to forget. What happened between you two was not fair, and, as much as I do love you, I...(Sniff) I don't want to stand in the way of you trying to reclaim what you really want, if that is your wish."

Wiping away a few tears from her eyes, Coraline shakes her head and mutters,

"Anyway, I just, wanted you to know that...I'll, see you back at Kaede's, I guess."

Not hearing any signs that her crush was feeling similarly to her, Coraline concluded that it would be better for her to leave the other be, and turned around to walk out of the forest.

...

...But she would only get about as far as a couple steps, before Inuyasha's joints finally unhinged, and he sprang forward while calling,

"W-Wait, Coraline!"

(...Hug)

"Uh!"

...Strong arms would then encircle the young woman from behind her around her torso, trapping her own arms to her sides, while her back softly bumped backed into the clothed chest of the dog demon, who held her tightly to him while whispering,

"...Don't go, please."

Coraline felt her heart flutter in her breast, her cheeks dusting pink from the sudden close contact:

 _...What is he...?_

"...Inuyasha?"

He doesn't say another word for a minute or two...but then felt a chuckle rumble through his lungs, before he remarked,

"Gods, and here I was worrying about how to say those three words, and you've gone and beat me to it."

The redhead furrows her eyebrows in confusion...before it all clicked:

"U-Uh! Are, are you saying..."

"Yes..."

Pulling back a bit, Inuyasha turns Coraline around so she was facing him, and confesses with a sheepish smile,

"I...Your feelings are requited. I...I love you too."

Coraline gasps, letting the dog demon's words ring through her mind like the bells of a church...before she breaks into a happy smile with the smallest of tears forming in the corner of her eyes:

"I-Inuyasha...!"

He chuckles a bit at her reaction, before he places a hand on her cheek, and gently guides her forward, his lips landing on hers for a passionate first kiss!

Coraline's POV

 _Oh, my, god...We're kissing! He loves me and we're kissing!  
_

 _Wait, what the hell am I doing? Stop thinking and kiss back, Cora, ya idgit!_

Stopping my mini mental argument with myself, I focused back to reality, and leaned forward towards Inuyasha, moving my lips with his, my hands wandering to grip his shoulders. He shifts his hold on me so that he was holding me by the waist with one hand, while his other moved from my cheek to the back of my head, weaving his fingers into my hair. I let a closed-mouthed moan escape from my throat, the taste of his kiss making me feel like I was going to combust into flames right on the spot. If I could describe the flavour in a few words, they'd be warm, sweet, and feral all at once...But moments like this can't be told with just mere letters: It's a feeling that is everything meaningful in the world, verbal, emotional, physical, and spiritual.

Concluding that thought, I then felt Inuyasha's sharp canines lightly nip at my lips, which sent me the message that he wanted to deepen this kiss...

But with my self-confidence rising back to proper levels, I boldly and playfully denied entrance, causing him to growl a little, and me to giggle:

 _Well? What are you gonna do now, Inuyasha?_

Inuyasha's POV

 _Dammit woman, you choose now to be a tease?  
_

 _Grr, alright, fine then: I'm not complaining, but you're gonna get it._

 _God, her lips feel so good..._

I'm not a hundred percent sure where that surge of confidence came from that caused me to pull her in for a kiss, but boy am I glad I did: She leaned in with absolutely no resistance, wanting this as badly as I did. Her hands on my shoulders, mine on her waist and the back of her head, just holding eachother as close as possible...I could feel these pent-up emotions seeping out of my skin and surrounding us, cloaking us in our own little world for that moment. If I can be perfectly honest...it almost reminded me of that kiss Kikyō and I had during our first encounter after she was resurrected, but, this one was way more alive, more, passion-filled. Nothing compares to the taste of this redhead's lips, reminding me of those sweet candies she sometimes brought from the other era, but milder, and with a spice I can't fully describe.

Anyway, I let out a small warning growl at her refusal to let me into her mouth, which she'd let a tiny laugh out at. I furrow my eyebrows in thought...before getting a sneaky idea: I slipped the hand that was on her waist downward, until it was somewhere between her hip and where her bottom began, and gave that area a small squeeze.

Coraline squeaks in surprise, and that gave me the perfect opportunity to slip my tongue into her mouth:

 _That perverted monk would be proud if he saw that move..._

Thankfully, unlike the woman he secretly chased, Coraline didn't seem offended by my tactic, and lets out a louder moan as our kiss deepened. Smirking to myself in pride, I explored every inch of her mouth with my tongue, leaving nothing untouched and marking it as my own, and even coaxed hers to play a bit...

Unfortunately, there was this little thing called 'oxygen' that we both required in order to live, so our open-mouthed kiss couldn't last forever. Brushing her tongue with mine one more time, we finally parted, both of us panting from the heat and love that was shared:

"(Pant, pant) Wow..."

"(Pant, pant) Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

We both let out breathy laughs, and Coraline leans her head onto my chest, keeping her arms around me, while I draped one arm around her. She then whispers,

"Hey, Inuyasha...?"

"Yeah?"

"...Did you know that you stole my first kiss just now?"

My eyebrows rose in mild surprise, and I look down at her smiling face, cracking a small smile back:

"Keh, is that right?"

"Mhm...and I couldn't be happier that it was you to take it."

I squeezed her to me and chime back,

"Glad to hear that...Wish I could've saved my first one for you..."

"But you did."

"Huh?"

I look down at her, and she says,

"This was a first for you with me, and our first kiss as a couple."

She forms a small worried frown and asks innocently,

"We, are together now...right?"

Rolling my eyes a bit, I answer,

"Kuh, 'course we are. Don't be stupid; I wouldn't have kissed ya like I did if I didn't mean it."

"Heh, right..."

She snuggles deeper into my haori, and says in a muffle,

"I love you, Inuyasha."

I bow my head towards hers, and planted a soft kiss on her forehead before burying my face into her hair, whispering back,

"...I love you too, Coraline."

 _I love you now, forever and until the end of time._


	91. Chapter 90

Holy moley! Think this might be one of the longest chapters I've written for this story thus far. Over 19,000 words; wow!

Anyway, you'll find that I kept a few of the original elements from the original episode, but for the most part, this is my own little twist on the cool-down period before we head back into the action in Edo, which will include some fluffy romance for Coraline and Inuyasha (pause for yays).

There will also be an adaptation of a weapon from the 2003 series of _TMNT_ , so I shall stress that I have no ownership over such a reference! Rights and ownership belong to _Kevin Eastman_ and _Peter Laird_ (The awesome, original creators), _Mirage Studios_ , _4Kids TV_ and _Dong Woo Animation_.

...That's all from me. Hope you all enjoy it!

* * *

 **Chapter 90: Gap Between the Ages**

Another day passes after Coraline awakes from her coma after her dangerously selfless act that not only led to restoring the Soul of the specter-priestess, Kikyō, forging a bigger bond between the women than they could've possibly imagined, but also add fuel to the inner strength of the dog demon, Inuyasha, in his resolve for controlling his inner egos, while shattering the wall between his and Coraline's hearts and finally allowing them to have courage in seeking and capturing eachother's love...

Now, as the weather moves into a mix of sun and cloud for the afternoon, he and the others (minus Coraline, who had gone back to her era in the morning so she could see the Higurashis and catch up with her modern era priorities, but not without Inuyasha promising to come get her the following day) have returned to the ruined remains that was Naraku's Illusionary Castle, to investigate for any clues that might tell them where the evil half-demon may have vanished to after the battle from over a week ago...

Inuyasha was standing by one of the more in-tact houses of the entire castle with a scowl on his face, after sensing nothing:

"Damn that Naraku. The castle looks abandoned, so he probably won't be coming back."

Miroku agrees with him:

"Hm, and you're probably right. After you broke through his demonic barrier, Naraku had to move on or else risk being attacked."

Freeman calls from on top the roof of the house, he and Besa taking in a bird's eye view using a pair of binoculars they brought back yesterday from the modern era,

"Not to mention this place is torn up from the roots and then some, yikes...Not even the renovations teams from Tokyo would wanna touch this place with a hundred-foot pole."

Besa nudges him with his elbow while occupying a half-amused, half-serious expression:

"Dude, I seriously doubt any human would be crazy enough to make a demon castle their next flip-project."

"I know that!"

Shippo, who was sitting in front of the twins on the roof tiles, rolls his eyes at their brotherly bickering, while Sango casts her eyes to the sky with a grim frown, and Inuyasha clenches both of his fists while growling in frustration:

"Man! Naraku is probably vulnerable enough right now for me to kill 'em too! I was so, close! Damn it!"

"Hey, don't go into volcano-mode, man! At least one good thing came up for ya even after this bust!"

Inuyasha turns his eyes up at Freeman's wry grin with a raised brow:

"Oh yeah, and what's that?"

"You and sis are finally a couple, doigt!" Besa's smile was more gentle as he added,

"He's right. While I agree that it sucks Naraku played the chicken card and bailed when he was within killing range, it's better for now to focus on something positive than dwell on the negative. We're all alive, we're all safe, and ready to fight another day. Plus, with yours and Cora's hearts connecting more strongly, I doubt any evil's gonna stand in your way, especially when you and she fight together."

"Guh...you really think so?"

"I know so."

Inuyasha turns away from the twins, and thinks on their words:

 _Hm..._

Present-Day Tokyo, Higurashi Residence, Coraline's POV

 _Well, this has been a rather eventful day so far..._

Early this morning, as soon as I returned to my home in modern-day Tokyo, I was met with bone-crushing hugs, courtesy of Akari-Sama and Souta, who were immensely happy with seeing me alive and safe, before I got the scolding of a lifetime from Grandfather regarding the deal I made with that dream demon, which quickly ended with him hugging me while muttering that he nearly had a heart attack out of worry for me. Once apologies and promises to not do such an act again were made, I was able to hop into the bathroom for a much-needed shower (I was in a coma for five days, and body odour added up quick - ick), then loaded the washing machine with my clothes, and did a few chores before settling into my room to do some homework for my online schooling.

I'm now sitting at my desk doing up some maps for my geography course via my laptop, wearing a pair of black sweatpants, white socks and a soft, v-neck tee that was close to the same colour as Inuyasha's fire rat kimono...

Speaking of him, I think back to that, kiss from yesterday, and blush deeply with a smile:

 _It's still hard to believe that, we're finally starting a romantic relationship..._

 _Which, makes me feel a bit bad for leaving this morning. I was actually as reluctant as Inuyasha was in terms of heading for the Well._

 _But, considering all that's happened, it's probably better that I relax with some modern dailiness and de-tox from all the major drama in recent events..._

(Ping, ping)

"Hm?"

It was then my computer began singing an email alert, so I save my work and go to open it:

(Click, pop)

"Huh...It's a letter from Professor Hashimoto, down at the museum. Let's see, 'Dear Miss Croft-Higurashi...'"

Once I read it all through, I was filled with a new excitement:

"Ah! No way!"

 _He really wants me to-I am so there!_

I send a quick reply back, before shutting my laptop down, and scrambling into a new outfit consisting of a clean pair of dark-wash jeans, a white, short-sleeved button-up shirt with a brown jacket overtop, and my sole pair of black flats.

Once I gathered up the few items I needed, including some reference papers, a pencil and notebook, I quickly dashed down the stairs, much to Akari-sama and Grandfather's surprise:

"Huh?"

"Goodness, child, where's the fire?"

"No fire, Grandfather, but an amazing opportunity: I just got an email from Professor Hashimoto, and he wants me to come to the museum to check out an artifact he and his team recently discovered! He actually wants my opinion!"

"Uh! Oh my, that is exciting!"

I'm about to head out the door, and I call over my shoulder with a smile,

"Yeah, so I'm gonna head down now! I should be back by this evening!"

Akari-sama calls back,

"Good luck, Coraline!"

"Thanks!"

I leave the house, and begin my descend down the shrine stairs, a big grin of anticipation on my face:

 _Oh, I can't wait!_

Time Skip

After about forty minutes, I reach the downtown museum, and head inside to meet with the professor in the lobby:

"...Professor Hashimoto! I'm here!"

His appearance is of an averagely-tall man with very lightly-tanned skin, short black hair cut into a neatly combed style, kind dark-brown eyes, and wore a casual black suit with a white undershirt, brown shoes, and square, wire-rimmed glasses.

He turns from his gaze at a few papers in his hands, and looks up at me with a smile:

"Ah, Miss Croft-Higurashi, at last. Follow me; the artifact is awaiting us in the backroom."

"Right."

We begin our walk into the back of the museum, where the storerooms and laboratories would be. As we went along, I asked him,

"So what sort of artifact are we actually about to examine? Your email only spoke of its date being somewhere around the end of eleventh century Japan, and that its make was similar to things my father once researched."

"It is something among the remnants of an old katana sword that may have belonged to a samurai of notable rank."

"Wow, really?!"

"(Chuckle) I can see you are already excited by such a find. (Fond smile) You definitely have the same gumption as Croft-san did when he and I collaborated on a few projects..."

I saw his eyes become a bit softer and sentimental at the mention of my father, and I smile back, thinking about how he always seemed to form such strong connections with people in his career field, even when others were against him...

The professor and I stop in front of a door with the label **LAB 3-1** painted in black above the frame, and he opens the door for us to walk inside: The room is about the same make-up you'd see in a biology class laboratory for high school, only with more bookshelves filled with file folders and various boxes labeled for some extra artifacts and the occasional human remains, as well as some random technical devices for carbon-dating and other procedures I've yet to learn more about...

"It's right here on this table."

I follow the professor to one of the tables set up in the middle of the room, and let out a small gasp when my eyes fell on the artifact: It was indeed a sword made in the style of a katana, and while the blade has become majorly rusted and chipped away to half of what it once may have been, the handle was in rather pristine condition, made from a white wood base for the hilt, with gold embellishment spinning around the surface, more making up the pommel and shaped like the head of, a goblin (?), and then three sharp blades made onto the blade guard.

"Incredible...Is that suppose to be a tengu on the pommel?"

"Correct. According to an ancient scroll that was found inside a sheath laying next to this piece, the blade was known as the Sword of Tengu."

"The Goblin Sword, eh?"

"(Nod) It was also written that this katana was won by the unnamed samurai from a demon of similar origins, hence the title."

"Interesting..."

 _Wonder how strong either side was?_

Seeing my rising interest, the professor then asks me,

"So, what say you? Would you like to take a try at unlocking some more of the katana's history?"

I turn to look at him in shock, he smiling at me encouragingly...before I smiled eagerly back:

"Yes, sir!"

 _Maybe someone back in Edo might know more...but for now, I'll do what I can to come up with some sort of a base research._

Time Skip, Sengoku Edo, No POV...

As evening came to grace the grounds of a younger, yet-to-be-renamed-as Tokyo, everyone else will have returned from the remaining structure of Naraku's Castle, before settling into the Goshinboku Village or out by the Bone Eater's Well. Shippo was peering inside the old well with a curious expression, only to be startled out of it, when Inuyasha's foot came resting on the wooden rim, tapping in an impatient manner:

"(Growl) What's taking Coraline so long to get back? She said she was gonna try and not be long this time."

"Well, she said she'd be at least two or three days..."

"Same will be for us in the next couple minutes."

"Hm?" "Huh?"

They turn around and see Freeman and Besa approaching with Sango and Miroku behind them, the first pair carrying their satchels and weapons over their shoulders:

"We gotta head back and make sure our apartment hasn't been broken into like some others have been for the last couple weeks."

"Plus there's clothes to wash, food to stock on, and we wanna see about maybe heading down to the dojo for a class."

Inuyasha makes a 'seriously?!' expression and lets out a noise of exasperation, while Miroku tells him,

"Patience is a virtue, Inuyasha."

"What's your problem? You're as worried as I am!"

Sango calmly replies,

"It's not as though we started hunting Naraku a couple days ago...Besides, Inuyasha, you could still use some rest from not only after that last battle, but also from how stressed you made yourself while Coraline was, temporarily incapacitated..."

Inuyasha flinches a bit from being reminded of the more recent event regarding said redhead and the dream demon she conveyed a deal with, before brushing it off with a scoff:

"Kuh, what are you goin' on about, Sango? I'm not like you weakling humans; a little battle here and there doesn't make me tired."

Miroku points at him and states,

"That's precisely it. We can't keep up with your energy, and you don't expect us to."

Freeman lets out a short laugh and argues,

"Speak for yourself, Miroku! I feel like I'm keeping up just fine!"

Besa side-glances his brother with a smirk and quirks,

"Maybe in your fantasies, Freeman, but anytime we keep up with Inuyasha's pace, it's 'cause he's going easy on us."

"Oi! Don't kill my confidence, bro!"

Everyone lets a laugh out at the banter, and Inuyasha mutters,

"See? You guys are the ones tired, not me."

The twins ready to hop down the well, as Freeman asks with a cheeky smile,

"Maybe not tired, but anxious to hold our sister in your arms again, am I right?"

"Right. (Widens eyes) Hey, wait a minute!"

"Whoops, gotta go; see ya tomorrow!"

And just as Inuyasha whirls around to chew him out, Freeman hops down the well with Besa, leaving everyone else to laugh aloud as the dog demon growls in annoyance from the sneaky comment:

"Dammit, Freeman, I'm gonna kick your ass next time I see you!"

 _Then again...he might not be wrong, but I'll never say it to his face..._

Kikyō's POV

I have traveled to another piece of forest far from my old village, searching for anything that might lead me to the answer of where that loathsome Naraku had vanished to...

Pausing in my walk by an abandoned wilderness shelter, I wait for my allies, the Shinidamachū, to emerge from the trees and speak to me about what they've seen or haven't seen. Once lands on my finger, and I would quickly learn that the latter is still the current story:

"...I understand. Naraku's demonic aura remains hidden and as elusive as before."

I watch them as they fly away to try again, and think to myself,

 _I've had my Shinidamachū look for the miasma, but there's not even a hint of a barrier...  
_

 _How has he hidden such a strong miasma?_

I decide to move on, and turn to the southwest, adding mentally,

 _And if I cannot sense him...it is likely Coraline, Inuyasha and their friends cannot either._

"(Small smile) Hmph. This does not mean I should give up, though. _She_ would not want me to."

Walking away, I add mentally,

 _I pray Coraline is resting well after her gracious sacrifice...one of which I shall never hope to repay in full._

Kagura's POV

It has been several days since my damned master had mysteriously vanished and left his ruined castle behind, and Kohaku and I have been traveling the skies upon my feather all around Edo, being careful to remain undetected by anyone or anything that could come after us...

Though by us, I mostly mean the boy, due to the shard of the Shikon-no-Tama embedded in his back.

 _...Damn..._

I recall the last order that Naraku sent telepathically to me before he was gone:

 _(Flash)_

 _"Get the Shikon-no-Tama shard from Kohaku's corpse."_

 _(Flash)_

 _I used to think this kid was a mindless puppet...yet he refused to kill the abducted girl, nor did he allow himself to be killed by Sesshomaru..._

"Kohaku. Let me advise you that if you continue to defy Naraku, you won't live for much longer."

Though even as I said that, I contemplated how hypocritical it sounded coming from my own lips:

 _Not that I'm one to talk..._

Small Time Skip, No POV

As the stars come to grace the skies in a glittering stream across the deep blue, we turn our eyes back to the Goshinboku Village, as everyone settled into their own circles for the night...

For Sango, it would mean sitting with her companion Kilala on a knoll overlooking the village, as her mind wandered sadly on who else disappeared recently besides the despicable half-demon:

 _Naraku disappeared, and he's taken Kohaku with him..._

She bends down to hug the tops of her knees with her arms and mutters,

"Kohaku...where are you, my brother?"

(...Jingle, jingle)

It was then that Miroku came up to her from behind, prompting Kilala to mew at him in greeting, and she to turn her head towards him:

"Huh?"

"Sango...?"

"...Miroku."

We cut briefly to Kaede's hut, where Inuyasha and Shippo were, as they and the elder priestess began to eat dinner:

"So. Miroku's gone to woo Sango, now has he?"

Slurping down some stew, Shippo then replies to Kaede,

"Yeah, that has to be. According to both Coraline and Besa, Sango's been secretly waiting for the moment to come, or whatever that means..."

Back outside on the knoll, Miroku asks the twin-tailed cat demon,

"Kilala, can I sit here?"

She mewls, and runs to Sango's right side, allowing the monk to sit on her left...He then asks the slayer,

"I presume you must be worried about your brother?"

"...Yes, I am."

Kilala looks at her with an affectionate and sympathetic expression as she lets out another mew, while Miroku turns his eyes to the sky as he voices his thoughts on Kohaku's situation:

"It's easier said than done...but don't worry yourself too much."

"Huh?"

"(Folds his hands) I understand what you're going through..."

There's a pause...before Miroku decides to stand and leave the area to give Sango some space:

"Y-You'd probably rather be alone, I suppose."

"Huh? You mean, is that all?"

It was Miroku's turn to be confused:

"Uh?"

"It's just...I've come to know what you're like. I thought after giving me the encouragement, you would try something lecherous."

The monk grimaces a little with a smile, before kneeling back down in front of Sango:

"Sango, listen..."

His hand then goes to rest...on her breast?! She blushes madly with a sweatdrop while he chides,

"You've should've told me sooner if that's what you wanted."

...Zooming out to the outside perimeter of the village and the breathtaking view of the stars, a loud slap echoes through the air, followed by Miroku yelping in pain, just as a shooting star comes sliding across the night sky...

And apparently, the sounds were loud enough for Kaede and Shippo to hear from inside the former's hut:

"Oh my."

"Ooo, nice contact on that one."

By this time, Inuyasha had moved outside and onto the hut roof, his leg bouncing in an impatient manner as he thinks to himself,

 _Everyone is crazy around here!_

Present-Day Tokyo, Higurashi Residence/Shrine, Coraline's POV

I'm sitting in the living room with Grandfather, Souta and my twin brothers who've returned about two hours ago, as I show them copies of the pictures for the ancient katana that Professor Hashimoto let me take home, along with some notes he and I made regarding its study...

"Whoa, this is so stupid cool!"

"Amazing!"

"So this sword may have once been wielded by a demon before being won by a samurai?"

I laugh at the excited smiles on all three of my brother's faces and reply,

"Well, nothing's a hundred-percent certain, but what has been determined so far is that this was made sometime around the end of the eleventh century."

Grandfather folds his arms and remarks,

"Well if this was wielded by a demon, I hope whomever held it last remembered to banish any negative energy from it."

"I'm sure they did, (Worried mutter) otherwise the professor's team might not have come back from the excavation..."

I pull up some old texts I borrowed from the library shortly after leaving the museum, and open one to a chapter talking about swordsmanship and special cases:

"So far, I'm not finding anything that talks about a blade called 'The Sword of Tengu' or any unnamed katanas that came up short in writing before vanishing from history, so this is definitely one of the more trickier mysteries..."

Besa puts his hand under his chin in thought:

"Hm...I almost wonder if maybe Tōtōsai or Myoga might know something if this was truly a sword wielded by a goblin demon."

"That's what I was thinking. I'm gonna keep trying to pull out some clues from the sources I can access here, and when we head back to Edo, I might try to see if I can contact one of them."

Souta asks,

"But how are ya gonna explain to the professor about their word without telling him they're demons?"

"I'll use the anonymous resource quip and stress confidentiality. He'll understand real quick."

"Oh. That's smart."

I smile a bit smugly and nod, and Grandfather says to me,

"It wouldn't hurt to ask Yoshi-sama about the sword too. I remember he used to talk about ancient weaponry almost as often as your father did during our talks over tea."

"Hm, good idea, Grandfather."

I put in a paper bookmark and close the text, before carefully shuffling all the work together into a neat pile for me to carry:

"Well, guess I have a mini archaeology project to add to my school portfolio now. This is gonna be fun to do."

Grandfather chuckles and replies,

"I'm sure it will be for you, but right now, you and the boys outta head to bed so you can get up bright and early for your class tomorrow at the dojo and regular school respectively."

The twins and I groan a bit, but nod all the same, before we and Souta all start heading up the stairs to my room and Souta's room respectively.

"Goodnigh', bros."

"Night, sis!" "See ya in the mornin', Cor."

"Goodnight, Cora!"

(Ka-chank) (Ka-chank)

Time Skip, Inuyasha's POV

The next day, as soon as it was about mid-morning, I hop through the Well and over to the other era to get Coraline and her brothers...

But when I got inside the large hut:

(Slide)

"Huh?"

 _I don't smell either of those three here...Where are they?_

"Oh, Inuyasha dear, good morning."

I turn to see Missus Higurashi wrapping up one of those 'lunch boxes' the three sometimes bring to Edo in a yellow cloth over a table top. She smiles at me and says,

"If you're here to pick up Coraline and the twins, they won't be back for a couple hours."

"What? Why not?"

"They're participating in one of Yoshi-sama's martial arts classes downtown in the dojo today."

 _...Oh yeah: I almost forgot they've been taking lessons here and there when they come back to this era._

 _They've even been doin' some special training just with him for their weapons..._

"Hm..."

"Unfortunately, they left so early that Coraline forgot to take her lunch."

"Oh. That one's hers?"

"Would you be kind enough to take it down to her for me? Here."

I take the wrapped-up box into my hands, and think to myself,

 _It's not a good idea to do any training without something to eat during break..._

 _Heh, and at least this way, it gives me an excuse to not only see Coraline, but also finally meet this Yoshi character._

"(Nod) Sure thing."

"Thank you, dear."

So I leave the home and descend down the tall shrine stairs into the, 'down-town' area to begin my search for this dojo where Coraline and the twins are suppose to be. I ignore the strange looks of the humans on the streets, concentrating on narrowing in on their scents:

"(Sniff, sniff) Heheheh, all I have to do is follow all three of their scents and I'll find the dojo in no time."

"Stop, thief! Someone catch him!"

"Huh?"

I stand back up and turn around to where the shout came from, and watch as a wastebasket comes crashing to the ground from around a corner, followed by some shady-looking character in dark clothing carrying a bag under his arm running from what I guessed was an authority figure for this era:

"Hold it!"

But the second guy ends up slipping on some trash and falls backwards on his back. I mentally scoff,

 _How clumsy can ya get? Now I see why Freeman once said the pol-ice guys are useless in stopping crime..._

The thief faces back up front and shouts to the other humans,

"Outta my way or ya gonna get hurt!"

They all shriek and scramble aside in a panic, but I only stood up straight as coolly as possible, no way afraid of this man. He was slightly taken aback, but kept his pace and barks at me,

"Ya wanna die, ya little punk?!"

 _No, but tick me off any further and you might. Psh, the hotheaded humans are all the same no matter what era._

This guy wasn't worth any real effort, so I blew on my fist and just slugged his nose, forcing him to a stop, before he groans in pain and falls over...

"Coraline's world is alot more dangerous than I thought it'd be."

I move on from the ground and started leaping from the tops of the tall buildings (called, skyscrapers, as Besa told me), when one of those big metal machines on wheels coloured red came barrelling down the road below while blaring a warning siren:

"Now what's the problem?"

Curious, I follow it to another area of the downtown, landing on a building standing across one with smoke billowing out of one of the high windows with a really tall ladder extended towards it.

 _Someone must be trapped inside..._

(Leap)

I hop down, spring off one of the smaller metal wagons and dash up the ladder to the top where the window was. I jump up again over two humans using something to spray water on the fire, and use my claws to smash my way inside:

(Slash, shatter-crash)

I land on the ground in front of the one trapped inside the burning home: A little girl with short black hair tied into two tiny ponytails with a ribbon tied over her head, wearing an odd short-sleeved kimono of pink and blue, while holding a toy doll shaped like a bear in her arms. She stares at me in awe, but I get her back to reality by grabbing her and saying,

"Don't just stand there; come on!"

"Oh!"

I jump out the window just in time, before the entire room exploded into flames:

(BOOM)

...As we made our descent, I felt the little girl's stare, and turned to her with a confused frown:

"What's the matter?"

She doesn't answer me verbally, but only breaks into one of those wide, innocent smiles. As we landed, I let go of her, but then quickly found out what she was so excited about:

"Fuzzy ears!"

 _Aw geez, really?!_

I wince a bit from the tug, and shake her hold off while darting into a stand:

"Knock it off; stop touching!"

I growl a bit with a sulky frown, before muttering over my shoulder,

"See ya," and leaping off, but not without hearing the little girl calling to me,

"Doggy man! Thank you for saving me!"

"Man, this world is one disaster after another...(Smirk)."

 _But no one said living life is easy everywhere...Alright, back to business: Finding that dojo._

(Leap, leap, leap...)

Coraline's POV

"Alright, everyone. We will now work on kicks and leaping attacks, the focuses being balance, delivery, and power."

It's been a fair couple hours since my brothers and I came to Master Yoshi's for some early one-on-one training, before deciding to stick around and participate in one of the more public classes. We stored our weapons in his office so that no one got too curious for their own good, had a few snacks that my brothers remembered packing (I forgot my lunch - cue facepalm), before following everyone in some drills leading to now.

I chose to dress in a pair of grey sweatpants, a white bandeau top with black trimming along the edges that showed my stomach, and a plain black tank-top over top it, while my hair was tied back in a braid. The guys wore matching outfits of black joggers and white shirts, Freeman's being in the muscle-style while Besa's was the classic tee.

We're leaning against the wall watching the other students giving a go in trying some jump and spin kicks, some more successful while others kind-a tripped and fell.

"Hm, gotta give 'em points for trying, at least."

I nod with Freeman and quirk,

"Yeah, but I know a few people who've got 'em beat."

"Ya mean, us, Sango, and your boyfriend?"

I blush slightly at Besa's characterization of Inuyasha and reply,

"U-Um, yeah..."

"(Chuckle) You're a lucky gal, sis, you realize this, right?"

"Of course I do...(Smile) It was a miracle getting the words out alone, though. I was, worried he wouldn't return them."

"What? Psh, the Hell he wouldn't return your feelings. Cor, he's been harpin' for ya as badly as you've been. No way he wouldn't have said yes."

"Heh, I know that now, Freeman."

Besa smiles at me and adds,

"And if god forbid he did, we would've kicked his ass for leavin' ya hanging."

"Haha, thanks, but Sango already made that promise a while back, so you guys would've been in line with her."

We all laugh a little, before Master Yoshi calls us for our turns:

"Croft-san, Brownlee-sans. You're next."

"Hai, sensei!"

We move to our own points of start, along with three other guys (If you haven't already guessed, I'm the only girl here in this dojo...), and ready our ears for the directing:

"Now, Brownlee-sans: Flying Dragons!"

Besa jumps forward while spinning a leg out and landing in a somersault, before Freeman copies him, each one executing their moves smoothly with no mistakes.

 _Nice one, guys!_

"Mazaki: Crane's Flight!"

"Hah!"

The boy does the crane-stance, before jumping up and trying to do an ariel somersault, but stumbles halfway and falls on his stomach:

(Thump)

"Ugh..."

Some of the other students wince, while Mazaki pushes himself up and quickly gets out of the way of the next two guys:

"Kazuma: Basic leap kick!"

(Jump, leap)

"Hrah!"

"Akihiro: Double Spiral!"

(Jump, spin, spin)

Those two did better, if with a minor flaw in their stand and deliveries...Then came my turn:

"Croft-san: Flying Split Kick!"

I take a breath in...before running forward from my place by the entrance doors, and jumping up while doing a split kick:

"Hah!"

Doing the move was easy...Landing on the other hand:

(Thump, trip)

"Ah!"

I almost made the landing, but slipped a bit on my right foot and fell forward to the mat. The other guys wince and make the 'ooo' sound, while my bros chimed,

"Almost had it, sis!" "Real close!"

I pick myself up with a frustrated sigh, brushing off some non-existent dust from my clothes...

"Keh, you call that a Flying Split Kick? Your legs barely stretched out and ya bombed the landing."

I gasped, recognizing the voice:

 _...Is that...?_

Looking back up, standing in the doorway, was Inuyasha, giving me a teasing but well-meaning smirk. The other students gasped at his arrival and comment among themselves in murmurs and whispers, before he adds,

"You're on the right track, but need more practice."

"...Inuyasha!"

I rush over to him, my bros following shortly after:

"Dude!"

"When'd you get here?"

"Went through the well about an hour ago, then tracked ya guys here."

I ask him,

"But, how come? I mean, not that I'm not glad to see you or anything, but we would've been back home in the afternoon..."

He reaches into the sleeve of his kimono and pulls out a yellow-clothed package:

"Missus Higurashi said ya dashed out the door so fast this mornin' that you forgot your lunch, so, here."

"Uh...Oh, thank you."

 _He came all this way just to bring me my lunch..._

I felt my face heat up with a blush and smile appreciatively at Inuyasha, who fehs with his usual frown and looks away, but I don't miss the tiny blush forming on his own cheeks...Freeman the nudges me with his elbow and chimes with a smirk,

"We~ll then, guess ya won't be havin' just water and a power bar for lunch today, thanks to Inuyasha, eh, sis?"

"(Light shove) Shut up."

"Ah, Croft-san. Is this whom I think it is?"

"Hm?"

We all turn to see Master Yoshi come walking towards us from the other end of the dojo, and I nod in confirmation:

"Yes, sensei. This is Inuyasha. (Turns and gestures) Inuyasha, this is our martial arts sensei, Master Yoshi."

Both of them step up to one another and shake hands with sensei saying to Inuyasha,

"I have heard a great deal about you from Croft-san, Inuyasha-san. I understand that you are quite the fighter yourself?"

"Keh, yeah, you could say that...So you're the one who's been teaching these three how to fight?"

"Indeed. (Lowers his voice) In more ways than what I have been teaching the other students here, as I'm sure you're aware."

Inuyasha forms an expression of confusion, until I whisper in his ear,

"Our, weapons?"

"Oooooh, right..."

Master Yoshi then asks,

"Say, Inuyasha-san. If you are interested, how would you like to join the class for the day with the rest of the students?"

"Huh?!" "What, seriously?!"

"Quite serious. (Wise smile) I think the other boys could benefit from rivaling with someone of your stature and experience, and perhaps you too may learn something you haven't previously...What do you say?"

Inuyasha hms with a curve in his lips between a frown and a scowl, and looks around the room at the wary and curious faces of the rest of the class, before turning to me and the guys, to which we just shrug in a 'All up to you' manner.

"...Eh, what the heck? Sure."

I smile while the twins high-five, and an excited murmur begins buzzing through the rest of the students:

"Cool..." "New blood..."

"He looks real tough." "Wonder if he's that good?"

"Oh boy, now I'm really nervous..."

Master Yoshi claps his hands to get everyone's attention back on track:

"Alright, enough chit-chat. Back to work, my students: Line up for combo drills!"

"(Collective) Hai, sensei!"

So for the next hour and a half, we would all continue our work for the day, from basic drills to some more advanced coordination, and even going one-on-one against eachother. Inuyasha picked up on the moves rather quickly, and became a bit more animated during the one-on-one fights, though I stressed for him to pull back a touch on his demon strength so he didn't accidentally break too many bones, to which he'd scoff and promise halfheartedly ("But that don't mean I'm gonna go easy on them..."). He's now in his fifth fight against one of the other students, and it looks like he'll be taking another win:

"Hah!"

(Swing)

"Keh!"

(Dodge)

"Hrrrah!"

(Kick)

"Gaaah!"

Inuyasha lands a swift side-kick in the young man's side and stomach, who flies a few feet backwards with a roll onto the mat face-down. Sensei bangs the small gong he keeps here in the dojo with the mallet, before announcing,

"Match over! Winner: Inuyasha-san!"

We all clap and lightly cheer his success, while he grins proudly, before turning to do the good-sport act and help the other his opponent up:

"(Pant, pant) Thank you, Inuyasha-san. Geez, how the heck are ya so fast?"

"Heheh, years of practice. You weren't terrible, though; it'll just take a while before you can keep up with speed like mine."

"(Sweatdrop) Right..."

Master Yoshi then calls,

"Alright, good work, everyone. We break for lunch, then the next match will be Croft-san versus Kazuma-san."

I straighten from my name being addressed, and turn my gaze to meet Kazuma's, he eyeing me with a somewhat smug grin, causing me to roll my eyes:

 _Oh boy..._

A couple minutes later, I'm sitting with Inuyasha, Freeman, Besa and Mokoto in our own circle, the last one with a beaming smile at finally meeting my boyfriend:

"Dang, this is one class I'll be rememberin' forever. Not only do we all get to meet you, Inuyasha, (laugh) but I got to watch ya kick major ass today! You must've started studying real young if you're that good, am I right?"

As I unwrap my food, Inuyasha kehs nonchalantly and replies,

"Pretty much. Where I come from, you had to learn to defend yourself real quick if ya wanted to see tomorrow."

"Oh yeah, I getcha. Same story for myself, a few cousins and friends of mine from the rougher parts of Tokyo: At the very least, if ya can't run fast, you're more screwed than everyone else."

 _...Aw geez!_

"Ahem, Inuyasha..."

"Hm? What?"

I turn to him with an indifferent frown and ask,

"Did you, 'share' my lunch before you came down here?"

"Uuuhhh..."

Inside the box, about half of the rice and sushi was gone...I let out a sigh while slapping my hand to my face, while Freeman laughs and chides,

"Can't really blame him for that: Missus Higurashi's food's kind-a hard to resist."

"Mhm..."

Besa reaches behind him into his satchel and pulls out an apple and a banana:

"Good thing we brought extra today. Here, sis, add this, and Inuyasha, I dunno if you're hungry again, but here's something to tide ya over."

I take the banana, while Inuyasha lightly snatches up the apple, we both muttering,

"Thanks," before beginning our consumption:

(Munch, munch...)

"...Hey, sorry 'bout that."

"Hm?"

I stop eating my fruit and look at Inuyasha in confusion, he eyeing me somewhat guiltily:

"Ya know, for not askin'..."

I just shake my head with a small smile and reply,

"No worries, it's all good. Think of it as a reward for comin' down here to drop it off."

Leaning over to him, I lightly kiss his cheek and add,

"And then there's this, (Giggle)."

He stutters a bit, before looking away with a light dust of pink on his face...

"Oooh, so the rumours are true: You guys are dating!"

"Hm?"

Focus is turned onto Mokoto, who explains with a sheepish smile:

"Whenever you and your bros aren't here, the other guys have been pondering over who Inuyasha was to you, and most have speculated on the lines of 'secret lover' or 'boyfriend'."

My face heats up in embarrassment:

"Th-They have?"

"Yeah, but nothing perverted or obscene, I assure you...Just that you've been too shy to bring him down, heh, 'til today, that is."

"Oh god..."

I bury my blushing face into my hands as my brothers let out their own bouts of laughter, but I was then nudged by Inuyasha, forcing me to look up and into a pair of confused amber irises:

"Yeah?"

"What does, 'boyfriend' mean?"

 _Huh? He doesn't kno-Oh, right, of course. That term isn't used in his era..._

Clearing my throat, I explain in a whisper,

"It's one of the two modern labels people use for when a couple is in a romantic relationship. You'd be 'boyfriend', and me the 'girlfriend'."

"So, it's another way of saying we're 'mates'?"

"U-Uh, kind-of, but it's a bit, looser in the meaning, if that makes sense..."

"Hmm..."

"We can talk about it more later if you want, but I don't think here's the right place."

"(Sigh) Fine."

I breathe out a small sigh of relief:

 _Well that wasn't as awkward as I thought it'd be..._

"Hey, sis."

"Hm?"

I turn my eyes to Besa, who was staring behind him around the left:

"Kazuma's lookin' your way again."

"Ugh, really?"

Following my brother's line of vision, I saw that Kazuma was indeed staring in my direction, and sends me one of kinds of smirks that reminds me of a few past opponents when they felt that they were gonna win, only to get their ass kicked by me and the team...

"Who's that smug bastard?"

I jump a bit from Inuyasha's blunt question, and glance over to see his face occupying a scowl. Mokoto answers with a straight face,

"That's Kazuma, one of the more regular students here. He's not really that bad a guy, but can get cocky real fast which sets him up to make mistakes, to which he'll immediately deny. I honestly don't think he's the kind of student for this place, but Master Yoshi takes in all kinds..."

Forming a frown, I turn back to our circle and add,

"He was real sexist towards me during the first couple classes, saying a girl had no place here, (Slight smirk) but I quickly shut him up with my skills. Now he's become a bit of an unnecessary rival, sort-of my own version of the feuds between you and Kōga, but stupider."

Inuyasha eyes me with surprise, but then growls a bit in Kazuma's direction before saying,

"Well in that case, ya better kick his butt today. Oh, yeah...speaking of kicking butts..."

His gaze then falls on Freeman, who flinches from the stare with a sweatdrop:

"What?"

"Don't think I've forgotten that snide comment before you and Besa left yesterday, pal. If the chance comes later, you and me are goin' one-on-one!"

"N-Now let's be rational about this; I didn't mean any harm, honest!"

I eye my nervous brother with a wary glance:

"Freeman, what did you say to him?"

"Nothing bad!"

Moving on, after lunch, everyone would clear the mat to stand against or sit by the walls, with Master Yoshi standing in the middle of the right side by his gong, and I stood a couple feet from Kazuma at the ready with my back by the entrance door and windows...

"Alright: Match between Croft-san and Kazuma-san for three points! Both of you are familiar with the rules, correct?"

We both nod, and sensei nods back:

"Good. In that case..."

(Bong)

"Begin!"

Kazuma made the first move, sprinting at me with a fist at the ready:

"Haaah!"

I wait for the right moment, then duck to the left in a dodge, grab his arm while placing one hand on his lower torso, before flipping him sideways to the ground:

"Hiyah!"

(Wham)

"Agh!"

"One point to Croft-san!"

The other students take in sharp breaths, while I catch the grins of my brothers and Mokoto, and the approving nod of Inuyasha.

 _Alright, one down, two to go..._

Kazuma hops back onto his feet, and I try to knock him back down with a spin kick, but he dodges it, and whirls around to kick me in the side of my torso:

"Hah!"

(Whack)

"Rgh!"

I stumble backwards, but don't fall onto the mat, steadying myself while Master Yoshi calls,

"One point to Kazuma-san!"

A few of his buddies cheer his spout of victory, while he rubs under his nose with a chuckle, eyeing me with a taunting smirk. I just scoff with a minor glare, and position myself before attacking again:

(Dash)

"Hyah!"

We both go fists-to-fists with a few multi-combos, but don't land a major hit for either of ourselves, until I feign a punch by the left side of his shoulder, before sweeping my leg against his:

"Hgah!"

(Kick)

"Uh!"

Kazuma falls down to the mat again, and sensei grants me another point, prompting more cheers and claps, with Freeman shouting,

"Just one more, Cor! You got this!"

Grinding his teeth a bit, Kazuma stands on his feet once more, growling at me while I just raised a brow at his temper rise:

 _Sheesh, someone's not happy. Now it really feels like I'm Inuyasha and he's Kōga. Then again, even wolf-boy's not this quick to anger..._

Kazuma then lets out a partially pathetic war-cry, and springs at me with his fists in the air, prompting me to start rolling with the punches, dodging each one with real ease. I threw a few blows against him here and there, but much like with my fight with Bridget, I was really focusing on wearing his stamina out...

And eventually, I got the opening I was waiting for: He lands a straight punch through the air, but I shift right, causing him to stumble, before I went in for the killing combo.

(Punch, punch, punch, punch)

"Hrh, hah, hrh, hah...! Hiiiyah!"

(KICK)

"Aaaarrrhhhh!"

My foot lands right in his gut from the spin kick, sending him flying backwards almost all the way to the far back wall, landing face-up with a pained and frustrated groan...

"Match over: Winner, Croft-san!"

I relax my stance while panting profoundly in exhaustion, before the dojo erupted in cheers and applause:

"Yeah!" "Alright, Croft-san!"

"Waita go!"

"Nice technique!" "So cool!"

I let out a breathy laugh of satisfaction, before being tackled by hugs from Freeman and Besa:

"That was awesome, Cor!"

"You real good, sis, real good!"

Mokoto and Inuyasha walk over next, the former chiming,

"Congrats on the win, Coraline."

"Heheh, thanks."

I look to Inuyasha eagerly:

"So, how'd I do?"

He shakes his head a bit with a small smirk of amusement, before wrapping an arm around my torso and replying,

"You kicked butt. Good job."

He then does one gesture I didn't expect:

(Kiss)

"Uh!"

He pecked my cheek while adding in my ear,

"No way that idiot's gonna give ya trouble now..."

"U-Um, right..."

My face heats up anew from the display of affection:

 _Oh wow..._

Small Time Skip, No POV

As soon as three in the afternoon rolled around, class would be done down in Master Yoshi's dojo, with Coraline, Inuyasha and the twins the last ones to leave:

"See ya 'round, sensei!"

"Good luck to all of you, and come down when you can next! Inuyasha-san, you are also welcomed back when you're able!"

"Keh, sure thing, Yoshi-san. Later!"

The door closes, with the four standing out on the sidewalk, the three modern teens carrying their special weapons over their backs or in their satchels. Freeman stretches his arms and says,

"Whoo! That was one heck of a class today! I really felt the burn today...(Glances at Inuyasha nervously) in more ways than one..."

Inuyasha gives him a mean smirk, while Besa sighs with an exasperated headshake, and Coraline rolls her shoulder before quirking,

"I'll say it was..."

"Hey, Coraline, guys! You still here?"

"Huh?"

The four then turn to the shout of Mokoto, who comes running back from around the next corner with a piece of paper in his hands.

"Oh, Mokoto!"

"What's up, dude? Why the reverse?"

He stops in front of them and catches his breath, before straightening up and replying,

"I forgot to tell ya all about something. There's this new teen karaoke bar that just opened a month ago called 'Musica' not too far from here, and I thought you'd be interested in checkin' it out. (Holds out the paper) Here's a copy of the flyer."

Coraline takes it into her hands, and reads,

"'Come one come all to the latest hot spot for teenage fun: Musica, the Karaoke Bar that's always in the now for all things music!' Huh...(Smile) Haven't been to a karaoke bar for a while."

"Yeah, I'd figure you of all people would be interested, Coraline, considering how much of a songbird ya are."

"Psh, it's not like I'm plannin' on makin' a career out of it. I just like music, is all..."

The twins roll their eyes at how modest Coraline sounded, before they mutter,

"Still, wouldn't hurt to scope it out..."

"Yeah, I could see us makin' a scene for the night."

Mokoto then waves his hand and says,

"Well, I gotta head home and help my folks out with chores. I might or might not see ya there later, if you're goin'. Bye!"

The three other human teens wave him off, and when he was gone, Inuyasha then asks,

"Could one of ya explain what the heck a 'karaoke bar' is?"

Besa takes a crack at breaking it down for the dog demon:

"It's pretty much a hiped-up version of what you'd know as a tavern, only instead of serving alcohol, the teen variety like this one serves drinks like soda and mixed fruit juice, and there's a machine similar to a larger version of the Mp3 player you've seen already that plays all kinds of different songs for everyone to hear. It's all about having a good time, dancing, and just cutting it loose without the worry of getting drunk."

"Huh..."

Coraline then moves to place a hand on Inuyasha's chest in an endearing way before softly asking,

"Would you, like to come with us and see for yourself?"

"Uh! Seriously?"

"Yeah, why not? It can be like, our first date, ah-heh, with two chaperones. We can go for a few hours in the evening, then come back and spend the night here before heading back to Edo in the morning...What do you say?"

Inuyasha hms in thought, noting the intent expression on Coraline's face, and remembering how sparkly her eyes got as she read the flyer...before letting out a loud sigh and replying,

"Alright, we'll go."

"(Hug) Sweet!"

"But, we head straight back to the other side of the well in the morning, got it?"

"Got it."

"Good...So, next question: Do I have to, wear any of those strange clothes for men in this time to head to this place?"

Coraline looks up at him with a blank look and says,

"Well I'm not saying what you're wearing isn't fine, but it might dial back some stares if you tried wearing some clothes more to this era's fashion."

Inuyasha snorts, but then feels the hands of the twins clap his shoulders, before turning to see them smiling at him:

"Huh?"

"Leave it all to us. We got some clothes that should fit ya fine and close to the way your current attire does."

"Come back with us to our apartment, and we can try some stuff out and meet up at the shrine a little later."

"Uuh, okay..."

Besa looks to Coraline and chides,

"So we'll be up there, say, five-thirty?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you gentlemen then."

With that, the teens part into their respected groups in opposite directions, with Coraline jogging back to the shrine, and the twins leading Inuyasha to where their neighbourhood would be...

Small Time Skip, Inuyasha's POV

 _Gods, these clothes feel so weird on my skin...but at least they aren't constricting._

I'm now walking with the twins up the street to where the shrine steps began, wearing an outfit similar to some of the male humans I've seen already: A pair of blue, 'jeans' in a loose style close to how my hakama usually sat on my legs, a large white 'tee-shirt' that fits like a shorter-sleeved version of my white undershirt, and a black jacket with one those metal things called a 'zipper' worn open. I was also forced to wear a pair of socks and something called 'sneak-ers' on my feet, with I wasn't particularly happy about, but sucked it up because of this apparent 'no shoes, no shirt, no service' policy that would be in effect at the bar we were all going to...

"Dude, you alright?"

"Huh?"

I turned right to face Freeman, he wearing a pair of blue skinny-cut jeans, a black tank-top and his leather jacket, who says with a smile,

"You look like one of those poor saps getting shot-gun hitched. Chillax."

"Kuh, easy for you to say: You're used to wearing clothes like this. I ain't, and feel ridiculous."

I hold up my left foot and add,

"I think I hate these shoes most of all."

Besa, who was wearing a dark green button-up shirt with a grey vest, grey jeans, and a jacket like mine except it was a light brown shade, comments back patiently,

"So you've announced several times already, but like we said, these were the largest sneakers we had available for you, so just be glad they aren't too tight. It's just for the one night, anyway. As soon as we return back to the Higurashi's, you can slip back into bare foot mode."

"Fine, fine..."

We reach the top of the stairs, just as Besa adds,

"Besides, I'm sure Cora's real curious of how ya look in your new outfit, which by the way, is great."

"...You're sure I don't look stupid in this get-up?"

"Positive...If you tried anything on from the nineteen-eighties, that's when you'll look dumb."

I form a confused expression, but decide to just wave the remark off...Reaching the front door, Freeman rings the 'door-bell':

(Ding, dong)

(Ka-chank)

It would be the little tyke Souta who answers:

"Oh, hey guys! Wow, Inuyasha: You look different, in a good way, of course."

"Hey, squirt. Is Coraline ready yet?"

"Lemme check."

The four of us walk inside and into the living room, while Souta calls up the staircase:

"Coooraaa! The guys are here to take ya out to that karaoke bar!"

"(Distant) Okay, I'll be right down!"

The old man of the place puts down that bunch of scroll called a newspaper and gives me the once over, and to a lesser extent the twins:

"Hmm...This is certainly interesting, but no amount of a wardrobe change is going to deter me from giving you this message, boy: No funny business during your date, and keep my granddaughter safe! You're lucky these other two are going with you, otherwise such an event wouldn't be happening."

"(Sweatdrop) Uh, right..."

Missus Higurashi then walks in from the kitchen and lightly nudges her hand against the elder's shoulder:

"Oh, dad, don't be so hard on him. Remember what he has been doing for her these last couple months..."

She looks up at me with a smile and adds,

"I am more than sure Inuyasha will be good to Coraline on their outing and keep her safe, right dear?"

"(Clears throat) Uh, yes ma'am. (Small smile) Coraline couldn't be in safer hands."

"Oh good grief, they're giving you all a hard time already?"

"Huh?"

I turn around to the sound of said young woman's voice, only to freeze on the spot when I see what she's wearing: She had on one of her white tank tops, but this one seemed to hug her body more, and had two slits on each of her sides exposing bits of her skin, while carrying her camouflage-patterned jacket over her shoulder. Then the blue jeans she was wearing, they flared a little at the bottom, and had little flowers and skull designs in black from her left hip and down towards the knee. Her feet had these simple, flat black shoes, but no socks, which meant some of the skin of her feet was shown. Finally, her long red hair was styled down, but tonight, it seemed shinier, neater, and was practically begging to be tousled.

 _Holy...She...She's beautiful...Damn, I got my work cut out for me tonight._

Noticing my gaped mouth and wide eyes, Coraline lets out a quiet laugh behind her hand, before walking down to stand in front of me with a flirty smile:

"Like what you see, I take it?"

Not trusting myself to speak, I just nodded, swallowing a nervous lump in my throat. She leans up and gives me a quick kiss on the lips before complimenting,

"You look good too. Handsome, I dare say, but then again, you always look good in your usual clothes."

"U-Uh, thanks..."

That's when the squirt came rushing over by us and chimed,

"Cora and Inuyasha~, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

She was quicker than I was on the reaction, and whacks the back of his head with her hand while glaring mildly at him:

"Quiet, you!"

"Auh, siiisss!"

A chorus of laughter rings from everyone else, while I stood and groaned quietly in embarrassment:

 _Aw man..._

Thankfully, Freeman saved her and I from anymore possible teasing:

"Okay, that's enough of that! Time for us to head out on the town and pa~rty!"

Coraline slips her jacket on, and takes my hand with a smile, making me smile back, as we all make a beeline for the door:

"See you all later!"

"Be sure to be home by eight o' clock at the latest!"

"Got it, Akari-sama!" "Yes, Missus Higurashi!"

(Ka-chank)

Small Time Skip, No POV

After a while of walking, the four teens had arrived downtown, keeping their distance from the side of the road with more pedestrian traffic, and focusing on heading for their prize which was the teen karaoke bar, Musica.

The twins lead the way down the paved sidewalk, while Coraline and Inuyasha brought up the rear, the couple holding hands as they went. The single girl among the three men glances up at her date, noticing that he seemed both calm and nervous at the same time:

 _Guess his nerves are close to my level...To think we're even going on such an outing._

 _I'm excited, but a bit worried he's not going to enjoy himself. Inuyasha's not overly used to the activities and lifestyle of modern Japan..._

"What's with the look?"

"Huh?"

She snaps out of her thoughts and sees that Inuyasha was giving her a funny look:

"You're giving me that expression that everyone else does when I'm in a bad mood and worried about setting me off. What's up?"

"Um, well...(Worried smile) I guess I'm just a bit nervous, I mean...this is our first outing as a couple, you know? And, you haven't really done too much here in this era, so, I'm concerned that this could all blow up in your face too soon..."

 _She's worried about me not having a good time?_

Inuyasha rolls his eyes a bit and gives her a small smirk:

"Keh, you're really worried about that? If so, then don't be. Sure, you're right: I'm more used to my own era and what goes on there, but..."

He wraps his arm around her waist:

"As long as I'm with you, I can take on anything that this 'modern time' dares to throw my way."

"Inuyasha..."

"Plus, this place we're headin' to is where people take turns singing, right? I get to laugh at some bad performances, and see you throw a tune in."

"Heh, that's assumin' I get the opportunity to steal the mic. If not, maybe Freeman and Besa might."

"Hey, lovebirds! The bar's this way; come on!"

Snapping away from their own world, the couple looks up and forward to see the twins gesturing their thumbs to the next corner, and move to catch up:

"Coming, guys!"

"Keep your shirts on, and watch who you're callin' 'Lovebirds'!"

Rounding the corner, the four come across the building for the karaoke bar: It was fairly big, a little larger than the small dojo belonging to Master Yoshi, made from black-painted brick and white-washed wooden paneling, with spray-painted designs depicting single scores of music notes in both base and treble clef, and a large neon sign hanging over the doorway that glowed 'MUSICA' in rainbow colouring.

Freeman and Besa comment in awe,

"Wooow, this place looks awesome!"

"I'll say it does! Well, shall we all head inside?"

A collective nod passes through the four, and they push themselves inside, meeting the sound of multiple conversations coming from small crowds of other teenage patriots to the bar, the melody of a techno-pop song echoing from several speakers set up around the room, and the quiet pouring of drinks being prepared at the mix station. Round wooden tables, both large and small were scattered across the hardwood floor, with either stools or bench-style sofas set up around/behind them depending on where they sat, along with a few television screens linked to the karaoke system strategically placed for everyone to watch and read along for each song that played, and a small stage sat around the center-back with the main machine to choose and play a song for all to hear.

Inuyasha grimaces a bit from how loud it was inside, his ears flattening to dull the sound:

 _Damn, I was hoping it wasn't going to be this loud. Times like this when having the hearing of a dog sucks...!_

"Inuyasha, are you okay?"

He looks down to see Coraline eyeing him with concern, and he replies gruffly,

"I'm fine. Just gonna take me a bit to get used to the volume."

"Okay, but if it does get too loud, just let me know and we can head outside for a break..."

"Hey, Coraline, is that you?!"

"Huh?"

Coraline jumps to a freeze from the familiar voice calling from somewhere in the crowd:

 _No, way...That couldn't be him...!_

She whirls behind her, and walking out of the way of a few girls and boys wearing the standard school uniforms, was,

"Hōjō!? What on earth?!"

Instead of his usual school uniform, the boy was wearing a simple white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and black pants with a matching belt, and brown shoes. He smiles kindly at Coraline and says,

"(Laugh) Uh, not just me, hang on. (Calls behind him) Yumi, over here! You're not gonna believe who just arrived!"

"(Distant) Coming, Hōjō!"

The brunette boy steps to his left, making room for another familiar face: A young lady with long, curly dark brown hair tied back in a large ponytail with a pink ribbon, only this time round, she wore an outfit of a pink t-shirt with the word 'Kawaii' scribbled on in silver glitter, a knee-length flowy denim skirt, knee-high white socks, and black ballet flats rather than her own green-dominant school uniform.

"Oh! You must be Coraline! Oh my gosh, it is so great to finally meet you; I can actually thank you in person for saving our relationship a while back!"

Coraline smiles at the girl's enthusiasm and chides while shaking her hand,

"It's nice to meet you at last too, Yumi, and I'm glad you and Hōjō were able to patch up. Seems you're both still goin' strong, then?"

"Strong as ever, (Giggle). So, I'm guessin' those three guys are with you?"

"Mhm. (Gestures) The twins are my friends and brothers, Freeman and Besa Brownlee..."

"Hey!" "Sup."

"And this is Inuyasha, heh, my boyfriend."

"Oooo, how cute! This your first date? If so, good place to come to for it."

"It is, and I'm hopin' it'll be."

As the girls chatted, Inuyasha's eyes fell on Hōjō, narrowing them in suspicion:

 _Huh, so this is that 'Hōjō' guy. Doesn't look like much...but still...The guys said he once had feelings for Coraline._

 _What if, a bit of those feelings remain, even with this Yumi chick?_

Feeling the stare, Hōjō turns to the dog demon and asks a bit nervously,

"Uh, Inuyasha, was it? Is something wrong? You seem a bit tense..."

"Nothin'...as long as ya don't cause any problems."

"Huh?"

Sensing the rising protectiveness (and possibly some very light jealousy), the twins clap their hands on Inuyasha's shoulders and hiss in his ears,

"Dude, cool it, would ya? No need to go alpha male."

"Yeah, Hōjō's eyes are only for Yumi, and he now knows that you and Coraline are in your own relationship. He might be a bit of a pushover, but he's smart enough not to mess in something he shouldn't...Okay?"

Inuyasha hms, and looks to see Hōjō glancing lovingly at the other girl and not Coraline, before he relaxes somewhat:

 _Alright. I'll dial back a little for now, but one wrong move, buddy, and you're gettin' your ass whooped, girlfriend or no girlfriend._

"...Everything okay, you guys?"

They all look to see Yumi and Coraline looking curiously at them, the latter's stare a bit more firm:

"I trust you're all getting along?"

The men nod, before Hōjō asks,

"Say, do you four wanna join us at our table? We got one of the ones with the sofa and we should all fit."

Coraline glances eye-to-eye with her brothers and her boyfriend, the first two more willing towards the idea than the third, but no actual protests were made, so she turns back to Hōjō with a friendly smile:

"Sure, if you and Yumi don't mind another couple and, heh, their chaperones."

Yumi waves a hand and replies sweetly,

"Not at all! Heheh, at least this way, we'll be able to say to our parents that we didn't go out unsupervised."

"(Wince) Ooo, that strict, eh?"

"Oh, don't even get me started..."

So for the next hour, the quartet turned sextet would be sitting around a table in a leather sofa that boxed around the back, left and right sides leaving the front unblocked, with the seating arrangement as Inuyasha and Coraline sitting on the right together, Hōjō and Yumi the left, and the twins in the middle, chatting away over soda and the occasional appetizers while listening to the buzz and croons of amateur singers taking turns at the mic. Slowly, Inuyasha became less suspicious of Hōjō's intentions, and even threw in a dry response or two when asked by the curious brunette boy, which would include the topic that was his physical appearance:

"So, if it's not too prying of me to ask, those ears on the top of your head: Are they some kind of custom accessory or something? I've just noticed them moving a few times on their own..."

"Um..."

 _Shoot, what was that excuse Coraline said to use?...Oh, right!_

"(Clears throat) They're a-uh, special 'cos-play' accessory that attaches to my real ears with wires like earbuds, and every time they pick up sound, they move."

"Oooh...(Smile) That's really neat, and they blend nicely with your hair."

"Uh, thanks, I guess."

 _...He actually bought that? Must be either real stupid, or just that oblivious._

(Nudge)

"Hm?"

Coraline whispers to him,

"Good job on the response, and, sorry I'm asking you to lie about your ears. I'm just not sure if Hōjō and Yumi are, mentally-prepared to know about the existence of demons or in your case, half-demons."

"Keh, it's fine...I guess I'd rather do this than cover 'em with one of those weird 'ball-caps' the guys showed me earlier."

"Heh, yeah, I can totally see you protesting to that plan..."

The dog demon then grimaces from a high note being sung by a random girl singing an American pop song, and flattens his ears while grumbling,

"On the other hand, the hat would probably stifle some of the loud sounds in this place. Geez, how can anyone get their voice that high?!"

The redhead lightly rubs his arm soothingly while eyeing him in sympathy, while Hōjō notices Inuyasha's discomfort:

 _Poor guy. Must have sensitive hearing...Hang on: This place has a booth where you can get those special wireless earbuds to..._

 _Yeah! That might work!_

"Excuse me a second, Yumi. I need to go get something."

"Um, alright, hurry back."

The brunette rushes from the table and heads for the other side of the bar through the crowd of dancing teens, much to everyone else's confusion:

"Huh?" "Where's he going?"

"Have too much soda or somethin'?"

...A couple minutes later:

"Inuyasha!"

Hōjō comes back to the table with an excited smile, carrying something in one of his hands:

"I noticed that you seem to be bothered by the loudness of the bar, so I got this from the booth over there. Here: Put these in your ears."

Though eyeing him funny, Inuyasha nonetheless takes the objects out of the brunette's hand, and looks down to see a small pair of blue-schemed earbuds:

"...What are these?"

"Noise-reduction earphones. When set up right, they'll filter out any sound waves and frequencies you choose that are a bit too much. They're also wireless so there's no need to plug them into anything."

Hōjō then holds up his smartphone:

"I already downloaded the free app to control them onto my phone when I went to get them. I just have to turn it on, and we can start to filter the noise to your preferred levels...What do you think?"

Inuyasha was taken aback by the other's generosity and kindness, but then gives himself a mental headshake before looking back down at the wireless earbuds:

"Hmm...Okay. I just stick them into my ears?"

"Yep, and I'll take care of the rest."

The dog demon puts them into his ears, getting a nod of approval from Coraline to check that he put them in correctly, before giving a nod to the brunette to get started:

"Okay..."

(Tap, ping)

"Now we just zero in on the basic sound waves for this place...Is it the music speakers, microphone or the background noise that's bothering you?"

"All three."

"Ah. Alright...Just turn this dial down, then this one...How's that?"

"Hnn...Can ya turn the microphone noise down more?"

"Got it...How about now?"

"Yep, this'll work...Thanks alot."

"No problem."

Coraline smiles at the scene, happy that Inuyasha and Hōjō weren't butting heads:

 _That was really sweet of Hōjō to help out like that...This'll definitely keep Inuyasha in a good mood._

"Alright, next up for karaoke, is Yumi Tsukito! Come on up to the stage!"

"Hm?"

The group looks at said girl, who smile sheepishly and says,

"Heheh, I put my name on the list earlier before I got mine and Hōjō's drinks. Guess I better head up there."

Hōjō moves aside to a stand to let Yumi out, and takes her hand to kiss while chiming,

"Good luck. I know you'll be great."

"(Giggle) Thanks!"

Freeman watches the exchange with a smile and comments to his brother,

"Those to are just so darn chipper."

"Yeah. I think this what Sango and Miroku could be like if they were hyped up on sugar."

Inuyasha hears the description and lets out a snort:

"Ha! Yeah right, like those two could act that lovey-dovey. Only way that's happenin' is when the monk quits gettin' handsy with Sango."

As Hōjō sits down again, he asks curiously,

"Who is Sango and Miroku? Are they more friends of you four?"

Coraline answers,

"Mhm. They have a bit of a, complicated relationship, so to speak. They do seem to harbour secret feelings for eachother, but they're constantly being roadblocked by the following conundrum: Miroku's one of those, lecherous ladies men types, and Sango's constantly annoyed by his behaviour, wanting him to be more serious about his expressionism."

"(Sweatdrop) Oh wow, that does sound complicated. Um, when you say he's lecherous, do you mean he..."

"Uh, yeah, but nothing that marks him as a danger to the community or anything!"

"Kuh, you mean he's not a danger around the same sex."

"Oh come on, you know what I mean, Inuyasha: He's getting better at controlling himself and does cool off after the first slap."

"Tch, riiight..." Rolling her eyes, Coraline finishes,

"Anyway, when he isn't distracted by girls, he's a pretty decent guy, dedicated to his religion as a Buddhist, and is a good friend to count on when times get rough."

Hōjō nods with a nervous smile:

"I gotcha. I have the same problem sometimes with a few guy friends of mine. Must be a hormone thing at this time in life, right?"

The twins chime,

"Amen to that."

Focus then turns to Yumi, who clears her throat while standing on the small stage in front of the mic stand:

"Hi everyone! The song I'll be singing is _I Am_ by _Hitomi_!"

(Note: I do not own this music reference, and my fellow fans should recognize this one as the second opening for the anime series. Yay!)

Applause is made, before the machine began playing the melody for the entire bar to hear, and Yumi immediately started singing along with the lyrics on screen, her voice sounding surprisingly close to that of the original singer...The other five comment,

"Wow, she's good..." "Not bad!"

"Yeah, must be a favourite of hers."

"That's my Yumi."

"Huh, she's definitely better than some of the other wench-er, women, that took a turn..."

...The song comes and passes, and Yumi finishes on a long, clear note, prompting everyone in the bar to clap and whistle in congratulations. She blushes modestly and calls,

"Heheh, thanks, everyone!"

She then walks off the stage and back to the others, with the twins complimenting her performance:

"That was really good!"

"Yeah, you had some people movin', for sure!"

Hōjō wraps an arm around her shoulders and chides,

"You did great, Yumi. People loved you."

"Thank you. I was worried I was gonna screw up the lyrics at some point, but I managed to swim through no probs...Hm?"

Her eyes then fall to the entrance way of the bar, before she groans,

"Oh, no..."

"What is it?"

"What's wrong?"

"Ugh, it's _Mikuru_ , that girl from the high school that rivals mine and Hōjō's..."

Eyes follow Yumi's direct of sight, as they fall onto the following form: A girl who looked to be about sixteen, with straight black hair that went a little past her shoulders, sharp green eyes with purple eyeliner on her eyelids, bright pink glossed lips curved into a mean smile, pale, smooth complexion, and wore an outfit consisting of a dark purple tube top, tight hip-hugger black jeans, a cropped black leather jacket, and black pumps.

Freeman shivers and Besa comments,

"Yikes, that's a rather showy outfit for someone her age. She's lucky to be able to wear that and not get arrested."

Coraline hms while putting her hand under her chin:

"How strange...I feel like I've seen her before, but I can't place it..."

"I'm surprised you don't remember."

"Hm?"

She turns to Hōjō, who adds,

"She was the one you went up against in that singing competition in the park a few years ago, you know, in the final round?"

"...Oh yeah! Now it's comin' back: Good lord, she was so pitchy back then..."

Inuyasha eyes the redhead curiously:

"You never said you were in a competition before..."

"Never came up in conversation. It was just one of those summer events that came and went, but it was there I first met Hōjō."

"Oh...is that right?"

"Yeah, (Whisper) but don't read into it much: I didn't even know he was in the audience until he told me a few months ago."

"Ah, okay."

The conversation was then interrupted by a new female voice that sounded like a mix of Yura of the Hair and Kagura who calls,

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me: _You're_ here?"

"Gh!" "Uh!"

The pair jolt a little from the call, and look up to see that the girl, Mikuru, was nearing their table. Inuyasha asks in a low hiss,

"Please tell me I'm not the only one that just had a flashback to that hair witch and the damn wind sorceress..."

"Oh-hoh, trust me: It wasn't just you. I think my bros might've twitched too, but I could've imagined it."

Moving along, Coraline sees that the girl's address and stare was on her, so she leans back casually and replies,

"Who wants to know?"

"I do, you smug little robin! Perhaps you're memory's shot from a few years ago when you beat me in that singing competition in the park? What the hell did you do that made the audience pick you as winner?"

"Well, for starters, I actually knew what I was singing..."

The twins snicker behind their hands from the smart-alack reply, while Yumi covers her mouth in surprise, and the last two men widen their eyes from the tone Coraline used or, excuse me, continued to use:

"Second, while you weren't necessarily terrible altogether, you were extremely pitchy, so it was hard to tell if you were even singing in the right key. True, I came off sounding more masculine with my song choice, but at least I knew how to sing it that did the artist justice."

Mikuru grinds her teeth and mutters,

"Why you...!"

Sensing she was likely to cause a scene, Coraline decided to tone her own attitude down a peg and address the temperamental girl more calmly:

"Look, I'm honestly not trying to cause trouble, okay? I'm just here to have a good time with some friends and my date. You chose to come here and obviously try to pick a fight, so why not walk away and get yourself a drink to cool off?"

Inuyasha was impressed by how well she was handling the situation:

 _Wow. She sounds like a combo of me and Sango: Cool, collected, and just a bit cocky...Heh, I like it._

Mikuru squints her eyes at Coraline and snorts,

"Hmph, like I'm gonna listen to a tomboy like you. (Glances at Inuyasha) And he's your date? Tch, talk about a roughneck with no future."

(Slam)

Coraline's hand slaps the flat surface of the table, shutting the other girl up real quick, while everyone else eyes the redhead with concern:

"Oooh, she really shouldn't have said that..."

"Damn, the gauntlet's gonna fly to the floor."

"Are, you okay, Coraline?" "Coraline?"

"Hey, don't listen to her, okay? I've been called worse, seriously..."

Everyone flinches as she suddenly darts to a stand, sending a deadly glare at Mikuru, and says with as much control in her voice as possible,

"Okay, look: I don't wanna start one of those stereotypical bar fights, so unless you wanna head outside and risk getting more than one of your cheaply manicured tips snapped, _back, off._ "

Though afraid at first, Mikuru musters back some courage and gets an idea:

"(Smirk) Better yet, how 'bout you try and make me by going against me in a singing rematch? Unless, you're worried about making a fool of yourself in front of your boy~frie~nd..."

"Tch, now you're askin' for it, bitch."

"Huh?"

The feuding girls turn to Inuyasha, who folds his arms with a scowl and remarks,

"The only who's more than likely gonna look like a fool is you, after my girlfriend kicks your ass."

Freeman and Besa's jaws drop from his statement, and Coraline quietly gasps with a bright red blush:

 _He...He just called me his girlfriend. Holy crap! Now I definitely gotta do this._

Turning back to Mikuru, she holds out her hand and says firmly,

"You're on. I'll even let you grace the mic first."

The girls grasp eachother's hands, each squeezing the other's tight, while glaring daggers at one another. A few seconds later, Mikuru leaves to go and get ready on stage, while Coraline sits back down beside Inuyasha, exhaling a big breath she was holding and leaning her forehead on her folded hands:

"Oh lord..."

Hōjō smiles with a sweatdrop and rubs the back of his head while commenting,

"That's what I was thinking during the whole scene...You're not nervous though, are you, Coraline?"

Straightening up, Coraline shakes her head:

"Nuh-uh, I'm fine. Most of my nerves we're directed at holding back my anger with a rope around its waist so I didn't tackle the girl to the ground. That would've really killed the mood for tonight."

Everyone laughs at her small joke, before attention turned to the karaoke stage as Mikuru stood in the limelight:

"Hey all! So, tonight, I'm gonna be bringing you a little treat, a small competition, if you will. I'm gonna sing you all something, (Glance) then a girl by name of Croft will be goin' next to see if she can best me. We'll of course, leave the audience to decide who tops who. That sound alright?"

The rest of the teens in the bar clap and cheer in approval, while Coraline mutters,

"Not even using my first name. Typical," as Inuyasha wraps an arm around her to pull her close...

"Okay then! So, first is me, the lovely Mikuru, with a little somethin' from our friends across the water! _Hot_ , by _Avril Lavigne_! Hit it!"

(Note: Rights and ownership to the music reference belong solely to _Avril Lavigne_ herself.)

The pop rock song began playing, with some other couples moving along to the contemporary ballad on the dance floor...Mikuru then opens her mouth to begin singing the lyrics, her voice coming out choppy and rather pitchy with several key mistakes, causing our group at the table to cringe:

"Whooa!" "Yikes..."

Yumi and Inuyasha both cover their ears, and Hōjō comments with a grimace,

"Good grief, I wish I could say she's improved, but...even I know that's a lie."

Coraline hms and makes her own observations while watching the black-haired girl sway back and forth to the song's beat:

"Actually, her pitch and clarity aren't half as bad as she was back then...But she would've been better off singing the Japanese version of this song rather than its original English so she wouldn't be making so many grammatical errors."

Uncovering her ears with a frown, Yumi then says,

"Gets you wondering if she even pays attention to the English language class at her school..."

"Heh, I was just thinkin' that."

A few minutes later, the mild torture for our group's hearing was over, and Mikuru hops off the stage with a,

"Thank you!"

Her applause wasn't very high, but not so low that she'd notice and begin complaining, and she smirks smugly while eyeing in Coraline's direction:

 _Beat that, Croft._

Back at the table, Coraline readies to rise out of her seat while flexing her fingers:

"Welp, guess it's me on deck now. Wish me luck, you guys."

"What song are you gonna do?"

"You'll just have to wait and see, bro."

Inuyasha quickly pulls her in to give her a kiss on the cheek while telling her,

"Good luck up there, and kick ass."

"Heh, always, but I dunno if I'll get tired of ya telling me to."

Coraline then leaves the table for the stage, leaning over by the machine to search for her song choice in mind:

 _Let's see..._

 _...Aha!_

Smiling, she taps the touch screen where the name of the song was, and presets it to start in the next thirty seconds, before turning to address her audience:

"Yo. So, I'm Coraline Croft, and...the song I'll be doing for ya is one that speaks rather personal for me. Kind-of a reflection of myself in past and present. It's called _I'm Not An Angel_ by _Halestorm_."

(Note: And for the third time, I stress that I have no ownership over such a music reference. That belongs to _Halestorm_ and their awesome lead singer, Lizzie Hales. Thank you!)

A few seconds after she announces such, the slower-paced hard rock song came to flow through the speakers, and the redhead opens her mouth to sing, her voice coming out strong, clear with some raw emotion mixed in. Everyone was left in awe, including the other five watching her from their table:

"Wow..." "Good pick."

"She's amazing!"

"Almost reminds me of how she sounded back then, only better."

Inuyasha remained silent, his amber eyes solely focused on Coraline's form as she moved and gestured to the lyrics, bringing a story along for the audience:

 _Beautiful...and Real. That's the only way to describe her performance._

 _...And this song, kind-a speaks true to her and me:_

 _In the beginning, we were buttin' heads but kept comin' back for more, 'cause deep down, we wanted it._

 _No matter how many times we screamed at eachother and pointed blame, we always found a way past the fights.  
_

 _And yeah, let's face it: Neither of us will ever really change...But, I don't think I want her to._

 _She might not be an Angel...but that's not the kind of girl I want._

 _I want her as her, faults and all._

He concludes his thoughts aloud in a quiet whisper with a smile:

"She's my girl, and always will be mine."

By this time, Coraline was finishing the last chorus, and puts it all into the outro, feigning pain and anguish, when really, she was feeling confident and right with herself:

 _Not the prettiest choice...but I don't always like doing pretty, and it's one that describes me to a T._

...As soon as the mic lowered, the whole bar erupted in applause and hollering cheers, causing her to blush as modestly as Yumi did a while ago:

"Ah-heh, thanks. Glad you all enjoyed that!"

She goes to put the microphone back onto its stand, before walking back to the table where her brothers, acquaintances and boyfriend were waiting, but not before sending a triumphant smile in the direction of a fuming Mikuru, who was standing by the bar trying her hardest not to shatter the glass of lime soda in her hand...

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

"(Laugh) Wait wait, so how mad was this Mikuru girl at the bar when you trumped her?!"

After my song, the guys and I decide to call it a night and head back home to the shrine before it got too late, sending goodbyes to Hōjō and Yumi as they also left because of some exams they had to cram for. We're now all sitting in the living room, along with Souta, Grandfather and Akari-sama, as we regaled highlights of our outing, including the singing duel between myself and Mikuru. I answer Souta with a mirthful smile,

"So mad that if we hadn't left as soon as we did, I'm pretty sure Inuyasha would've had to use his arm to block her glass after throwing it."

My twin bros laugh and chime,

"Yeah, that sounds about right!"

Grandfather hmphs and remarks while folding his arms,

"It sounds like that young lady must live a rather spoiled lifestyle. Makes me glad that Akari and I have raised the two of you not to be such people."

"And we thank you for that, Grandfather, I'm sure. Right, Souta?...Souta?"

I turn to see his attention was on the TV, he using the remote to turn up the volume:

"Everyone: Check this out!"

We all focus our eyes on the screen, just as the News came on, with the most unexpected report:

 _"According to eye witnesses, a strange youth in a red kimono single-handedly captured a bank robber..."_

 _Wait...red kimono? Could they be talking about-_

 _"And on top of that, this strange young man rescued a child trapped in a local fire..."_

Souta exclaims with a fist-pump,

"Inuyasha's so cool!"

 _I knew it! But, when the heck did he do those things?_

I turn to look at his crouching form in curiousity, as Freeman notes,

"Looks like this all happened a little after noon..."

 _"Here is a drawing of his likeness done by the child."_

We all cringe and gasp a bit from the crude drawing of Inuyasha, but there was no mistaking the basic features:

 _That is him...sort-of._

Besa asks for myself and Freeman,

"Inuyasha, did you run into some 'detours' on the way to the dojo earlier today?"

He answers a bit sheepishly,

"Uh, yeah, I guess that's one way to word it. It just happened..."

Akari-sama kneels beside him while looking at the TV screen and compliments,

"You did do the city some needed heroics...though I'm mostly glad you didn't hurt yourself in the process, dear..."

"Keh, I don't get hurt that easily, ma'am. (Squints at the TV) This is the strangest-looking box I've ever seen..."

I roll my eyes a little at his kindly-worded brush-off with a smile, while Freeman comments,

"Heh, guess this means we're not the only ones to get on the News anymore for doin' something both reckless and in the right of it, right bro? Sis?"

Besa and I nod with wry smiles, and that caught Inuyasha's attention:

"Huh? You guys have appeared on this weird box before?"

"Remember that story we told about our participation in a youth protest?"

"Uuuh, I think so."

"It became a news headline for about a week, and we were caught by the media cameras long enough that our faces could be recognized."

I laugh as Besa adds,

"We were known for a little while as part of this ridiculousness called the 'downtown youth rebels', at least until they finally moved onto a new story to talk about."

Inuyasha quirks a brow in both confusion and interest:

"Huh..."

After a bit, I excused myself to head into my room so I could do some more homework for school, while also seeing about searching for any possible online references for the artifact I looked at yesterday with Professor Hashimoto:

"Okay, let's try, 'Lost Blades from Late Eleventh Century'..."

At some point, Inuyasha had slipped through the door to come and see what I was doing, and kept popping in and out around me while trying to see my work, which annoyed me a little:

 _This, is, not a good time for this..._

I smile sarcastically and comment,

"Yeaaahhh, this is helping me concentrate..."

I spin around and clap his shoulders to make him stop moving:

"Not!"

"Hey!"

Ignoring the indignant look he was throwing me, I call out the door,

"Souta, can you come here a sec, please?"

(Ka-chank)

"What is it, Cora?"

"If it's not too much trouble, can you or the guys keep Inuyasha occupied for me for a while?"

"Sure thing!"

Taking Inuyasha's hand, Souta leads him out of my room towards the bathroom:

"I'll scrub your back if you scrub mine." I call to him gratefully,

"Thanks, Souta; you're a peach!"

I walk back to my desk, and sit down to focus back on my work:

"Now where was I? Oh, right: References...Shoot, nothin' from that search. Okay, maybe if-"

"(Distant) Gaaah! It's boiling! What's he tryin' to do to me?!"

"Huh?"

I turn around to the sound of Inuyasha's muffled shouts, and the next thing I knew, he comes running into my room, bare-skinned while carrying his modern outfit (He brought his fire rat kimono to be tossed into the washer and dryer and hadn't grabbed it yet, while his Tessaiga was sitting in my room next to ShatterSoul) in one hand, with only so much soap foam covering the more...private areas...

I let out a mortified shriek and immediately covered my face to shield my eyes while also hiding my newly bright-red face:

 _Ooooh my god!_

I hear a smaller set of feet come in and Souta saying to Inuyasha,

"Come on; you have to rinse off the suds!"

"I'm not goin' back in there!"

I squeak from between my fingers,

"Can you two please continue this conversation outside my room?!"

Then came the muffled frantic steps of my other brothers:

"...What the heck's goin' on up here?!"

"Cora, you okay?!"

 _Oh dear god, the timing cannot get any worse than this!_

I still kept my face covered, not daring to peek incase I saw, m-more of Inuyasha then I want to in one sitting, as Freeman and Besa arrive on scene:

"Gah-hah, whoa!"

"Dude! Put on a towel before ya enter Cora's room like that! Are you crazy?!"

The conversation becomes a bit too rushed after that for my ears to follow, as my older, and thankfully smarter brothers guide Inuyasha and Souta back towards the bathroom...Once there was silence again, I uncover my eyes with a deep sigh of embarrassment and exasperation:

 _Hoh boy, that's one image I'm never gonna get outta my head..._

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Hm?"

It was then that Lumos came flying in from my opened window:

"Oh hey. Where have you been all day, bud?"

He just circles around my head, before settling on it while making a questioning-type of moan. I smile and reply,

"I'm fine. Just, had a moment I wasn't prepared for...(Mutter) Hopefully nothin' a little Math can't kill."

Inuyasha's POV

 _Geez, I can't believe I rushed into her room naked like that! What was I thinking?!_

I'm now redressed in my more familiar-feeling kimono and sitting in the living room again with the rest of the people in this house, trying to not blush madly from what happened a few minutes ago as Souta uses this thing called a blow-dryer to dry my hair. Gotta say, it actually felt pretty soothing...

It was then Missus Higurashi walks in from the kitchen:

"Hm?"

"Would you like something to eat? I dunno how much you and the others did eat while you were out, but..."

I nod at her invitation, before my ears pick up on some hushed whispers from those jokers Freeman and Besa as they sat nearest the old man, who burst into stifled laughter shortly after. I knew they must've been talking about me, so I ask them in an interrogative manner,

"What're you two snickerin' about over there?"

They eye me with cheeky smiles and reply while waving their hands,

"Oh nothing..."

"Nothing at all..."

I eye them back suspiciously:

 _Kuh, yeah right...The little comedians._

No POV

Back up in Coraline's room, she pauses in her work as she notices the drop of volume for the house in general:

"Huh. Got quiet real fast...(Turns her gaze up) What do you think, Lumos?"

He sends a soft moan back, and the young woman smiles before turning her eyes back to her laptop...when suddenly:

"(Muffled) Aauuuhhh! Wha' wazh tha'?!"

Coraline facepalms while quietly groaning,

"And here comes round two..."

Inuyasha then rushes into her room (again), sputtering with his tongue lolled out,

"My tougn'z on fiwre...!"

Akari comes walking in shortly after while holding a steaming plate of food:

"I gave him some curry, but maybe it was too spicy..."

As the dog demon continues to whimper while keeping his tongue out of his mouth, Coraline looks at him with a somewhat sympathetic deadpan and says,

"You really need to learn to look before you eat. (Sigh) Go back down with Akari-sama and get a glass of milk, then..."

...Moving on, the late night comes rolling in, with the only ones left awake being Coraline and Inuyasha, as everyone else had gone to bed, the twins camping out in Souta's Room like they have before...Inuyasha was sitting on Coraline's bed Indian-style, his sword tucked into his folded arms, watching with an intent and serious expression as the redhead was looking over an open book and file folder while writing something inside one of her notebooks.

She then pauses, and turns around to face the dog demon with a curious expression:

"Say, Inuyasha..."

"What is it? I'm keepin' quiet."

She shakes her head with a smile and replies,

"That's not what I was going to comment on...Actually, I was, wondering if I could get your opinion on something."

That caught Inuyasha off guard:

"Huh? Uhh, okay. What?"

Picking up the copies of the images taken for the ancient sword, Coraline walks over to sit by Inuyasha's right before holding one out while asking,

"Have you ever heard of something called 'The Sword of Tengu'?"

"Hmm...No, doesn't sound familiar. (Squints at the held image) That suppose to be it? Looks more like scrap metal."

"That's because until recently, it's been subjected to the elements underground. It was discovered by Professor Hashimoto and his team, an archaeologist who was once a minor colleague of my late father, in an old settlement outside of the city."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhm. (Proud smile) And just yesterday, he called me to ask if I could join the project as a student's perspective, and I took his offer. I've been trying to find some further references to what the story was behind his artifact, but, I'm comin' up dry. All that's known so far is that it was made sometime in the late eleventh century, and belonged to a samurai who supposingly won it off a goblin demon, hence the name."

"A goblin wielding a katana...(Shrug) I've heard of weirder. But how could a human have won it?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out. It's just the basic plot line that was translated from a scroll that was found in the sword's sheath, which also somehow survived decay..."

Inuyasha takes one of the pictures into his hand, that depicted a close-up of the end bit of the remaining katana blade, so he could examine it even closer:

"Hmm..."

"...What is it?"

"...I don't claim to be an expert, but it looks like the blade's been snapped in two."

Coraline widens her eyes in mild surprise:

"Really? I just assumed it got corroded to that point after so many centuries."

"If this actually was a demon blade, it's not that simple: Unlike the blades fashioned by humans, demon forgers will use all kinds of materials mixed with earth metals, from blood to demon bone and even sometimes crystal energies. Swords of that make will last a hell of alot longer, but like all weapons, not forever."

"Aaah, that makes sense...(Sheepish smile) Heheh, silly me should've thought of those considerations sooner, especially after all I have seen already in recent times..."

Taking back the images, Coraline heads back to her desk to make some notes:

"Thank you for the insight. Now I can narrow the search for information further..."

"Keh, just from that bit?"

"Even the smallest clues are the most valuable. Now that I know the blade was broken at some point, likely before it was buried in that site, I can focus on searches like 'samurai disgraced' or even 'samurai gone mad'. If the katana really belonged to a tengu before the warrior, they could've returned in a revenge attack to reclaim what they lost. Of course, an attack like that might not have necessarily been recorded, depending on the environment at the time and where the views of humans and demons stood..."

Coraline kept droning scenario after scenario, to which Inuyasha would half-listen to, his mouth curving up a bit at how animated she sounded on the subject...The room fell into another quiet for the next twenty minutes, and as Coraline finished brainstorming and contemplating some more things to zero in on for the artifact project, she pauses to check up on her boyfriend, noticing some fatigue that was appearing behind his irises:

 _Hm...He must be finally reaching his limit._

"What now?"

"(Smile) Inuyasha, it's just the two of us. You can lie down for some rest if you want to."

"Not likely. Now turn around and get back to your studies. We're goin' back tomorrow; no excuses."

"I know, I know..."

Rolling her eyes a bit, she does as he directed, switching her work up to some regular school assignments, stacking her notebook and file folder for the artifact away for the time being:

 _I'll save this for when I'm back in Edo. I'm more than sure I can get some oral information from Myoga or Tōtōsai if I see them..._

As she typed up some answers for a science quiz, she could feel Inuyasha's stare, which had her wondering,

 _Is he really going to try and watch over me all night?_

 _Not that the behaviour wouldn't like him, but...I don't buy that he has that much energy._

 _He's been pushing his limits alot lately..._

Another half hour passes, and Coraline decides to call it a night:

"(Sigh) I think that's enough staring at the computer for one day..."

Closing the laptop and shuffling her books together, the young woman turns around in her chair...only to find that Inuyasha, was asleep!

"(Soft gasp) Inuyasha...!"

He was laying on his side, arms folded into himself, legs tucked in close in a fetal-like position, while his facial features were much more relaxed than he usually looked awake...

Coraline smiles and shakes her head in amusement:

 _I knew it. There was no way he was going to stay up any longer..._

 _Come to think of it, this is a first in a very long while I've seen Inuyasha sleep, so peacefully..._

"(Whispers) He's been working himself hard, since the day he woke up at the tree...Thank god he can get a moment of relaxation today."

The redhead then quietly slips out of her room, after grabbing a pair of grey sweatpants and a soft blue t-shirt to change into, and heads into the bathroom to quickly do her bedtime routine...Once she was done, she returns to the room, pulls out an outfit for tomorrow, as well as do a bit of satchel prepping before morning would come, and then bends down on her knees beside Inuyasha's head, smiling lovingly at his peaceful face:

 _I'd be a fool to try and wake him up, so I'll sleep downstairs on the couch tonight..._

Coraline leans in and plants a gentle kiss on Inuyasha's forehead, whispering,

"Have a good sleep, Inuyasha. Love you."

...But just as she readies to lift herself up and leave the dog demon to snooze away:

(Grasp)

"Huh?"

Inuyasha's hand suddenly reaches out and grabs one of her arms, before pulling her straight into bed:

(Yank)

"Oh!"

Coraline lands softly against Inuyasha's chest, who shifted onto his back, and moved his arms so that they were enveloping the redhead around her upper back and waist, their legs laying next to eachother!

"Uh..."

 _...Good thing I changed into some sleep clothes, then! Is, he awake?_

The subtle sound of his snoring told her otherwise...Lumos comes to hover by where Coraline's eyes were facing, which would be towards the wall where her bed sat, and makes quiet sounds of concern. Coraline just smiles and shakes her head while quietly reassuring,

"It's okay, Lumos, I'm fine...I think this is just gonna be the sleeping arrangement tonight, (Giggle)."

"(Mumble) No, mo' talkin'. Sleep..."

Coraline lets out another quiet laugh from the muffled message courtesy of a sleeping dog demon, and snuggles down into his red kimono, wrapping her arm around his shoulder while laying another hand next to his:

 _Gotcha loud and clear, Inuyasha...See you in the morning._

With that, she falls asleep to the steady rhythm of Inuyasha's heartbeat, while the Will O' Wisp settles himself on Coraline's nightstand, keeping a vigil on the slumbering couple...

Time Skip, Inuyasha's POV

"Mmmm...mm-mmh?"

 _Agh, damn sun. Gotta kill my sleep now?_

 _...Hang on...I feel, somethin' on top of me..._

Blinking my eyes open, I was surprised to find that it was, Coraline, fast asleep in my arms while laying on my chest with a smile on her face!

 _When did...Did I pull her into bed in my sleep or something?_

I'm brought out of my thoughts as I hear a small hum of content, and watch as Coraline snuggles deeper into my kimono...Seeing how happy and peaceful she looked with me...it made me smile too:

 _Heh, who cares how this happened? All that matters is, that it did._

I decided to take advantage of the peace for a few more minutes, and pulled her closer to me while breathing in the scent of her hair and skin:

 _Gods, she smells so good...like, the morning dew on grass and, those flowers from her home country. Bell Heather. Yeah, I think that's what the flower is called..._

 _Her hair cleansers clash a bit with her raw scent, but not too badly. Just a bit too fruity..._

 _(Sigh) I wish I could just lay with her like this forever, without the world comin' in to ruin the moment._

 _...But even I know that's wishful thinking. There's still a job to do._

I reach a hand out to stroke Coraline's red hair as I quietly vowed,

"But once this is all over, and that bastard is dead...we'll have all the time in the world to just be with one another...I promise."

I give her a kiss on the head, and that was when she started to stir:

"Mmm-mm...hm? In...Inu-yasha?"

Her irises that reflected the blue of a unsettled sky show to meet my amber, and I chuckle a little at how sleepy she still looked:

"Mornin'. Sleep well?"

"(Tired smile) Mhm, really well...How 'bout you?"

"Good. Actually, this might have been the best I've slept for a long time."

I start sitting up, taking Coraline with me as she asks,

"That so?"

"Yeah. Your bed is really soft. I can see why you'd wanna come back here so you could even just take a nap on it...But what really helped..."

I steal a kiss from her lips:

"...was having you in my arms as I slept."

Coraline's face got really rosy from my comment:

"R-Really? That's, g-good...I, like being next to you as we sleep too."

We stare at one another for a few minutes...before that little ball of light, Lumos, comes circling over us while making that weird wispy sound:

"(Ghostly moan)"

I growl a little from the interruption, while Coraline just smiles and says,

"And a good morning to you too, Lumos. Is it approaching that time, I'm guessing?"

He bops up and down, before floating out of the room through the partly-opened window...

"Well, I guess I better get changed into something a bit more practical instead of sweatpants and a t-shirt."

Coraline then lifts herself off of my lap to stand on the floor, and I follow her example while asking,

"You think Freeman and Besa are up yet?"

"Not likely, but feel free to go and wake them while I get dressed. (Turns with a smile) And yes, that was my polite way of telling you to am-scray while I change."

I send her a light smirk-glare before doing as she asks:

"Fine, but don't be long."

"When have I ever been long in changing clothes?"

We both laugh, and I leave her to it while heading towards the squirt's room to get the twin's lazy asses up.

No POV

As soon as everyone up (including some rather rudely-woken twins) and gathered all that they needed, the four teens would head out from the house and to the Bone Eater's Well to return to Sengoku Edo.

This round, Coraline opt for an outfit of a light yellow tank top with a brown/white checkered flannel shirt (unbuttoned as usual), acid wash jeans with a tear in her left knee and stitching in the other, and her black combat boots. Freeman and Besa chose to wear semi-coordinating outfits of dark blue jeans, green t-shirts and their black/white converse sneakers, but while Freeman's shirt had the Yin Chinese character written in the middle in black lettering, Besa's had Yang on his in white lettering.

The twins would be eyeing Inuyasha with disgruntled glares from the wake-up call they were given:

"That was not cool, man."

"Yeah, why the heck did ya have to yank the blankets so hard that we flipped over? That hurt!"

Inuyasha just scoffs with a smirk and replies,

"That's what happens when you don't listen the first time...(Mutter) I just can't believe Souta didn't wake up from all that noise..."

Coraline forms an amused smile and quirks as she spies Lumos floating towards them from the leaves of the Goshinboku Tree,

"He's got the sleeping patterns of Grandfather: It takes a specific trigger before he'll actually grace the world with his presence. Otherwise, he's dead to the world."

"Oh? And what trigger is that?"

"The promise of chocolate-chip pancakes for breakfast."

The four teens burst into laughter as they approached the well house, as Coraline adds,

"And sometimes if we feel nice enough, Akari-sama and I follow through the promise."

The door creaks open, and they enter the structure, their target being the old well inside, while the Will O' Wisp's was the front pocket of Coraline's satchel. Each teen takes a side, with the twins moving to jump down first:

"Alrighty, down we go."

"See ya two on the other side!"

(Slip) (Slip)

(Whoooooshhh...)

Once the light dies down, it would be Inuyasha and Coraline's turns to take the plunge:

"Ready?"

"Yep!"

Taking eachother's hand, the two hop down the well:

(Whooooshhh...)

...Passing backwards through time and space, the pair touch down onto the dirt-packed ground of the well again, only instead of the roof of the well house, the above view would be clear blue skies...and one excited fox demon:

"Yay! Coraline and Inuyasha are back now!"

Coraline waves upward:

"Hey, Shippo!"

Inuyasha then scoops her up into his arms, catching her off-guard:

"Oh!"

"Keh, save the hellos for when were outta here first."

He then leaps up and out to stand on the lip of the well, meeting the sight of thickly grown trees, untamed grass, and some tall stalks of scattered wheat mixing with some wildflowers...

Another face that was here to greet the arrivals, was Miroku. He looks to Inuyasha who was placing Coraline to her feet on the soft green, and asks with a slightly wry smile,

"Aah, so you spent the night at Coraline's, did you?"

Before the dog demon's temper flared, Coraline rushes to answer for them both with a smile-glare:

"Not in the way you're thinking, Miroku..."

"(Dramatic) Why Coraline, you couldn't possibly be thinking I would suggest such vulgar thoughts! Surely you know me better than that by now."

"Uh-huh, suuure. But if you must pry, we actually went on an outing yesterday evening, with the guys chaperoning to ease the minds of Akari-sama and Grandfather."

"Oh, is that right? What did you do?"

"I'll be happy to tell you about it, plus a few other events that happened these last two days, after we head enter the village."

Miroku sighs in disappointment, but nods all the same. Inuyasha looks down at Coraline with suspicion:

"And what exactly will you be telling the monk?"

She giggles a bit and takes his arm into hers while reassuring him in a lowered voice,

"Oh relax: I'll leave the more intimate and embarrassing bits out for you if you want. I just wanna highlight the basics, is all."

"Keh, alright. But I'll be listening close for any slips."

"I know you will."

The pair then lean into one another and share a kiss on the lips, prompting Shippo to yelp while covering his eyes with his hands:

"Aaauuuh! Freeman, Inuyasha and Coraline are kissing! Make 'em stop!"

Picking the fox demon up and placing him on his shoulders, Freeman replies,

"Better yet, I'll get ya out of the area while the gettin's good. (Dramatic yell) Run away from the romance!"

He then runs down the hill towards the village, both of them laughing as they went, with Besa rolling his eyes at the childish antic:

"Real mature, you guys!"

He facepalms with a groan, before feeling Miroku's hand on his shoulder:

"I see that despite his views on love, your brother is still a kid a heart."

"Story of my life..."

They then start walking in the direction that Freeman ran off to, with Inuyasha and Coraline following behind them a few seconds after, hand-in-hand:

"(Sigh) A new day..."

"Yeah...Good weather to begin on too."

And the sun shines down in streams over the land, signalling a new start to the ragtag group's adventures in Edo, and the ongoing war for the Shikon-no-Tama...


	92. Chapter 91

**Chapter 91: The Female Wolf Demon & The Lunar Rainbow Promise**

Evening casts a deep hue of orange across the skies of Sengoku Edo, and we find ourselves at a more desolate piece of the landscape, where a large white-furred wolf of considerable age with thick bushy eyebrows sits atop a cliff side overlooking the land in thought...

(...Whoosh)

Suddenly, a whirlwind of leaves appears and dissipates several feet behind the wolf, revealing a young woman of demon origins with two long pigtails of brown-red hair and a white headband holding an iris flower in place on her right side, lightly-cut bangs styled over her forehead and highlighting her dark green eyes while covering her pointed ears, wearing an outfit of white wolf fur draped over her shoulders like a cape held on with a necklace of three pieces of jade shaped like canine teeth, a matching fur skirt that sat as short as her upper thighs, fur-lined leg and wrist guards, and blue armour with a red outline around the sweetheart neckline.

She was kneeling with several other white-furred wolves sitting at attention in a line behind her, awaiting the order from the elder wolf...He nods, and the rest disperse.

...Sometime later during nightfall, as numerous fireflies gently glow near a shallow, stony river, we find Kōga sprinting through the water away from several of the white-furred wolves from earlier, using his raw strength and the power of the Shikon-no-Tama shards in his legs to fight them off. He would then leap up onto a high tree branch, before calling down to the growling wild canines,

"You better back down or I'll get serious!"

" _...Short-tempered as always._ "

"Hm?"

(Whoosh)

The demon girl would then make her appearance atop a rock in the river, her iris (which upon closer inspection is seen to be blue-petaled with yellow stamen extending out from the base) glittering in the night glow. She lets out a laugh, prompting Kōga to glare down at her while demanding,

"Who are you, and why did you send your wolves after me? You got a bone to pick with me or somethin'?"

It was around then that his comrades, Ginta and Hakkaku, finally catch up with him, panting in exhaustion from their latest attempt to meet his speed, or at the very least not get left too far behind, again...The latter asks aloud once he catches his breath,

"Isn't that Ayame, the Granddaughter of the old Chief?"

Ginta replies,

"Yeah, I think so, though I heard she went north with the elder a long time ago."

"She must've come back, then."

Kōga's ears pick up on his friends pondering, and does a second look at the female wolf demon below:

"Ayame...?"

"I came to give you gramp's message."

"What message?"

"(Smile) You were gonna take me for your wife, just as you promised, Kōga."

His jaw drops:

"My...wife?!"

The other two males gape in shock, and Ayame alliterates her case:

"You have Shikon-no-Tama shards, don't you? With those in your possession, you'll be worthy of ruling the clan. So come with me and let's get married."

"Guh! L-Listen, stop jokin' around! Why should I marry you?"

A frown forms on the redheaded wolf demon's face:

"Uh...You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Kōga, you promised to marry me when I came down from the northern mountains!"

The male felt his knees buckle from the pressure of this new information he clearly does not recall, while Ginta and Hakkaku turn and gasp at one another, before turning back to get confirmation from their friend:

"Kōga, did you really make such a promise?!"

"Does that mean those feelings for Coraline were a mistake?"

(...Leap)

Ayame then hops all the way up to the tree branch that Kōga was standing on, and grabs his arm:

"A-Uh, hey, what're you doin'?!"

"Gramps said to bring you back, with force if necessary!"

"D-Don't, we're gonna fall!"

(...Snap)

The branch breaks from the wobbling weight, and both wolf demons yelp as they fall straight into the river:

(Splash...)

"Kōga! Are you alright?!"

Ginta and Hakkaku begin rushing down closer to the water, just as their friend and Ayame resurface...Kōga is then struggling to get out of her hold as they move back to the shoreline:

"Let go, of my hand!"

The white-furred wolves circle around behind them, and two proceed to seize the male by his calves with their jaws. The action doesn't hurt Kōga, of course: It just annoys him further.

"Get, lost, will ya?!"

"Don't let him get away!"

That's when he resorts to a last resort plan of escape:

"I already have a fiance named Coraline that I'm gonna marry! I wouldn't have made any promises to wed you!"

He then uses his own whirlwind to shake off Ayame's hold, and leaps onto a nearby boulder, before rushing away altogether...But the young woman's focus...was on what the runaway wolf demon just said:

"A...fiance...?...Coraline...?"

And she wasn't the only one: Ginta and Hakkaku cringe from their friend's statement, remembering a recent letter that was sent to the former by Freeman, highlighting recent events...including _another redhead's_ proclamation of love.

"Did, he just say...?"

"Ooooh, this isn't good. This is gonna come flying back at him later, I just know it. Wait up, Kōgaaa!"

As they run off to catch up with him, Ginta thinks to himself,

 _I gotta send a warning message back to Freeman next time we stop!_

As soon as all three male wolf demons were gone, Ayame shakes off her stupor, and frowns with an unimpressed glare:

"...Don't tell me he's seriously forgotten."

Her wolf companions howl, and she smiles sadly at them, before turning her gaze longingly to the full moon hovering over the land:

"...He did promise...on the night of the Lunar Rainbow."

Time Skip

Come the next day, we catch up with Inuyasha and company, as their latest journey out of the Goshinboku Village pauses at a cliff outside the forest, having so far come up with no new leads regarding the disappearance of the evil half-demon, Naraku.

Miroku asks Sango, who was sitting on twin boulders with Coraline, Kilala and Shippo,

"Hear anything about where Naraku went?"

"We checked everywhere..." Shippo adds,

"We've asked all over, but there weren't even any rumours about Naraku."

"I see..."

The monk turns his gaze to Inuyasha, who was sitting against the rocky wall in a sulking manner by a statue depicting a priest of sorts, with Freeman laying upside down with his legs against the rock face on his left, and Besa sitting in front of his brother with a knee propped up, while saying,

"Inuyasha hasn't been able to pick up any scent of Naraku either."

Besa adds,

"And Cora hasn't detected his Aura. (Looks in her direction) Right, sis?"

She calls back,

"Yeah. Even with Lumos helping me, I've been coming up with busts."

Said Will O' Wisp was gliding through the air in a steady pace around the group, his mood no better than the rest of them. Inuyasha confirms Miroku's comment:

"Not a whiff. (Folds his arms) I cannot believe that a Demonic Aura that strong could disappear so easily, though."

Shippo takes a sip of water from a green water bottle he was given a while back and says simply,

"Not much we can do, I guess..."

Sango then asks Coraline,

"Coraline, I don't suppose you've been able to sense the jewel shards either?"

"(Shakes head) 'Fraid not. They're as dead to the world as that bastard is."

Miroku then smiles and says in a more reassuring tone,

"No sense getting overly worried: As long as we keep collecting the jewel shards as usual, I'm sure that Naraku will eventually come after them himself."

Inuyasha wasn't overly pleased with such a strategy (which is ironic, since he conveyed such a tactic once in their earlier searches...):

"Grh, forget it! We can't just wait around."

"What choice do we have?"

The dog demon opens his mouth at the ready to try and argue...but winds up just scoffing while avoiding Miroku's eye. Besa then says in thought,

"...I think what we should be considering, is how much there actually is left of the jewel to find."

Sango nods in agreement:

"That is a good point. Just how many shards are there left out there, besides the ones that are already in Naraku's possession?"

Miroku and Freeman both shrug:

"Who knows?"

"Depends on how many pieces it broke into from the get-go."

Coraline reaches into the pocket of her jeans, and pulls out the small bottle that held the shards the group does possess:

 _Hm...Well, I'm holding onto the three we have..._

 _There's the one shard within Kohaku's back..._

 _Oh! And then the two embedded in Kōga's legs...Speaking of wolf-boy, we haven't ran into him for a while._

 _...I wonder how he's doing?_

Ayame's POV

I'm sitting on a boulder by the riverside with my fellow wolves, kicking my feet lightly in the water...before stopping and letting out a long, discouraged sigh. One of my friends comes to nuzzle me in comfort, and I wrap an arm loosely around her head while muttering,

"It was a long time ago...but it's still a promise..."

 _(Flash)_

 _I remember, he carried me on his back through the forest after rescuing me, as the rain fell softly on our bodies. I was smaller in those days, and more prone to being attacked by demons who would be bigger and stronger..._

 _As I held my blue iris to my eyes, sad and disappointed with myself from earlier, he says to me,_

 _"Alright, don't overdo it...And when it gets to be too hard, don't you worry."_

 _He turned to me with a grin and promised,_

 _"One day, I'll make you my wife, Ayame."_

 _My heart swelled, and I nodded with my own smile, as we kept our journey on back home..._

 _(Flash)_

"I was just a child back then...so there's not much I can do if Kōga doesn't remember."

I let go of my friend and wonder sadly,

"Maybe I should return to the mountains..."

But as I said that, I remember what Grandfather said to me before I left:

 _(Flash)_

 _"My territory's being overrun...Without the Shikon-no-Tama, we cannot overcome this struggle...Find Kōga, and bring him here as soon as you can."_

 _(Flash)_

I shake my head, reaffirming myself:

"No, I can't give and go home now! (Stands) I'll try again! I'll find him and try one more time!"

With that, I use my demon speed and leap off, following his scent with my friends tagging behind me...

Small Time Skip, No POV

We turn our eyes to the remains of what was once Naraku's castle, it now being searched all over by Kōga, Ginta, Hakkaku and several wolves for any signs of the demon in question...However, much like the group who searched here last, they too came up empty with leads, to which the leading wolf demon would not take to well:

"...I don't like the looks of this at all."

 _(Sniff) This castle reeks of Naraku's scent, yet there's no sign of him at all..._

He walks over to one of the cut marks in the ground made from Inuyasha's Wind Scar during the battle that took place here a while back, and scoops up some of the soil while thinking,

 _This gouge in the land..._

At the same time, Ginta was just finishing writing a quick message to send to someone via the sparrow demon, Yosuzume, while squatting behind one of the more intact houses of the castle, as Hakkaku kept watch so their other friend didn't see what they were up to:

"(Whisper) Hurry with that message, Ginta!"

"(Hiss) I'm writing as fast as I can!...Okay, done."

He then walks over to the black-feathered bird demon who was standing at the ready, and ties the small scroll onto its leg:

"Okay, here it is. You know who to go to; now please hurry!"

The Yoszume caws quietly with a head bop, before silently taking flight from the area. Ginta watches the bird disappear while thinking with a worry brow,

 _I really hope Freeman gets the warning in time, for Coraline's sake at least..._

The two wolf demons then rush to report their search of the castle to Kōga, with Hakkaku quietly asking the other,

"You sure that was a good idea?"

"Not really, but it's better those guys get a heads-up about Ayame before she runs into them..."

Shivering, the two reach their friend, focusing back on what brought them here, with Ginta stating,

"Kōga, the castle is totally empty!"

He stands back up and replies,

"Let's go."

"Huh?" "Where to?"

"Where else? We're gonna find that mangy mutt and question 'im. That stupid mutt's scent is all over the place. Somethin' must've happened between him and Naraku."

"Ah, I get it." "Inuyasha might know something."

(Whoosh)

Kōga creates a whirlwind around his body and starts the trek out the castle and off to where Inuyasha and company would be, with Ginta, Hakkaku and the other wolves rushing behind him:

"Hey, wait!" "Don't leave us!"

As he kept his pace, Kōga concludes,

 _Naraku isn't here, but if he's nearby, he's sure to come after me for the Shikon-no-Tama shards in my legs...!_

(...Ping)

Just as the said pieces of gem emit a faint gleam, deep within the dark and dank basement of the ruined castle... _some shreds of flesh and strands of thick, black hair began to slowly move and mold together..._

Shortly after the first group of wolves and wolf demons leave, the white-furred wolves enter the area, and began sniffing around for their target...Ayame, sitting atop the watchtower, calls them over with a shrill whistle, and they speak through their howls what their noses picked up...

"(Nod) Hmph. I picked up his scent too: Kōga was here not too long ago...Feel that?"

Her eyes turn upward to look around the place, feeling a strange, dark vibe emitting...

"I dunno what it is about this place, but it gives me the creeps..."

(...Rumble)

Suddenly, the earth begins to quake:

"W-What? What was that?"

(CRASH)

Next thing Ayame knew, the dirt uproots, and a massive sphere-shaped monster made entirely of thick tendrils of black hair and a swollen-lipped mouth comes rising from where the basement of the castle would be!

"What is that thing?! Uah!"

(Leap, shoom)

She jumps to the ground and off the watchtower in time to doge a few tendrils, before gasping when she watches two of her wolf companions get grabbed by the hair monster, its intent to obviously consume them! Thinking quickly, Ayame takes out a leaf, and uses it like a throwing star to cut the hair tendrils away, freeing the wolves! They land on the dirt safely, as the hair monster begins to gnarl out a set of razor sharp teeth...

Ayame lets out a growl, before using another one of her abilities: She punches the ground in front of her hard, and summons a torrent of leaves to swarm at the monster, and distract it long enough for her and the wolves to escape...

She's then seen sprinting through the nearby forest far from the castle, but the hair monster was still tailing her. Ayame glances back at it and wonders,

"What is that thing? Why is it after me?"

As she focuses up front, the redheaded wolf demon found that she had caught up with,

"Uh! Ginta! Hakkaku!"

They look back at her, and start to panic:

"Guh! Oh no, it's Ayame!"

"What is she doing here?!" _Oh man, I hope my message made it before now...!_

"How should I know?!"

Ayame would then leap in front of their path and block them from running any further so she could get answers to the following questions:

"Hold it right there! What were you two doing in that creepy castle? Where's Kōga, and what's with that demon?"

"...Demon?"

That was when the hair monster pops out from the tree cover behind them, causing them all to yell in terror, before Ayame uses another leaf shuriken to cut at the beast's hair tendrils to scare it away...As they watched it slither off, Ginta exclaims,

"Did that nightmare come out of Naraku's Castle?!"

"Naraku's...Castle?"

Hakkaku explains to Ayame,

"You don't know because you've been in the mountains with the elder: Our comrades from the North and East have all been slaughtered."

Ginta adds,

"Yeah! A demon named Naraku slayed them all!"

"Poor Kōga's been looking all over for Naraku to get revenge..."

Ayame looks down with sadness in her eyes:

"...I had no idea..."

Ginta's yelp would bring her back to reality, and all three watch as the hair monster returns to attack:

"Gaah, it's coming again!"

They spin around the other direction to start running again, as the beast began crashing through the trees after them...

Freeman's POV

We had just exited the path of the more mountainous cliff ranges not too long ago, entering a new one that ran by a section of woods, and I the next thing I knew, the Yosozume comes swooping down from the sky:

(Screech)

"Huh?"

The others stop as well, just as the sparrow demon lands smoothly on the ground, eyeing me with intent, its leg carrying a message. Shippo asks me from atop my bro's shoulder,

"Isn't that the messenger bird you and Ginta have been using for the last while?"

"It is...though it's a bit strange: Usually, it's a while before I hear back from him, but here we have a letter just fours days after sending mine."

I bend down and take the scroll, giving the bird demon the go-ahead to fly off to who knows...Curious about the more sudden reply, I unroll the parchment...only to furrow my brows in confusion and surprise from such an odd message:

"Oookaaay, this is different..."

"What is it, Freeman?"

I turn to the others and reply to Miroku's question,

"Uh, there's really no other way of describing this: He's basically sent me, or, actually, more so to sis, a warning about someone."

That caused a collective spread of the 'hah?' expression:

"What?"

"Warning?"

"What're you talking about?"

I notice Inuyasha put a protective arm around Coraline with a suspicious air, so I clear my throat and say,

"Just to clarify, the warning's not referring to Kōga...at least, not directly. Ginta's writing's a bit scribbly this round, so he must've done it in a hurry, but from what I can read, he's saying to keep our eyes and ears out for someone named, 'Ayame', due to a, communication blunder of sorts between her and Kōga."

Cora asks me,

"Communication blunder?"

"Yeah, that's where the writing got real messy...but it looks like he might've said something he shouldn't have to this Ayame character, and if Ginta said to warn you, then it must have something to do with unrequited feelings. At least that's what I'm guessing from context."

"...What?!"

My sister facepalms and groans,

"You have got, to be kidding me...(Mutter) Dammit, wolf-boy, what did you do now...?"

Just then, she darts her head up with a stiffened expression, like she sensed something. Inuyasha asks,

"What's wrong now?"

"...The Shikon-no-Tama. I sense pieces of it nearing."

No POV

As she says that, everyone turns to see a familiar tornado heading their way, while Inuyasha frowns deeply, his ears twitching...

"It's that whirlwind!" Freeman mutters after Sango's note,

"Wow, and we were just discussing him. That's crazy timing!"

Inuyasha cracks the knuckles of his clawed fingers with a scoff:

"Thought I smelled somethin'. Now I'm startin' to recognize the stench."

Coraline looks at him with a slightly worried expression:

"...Getting riled up already, are we?"

The dog demon sprints forward, intent fixed on attacking the approaching wolf demon:

"I'll teach that skinny wolf a lesson for comin' here to flirt with Coraline!"

"Inuyasha, wait!"

"Kōga!"

(Bonk)

"Guh!"

But said wolf demon easily hops on the other's head, sending him to the ground, and landing smoothly a few feet from Coraline's direction...

"Inuyasha!"

Coraline leans down to check on him, while sending a glare at the wolf demon:

"Really, Kōga? Ya couldn't have just jumped over him?"

He looks at her and replies casually,

"Hello to you too. Not my fault he was in my path...So, you doin' fine?"

As she pulls Inuyasha to his feet, Coraline replies with a shrug,

"Could be better if my boyfriend wasn't bein' used as a springboard..."

The dog demon looks down at her oddly, but fehs while wrapping an arm around her and sending a glare at Kōga. He in turn watches the physical display and thinks on the word Coraline used to describe Inuyasha, before grumbling to himself in his head,

 _Damn...The mutt's claimed her! Not that I really had a chance looking back, but still!_

Giving himself a headshake, Kōga gets back to what brought him here:

"Hey, mutt, where's Naraku? I know you know, so fess up now."

"Is that really what you came here for?"

"What do you think?"

"Then don't you get any ideas of flirtin' with my intended!"

The others gasp from the sudden outburst, and Coraline blushes deeply from the address:

 _I-Intended?! Oh wow..._

"Tch, like I can't already smell your scents intermingling?! Now hurry up and answer my question!"

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Huh?" "Hm?"

It was then Lumos pops out of Coraline's satchel, and floats between the shouting canine demons as his way to get them to stop...Miroku then cuts into the conversation:

"Take it easy, you two. We're still looking for Naraku as well."

Kōga takes a step back and cools a little as he went into thought:

"That's what I don't understand: What would force Naraku to abandon his castle and run away?"

Besa replies,

"Because he decided to play chicken after seeing what Inuyasha was capable of."

That only confused the wolf demon further, and Inuyasha scoffs with a small smirk before deciding to offer some insight, albeit in a somewhat bragging tone:

"Wanna know the truth, wolf? It's because I busted through Naraku's barrier, (holds up his sword) with the Tessaiga!"

Kōga was awestruck, and the dog demon adds with a smug air,

"Keh, shocked at my strength? Well ya should be!"

"You mean you got that close to Naraku...?"

The wolf demon's expression then turns furious as he yells,

"And you let him get away from you?! How stupid can you get?!"

Inuyasha was taken aback, speechless and unable to reply. Kōga then slaps his forehead and says,

"I don't believe this! (Shakes his head disappointingly) If I'd been there, Naraku would be dead and gone by now!"

The dog demon was now boiling mad, and was readying to brandish his Tessaiga out, despite Coraline's chiding:

"Grrrh, I'm not gonna put up with this...!"

"Inuyasha, please don't let him get to you..."

"Jumping to dumb conclusions...I'll kill him!"

...Suddenly, Kōga snaps into a wary expression, and the sky clouds over with a light rumble of thunder...Coraline shivers, and mutters while Lumos blinks his warning lights of red and white-blue,

"There's a dark Aura approaching..." Inuyasha turns his eyes to the air and adds,

"Yeah...and it's carrying Naraku's scent!"

The sound of crushed greenery is then heard echoing out of the nearby woods, and everyone tenses up on high alert, readying their weapons to attack...But instead of the impending threat, it would be Ginta and Hakkaku coming out of the tree cover with the brown-furred wolves:

"(Pant, pant) Kōga, there's somethin' weird goin on,"

"At Naraku's Castle!"

Before he could reply, Kōga's attention would then be directed, on the hair demon monster, as it sprang into view from the forest with a growl! Coraline's eyes widen as she exclaims,

"Holy-It's gigantic!"

Sango and Miroku ask aloud,

"What is that thing?!"

"Another Naraku incarnation?" Freeman mutters with a weird expression,

"If that's another incarnation, then Naraku's gottin' sloppy in his handy work..."

Besa slaps his arm with a mild glare, while Shippo exclaims with glaring eyes directed at the beast,

"It's some kind-of hair demon!"

Kōga mutters in realization,

"So that's what was in the castle..." Ginta confirms,

"No mistake about it. Ayame saw it too!"

"Ayame? She was with you? Where is she; what happened to her?!"

"We, lost her when we started runnin' from the demon!"

"What's goin' on?"

 _Why didn't I sense this demon sooner?_

If things weren't already startling enough for the mass group, it would be when the hair demon suddenly spoke in a rumbling voice:

 **"Shikon...no-Tama, shards..."**

Kōga tenses, and Inuyasha places an arm in front of Coraline who was standing a few steps behind him:

"Stay back, Coraline! This ugly hair demon must be after you and your jewel shards!"

"...Alright. (Small smirk) Just do what you gotta, and don't let things get so crazy that I have to play hero for you."

The dog demon smirks back at her and replies,

"Keh, that'll be the day," before turning attention to the hair demon:

"You're a real eyesore, demon, but at least you can talk! (Leap) Try chokin' on my fist, hairball!"

Grabbing the monster by one of its tendrils of hair, Inuyasha then flings it over his shoulder and slams it into the rock face of the cliff! The twins cheer at the act, before Freeman realizes,

 _Oh, wait: Since he's here anyway, I might as well see about gettin' a more full story from Ginta and that message he sent..._

Speaking of the wolf demon, he and Hakkaku were in awe from Inuyasha's tactic:

"Wah!"

"Look at that brute strength!"

"...Ginta!"

They turn to see Freeman approaching them in a sprint, and Ginta softly addresses him:

"Freeman..."

"(Pant) I got your message earlier, but ya wrote it so fast that I couldn't read it all. (Forms a serious expression) Mind tellin' me what's goin' on in full regarding this, Ayame person?"

As Ginta begins explaining, with a bit of help from Hakkaku, Inuyasha interrogates the hair demon:

"Answer me: Where's Naraku gone to?"

Instead of offering any sort of reply, the demon then sends a tendril of hair straight towards Coraline! Inuyasha cries out her name in worry, while she prepares to defend herself via her ShatterSoul Sword:

 _(Shing) Damn..._

(Grab)

"Uh!"

But then Kōga swoops in and takes her into his arms to get her out of the line of fire! He calls down below from the air as he leaped up high,

"Mutt, you take care of the demon! I'll get Coraline outta here and someplace safe!"

The redhead of course, was not pleased by his interference:

"Hey! Who said you could just sweep me up into your arms?! I would've slashed the hair away, dammit!"

Ignoring her protests, Kōga uses his demon speed to run down the face of the cliff down to the forest below...Coraline's yelp for Inuyasha echoes up to his ears, and he growls,

"Hey! Rrrgh, he's got some kind-a nerve, I tell ya, and after her protests too!"

 _How dare that mangy wolf make off with my intended!_

(...Snap)

The hair he was holding then breaks at the seams, and the hair demon tumbles down off the cliff...Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Kilala and Besa come to Inuyasha's side, the monk muttering,

"It just, fell..."

Inuyasha groans in frustration, as Sango comments,

"It wasn't too strong considering it was a demon created by Naraku..."

But the dog demon saw through the feign:

"It was no accident: It went down on purpose. That thing's after the Shikon-no-Tama shards!"

By this time, Freeman had finished speaking with Ginta and Hakkaku regarding the message sent before, and he stands up while thinking to himself with a cringe,

 _...That might not be our only problem in the next bit._

Coraline's POV

 _Damn it! I gotta live a_ _déjà vu moment with this guy again?! Ugh, Inuyasha's not gonna be happy about this...  
_

I look up at wolf-boy and try to get his attention as he kept running through treetops with me in his arms:

"Rgh, h-hey, Kōga, where the hell are we going, anyway?!"

"Where? Somewhere where the demon won't come after us!"

"Yeah? Well you're gonna have two pissed off demons after you in the next bit if you don't set me dow-...Hang on, I just remembered something: Kōga, can you tell me who this Aya-"

Just before I could finish my question, we were suddenly attacked by what looked to be leaves imitating throwing stars! Luckily, wolf-boy's faster and leaps onto a large boulder stuck in the mossy grass. I mutter with a groan,

"Now what?"

That was when a young woman, a fellow redhead who looked to be of wolf demon origins dressed in white furs, appears on a rock a couple feet in front of us:

"Kōga!"

"Guh, Ayame!"

I widen my eyes a bit:

 _So this is Ayame...Wonder why she looks so pissed?_

"Kōga! That girl's a mortal, idiot! Are you out of your mind?!"

 _Wait...Oh hell no, does she think-Did he say-?!_

I shove myself away from him to my own feet, a furious expression beginning to form on my face, as Kōga replies,

"No and I don't have time to stand around gabbing!"

He adds to me in a lower tone,

"Coraline, run for it."

"Gh, (glare) not until you explain to me what exactly you told this girl, you idgit!"

Ayame interrupts before I could go on with my own interrogation:

"(Tick-mark) Coraline? Little hussy! That's the name of the so-called fiance you mentioned!"

"Whoa whoa, what?! Kōga said what?!"

She waves her fists in a jealous rage and shouts,

"Kōga is mine!"

(...CLONK)

"Oooow!"

After sending a good suckerpunch to the top of his head, I yell at wolf-boy for his major incompetence:

"Of all the idiot, insensitive, moronic! Kōga, why the hell did you tell this girl that I'm your fiance?!"

"Uuuh...it was the first thing that I blurted out at the time?"

"That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard!"

Ayame's yell cuts in again:

"I'm Kōga's only fiance! You can drop dead!"

(Swipe, slash)

"Uh!" "(Gasp)"

Thankfully, my reflexes and speed have increased in this past while, and I was able to draw my ShatterSoul and use it to cut down on the leaves that were thrown in my direction using my Aura energy...I give the woman Ayame a serious stare while holding my sword in a defensive stance:

"Look, I dunno what the hell he's told you, but he obviously fed you a lie. Now cut the aggression and let's try to talk this out."

Kōga rebuffs me for my move:

"Coraline, are you nuts?! You could've been cut down!"

"Shut up, wolf-boy. You've already dug enough of a grave with me as it is, so don't bother making it deeper."

He recoils in a twinge of fear from how angry I sounded, and then Ayame shouts at him,

"How could you fall for a mortal?! Where's your Wolf Demon Tribe pride?!"

"Lay off! I had feelings for Coraline! You have no right to judge me!"

Her glaring green eyes fall on my form:

"Cor-a-line..." I reply calmly,

"Yes, Ayame?"

"I don't like this!"

"Feelin's mutual, believe me."

"You and share similar looks!"

"Huh? You're, kidding, right?"

 _Sure, we're both redheads, but she's a demon and I'm human. The differences skyrocket from there..._

 _Heeey, wait a minute!_

"We're, both, redheads..."

I whirl around and glare at Kōga, realizing,

"I was another type-cast for you!"

"Huh?!"

I let out a bitter laugh and say in a loud, sarcastic tone,

"Woooow, this is reeeaaal classy, wolf-boy: You're a liar and you've got a thing for fiery redheads. Thanks alot."

"W-Wait, hold on, I didn't-"

He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence, when Ayame argues back in:

"Even if you wanted to marry that girl, you can't go against the tribe's code and marry a mortal!"

"The elder's rules and codes have nothing to do with me! What makes you think I'd say I'd marry you, anyway?!"

The two growl at one another for a moment...before Ayame softly replied,

"You promised me..."

"Uh?"

"(Light blush) On the night of the Lunar Rainbow. Don'tchu remember at all?"

"Lunar...Rainbow?"

I thought on the description of the night in question:

 _A lunar rainbow...Oh! Now I remember: Father once told me about it. It's a rare phenomenon that occurs about the same way a regular rainbow does, but the conditions have to be very precise for it to happen..._

"I was still only a young girl back then..."

I look up out of my thoughts and listen as Ayame describes the night from long ago:

"I was lost near the nests of the Birds of Paradise demons...I was about to be devoured..."

She goes on with how Kōga bravely took down the bird demons, before generously taking Ayame home to her grandfather on his back. Apparently, along the way, he promised to take her as his wife, and during the evening they made the journey back into the Northern Mountains, they were lucky enough to catch the sight of the Lunar Rainbow...

I felt my heart swell a little at her story:

 _Wow...Now that's what I call romantic._

Unfortunately, Kōga's memory seemed shotty with the details:

"A-Are you p-positive I-I-I said that? Are you, sure I said that and not, s-somethin' else?"

Ayame nods, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes...I felt so sorry for her, and immediately began chewing wolf-boy out:

"How can you possibly not remember something so endearing?!"

I look back at Ayame, who clenched her fist over her breast as she adds,

"I kept those words in my heart...(Shouts) They were the only thing that kept me going through the hard training in the mountains!"

 _She...sounds so much like Koharu...with the words that Miroku said to her when she was younger..._

 _God, what the hell's wrong with men these days, with their halfhearted promises?!_

 _...I definitely came off lucky with Inuyasha._

"You're a disgrace to men everywhere, Kōga!"

"Cor-aline..."

"(Point) Look at her: Don't you see what you've done?"

We both turn to see Ayame's hurt and angry expression, her eyes welling deeper in tears...While Kōga starts to sweat nervously, I let out a tired sigh and shake my head, while looking at the fellow redhead in sympathy:

 _I'm so sorry, Ayame..._


	93. Chapter 92

Hey guys!

So, just wanna give a quick heads-up: I've added a scene at the end of this latest adventure for my OC and Inuyasha that will contain some discreet hints of nudity, but nothing tasteless that requires a higher rating! This is merely a try at some light sensuality and tenderness between the characters, not sexuality and smut! You'll get it once it happens...

That's it. Anyway, read, enjoy, review!

* * *

 **Chapter 92: Kōga's Bride-to-be & Inuyasha's Intended**

(Dash...Leap)

Continuing where we last left the action, Inuyasha was now sprinting along a path within the woods below the cliff side to find Coraline and Kōga while hunting down the hair demon, with the twins, Ginta, Hakkaku and the wolves running not too far behind, and Sango, Miroku and Shippo riding on Kilala's true form in the air. As they moved along, the monk asks the slayer,

"Do you think Naraku sent that hair demon as a diversion for us?" She replies simply,

"We'll find out once we capture it." Shippo wonders,

"Maybe it knows where to find Naraku."

Freeman was a bit skeptical of such a suggestion:

"I dunno: That hulk of hair didn't look too bright to me. I'm almost wondering if this could be another case like that Muso guy..."

Besa asks,

"You mean, you think that while it comes from Naraku, it may have more free will?"

"Maybe...Like Sango said, we'll find out when we find it."

Ginta and Hakkaku ask,

"What do guys mean by, 'more free will'?"

"Are you sayin' some of Naraku's demons aren't completely on his side?"

The twins reply with matching sighs,

"It's a long story..."

Inuyasha cuts into everyone's chatter by saying,

"How 'bout we save the talk for after we rescue Coraline!"

He adds to himself in a mutter,

"I hope you're safe, Coraline..."

Coraline's POV

 _Good lord, what a mess...and this time I'm not talking about Naraku's demons._

While wolf-boy was sulking on his arse on top the boulder he was previously standing on, I myself moved to sit with Ayame on a fallen log behind the boulder she was standing on to get to know her more (and hopefully get rid of any lingering jealousy she held against me). I watch Lumos fly overhead between the treetops, smiling thankfully that he tailed me and Kōga, before focusing my eyes on the fellow redhead:

"So, the elder of the Wolf Demon Tribe's your grandfather? That's cool."

She looks at me calmer than earlier while holding her right arm in a modest-like gesture:

"That's right. I call him gramps."

"(Nod) Alright...If you'll pardon my prying, what reason specifically do you have in coming down from the Northern Mountains and finding Kōga? There must be more than seeking requisition in past feelings."

"...Yes, there is."

Ayame sits down beside me and explains:

"A strange miasma has descended from the Northern Mountains recently."

"I see...Can you describe to me the nature of the miasma?"

"Gramps said it smells of a demon."

I narrow my eyes in thought:

"A demon, huh?" _I wonder..._

"Mhm...Around the time when the miasma had descended, infighting had increased among the wolf demon tribes, in the East and North, and in those of South and West."

"Well, that doesn't sound right. Would it not make more sense for the tribes to unite against the new threat?"

"(Nod) That's exactly why gramps decided to marry me off to one of the strong, young warriors to rebuild an alliance."

I widen my eyes a bit:

"O-Oh. In other words, an arranged, political marriage? (Sympathetic smile) That mustn't be very easy to comprehend."

"Yes. Luckily, Kōga and I were already promised to eachother."

Said wolf-boy calls from his seat,

"I'd think I'd remember if we were!" I shoot a glare at him and call back,

"Shut your yap, wolf-boy! (Turns back around) Sorry, Ayame; go on."

"Gramps believed that Kōga would be able to find followers. And I didn't mind the thought of marrying Kōga."

I smile knowingly at her form:

 _To her, Kōga is the only man she wants, marriage aside..._

"Damn! Everyone's gettin' all worked up over a stupid miasma! Your role might be to make peace, but all you gotta do is crack their heads together and they'll start listenin'!"

Ayame and I whirl around to stand and glare at Kōga for making such a tactless suggestion:

"If it we're that easy, we would've done it! In order to bring the tribes together, we need their trust. Us getting married and settling down is the only solution!"

"She makes a good case, Kōga: Using brawn alone is not going to make everyone listen. You need to use brains too, and from what I can tell, it seems the wolf demons need your brawn and Ayame's brain, so quit your bellyachin'!"

"Sorry, but it just ain't my style."

Ayame was appalled by such a dry brush-off:

"Kōga!"

He gets up to his feet and makes his own case:

"What I wanna do more than anythin' right now is get Naraku's head! I don't have time for anythin' else in my life right now, got it?"

I shake my head from such a goal:

 _He sounds like how Inuyasha used to sound in the beginning of this whole escapade...But is that really all the future you can see, Kōga?_

"You won't change your mind?"

"No chance! Go back to the mountain!"

I had enough of how macho he was playing off, so I stepped over and backhanded his cheek:

(Slap)

"Ouch!"

"You're an idiot, ya know that? Ayame's pouring her heart out to you, offering you more than just seeking vengeance on that demon bastard, Naraku, and you're just gonna toss it aside like it's nothing?! I can't believe this!"

"Coraline..."

"Forget Naraku for a second: What are you gonna do with your life afterwards, Kōga? Where will your meaning lie?"

I gesture towards Ayame:

"Ayame is a great girl, a perfect fit for you. Don't just push her out of your life; include her in it."

...The grounds fall silent for a moment, with Ayame looking at me in astonishment at my defense, I smiling at her, before wolf-boy finally speaks up:

"Ayame...maybe you should stop listening to what the elder says and start doin' what you wanna do."

I was taken aback by what he told her, as was she...Before this conversation could go any further, Lumos then comes darting towards me while bopping up and down in warning:

"What? What is it, Lumos?"

"Ayame, this conversation is over."

"Huh? Kōga, what-"

 _Wait...I feel something approaching..._

Ayame gasps, and turn around to the direction that Kōga was looking:

"It's a Demonic Aura..."

I curse, realizing,

"It's gotta be that hairball from earlier!" Kōga growls,

"Damn that Inuyasha! He must've let the demon get away! (Sniff) I can smell it's close by..."

Gritting my teeth, I pull out my combat knife, deciding that rushing with my sword in hand probably wasn't a good idea, and call to my Will O' Wisp companion,

"Lumos! Help me search for the other's Auras!"

"(Ghostly moan)"

He glides down to rest on my extended fingertips, and lends me his strength to increase my powers of detection:

(Sheen)

 _Hm...I can sense they're following the hair demon's trail, and_ _it_ _is using its tendrils to pull itself along in the trees...Okay._

"Thank you, Lumos."

He moves to float beside me, and as my Aura energy cancels out, Ayame asks me while looking at me in surprise,

"What, exactly did you and that spirit-thing do?"

"(Smile) He's what's known in my home country as a Will O' Wisp, an entity made up similarly to a spirit, (giggle) but with the tenacity of a fairy. And he just assisted me by increasing my Aura Sight so I could search for everyone else."

"I, see..."

"Now then...(Frown) We've got two options: We can either try and outrun the monster to group back up with the others, or wait here and distract it long enough for everyone to meet with us. What do the two of you think?"

Kōga cuts in with a finger pointing to the treetops in front of us:

"I don't think we'll have much a choice in a second!"

(Rustle, shoom)

It was then several black tendrils of the hair demon come shooting out of the leaves and branches and towards us! We all hop out of the way in time, the tendrils connecting with upturned dirt, and wolf-boy shouts to it,

"Hey, demon! I'll take you on and you can answer a few questions for me, got it?!"

I groan and call back,

"Oi! Save the interrogation crap for after it's taken down, will ya?!"

 _'Course, that's assuming we last long enough to do so...Inuyasha, please hurry!_

Inuyasha's POV

After a bit, we reach one part of the woods that had some strands of black hair hanging from a few high tree branches. I stop to catch my breath and mutter,

"Grh, where'd he go? That way?"

My ears then pick up on movement above me, and I look up, only to dodge in a leap from the strands of hair that came shooting at me!

 _What the hell?!_

Shippo cries out,

"The hair is coming after us!"

Sango and Miroku leap off of Kilala at the ready:

"To stall us?"

"It doesn't want to let us pass!"

They then start fighting off the hair remnants, as do the twins, Ginta and Hakkaku when the hair starts shooting at the wolves and themselves:

"Whoa!"

"Hey!"

(Whack)

"Seriously?!"

(Slice, slice)

"As if we don't have enough problems right now!"

Miroku then calls to me,

"Inuyasha: Go to Coraline and make sure she's alright!" Freeman adds,

"We can take these wig rejects fine; just find sis and keep her safe 'til we can all catch up!"

I claw down some of the hair before calling over my shoulder back at them,

"On my way!"

With that, I take off in a leap, muttering under my breath,

"I'll save you, Coraline..."

 _Defend yourself as best you can until I reach you._

No POV

As the two wolf demons and human straighten up at the ready to fight the hair demon, it jeers,

" **You won't get away now! I'll devour you all along with the Shikon-no-Tama shards!** "

Kōga then asks,

"Ayame, I shouldn't be askin' you this, but would you take care of Coraline?"

"Who me? Look after her?"

"Coraline, you wait here with Ayame." Said redhead replies in a bristled tone,

"Excuse me, do I look like a helpless villager to you?! Kōga!"

He just leaps off into battle, jaunting back at the hair demon,

"Tch, size isn't all that counts, big guy! Just wait and see!"

He jumps up and seizes one of the tendrils of hair, and uses it to swing over a tree branch:

"Up, and over! Hrrraaahhhh!"

(Kick, shatter)

Kōga breaks off two of the monster's sharp teeth, and lands back on the ground poised to attack again:

"You've come this far to hunt me down, (springs forward) now how 'bout you tell me where Naraku is!"

But before he could get close enough, the hair demon suddenly flashes a bright light from its mouth, temporarily blinding Kōga and leaving him wide open to be attacked, while the hair that was on the branch breaks away to hover in mid-air! Coraline calls out,

"The hair broke away from the main mass!"

Ayame acts quickly and uses her leaf shuriken to cut the hair away, while Kōga becomes entangled by the hair monster's tendrils!

"Kōga! Aaaah!"

In her rush to help a fellow wolf demon, Ayame is then caught in the hair too! Coraline grits her teeth, before running forward and pulling out her sword for her left hand, combat knife in her right:

"Let's see if all that training's paid off...Hrgah!"

(Slash, slash)

She uses her sword to send an Aura attack onto the main mass of the tendril while cutting back a few straggling strands with her knife, releasing Ayame, and causing the redheaded wolf demon to fall to the ground while still caught in some black hair. She looks over at Coraline in shock:

 _What was that? That attack had spiritual energy in it..._

 _Is Coraline...a priestess...or something else?_

Meanwhile, Kōga curses at the hair demon while trying to pull himself out of its hold:

"D-Damn, you...!"

Sheathing her sword, Coraline rushes to free Ayame first:

"Hang on. I'll get this beast off you in a sec!"

She starts hacking at the hairs with her combat knife, when Ayame asks,

"Why don't you get away?"

"What're you talkin' about?"

"Kōga is doing this for you. He's doing it to protect you!"

"If he is, which I doubt, he's an idiot to keep tryin' for my attention."

"Huh?"

Coraline smiles at Ayame and says,

"If he should be fighting for someone, it's you, Ayame. Wolf-boy lost his chance long before he even met me. There's only one man who's won my heart, and his name, is Inuyasha."

The red-haired wolf demon stared at the human girl before her, before turning her eyes to Kōga as he kept struggling to get out of the hair that bound him:

 _...Kōga..._

(Shoom)

"Auh!" "Ah!"

More of the black tresses then shot straight at the two women, before:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash)

Inuyasha appears and claws it away just in time! Coraline beamed at him:

"Inuyasha!"

He lands swiftly on the ground and asks in a serious and worried tone,

"Are you alright, Coraline?"

She nods, and stands up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek:

"I am now that you've arrived. Thank you."

The dog demon's cheeks flush a bit from the show of affection, while Ayame watches with awe:

 _So this is Inuyasha? And, that kiss she gave him...She must be taken with him._

 _I guess this explains why I caught a bit of the scent of half-dog lingering with her human scent..._

Once he was assured that Coraline had no injuries, Inuyasha turned to scold the other wolf demon for his latest actions:

"Kōga, what do you think you're doin'?! How could you put Coraline, my intended, in danger like this?!"

Coraline's cheeks got rosy again from the title and mutters,

"There's that word again, 'intended'...What does that mean?"

"You don't know?"

"Hm?"

She looks down to Ayame, who gives her a small smile and whispers,

"I suppose it's to be expected since you're human, but when a demon calls someone their 'intended', it's basically the first step to being called their mate."

"Guh! R-Really?"

"Mhm."

"...Oh wow..."

The hushed conversation between the girls is interrupted by Kōga barking back at Inuyasha,

"Duh, look who's talkin'! This is all your fault for letting the demon escape!"

"I'll protect Coraline, so you just stay out of this, wolf cub!"

"I'm the one who's gonna protect her!"

"You're doin' a lousy job so far!"

The wolf demon male growls, before Coraline steps in to break the dispute:

"Guys, enough! Look, seeing as you're both here, why don't we all tag-team on this hairball once and for all?"

"Rgh, Coraline...!"

Ayame wonders to herself,

 _Wait, is Kōga..._

As they turn to face the more pertinent problem, Coraline warns,

"Inuyasha, be careful: The hair on this monster's stronger than it looks."

Said dog demon unsheathes his Tessaiga at the ready:

"Keh, don't worry, Coraline, just watch me: I'll take 'em with just one strike of my Wind Scar!...Better yet..."

He turns to her with a grin and says,

"Let's blow this beast sky-high with that combo attack of your blade and mine."

"Uh...(Smile) Good idea: No way it can survive that."

As Coraline switches up from her knife to her sword, Kōga grumbles bitterly,

"Damn, mutt! Trust you to come in and get all the glory, while taking Coraline for the ride...I'm gonna get the demon!"

Ayame's eyes widen a bit further:

 _...Is it possible he still has a sliver of unrequited love for her?_

 _Or, is he just jealous of Inuyasha's strength? It's kind-a hard to tell..._

(Drag)

"Ah!"

Before she could think further, Ayame then felt her body being pulled closer to the hair demon, same with Kōga!

" **I'll devour you whole, shards and all!** "

Coraline hitches her breath, before saying to Inuyasha,

"Change of plans: I'll use my blade to free Ayame, you free Kōga!"

"What?!"

"We can't allow this beast to win and devour either, nor get its mitts on the jewel shards! You know I'm right!"

...Inuyasha groans a bit but nods all the same, before readying to make the first move:

"Kuh, I really couldn't care less what happens to Kōga..."

Coraline speeds over to where Ayame was, as Inuyasha finishes,

"But I can't let you have the Shikon-no-Tama!"

He then leaps up and uses his blade to cut down the hair, but they only separate!

"Man! I got nothin' but hair!"

(Snare)

"Guh!"

He's then entangled by the strands, and tied down to some tree trunks and rocks...Coraline wasn't anymore successful:

"Hrraah!"

(Slash)

"Damn!"

"Watch out!"

(Snare)

Ayame's warning came a few seconds too late, and Coraline would become caught in the separated hair strands too, binding her left wrist tightly to her side and forcing her to drop her sword, while tangling one of her ankles to the other redhead's!

"Agh!"

"Coraline!" "Coraline!"

She drops to her knees and mutters in strain,

"Should'a gone with a different strategy...!"

Lumos darts down to float by Coraline while moaning in concern, as the hair demon speaks up once again, its appearance now with less black hair and more exposed greenish flesh with the pattern likeness to a tortoise shell, gloating its success in restraining the fighters:

" **(Laugh) No one will stop me now! Now that I've finally been freed from Naraku!** "

Inuyasha curses the beast:

"Damn you...!" But then he backtracks on what it just said:

"...What?"

" **I will use the Shikon-no-Tama's power and return to my former self!** "

"What?!"

It was then another piece of the group arrives, that being Sango, Miroku and Shippo aboard Kilala:

"Coraline!" "Coraline!"

"Is everyone alright?"

Said redhead grits her teeth but calls with a grimacing smile,

"Could be better, but nothing terrible's happened yet, so I'm staying positive!"

After the twin-tailed cat demon lands, Sango readies to rush to Coraline's side, but was stopped by her urging,

"No, don't! If you get too close, you'll just get snared with me and Ayame! Best to keep a distance for now..."

"Ayame? Is that the name of the girl with you?"

"Yeah. (Smiles at Ayame) She's another wolf demon, great girl, who just happens to be Kōga's fiance."

The three arrivals gape and shout,

"Fiance?!"

"I'll regale that tale later. Wait, where's Freeman, Besa, Ginta and Hakkaku?"

Shippo replies,

"They're coming; they just said to go on ahead!"

"Gotcha..."

Miroku then focuses on the hair demon:

"What's the demon's story? Where did it come from?" Coraline explains,

"Same hair monster, just more revealed, and according to it, they were released from Naraku not too long ago."

Inuyasha demands more answers from said beast:

"Tell us what this is all about!"

" **That Naraku...He abandoned the castle, and me along with it!** "

Sango was taken aback by its bitter story:

"Meaning it wasn't another one of Naraku's incarnations?" Coraline concludes,

"They must've been another castaway part, like what happened with Onigumo/Muso, but with more assurance on not being useful anymore."

Shippo comments,

"Yeah, I can see him getting left behind..."

Inuyasha scoffs,

"I should've known: You're too ugly to be one of Naraku's demons!"

He then tears himself out of the binding hairs, and lands back on the ground near where Kōga was laying:

"What were you thinkin', Kōga? Wasting your time scrapin' with this big hairball..."

(Ping...)

The jewel shards in the wolf demon's legs glow, and the power breaks the hair strands off of him, allowing him to stand up again:

"Yeah, well..."

He then walks over to where Coraline and Ayame are, and glances at the first redhead while asking,

"You okay gettin' out yourself?"

Coraline was surprised by the question, but nods, before reaching down with her free hand to get her combat knife and slash her way out with assistance from Lumos in finding the weakest points in the strands...At the same time, Kōga used the energies of the jewel shards to free Ayame by waving his foot over the hair strands binding her. He then grabs her hand, before flinging her backwards over to where the rest stood, she managing to maneuver safely to an upright landing...!

"I guess I'll have to protect you as well, Ayame! Stay there and out of the way!"

Coraline rolls her eyes at Kōga, before moving to stand by Inuyasha while putting away her knife, and picking up her dropped sword:

"He's really making it difficult for any woman to like him. Anyway, I'm feelin' fine and ready to go. You?"

"Uh, (nod) yeah. Just stay close, alright?"

"Right."

"Yo, mutt!"

Their eyes turn to Kōga, who adds,

"I'll come back and deal with you later," before moving forward to the hair demon. Inuyasha calls back sarcastically,

"Oh really?"

The wolf demon slams his fist to his open palm in an angry gesture and shouts,

"Hey, demon: Sorry to hear about your sob story in bein' abandoned! Does that mean, (dash) you don't know where Naraku is?!"

(PUNCH)

He socks the monster right in the upper lip, the impact causing the body to start splitting apart! Everyone gasps, and Miroku calls out,

"Don't be so hasty, Kōga! We still have questions to ask it!"

"Oh don't worry. You'll get your opportunity. (Knuckle crack) Now, demon: Tell us everything you know, or you'll be sorry."

The hair demon, despite the hit it took, laughs and replies,

" **It's useless to search for him: Naraku has escaped to a place where no one can touch him!** "

That took everyone by surprise, and Kōga asks,

"What do ya mean 'where no one can touch him'?!"

" **(Laugh) Unfortunately for you, that's all I know. Naraku cut me off before he could accomplish his plans. I don't know what Naraku intends to do next. (Laugh) Serves you right!** "

Miroku narrows his eyes and notes,

"It appears to be telling the truth," making Inuyasha and Coraline scoff,

"Damn! Not a single scrap we can use."

"Too cryptic to make any sense..."

Kōga replies to them,

"Hmph. If he doesn't know, then there's not much we can do."

He then cracks his knuckles with a smirk and adds,

"Not much, but there's one thing this trash of a demon is good for!"

He then launches a punch into the hair demon's mouth, only for it to be engulfed!

"Gh! Hey, let go of my arm!"

Ayame gasps, and takes out the iris in her hair before rushing in to help:

"Kōga!"

"Ayame!"

She uses the sharp end of her iris hairpin to stab the hair monster's lip, causing it to release a miasma cloud from its open wound up top, to which Sango would note:

"She's dispelled the Demonic Aura!" Miroku knew instantly what caused it:

"It's the spiritual power of the iris!"

" **Grrrrh, I'll devour you!** "

Kōga pulls his arm out from the demon's mouth as it shouted its threat...

"Kōga!"

"Ayame!"

He embraces the female wolf demon, just as the hair demon clamps its jaws onto both and swallows them!

"The demon's eaten them!" Coraline calls after Shippo,

"Ayame! Kōga!"

Inuyasha curses mentally:

 _Damn! I can't use the Wind Scar!_

" **Finally! I have the Shikon-no-Tama shard inside me! Hrr-rrh?** "

The beast's boasting would be cut short, as their body begins to emit a bright light, before:

(...BOOM)

It exploded into pieces! The rest of the group watches with horrified expressions...but then the smoke dissipates, revealing Ayame in a kneel while Kōga stood near in a kicking position!

"He never stood a chance..."

Ayame then sees some blood dripping from a wound in the other's arm:

"(Gasp) Kōga! Your arm...This is my fault for jumping in..."

"Psh, this is nothin' but a flesh wound..."

He then goes to pick up a piece of the fallen hair demon, just as the last of our large group finally catches up:

"Heeey!" "Kōga!"

"You guys!" "(Pant) Aw, did we miss the action?"

Coraline rushes to greet her brothers:

"Freeman, Besa!"

They share a group hug, before looking at the damage across the forest floor:

"Whoa, what the heck happened here?!"

"Is, that all that's left of the hair demon?"

"Pretty much..."

Meanwhile, Kōga's eyes focused on his two buddies and the wolves:

"You finally caught up."

He tosses the piece of the hair demon for Ginta to catch, before telling him and Hakkaku,

"I want you two to remember that scent. Make sure all the wolves do too."

They nod, while Miroku asks,

"Are you planning on using the demon's scent to have your wolves search the surroundings for Naraku's whereabouts?"

Inuyasha scoffs with a smug smile,

"Kuh, as if that'll work! If mere wolves were able to sniff Naraku out, I'd have done a long while ago...Hm?"

He then sees that the wolf demon wasn't in his line of vision:

"Hey, where'd he go? Kōga?"

Inuyasha would spot him walking to where Coraline was, and began growling,

"Why that lousy...!"

But, she sees him coming, and turns Ayame around from her position so she and Kōga were facing one another, before clapping both their shoulders:

"I'll leave you two to it."

"Guh!" "U-Uh..."

Coraline eyes the male wolf demon with a serious look:

"You already have an obligation to one redhead, Kōga, and I am with Inuyasha. Simple, as that."

The rest watch the scene with wide eyes, Inuyasha's being the greatest:

 _...Coraline..._

She then feels two different arms go around her shoulders, and sees them to belong to her brothers:

"Well said, Cor."

"Yeah. So, I'm guessing things between you and Ayame are, no longer awkward?"

"Nope. I mean, (smiles at Ayame) as long as she thinks so. Right?"

"Uh...(Nods with a smile back) Yeah. We're good."

"Cool...Now Kōga."

The wolf demon flinches back nervously from the stare that Coraline gave him, she asking sternly,

"Are you quite sure you don't remember your promise of marriage to Ayame?"

"L-Like I said, I, don't remember."

"Think carefully: Back during the Lunar Rainbow, what do you remember saying to her?"

Kōga puts a hand under his chin in thought:

"Hm, let's see...Moon's...Rainbow..."

That's when it hits him:

"(Gasp) Oooh man..."

He recalls highlights of the day in question, his promise sounding a bit more halfhearted to his ears back then, and forms a rather panicked expression, to which Freeman would catch and smirk at:

 _Ah-huh. Yep; took the dude long enough to remember..._

 _(Frown) Now how will he choose to respond: Letting it down easy, or Coward's Route?_

Kōga recomposes himself before saying,

"(Gulp) U-Uh, sorry, but I still don't remember."

Coraline doesn't buy his answer, and asks a bit gentler,

"Really? Do you not even remember the rainbow?"

"Like I said, I really don't remember. Besides, she was, (gestures) tiny..."

Ayame turns away from him, a frown on her lips, causing Kōga to chagrin, while the three modern teens sigh in exasperation:

"What a drag..."

"No kidding..."

"And how..."

The male wolf demon adds,

"It was a long, long, time ago..."

Coraline moves to stand beside Ayame, who was playing with one of her pigtails in an uncomfortable manner, before the former gently places a hand on the latter's shoulder with a concerned expression:

"...Ayame?"

"(Awkward smile) He's right; let's just forget about the past."

She turns to Kōga and says to him,

"I understand how important it is for you to go after this Naraku..."

Back a ways, Sango, Miroku and Shippo ponder the situation among themselves in a whisper:

"Does this mean Coraline might have been a part of a short love triangle?"

"I don't think so: It's more like Ayame came to take him back with her, plus both ladies look to bear no ill will against one another. If anything, Coraline is encouraging the other."

"Not to mention Coraline and Inuyasha are now together. But it looks like Kōga must have a thing for red-haired women, not that anyone can blame him...Coraline is really pretty and seems to attract alot of attention from guys even when she doesn't see it."

The twins, who have caught onto the conversation by now, smile wryly from Shippo's comment:

"Careful that Inuyasha doesn't hear you say that, Shippo."

"Yeah, or you might in trouble."

"Huh? Why's tha-Gh!"

He then sees the said dog demon looking at him with a scowl, his ears twitching, indicating he didn't miss a single word...Shippo yelps before ducking behind Miroku in a panic, while Besa gives the other a look that said 'Go easy on the kid', causing Inuyasha to turn away with a scoff, fixing his eyes back on Coraline who was standing by Ayame as Lumos came floating to her side:

 _Hmph...The only reason she doesn't see the other men who look at her, is because I'm the only one she should, and does look at._

Getting back to Ayame and Kōga, she says to him,

"Get your revenge on Naraku, and gramps and I will somehow manage to work things out with the others."

"Okay."

"Hm...(Determined smile) Remember though, that doesn't mean I'll stop hoping you'll live up to your promise."

Everyone was taken aback by how sure she sounded, and Ayame adds,

"I'm the only one who can be your wife." Kōga replies in a panic,

"Du-uh, my woman has to be able to s-sense the jewel shards!"

He pulls Coraline over as an example:

"Oh!"

"Like, Coraline! She can sense them!"

She of course, does not take kindly to such a description:

"(Irritable glare) Oh yes, how could I possibly forget that in the beginning, you only wanted me for my detection abilities?"

"Huh?"

Yanking her arm away, she goes to stand by Inuyasha while folding her arms with a frown:

"Strike one, forgetting a promise. Strike two, using me as a telescope for the jewel shards. And finally, strike three, pursuing me when I clearly wasn't interested, until I had to threaten your hide. (Sarcastic smirk) What a guy..."

Her twin brothers hold their sides as they tried to contain their laughter, while Inuyasha stares down at her in surprise for a second...before pulling her to his side while saying with a scoff,

"Feh, glad you and I are on the same page. (Grumble) I should kick his ass for even taking you in the first place..."

"No need. (Whispers) I think Ayame's been punishment enough."

Meanwhile, Ayame thinks on what Kōga said:

"She can? She can sense where they are? Uh...(Firm frown) Then I'll make myself able to sense them too!"

That took everyone by even more surprise...Kōga mutters with a dumbfounded expression,

"You, will, will ya? (Smirk) A-As if you could do that." Ayame exclaims with determination,

"I can!"

Kōga stubbornly replies,

"You can't!"

"I can, I said!"

"You can't, I said!"

They growl at one another, when a third voice beckons,

"And I say, why not?"

"Huh?"

They turn to look at Coraline, who held a bemused smile:

"Nothing is impossible these days. I like her confidence, and she's shown to have a fair amount of spiritual power with her iris flower. It won't be an easy feat, but I think she has the potential."

The two wolf demons gape at her...before Ayame breaks into a spout of giggles, causing Kōga to ask,

"What's so funny?" She claps his shoulders and says with a flirty smile,

"You'll find out later, Kōga," before turning to head on her way.

"Hey, wait...!"

"See ya! And Coraline, glad you support!"

The other redhead smiles and waves back:

"Of course! We redheaded women gotta stick together! See you around, and good luck!"

(Whoooosh...)

With that, Ayame was gone in a whirlwind of leaves...Once everyone else's shock began wearing off, Shippo asks,

"Hey, Miroku: If a person trained, can a person make themselves see the Shikon-no-Tama shards like Coraline?"

"I, highly doubt it...though Coraline seems to believe Ayame could." Sango comments,

"Ayame certainly believes she can do it." Shippo adds,

"Both of them have alot of confidence..."

Kōga mutters,

"That fool, Ayame..."

"You're the fool in this chapter, Kōga."

"Hm?"

He turns to Coraline, who smiles a bit exasperatingly at him and says,

"Think about it: Who could she be doing this for? Who was the one who mentioned the daft suggestion of needing a life partner who can detect jewel shards, hm?"

"Uh..."

She give him a nod with the 'mmmm-hm' sound, before Inuyasha cuts in:

"Okay, Kōga, now that that's settled, (knuckle crack) why don't you hand over the jewel shards you have to somebody who can make good use of 'em?"

He then tries to dash and claw at the wolf demon's legs, but the latter would jump away in time, leaving the former to connect with dirt.

"No way!"

He sends a smile down at Coraline and waves goodbye:

"See ya, Coraline, and...maybe you're right."

Kōga would then shift into his own whirlwind and head out of the small clearing in the forest, with Ginta, Hakkaku and the wolves following shortly after:

"Goodbye!"

"Bye, you guys! Freeman, next letters soon?"

The dark-skinned boy gestures a thumbs-up with a smile:

"Count on it! Stay safe!"

The wolf demon tribe members would then be gone...Inuyasha to grumble to himself on his miss:

"Lucky move..."

Coraline smiles worriedly at him, while Miroku says to him calmly,

"You know, Inuyasha, I think that idea about Kōga using his wolves makes alot of sense."

The dog demon disagreed:

"No chance: It's way too simple! If his scent could be tracked, why would Naraku leave such trash behind?"

He stands up and adds,

"It's the source of his scent. That'd be way too sloppy!"

Everyone looks to Inuyasha in awe from the deduction, and Miroku mutters,

"You're right...!"

"It's like Naraku's completely confident that no one will find 'im. He doesn't even care if anyone tries!"

"Hm. That makes alot of sense."

There's a short pause, with Inuyasha smiling proudly to himself...until Miroku urges,

"And?"

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb. Where do you think Naraku went? Come on, share your theory with us."

Another moment of silence passes...before Inuyasha smirks, walks backwards to the monk, and spins around while saying in a low tone,

"Hmph. You'll have to figure it out for yourself."

Miroku sighs, and Sango deducts in her own thoughts,

 _In other words, he hasn't figured it out yet..._

Shippo clenches one of his fists and thinks to himself,

 _I'll have to be sharper than ever!_

Coraline, however, would narrow her eyes in thought, as do her brothers:

 _Inuyasha does make a valid point..._

"According to the demon, Naraku is suppose to be in a place no one can reach him..."

"Where could that be?"

"Beyond Edo, the cosmos? Who knows..."

Time Skip

Night comes to share its peace-filled darkness with the lands, and we return to the shallow riverside where fireflies lived in abundance, as Kōga stands alone, deep in thoughts from past, and recent events:

"We were close to the river on that night..."

His gaze catches a small rainbow reflecting from the small waterfall that made some of the river, and clenches the hilt of his sword while vowing,

 _I won't let Naraku get the better of me...but, there's no guarantee that I'll be alive after my revenge._

He watches the seven-toned beam of light fade away, and softly mutters,

"Ayame, forget about that night we saw that rainbow..."

And he turns to walk away, his body highlighted in the full moon glow...

Somewhere else in a vast field of long grass, another wolf demon would be wandering in thought while her gaze fixated on the moon, a gentle breeze billowing through her hair:

 _I won't forget...I won't ever forget that you protected me..._

 _...Even if the rainbow fades._

We jump over to a knoll just outside the treeline of the forest clearing where today's earlier battle took place, as Coraline and Inuyasha lay back in the green while looking up at the glittering sky. Inuyasha complains,

"Damn it!...Just when I became able to break through Naraku's barrier..."

"Hey, it's not like you didn't damage the bastard in some way...As long as we all keep searching, his hiding place will be uncovered sooner than later."

Inuyasha sits up and pries,

"And exactly who do you mean by all?"

Coraline feigns ignorance and replies with a small smile,

"Dunno. You tell me."

"Are you including Kōga? Kuh, you even said he was lousy at keeping promise to that fiance of his. You're actually not gonna trust him after this, are you?"

"(Raises a brow) With matters of the heart? Certainly not. Battling a common enemy? Yes, for the more allies we have, the better. (Small smirk) Why? Is the big bad dog demon still jealous of wolf-boy, even after all this time?"

He sputters,

"Course not! I'm not jealous!"

"You su~re?"

Finally catching the teasing tone, Inuyasha growls and does something new: He lunges at little at Coraline, and nips the side of her ear!

"Uh! I-Inuyasha!"

"Don't, mess with me like that, got it?"

Coraline's face heats up from how...husky his tone sounded, before she meekly replies,

"'K-Kay, sorry...You know I love you and only you, right?"

Inuyasha hmphs...but then lightly kisses her cheek and says a bit gentler,

"Yeah, I do...and, I love you."

Panning out, we see that everyone else was sitting in a small group of their own behind the two, with Shippo asleep in Freeman's lap, he sitting on Miroku's right, while Kilala was snoozing away on Sango's lap, she on the monk's left, and Besa on her right...

"Nice work, my friend."

Sango sighs a bit, while Freeman nudges Miroku and hisses,

"Dude, don't damper their moment..."

A small bead of sweat rolls down Inuyasha's face, his nerves getting the better of him as he remembered the audience, and moves to lay back down in the grass, his head turned away from Coraline with a small blush:

"J-Just watch what you say, okay?"

Coraline watches him with a small, knowing smile:

 _Heh, he just doesn't like showing too much PDA..._

 _(Sigh) But that's okay: We just need to be a bit more gradual in letting it show._

She then moves to lay down beside him, scooting in close to the side of his body. Very slowly, she feels an arm drape over her, and her smile grows:

 _Just like this..._

 _...I hope Ayame and Kōga can be together like us someday, with their feelings._

"Hm...The Lunar Rainbow..."

"Keh, there ain't no such thing as a rainbow at night."

"Sure there is...It just takes the right eyes for it to be seen."

"Really?"

Inuyasha firms his focus to see if he can spot the phenomenon, while everyone else looks at the moon itself with a smile, letting its light bathe them in night's tranquility...

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

We had all fallen asleep around a campfire we built on a patch of dry dirt on the knoll about two hours ago...when I suddenly felt someone nudging me:

"Coraline...Coraline..."

"Mm...m-mm?"

I blink my eyes awake, and my vision focuses to see Inuyasha hovering over me with an intent expression.

"Inu-yasha?"

"You awake?"

"(Tired sigh) I am now..."

I sit up from the grass and stretch my arms while asking in a quiet tone to not disturb the others,

"What's up?"

He doesn't answer for a moment, looking to the side with a nervous expression...

"Inuyasha?"

"I was, wonderin', if you're not too tired...if you, wanna come with me, to t-this hot spring not too far from here?"

I was caught quite off-guard by the question, especially by how, meek he sounded:

"...What? S-Serious?"

"Yeah..."

"Um...is there a, particular reason why you're asking?"

"Well, I keep smellin' wolf on your clothes, and a bit's on my own person too...It might not be a bother to you, since you're human, but it bugs me."

"O-Oh...Is it really that strong?"

"It is to my nose..."

 _Hm...I don't want him to feel threatened in any way by another guy...but to, go with him to the hot springs, just the two of us..._

 _That's a big step. Can I, really do that?_

"U-Uh, if you'd rather not head with me, I understand. I get this is askin' alot, and we've been kind-a takin' things slow..."

His rambling made me smile:

 _He wants me to be comfortable as much as he wants his own comfort..._

 _You know what, what the hell? Let's take a chance._

I grab his hand to snap him out of his babbling, and lean in to kiss him...We part after about fifteen seconds of bliss, and I giggle while commenting,

"You're cute when you're nervous, Inuyasha...and, I trust you. So, yes, I'll go with you to the hot spring."

"Guh! Y-You will?"

"Mhm."

...He smiles back and says,

"Heh, alright then. Let's go; if we hurry, we can be back before everyone else wakes."

"(Nod) 'Kay. Just let me grab by satchel; it'll have some things we can use down there."

I quietly get up to my feet, and roll up my blanket while tucking it in the spot where my satchel sat, grabbing it to pull over my shoulders. I tug my straps securely, as Inuyasha walks over to me:

"Ready?"

"Let's do it."

He bends down to take me on his back, and we were off:

(Leap)

Inuyasha's POV

 _She said yes! She actually said yes!_

 _Okay, calm down, Inuyasha, focus on the scent of the spring water..._

I'm now dashing through the trees of the forest with a grin on my face, heading east to where the hot spring would be laying, with Coraline tucked onto my back as I went, she leaning her head on my shoulder to shield her face from the wind build...I glance back at her, and think to myself,

 _This is gonna be a big step for us, so I better not push things in a way that'll make her uncomfortable..._

 _Still, it'll be great to get rid of the wolf stink that's on her, and to a lesser extent, myself._

 _The only scents that should be on either of us, is us._

After a little while, we reach our destination nestled in the deeper parts of this woods: The hot spring. It was a bit smaller than some of the other ones we and the others have come across, but seemed to carry more solitude, the bushes circling with the tree trunks like a gate to keep out interlopers...

"Wooow, this place looks amazing!"

"Heh, yeah, I figured you'd approve. I actually came here a few times to this one when I was younger, so the route here's easy to remember..."

I set Coraline to her feet as she muses,

"That so? (Slight chuckle) I feel honoured that you wish to share the experience with me."

I laugh a little myself, and a quiet falls between us as she reaches into her bag to pull out a few items: Two towels and small cloths, a fresh set of her own clothes, a brush, and...a bottle of something:

"Huh? What's that, soap?"

She replies,

"Yeah, but not to use on hair or skin: It's this new laundry soap that's made entirely from natural ingredients that's safe for the environment. I discovered it in a small kiosk shop that sells all kinds of biodegradable items Hōjō's mother recommended to me a while back when I picked up some medicinal herbs from their shop."

"Ah...and, biodegradable means...?"

"It refers to things that can be broken down in a steady rate, like foods such as fruits and meat."

"Ooh..."

Standing up again, she smiles at me and points to an area of the hot spring where a large boulder hollows out at the top like a stone basin and bubbled with the steamy water:

"I figured while we bathe, we can put our clothes in there with some of the soap, and they'll get clean too. I'm not sure if it will get rid of all of the, heh, wolf scent, but it's worth a try."

"Hm...Alright."

...Our faces then erupt in matching blushes, as we remember the process called 'undressing':

"U-Um..."

"Soooo..."

 _...Get it together, man! It's not like you're gonna-_

 _Nope...not, even, going there._

"H-How 'bout, we turn away from eachother, you go in first after we, u-undress, and I'll get our clothes going with their own washing. That sound okay?"

"Y-Yeah, great..."

We each take in calming breaths, before turning to have eachother's back facing the other, and I start stripping off my robes...Once I was done, I carefully turn right to face the hot spring, not spinning an inch further and risk seeing...Coraline, naked...before walking in:

(Splosh...)

Once I settled myself into the water about halfway to my chest, I call,

"O-Okay, I'm in!"

 _Damn stutter!_

"Alright. Keep your eyes on the water; I just need to dunk our clothes into the stone pool."

"Yeah yeah..."

 _Who does she think I am, Miroku?_

I listen to the soft pads of her steps on the grass and stone, then a small slosh of water from a bit higher...before her steps began again, coming over to my direction, stopping just a few feet away:

"C-Comin' in."

"Right..."

(Splosh...)

I hear her let out a relaxed sigh, and she chides,

"Okay...you don't have to avert your eyes now. You can, turn to me if you want."

Very slowly, I do as she says, and found myself gaping at the vision of beauty before me: Though most of her was submerged (thank god), her bare shoulders and very top of where her chest began was left in the open, her pale peach skin almost glowing a little in the moonlight, while her long red hair framed her pretty face just right, her irises shining a mix of so many shades of blue...

"U-Um, Inuyasha..."

"Huh?"

I snapped out of my daze, as she averts her eyes while mumbling,

"You're, staring..."

"Keh, kind-a hard not to. (Small smile) You look amazing."

Her blush deepens as she giggles bashfully while rubbing the back of her head:

"Thanks..."

I raise my right hand and reach over to grab hers:

"Uh..."

"Relax...I just, want you closer, is all."

"...Okay."

I gently guided her over to me, so that we were sitting right beside eachother, not letting go of her hand from mine...We sit in silence for a little while, just taking in the peace and quiet of the area, before she softly asks,

"Inuyasha..."

"Yeah?"

"...There's, something I've wanted to ask you, about today: A few times, you called me 'your intended'...What exactly does that mean?"

 _Guh! Damn, I was hopin' she wouldn't be readin' too much into it...But she was nice enough to explain the boyfriend/girlfriend thing..._

 _(Sigh) Alright, how to start..._

Clearing my throat, I explain as best I can,

"Um, well, you see, the terms for someone's romantic partner are somewhat different between humans and demons...Though you probably already knew that, huh?"

"Mhm."

"Okay...(Deep breath) Demons use the term intended as, a way to say they do claim their partner as theirs, but just haven't gone through the whole mating process yet."

"And by that, you mean...sex?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"...Okay."

I look at her in surprise by how calm she sounded by my explanation:

"...Okay?"

"Yes. I mean, this is a bit awkward to speak about, but it's one of those life conversations you need to have at some point, right?"

 _Huh...This is unexpected..._

"You're taking this surprisingly well."

"Why wouldn't I? We're going through the steps together, aren't we?"

"Huh?"

She smiles at me and says,

"Relationships are about both parties giving their best. We both listen, speak, and agree on where we stand each passing day, remembering to say 'I love you', that sort of thing. And, while we can talk about that, eventual step, let's face it: I don't think either of us are ready for that physical of love yet."

I shake my head and reply,

"Uh, yeah, definitely not ready..."

"...But I want to be ready, someday."

"...You do?"

"Yes, I do."

 _...This girl...never ceases to amaze me._

I crack a smile that was leading to a smirk and reply,

"Me too...someday."

No POV

With that promise made, the young couple lean into one another to steal a kiss from eachother's lips...When they part, Coraline turns behind her and reaches to grab the wash cloths:

"Anyway, that's a conversation we can talk about more gradually. For now, let's focus on why were here: Washing up."

Inuyasha nods, and takes the offered cloth from her right hand, before both got started on cleaning themselves up, avoiding looking at one another out of bashfulness and personal space...

After a little bit, the redhead asks a bit timidly,

"S-Say, would you...mind helping me get, my back?"

The silver-haired dog demon almost drops his cloth into the water in shock:

"U-Uh! Pardon?"

"I can't always get every part, at least not without nearly pulling a muscle in my stretches...Do you mind? I can, scrub yours in return..."

Gulping in a calming breath, Inuyasha shakes himself loose of some nerves before blurting a,

"Sure," and turning around to use his borrowed cloth to assist Coraline:

 _Calm down, calm down..._

He gently brushes aside her hair, his claws tickling the skin of her back, causing her to shiver with a quiet giggle. He doesn't miss the sound, and smirks a little, before focusing back on his task. The damp cloth meets her back, and he drags it around in small circles, the feeling causing the redhead to hum in delight:

 _This, feels, great..._

...Once Inuyasha was done, Coraline turns to him with a pleased smile:

"Thank you."

"Keh, no prob...So, are you...?"

She laughs a bit and kisses his cheek:

"Turn around, tough guy."

He does as she asks, and begins the same task, moving his own thick hair aside to she could get the rag in her hands on his skin. Every light brush of her fingers and the soft strokes of the cloth on his back made Inuyasha feel just as relaxed:

 _Haaah..._

"...The scar."

"Hm?"

He feels the rag motions pause, and fingertips brush the middle of his back, where a faded scar laid...

"...This is where, Sesshomaru drove his arm through you...and, where that freak Kagerōmaru shot himself into when he emerged from his brother. I would've thought those injuries had, faded away by now."

"Well, I may have demon blood, but...I sometimes can't heal as fast as some regular demons can. Some scars just, stay a little longer."

"Hm..."

Sensing her mood dropping, Inuyasha turns to face her, noticing a worried frown beginning to form:

"What's wrong?"

"...Do you, ever feel phantom pains from your scars?"

"Phantom pains?"

"You know, that twitchy feeling or very dull ache when, you recall the memory for the injury."

Inuyasha hms with his own frown, and replies a bit heavily,

"Sometimes...but only for a very few scars..."

He places a hand over where his heart is, and between his fingertips, we see a very faint scar that would've been made by a certain piercing object:

"This area used to ache all the time, during the beginning of waking up from that spell..."

Coraline places a hand over his and mutters sadly,

"Because that's where...the arrow from Kikyō once rested."

"Yeah...but it doesn't anymore...thanks to the truth...and you."

"Uh...me?"

"Yeah...You healed the pain."

Coraline blushes in adoration from the sentiment:

"Inuyasha..."

His amber irises then fall on her own scar that rested on her left shoulder:

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

He traces the mark with his knuckle while asking,

"Do you still feel, phantom pains from this?"

"(Looks down) Like you, not as strongly as in the past...but, yeah. _He_ may be gone now, but...it does act up a touch when I look back on events, especially, when I destroyed him."

She places a hand on her torso, where a fading but somewhat more recent scar rested:

"The scar where he attacked me in the ruins acts up a bit more..."

A growl bubbles in the back of Inuyasha's throat, and he clenches his free hand while muttering darkly,

"I should've clawed him for hurting you when I had the opportunity. He had no right..."

"Hey, I was the one who told you to stay out of the action. This one's on me for being stubborn...Also, I share your thoughts."

"Huh?"

Coraline felt a glare form as she growled,

"I should've killed that son-of-a-bitch Kagerōmaru the second after he hurt you, and I was ready to slaughter Sesshomaru on, well, a few different occasions actually. No one, hurts you and gets away with it while I'm around."

The two look up at eachother...before breaking into a small bout of laughter:

"Oh wow, listen to us."

"Me? You sound more murderous than I do, and I'm the one with demon claws and a sword."

They chuckle a little more, before Coraline hugs Inuyasha at the side and says,

"But seriously, I will be doing my damnedest to make sure you never get hurt like that again. Every moment that looked as if you might not get back up...it scared me every time."

"Coraline..."

"I love you...and I will protect you, Inuyasha."

The dog demon stared at the girl in awe...before hugging her back and whispering fiercely,

"Same here. I love you, Coraline, and like I said from the start, I will be there to protect you from any harm that dares come your way."

"Including...Naraku?"

He squeezes her to him a bit tighter at the mention of the evil demon:

" _Especially_ that bastard. He'll be killed a hundred times over if he even  thinks about touching you."

Coraline hums and nuzzles her head into Inuyasha's neck:

"Glad to hear..."

They stay that way for a few minutes...before deciding to part and get out of the spring:

"Okay. I guess we should, towel off and get ready to head back before first light."

Inuyasha scowls a bit disappointingly at the thought, but nods anyway:

"(Sigh) Right. Can't stay forever, or the other's will start talkin', including that lecher monk."

Coraline lets out a quiet laugh, as they both turn away from one another again, and rise out the water, making it splash down their bodies and back into the spring...They step out, keeping their backs to one another, and each grab the towel waiting for them to dry off. As Coraline wrapped hers around her body, Inuyasha asks,

"Ya think our clothes are done by now?"

"Probably."

"'Kay, then I'll go get 'em, while you get changed."

"Alright, thanks. Wait, what are you going to do for clothes?"

"Feh, I usually ring out my robes well enough that they won't be too damp putting them back on, don't worry."

"If you say so..."

So while the redhead grabbed her clothes and went behind another large rock to change in privacy, Inuyasha, his towel wrapped around his waist, walked over to get the clothes from inside the basin pool:

 _Alright, let's see if that odd soap Coraline brought worked..._

He fishes out the top part of his red kimono, and holds it to his nose for a sniff test:

"Hm...No wolf. It worked."

 _All I'm getting is cherry blossoms and a bit of other herby scents...Not bad, just a bit flowery for my taste._

"I'll just have to deal for a while until my own scent returns to my clothes..."

"Hey! Did it work?"

He turns to see Coraline popping out from behind the other tall boulder, she now wearing a clean pair of jeans, a simple black t-shirt, and a red/white flannel shirt over top while using the towel to dry her hair more. He calls back,

"Yep! No mangy wolf stink!"

"(Laugh) That's good!"

He pulls the clothes out of the hot water, and hops back down to the grass to hand Coraline her own things:

"Here. Grab yours so you can ring them out while I do the same and get dressed."

"Check."

She does so, and walks over to the spring to ring her clothes by the edge while giving the dog demon his needed privacy for a couple minutes...Just as Coraline finished flapping out her now damp but clean tank-top:

 _Yep. Fresh for a new day._

"You can turn around now! I'm dressed!"

 _Oh wow, and he says I'm quick._

She folds her top and stacks it with her other washed clothing, and stands up with the material in her hands, turning to see Inuyasha fully dressed in his fire rat red kimono and cream white undershirt, his silver hair drooping a bit from dampness like hers was. Coraline walks to stand in front of him with a smile and says,

"This was a good idea, Inuyasha. Thank you for bringing me here."

He averts his gaze and coughs,

"Uh, y-you're welcome. Thanks for, coming with me."

She silently giggles at his meekness, before moving to tuck her clothes into her satchel, then taking the towels and wash cloths to wrap into one another into a roll to tie on the outside straps:

"There. Now my things won't get wet...Alright."

Tugging the satchel over her shoulders, Coraline turns back to the waiting dog demon:

"Shall we?"

"Yep. Hop aboard."

She climbs onto his back, wrapping his arms around his shoulders while he held her securely by her calves, before they made off into the night once again:

(Leap...)

...It would be about half an hour before the couple would return to the campsite, Inuyasha silently jumping from the treetops to land smoothly on the grass. And it seems that no one noticed their departure, for everyone else in our group was still fast asleep, with Sango laying against a full-formed Kilala on the west side of the almost dead fire, Miroku sleeping nearby but not too close that it would hinder the slayer's personal bubble, and the twins were lightly snoring away beside one another on the east side of the kindle with Shippo snoozing on top of Freeman's torso...

Coraline tilts her head in confusion and quirks quietly,

"Huh. I actually expected someone to have woken up and noticed us gone..."

"(Ghostly moan)"

It was then Lumos came floating from atop the sleeping twin-tailed cat demon's head, and circles around Coraline and Inuyasha excitedly.

"(Giggle) Okay, someone did notice."

"Feh, yeah yeah, hi to you too, ya little orb. Now take it down a notch before someone else wakes up."

The Will O' Wisp does do as the dog demon advised...but not without thumping his forehead in indignation:

"Ack! Hey!"

"(Hiss) Alright, that's enough, you two! Geez..."

Lumos backs off, and floats over to hover above the embers of the nearly done for fire...Inuyasha lightly scowls at the creature:

"Man, he can be really annoying." Coraline smirks at him and replies,

"Only when you're insulting him."

"Smart alack."

"Oh I'm the smart alack?"

"Tch, forget it. Let's just go to sleep already."

"Fine, whatever."

The teens sigh, before settling themselves in their spot by the charred wood near a fallen log, and Coraline puts her satchel to the side before grabbing her soft blue blanket to tuck over herself and Inuyasha, much to his surprise:

"Huh?"

"I know you'll argue you can stay warm fine, but, I just wanna be sure..."

She cuddles to his side adding,

"And use this as an excuse to be as close to you as possible."

Inuyasha rolls his eyes with a smirk:

"Keh, sneaky girl."

"(Giggle) Maybe, but I'm your sneaky girl...Goodnight."

And as she closes her eyes and submits to sleep, Inuyasha wraps an arm around her and pulls her to his side, mumbling a goodnight in return, while adding to himself,

 _Damn right you're mine. That wolf cub may have screwed up bad with his fiance...but I won't do such a thing with my intended._

 _I will hold onto every moment with you, Coraline._


	94. Chapter 93

**Chapter 93: Aura of the Exorcist**

A new day dawns, and we find our group traveling through a wide open field of wild grass after leaving the knoll they camped at the other night, continuing their hard but well-worth journey...

When they come to the middle of the field, Coraline, her outfit of the day consisting of a white form-fit t-shirt, red jean jacket, green khaki skinny jeans, and her black combat boots, suddenly stops, darting her eyes around on the defense:

"Guys...there's something here."

Sango, also on alert, replies,

"Yes, I've been sensing it too. The Demonic Aura's been getting stronger and stronger..."

...It was then that a large cloud of miasmatic fumes begins to rise from the next area ahead, and slowly move towards them!

Freeman, he wearing an outfit of a dark blue tank-top, brown khakis, and his black/white high-tops, in contrast to his brother's outfit of a bright green t-shirt, relaxed-fit blue jeans, and his own black/white high-tops, points his finger forward and says a bit nervously,

"Uuuh, I think that might be the source..."

Inuyasha raises a clawed hand:

"A demon?!"

He then springs into a run toward the cloud of poisonous fumes, much to Coraline's protest:

"Wait, Inuyasha!"

The dog demon just keeps leaping forward towards the purple cloud...At the same time, just up ahead on the other side of the miasma cloud, we find an elder woman with long gray hair tied back, lightly weather-beaten skin, wearing a dark green kimono robe with a lighter-shaded haori and a tan hakama, thrusting a staff made with a cluster bells on top onto the ground before calling out,

"Show yourself, apparition!"

(...Rustle)

"Hm!"

A weasel demon then comes slithering in a charge through the tall grass, before leaping up to attack the woman! But she was ready for it:

"There you are!"

Throwing down her staff, she then takes out a small pot and tosses a handful of powder at the demon, causing it to reel in pain and retreat back. The elderly woman takes her staff back into her hand before pursuing the beast:

"You shall die, you weasel demon!"

Unfortunately, her reflexes were not as fast as the demon's, and her swing would miss before she fell on her back to the ground:

"Grh...Uh!"

The weasel demon then lunges to attack her, and she lets out a yell, just as help arrived in the form of a silver-haired dog demon:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash)

The demon stood no chance, and its body would disintegrate into spectral flames shortly after taking the blow from the claws...Once the task was complete, Inuyasha walks up to the stunned elder and says,

"You shouldn't be wandering about like this, old woman. Go home where it's safe and warm."

She jumps to a stand and shouts in shock,

"Y-You have dog ears! Another new demon?!"

Thinking quickly, she throws some of her powder at Inuyasha:

"Off with you, demon!"

He wouldn't take to the gesture kindly (obviously), and shouts back while raising a fist,

"What do ya think you're doin'?! That's some way of showin' your gratitude!"

(Grab)

Thankfully, Miroku and the twins came to hold Inuyasha back with the monk's staff and their hands respectively:

"That's quite enough."

"Come on, man, why?" "Yeah, cut her some slack, would ya?"

"Don't even try to stop me!"

The old woman chides seriously,

"That's it, monk and friends. Hold him right there!"

She then threw more of the powder at Inuyasha's face:

"Off with you, demon!"

He lets out a few coughs, while Miroku does his best to ignore, and the twins mumble,

"Another eventful day after another in this realm..."

"You said it."

Once everyone else caught up and misunderstandings were cleared, they'd all find themselves sitting on a log by another beech tree standing proud from the exposed ground, as the old woman tells them about what she's been seeing for the last while...

"Demons are on the rise?" Coraline ponders after Miroku,

"Guess this explains the Demonic Aura..."

"Demonic Aura?" Sango explains to the old woman,

"We journey around the countryside, slaying demons."

"Hmph. So we're comrades. Anyway, as I was telling you, there's been a sudden increase in demons, and that's why I came out of retirement."

Inuyasha comments bluntly with a scowl,

"You should've done the world a favour and stayed retired, old woman."

She reaches into her pot in a threatening gesture:

"Perhaps you need another lesson..."

The dog demon ducks behind Coraline's back in mild fear, and Miroku chides,

"Calm down, Madam Exorcist. You wouldn't know the reason for the increase in demons, would you?"

She relaxes and replies,

"I'm quite sure it's because of the curse." Besa asks,

"What curse, ma'am?"

"The one of the Demon's Head Castle." Freeman quirks a brow:

"That's not the real name of the place, is it?"

"No, it's not the proper name, but everyone calls it the Demon's Head Castle. It's said that the head of a demon destroyed by an ancestor was buried to ward off evil spirits, and the castle was built over it."

The three modern teens gasp, and Inuyasha mutters,

"Don't tell me you guys actually believe the old hag."

Madam Exorcist reaches into her pot of powder again, and he ducks behind Coraline for protection, again...The former continues:

"For some strange reason, the demon has come out of hiding and has started tormenting people again. And no amount of exorcism has worked..."

She stands up and starts walking:

"Now then, follow me." Inuyasha asks,

"Follow you? Where to?"

"To the Demon's Head Castle, where else? Didn't you say you youngsters were demon slayers?"

Coraline mutters with a wry smile,

"I dunno if that's the proper term for us...(Serious frown) Anyway, what do all think we should do?"

Inuyasha scoffs,

"We don't have time for this," but Miroku argues,

"But, since we already know the story..."

"Finding Naraku is top priority! (Turns to Coraline) Isn't that right?"

"Yes, but, I have this feeling..." Madam Exorcist calls from the distance,

"I understand the reward is tremendous!"

"Kuh, who needs a reward?...Huh?"

Inuyasha then notices that the monk of their group had gone to catch up to the elder woman's steps:

"What are we waiting for, then?"

"We split the earnings evenly."

The dog demon sweatdrops in irritation:

"Man..."

...Meanwhile, at the mysterious Demon's Head Town, as dark-ridden clouds hover overhead in the sky, we zoom inside the chambers of the lord of the mansion in question said to host the dark entity, as he sits in silence with his head bowed...But for a split second, we see their shadow morph to that of a beast, to which an unfortunate maid would spot by accident as she was passing the room:

"Uh!"

Worse still, the lord, whom either is or is possessed by the demon, hears her, and turns wicked eyes to the crack in the door, causing the maid to fall on her rear and try to back away...

(Slam)

"Auh!"

"(Growl) Spying on me?!" The maid begs,

"N-No, my lord, forgive me! I did not see anything! Nothing at all!"

The demonic lord does not heed her plea, and raises a katana in the air...

"My lord! Aaaah!"

(SLICE)

Small Time Skip

As soon as they reached the town, the elder exorcist would lead Inuyasha and the others to meet with an old retainer of the castle lord in front of one of the conjoining buildings of the mansion, learning of the erratic behaviour of the leader as of late...

"...I see."

"In any case, our lord has been acting strange in recent days. He locks himself up in his room and refuses to leave."

Coraline hms, and her eyes flash her signature ice blue, before she whispers to Inuyasha,

"...Am I just being hyper-sensitive, or do you also feel a spike of dark energy from this place?"

"Yeah. That field was nothin' compared to this place. This must be the center of the Demonic Aura."

Miroku and Sango would take note of the change too:

"Definitely a Demonic Aura..."

"Surrounding the entire castle."

The exorcist turns around to see everyone on edge:

"Mm? What's the reason for all the glum faces, and what are you all mumbling about back there?"

Shippo replies as Kilala growls with her fur bristling on alert,

"Everyone senses the Demonic Aura, so we're uneasy."

The twins shiver and Besa adds,

"Yeah. Even we can feel a bad vibe from this place, and we don't have to use our Seven Light shards to heighten our senses."

"Demonic Aura? What does that mean?"

Miroku was surprised by the exorcist's confusion:

"Uh, Madam Exorcist: Don't you feel or sense anything unusual here at the castle?"

"Feel what?"

Inuyasha was flabbergasted:

"Is this woman for real?!" She replies with a smug air,

"It's all in your imagination...or perhaps you're all feeling frightened? You're so young; absolutely hopeless."

The dog demon mumbles,

"Does anyone else get the feeling that she's a fake?"

Freeman shoots him a thumbs-up in agreement, while Shippo mutters,

"Yeah. Even I can sense the Demonic Aura...Uh?"

Everyone looks to their right when they hear footsteps, and watch as two male servants carry away a stretcher with a wicker mat covering a body...That body, would belong to the maid from before...The exorcist mutters grimly,

"Another body..." The old retainer remarks mournfully,

"That is the seventh victim...The lord slays every vassal or maid that tries to approach his room..."

Miroku asks,

"Do you think his erratic behaviour is caused by the demon's curse?"

"Most likely. (Stands up) The demon appears after dark has fallen. Until then, please come and rest inside."

Time Skip

Night has fallen in the castle courtyard, the sky mostly clear save a few thin clouds rolling over the glowing moon, and the elder exorcist was doing some stretching to prep herself for what was to come:

"One, two, three! One, two, three!"

She switches to some deep breathing drills, while everyone else was sitting around, Inuyasha laying on his side, Freeman completely on his back...

"Now listen up: You must be prepared!" Inuyasha comments,

"You sure got spunk, old woman." Coraline adds to herself,

 _No kidding. It's like she's completely numb to the Demonic Aura..._

 _Either she's built that strong an immunity, or her powers of detection could be wavering._

She then turns her eyes to watch her orb-shaped companion as he floated around close to everyone while jittering with nerves, and says aloud,

"I dunno what we should expect, but if Lumos is feeling this paranoid, it can't be good."

Miroku mutters with a frown,

"The Demonic Aura here is so unsettling, even for those as experienced as we. Let's finish this up and get out of here quickly."

Sango was all for the plan:

"I agree."

(Step, step, step, step)

It was then a young woman with long dark brown hair, black-brown eyes, a fair complexion and wearing the garments of royalty consisting of a light green kimono tied with a light purple sash and a red robe overtop decorated lightly with pink cherry blossoms and sun designs approached the group:

"You are the ones who've come to slay the demon? Please, be careful, and do whatever it takes to save my father."

Sango and Coraline reply,

"Your father?"

"So you must be the princess of this castle."

"Many monks and priestesses have attempted to exorcise the demon, but have failed each time. They have payed with their very lives."

Miroku steps forward to kneel before the princess and vows,

"Rest assured, my dear princess. I shall stand firm here and conduct the exorcism no matter how many days and nights it requires."

As Besa and Freeman facepalm and shake their heads simultaneously at the monk's quick change of tune, Sango, exasperated tick-mark abound, broods to herself,

 _Weren't you just saying we should finish this up quickly and get outta here?!_

"Demon! The demon has returned!"

Everyone snaps to it at the man's call, and Miroku says to the royal,

"Don't worry, princess! I'll take care of this!"

And he runs off ahead to the source of the yell, leaving the princess to watch him go in silence, unaware of one other member of our group who began to shake even more come her arrival...

The sky above forms a cloudy vortex above the castle, and coming out from the center, was the giant head of the demon that was evoking the terror, its appearance akin to that of a horned gargoyle with yellow tan skin, thick black hair growing out the back of its skull, large red eyes, and sharp pointy fangs prodding from its outstretched mouth!

Everyone in our group plus a few castle retainers runs towards it, with Inuyasha stopping to stare at the monster with glaring eyes:

"The demon head!"

Sango rushes out ahead of the rest with her weapon at ready:

"I'll go! Kilala!"

Her twin-tailed companion runs forward and shifts into her full form for Sango to hop aboard, as she adds,

"I'll destroy it in one shot!"

Shippo hops onto Coraline's shoulder and asks curiously,

"Sango's strong, but doesn't she look more intense than usual?"

She replies with a nervous smile,

"Heh, no denyin' that..."

 _Hoh boy..._

The slayer and cat demon charge at the demon head, it at them, before Sango unleashes her weapon:

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...)

But, then the demon's red eyes glow, and just as the giant boomerang makes contact, the structure of the demon becomes temporarily airy, with the weapon going through it like it was made of steam! Everyone back on the ground was stunned, and Inuyasha and Freeman exclaim,

"It went through it!"

"No fair! Foul! I call foul!"

Sango catches her weapon, also quite surprised by the failure:

"What happened?!"

Inuyasha then hops up onto the rooftop, deciding to take over with his Tessaiga:

"Move, Sango!"

The demon head turns its attention to the dog demon, as the latter jumps up high to unleash his sword's power:

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

The monster lets out a pained howl, as the three-clawed slash cuts it right down the middle! Inuyasha lands back on the ground and mutters proudly,

"And that my friends, is how it's done." Besa then points to the sky and says,

"Uh, might be too early to celebrate. Look!"

"Huh?"

And looking back up, we see the demon head solidifying back into one again! Inuyasha straightens back up with wide eyes:

"What's going on?!"

 _How can that be? I hit it square-on with my Wind Scar and it hardly flinched!_

Miroku then wonders,

 _Wait...is that demon head real?_

Inuyasha glares at the floating cranium and remarks,

"You're a sucker for punishment! (Leap) Wind Scar!"

(SLASH)

Once again, he lands a clean hit...

"(Lands) Did I get him?"

...But once again, the demon head rejoins itself back up like it never got attacked at all!

"That's impossible!"

Miroku moves in front of him before he readies to make a third attempt with his Tessaiga:

"Wait, Inuyasha."

"Why should I? If my Wind Scar didn't work, how do you expect to destroy it?"

"No weapon will work on that."

"Uh...Miroku..."

The monk pulls out some sutra spells from his robes, as the demon head closes in on him with a growl...

" _Sacred Sutra!_ "

(Toss)

The paper charms plaster onto the monster's nasal, and it howls in pain...The princess of the castle arrives on scene to watch, as the demon head lets out a final screech, before completely disintegrating into a cloud of red dust!

Everyone was in awe, and one retainer mutters,

"Uh! It's gone...!"

An elder maid turns to acknowledge the princess's arrival:

"Princess. The demon has vanished!"

"Huh..."

Miroku calmly remarks,

"Just as I thought. That demon was no more than an illusion." Sango softly mutters,

"It wasn't real?"

The princess eyes the monk intently for a moment, before turning to walk off...Unbeknownst to her, a more benevolent entity was eyeing her, and Coraline turns to Lumos, as he quietly made moans of alarm:

"Hm? Lumos, what's wrong?"

The Will O' Wisp floats to where the princess was last standing, and bops up and down with urgency, causing the redhead to frown in suspicion:

 _Strange...Before we went to battle the demon head, now known as an illusion, Lumos was acting a bit antsy around the princess until I got his attention..._

 _Now he's doing it again...What does he sense about her royal highness that we don't?_

Moving along, the group heads off to a room to have dinner and discuss with the elder retainer what had happened outside the courtyard a moment ago...

"Does that mean that the demon head will appear again tomorrow night?" Miroku replies,

"Yes, it will, because it is make-believe, an illusion to divert everyone's attention from the real demon."

Coraline concludes,

"Which means the real monster is hiding in the shadows of this castle..."

Sango adds,

"Probably. The Demonic Aura hasn't subsided at all."

Madam Exorcist comments calmly,

"Hm, Demonic Aura, huh? (Eats a few dumplings) Well I don't sense anything at all."

The twins grimace with smiles:

"That right?"

Sango stares at the elder woman with an unimpressed air:

 _Some exorcist you are..._

Inuyasha then asks the old retainer,

"Didn't you say the lord has become deranged?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Are you sure it's a demon's curse and not simply a case of him being possessed?"

...Speaking of the said lord, we check briefly on his person now, as an air of dark energy hovers over his body, while his eyes glow a menacing white as he lets out a low growl...

Inuyasha's POV

Convinced that this lord just might be possessed by some ugly demon, Miroku and I had the old retainer lead us down the corridor to the room where the last maid had been killed recently, just outside where the lord's chamber would be...The old guy was obviously really nervous for our lives, as he whispers in warning,

"If you are noticed, you will be killed." I calmly tell him,

"If that happens, I'll fight back," to which Miroku would shoot down:

"Don't be so hasty. He is the lord of the castle."

 _Uh, yeah, and he's also a murderer, monk._

Miroku then quietly slides the door open to take a peek at the lord...

"Well, Miroku? Is it a demon?"

"No. He's definitely human...and..."

"Huh? What?"

"There's no way that the Demonic Aura surrounding the castle is coming from the lord. Definitely not."

 _Hm...So the lord must be a puppet to the real demon...But who, or what, is doing this, and why?_

Coraline's POV

While we waited for Inuyasha and Miroku to return with the elder retainer from getting a better look at the lord of the castle, the exorcist decided to help ease our spirits by using some of that powder to dispel the negative vibe, or something like that...

"Hm!"

She tosses out some of the powder from her pot at us as we sat in a line across from her, and shut our eyes to protect ourselves from going blind while Shippo and my brothers cough from the impact...

"Well now, don't you feel a little better?"

I shake my head no before using the sleeve of my jacket to brush away the powder from my face, while Sango replies as she dusts off some from her shoulder with her hand,

"Not in the least."

"What? Not even a little?"

Shippo then asks our twin-tailed cat friend,

"Did it work on you, Kilala?" The exorcist was also curious:

"Well?"

Though clearly a little irritated, she just shakes her head with a mew, as Besa pulls out a handkerchief to lend her and Shippo a hand with cleaning up:

"Let me help you two out a little." Shippo nods and crawls over to his lap with Kilala:

"Thanks, Besa."

I smile at his kind gesture, while Freeman remarks truthfully to the elder exorcist,

"I hate to have to point this out, ma'am, but your powder doesn't seem as strong as it might have been."

"Now that's strange. (Looks in the pot) This is a very special blend of my purification salt. Most demons succumb to it at once."

I hear a tell-tale ghostly moan, and look behind me to see Lumos shaking off some of the powder from his person:

"Oh dear. You too, bud?"

It was then Inuyasha and Miroku came back from their recon mission, and the former scoffs to Madam Exorcist,

"You're such a fake. As if that stuff'll work!"

"What did you say?! Shall I give you a shot of it?!"

She then proceeds to chase Inuyasha around the room trying to hit him with the powder, to which he'd dodge with a smug grin...

"Over here, over here!"

"Hold it!"

I groan with an irritated expression:

 _Geez, they're acting like children, both of them!_

"Hold it, I say!"

"No way!"

I turn to my brothers:

"...Guys?"

"Say no more, sis." "Let's do it."

All three of us spring to our feet, before I shove Inuyasha to a stop come his land back on the floor, while Freeman and Besa block the exorcist from charging at him any further:

"Stop!" "Cease and desist!"

"Huh?"

Inuyasha, whom had fallen on his butt when I pushed him, darts back up and asks,

"What gives, Coraline?" I bark back fiercely,

"I'll tell ya what's gonna give: My patience if this nonsense goes on another second more! You're both adults, so act like it for cripes sake!"

...Both he and the elder hmph but don't object, choosing to sit down, and I let out a sigh of exasperation while Freeman mumbles,

"Times like this when I wonder how we haven't cracked yet..."

No POV

At the same time the minor dispute was being settled, the old retainer meets with the princess and her elder maid to inform them of the possible turn in events...

"(Gasp) My father could be the demon?"

"Yes, Princess. According to the monk, your father is merely possessed, and the demon itself could located anywhere in the castle."

The princess takes in a sharp breath, before turning her eyes away with a pensive expression...

A couple minutes later, the old maid appears in the doorway of the room the group was staying in:

"Excuse me, monk."

"Hm?"

"The princess has requested your presence."

"Who, me?"

Sango immediately goes on the hostile front at the idea of Miroku being alone with another woman (...and I think we _all_ know why):

"Hold on: You're not going alone, are you?"

He turns to the slayer, and takes her hands into his before promising,

"Fear not, my dear Sango. It is true that the princess is beautiful..."

He leans his cheek onto one of her hands to rub, much to her surprise:

"...it is of no matter. My heart belongs to you."

Sango recoils back from Miroku and replies furiously with a blush,

"Th-That's hardly the issue here! I meant that it's too dangerous to go alone since the demon could show up at any moment now."

"If that's what you mean, then don't worry. Miroku is strong enough to take care of himself."

...The slayer sends a rather freaky stare at Inuyasha, who hides behind Coraline while holding her shoulders, asking meekly,

"What's with the glare?"

Coraline sighs with an eyeroll and quietly mutters,

"Think about our relationship, and put Sango and Miroku in our places..."

"Huh?"

The elder exorcist scoffs,

"Hah. You still have much to study in the lessons of life."

Insulted, Inuyasha leans in her direction with a raised fist, as Freeman quickly pulls Shippo into his lap to save him from being squished by the other hand:

"What?! You fake exorcist!"

Coraline giggles and comments,

"Maybe her exorcist abilities aren't as sharp as they used to be, but her woman's intuition is spot-on."

"Thanks alot, traitor."

Besa retorts to Inuyasha,

"Hey, it's not Cor's fault that you're only in tune with what goes on between the two of you and not with the hints of other people's signals."

Before this conversation went any further than needed, Miroku moves to stand up and leave to meet with the princess:

"Now then..."

"Monk."

"Yes?"

The elder exorcist holds out a small packet of folded paper:

"Take this purification salt, just one packet, merely as a precaution."

"Thank you. (Bow) I am much obliged."

...But just as he makes his way to the door:

"(Ghostly moan)"

Lumos zooms from his place beside Coraline and blocks Miroku from leaving, bopping up and down in warning...

"Hm? What's wrong, Lumos?"

Coraline watches the Will O' Wisp's movements...before deciding to ask,

"Miroku. Will you at least let Lumos go with you?"

"Huh?"

"I think, he might sense something we can't, and he's become rather paranoid about any one of us going off on their own..."

The monk exchanges eyes with the redhead, noticing something in her irises suggesting another reason for this request...His own eyes widen a touch, before he nods firmly:

"Alright."

Miroku's POV

Once the elder maid guided me to the princess in her chambers, she in turn would then lead me down the corridors to a room that held an old stairwell with charms set up around it leading to the basement of the castle. The princess was in front of me, holding a lamp to light our way down these darkened walls, while Coraline's partner, Lumos, hovered near my shoulder in a way that suggested he wanted to keep his distance from the woman. Yet...he wished to accompany me when he could not stop me from leaving the others:

 _Why is that?_

 _...What danger do you sense from the princess, Lumos?_

I decided to circle back on the question and focus on breaking the quiet between myself and my guide:

"It's a very long stairway..."

"You've probably heard this already: The burial site of the Demon Head is down below."

 _Hm...and she is leading me down here now._

"...Could you tell me more?"

"The head of a conquered demon is buried beneath this castle...I felt strangely compelled to show it to you, monk."

"I heard that the demon head was buried here to ward off evil..."

"Yes. That is true, but until recently, it has not been a problem. Then the burial site was uncovered, and the demon, escaped...And as you can see, down in this hole..."

Our destination was a massive pit, and when the princess held the light of her lamp to its direction...I was immediately struck with horror by what I saw: Inside the pit, was a mass grave of skeletons wrapped in the garments of priests, priestesses and monks of various standings, mixed with some prayer beads and scrolls!

 _Human bones!_

As I bent down to get a closer look, the princess explains to me,

"These are the bones of the monks and priestesses who failed to slay the demon..."

"This is horrific...!" She kneels by me and adds,

"The demon who occupied this castle craved humans like them, and drained them of their spiritual powers, leaving only their bones."

Lumos then darts in front of me and began bobbing up and down while his body blinked between red and his normal silver blue...I understood now what he was so agitated about:

"I see...(Grim smile) That's why it wants me here."

"Exactly... _to absorb your spiritual powers._ "

No POV

At the same time Miroku was about to receive an unpleasant surprise, everyone else was awaiting his and Lumos's return in the room they were given for the night, with Sango sitting propped against the door-frame between inside and outside, Shippo sitting cross-legged on the porch a foot away from her, and the rest sitting against the wall inside the room...

Inuyasha lets out a yawn and mumbles,

"Wonder what's takin' Miroku so damn long?" Shippo pipes up,

"Um, I dunno...He's sure late. Wonder what he's doin'..."

"Knowin' that lecher and considerin' how long he's been alone with the princess, right about now he's-"

Inuyasha's scenario was cut short by a growl from a miffed Sango and a pointed look from Coraline. Shippo then says,

"Nah. Not even Miroku would do anything like that in this Demonic Aura."

Freeman adds,

"And he's not exactly alone with the woman: Lumos went with him too."

"Keh, right, like that little orb could stop him. I can easily picture it, and believe me, it's not the Demonic Aura he's feeling-"

(Slap)

"Mmph!"

Coraline covers Inuyasha's mouth with her hand before he could go any further in that description:

"Okay, that's enough of that stupidity."

"(Muffled) Wh de haell, Cu-a-lin?!"

"(Mild glare) From this point on, if you don't have anything nice to say about Miroku's behaviour, don't say anything at all. Not to mention we have women and a child present? Honestly..."

The exorcist comments as she laid on her side,

"Like I said, not enough training."

Removing her hand from a slightly ticked dog demon's mouth, Coraline then asks with a serious frown,

"But anyway, Sango, perhaps you and I or maybe Besa and Freeman could head to where Miroku is and make sure he and Lumos are alright?"

"No, thank you. I don't want to interrupt him."

Besa coughs,

"Bull, crap."

Sango glares at him, and he holds his hands up on the defense, before asking the redhead,

"By the way, Cor, why did you send Lumos with Miroku?"

"Well, I hate to sound too suspicious, but I think Lumos may sense something off about the princess that we don't: Every time she came close to our proximity, he started shaking and let out cries of warning like he means for us to run for the hills and not come back."

That caught everyone's attention:

"What?"

"Really?"

Coraline nods, and the exorcist hms before concluding,

"I see...So you sent your spirit companion with the monk as a warning for him not to be caught unawares."

"Yeah...I just hope that Miroku got my silent message and will listen to Lumos, or at the very least send him back to us if things do turn bad."

(...Crash)

Suddenly, the door to the group's room is smashed open, when a retainer is thrown into the room! Inuyasha sprang to his feet immediately and began running to the direction of the lord's chambers:

"It's here!"

Everyone else looks to one another, nods, and scrambles to get themselves ready...Cutting across the castle, we find the lord up and about in the room outside his chambers, having already slew some more retainers, readying to do the same with another poor young maid, while a few others and the elder faced him in shock:

"M-My lord!"

"Please, stop this!"

He does not heed them, growling while holding the maid by her hair and his sword in the other...The elder retainer tries again:

"My lord! Uh!"

He stops when the blade of the katana is pointed threateningly at him...Inuyasha and the others arrive on scene, moving a few retainers aside, and watch, as the lord suddenly winces with pain, before dropping the blade...His appearance then morphs to resemble similarly to the demon head, only with red skin instead of yellow tan!

One of the younger retainers cries out,

"G-Guaaah! The lord has become a demon!" The senior was just as horrified:

"No, my lord!"

Inuyasha holds an arm out to stop him from approaching:

"Let him go. Kuh, so this is the true form of the demon."

Coraline and her brothers weren't as sure:

"Wait...if this is the demon..."

"Then..."

"Where's Miroku?"

Miroku's POV

 _Th-The princess! She's-_

I tried to move and get a fair distance from the woman, but...I found myself unable to move! I barely turn my head to glare at the woman, or should I say...

"Y-You're the, demon!"

"(Chuckle) A little too late, I'm afraid. You've inhaled the Demonic Aura, and your body is feeling limp."

I kept putting as much will into my muscles as I could...and I found my right arm was able to function better:

 _Huh? Wait...I'm holding the purifying salt of the exorcist in this hand...Maybe..._

"Hrrrah!"

(Swing)

"Agh!"

Focusing my spiritual strength into the packet, I then threw the salt into the woman's face, she flinching back to shield herself and forcing her to drop the lamp, causing the area to darken, save the light emitting from my floating friend who was hovering near me in concern:

"(Ghostly moan)"

"(Grit, smile) I'm alright, Lumos...Listen: You must find the others, and warn them of the princess."

He froze, obviously hesitant on leaving me alone, but I shook my head and urged,

"I'll be fine. Now go!"

He 'nods', and began flying out of this place for the stairs...I would then focus my attention on the princess, now revealed to be a blue-skinned demon with red eyes and small horns in her forehead while retaining some of her human disguise:

"Damn you!"

"I made sure I brought the exorcist's purification salt. Adding my own spiritual power made it work."

 _Ugh, I'm in trouble: This demon is powerful, and this Demonic Aura has left me paralyzed._

 _I just hope that Lumos can reach the others in time..._

"(Laugh) Monk, even though you managed to send that creature away, there's no help forth coming. Besides, that half-demon is probably fighting the lord back at the castle. I used my black magic to manipulate that foolish puppet lord."

She lets out another laugh as I cringe to myself,

 _What?! Inuyasha...everyone...help me!_

 _Lumos, please hurry!_

No POV

So while the Will O' Wisp barreled out of the basement of the castle as fast as he could to get help, Inuyasha and the others were at the lord's chambers getting ready to engage the spell-bound human/demon into battle:

"Hope you're prepared for your funeral, demon."

The demon lord growls, and Inuyasha adds while tapping his sword to his shoulder,

"Heheh, one strike is all it'll take!"


	95. Chapter 94

**Chapter 94: Secret of the Possessed Princess**

 _Recap:_

 _Continuing their perilous search of the accursed half-demon, Naraku after he mysteriously vanishes, Inuyasha and company cross paths with an elder exorcist, whom despite her, obviously (yet not to her) waning powers, came out of retirement to combat the increasing numbers of demons surfacing. Following her to a quiet town ruled by a castle blanketed in fear, the group is hired by the folks to help rid a creature known as the Demon Head, that is supposingly the source of this growing dark energy that had been lingering the royal grounds._

 _But come nightfall, when everyone faces the Demon Head, it's revealed to actually be a dark illusion created to bring attention away from the real demon! With that in mind, plus the thought that the lord of the castle may also be possessed by the demon, the princess calls on Miroku to escort her to the burial chambers of the original demon that was slain many years ago, with Lumos tagging along per Coraline's request, in accordance to the Will O' Wisp's odd, paranoid behaviour around her majesty._

 _It wouldn't be long until the reason why is unveiled: Down in the basement, alongside where the demon was once sealed, was a mass grave of dozens of priests, priestesses and monks whom have failed with their lives to combat the demon, who is actually the princess in disguise! Miroku, now paralyzed by the Demonic Aura after fighting against it for too long, sends Lumos away to get help, while at the same time, the Princess Demon Head uses her dark powers to manipulate the lord into another malicious rage, prompting Inuyasha and the others to go and stop him, unaware of the true sinister events taking place..._

 _Now..._

We check back in the room outside the lord's chambers, as he, now transformed into a more demonic persona, stands with a fierce expression against Inuyasha and company, his left hand still gripping the hair of the teary and fearful maid. The elder retainer mutters,

"Dear god!"

Our silver-haired dog demon, however, remained calm if a little mocking:

"You've got some nerve, showin' your true self, huh, demon?"

The demon lord only growls, and Inuyasha readies his Tessaiga:

"Prepare to die!"

But he's then forced to back off from charging, when the possessed lord holds the maid up in front of his body...Coraline curses,

"Bastard's using the human shield tactic!" Sango warns,

"Inuyasha: Don't use the Tessaiga!"

He curses, before switching from using his blade to using his claws:

(Leap)

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash)

His attack makes a hit across the demon lord's torso, causing it to stumble backwards with a pained growl...And if that wasn't enough:

"Hah!"

(Slash, slash)

Besa suddenly sneaks over and uses his sickles to hack and swipe at the arm that held the maid, prompting the demon to release her with a hiss, and the former shifts his grip so he's holding both weapons with one hand while using his free hand to take the maid's:

"Come on!"

"Oh!"

They scramble to the outside entrance where it was safe, with everyone looking at Besa in amazement:

"Whoa..." "Nice one, bro!"

"Waita go, Besa!"

He gently sets the maid to her knees while chiding,

"It's gonna be okay. You're safe now."

"T-Thank, you."

He and Inuyasha then meet eye-to-eye, and share a nod of silent acknowledgement, before the latter refocuses on the demon lord while sheathing his Tessaiga:

"Keh, not too strong, are ya, 'specially if ya can't stop a human from gettin' one over?"

The demon lord growls, before it decides to retreat by leaping upwards and crashing through the ceiling!

"Hold it!"

Inuyasha jumps through the hole after it, leaving everyone else back below...One retainer sighs in relief:

"He's gone! Safe at last!" The elder scolds,

"Don't be so foolish! It's too early to feel at ease. (Turn) You women, and two young men, should protect the princess."

"...I'm afraid that we cannot."

Everyone turns to the elder maid in confusion, and Coraline asks,

"What do you mean? Did something happen before now?"

"Yes..."

The elderly maid then explains why the princess had requested Miroku's presence before the events now, which did not sit well with Sango:

"The underground site of the Demon Head?!"

"Yes, that's right. She wanted to show it to the monk."

"(...Ghostly moan)"

"Hm?"

It was then that Lumos finally found everyone after scouring the halls for them, and stopped in front of Coraline while circling around in a panic:

"Lumos! What's wrong? Wait...Miroku: Where is he? Is he in danger?!"

The Will O' Wisp emits his warning flashes of red from his body, and bops up and down in urgency, which was all Sango needed to be informed of, before she darted down the outer corridors with Kilala in tow. Coraline calls after her:

"Sango!"

"I'm going to get Miroku!" She nods, before turning to her partner:

"Lumos: Help guide her to where Miroku is!"

The Will O' Wisp 'nods', and flies after the slayer until he was lighting the way up front. The elder exorcist would then appear beside Sango:

"I'm coming with you. It's safer than staying here."

"Madam Exorcist! What're you-"

"That turned out quite well, don'tcha think?" The slayer looks at the other in confusion, as the latter adds,

"You must've been quite worried, knowing that the monk and the princess were in eachother's arms..."

Sango gasps...The elder then scoffs offhandedly,

"But at an underground burial site...Of all places, nothing romantic could ever happen there."

"Please! This is hardly the time for such nonsense!"

The blush and defensive tone told the exorcist otherwise:

"You're quite fond of him. I can tell that the monk means quite alot to you."

Sango's blush increases a little as she avoids the elder woman's eyes, and the latter teases,

"It's written all over your face, (giggle)!"

The slayer screeches to a stop and shouts,

"It's not like that, old woman!"

But, the exorcist was not there...

"Where'd she go?"

The elder calls from up ahead with Lumos,

"Hurry up, or the spirit and I shall leave you far behind!"

Sango growls in exasperation with an annoyed tick-mark and raising fist, while Kilala, who was sitting on her shoulder in her dormant form, looks at the other with a mildly concerned mewl...

Meanwhile, back in the underground burial site in the basement of the castle, the true demon that was orchestrating this whole charade continues to mock the paralyzed Miroku:

"(Laugh) You cannot move, I see. None can overcome the grip of my Demonic Aura."

Keeping a straight glare, Miroku asks with a bit of strain,

"Y-You intend to consume me?"

"All the monks and priestesses who came to slay the demon were devoured by me, (chuckle). Lucky monk: You are exactly my one-hundredth victim. I shall devour you and your spiritual powers, then I will be completely reborn, and I shall discard this empty shell."

The Demon Head Princess kneels down in front of Miroku and grips under his chin while complimenting in a mirth,

"Such a fine countenance, sweet monk."

All he could do was stare back, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face...

Coraline's POV

After directing the maids to go and gather as much medical supplies as they can find and set up a makeshift ward, Shippo, my brothers and I start scoping around the rooms to find any retainers still alive...The first one I assist is one who got injured in the recent shake with the possessed lord. Shippo reassures him,

"Don't worry! You're not fatally wounded."

"The bleeding just needs to be slowed..."

I pull out my small first aid kit, and call over my shoulder to my bros,

"You guys found any others yet?" They call back,

"Just two!"

"Might be more in other rooms!"

The retainer I was currently helping grimaces before muttering,

"Miss, thank you, for helping. The young men too."

"Of course, but please save your energy."

I bring out the bottle of antiseptic gel and a gauze:

"You will feel some stinging, but it'll cool off as quick as it'll come."

As expected, he does wince from pain as I gently rubbed the gel onto his wound before bandaging it...Once he was done, I hand him over to the maids before moving my search for survivors to another room with Shippo and my brothers joining me. Unfortunately, the next room we came to did not offer up any live retainers...

"Gh!" "Damn..."

"They've all been killed by the demon!"

I chide to the three,

"Let's not lose hope yet: There could still be a few survivors here somewhere."

As we kept running through various rooms to find someone who wasn't dead, Freeman asks me,

"Hey, Cora: How about using your Aura Sight to get a better look for any Souls that haven't departed?"

I shake my head regrettably:

"Wish I could, but because we've been here for so long, the Demonic Aura's begun to effect me. If I try to use my ability now, I'll just get a massive headache and my vision will blur."

 _Which also means I better avoid using my sword unless I absolutely must..._

A couple minutes later, we all found ourselves at another entrance into the lord's chambers:

(Slide)

"Anyone in here?"

As we stepped inside, Besa wonders in a low tone,

"Isn't this the room where the lord refused to leave from?" Freeman replies,

"Yeah...what was makin' him so antsy anyway? There has to be more to this whole thing than just possession..."

Shippo would be the one to provide our answer, pointing at something behind a blind:

"Guys, look at that!"

Getting a closer look, I see that the figure was that of a young woman...an oddly familiar woman:

 _Strange...She, looks alot like the princess. Is she a relative?_

 _Or, maybe..._

Pulling back the blinds, I lead everyone in to where the woman was:

"Excuse me..."

"Miss?"

"You alri-Huh?!"

Freeman's sentence would cut off in shock, and I couldn't blame him: Now that I had a much more clear view, the young woman didn't just look like the princess, but rather, was an exact copy (minus the makeup and regal robes)!

As we knelled around her, Besa mutters with edge,

"What the heck is going on? How can the princess be here when she's suppose to be down in the burial site with Miroku?...Unless..."

He hovers a hand over the woman's face to check for breathing, and recoils when he finds,

"Guys...she's not breathing: She's dead!"

We all gasp, and I realize,

 _This means the princess we've been speaking with must be the real demon! No wonder Lumos was so tense!_

 _...Oh man, I hope Miroku gets help in time! Who knows what the demon has in store for him!_

No POV

At the same time Coraline, the twins and Shippo uncover the truth behind the princess, Inuyasha was busy on the roof trying to hack at the demon lord with his claws, but kept missing due to the latter backing away from each blow...

"Damn you! Enough of this already!"

The demon lord just kept on dodging, and Inuyasha hops back in frustration:

"(Growl) What's he doin', backin' off?"

That's when he saw it:

(Flicker...)

The body of the demon lord briefly faded out and in, like it was losing control of its structure...

 _What was that? The demon was transparent for a second there..._

 _Something's wrong here: This demon keeps backing away and never attacks...almost as if-_

Inuyasha gasps:

 _Almost as if he's buyin' time!_

...We check back with Miroku and the Demon Head Princess in the burial mound, shortly after the taunt of devouring the other was made, when the latter suddenly sensed something amiss:

"Uh! (Stands) Who was that?! Someone has touched the host body!"

"...Miroku!"

Sango and Kilala (in full form) then arrive on scene with Lumos lighting the way, but stop at the glare from the blue-skinned menace...

"Why you...!"

(Swing, freeze)

Just as the slayer readies to bring her weapon down on the demon, the Demonic Aura hits her with full force, paralyzing her too!

 _I, can't move!_

A growl from her twin-tailed companion tells her a similar story:

 _Kilala: You can't either!_

"(Ghostly moan)"

Oddly enough, the Will O' Wisp of our group was still able to move about, but it seemed his power was waning, as his glow becomes a bit dimmer than before, and was very slowly dropping from the air, not unnoticed by Sango:

 _Oh no...Lumos's stamina must be wearing off. Even he won't be able to fight the power of the Aura for much longer!_

The Demon Head Princess grasps miroku by his hair and laughs while taunting to the slayer,

"Stand still and watch my every move! I will devour this delectable monk!"

 _Damn, her!_

(Jingle...)

"Uh!"

"The exorcist!"

Said woman charges forward while calling out,

"Disperse to the wind, evil powers that prevail!" She throws some of her powder at the demon:

"Grh! Here: A little purification salt!"

Sango was speechless, as was the Demon Head Princess:

 _Why does my Demonic Aura not work on this old woman?_

 _...Moreover, (glances at Lumos) how did that orb of light fight it off for so long?_

"Exorcist: Use it all! Throw all of your purification salt on her!"

Though confused by the request, she does as Miroku asks:

"Take that!"

The salt is bathed all over the monk and demon, and using his spiritual power, Miroku raises two fingers to send a static spell against the fake princess! The demon flinches back in pain and shock, and her hands rot away, before Lumos dives in and uses a burst of his own power to supercharge the static energy, forcing the body and head to separate!

"Damn you to hell, monk! You put a spell on the purification salt!"

Miroku falls back on his behind, before quickly holding his hands up to catch the exhausted Will O' Wisp:

"Oh, Lumos! (Grateful smile) Thank you for the extra help; try not to move for a little while..."

Lumos lets out a quiet moan of content, just as Sango, she and Kilala no longer bound by the Demonic Aura, rushes over to check on the monk and Will O' Wisp:

"Miroku! Are you alright? And Lumos..."

"He should be alright in a bit, but I didn't think I was gonna make it. Um, Madam Exorcist..."

"Yes, what is it now?"

"How did you overcome the grip of that Demonic Aura?" The elder woman forms an innocent expression:

"Uh? What Aura? I didn't sense anything unusual..."

Sango eyes her in disbelief:

 _You really don't sense it?!_

And Miroku just chagrins while quirking mentally,

 _I suppose she's special in some ways..._

The exorcist gets the two back on track:

"We can't afford to sit here wasting precious time. The Demon Head flew off and is still alive!"

Shaking off their stupors, the slayer and monk nod, before moving to stand and run out of the burial ground after the monster, with Miroku placing Lumos in Kilala's care until he could move on his own again:

 _This creature, on the other hand, keeps getting more mysterious by the day..._

 _Yet much like his partner, he is a true asset and friend to have in life._

Inuyasha's POV

As I kept my gaze on the demon lord, I suddenly felt a shiver go down my spine:

"Guh!"

 _What's this? The presence is growing stronger!_

 _...But not from the lord...The Demonic Aura is rising from the Demon's Head Castle._

My eyes narrow at the beast before me:

 _This demon is just a diversion to sidetrack me! The real demon is inside the castle! Grh, I better hurry!_

Sprinting forward, I slug the faker in his face while jeering,

"Why don't you get back inside the castle where you belong?!"

(Crash...)

We fall back into the room where we left, and I turn in the direction where I could sense the true presence:

 _...That way._

(Leap)

Sango's POV

As we ran out of the underground burial site, Miroku filled me and the exorcist in on what the Demon Head has been doing since its rise...

"So the demon took the guise of the princess, and devoured the priestesses and monks who came to exorcise the castle?"

 _Then this explains why Lumos was so edgy around her: He could see right through her trickery._

Miroku nods and adds,

"She said that I was to be the one-hundredth victim."

The exorcist wonders more to herself,

"Hmm, makes no sense...Why did the demon come after you and not me? After all, I'm the stronger one."

Miroku and I couldn't really reply aside from forming chagrins, while I muse in my head,

 _Stronger in terms of obliviousness, maybe..._

"The demon devours spiritual power. Once it consumes the power of one-hundred, she's going to be completely reborn."

Madam Exorcist replies thoughtfully to Miroku's summary of the Demon Head's plans,

"I understand now. (Slaps a fist to her palm) Then I must've been one-hundred and one, otherwise there's no way it would ignore someone with my extraordinary powers...Mm?"

We just kept going on ahead, not really paying attention to her words:

"Are you listening to me?!"

 _Whatever you need to tell yourself, old woman..._

 _Wait: If it's looking for power...what if it goes after the jewel shards?_

 _(Gasp) Coraline!_

Freeman's POV

As we all kept hovering over what we're now sure is the real princess, I suddenly feel the room grow cold:

"Gh!"

Everyone else with me was feeling something too:

"What the-"

"What was that?"

"Something's approaching..."

That's when my brother made the call, pointing back where we came from:

"Cora, Shippo, behind you!"

We look in his direction, and gasp, at the sight of a huge demon head with blue skin, small horns protruding from its forehead, pinkish red eyes, fangs poking out from its closed mouth and the hair of the princess!

Scrambling to our feet, we all cluster by the feet of the dead princess, I readying my hammer, Besa his sickles, and Coraline her combat knife:

"The Demon Head!"

"And this one's gotta be the real deal, no mistake!"

The Demon Head moved through the blinds and closer to the body of the dead princess, and after a few seconds...something strange begins emitting from the second:

(Glow...)

 _What are those? Souls?_

 _...No...this is something else._

Next thing we knew, the monster began consuming all the yellow-glowing orbs into its mouth! Shippo asks fearfully from my shoulder,

"L-Look! What are those things it's eating?!"

Coraline whispers back,

"They aren't Souls, I can say that much, or I'd feel the presence of Auras...I think they're sources of pure energy!"

The Demon Head laughs and jeers,

"Right you are: I buried the spiritual powers of ninety-nine victims inside this body. I need just one more, and that monk would've been my last..."

 _That monk? (Gasp) Miroku!_

 _But it sounds like Sango and the Exorcist made it to him in time..._

"Huh? Young woman."

I jump back to attention when the Demon Head addresses my sister:

"What is that? What is that you're carrying with you?"

I watch Coraline place a hand over her pants pocket that was zipped up, and I widen my eyes when I realize,

 _Oh crap! This freak senses the jewel shards!_

"(Laugh) This might be better than consuming the powers of a mere human!"

Knowing exactly what this monster's intent was, we all turn to eachother and say,

"Split up!"

We then sprint in two directions, I taking Coraline and Shippo to the left and Besa running right, to dodge the Demon Head's jaws:

(Crash...)

It only gets a bite of the door frame instead, and while it shakes itself off, Coraline turns to me and asks in a whisper,

"Bro: Any chance you or Besa still got that lighter fluid?"

 _Lighter fluid?_

 _...Wait!_

I saw where she was going with this, and nod firmly, before we both scrambled out of the way of another charge from the demon:

(Lunge)

"Whoa!" "Yipe!"

I somersaulted to Besa and tell him,

"Open up your bag, quick!" He does so, and turns his back to me while asking,

"What for?" I shuffle for the item in his satchel while replying,

"You'll see!"

 _There's a chance we can't use our weapons on it, even though it's the real demon..._

 _So we'll try a makeshift illusion canceller like Miroku did a couple hours ago!_

"Freeman, hurry!"

I grab the bottle out and turn back to the action, just as Coraline ducks and rolls out of the way with Shippo from the beast, leaving it wide open for me to soak with the lighter fluid:

"I won't let you chomp your fangs into my sister, you freak! Take this!"

(Squeeze, splash)

The Demon Head recoils in pain from the sting of the fluid in its eyes, and I call to the little dude,

"Shippo: Use your Fox Fire on it!"

"Right! (Leap) _Fox Fire!_ "

(Fwoooooom)

"Aaaaarrrggghhh!"

The Demon Head is set to flames, and we takes this opportunity to make a break for it:

"Let's bail!"

"Gone and gone!"

As we run out of the room, I hear the Demon Head call behind us,

"Stop! Not so fast!"

We get about as far as four or five rooms away, when the ceiling caves in and blocks our way!

"Auh, crud!"

"Now what?!"

The Demon Head, somehow shaking off the fire from itself, caught up with us before we could come up with an exit strategy:

"You won't escape! Surrender and get it over with!"

We turn around and brace ourselves for the battle that would ensue:

 _If we're goin' down, we'll go down fighting!_

No POV

...But just as the Demon Head makes its charge, Inuyasha comes crashing into the room through one of the walls with his Tessaiga at ready:

"No you don't!"

(Slash)

"Aaaagh!"

He lands a straight cut across the demon's face, forcing it to retreat back...

"So she's finally shown herself."

"Inuyasha!"

"Good timing, man."

Shippo wasn't as enthusiastic for the dog demon's arrival as Coraline and Freeman were:

"You're late! A second later and they would've had to fight to the death with this creep!"

"Shut up! You should be thankin' me for even showing up!"

"What'd you say?!"

Besa chides to them,

"Come on, you two, this is hardly the time..."

"(Growl) Why, you...!"

Focus turns back to the Demon Head, who sends a seething glare at Inuyasha:

"How, dare you, you fiend! By beautiful face is scarred! You've ruined me! You'll pay with your life!"

"Like they say, it's only skin deep!"

(KICK)

Inuyasha knees the Demon Head back at the side of its face, sending it flying into a dressing screen:

(Crash)

"You've caused enough trouble around here. Time to put an end to this!"

"Grh, you half-breed!"

"This time, you're goin' down! (Charge) Prepare to die!"

...As this was going on, we quickly check back with the demon lord, as his fallen body is surrounded by several retainers with their swords raised at ready incase he gets back up to attack.

"The demon...!"

"Is it unconscious?"

...The demonic guise suddenly disintegrates away, leaving behind the real lord!

"M-My lord!"

But any small amount of relief would be quickly snuffed out, when that body evaporates into ash save the robes...Sango and Miroku arrive just as that occurred, and the Will O' Wisp floated over from Kilala's fur to hover over the area with a troubled moan...

We get back to the fight between the Demon Head and Inuyasha:

"Die!"

(Swing, clatter)

But the latter's blade would only connect with wooden paneling and not the flesh of the monster as it swiftly dodged the Tessaiga...

"Stay still, would ya?!"

The Demon Head just laughs, and Inuyasha would ask with a growl as the others catch up (minus Sango, Miroku and Lumos) to his side,

"What's so funny?"

"The occupants of this castle buried my head underground. They hoped that it would help ward off evil...Those foolish humans! That's why I cursed the princess to death, then assumed her appearance, and into her corpse, I hid away the spiritual powers of those I devoured."

Inuyasha concludes,

"So the lord was merely guarding the princess's body...and acted as a decoy if the truth were ever learned...Kuh, well that's too bad, Demon Head: You're messin' with the wrong people this time!"

"(Laugh) Do you think so?"

"I know so!"

"Wait, stop!"

"Hm?"

The last few members of the group finally catch up, including the Exorcist. Coraline greets them:

"Miroku, Sango, Madam Exorcist!"

"(Ghostly moan)"

The Will O' Wisp floats gingerly towards the redhead and rests himself on her shoulder, still a bit tired from before:

"Lumos..."

 _What the heck did you do to get so winded?_

Inuyasha asks the monk with an irritated glare,

"What do ya want, Miroku? Quit interferein'!"

"I have something I want to ask the demon before it's destroyed."

"Like what?"

The Demon Head addresses Miroku:

"Monk."

"Tell me, why didn't you make your escape sooner? You had easily overpowered me...With such an easily overwhelming Demonic Aura, you could've escaped anytime you wanted."

The twins whisper to one another with narrowed eyes,

"He's got a point."

"Why didn't it?"

The Demon Head laughs and answers,

"Until now, I had to be careful about appearing. I knew there was a stronger presence, one that could take complete control of me."

That caused a wave of uneasy confusion to pass through the group, and Inuyasha narrows his eyes:

"...A stronger presence?" It clicks to Coraline instantly:

"(Gasp) Naraku!"

"Correct. Naraku, and the Demonic Aura he controlled. However, Naraku is no longer around, and I don't have to hide myself in this castle anymore!"

The Demon Head then turns to exit out of the castle via the roof:

(Crash)

"It's escaping!"

"Now I can have my fill of monks and priestesses!"

"Not happening, ugly! _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

The clawing whirlwind of power shoots straight up after the demon, and it lets out a howl of pain upon impact! Shippo exclaims,

"He did it!"

...But when the Wind Scar fades, we see that the Demon Head is not dead, as pointed out by Shippo, Coraline and Besa respectively:

"It's still alive!"

"The Wind Scar wasn't enough!"

"Aw come on, seriously?!"

The Demon Head cackles,

"It's just a start: I'll restore my body, and reek havoc on this land!"

(Rattle)

Miroku then removes the prayer beads on his cursed right hand...

"What?!"

" _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whooooooooosssssssshhhhhhhhhh...)

There would be no escape for the monster, as it's dragged into the raging vortex with a final high-pitched screech...Once that was done, Miroku refastens the beads around his hand before turning to Inuyasha to say,

"It's all over, finally."

"About time. (Sheathes Tessaiga) What a pain that was."

The group moves to the outside, and watches as the darkness that was surrounding the vicinity of the castle above vanishes, leaving behind the normal deep-shaded blue and the moon...Shippo and Sango point out,

"Look!"

"The sky is returning to normal...!" Miroku adds,

"The demon's destroyed, and Demonic Aura that was surrounding the castle has finally disappeared..."

Time Skip

Come the next day, the group would have a last audience with the elder retainer and a few others, who bow in gratitude for their services...

After receiving their reward, and splitting it evenly with the Exorcist, they all leave the town and find themselves sitting on a fallen log just by the treeline bordering the forest and the open field to discuss what had happened, as well as inform the elderly woman (she sitting on a stone) about the despicable half-demon in question...

"So it's all because this demon named Naraku has vanished, and that's why the demons in this region are acting up so much?"

Miroku replies,

"It seems so."

"Ah, then I can see that I'll be gettin' really busy! Business will soon be booming!"

The monk and slayer gape a bit from their place on the log, and Inuyasha, who was standing near with the others, bluntly tells the exorcist,

"Old woman, I have one piece of advice for you: Retire. You're nothin' but a fake exorcist, anyway."

Coraline sighs,

"Come on, Inuyasha, was that necessary?"

Freeman whispers in her ear,

"At least he's being honest..."

The elder glares at the dog demon:

"Shut you mouth. If it weren't for me and my purification salt, the monk would be nothing but a memory now!"

Miroku smiles uncomfortably and says,

"And I'm grateful to you..." Inuyasha scoffs under his breath,

"Would you listen to her?"

Sango whispers to Miroku,

"I think this experience has made her overconfident."

"And unfortunately for us, she'll probably live a long life..."

"Yeah, meaning she won't be so easy to get rid of..."

The exorcist turns to the two on the log with an innocent expression:

"Hm? Did you say something?"

They both stutter with chagrins,

"U-Uh, nope!"

Inuyasha thankfully cuts in before the conversation could get anymore awkward:

"Hey. Come on, let's get goin'!"

"Good idea!"

The group parts ways with Madam Exorcist on a path more into the woodland area, she waving over her shoulder with a smile:

"If anything comes up, I'll be happy to help you youngsters!"

"Thanks, we, might take ya up on that!"

"Safe travels!"

Once the other was out of sight, our group turns to walk in the other direction and continue with their journey...Miroku notes with a serious air,

"Well people, this is becoming a real problem: With Naraku gone, even the demons who were in hiding are starting to look for the jewel shards."

Besa nods and adds,

"Makes sense, though, thinking on what the Demon Head and that hair demon have said: If any had tried surfacing when Naraku was here, they'd more likely become another part of his body...Now, the game's changed, and they're free to invoke their own brand of terror, all for the same prize."

Freeman mutters bitterly,

"Tch, some prize..."

Inuyasha wasn't afraid:

"Kuh, they're nothin' but a bunch of puny demons who were scared of Naraku. I can take care of every single one of 'em."

Everyone eyes him in silence, showing him their bravery in continuing this risky quest, and he adds to himself while taking Coraline's hand,

 _Besides, it's not like Naraku has completely vanished off the face of the earth. I definitely will find him!_

As if reading his thoughts, Coraline gently but firmly squeezes his hand back, facing the road ahead with her head held high:

 _I know you will find him, Inuyasha...We all will._


	96. Chapter 95

Hello to all readers, writers and reviewers.

As much as I wish that I was speaking before this next chapter on a more positive note, I'm afraid an issue has resurfaced and I must bring it to serious attention. I have done my absolute best to ignore this, remembering that in life, free speech opens the door to words shaped to be otherwise unpleasant when they aren't enlightening or neutral, but my lenience has reached its breaking point.

A couple days ago, I received a scathing amount of anonymous guest reviews that accuse me, the author, of the ridiculous self-review act. They have already, of course, been deleted before they could join the list of reviews given so far for this story, along with a few older ones, for I can no longer tolerate such childishness.

Which is also why, from this point onward, I the author, shall be more scrutinizing with every guest review to come in. If I see so much as a hint of someone trying to say 'stop reviewing yourself', their review will not see the light of day. This will mark the same for any irrelevant questions or compliments that have either appeared too repetitively or have absolutely nothing to do with what I write. I sincerely apologize to the guest reviewers whom have been nothing but positive or 'tough, but fair' since the beginning, but this is what it has come to.

Those who have accounts on this site, or anyone who sends constructive criticism (repeat, constructive) will be spared, for I know I can trust people like you to say what you want to say in a professional manner.

Finally, if this problem is the work of someone(s) who(m) has/have nothing better to do than to cause issues (or to use the slang, _Trolling_ ), I pity you, and implore you to do the following: Find another story to read that you know will enjoy since you clearly don't seem to care about mine, and please stop ruining the joy of commenting an author's hard work for everyone else.

...That being said, despite the negativity, I will not let down the people who are enjoying my story, and will continue to write up a storm with all the confidence in the world :)

My thanks for your patience and understanding, be mindful of your future reviews, and enjoy the latest in this adventure!

* * *

 **Chapter 95: A Tale of Two Thieves, Fifty Years in the Making**

It'll have been roughly two days after the events in the Demon Head Castle-Town, and we turn heads to a more rugged piece of the path cutting through the temperate forests of Edo during a more rainy afternoon, as Inuyasha and company continue in their journey...

Thankfully, it was only drizzling at the present, so no one had to break out their rain slicker ponchos, but Coraline subconsciously decided to dress a touch more warmly, wearing her flannel shirt buttoned up over a thicker-material t-shirt, the colour blue peeking out from under the checkered pattern of green and black, and thicker boot socks over her dark blue jeans and in her black combat boots.

Her irises of sky blue lined with dark turn to the clouds hovering over she and her friends, a small frown gracing her lips:

 _(Sigh) I guess the good weather can only last for so long..._

 _Well, might as well make the best of it._

The redhead then started humming a tune from her era under her breath, causing her companion on her shoulder, Shippo, to ask,

"Hm? What's that, Coraline?"

"Huh?"

"Is that a song from your world? It sounds pretty."

Coraline smiles and chimes,

"Thank you, and yes. It's called _Fly_ , by an American Country singing duo known as _Maddie & Tae_."

(Note: Rights and ownership to any referencing of the song's lyrics belong to _Maddie & Tae_ themselves.)

A few feet in front of them, Freeman and Besa, donning outfits of black t-shirts, grey jeans and their signature high-tops, the former his leather jacket and the latter a dark red sweater jacket, grin and reply,

"Another point for the U.S. of A."

"Yeah!"

They highfive, causing Inuyasha, who was walking beside Coraline, to roll his eyes:

"You guys and music..."

Miroku calls back from his stand beside Sango (Kilala on her shoulder) just a foot ahead of the twins,

"Now now, my friend, no need to be so monotone. Music is a beautiful art."

Freeman drawls with a smirk,

"Aw, don't bother, Miroku. The only singing he's ever interested in is his woman's voice."

He and the monk laugh, while Sango and Besa shake their heads in exasperation, and Inuyasha's face colours a little before he barks,

"Hey, watch it!"

Coraline holds her hands up in a 'keep the peace' gesture:

"Alright, settle down, you guys. If you get any louder, you'll break the clouds and we'll really start swimmin'."

She, Shippo and Sango giggle at the notion, while the men sigh tiredly...The fox demon then politely asks the redhead if she could sing some of the lyrics to the song, to which she'd happily oblige. So for the next minute and a half, everyone would be captivated by her voice, soft and harmonious, her eyes wandering between the water droplets falling from the air highlighted by the hovering Will O' Wisp, to scanning over the faces of her friends and lover. Around halfway through the first chorus, Sango whispers to Miroku,

"The words to this melody seem to fit with the current air of our travels, doesn't it?"

"Yes, even a little inspiring..."

(Rumble...)

"Hm?"

The group pauses their steps when their ears pick up on a small drum-roll of thunder, and the rain began to come down harder over their bodies than before. Freeman covers his head and exclaims with a frown,

"Aw man!"

Sango notes,

"Looks like there's gonna be a downpour," Besa adding,

"And not the kind that's easy to travel in on foot."

Miroku replies,

"You're both right. We better hurry and try to find some shelter."

Those four begin running ahead, with Lumos darting forward to be first in line and assist in finding a viable structure to house our travelers, while Coraline takes Inuyasha's hand to pull him along in a jog:

"Come on!"

"Whoa, h-hey!"

"If we stand aimlessly, we'll soak."

The silver-haired dog demon quietly groans to himself,

 _Damn, what a time for the rain to be comin' down in buckets...!_

...At the same time, far away from where the main group was, our familiar priestess caught between the threads of life and death, Kikyō, had arrived in a small village nestled near the green mountains and where the sky was only showing off the overcast, speaking with the locals about a problem they've been forced to deal with this last while...

"An evil demon?"

"Yes, priestess. Several villagers have already been killed by it."

"Priestess: Help us and put a spell on the demon."

As these men asked for her aid, one elderly man with lightly-weathered and wrinkled skin, short white hair tied back into a thin topknot, an eye-patch over his right eye, the other dark brown, and wearing a worn blue-black kimono, slows his pace passed them and steals a glance at Kikyō, before continuing on his way...

"Please!"

"We beg you!"

A third man of the group points to where the source of their issue laid:

"Look, yonder: The beast lives in the misty swamp at the top of the mountain."

"Priestess, have it in your heart to assist us."

Kikyō calmly agrees to help:

"I'll help you. I'll go to the misty swamp."

Kikyō's POV

After some time, I reach the area where the demon's aura was strongest in the swamp. This place was indeed blanketed in a thick mist of fog, so much so that one could barely make out the shape of the mountains in the distance...

I step closer to the edge of the stony shoreline, glancing at a skull with human origins, further confirming that this is where the beast has made its home:

"This must be the place. I can sense an uncommon air abound the swamp..."

A moment of silence passes...before something began to rise from the water, creating a billow of bubbles. I draw an arrow at the ready, just as the demon surfaces:

(SPLASH)

(Twok)

My sacred arrow flies, and does make contact...However, this demon seemed to have a hard, armoured shell, and my arrow merely bounced off!

"What?"

The beast's head peeks out shortly after, revealing itself as some kind of giant tortoise demon. Taken aback though I was, this demon did not offer what I was secretly expecting, so I calmly turned around to walk away...The tortoise demon took the bait, obviously not fond of being ignored, and tried to charge at me from the water.

That, would be its first and last mistake:

(Whirl, twok)

My second sacred arrow flies, and shoots right into the demon's open mouth, traveling down its long neck, destroying it before completely obliterating the shell:

(BOOM)

But, in my heart, the beast's demise did not offer comfort to my true objectives:

 _He isn't here either. I have wandered the countryside, looking for a trace of the Demonic Aura..._

 _...but so far, I have not come across any sign of Naraku._

Once I returned to the village and informed its people that the tortoise demon was no more, I continued on my way, reaching a waterfall carved into the mountainside come the evening. By this time, my thoughts had become rather frustrated:

 _With Naraku's disappearance, a growing number of demons has begun to merge._

 _Simply tracking his Demonic Aura, will not help me catch Naraku._

...Suddenly, an elderly man wearing an eye-patch and worn armour pops out from behind a tree and aims his short knife at me:

"Halt!"

He did not seem to have much energy, judging from his trembling hands and beading sweat. Nevertheless, I stared within his Aura:

 _A human...He has a serious illness, and he doesn't seem to have long to live..._

 _Yet, I sense a purpose to his will to keep going, and slight reluctance to his current actions._

At a time before, I wasn't able to sense the Aura of a Soul this clearly, but since the day my own had been restored to what it once was, my sensory for such had increased...I suspect it has something to do with Coraline's sacrifice: Her action may have bonded our spirits closer than either of us know...

But getting back to current events, the elderly man says to me,

"The villagers surely gave you a hefty sum for slaying that demon."

 _Ah, so he is merely a thief..._

"Hefty sum? (Smile) Heh, no such thing."

"I don't care how much you have. Just drop your loot right over there."

 _And quite desperate too..._

"I do not carry any money."

The man was understandably skeptical:

"There's no temple or shrine around here for you to lodge. What fool would travel around without even carrying a small sum?"

"(Stretches her arms) If you think I lie, go ahead and search me."

"...What do you survive on, then, mist?"

I feel a cynical smile form on my lips:

 _If only you knew..._

"Yes, in a manner of speaking."

The man winces and clutches his chest in pain, likely from his illness acting up, before waving me away weakly:

"Never mind. Off with you."

He moves to sit down by the trunk of the tree and sheathes his weapon. I could have left then...but two things told me to stay: My good will to help those in need...and a familiar pulse of energy.

 _Hm? Is, that..._

"W-Why do you stare? Leave me at once."

(Ping...)

A familiar pink glow emits through his kimono close to the man's heart...

"A Shikon-no-Tama shard..."

The elderly man gasps and covers his chest...

 _So it's not just his will._

"That jewel shard is the only thing that keeps you from death. Isn't that the case?"

"I'll be seventy-years old next year. (Cough, hack) The average man lives fifty years; I've already overstayed my welcome. But I can't die yet, and I'll hold on as long as I have this Shikon-no-Tama shard."

He coughs profoundly again, and I ask,

"What do you think you can accomplish in such poor condition?"

"I can, find my deathbed..."

Before I can ask him what he meant, the elderly thief winces and faints, his illness getting to him...

 _Oh dear, I suppose I cannot just leave him here, can I?_

 _Besides...it would not do to leave his story untold._

Small Time Skip, No POV

The dark of night comes to bathe the land, with only half the light of the moon shining through the clouds, and we turn our eyes to an dilapidated temple, moss and vines growing over the eroding walls on the outside, while the inside was a little better off save some dust...

Laying at the foot of a bronze statue with Buddhist origins, was the elder thief, brought here by Kikyō, who comes back inside after gathering some fresh water into a small bowl. She kneels by the man's head and pours a powdered herb into the water:

"Drink this. It should ease your pain somewhat."

The elderly thief's eyes blink awake as he asks with a weakened voice,

"Why do you help a man like me?"

She answers simply and not unkindly,

"I wish to hear the end of your story."

Though a bit surprised, the man sits up to take the medicinal water...At the same time, unbeknownst to either party, another demon was fast approaching their direction, with one gleaming green eye opening among its thickly hair-covered purple skin...

Cutting back to the temple, the man drinks before explaining his reasons to holding onto life:

"When we met, I was looking for a suitable place to die in piece."

"I don't follow. 'A suitable place'?"

"Priestess. My real name is Kansuke, but was called during my days of crime, Mad Killer Ransetsu. That's what they called me, and rightly so..."

 _(Flash)_

 _It's daytime, and a younger Kansuke, known in those days Ransetsu, was overseeing a new village to target with his band of thieves..._

 _They would soon set the entire place to flames, leaving it vulnerable to pillaging..._

"I killed, stole, I burned down houses, I did whatever I pleased..."

 _Ransetsu rides through the burning village on his horse, a cruel smile and laugh on his lips as he fired arrow after arrow at the screaming villagers. Soon, the bodies of many dead men laid scattered upon on the grounds, much to the horror of the women, while Ransetsu and his cohorts began hording as many treasures as possible..._

"The way I saw it, I would likely be slain at a young age, so I took what I wanted, and thought nothing of the consequences..."

 _(Flash)_

Kansuke muses,

"Somehow, I managed to escape death all these years...Here I am an old man, and still I have not died..."

He then looks at Kikyō more intently, and widens his eye a bit, causing her to ask,

"Is something wrong?"

"(Smile) Growing old is cruel; the memory plays tricks. These days, I keep forgetting what I need to recall, and recalling memories that are of no use to anyone...It stuck me when I first laid eyes on you: You look remarkably similar."

"Similar to...?"

"Long ago, I came upon a priestess who could've passed for your sister. Hnn, what was her name now? Ah yes, I believe it was, Kikyō."

Though she could've told Kansuke it was her, Kikyō opt not to:

"Huh. Pure coincidence, I'm sure."

"Yes, of course. I'm talking about fifty years ago: If she were still alive, she'd be an old woman."

Kikyō felt her eyes narrow a bit, and a tiny rueful smile graced her lips:

"Yes, _if_ she had lived..."

 _Even in this new blood and flesh, I am far from being a part of the living...nor am I the same woman I once was.  
_

"I heard through the grapevine that she had passed on, and that the jewel was buried with her in her grave..."

Kansuke takes out the fragment piece he carries and ponders,

"I can't begin to imagine where this Shikon-no-Tama shard came from, but at the very last moment, it fell into my hands."

"Were you after the Shikon-no-Tama fifty years ago?"

"Yes. Myself, and another fellow named, Onigumo."

That caught Kikyō's attention in an instant:

"Onigumo?"

"Aye. He had a burn scar on his back that was shaped like a spider. I have done countless evil deeds in my lifetime, but Onigumo was a true villain..."

Flashback

 _Sometime after that raid, Ransetsu encounters Onigumo, back when he was but a mere thief with an appearance similar to when he would emerge again as the demon Muso, but with an unknown facial countenance..._

 _The two are now sitting around a fire in a new camp made by Ransetsu's men, and after taking a swig from his jug of sake, he asks Onigumo,_

 _"So, the jewel will grant me any wish, you say?" He answers in a voice akin to the future Naraku's,_

 _"(Nod) Anything at all."_

 _"Where is it? Tell me: How do I get my hands on this Shikon-no-Tama?"_

 _Onigumo points to his distant right and Ransetsu's left:_

 _"In the village over yonder. A priestess named_ _Kikyō is in possession of it."  
_

 _"(Grin) Brilliant. We'll stage a surprise attack on the village tomorrow." The other disagrees with such a strategy:_

 _"No, Ransetsu. I think it best if you go alone."_

 _"Why is that?"_

 _"_ _Kikyō has keen senses. If we go in great numbers, she'll surely escape us."  
_

 _"Tuh, then what course of action shall I take?"_

 _Onigumo glances over where Ransetsu's bow and quiver sat:_

 _"With your bow and arrow, you can easily strike her from a distance with a single shot. Isn't that so?"_

 _"Hmph, of course!"_

 _"(Chuckle) Then what are you waiting for, Ransetsu?"_

 _Ransetsu grins in anticipation for such a profit:_

 _"Whatever I want, huh? I'll have all the sake I desire. (Takes a swig from the jug) And I'll take the world for my enjoyment!"_

 _So come the next day, he rides off to a cliff side just near the Goshinboku Village, and waits for the priestess to come wandering underneath..._

 _"(Smirk) I found you. Die, priestess!"_

 _(Twok)_

 _...Unfortunately, there was one detail that Onigumo had left out:_ _Kikyō had an ally with senses as sharp as hers, by name of Inuyasha! He would rush in and snatch the arrow before it could make contact with the priestess's flesh, and leaped up after Ransetsu!  
_

 _"Who's that?!"_

 _The sudden appearance of the dog demon spooks the horse, and it bucks up, causing Ransetsu to fall backwards to the ground, before he turned to address the source of his failed attack:_

 _"Who are you? What do you want?"_

 _Inuyasha was a bit surprised by the origins of the threat, even if his face didn't show it:_

 _"What's this? You're just a human."_

 _"What?"_

 _He then glares at the thief and says,_

 _"You've got some nerve, you pathetic human, tryin' to cut_ _Kikyō's life short. Are you after the Shikon-no-Tama?"  
_

 _"That's it. I've heard enough from you, demon!"  
_

 _(Swipe, TANG)_

 _Ransetsu's knife strikes Inuyasha's arm, but was not strong enough to cut through the fire rat kimono, breaking it in half! The sharp end of the blade flies high up into the air, before shooting back down into the thief's vulnerable eye:_

 _(JAB)_

 _"Aaaa-aaagh!"_

 _Inuyasha flexes his claws at the ready with a grim smirk:_

 _"You're just lucky I'm not a full demon. Now, prepare to die-"_

 _"Inuyasha!"_

 _Said dog demon peers down to the direction of_ _ _Kikyō's call, and opts to spare Ransetsu's life, if begrudgingly:  
__

 _ _"Tuh, count yourself lucky this time."__

 _ _(Leap)__

 _ _Inuyasha lands on the sturdy branch of a leaf-barren tree planted below the cliff, and__ _ _ _Kikyō asks curiously,  
___

 _ _"Did something happen up there?"__

 _ _"Keh, nothin' I couldn't handle." The priestess smiles a bit:__

 _ _"I'm confident that you wouldn't do anything violent when you're in my presence."__

 _ _She then starts walking out of the area, with the dog demon following behind her somewhat spitefully...Meanwhile, Ransetsu was left holding his injured eye and groaning in immense pain. Eventually, he would return back to his camp of thieves by the evening, only to receive yet another unpleasant surprise:__

 _ _"Huh? Where are they all? Where did my men get to?"__

 _ _That's when it hits him:__

 _ _"Gh! I was duped! Damn that Onigumo: He planned to steal my men away from the very start!"__

 _ _After taking care of his injured eye, Ransetsu, fury boiling in his blood, gathered all his weapons and rode on horseback in the direction he was sure Onigumo took his men to...A while later, the thief came upon a large and very prosperous town, and rode past a few merchant huts to a brothel house where some familiar-looking steeds were resting at.__

 _ _"(Growl) They're here!"__

 _ _Ransetsu rushes inside, scaring the geshias working at the brothel, and climbs up the stairs to the higher floors before using a grappling hook to claw open the door to one room where three of his men were:  
__

 _ _"Ransetsu, you're back!"__

 _ _"Y-You're still alive!"__

 _ _He thrashes open another room, exposing two more thieves of his band:__

 _ _"Ransetsu, it's you! W-We didn't mean to betray you, chief!"__

 _ _But apologies were not what the enraged thief was searching for:__

 _ _"Silence! I'll spare your lives if you come back and serve under me...Now: Where is he?!"__

 _ _He stomps down the corridor, torch in his hand, and blood lusted revenge in his thoughts:__

 _ _"I'll find you, Onigumo...Where is he?! Curse you to hell, you devious swindler!"__

 _ _Ransetsu would quickly find the deceiving thief in the last door down the hall:__

 _ _(KICK, crash)__

 _ _"I'll get my vengeance!"__

 _ _"Ransetsu! Didn't that half-demon kill you?"__

 _ _"I lost my eye thanks to you!"__

 _ _The metal of the grappling hook clicks as Ransetsu began to swing it:__

 _ _"How dare you set me up like that!"__

 _ _The geishas cower together with fear, as the thief adds furiously,__

 _ _"Now I'll return the favour!"__

 _ _(Shoom, shatter)__

 _ _The hook smashes through a vase and hits the wall just a few inches from Onigumo's head!__

 _ _"Ransetsu!"__

 _ _He does not heed Onigumo's call, and uses the fire of the torch to light the fuse of a bomb...__

 _ _"Burn in hell, Onigumo!"__

 _ _He would then use his grappling hook to escape from the brothel house just as the bomb detonated:__

 _ _(BOOM)__

 _ _The explosion was so potent, that the entire building went up in flames, and Ransetsu turns his eye to the sight while laughing hysterically:__

 _ _"Burn, burn, burn him to Hell!"__

 _ _...Once night rolls around, he and his men would return to the burned and blackened remains of the building to search for evidence that Onigumo was really dead. What they found, however, was the complete opposite:__

 _ _"Rgh, Ran-set-su..."__

 _ _Though true the fire left Onigumo's body severely burned with numerous broken bones and buried under a pile of charred wood, he was somehow still clinging onto life!__

 _ _"Hnn, stubborn fiend refuses to die..."__

 _ _Ransetsu would order his men to unbury the man before wrapping him up in a straw mat to cart him off to a less desirable location, namely, a high cliffside...__

 _ _"This place is good. You, men: Throw him over!"__

 _ _"Y-Yes, chief!"__

 _ _Just before he's thrown over the cliff, Ransetsu sends this final word to the wounded thief:__

 _ _"Onigumo, this time you go after it!"__

 _ _(Toss)__

 _ _"Go find the Shikon-no-Tama! (Smirks and waves) Say hello to__ _ _ _ _ _Kikyō for me!"  
_____

End of Flashback

The priestess remained impassive as she listened to the story:

"So you threw him over?"

"Aye, to the infernal abyss..."

Kikyō closed her eyes in thought and felt a grim smile grace her lips:

 _And into my hands. How ironic..._

She switches back to a neutral expression before asking,

"And then what: What happened after you threw him over?" Kansuke replies,

"That, was the end. (Looks at his palm) I stole this Shikon-no-Tama recently from a dying demon I came across. (Rueful smile) But for some reason, it won't grant my wishes as I had hoped. It prolongs my life, and nothing more, and tempts one demon after another to come after it..."

His voice hardens as he thought of the one who first fueled the fire to his misfortune:

"Curse that wretched Onigumo: Even in death, he continues to betray me...This fragment does help to ward off those demons as well."

Before she could ask anymore questions, Kikyō suddenly senses something dark approaching the temple, and moves to stand up.

"What's the matter?"

She narrows her eyes at the entrance:

"Something approaches. Most likely, it's come to get that jewel fragment of yours."

"Is it a demon?"

The priestess felt her muscles tense, recognizing the energy:

"Wait: I know that Demonic Aura!"

 _Naraku!_

 _...No, it's not. It's different._

(SMASH)

The source of the Aura then crashes its way into the abandoned Buddhist temple, revealing itself as a demon with a purple fleshed, rounded body covered with thick, long black-brown hair, and nine, piercing green eyes (the largest in dead center and circled by the other eight)!

One of the hairy tendrils seizes Kikyō by her throat, before the beast demands with a roar,

"Give it to me! Give me the Shikon-no-Tama shard!"

(Crash)

Shortly after the demon makes a new hole in the temple's roof to see inside where the elder thief and priestess were, the latter asks sternly with some strain,

"Who are you?! What are you to Naraku?"

It obliges with an answer as it wraps another tight lock of hair around Kikyō's waist:

"Naraku...that cursed wretch! Naraku severed me from him: He left me, looking like this!"

As she struggled, the priestess concluded,

 _It's a part of Naraku's body, part that he abandoned!_

"I need a Shikon-no-Tama shard! With the fragment, I'll be able to form myself a real body!"

Kansuke tries to rush forward and attack the demon with his knife, but was easily knocked aside into a wall by another tendril of hair:

"Surrender the jewel!"

Shaking off the impact, Kansuke curses,

"Damn you, worthless demon," before snatching up his bow and quiver:

"Die!"

(Twok)

The arrow flies, and slices away some of the hair, angering the nine-eyed demon:

"(Growl) How dare you, human!"

It then seizes Kansuke around the waist and proceeds to drag him close to the one large eye...Kikyō then calls,

"Throw it to me: Throw me your bow and arrow!"

"Hand over the Shikon-no-Tama shard!"

The elder thief wastes no time obliging both the demon and the priestess:

"If your desire for it is that great..."

He then throws down the bow, before fixing the jewel fragment onto the tip of his last arrow, and thrusting it into the beast's eye:

(Pow)

The energy of the jewel shard causes the demon to writhe and yell in pain, before releasing Kikyō and Kansuke! With the monster disoriented, the priestess wastes no time in grabbing the jewel-imbued arrow to use again to finish it off:

(Twok)

Kansuke gasps at seeing the fushia arrow:

"That arrow...!"

The point connects, and the demon screeches in agony, before backing off from the temple and zig-zags uncontrollably through the air as its body sparked, then finally exploding into a ball of energy and smoke!

...As the flamed pieces of the demon rain down to the ground, Kikyō turns calm eyes down to Kansuke:

"Are you injured, old man?"

"How pitiful, being saved by a woman...You're no ordinary woman, I must say, priestess."

Kikyō's POV

As I searched for the jewel fragment among the pieces of the demon that I had destroyed, the rain had come back again, snuffing out the last of the flames. Kansuke was resting by one of the old trees in the courtyard...I could sense his condition beginning to deteriorate again...

It would not take me long before I found the shard, before walking over to present it to the old man:

"I retrieved it for you."

"...I have no need for that any longer. Please, you take it...In return, I wish for you to grant me just one request."

"What is it?" His answer came out grim yet reflecting:

"You see, I've lived a selfish life 'til now, but these last years of age and sickness have changed me. I've become afraid to fall into the depths of Hell."

 _Interesting...He has lived evil, but cannot face it._

"You wish to be saved?"

"I've heard of a special place, where even villains like me can find salvation, and I've traveled in search of this place...But, I suppose I'll never find it now."

 _...Is he asking me to..._

"So what now?"

Kansuke shakily pulls out his knife, before using it to cut his topknot off, and present it to me, looking much older than before:

"Take this. Take this lock of hair, and bury it. Bury it, so that I might be saved."

...I take the topknot into one of my hands, just as he adds,

"Woman...you never did tell me your name."

I say nothing for a moment...before deciding to reveal my identity to the dying man:

"...It's Kikyō."

"(Smile) Heh. A bad joke for a dying man."

Those would be his last words, before Kansuke succumbs to his illness and old age...I stare at his body for a moment, then turn my eyes to the water droplets falling at a brisk pace from the sky, as a sad smile formed on my face:

"The wheel of destiny is ever in motion...Eternal."

No POV

At the same time the events at the temple came to a close, we turn heads back to the main paths carved into the valley grasslands, specifically, an old wilderness hut, where Inuyasha and company had decided to shelter in for the night and get out of the rain...

Sango was laying asleep near the left wall looking in on one of the piles of hay near her things, with Shippo sprawled on his back next to her on her right, and Kilala curled up by her head. Miroku was nestled in the right corner, sleeping sitting up with his staff held in his arms similarly to Inuyasha holding his Tessaiga, the latter sleeping sitting up against the right side's wall close to the entrance. Finally, Freeman was sleeping half sitting up, half laying down in the corners of the hay piles between the monk and dog demon, while Besa snoozed away laying on his side on a blue mat near his brother's legs.

That left Coraline being the only one awake, she kneeling by the fire in front of Besa's head and near Inuyasha's left side, the chill of the wet air keeping her from sleeping. She peers behind her where her weapons and satchel sat, smiling softly at the Will O' Wisp who was letting out little snuffled moans as he rested...She then lets out a few continuous but quiet sneezes, and rubs her nose with her finger:

 _Shoot. I better not be getting sick. Can't afford that._

(Drape)

"Hm?"

Inuyasha had apparently picked up on the sounds, and decided that Coraline needed more layers, putting his red fire rat robe on her:

"Put this on so you won't catch a cold."

"Thank you. Ah-choo!"

"Ulp, too late. You already caught one."

Coraline half-smirks at the light teasing and replies,

"Nah, can't be. My immune system's decent enough for a human. It's more likely someone's gabbing about me."

Another small sneeze escapes the redhead, and Inuyasha decides to check her temperature while scoffing,

"Don't be ridiculous. Who'd ever gossip about you? Hm...well that's good: You don't have a fever."

Coraline blushes lightly from the care, and leans her head against the dog demon's chest:

"Thanks, Inuyasha, for caring about my health..."

His own cheeks dust with pink, before he pulls her close with an endearing smirk:

"Keh, what kind-a man would I be if I let my woman get sick?"

"Oh~, so I'm your woman now?"

"Damn right."

The two quietly laugh a little, before they shift their position so that Coraline was sitting in Inuyasha's lap and tucked into his arms, she holding him with her own while still wearing the top half of his kimono, eyes closed and with loving smiles gracing their lips...Of course, what they didn't know, was that everyone else had seen and heard the whole thing, having feigned sleep but carefully watched with one eye open, smiling at the moment between the young couple...

Time Skip

It's now morning, and we catch up with Kikyō after she left the abandoned and now damaged Buddhist temple, and was speaking with a old woodcutter and his younger assistant in the deep forest regarding the last wish of Kansuke...

"Oh, you came all this way with his remains?"

"Seems to be alot of trouble you went through..."

"It was his dying wish, and I gave him my word." The elderly man hms,

"I've heard about this place of purification you mention. I believe the monk's name was Hakushin, if I'm not mistaken, wasn't it?"

His assistant nods:

"Yes, that's it. There was this temple started by Hakushin, and if the remains are brought there, he can cleanse any sin."

Kikyō asks,

"Where can find this temple?"

"It's on Mount Hakurei."

"Mount Hakurei?"

The younger of the two men points to the left of the priestess's vision:

"Beyond this forest, you'll find a valley on which Mount Hakurei looms..."

Thanking the men for the directions, Kikyō continues her way until reaching the end of the tree cover, finding herself on a rocky cliff overlooking the tips of large hills and smaller mountains in the cloudy mist...In the distance, was one particularly tall mountain peak that caught the priestess's eye...

"So, that must be the mountain..."

She looks down at the jewel shard in her hand, a foreboding feeling rising within herself:

"Something feels strange..."

Nevertheless, Kikyō walks on, leaving the starting line of her next objective...


	97. Chapter 96

**Chapter 96: The Three Sprites of the Monkey God**

A new day dawns, and our main ragtag group of five humans, three demons (one half human) and a Will O' Wisp were on their way again, shifting from the forest path and entering a large grass field near an incoming village. As they walked along, Besa brings up a minor subject that's been irking him the littlest bit since he and his siblings came back to Edo...

"You really think that stranger that came to the dojo before class started is bad news?"

"I dunno...It's just, there was something in the way he was exchanging stares with Master Yoshi that seemed, off and foreboding."

Flashback

 _It would have been close to ten in the morning when Coraline and her brothers had finished their more private training with their martial arts teacher, and they were just reentering the dojo after coming back from the concrete grounds of the abandoned warehouse district:_

 _(Ka-chank)_

 _"The three of you have made substantial progress in this last while. You are wielding your weapons with both the confidence and intelligence of true warriors."_

 _The redhead smiles at the words from the older male:_

 _"That's appreciated, sensei."_

 _Besa and Freeman add,_

 _"I think we'll attend one of the regular classes today too."_

 _"Where can we store our weapons meanwhile?"_

 _"Back here in my office will do."_

 _(Ka-chank)_

 _"Hm?"_

 _Before they could all walk there, however, the door opens again, revealing a new face: He was a tall man, about six feet in height with pale skin, slick-styled black hair that stopped just past his ears, strong jawline, piercing brown eyes with a purple outline, and wearing a rather expensive looking black suit with a red tie and brown, low-heeled shoes._

 _The three teens stared at the stranger with wary expressions, whispering to one another,_

 _"Who is that?"_

 _"Beats me..."_

 _"Yikes. He looks like one of those guys who moonlights as a crime lord or the Devil..."_

 _Yoshi narrows his own softer brown irises at the man, the rest of his face set neutral:_

 _"Saki...I did not expect you so early."_

 _The man, identified as Saki, smiles in a way that may have looked pleasant to the untrained eye, but was really covering the complete opposite:_

 _"Heh, my apologies for coming at such an inopportune time, Yoshi, (glance) especially as it looks like you were in the middle of educating more young minds..."_

 _His eyes fall on the weapons in the three teen's hands:_

 _"My. Those are quite the unique choices you young ones have made. It has been a long time since I last saw anyone wield the long hammer and sickles, and, that sword...That is a foreign blade, is it not?"_

 _Coraline replies stiffly,_

 _"Yes...Pardon my rudeness, sir, but who are you to our master?"_

 _"Merely an acquaintance, a, business partner so to speak..."_

 _"...I see..."_

 _Saki turns back to the man he came to see:_

 _"Unfortunately, I am forced to arrive early for our discussion due to an issue that had risen with my company. I trust this isn't a problem?"_

 _Yoshi nods, remaining passive:_

 _"Not at all. My main class will not start for another half hour...Shall we take this in my office?"_

 _"Of course."_

 _With that, the two men walk to and through the door near the far left corner of the dojo, leaving the teens behind to wonder and speculate on the cloaked intensity they felt:_

 _"(Shiver) Was I the only one who sensed some major tension goin' on between Master Yoshi and that Saki guy, or did you guys feel it too?"_

 _Besa and Coraline nod:_

 _"Yeah...They definitely know eachother, but it didn't look like in a good way."_

 _"And did you see the way he was looking at our weapons? He obviously knows something about the martial arts; he might even be a rival dojo master...Then there was that quip about business and company? That sounded like a cover..."_

 _The redhead looks toward the closed office door with a suspicious glare:_

 _"That man is hiding something...Something that Master Yoshi is obviously against."_

End of Flashback

Besa shakes his head as the memory came and passed, before stating,

"Cora got the right of it: That man is trying to keep something hidden...And not only that, but...there was something about his character that seems, familiar..."

She then asks,

"How so?"

"Wish I knew for sure. Excuse me if I sound paranoid, but...his mannerism almost reminded me of Naraku, only more secretive and human-like."

Everyone felt a shiver go down their spines, and Inuyasha scoffs,

"What? That's crazy; like any human could match that bastard."

"Mm, you're probably right...Still, I can't help but worry for Master Yoshi."

Freeman puts an arm over his brother's shoulder and says with a reassuring smile,

"I'm sure he's fine, bro. We can always check up on him next time we head back home if it'll put you at ease."

Besa nods, a small smile forming on his lips from the kind words. Coraline, meanwhile, hmmed to herself with a frown of thought:

 _There was one thing that struck me as odd: His asking about my sword..._

 _And, the way he looked at me...almost suggested he knows something about me and my blade, but that can't be right..._

 _Or could it?_

 _...Maybe it wouldn't hurt to scope out some information about this Saki person, just to be on the safe side._

She comes back to reality as her eyes glance over at the village she and everyone were passing:

"Moving onto current events, this village seems to be humming with a normal quiet..."

Miroku agrees:

"Yes. There's no sign that Naraku has been here."

Sango on the other hand, seemed to think there was a problem:

"Something's odd here, though..."

Freeman asks,

"Like what?"

She points over to some crop fields, which getting a better look, had numerous large holes dug into the dirt, and very few, wilted green remains of what was suppose to be growing there...

"All the fields are in ruins." Shippo adds,

"She's right. What could've happened?" Miroku and Besa suggest,

"A wild boar, perhaps?"

"Or maybe some hungry weasels looking for insects?" The slayer wasn't so sure:

"I dunno; that's alot of damage..."

"It's him!"

The group came to a stop when they heard someone shouting from a distance, and turn around to see a group of people from the village they were passing rushing towards them rather hectically:

"Stop! Don't go!"

"Villagers?" "What's got them so riled up?" Two of the men point to Inuyasha:

"You, with the fair hair!"

"Look at those ears: He's not human!"

Coraline side-glances said dog demon and mutters,

"Uuh, I think they're talking to you. They don't seem to be hostile, but..."

Inuyasha places a hand on his Tessaiga to be cautious and asks the approaching crowd,

"You've got business with me?"

The reaction was one that no one of our travel party saw coming: The men stop in front of Inuyasha and kowtow while begging,

"Save us, Dog God! We beg you!"

"Huh?!" "Dog God?!"

As soon as the gang was directed back to the village, its people seat Inuyasha in front of the chief's house with two young ladies fanning him, while the rest of them knelt before him in front of a small altar piece:

"Honourable Dog God..."

"Dog God!"

"Dog God!"

"(Collective) Dog God!"

The silver-haired demon wonders to himself in bewilderment,

"These people think I'm a Dog God...?"

A third girl then steps up and presents a large bowl of food onto the altar, obviously meant for Inuyasha to have...

"What is this, pickled vegetables?"

The chief of the village, a middle-aged man with a slightly heavy built body, balding black hair tied in a topknot and wearing a gray green kimono with a blue robe overtop replies,

"We realize that for someone of your stature, pickled vegetables are but a meager offering..."

An older gentleman wearing a light blue kimono explains,

"But this is all the food we have to offer, your eminence!"

Another man with tanned skin and wearing a gray purple kimono adds desperately,

"We have no choice but to appeal to you, Honourable Dog God!"

The chief says to the two girls sitting on Inuyasha's left and right,

"Quickly, ladies, what are you thinking?! Fan him!"

The rest of the group was standing off to the side, and Freeman scratches the back of his head while mumbling with a weird expression,

"I think these guys might've tied their topknots too tight today. Since when is Inuyasha a deity?"

Coraline hms and puts a finger under her chin in thought:

"They must be mistaking him for the Inugami, a god that can be summoned to invoke vengeance. Though, the actions have usually been depicted as rather destructive, and can even backfire on the summoner if they don't account for it..."

Miroku hums,

"They must be very desperate if they're appealing to Inuyasha for his help..."

Inuyasha's ears don't miss the conversation, and he sends a mildly threatening glare to the monk:

"What's that suppose to mean?"

Before Miroku opened his mouth to try (and most likely fail) to defend his word choice, the old man in light blue speaks up:

"All of our fields have been ravaged by a band of monkeys."

"Monkeys?" The chief says,

"We have long heard that monkeys hold a deep fear of dogs."

"Please, Dog God: Lend us your assistance!" All of the villagers kowtow and beg,

"Drive out the monkeys and save our village!"

Miroku steps forward to assure them that help would be granted:

"Of course we'll help you. We'll drive out the monkeys."

The villagers hum in an awe, and Inuyasha whispers to Miroku in an annoyed way,

"Hey, I may be good, but I'm hardly a god!" The monk whispers back,

"So, what's a little monkey business on the side?"

"We don't have time to be monkeying around!" Freeman quietly groans with a bemused smile,

"Enough with the puns already, you two!" Miroku assures Inuyasha,

"Rest assured, Sango and I will carry on in searching for Naraku while you take care of the troublemakers."

The dog demon growls irritably, while said slayer agrees with the monk:

"He's right."

Coraline chides with a small smile,

"Come on, Inuyasha: These people clearly need help, and they're reaching out to you."

The twins add,

"Yeah, who cares about a mix of identity?"

"This'll more likely be a quick job, anyway."

Inuyasha sighs, but chooses not to argue further...

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

With Miroku, Sango and Kilala going on ahead to keep searching for leads in finding that half-demon creep, Naraku, the rest of us went into the forest near the village where the chief said that these monkeys were hiding out at. Of course, Inuyasha wasn't pleased with the job he got roped into doing:

"This is a joke! Why do I gotta handle these monkeys for those villagers?"

I link his arm with my own and reply with a half-smirk,

"Oh chillax, 'Dog God'. It's not like you're doin' this alone."

He shoots me with a mild pointed glare, obviously for the title reference, but Shippo, who was sitting atop Freeman's shoulder, keeps the inside joke going:

"An honourable Dog God..."

"You there!"

We froze to a halt at the sound of a deep, raspy voice calling out from the trees and bushes, and the next thing we knew, a giant one-eyed monkey demon with brown fur springs out from the leaves with a roar! My bros and I shout before Shippo,

"Whoa!" "What the heck?!" "Gah!"

"Owah! It's a monkey demon!"

I let Inuyasha's arm go so I could ready to pull out one of my weapons if necessary, as the giant calls to he,

"Pathetic dog demon! The villagers must've sent you to come after me knowing how much I despise mutts! You'll be dog meat!"

Inuyasha sprints forward to attack with his usual cocky smirk:

"You're makin' me glad I was forced to volunteer!"

(Punch)

"I'll take on a demon like you any day!"

Though what we'd learn shortly after that suckerpunch, is that the demon was not who they appeared to be:

(Whirl, poof)

It was in fact an illusion, created by three small monkey demon children no taller than Shippo, with light brown fur, pink skinned faces, tiny ears at the top of their foreheads, hand-like paws and feet, and were wearing vests of red, red/black stripes, and blue respectively.

"Little monkeys!" I hum after Shippo,

"Huh...Didn't see that coming."

Inuyasha squats down in front of the three and asks,

"Hey: Are you the monkeys that have been plunderin' the farmer's fields?"

They whisper among themselves, before turning to kowtow:

"I guess you got us."

"Sorry, sorry!"

The one wearing the striped vest says to Inuyasha with a kind smile and quick pace,

"And to prove that we'll never do anything naughty again, we'll give you our special spiritual stone."

He takes out a small round rock with sutras tied around it, and places it in Inuyasha's open palm, who smiles with a slight chuckle:

"You didn't have to do that, but I wouldn't turn down a gift."

I hear my brothers hm, and turn to see them eyeing the monkeys with skeptic frowns:

"Somethin's fishy here..."

"Yeah, this was too easy..."

Shippo then says to my boyfriend with a wary tone,

"Inuyasha..."

"What do you want, Shippo?"

"It's a standard trick in the mini demon world to catch your enemy off-guard by giving them a gift, so, I'd think twice about accepting that if I were you..."

Unfortunately, his warning came too late, and the stone enlarged into a huge boulder!

"Guess it's too late now..." Freeman quirks back with wide eyes,

"Uh, ya think, little dude?!"

The weight of the rock would force Inuyasha to topple to the ground, causing the monkey demons to laugh...He then kicks Shippo down with his foot and grumbles,

"Could've told me that sooner!" The monkeys jeer,

"(Laugh) Serves you right!"

"Rightly served: The dog demon's stuck!"

They then turn and shake their rears while shouting in unison,

"Foo~led ya~! Monkey bums are bright and red, more rants here and in your head!"

* * *

Note: Sorry if I got that cheer wrong; I did my absolute best to listen for it in the English dub! Lol, still funny either way XD

* * *

(BONK)

Inuyasha clonks all three of them on their noggins while barking,

"Says you! Watch where you're pointin' those things or I'll really have to brand ya!"

The one in the blue vest wobbles back upright first and says,

"Sticks and stone may break our bones..." The one with the striped vest adds,

"But words will never hurt us! 'Til our spell is broken, you'll stay here stuck to the stone!"

I watch as a smirk mixed with irritation and threat formed on Inuyasha's lips, which in my eyes, was not a good sign:

"Keh, so that's what you think?"

I glance at my brothers, who occupied worried expressions similar to mine, and we all mutter,

"Uh, oooh..."

My boyfriend, ticked off as hell, then lifts himself to his feet while holding the boulder up in a manner that automatically translated as 'I'm gonna crush you' to the frightful monkey demons:

"You forget: I still have one free hand to clobber you monkeys!"

While two out of three panicked, the one with the plain red vest suddenly tosses out another one of those spirit rocks...However:

"Nope!"

(Whack)

Freeman suddenly dashes forward, and uses his hammer to knock the trick rock away, sending it flying towards the west over some trees and into another nearby clearing:

(...Crash...)

The monkey demon triplets were flabbergasted:

"Whuh?!" "What?!" "No fair!"

My brother smirked a little:

"Nice try, wise guys, but you'll have to wake up early in the morning to pull the same trick twice. (Peers over his shoulder) You alright, man?"

Inuyasha shakes off his surprise and replies back with his own smirk,

"Keh, I'm fine. Thanks for the swing."

"No probs."

The rest of us broke into grins and cheer,

"Nice one, bro!" "Alright, Freeman!"

"That was awesome!"

The monkey demons bristled with anger that their plan failed, before turning to dash out of the area, much to our protests:

"Auh!" "Hey!"

"Get back here!"

Shippo exclaims to me,

"Let's follow them, Coraline!"

"Right. (Looks at the other three) You guys hang back here and try to find a way to get rid of the Spirit Stone. It can't be next-to-impossible to remove it without those little brats."

"Okay." "Righty-o."

"Kuh, just be careful and don't take all day."

With that established, I began running off down the path left where the monkey demons scampered off to, with Shippo on my shoulder, and Lumos floating beside us after I called him out of my satchel to help. Shippo says to me,

"We can't let them get away: Inuyasha's gonna be stuck to the stone until the spell's broken, and they're the only ones who can break it!"

"...Still hesitant to believe that's true, but I agree we can't let them get off it scot-free."

It was then he hopped off my shoulder and began moving faster than I did:

"Guh! Shippo?"

 _He's really determined to do this..._

 _(Smile) Alright, go get 'em, Shippo!_

Miroku's POV

After we exited the village, I lead Sango and Kilala to a quieter area in the nearby forest so we could have a break from these last couple days of travel and battles...As I laid on my back in the soft grass under the tree we chose, Sango, who was standing with Kilala in full form by her side, asks me,

"Wait a minute, Miroku: Weren't we supposed to be looking for any signs of Naraku?"

I reply casually,

"We don't have Inuyasha to sniff him out, and we don't have Coraline who can sense the Shikon-no-Tama. What good is searching on our own?"

"Huh?" I further explain the other piece of my motive:

"I had to say that we'd keep searching or Inuyasha wouldn't have lifted a finger to help those villagers."

 _Hopefully for their sake, I didn't just do something to make their problem worse._

Shippo's POV

"I gotta keep it together, I gotta keep it together, I gotta keep it together!"

After sprinting ahead of Coraline, I finally caught up with those triplet tricksters, and was prepping to throw down my own counterattack. We end up sidestepping a few feet across from eachother using our demon speed, before I used my dragon illusion:

"Go!"

"Oh yeah?!"

The one with the striped vest counters my dragon with a tiger, and after meeting in a static-filled clash, they revert back to their original forms (a tiger fang and my snake toy) in a puff of smoke...

We leap over bushes and branches, before I hopped up high in the air and shifted to my balloon form:

"Raaaaahhhhhhh!"

(Pop)

"Brothers: Merge!"

(Pop)

They in turn transform into a skinny yellow balloon, and we bump heads until our illusions cancelled out, before I met fist to fist with the stripe-vested monkey. We keep up the pace and power for a minute or two, before kicking eachother backwards and somersault to use our other tricks, mine being my top, and theirs a giant acorn:

"Top this!"

"That's nuts!"

Once again, it ends in a tie after the top and acorn couldn't spin anymore, and we all land back on the ground facing eachother. I gotta say, they weren't half-bad:

 _Almost reminds me of my fight with Souten..._

"(Grin) You're pretty good."

"Yeah, you too."

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Hm?" "Huh?"

It was then Lumos came flying from the treetops right of us, and moves to hover in the middle while bobbing up and down in an excited manner. The three monkey demons were a bit freaked by his presence:

"Gah!" "Aaah!" "What's that, a mad Soul?!"

I laugh a little and explain,

"No, he's something called a Will O' Wisp, and he's really friendly. His name is,"

"Lumos!"

Coraline's voice finished my sentence before I could, and she came out from the bushes panting a little:

"Geez, humans can only run so fast, ya know...Anyway, it looks like you've all reached a stalemate, am I right?"

"Uuuh, I guess?"

"Hm...In that case, how 'bout we try talking about this more civilly over some snacks? I'm sure you all must be hungry by now."

We all agreed to that plan, and after finding this old and broken-down shrine to sit at, Coraline brought out four lollipops for us to eat while she ate an apple...Once she was done eating, she asks,

"So tell me, Goso, was it: What's with you and your bros causing so much damage to the farmer's fields?"

He answers insistingly,

"We haven't been wrecking them on purpose: We're looking for the Monkey God who's been kidnapped!"

"Monkey God, you say?"

"Yes. The deity who was enshrined in this village."

Buso and Keso (the ones with the blue and red vests) add,

"We're the three sprites who serve under the Monkey God."

"Part of our training was to make sure that we protected this shrine." Goso and Buso then say,

"But the shrine was burned down in the wars and all..."

"And the sacred object containing the spirit of the Monkey God was stolen from inside the shrine."

Coraline nods and states,

"So you three believe the artifact in question is hidden somewhere in the village..."

Goso nods,

"Yes, that's right: We believe that the sacred object is buried in a field somewhere nearby. I had a premonition in my dreams, so I'm sure it's true."

Keso and Buso chime,

"I had the same dream."

"Don't forget about me!"

"In my dream, our god was in a place that was very dark and very damp."

"In mine, he was in a place that was small and suffocating."

"And in mine, he was complaining that the place stunk of vegetables."

 _...Wow, that sounds really specific._

(...Thump)

"Huh?"

The grounds suddenly began rumbling a little with a loud thumping noise that kind-a reminded me of when Coraline sometimes used the beads on Inuyasha (which in this last while has become really rare). Goso looks left and right for the source:

"Something's coming this way...!"

Coraline hms, and uses her Aura Reader ability to make her eyes glow, before it quickly faded away with her sigh:

"Guess the guys couldn't find a way to do it themselves...(Looks at Boso) Look, I'll be nice and not scold you so heavy, but it would be in your best interest to remove that spell you put on Inuyasha."

"No way."

"And why not?"

"Because...we've forgotten how to undo the spell."

I cringe in disbelief:

 _Aw man, you've gotta be kidding! Inuyasha's not gonna be happy to hear that..._

And my guess was correct, when he, Freeman and Besa reach us at the shrine from the thicker part of the forest and learn of the news:

"Wait, what?!" "You forgot?!"

"You, monkeeeeeys!"

The three monkey demons huddle up in fear (which I couldn't blame them for), so I step over to tell them seriously,

"Uh, if I were you guys, I'd end the joke right now. Take it from me: Inuyasha won't go easy on you just 'cause you're little guys."

"But we're not joking: We've really forgotten how to undo the spell!"

(...BONK)

That answer would earn another thwack on their skulls by Inuyasha...Coraline groans,

"God, this didn't take long to become a mess, did it?"

The twins nod, before speeding backwards out of Inuyasha's way as he lifts the boulder up with the intent to crush the monkeys, again:

"(Growl) You're dead!"

Goso quickly shouts,

"No, wait: Once we find the Monkey God, then we can break your spell, okay?!" Buso adds,

"Yeah, right, the Monkey God! He's the one who taught us the trick in the first place!"

Coraline lets out a puff of air before nodding firmly:

"Alright: Let's find the artifact quick before anything else happens."

She then has me and Freeman hang back with Inuyasha, taking Besa with her to follow the monkey demons back to the village:

"Don't push yourselves in a rush: We'll meet back in the village!"

"You should've waited back there in the first place!" Besa retorts,

"Not helping, Goso!"

I just sigh in exasperation:

 _What a day..._

Inuyasha's POV

I wasn't just gonna sit around and let Coraline and Besa take care of this with those little pranksters: Despite the weight of the boulder holding me back some, I started marching down the hill on the path back to the village, with Shippo and Freeman walking beside me. The squirt asks me,

"Aren't you getting tired?"

"Duh! No way I'm gonna keep hangin' onto this stupid boulder forever..."

 _I don't even wanna think about how much that could backfire on me...and yet I am.  
_

 _(Flash)_

 _My damn half-brother Sesshomaru would give me a look of scorn, not that it'd actually appear on his stony face or in his dull tone:_

 _"How clumsy of you, Inuyasha."_

 _Then that mangy wolf cub K_ _ _ōga wouldn't waste the opportunity to make fun of me, smug grin and all:  
__

 _"Nice rock you got there, mutt!"_

 _And...what if Sesshomaru doesn't bother with pickin' a fight with me, and just takes my blade?_

 _"Such a shame you can't use the Tessaiga. (Walks away) Pitiful, really..."_

 _"No, don't! Give it back! Gimme back my sword!"_

 _"I shall gladly use the Tessaiga in your place, little brother."_

 _(Growl) That would be so like the jackass...Of course, I know that can't really happen, since my sword seems to have it out for full-blooded demons...  
_

 _And really, putting my brother and the wolf aside...there's one possible scenario that could happen if this boulder isn't removed, and it's enough to make my blood run cold._

 _"(Dark chuckle) Inuyasha. It seems you've lost your ability to move freely."_

 _That bastard, Naraku, showing up to start a fight, and I'm completely incapable of fighting properly, leaving just as wide open to get killed than if he were to find me in my human form...And if he didn't kill me..._

 _"Inuyasha!"_

 _He could always swoop down and take Coraline away from me! The very image of that monster holding my girl hostage in his arms is enough to make my skin crawl:_

 _"(Laugh) Tell me: How does it feel knowing that I have your woman and there's nothing you can do to help her? That I can easily snap her neck, and you would be too late to stop me?"_

 _"(Struggle) Let, go of me! Inuyasha! Inuyasha, help! Inuyashaaaa!"_

 ** _Coraline...No! No! NO!_**

 _(Flash)_

I felt a very deep, feral growl bubble in my throat, my teeth gnarling and eyes narrowing in anger like I was about to lose myself to my demon blood:

 _Never! I will never let that happen!_

"...Inuyasha? Inuyasha."

I give myself a good headshake, before turning my eyes to Freeman, who was looking at me in concern:

"You okay? You look like you're preppin' to commit murder...Did, something bad go through your head?"

It surprised me how close he was to knowing my thoughts, and I nodded with a quiet snarl:

"Yeah...Somethin' that only affirms this."

"What?"

I didn't answer right away, as I was concentrating on putting all my strength into rushing down the hill as fast as I could with the dang boulder thumping up and down behind me:

"I can't afford to lay around!"

"Whoa! Slow down, man!"

I ignored his and Shippo's panicked yelps, keeping up my pace and focusing on the one thought:

 _Gotta get this rock off, and fast!_

Besa's POV

As soon as Cora and I arrived back in the village with the three monkey demon sprites, we sought out the chief and his friend in the ruined crop fields to explain what was really going on...

"The sacred artifact of the Monkey God?" We nod in confirmation:

"That's right."

"According to some visions seen by these three, it's suppose to be hidden somewhere in this village."

Goso and Buso hop onto her shoulders, while Keso rests on my left:

"You have it!"

"Give it back!"

"Right now!"

"I know of no such thing, honestly."

(Thump...)

 _Ulp, sounds like Inuyasha, Shippo and Freeman will be here soon..._

"He's here already!"

Buso and Goso wave their arms frantically in a panic while exclaiming,

"Hurry up and tell us where you've hidden him!"

"Our lives are at stake here; you gotta help us!"

The chief looks at them confusingly, when his older friend suddenly spots the arriving dog demon:

"Uh, look: It's the Dog God!"

We turn around and see him, Shippo and Freeman standing at the entrance to the path leading into the forest, just as our unfortunate friend sets the boulder down while demanding,

"Where's the Monkey God?! You better get this boulder off me or you're all dead!"

As we approached, my brother tries to help keep Inuyasha's temper in check before it could rise any further:

"Take it easy, dude. Homicide's not gonna solve anything..."

I walk up to Freeman and ask in a lower tone,

"How'd you all get here so fast?" He replies in a wary whisper,

"I dunno for sure, but somethin' scary in his imagination must've motivated the hell outta Inuyasha..."

Meanwhile, my sister was smiling exasperatingly at her boyfriend:

"Oh hun, you can't catch a break today, can ya?"

The sentiment in her rhetorical question caused Inuyasha's cheeks to lightly dust over, while Goso warns my sister,

"Don't get too close; that guy's dangerous."

Glaring at him, Inuyasha asks,

"Are you positive you can't remember how to take this spell off me?!"

They all move to stand in a line on the ground before stating outright,

"Not, at all."

(...BONK)

Once again, the monkey demons received a clonk on the head by the currently foul-tempered dog demon...The men working on the ruined field walk over to us, having heard it all, and the chief asks,

"Your hand is stuck to the boulder because of the monkey spell? Are you sure you're a real Dog God?"

I facepalmed and mutter in disbelief,

"Now they see through their ignorance?" My brother adds in his own grumble,

"Took 'em long enough..."

Inuyasha made his heavily annoyed mood more obvious, yelling with a slight pitch jump in his voice,

"Of course not! That's what I've been tryin' to tell you!"

Shippo adds more calmly,

"Actually, he's about the furthest thing from a god..." Coraline explains,

"According to these monkey sprites, only Monkey God has the power and know-how to undo the spell."

"And you gotta find him! If you people are hidin' anything from me, I swear I'll destroy this whole village!"

Cora shoots Inuyasha a glare before bopping him offside the head:

"Ouch!"

"Kindly refrain from such threats, thank you. We've already got enough of a problem; don't make it worse."

She then kisses his cheek to half-apologize for the hit and further her message of 'shut your yap', while I looked to the villagers and warn,

"He might not be a deity, but unless your village wants to experience vengeance from a pissed-off dog demon, then you might wanna start rackin' your brains for answers to where the object might have vanished to."

The chief and his friend turn to one another and say,

"Shall we split up and search?"

"I suppose if it would stop the plundering."

My siblings and I smile before bowing in appreciation:

"Thanks."

"Thank you."

"We'll need all the help we can get." The chief then asks the sprites,

"What's it look like?"

Goso holds his arms out and replies,

"Well, it's a rock and it's about this big, I think," while Buso adds,

"It's engraved with the symbol of the Monkey God," and Keso finishes,

"And it's round as a monkey's head."

 _Hm, doesn't sound too hard to distinguish..._

The chief's friend then recalls,

"Hang on now: There was a rock like that up in the mountain in the back."

The three sprite demons and Inuyasha cheer,

"To the mountain!"

"The mountain!"

"Mountain!"

"Alright! I can handle one more mountain!"

So we all head back into the forest and up the mountainside to where the old man said he saw the sacred object...But when we got there:

"(Pant, pant) That it?"

"(All three sprites) Nuh-uh!"

Inuyasha slams the boulder back down while chiming sarcastically,

"That's not the one? That's great!"

...Though in hindsight, he should've paid attention to where he sat it on: Because we were standing on a slope, the rounded rock couldn't stay in one place for very long, and it began rolling back down the path where we came, taking Inuyasha with him!

"Gaaaaaaah!"

"Inuyasha!" "Oh crap!"

Once we caught up to him at the bottom, a second man leads us to the riverside outside the village where he claims to have seen the object:

"I recall seeing a stone like that in this river..."

"To the river!"

"The river!"

"River!"

We wade into the shallow part of the water that reached our ankles, and found ourselves examining another rounded rock...

"Is, this the one?"

"Nuh-uh." "And it doesn't look godly at all."

I hear my brother curse under his breath as Inuyasha mutters,

"This isn't the rock either..."

He sets the boulder stuck on his hand into the river...but it turned out to be in a spot that had deep water:

"Waaagh!"

(Splash)

"Inuyasha!"

"Not again!" "Dive, dive!"

My brother and I pull a quick underwater rescue (thankfully, it wasn't that deep a hole, though helping push the boulder out was a chore...), before we were all off again to the next possible locations courtesy of more witness testimonies:

"I dunno, maybe it's that rock in the forest?"

"Wasn't it next to the Giso shrine in the east?"

"I know: It's over in the south valley!"

"...There was a rock under the house..."

But no matter where we looked, we came up with squat...Eventually, evening came to cast over the village, which would be around when Sango, Miroku and Kilala returned:

"Hello, we're back!"

Freeman and I were sitting down by a tree that had an odd statue standing by it, and wave at them with pained smiles, our clothes just drying up from that swim we took a few hours ago:

"Hey." "Howdy."

Inuyasha would've waved too, but...he was too busy recuperating from all the lugging he was forced to do, and by recuperate, I mean he was face-down on the dirt path with the boulder on his right, not moving an inch even when one of the little kids from the village hanging about here pokes him with a stick.

Miroku would ask,

"Inuyasha, what, are you doing?" He replies in an exhausted tone,

"Don't just stand there: Start lookin' for the Sacred Monkey Stone. Ow..."

Miroku and Sango turn to Freeman and I with perplexed expressions, and we sigh before standing up again while I waved at them to follow:

"Come on, we'll explain on the way back to the chief's house. (Glance) Inuyasha, you gonna be alright on your own for a little bit?"

"(Grumble) Fine. Just hurry, please..."

 _Oh wow, he's actually using one of the courtesy words. This is gettin' serious._

No POV

By the time the twins, Miroku, Sango and Kilala had reached the village chief's home, the two former would've caught the three latter up on recent events. Now everyone (minus Inuyasha, who was too tired to move from his spot on the path outside the village) was gathered in the courtyard, with Miroku sitting in the porch's middle with his feet on the stone step, the monkey sprites on his right and the chief further down, Shippo and Sango on his left, while Coraline and her brothers stood by them with Freeman leaning casually on one of the structure posts...

"I, see. So all this happened while Sango and I were away?" The chief nods:

"It's quite the problem," and Coraline adds,

"I dunno how much more Inuyasha can take of this craziness. In fact...I'm gonna head back and keep him company."

So while the redhead begins jogging back to the incapacitated dog demon, Miroku lightly claps his left palm on his thigh and states,

"Alright, then I'll use my powers somehow to remedy the situation."

Everyone gasps, and Goso asks,

"Do you mean you'll be the one to find the Monkey God?"

"Of course I will...however, my spiritual powers are only effective in the morning."

The three monkey sprites chime excitedly,

"That's okay!"

Sango then asks in a whisper,

"What do you mean?" Miroku whispers back,

"We might as well find ourselves a place to sleep for the night."

The monkey demons cheer to eachother completely oblivious to the monk's intent,

"The monk is gonna save us!" "Yeah!"

Shippo, on the other hand, saw through the farce real quick and mutters in a deadpan,

"Tricked is more like it..."

Sango asks Miroku in a honestly skeptical tone,

"Are you certain you want to tell such a lie?"

"It'll work out, somehow..."

The twins, having been standing next to the other two, heard their conversation clear as day, and facepalm at the same time mumbling,

"Oh great..."

"It's Inugami all over again..."

Meanwhile, the villagers huddle and say to eachother in low tones,

"There's something fishy about this..."

"Yeah..."

Once that was all set up, our group heads over back to Inuyasha, who was now sitting up in a crouch with Coraline sitting cross-legged next to him on his left. Miroku lightly scolds the dog demon at his situation:

"I can't believe you fell for such an obvious trick."

"Hey! Spare me the lectures and get this thing off me, or you'll regret it!"

Coraline puts a hand on his arm to calm him down while giving the monk a pointed look:

"Come on, Miroku, he's already had enough salt poured on his wounds today. And I agree, the faster we get this rock off him, the better."

"And how's that?"

Inuyasha smirks bitterly and answers,

"With my hand stuck like this...(Stern) I can't exactly use the Tessaiga!"

...A rumble of realization seemed to pass through everyone, and Miroku and Sango mutter with wide eyes,

"Inuyasha's stuck..."

"If we don't do something..."

 _(Flash)_

 _The two imagine a scenario regarding how they would fight demons if Inuyasha's hand was handicapped by the boulder permanently, using a centipede as an example..._

 _"Hiraikotsu!"_

 _(Toss, spin...)_

 _"Wind Tunnel!"_

 _Inuyasha stops him from releasing the power of his cursed hand:_

 _"Get back, Miroku!"_

 _"Huh?"_

 _He then rushes forward after lifting the boulder over his shoulder to attack:_

 _"Stone wielder, boulder cleaver!"_

 _(Whack)_

 _The outcome ends with Inuyasha using the giant rock as a club to slug the centipede demon headfirst!_

 _(Flash)_

The monk and slayer found themselves laughing at such a possibility, causing Inuyasha to ask with a suspicious glare,

"What are you two laughin' at?" Miroku replies jokingly,

"This boulder could be a good thing, Inuyasha," and Sango adds with a giggle,

"He's right: You could use it like another weapon."

The twins catch onto the scenario and start snickering themselves, while Inuyasha barks,

"What're you fools imagining, anyway?!"

In contrast to the lighthearted joking, Coraline's thoughts drifted to a more dark scenario:

"If Inuyasha can't remove the stone from his hand...then...what if..."

 _(Flash)_

 _Her imagination brought her to an area where it was just herself, Inuyasha...and Naraku, the two half-demons standing a few feet away from eachother in fighting stands while she stood a distance away in the middle..._

 _Suddenly:_

 _(SLASH)_

 _"Inuyashaaaaaa!"_

 _The dog demon was cut down by the spider-scarred demon in just one swipe of a monstrous, clawed hand before he could even try to attempt moving fast enough! He falls hard face-down, his blood pooling from his fatal wound, leaving the poor redhead with her heart caught in her mouth, tears of anguish forming in her eyes to the tune of Naraku's evil laughter:_

 _ **No...No, this can't be happening! Why, why didn't I move to help him?!**_

 _ **What do I do now?!**_

 _"Now then..."_

 _Coraline's breath hitches, as the despicable half-demon turns his red eyes to her, smirk on his face:_

 _"With your one true protection gone, you shall die next, woman."_

 _(Lunge)_

 _"Perish!"_

 _She reaches back to pull out her ShatterSoul sword, but in this world, Coraline would not survive her brief fight with Naraku, ending after a few clashes of claws to blade, with his hand plunging right through her torso:_

 _(SHOOM)_

 _"UH!"_

 _ **Inu...yasha...**_

 _(Flash)_

Coraline shifted her position so she wrapped her arms around her knees, trying to steady the shaking that was beginning to ensue, and barely bit down a whimper of fear:

 _No...That, that won't happen. It can't...It can't, happen._

Of course, Inuyasha's sensitive ears would pick up on the slight squeak that slipped between the redhead's closed lips, and he turned his head to see the frightened expression on her face, making him become concerned in an instant:

"...Coraline?"

He places a hand on her shoulder, making her flinch back to reality:

"H-Huh?"

"What's wrong? You look like a rabbit that got cornered by a snake..."

After taking a few deep breaths to calm down, Coraline leaned over to whisper in his ear what she had just pictured, finding herself too scared to say it aloud...When she finished, Inuyasha was wide-eyed:

"...You seriously pictured that?"

"Mhm..."

Seeing the fear dancing in her blue irises, the dog demon sighed before pulling her to his side with his one good arm and gave her a comforting kiss on the cheek before stating seriously,

"That is not going to happen, period. You know that, right?"

"I-I do, but-"

"But nothing. There's no buts about it. Do you understand me?"

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Coraline nods with a tiny smile:

"Crystal clear."

"Good."

Everyone else watched with wary and confused expressions, but chose to be smart and not ask about it, with Miroku partially changing the subject by suggesting,

"I know, Inuyasha: Why don't I try sucking the boulder with my Wind Tunnel? That's a good idea."

The rest of the group looks at him funny, with Freeman coughing under his breath,

"Can I get a second opinion on that?"

Inuyasha, on the other hand, seemed a touch more open to the idea:

"Could you really suck up the boulder and not me?"

"If I stop in the nick of time, it just might work. (Stretches out his cursed hand) Now, here's the plan: I'll open my Wind Tunnel like this, suck up the rock and just as you get near it, I'll close my-"

Miroku cuts himself off, realizing a very possible problem with his plan. Inuyasha urges,

"What now? What'd ya stop talkin' for?" Besa mutters,

"I think I might know," and Miroku hesitantly answers,

"Well, it's just, if you're half-sucked in, then-Oh, nothing, never mind."

"(Growl) Now what are ya imaginin'?!"

The monk takes a couple steps back while chiding in a half-confident tone,

"Guh, nothing, let's give it a try. Don't worry, I, probably won't suck you in."

Sango rushes out of the way with Kilala on her shoulder, while Coraline clings to Inuyasha in a protective manner, Shippo starts panicking from his spot on the boulder, and the dog demon yells as the twins sped over while waving their arms,

"STOP!"

"Dude, no!" "Bad idea! Really bad idea!"

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

It's now nighttime, and while everyone else was back in the village lodging in the chief's home, I chose to stay with Inuyasha back on the dirt path, pulling out the blue blanket I packed in my satchel to wrap around me and keep warm...I let out my second sneeze of the evening, prompting Inuyasha to ask,

"Why don'tcha go on inside with the others? You don't have to stay out in the cold with me..."

"Mm, it's not that chilly out here...(Sad smile) Besides, I don't think my heart's in a good state right now to leave you by yourself."

"Tch, is it because of that stupid scary thought that went through your head? I told you not to let it get to you."

I look down at the ground, muttering while sitting my chin on my knees,

"I know...but it's hard..."

I hear him sigh before he pulls me to his side again, moving me so my head was resting on his chest while his free arm wrapped around my shoulders securely...

"I, also had a freaky thought run through my head about that bastard."

"...You did?"

"Yeah...He came out of nowhere and snatched you into his arms, giving me one of those dumb evil smiles and taunting me, while you were squirming to get away, calling for me to help. And, that damn boulder prevented me from moving an inch. I was helpless to watching as he, took you away..."

I could hear the edging anger in his voice as he described his scenario, so being the good girlfriend I am, I shifted my body to lightly cup his right cheek and turn him towards me, before leaning in to claim a kiss from his lips...It lasted for a sweet thirty seconds, before we parted again, and I nuzzled my forehead against the crook of his neck while whispering,

"Then let me say the same thing you're telling me: Don't let it get to you. We both know that will never happen; this is just a minor setback we've yet to find the solution for...But, I am flattered by how protective you sound."

He grunts in response, not replying verbally, but does turn his head in a way to rub his nose against my neck affectionately in return to my action, making me smile...A couple minutes pass, as my earlier worrying thoughts slowly slip away, my focus shifting back to the current issue:

 _We really need to get this boulder off him, for both our sakes if not just him alone..._

 _Only question is how?_

"...Hm?"

It was then that a middle-aged woman with black hair tied in a bun, wearing a mahogany red kimono and a white gray skirt wrap matching her headscarf, walks past us a distant away where the outer huts of the village are, carrying a bowl of what I'm assuming is vegetables...

But what struck me, was this odd, faint glow my eyes picked up emitting from the contents:

 _What on earth...?_

"What is it?"

I turn to Inuyasha to reply,

"I'm sensing something strange from the contents of that bowl she's carrying. One moment."

I then stand up and jog over to the woman, calling her to stop:

"Excuse me!"

She pauses her steps, and turns to me with a confused expression:

"Mm?"

I pointed to the bowl she was carrying:

"Would you mind if I had a closer look at that?"

"Um, alright..."

The woman holds it out for me, and I use my Aura Sight to examine it, startling her a little but not so much that she would've dropped the bowl in shock. What I saw was, astonishing:

 _This energy...!_

I would then call on everyone else, including the chief of the village, and we gathered at the courtyard of his home with the bowl of vegetables...

"This is about, all we can offer, I'm afraid...So, is there a problem?"

I shake my head with a small smile:

"Quite the opposite, actually, (Glance) right, Lumos?"

My Will O' Wisp partner has been circling around the glowing bowl since it was set down on the porch, he too sensing the godly energy, and he chirps back in an enthusiastic fashion. Miroku comments,

"This is quite amazing...!"

And as I correctly predicted, the monkey sprite demons recognized the origins of the energy:

"Look!" Goso says to his friends,

"Look at this stuff, guys: Wasn't this cabbage grown in the fields here?" Buso adds,

"And it has the glow from our Monkey God!"

They then go over the clues they received in their premonitions:

"It's dark and damp just as it appeared in my dreams..."

"Small and suffocating..."

"And it stunk of vegetables!"

Inuyasha sets the boulder stuck to his hand down with a thud, smiling in anticipation:

"Ha-ha! The Monkey God has to be in the fields!" Goso exclaims excitedly,

"He must be buried somewhere deep underground!"

"We'll turn the village upside-down if we have to!"

The monkey sprites cheer, but the village chief was obviously not too keen on anymore damage to the crops:

"(Tearing up) Oh please, not our fields again...!"

Thankfully, my partner was faster than I was in stopping my boyfriend from running off with the monkey sprites to cause more unnecessary trouble, and flies over in front of the dog demon before whacking him in the forehead a couple times:

"Ow, ow, ow!"

My brothers snicker and mutter,

"Who needs the S-Word when you've got a Will O' Wisp?"

"Yeah. He's definitely beginning to emulate Cora's attitude."

I shot them a smirk-glare, before calling to said creature,

"Thank you, Lumos. Now, I trust you'll be able to track the Monkey God's artifact?"

He 'nods', and begins floating at a steady pace away from here towards the back of the chief's home and past a few homes, while I ushered everyone to follow...Our path would end in a storehouse at a barrel used for pickling vegetables, and just as I had hoped, there was a spherical stone with an odd symbol carved in it sitting on top of the container, wrapped in a beautiful crystalline glow!

I smile and nod in a knowing way:

"Mhm, I figured this would be the case. (Glance) Good work, Lumos."

He bops up and down happily from my praise, while the monkey sprites confirm,

"This, is the sacred object!"

"Honourable Monkey God!" The chief and his friends were understandably confused:

"Glow?"

"I don't see anything at all..."

Besa says to them with a wise smile,

"It takes a special set of eyes to sense the extraordinary..."

Goso and Buso weren't quite as forgiving, scolding the villagers for their actions regarding the artifact:

"What a terrible thing to do to the sacred object!"

"See?! You did steal it, just like we said!"

The chief replies defensively,

"Not at all! I found it on the outskirts of the village. I-I thought it would be perfect for pickling."

I ask,

"So you found it outside the forest? Hm..." The monkey sprites spoke of a different side to the tale:

"Liar! The sacred object was kept in the shrine deep in the forest!"

"We sprites guarded it closely all night and all day!"

"Yeah, even on the day of the fire: We gave everything we had to get the sacred object out of the shrine!"

But as soon as they spoke about what they actually had done after getting the object out of the burning shrine...they realized their absentmindedness...

I say in a deadpan,

"So you three wound up forgetting the Monkey God by accident thanks to your distracting appetites for acorns?"

My brothers facepalm and I roll my eyes while sighing in exasperation...With the mystery cleared up, Miroku got his hands on some water in a bucket and added his power with a touch of Lumo's energy to it before pouring it from a ladle onto the stone:

"Now then, the purification water..."

There's a pause...before the stone glows, and unleashes an entity in the guise of an old monkey with white fur wearing the robes of a sage!

"At long last, I am free!"

The sprites were certainly happy to see he was okay:

"Monkey God! It's good to see you!"

"It reeked, of vegetables!" Buso chimes his name again, and the entity asks,

"So tell me, sprites, has anything noteworthy happened in my absence?"

They reply,

"Nope, not a thing!"

Inuyasha shouts annoyed,

"Hey!"

I sigh before clearing my throat to get the Monkey God's attention:

"Actually, sir..."

Time Skip, No POV

Come the next day, the monk of our travel group and the villagers will gather in the courtyard of the chief's home again, with the Monkey God's sacred stone placed on an altar with a plate of vegetables added as an offering. Miroku informs the people on the entity's behalf,

"The Monkey God has given his promise to protect you. In return, you must make a new shrine and regular offerings."

They all say thank you in relived unison, and over by the road, Inuyasha was flexing his arm that was now stone-free, while Coraline smiled at him:

"Feel better without the extra weight, I take it?" He grumbles,

"What a waste of time. I knew we shouldn't have stopped here..."

The Monkey God says to the redhead,

"You are a very shrewd young girl. I commend your powers of deduction; you and your friend did well to find me."

She replies modestly,

"Oh, it was nothin' really. Your dream messages helped narrow the search down, and Lumos did most of the work in actually finding you."

Said Will O' Wisp was circuiting around the group, stopping briefly in front of the Monkey God to chirp in appreciation, while Inuyasha says to the monkey sprites,

"You three were just too stupid to figure it out."

They all bristled and shouted collectively, making it hard to distinguish their sentences from eachother, while the Monkey God says to Coraline,

"I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. (Looks to the sky) I was concerned about the strange occurrence outside..."

"Strange occurrence, you say?"

"Shortly after I was placed in the pickling tub, I felt a terrible Demonic Aura pass over the skies above the village. It was an enormous and sinister presence, the like of which I had never felt before..."

Coraline tenses up, wondering,

 _Could it, be..._

Her brothers, Shippo and Kilala stiffen, and Inuyasha and Sango ask with serious expressions,

"A Demonic Aura?"

"So what was it, Monkey God?" He answers,

"I don't know what it was or where it came from, but, I felt its presence while I was in the pickling tub."

Freeman and Inuyasha urge,

"What happened after that?"

"Which direction did it go?"

"It disappeared."

Everyone's eyes widen, and the Monkey God adds with his own concern,

"It didn't just pass over completely: It suddenly vanished into thin air."

Coraline turns to meet Inuyasha's eyes:

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"(Nod) It couldn't have been anyone than Naraku." The Monkey God then turns his head right:

"The Demonic Aura headed in the direction of the Oxen-tiger."

Freeman quirks a brow:

"Oxen-Tiger?"

Besa clears his confusion:

"He means the Northeast."

"Oooh..."

The entity apologizes,

"I'm sorry. I can't pinpoint exactly where it disappeared."

Coraline smiles and shakes her head:

"It's fine. What you've told us is as good a lead as any."

It was then Miroku returns to the group, having finished his business with the villagers:

"So, shall we go?" Inuyasha agrees:

"Yeah. Alright: We've got the direction, so let's move!"

Everyone nods, and bids their goodbyes to the Monkey God and his sprites before leaving the village to the northeast...After a little while of walking down the path cutting between the trees, they were suddenly showered in, acorns?

"Ah!" "What's that?!" "Hey!"

Shippo would be the first to identify the the 'ammunition':

"Look, they're acorns!"

The source of the attack would then pop out from the leaves of a tree, revealed to be the monkey sprites, who laugh and jeer at the group. Inuyasha calls up in an agitated tone,

"You little monkeys!" Goso calls back tauntingly,

"Ha! Scared ya~!"

The three then turn around to shake their butts with Goso and Buso jeering,

"Mooned ya, Shippo!"

"Mooned ya, Inuyasha!" Keso adds,

"And we're off! Bye!"

They then jump out of sight, laughing as they went...Inuyasha groans,

"What's with them?"

Freeman muses with a chagrin,

"I think that was just their own personal farewell to you and the little dude..."

Said fox demon bends down to gather up the acorns, and says to Inuyasha with a smile,

"Those guys were some tough rivals, weren't they?"

The dog demon scoffs,

"Just pesky monkeys," before turning to continue on his way.

Everyone else moves to follow him, minus Shippo, Kilala and Besa, the former sending a smile and wave in the direction the sprites left for, while the third bends down with a small cloth pouch that had a drawstring on it:

"Here, Shippo, put those in here. We can add them to our food provisions."

"Thanks!"

As soon as the bag was full...

"Hey, Shippo, Besa!"

The dark-skinned boy pulls the bag closed, and he and the other two rush to catch up with the group:

"Hey, wait up, Inuyasha!" "We're comin'!"

"Quit dawdlin'! We're headin' northeast!"

And with that, our travelers were off, starting their new course in the search for the evil half-demon, Naraku...


	98. Chapter 97

**Chapter 97: Coraline's Sick Day**

About a day or two after leaving the Village of the Monkey God, our group returns to the Goshinboku Village to prep themselves up again before heading to the northeast on a new lead in their hunt for Naraku...

However, just before they could go again, one of our members falls ill:

"Ah, ah, ah-choo!"

It's now about mid-morning, and we zoom inside Kaede's Hut (she absent from the village for reasons yet to be revealed), where everyone in our group was sitting, while Coraline was lying down on a futon covered by a blanket, her face lightly flushed, nose dusted red, and her eyes fighting to open in more than just a squint. Miroku was sipping some freshly-made tea with Besa, while Shippo ate a lollipop, Freeman knelt by his sister's head with a damp cloth to wipe some sweat from her forehead, Sango sat on her right with Kilala in her lap, and Inuyasha was sitting cross-legged with his back to the doorway, mouth set in a sulking frown:

"This isn't how things were suppose to turn out. (Stands up) What are we sittin' around here for?!"

Coraline winces from the shout, her ears a bit sore from her illness, and she weakly sits up while replying with a hoarse voice,

"Sorry. He's right; we should get mov-"

Freeman stops her with a hand on her shoulder and forces her to lay down again:

"No way, Jose. (Looks at Inuyasha) Dude, take it down a notch: It's not like sis asked the universe to curse her with a cold."

The dog demon scoffs and defensively insists at a more normal volume,

"I can figure out that much!"

He stops when Coraline lets out a dry cough, and she rubs her sore throat with a grimace before saying to the rest with a weak smile,

"Sorry I'm causing a slow-down, guys. I can usually function okay even when I get a bit sick, but, (cough) somebody up there must hate me..."

Sango chides with a mildly worried expression,

"Stop worrying. This trip is going be a long one. We can use this time to get things prepared."

Shippo chimes with a smile,

"She's right! I'll use the time to prepare all my gadgets."

Miroku adds with his own reassuring tone,

"What she's saying is that your cold is actually a blessing in disguise."

Coraline smirk-glares and replies with a rasp,

"That's a matter of opinion: Currently, I wanna kill the one responsible for inventing colds."

Besa laughs and Freeman jokes,

"Murderous, are we?"

"I have every right to be murderous, bro!"

The rise in volume in her voice provokes another coughing fit, and Sango lightly scolds while handing the redhead a cup of water,

"Not so loud, or you'll make your throat more sore than it already is..."

As Coraline sips the offered drink, Inuyasha whirls around to face the doorway while crossing his arms with a scowl:

"Damn it! Hurry up and get well!"

The sick girl smiles sadly at the dog demon, knowing that his current mood was just his way of being worried about her in public:

 _Oh Inuyasha..._

"Don't be so harsh. I realize we're in a hurry, but don't blame Coraline for getting sick."

Sango and Shippo agree with Miroku:

"Yes."

"I agree."

The fox demon was thumped on the head by Inuyasha in response, while the twins sigh and shake their heads:

"You guys shouldn't be too harsh with him in return..."

"Yeah, this is just his version of concern."

Coraline darts her half-lidded eyes to the dog demon and says to him with another weak smile,

"Let's cross our fingers for this bein' a twenty-four hour virus, 'kay?"

Inuyasha was taken aback by the attempt of sentiment, but then suddenly storms out of the hut with a frustrated shout:

"(Growl) This, better be just that long, alright?!"

He then leaps off, heading for who knows...Miroku watches his form go from the doorway with Shippo on his shoulder, commenting,

"Sheesh, what a hothead..."

"Coraline will probably recover quicker if Inuyasha isn't around."

Sango says with a frown,

"It's too bad Kaede isn't here to give Coraline her remedies."

Besa shrugs and casually remarks,

"Even so, it likely wouldn't the job any faster than the medicine we sometimes bring from our era. And Cora's immune system...it sometimes reacts funny to remedies when she's ill."

"How so?"

"Um, I think last couple times she's gotten sick, she tried a few different treatments, commercial and domestic, and for some weird reason, it either did squat or made her feel even worse."

Said girl coughs and adds,

"A-According to a specialist healer, in our time, he said that my immune system, becomes abnormally hypersensitive to foreign substances during times of crisis, which for reasons even he can't seem to understand, includes certain ingredients used in medicine. I can handle the more, traditional stuff just fine, but half the time, it just sits in my stomach doing nothing, or it barely helps me feel better. That's why, (cough) I usually just let my body go solo on getting better."

She then sneezes, and pulls out a tissue from a travel pack she pulled out of her bag, while Freeman puts a hand on her forehead to check her temperature:

"(Wince) Yikes: You're starting to burn up, sis."

While Coraline lightly blows her nose, Miroku says to her,

"I'm worried, Coraline. Wouldn't it be better to go back to your own home?"

"Hm? Home?"

"The physicians there do seem to be more knowledgeable..."

Sango adds in thought,

"And they seem to have better medications, even if you've had issues in the past..."

The sick redhead slowly pushes herself up while replying if a half-doubtful tone,

"Can't say if it'll make much of a difference, but, you do make good points. Besides, if I stick around, you'll all likely, (chuckle, cough) catch my cold. Better to sleep it off at home..."

Her brothers move to crouch on either side of her with hopeful smiles:

"In that case, we'll help ya make sure you don't faint on the way to the Well."

"Think you got enough energy to walk over?"

"Mhm..."

With that decided, Besa shucks Coraline's satchel over his shoulder with his things (tucking her combat knife inside) while Freeman grabs her sword to sling behind his own pack, before both wrap their arms around her shoulders and start leading her out of the hut. Just as they move out the doorway, Coraline calls back with a light rasp,

"Would one of you, be kind enough to tell Inuyasha where I went?"

Miroku replies,

"Of course. Rest well, Coraline."

"Thanks."

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

Once I got through the Well and back to my own era, I was lead into the house and into my room, where I would change into a comfortable pair of soft gray pajama pants and matching tank-top, and settle into bed under the covers. It was around then that I got a phone call from Professor Hashimoto for an update on my findings regarding the research on the Sword of Tengu, and despite my fatigue, I managed to blurt out that I'm still working on it. He could definitely hear how sick I was over the phone, and urged me to hang up and get the rest I needed, which made me laugh a little, but I nonetheless took his advice.

Now, Akari-sama was finishing up taking my temperature with the thermometer, which read a high 101.3 degrees Fahrenheit.

 _Yep, definitely sick. Crap._

"You think you can stomach something to eat?" I think on it for a minute, before replying,

"Maybe soda crackers and ginger ale just to be cautious?"

Akari-sama nods with a small smile:

"Alright then. I'd say to take some medicine too, but, given your history with different medications..."

I chuckle dryly and cough a bit before chiming weakly,

"Yeah, probably not a good idea to bully my stomach...Thank you."

"No problem, dear. I'll be back momentarily."

She then exits the room to get what I requested, leaving just little ole me under the covers with a toasty, muscle-aching body, itchy eyes, sore throat and a headache:

 _Damn it, this sucks..._

I then hear the wispy moans of my companion, Lumos drawing near, and I look up to see him hovering over me with concern. I smile weakly and tell him softly,

"I'll be okay, bud. Just need to take it easy, or easier than I have been this last while..."

 _Though come to think of it...now that I'm home, maybe I can do some more research when my headache clears up some._

 _And not just on that goblin blade...but that character, Saki._

No POV

As Coraline rested upstairs, the twins were sitting at the dining table with Grandfather Higurashi as he read the newspaper. Just as Akari walks back in, the elder comments,

"You two and my granddaughter haven't been home for quite some time. Too bad she's come down with a cold."

"Yeah..."

"It's been a while since she was this sick too..."

Akari pulls out a plate, a box of crackers, a glass cup and a bottle of soda while adding to the conversation:

"Yes...Was it cold back in the other era for you all?"

Freeman replies with a half-shrug,

"Not overly, but I guess the chill of the rain from a few days ago must've gotten to sis and she didn't know it."

Besa hums,

"This could also be the result of physical and mental pressure: Cora has been pushing herself a little more in this last while..."

The twins sigh with worried expressions, and Grandfather states while raising his teacup to his lips,

"Well, she should rest until she's fully recovered. And you two shouldn't make yourselves sick worrying over her, alright?"

"Yes, sir." "Yes, sir."

The elder man sips his beverage, before an idea springs to him:

"(Mumble) I just thought of something..."

Freeman then rises to his feet and says,

"Well, since we're here, anyway, Besa: Why don't we go down to the dojo and see Master Yoshi?"

"Huh?...Oh, right! Okay."

They start heading out the kitchen while waving at the adults:

"We'll return later after seeing Master Yoshi and makin' a pit stop at our apartment."

"Please let Cora know where we went."

"Of course, dears." "See you boys later."

Time Skip, Besa's POV

After leaving the shrine, my brother and I walk all the way back to our apartment to do some laundry, then head out to do some grocery shopping leaving our things at home for the time being (minus our weapons, which we left in the Bone Eater Well house where we knew they'd be safer at), and after lunch pop over to Master Yoshi's dojo to visit him and ask about that stranger that came before.

 _I know I shouldn't be so paranoid, but...I just have this, feeling..._

(Ka-chank)

"Master Yoshi? It's us, Freeman and Besa! You in?"

We see him standing over by the table that held the small gong and a banzai tree, and he turns over to us upon my brother's call:

"Ah, good afternoon, Brownlee-sans. What brings you here today?" Freeman answers,

"Just came to check in, mainly...and, there was somethin' we wanted to ask about, regarding our last training day."

"I see...Is Croft-san not with you?"

I shake my head with a small frown:

"She caught a cold and is currently under the covers of her bed."

"Oh, is that right? How unfortunate; I do hope she gets better sooner than later."

"So do we..."

Master Yoshi seemed to notice the inquiry and concern in my eyes:

"...What is troubling you, Brownlee-san? I can sense a worry in you that isn't just for your sister's health."

"Well...it has to do with, that man who came to talk with you a while back, Saki."

His soft brown eyes flashed with a hardness I haven't seen before:

"Hm...I see..." Taking a deep breath, I ask,

"Look, Master Yoshi, I understand if this is something you'd rather not discuss, but I-or rather, we, can sense that the man has an off character that's obviously making you uncomfortable in some fashion. That's why, I have to ask: Is this Saki threatening you in some way?"

"Uh..."

He was taken aback by the question, and I feel Freeman's hand go on my shoulder as he quickly added,

"We're just worried because after all we've experienced so far in these adventures we've been having, it's become that much easier to sense danger and know what a shady character looks like."

The room falls silent for a moment, the three of us not taking our eyes off eachother...before Master Yoshi sighs deeply and finally replies,

"I suppose I should've seen this coming, given how observant the three of you have become in these last couple months...Very well: Come into my office, and I shall explain to you who Saki is, mainly because I fear that he might be interested in you all."

That caused an eyebrow raise for both Freeman and I:

"Interested?" "What for?"

He waves at us to follow him into his office, and says as he opens the door,

"It somewhat relates to a time when Saki and I were once colleagues...until we were driven apart by different goals, his being more malevolent in comparison..."

As soon as we all sat down around the small table and he brews some tea for us to drink, Master Yoshi would reveal a part of his life he clearly did not want anyone else to know, until now...

By the time he was finished his tale, Freeman and I were left in shock and awe...while I also felt my danger alarm increase in volume against Saki:

 _Aw man...We gotta tell Cora about this!_

Sengoku Edo, No POV

At the same time the twins were learning some troubling news regarding their martial arts master and the suited stranger, we turn our eyes to a clearing in the Forest of Inuyasha northwest of the Goshinboku Village, where Kaede and a group of the men stood armed at the ready against a demon that was heading their way...

"Lady Kaede."

"We must keep our heads, Yukichi. We must stay calm and focused."

"Yes, but it's been some time since I slayed a demon."

"Try to be strong: Inuyasha and the others are not here, so we must deal with it ourselves."

(Scuttle...)

"Here it comes!"

(Crash)

The demon smashes through the heavy tree cover, revealing itself to the group that came to destroy it: Their appearance had the body of a mantis, but the head was quite unique, like a mix of a grey-skinned zombie with brown tendrils protruding from the back, an octopi-like mouth, and glowing red eyes!

"Attack the beast!"

(Twok, tok, tok, tok...)

Several arrows are shot at the demon, but the attack only succeeds at riling its temper, it lunging at the villagers with Yukichi protecting the elder priestess:

"Lady Kaede!"

They slide on the ground away from the demon, to which it would move into attack them, and Kaede rushes to ready an arrow...

But then:

(Leap)

"Who invited you here?! Hrrrrah!"

(PUNCH)

Inuyasha suddenly arrives on scene, and socks the demon in its face, sending it flying through the air and crash onto some trees...!

"Inuyasha!"

"Hm? (Turns to Kaede) What're you people doin' all the way out here?"

The elder priestess answers as the dog demon walks over to her,

"All sorts of demons have been acting up lately. Some are even terrorizing areas where humans live."

"I think it's because of Naraku's disappearance: Most of the demons were keepin' a low profile while he was still around."

Speaking of, the mutant mantis demon sits up, before rushing to lunge at the one who knocked them down, prompting Inuyasha to finish his thoughts while engaging the other:

"Now they're doin' as they please!"

(Slash, SLASH)

Using his claws, he cuts away the mantis demon's own before ultimately splitting it in two! The villagers were left in awe as the pieces of the dead demon started raining onto the ground...

"See ya later!"

"Wait, Inuyasha!"

But he had gone on his way into the forest...Yukichi wonders,

"Did he come all this way to save us?" Kaede answers skeptically,

"Somehow, I doubt that was his intention..."

...We catch up with Inuyasha now as his trek takes him to a more swampy area with a thin mist blanketing around, only to halt when he comes across a three-eyed, brown-scaled serpent demon:

"You're in the way! Move!"

"Insolence! Who do you think you're talking to?!" Inuyasha scoffs and retorts,

"I could care less who you are! I've got things to do in this swamp and you're in my way!"

"This swamp is my territory! Flee while you can or I'll swallow you head-first!"

The dog demon leaps up high to dodge the lunging snake demon, before shooting back down first raised:

"Maybe this'll help clear your mind!"

(Punch)

After socking it on its cranium, Inuyasha then uses his raw strength to swing the snake demon around by its tail, before flinging it far away out of the area...

"So much for him. Now..."

He quietly takes a step into the swamp's water, before his eyes catch some bubbling a few feet in front of him...Grinning, he swipes through the water hard, forcing two large carp fish to surface! Inuyasha easily scooped them up, and walks out of the swamp triumphant with the fish over his shoulder:

"Yes! I'm outta here."

His next stop is a rocky valley, where he would go head-to-head with a pot-bellied, green-skinned, one-eyed ogre demon:

"Who dares to intrude on my valley?!"

It then tries to crush the dog demon with its foot, and after a great deal of struggling, Inuyasha was the victor, throwing the other demon high up and out of the area...Next, would be a pool nearby a waterfall, where he would come across a three-headed demon as the territory boss:

"Our waterfall!"

"Yeah yeah, I heard it all before!"

Once again, not much effort is required on his part to defeat the demon...And the next battle after that would be against a rather ugly-looking bat demon:

"Intruder!"

"Intrude this, birdbrain!"

(Kick)

...By this time, Kaede and the villager men have readied themselves to return to the Goshinboku Village, after finding the threats that were plaguing them to have mysteriously vanished:

"Lady Kaede, the demons are no longer coming after us..."

"Hmm, I wonder if they escaped somewhere..."

Even so, they make their way out of the clearing, not aware of the dog demon's recent actions...

Present-day Tokyo, Coraline's POV

"Whoa whoa, what?! You guys are serious?! Is that really what Master Yoshi told you?"

"Yep." "Clear as day."

I was just sitting up in my bed and reading one of my books while glancing at Lumos every few minutes, focusing on relaxing a little before trying to take a crack at some work, when my brothers suddenly came back here and let me in on something I did not expect to hear:

Apparently, our earlier suspicious speculations on the stranger in the business suit that came to the dojo a while back were spot-on, for according to Master Yoshi, this 'company' he runs (which we still don't know the name of yet) is just a cover for his real occupation as a master of Ninjitsu, specifically, leader of this band of ninja known as the Kage no tsume, or Shadow Claw Clan, rumoured to have branched off the infamous Iga Clan! At one time in the past, back when Master Yoshi was no older than my brothers and I, he and Saki were friends who studied the Art of Ninjitsu, before a disagreement regarding the purpose of learning these techniques (the latter's being related to offensive measures while the former leaned to defensive) tore their friendship apart, and they parted ways for several years before meeting again on multiple occasions, each time a bit more violent than the last...

I was gaping by the end of the tale, before asking hesitantly,

"So, what has this Saki been demanding of Master Yoshi this time? Did he say?"

Freeman replies,

"He said that this round, Saki's been trying to persuade him to join in forming a martial arts co-master partnership or something on those lines, claiming he wants to put their old confrontations to rest. But Master Yoshi saw through the lie easily, knowing that there was some kind of ulterior motive to this 'change of heart', and has been refusing since the first time the offer was brought up, which was about four, five months ago."

Besa adds,

"At this point, Master Yoshi's convinced that soon Saki might send his agents to do the persuading, and not the kind that involves alot of words. He's been real careful in locking the dojo and his home, along with some important items and documents he's sure Saki will want to get his hands on for blackmail."

I shook my head in disbelief:

"...Holy crap...I didn't think our senses were this sharp. Poor Master Yoshi...Well, at least he's been making measures to protect himself, and if this isn't that first time Saki's threatened him, he must know what he's doing...Wait, you mentioned that he also said Saki might be interested in us. What did he mean by that?"

"That's where the conversation kind-of died off, 'cause he's no more sure than we are. It was more so a hunch based off of what we told him about that look the guy gave us, and the brief blurt Saki made about us during their discussion, saying we looked like 'interesting young guns'. His words, not mine."

I hm with a finger under my chin in thought, my eyes narrowing in suspicion and foreboding:

 _If this is the case...then it definitely wouldn't hurt to do some profile work and find out more about Saki._

 _I have this feeling there's more to find besides his history with Master Yoshi and his leadership in this secret ninja clan..._

I look up at my brothers to ask,

"You guys gonna be stickin' around from here on?" Freeman replies,

"Pretty much. Why?"

"Because I'll need at least one of you to help around the shrine in my place, and some extra brain power in finding out all we can about this man so we're prepared for, whatever might come."

"Uh...But shouldn't you be takin' it easy, since you're sick?"

"I'm in a stable place right now, bro. I'll be fine for a while, plus I've powered through worse. Even if I'm not going anywhere, I should at least do something productive besides looking up information for that artifact for the Professor."

My brothers stare at me for a minute, before letting out matching exasperated sighs at my stubbornness in staying still while not at full par:

"Alright, fine, but the second your cold turns on you again, you head right under the blankets with no complaints."

"Seriously, you try to fight and we'll consider duct-taping you in place."

I let out a dry laugh at the halfhearted threat:

"Yes, sirs."

Sengoku Edo, Kaede's Hut, No POV

While the three teens in modern Tokyo began their new objective in finding out what they can about this potential new enemy, we check back with everyone else in Edo, as the wicker flap door to Kaede's place opens up on Sango, Shippo and Miroku who were drinking tea, revealing Inuyasha with a huge basket of items on his back, including:

Green apples, the two carp fish, a crab, a wild boar and several bushels of fresh herbs. Lightly shoving his way inside the hut, Inuyasha asks the gaping faces of his friends,

"What're you all gawkin' at? And where's Coraline?" Shippo answers,

"We had Freeman and Besa take her back home."

"Back home?!"

"We thought she'd get better care in her own home, so we sent her back to her own time."

Miroku adds after Sango,

"She was a bit skeptical in leaving at first, due to some, complications she's had in the past regarding her time's medicine, but realized she didn't want the rest of us to catch her cold. She also wanted us to tell you she left to her own home."

That seemed to calm Inuyasha a little, but he was nonetheless upset his girlfriend wasn't here:

"She went home, after all the trouble I went to?! That's the last time I-"

He was interrupted from his rant when 'Coraline' suddenly appears and takes an apple while innocently asking,

"What? Why did you take off without me?"

But upon seeing the bushy fox tail, the dog demon easily saw through the disguise:

"Shippo, you-!"

He then punches the top of the fox demon's head, forcing the latter to poof back to normal, exclaiming,

"Come on, can't you take a little joke?!"

Shippo is then knocked to the ground by the basket of items, as Inuyasha retorts irritably,

"Shut up," before turning to exit the hut...But he stops when his mind circles back a bit on Miroku's earlier statement:

"Wait...what do you mean complications?" The monk replies,

"Well, according to this physician she's seen in the past, her body is hypersensitive to certain medicinal ingredients whenever she falls ill, which means the medicine can either do nothing, barely anything, or could even make her feel even worse. At that, she has taken to not having any medicine at all. Even so, it would be safer for her to recover in a time that is less prone to people in danger of dying from simple illnesses."

Inuyasha hms...but does not say another word, and continues his way out. A minute later, Shippo pops out of the pile of food and herbs, looking at it all with awe:

"Whoa, this looks delicious! Get-well presents?" Miroku wasn't so sure:

"No, it's probably for us to take along in our upcoming journey," but Sango disagreed:

"Something tells me you're wrong..."

Present-day Tokyo, Souta's POV

I was playing soccer with Freeman in the courtyard of the shrine, while Besa was inside keeping an eye on Cora and helping Mom around the house, when we come across Grandpa rummaging around for something in one of the old storehouses, the one next to the other where that creepy Noh Mask used to be stored before Inuyasha destroyed it:

"I'm sure I put it away in here somewhere. Where is it?..."

"Oh hey, Gramps, what'cha doin' in there?" "What's up, Mister Higurashi?"

He doesn't answer us directly, pulling out a clear jar holding what I'm guessing is some kind of preserved root:

"Oh! Found it at last! The secret medicine past down through generations of the Higurashi family! I finally found it!"

I look at Freeman, who bends down to ask me in a whisper,

"Thinking about his track record with sutra spells, that medicine's probably not gonna do squat, is it?"

I shake my head as Grandpa dances on the spot while exclaiming excitedly,

"Coraline's cold will be cured in an instant! Just you wait, you'll be as good as new!"

"(Sigh, mumble) Why should we even bother?"

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to give Besa and your mom a heads up..."

I nod in agreement, but just as we turn to head to the house quick, I screech to a halt when I see Buyo on top of my soccer-ball!

"Gah! Buyo!"

"Uh, wait, Souta-"

Freeman's warning came a bit too late, as the dang cat hops off the ball as my foot comes to kick it, accidentally sending it to hit Grandpa's back, and forcing him to drop the jar of that root medicine:

(Shatter)

"Aaaah! My medicine!"

"Uh oh...Sorry, Gramps!" "Bad luck, sir!"

I grab Freeman's hand and we speed away from the storehouse with the soccer-ball, catching the last weep of,

"My medicine...!"

"Ah no, Gramps is never gonna forgive me..."

Freeman smiles at me reassuringly and chides,

"Aw, don't sweat it, dude; it was a simple mistake. Besides, it's probably better that medicine got trashed anyway. Only god knows how long it's been sittin' in that storehouse..."

"Hm, good point."

 _I don't want sis getting sicker from a bad medicine..._

As we kept jogging along, I pass the ball to Freeman, but it flies over his shoulder, and was caught by Inuyasha!

"Yo."

"(Smile) Hey! What're you doin' back here?"

"Oh! Inuyasha!"

I rush over to the two as Inuyasha asks,

"How's Coraline's cold doin'?"

"She's been gettin' alot of rest, but currently, she and Besa are doin' some kind-a research thing in her room. Not sure if it's school-related, but it looked real important."

"Huh. That so?"

Freeman adds after me,

"Feel free to head in and see them. I would follow, (smirks) but Souta and I got a score to settle."

I laugh and retort,

"Yeah, and I'm winning so far by like ten to five!"

"Not for long!"

Coraline's POV

"Ugh, why did the headache have to come back now...?"

It's now getting into the evening, and I was laying on my bed with a cold rag on my forehead, while Besa was sitting in my desk chair writing some notes down on a clean page of lined paper using my notebook as a hard surface before looking up at me with a knowing smile:

"I told you to watch it with all the screen time on your laptop."

I turn my head a bit to mildly glare at my smart-alack brother:

"Shut up...So what have we got so far?"

"(Frown) Not as much as I hoped we'd find, but still, his full name is Saki Hikiji, age forty-one, and runs this tech company called Fujiterra."

 _Hm, so he's around the same age as Master Yoshi. I wonder if they knew eachother before they were student friends?_

 _...Then Fujiterra. Where have I heard that name before?_

 _...Wait!_

"Uh! I remember coming across that name in some forms Professor Hashimoto showed me. They were listed as one of the main funding parties for the excavation of the Sword of Tengu."

"No way...!"

"Way..."

My brother and I hm in suspicion:

"...That just sounds way too coincidental."

"I was just thinkin' that...(Grimace) Or I would be more easily if my head would quit pounding. What about his connections with that ninja clan Master Yoshi mentioned?"

"That's where it gets weird: I tried looking up the name Kage no tsume on a few search engines, but no results have come up. It's like they're a ghost organization."

 _Ghost, huh? Gee, that sounds familiar..._

"I had a hunch that might happen. They must be keeping their whereabouts and identity underground from the public...like another organization I know..."

"You mean, Trinity, right?"

I sit up and reply a bit tiredly due to my cold wearing me down little by little,

"Yeah, but I doubt there's any sort of connections there. Then again, anything's possible...I'm gonna go get a glass of water."

Besa sets the notebook down on my desk and quickly moves to follow me:

"I'll go with you, you know, to make sure you don't sway on the walk down."

"Heh, right."

We slowly made our way downstairs, only to get a surprise in the living room in the form of my boyfriend:

"Huh? Inuyasha."

"Yo."

I smile a bit before moving to sit on the other side of the table across from him, Besa sitting adjacent to both of us, and I ask,

"What brings you here?"

"Nothin'. Just came to check in, really." My smile grows a bit:

"Were you that worried about me?"

He grew defensive (probably due to it being more than just me and him in the room) and replied,

"Gh, no, I came for Shippo and Sango, they were worried! But I'm the only one able to come through the Well, right?"

Besa jokes,

"Oi, what are my brother and I, invisible?"

"Tch, you guys don't count since you already left."

I shake my head with an amused grin and cut back into the conversation:

"You guys...Anyway, I am feeling a little better, but my headache keeps dropping and rising without warning...not to mention this damn fever's driving me up the wall-"

I break off when another coughing fit rose, and Besa adds,

"Then there's that dry cough..."

"Oh shut it. At least my throat's not bugging me as bad anymore..."

Inuyasha hmphs before stating,

"Let's get one thing straight, missy: I didn't come to take you back, ya know. Your health is important. If you get better faster back here, then I'd rather you stay here than in my time."

I could hear his reluctance and sincerity between his gruff tone, so I knew he meant it:

"Inuyasha...(Grateful smile) Thank you."

"Keh, whatever...So what's this I'm hearing about you doin' research while you should be resting?"

I wince a little from his stern expression:

 _Shoot, Freeman or Souta must've said something outside..._

 _Should I tell him?_

I look over at Besa, who says with a shrug,

"Might as well let him in on what we've learned today. It's not like he won't find out eventually."

Hming with a nod, I turn back to meet Inuyasha's amber irises with my double-tone blue, and clear my throat before explaining what was currently going on:

"Well, some of it is to find out more about that old blade I showed you a while back, you know, the Sword of Tengu?"

He nods, remembering that day, and I continue with some hesitance,

"The rest...it, has to do with some rather, troubling news my brothers found out from Master Yoshi earlier this afternoon..."

And for the next several minutes, I regale to Inuyasha the same story that my brothers told me not too long ago, with Besa jumping in to add on when he can, along with what we've recently uncovered in our own investigation...

"So lemme get this straight: This Saki Hikiji person is supposingly a leader of a secret ninja clan under the guise of a business man, and he's been threatening Yoshi on a number of occasions including now?"

I nod in confirmation:

"Not only that, but I remembered that his company's name was at the top of the list of groups helping to provide funding for Professor Hashimoto's team to do their archeological excavation that uncovered the Sword of Tengu. And, for him to be a martial arts master, and have some sort of knowledge about weapons like Freeman's hammer and Besa's sickles...It can't just be a coincidence."

Inuyasha hms while folding his arms with a thinking scowl, as Besa asks,

"You wouldn't by chance heard the name Kage no tsume, or Shadow Claw, tossed around in Edo, have you? We haven't been able to uncover much about it so far with our search sources here."

"Kuh, nope, never heard of 'em, but then again, I don't really pay much attention to the developments of human clans...If they did exist in my time, they were probably as secretive with their identities as the regular shinobi clans."

My brother and I nod:

"Right." "Fair enough..."

"...What's buggin' me is why this Saki's even tryin' to reach out to Yoshi now when it's obvious that he doesn't trust the guy. That sounds way too cocky."

"You think?"

"Mhm..."

I put a finger under my chin in thought:

 _Inuyasha does make a good point: Considering the bad history that's already between Master Yoshi and Saki, it doesn't really make sense that he would try a less aggressive approach..._

 _What could have him so confident? What kind of knowledge could he possibly hold over Master Yoshi?_

 _...And the way he eyed me and my blade...It's like, he knew..._

"(Gasp) Could it, really be possible...?"

"What?"

I dart up to a stand while saying a bit urgently,

"I need to look back in my file on Trinity! I think Saki's-Rgh!"

But I must've stood up too quick, for I felt my headache start pounding even worse than earlier, and my temperature was climbing:

 _Oh, crap...!_

I swayed on the spot, prompting my brother and my boyfriend to jump up and catch me before I could fall down:

"Cora!" "Coraline!"

"(Groan) My head...It feels like someone's using a jackhammer on my skull..."

My body began breaking into a new coat of sweat, and my vision blurred a bit, as a familiar callused and clawed hand brushes out my hair to feel my forehead:

"Gh! Your fever's goin' back up...We need to get you back into bed."

"But-"

Besa cuts me off with a stern,

"No buts except yours under the covers."

...I sigh and nod weakly in compliance, before my brother says to Inuyasha,

"I'll go get some fresh cold water for her rag. Can you take her upstairs?"

"Can do."

A few seconds later, I'm shifted into the strong arms of my boyfriend, and he started carrying me to the staircase...As we went along, I let out a small cough before asking quietly,

"Inu-yasha?"

"Yeah?"

"If I fall asleep in the next bit, which is more than likely, will you be here when I wake up?"

He doesn't say anything for a moment until we reach my bedroom, when he softly replies,

"Of course..."

I smile a little through the fatigue, and whisper,

"Thank you...You're the best."

I'm then lowered onto my bed, and Inuyasha pulls the covers back over my body, leaving just my head to peek out, before he says with a halfhearted scoff,

"And don't you forget it. Now go to sleep, and no more studying until your fever breaks at the very least, got it?"

"(Slight chuckle) Okay..."

My eyes shut, and I fall into slumber's waiting arms while a few clawed fingers stroke my hair to the tune of a mumbled,

"Have a good sleep, Coraline."

Inuyasha's POV

 _Damn it...Why does she gotta push herself so much until karma bites her hard in the ass with somethin' like this cold?_

I'm sitting on the edge of Coraline's bed, watching her sleep while waiting for Besa to come up with the cold rag for her forehead to help her cool down. Her face was flushing over again, and I could see some beads of sweat forming, along with hearing a bit of a hitch in her breathing, probably from all the stress her coughing has done to her lungs...

"Got her asleep, huh?"

I turn to see Besa entering the room with the rag in a small white bowl, and nod, watching him approach Coraline with a worried frown:

"Hm, poor sis...I wish I could get her some medicine for her to take, but I don't think there's any in this house that can really do much for her. We'll just have to make sure she sleeps okay and sweats it off."

He rings out the rag before putting it on her forehead, making her let out a light sigh of relief in her sleep...The room then goes quiet for a couple minutes, before I hear the boy mutter,

"...This isn't the first time she's done this."

"Huh?"

"Cora's pushed herself ridiculously before without really knowing it in the past, back during her 'tunnel-vision days' when she was slowing adjusting to living here in Tokyo. She, hadn't really overcome this instinct she developed in her journey from her old home to keep going no matter what. It was like her mind was trapped in this survival world where it was 'do or die', and no matter what handicap the universe threw at her, she would more likely drop dead before she stopped."

My eyes go wide from such a description:

"Seriously?" His lips form a bitter smile as he replied,

"Yeah. Half the time, she was numb to it, not even aware of what might've been wrong with her, injury or sickness-wise until she was shown it. There was this one time a year go Freeman and I tracked her to this old rural town far outside the city during one of her 'calls to adventure', and we found her propped against a beech tree looking like a listless zombie. Even so, she tried to get up and keep walking, only to faint into our arms. She was on bed rest for a week, and wasn't allowed to leave the shrine without at least one person by her side at all times for a month. She understood why and didn't protest to the action...which honestly, kind-a scared me a little: A part of her knew that what she was doing wasn't healthy, but it wasn't strong enough to make their voice heard."

 _...Coraline..._

"But she's gotten a whole lot better."

"Hm?"

I turn around again, and see the other dark-skinned boy leaning causally against the doorway.

"Freeman..." "Hey, bro. When'd you get here?"

"About the time you broke out that story of one of our more gnarly 'sister hunts'...(Walks in) But anyway, that would've been Cor's wake-up call to reality, that she wasn't livin' life on the run anymore. From that point, she always remembered to prepare herself for any excursions out of the shrine, or Tokyo for that matter, and kept an eye on how long she stayed out, checkin' in using the street phones when she was able to, that sort-of thing. It's become a rarity in this recent year, mostly 'cause of what's been goin' on in Edo, which I actually think has been healthier for her."

That sparked some major confusion, more so for me:

"What? Healthier for her how?"

"Because dangerous though this quest for the jewel and Naraku's annihilation has been, each battle has also made Coraline stronger, and has given her a reason to keep her head above water. Not that she hasn't done so here in this era, but, somethin' about this escapade seems...more right for her."

He seats himself on the chair and smiles at me in a knowing way while adding,

"Meeting you has been good for Cora."

I felt my cheeks heat up a little, and I look away from his stare, my eyes falling on my sleeping girlfriend/intended while muttering,

"Tch, right...Can you guys keep an eye on her for me? There's somethin' I gotta get in my era."

They look at me in mild surprise:

"Huh?"

"Uuh, sure. What are ya gonna do?"

I walk over to the window and open it while replying,

"You'll see when I get back. Just make sure she keeps sleeping and don't let her fever go up."

"Got it." "Got it."

(Leap)

I hop down to the ground and start running towards the Well...when my ears suddenly pick up on a distant echo of, a little girl giggling?

"Huh?"

Pausing my steps, I turn to where I heard the echo came from, which wound up being the Goshinboku Tree, and watch as that little glowing ball Lumos floated from the top of the branches over to this bench, that for some reason, I found myself staring at with narrowed eyes:

 _Hm...I could've sworn I heard something, from over there..._

"(Shakes head) What am I doin'? I gotta get back to Kaede's; no time to lose my head."

I restarted my fast-paced trek to and through the Well, before using my demon speed to rush back to the old woman's place, where by no surprise to me, still held the others. Peeking into the crack between the entrance frame and the wicker flap, I watch the squirt checking out the food and herbs I scoped out while Sango was preparing dinner:

"Whoooa! It's all so good, I dunno what to eat first!"

Miroku picks up one of the crabs and ponders,

"You know, we could probably sell it and make good money..."

I fought to suppress a growl at the nosy pair, while Sango reprimands them by saying,

"I don't think we should touch it. It's not even ours."

 _Kuh, damn right it's not...!_

Kilala then pokes at one of the carps with her paw (which didn't annoy me as much), until Sango chides her name to make her stop. That was my cue to enter the hut, making the monk dart upright to his feet while Shippo and Kilala jumped on his shoulders. I started rummaging through the food for the specific ingredients I needed, barely catching the kid and Miroku say defensively,

"I haven't touched a thing! Honest I haven't; don't look at me!"

"Neither have I..."

I kept up my search, pulling out the items I needed, and Shippo asks for my attention warily:

"Inuyasha...?"

Once again, I ignore him, my focus being on my sick girl:

 _I dunno if it will work, based on what everyone's told me regarding her sensitivity to medicine when she's sick...but it's work a try!_

 _I want her to get better and not make herself worse..._

Once I got everything prepared, I took back some of the herbs and a pot full of the base for the medicine to Coraline's era, and pass the tree again, only to hear that echo from before:

"(Stop) Hm?"

 _There it is again. What is that?_

"...And why does it seem, familiar in a distant way?"

I decide to circle back on the thought later, and make my way inside through that glass door and into the hallway, finding the kid Souta and old man Higurashi sitting at the table in the living room reading:

"Yo." The kid asks me,

"What're you doin' here? I thought you went back already."

"Nah, just went to get a few things. Do you guys have a cooking pot I could use?"

"A pot...?"

Missus Higurashi walks in from the kitchen and asks,

"Will a metal one do?"

So now while the big pot was boiling some water, I laid out each of the ingredients I brought from my era onto the table, starting with the herbs, then the meat, which made the kid grimace a little:

"Ugh, what is that?" Smirking, I explain,

"There's nothin' like liver when it comes to nourishment. Boar liver, carp liver, chicken liver, and some medicinal herbs and roots."

It was around the tail end of my listing that the twins walked in, gawking a little at the spread on the table:

"Whoa, where'd all that come from?!"

"Wow...Must've done your tour of duty to gather all this stuff, huh?"

"Somethin' like that."

Souta backs a step and asks me in disbelief,

"Are you really gonna eat all that?!"

"Nope. Not me."

"Not you? Then..."

Besa caught onto the answer faster than the kid did:

"Oooh...This is for Cora, isn't it?"

"Yep."

Freeman breaks into a worried smile and says,

"In that case, ya might not wanna mention the ingredient list to sis incase her cold gave her a nervous stomach..."

I furrow my brows...before widening my eyes in realization and nodding, then turned back to the table with a new smirk and got my claws ready:

"Let's cook!"

Coraline's POV

 _"Uh! What on earth is this?!"_

 _Shortly after falling asleep in my bed, my consciousness awoke in my mindscape, only to pay witness to one of the more stranger dreams I've ever had. I'd say it was frightening, but let's fact it: After the ordeals of that damned dream demon whose name shall never grace my lips again, I don't think any future nightmares will ever match that level of terror..._

 _But anyway, I'm now standing in a big black space with mist flowing around the grounds, watching with wide eyes as these two figures went blade to blade against one another. The fighting style was unlike what I've seen in recent battles, more like the swordplay you would see between the medieval knights in Europe, and one of the figures was even carrying a shield._

 _Squinting my eyes, I saw past the fog and got a closer look at the two fighters, gasping when I saw the following:_

 _The first was a man, wearing an outfit consisting of full-body chain mail, metal gloves, a white tunic with yellow-gold lining, a shredded red cape, wielding an old falchion sword with the well-known curved tip on the blade, and their shield held the symbol for Trinity on it! But what seemed to disturb me more, was that his facial appearance was almost exactly the same as Bishop, only this man had a stubble on his chin, and his skin pigment was a touch more weather-beaten._

 _"...That isn't him...But, he looks alot like him. What does this mean?"_

 _The second figure was a woman, who looked an awful lot like the redhead from that picture that Sonya showed me when my friends and I had briefly stayed in Majora, wearing the Celtic checker-patterned dress of red, green and blue, leather belt with a sword sheath, and the brown leather shoes, while also wielding the ShatterSoul Sword. But now that the image was plastered to a face, I could make out details that I previously couldn't: Her hair was the same shade of red as mine, in the style of waterfall curls (so not too curly but definitely not straight) reaching to the end of her back, her skin fair but with a very light tan, and her face...was like a mature mirror to my own, including our eyes!  
_

 _"...Is she...my, ancestor?"_

 _The clash of swords continue for a few more minutes, until the Bishop impersonator shoves the woman whom I'm becoming convinced is a past family member backwards, before slashing his sword across her side! She lets out a cry, and falls to the ground hard...but she wasn't dead, yet: Though obviously in alot of pain from her new wound, the woman rises into a crouched stand, glaring at her opponent, whose expression remained emotionless as he approached her, weapon raised..._

 _Next thing I knew, the sky rains with a dark void of purple mist with many gleaming eyes protruding out, just like in the legend's image:_

 _"The Darkness of the Mask!"_

 _It swallows both of their bodies...and then there's a loud, feminine warcry, before the cloud of power explodes in a wave of ice blue!_

 _I shield my eyes with a wince, and everything settles down after a few seconds, but..._

 _"...They're gone!"_

 _Willing my muscles to move, I rush over to the scene, looking left and right for any signs of the two warriors, mostly the woman who mirrored my image...That's when my ears pick up on a different sound that sent a shiver down my spine: A dark laugh that sounded really close to Naraku's voice, but at the same time, was different._

 _"Now what?!"_

 _(...Fwoom)_

 _"Uh!"_

 _I whirl around to the echo of flames igniting, and watch as the symbol of Trinity fades over a wall of orange and purple flames...only to quickly be replaced by a different symbol that looked like a black claw mark._

 _"What the..."_

 _(...Step, step, step...)_

 _Next came the sound of someone approaching me from afar and behind me, so I turned that direction, and saw two new figures walking to stand several feet from me:_

 _The first one on the left, was that half-demon freak, Naraku, his body cloaked in the baboon fur, who was holding a small, peculiar black-red orb in his palm, smirking at me knowingly, while standing right, was a blurred figure wearing a black haori and hakama (I'm assuming they're also male) with the odd claw symbol on their chest, but I could not make out their face._

 _"(Glare) Why are you here with that smug grin, you bastard? And who's the guy beside you? What's going on?"_

 _Neither party offers an answer, pissing me off, but before I could make anymore sense out of this craziness, the orb in Naraku's hand began shining a mix of piercing red and blond-yellow light, making me flinch while covering my eyes with my arm:_

 _"Agh!"_

 _(Flash)_

(Jolt)

"Gh!"

My eyes snap awake to reality, and I dart them around a bit still agitated by what I saw, before calming down when I remembered I was safe inside my room...Taking a few deep breaths, they being a little shaky thanks to my damn cold, I then sat up in my bed while running a hand through my hair, thinking aloud to myself in a hushed tone,

"...What the hell was that?"

 _I dunno what made less sense: The sword fight between that Bishop lookalike and that older me-like woman, or the appearance of that new symbol followed by a blurred man and Naraku..._

 _But you know, thinking a bit more clearly...their build looked close to Saki's..._

 _Then that laugh: Though it had ties to that bastard Naraku, its undertone sounded more like the deepness of Saki's voice._

 _...Is it possible then that he was the blurred figure? But why?_

 _And what was that symbol? What does it all mean?_

I felt another headache coming on:

"Ugh, this is not the time for another head-spinning mystery...Hm?"

My ears then pick up on some footsteps from outside my room, and the door opens, revealing my boyfriend and my three brothers trailing behind him:

"Inuyasha. Guys, hey..."

Freeman and Besa echo the 'Hey' with a wave and matching smiles, standing at the end of my bed with Souta, who kept his eyes on Inuyasha as he handed me this cup of steaming...something:

"Here. It's medicine. Drink up."

"Oh? Medicine?"

I take the cup from his hand into my own, but scrunch up my nose from the smell that was wafting out:

"Oooh...That's a really strong scent."

He just smiles at me confidently and replies,

"I promise you'll feel better once you drink. It'll cure any cold in an instant."

I stare at my boyfriend for a moment, noticing how serious he looked, and decide to give this odd concoction a whirl:

"(Deep breath) Alright, here goes..."

I do a taste test, only to grimace a bit from the really bitter, deep-bodied flavour:

"Auh! Geez, and I thought Grandfather's homemade sake was strong...!"

The guys (minus Souta, who held a rather horrified expression...though I'm not exactly sure why) laugh a little at my comparison, and Inuyasha sits himself by my legs on the bed and replies causally,

"So what? It might taste bad, but it'll definitely work."

"(Smile) Did you make this stuff yourself?"

"Sure did!"

"Well, if you're that confident...I guess it wouldn't kill me to chug it down. Plus, my stomach seems to be giving it the green light, which is a first in a long while when it comes to medicine..."

I look down at the cup of murky brown, before meeting Inuyasha's eyes a bit warily:

"You're absolutely sure?"

"Just trust me."

"Alright then...Here we go."

Ignoring the smell, I down the entire cup in one go, thinking to myself,

 _You know, getting past the initial flavour...this isn't so bad. Definitely better than some of the commercial medicines with the methanol..._

Once it was all gone, I lower the cup and hm, feeling my sinuses starting to clear up already:

"Huh...(Smile) Finally, a medicine that works for me! I can even feel the rawness in my throat starting to die down."

That really seemed to please my boyfriend:

"Keh, told ya."

"Thank you for making this for me."

He looks up at the ceiling with a light blush on his face:

"You don't have to get all mushy..."

"(Light smirk) Excuse me for complimenting your skills. So where'd you learn to make this stuff?"

Inuyasha turns his body more so he was facing the wall leading to my closet, as he replies with a slight stutter,

"M-My, uh, mother used to make it."

"Your mother? (Soft smile) Wow...She must've been a skilled healer, then. So she passed her knowledge down to you?"

He turns back to me and says,

"Well, the ingredients are a little different: When she made it, she used dry ingredients...(Pleased smirk) Hmph, but I used fresh stuff."

"Fresh, stuff?"

I look down at the empty cup...but then decide for the sake of my stomach to not question what was used to make this medicine:

"Uh...(Shakes head) Nope, not even gonna ask."

I hear my brothers exhale in relief, which made more sure to not ask about the ingredients (at least not until I was completely over my cold), and Inuyasha stutters nervously,

"Uh, y-yeah, I mean, who cares? As long as it works!"

Moving past that, I smile gratefully at my caring boyfriend:

"Anyway, thank you again." He replies defensively,

"Would you stop thankin' me?"

"Kind-a hard not to with how...sweet you're being. By the way, sorry if I scared you with that dizzy spell earlier."

His face dusts over with a more noticeable red as he stood up and replied,

"Forget about it, okay? Just go to sleep."

"Sleep?"

I look over at my window and see how dark it's gotten:

"Oh...It's night already? Gee, the day went by fast."

After everyone else heads to bed, my brothers camping out in Souta's room (again), the lights are switched off in my room by Inuyasha as I laid down under the covers of my bed, he and I being the only ones left awake, minus Lumos who was hanging about outside somewhere...

As I stared at the ceiling trying to will myself to dreamland again, I felt a hand lightly pat my legs in a slow, rhythmic pattern, and tilted my head to see Inuyasha was the source, he squatting by the bed:

"Hm? Is, that a soothing ritual that...your mother used to do?"

"Uh, yeah...She used to do it a long time ago..."

"(Smile) How sweet of her..."

I turn my head to lay back flat on the pillow again, and let my mind wander on...well, alot of different things, both past and present. I'm not sure what brought about this period of reflection, and yet here I am, looking back on events that have brought me to where I am now...

That's when I decided voicing it aloud, well-aware of the second pair of ears in the room:

"...I've really become a reckless vigilante."

"Huh?"

"Maybe in the beginning of my journey to Japan, it was all about survival, but, putting it altogether, including what I've been doing since my first drop down that old well, I've also pulled off some rather dangerous and otherwise impossible missions for some kind of greater good, big or small. (Grim smile) I've become the rebel with a cause that very few people in this era can understand, sometimes a stone's throw away from being an antihero. It's a wonder I haven't gotten myself killed because of it, but someone's obviously vouching for me up there. I'm just, not one of those people who can walk away from someone who's in trouble or always leave it to the self-appointed heroes like the police. I have to do something; screw the Law for all I care..."

"...I see...What exactly is a vigilante?"

"Someone who takes the Law into their own hands, essentially. Unfortunately, it's been personified as a rather violent way to achieve justice by your own terms, but it doesn't have to be that way: The difference lies in how each side reacts, what actions they choose to take."

"That so?"

I nod with a hum, and felt a grin spread onto my face as I recalled the starry-eyed look that Souta had acquired after seeing Inuyasha in fighting action the first time during that Noh Mask insanity:

"I think that's how my kid brother sees you, the dog demon vigilante hero, like in some of his comic books."

"What? Psh, that's ridiculous. I'm no hero: I just do what I gotta do to get the job done."

"Heh, right, of course..."

The room goes quiet for a little bit...until I looked back to that night at the docks, frowning a little when I realized some of my motive to take part in the action was rather selfish:

 _I was so petty feeling back then, even if what I did was for the good._

 _Trying to show that I wasn't a weakling...What a joke._

"...I dunno if the guys have already regaled this to you, but, do you recall when you, to put it politely, sent me back to my era after that freak attack from Sesshomaru?"

"What about it?"

Sighing, I push myself up to a sitting position, face set in a serious expression:

"There's a part of those days that I haven't told you about, not out of fear of how you'd react, just lousy timing and priorities that kept coming up. Some of those bruises that you saw on my body when I came back to Edo...they weren't as recent as they may have looked."

That caught Inuyasha's attention, and he moved to sit both beside and across from me on the bed with some space between us but not too much, looking at me with his version of an inquisitive expression:

"...What happened?"

"Shuji's cousin, Rikona, was kidnapped by the brother of the gangster she witnessed during that robbery, while he was beaten to bloody pulp. It was a miracle he was able to limp as far as he did, and that my brothers and I were coming out of the park downtown at the time and found him. Once we got the full story from him of what was going on, Freeman and Besa would take him to the hospital to get him help while I left ahead to the place where some other teenagers from Shuji's and a few other nearby neighbourhoods were meeting to plan a guerilla raid to rescue Rikona and about a dozen other children who were also taken. Still dunno what the actual motive to the kidnapping was to this day, other than it having to do with some kind of financial gain..."

I went on with details about when I sneaked out of the shrine once everyone was asleep to meet with my brothers and the other teens led by Mokoto down at the docks, the plan of attack, my short battle with the gangster's brother while Freeman and Besa broke the bars to the cage open, before switching to acting as human shields to protect the kids as we made our way out of the warehouse, and then the last leg of the fighting we were forced to do to make sure the punks didn't follow any of us back to our homes, before I made the slow journey home.

"It's funny: Even though I could feel the pain of my injuries, which thank god weren't as bad as they could've been if I was less careful, at the same time...I felt so accomplished. I felt like I really made a difference that night, even if no one would know it was me. I did something crazy for a good cause. I wound up sleeping in the well-house that night, too sore and exhausted to crawl back into my room, opting to sneak back in when it was dawn. And, the last thing I thought before I drifted off was...'If only you could see me now'."

"Huh? What's that suppose to mean?"

"Petty anger, mostly. While, talking with my brothers about my ejection from Edo did cool my temper a good deal, I was still mad at you. I got this impression that...you thought I was weak. After the fight at the docks, that euphoric drive I felt in coming back alive and triumphant gave me this rise of confidence to make myself stronger. It only grew when I discovered Master Yoshi's dojo, and I decided that if you weren't gonna come for me right away, I might as well use the free time to do something productive other than expanding my mind with schoolwork..."

...My bedroom was once again filled with silence, this time it carrying a more tense and awkward air, which made me feel compelled to look down at my bedspread and away from my boyfriend's eyes, his face set in an expression I couldn't read.

After a few more minutes...I felt a pair of familiar clawed fingers gently grab my chin to tilt my face back up and meet those amber irises again:

"...You're wrong, you know."

"Huh?"

"I have never once thought of you as weak, and it's dumb of you to even let the idea cross your mind."

"Inuyasha-"

"Let me finish. I admit, there were times when I said somethin' on the lines of calling you weak, but those were just mindless words. The thought, never, stuck...You were already strong to me, simply by havin' the guts to stand your ground against my attitude, even when I blew my temper. You were the first human to see me for who I was, and not for what I was, which honestly...I found really attractive."

I felt my cheeks blush red from the compliment, blunt-toned though it was, and he smirks a little before releasing my chin to cup my cheek while adding,

"And after hearing all of this, vigilante business you've been up to...I'm all the more amazed by you. Though I don't really approve of the danger you've been putting yourself in time and time again, it'd be a little hypocritical of me to sternly call you out on it, considering what we've been doin' with everyone else back in Edo...Still...I'd really wish you'd be more careful in how you push your limits."

I couldn't help but smirk back at him:

"Funny, I seem to recall conveying similar messages when you go into battle with next-to-severe injuries..."

"Oh~, gettin' smart with me, are you?"

A giggle bubbles in my throat, and Inuyasha leans in with his own chuckle, kissing me on the cheek twice:

"Seriously though, remember your health and I'll remember mine."

"Okay, okay, I gotcha. And...I'm sorry for my absentmindedness on the subject."

"Tch, it's fine. We all do it every once in a while...Thanks for finally tellin' me about this."

"You're welcome...(Yawn) Okay, I should probably go to sleep now before midnight rolls."

He lets out another quiet laugh before moving to sit on the floor near me, while I leaned back under the covers on my side, finally feeling tired enough to go to sleep...As I nodded off, I felt his hand combing through my hair in the same rhythm that he was using before on my legs, soothing me further:

 _Inuyasha..._

And with that, I was out, a peaceful smile on my lips.

Time Skip, No POV

The morning sun comes streaming over the grounds of the Higurashi shrine and residence, with the youngest member of the family making his way out the door to head to school, the twins waving at him from the front door:

"I'm off!"

"Later, little dude!" "See ya, Souta!"

Meanwhile, Coraline wakes up from her sleep with a stretch of her arms, feeling much better than she did yesterday...

"Hey."

She turns to see Inuyasha standing by her window, and she greets him with a smile:

"Mornin'."

"Feelin' any better this morning?"

"Yeah! It's like the cold didn't even happen."

The redhead turns herself to the edge of her bed while adding,

"Your medicine really did the trick."

"See? I told ya it would."

"Yes yes, you did...Now that my head's clear of the cotton, I should be able to use it and get back to the research I was doing yesterda-"

Coraline cuts herself off, remembering something:

 _Hang on a second...That, symbol I saw in my dream...Could it represent, the Shadow Claw Clan?  
_

 _That has to be it!_

 _...But...why did it show up over the Trinity insignia?_

"(Soft gasp) Unless...Maybe my hunch isn't too far off."

Inuyasha looked at the redhead funny:

"Huh? What're you mumblin' about now?"

She doesn't answer right away, and moves to a stand before walking over to her desk, pulling out a file folder that read **TRINITY** in black permanent marker on the front hidden under some papers in a drawer:

"I've created and added to this file since back when I first discovered their name in my Father's old works. It contains everything I've managed to dig up on the organization, including a profile on Bishop...I'm just wondering...if it's possible that Saki could have connections to them, even if just by partnership."

"...Well how did ya find out about those bastards first of all?"

"Through alot of cryptic searches, and simply talking to people. A few times during my days on the run, I was lucky to come across certain individuals who have been hurt by Trinity, few of which were kind enough to tell me what they knew. Then during by brief travels in India, which would've been a week before I stowed away on a boat to Japan, I caught snippets of a conversation between some mercenary thugs who did a few jobs for Trinity, so while the public ear may not know about them, the criminal underworld seems to."

Inuyasha's eyes widened a little, and Coraline adds,

"All it would take after that is keeping my ears and eyes open around the more crime-populated areas of Tokyo, waiting for anything that would point me to finding out more about my enemies. The biggest breakthrough would've been...well, you know, when Bishop took the fight to me in Edo, and you all got caught in the crossfire..."

"Yeah, kind-a hard to forget that...So, is that how you're gonna find out more about Saki?"

The redhead looks up at the dog demon in slight surprise for the interest as opposed to protest, but nonetheless nods:

"Don't think there's really any other way at present. I might also see if I can dig up the Hikiji family tree: Looking into his family history might tell us some things too."

"And what about Master Yoshi?"

"(Sigh) I think he's already told us all that he can, or is willing to. If anything, he likely wants to keep my brothers and I as far out of the loop as he can, so he can protect us...Though if Saki truly is intrigued by us...that might not matter for too long..."

Sensing a bit of anxiety rising in her, Inuyasha places a reassuring hand on Coraline's shoulder and says,

"Well, whatever the heck is goin' on, I promise I'll be there to protect you like always. If this Saki dares to even think of hurting you or your brothers, he'll have to answer to my claws."

"Inuyasha..."

"Aww, that's sweet, man!" "We didn't know you cared that much!"

The dog demon flinches from the two new voices, and he and the redhead turn to see Freeman and Besa standing in the doorway with teasing smiles:

"We feel honoured that you'd go out of your way to help us out like that."

"Told ya he was whipped, bro."

Inuyasha growls in annoyance as the twins snickered to themselves before he barks,

"Shut up! You're both crazy; I ain't whipped!"

"Suuure..."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself, dude..."

"That's it!"

At that note, the newly ticked off dog demon starts chasing after Freeman and Besa out of the bedroom, leaving Coraline to shake her head in amusement before calling out the door,

"If you guys are gonna run, take it outside please!"

 _(Sigh) Such as it is with men..._

And for the next little while, the redhead would be kneeling by her window, elbows propped up in the open rim with her chin resting in her hands, watching with a few giggles on her breath as her boyfriend 'hunted' down her brothers around the courtyard of the shrine, while her Will O' Wisp companion slowly circuited around the Goshinboku tree, the sunlight making the green leaves shine brighter in colour...


	99. Chapter 98

Hey everybody, I'm back!

Sorry for the delay; I was busy doing some editing and decluttering in my doc manager with the chapters I did have in there. But the major bulk of it is done, so I'll be able to get back to typing up new stuff.

So, quick disclaimer before this chapter begins:

I do not own any references to _Detective Conan/Cased Closed!_ (as neither did those who created and produced this story's original anime/manga). Such rights and ownership belong to its creator, _Gosho Aoyama_.

All good? Great! Curtain up!

* * *

 **Chapter 98: Souta's Brave Confession of Love**

Come another day in modern Tokyo, and the last leg of Coraline's cold will have come to pass. In the time following the rest of yesterday to today, she will have not only gotten some more of her online schoolwork finished (being careful not to overexert her mentality, as per the orders of her brothers and boyfriend), but also uncovered a new piece to the puzzle that was the mysterious artifact she was asked to help investigate by Professor Hashimoto...

Currently, the redhead was focused on rising out of bed and greeting the sun's rays casting over the Higurashi Shrine and Residence, opening her window to let the fresh air gently blow inside.

"(Inhale) Aah, another good-looking day, and I can finally go outside and enjoy it! That stupid cold can go suck it, and Lady Luck blessed me with an old text that might have some information about the Sword of Tengu..."

Coraline turns her once again bright blue eyes to Inuyasha, who was sitting by the second window adjacent left.

"And I have you and your medicine to thank for it. I really owe you an arm and leg, Inuyasha."

He replies gruffly,

"Yeah, whatever..."

"And, not just for helping me get better, but, for being that listening ear the night before last..."

The dog demon's face colours a little with a blush:

"Kuh, right, well, if you're all better, then I won't bother hangin' around any longer..."

Coraline pouted a bit:

"Aww, really?"

She moves from the window, and kneels by the Inuyasha before quirking with a small smile,

"Because I was hopin' you'd stick around long enough to help me shop downtown."

"Huh?"

Curious of seeing more of the city from a pedestrian perspective as well as the invitation from his girl, Inuyasha decided to go along with her...Once she was dressed out of her pajamas, opting for an outfit of a yellow tank-top, her red jean jacket, a pair of soft blue jeans and her hikers, Coraline would grab a few cloth bags from the bin by the stairs to the upper rooms before gently tugging the dog demon towards the door, with the twins seeing them off.

"You guys headin' out?"

"Yeah. You two stayin' here?" Besa replies,

"Mhm. One of us is gonna pop to Edo to let everyone know you're okay, then we're helping Mister Higurashi with setting up traps in one of the storehouses."

Coraline makes a face:

"Aw no, are the rats coming back?"

"Looks like."

"Crap...Alright, well, good luck to you guys."

"(Both twins) Thanks."

(Ka-chank)

As the couple made their way down the stairs of the shrine, Coraline mutters,

"You'd think Buyo would be enough to scare any possible rodents away..."

Inuyasha scoffs,

"Have ya seen that cat? He can't even chase his own shadow let alone a rat."

That comment made the redhead laugh, and he would join in a second after she began...A little while later, the two were deep into the city streets, walking along a more consumer district, where most citizens did their grocery shopping. By this point, Inuyasha's mood was teetering between boredom and sulking:

"How come I get stuck dragged all over your village like this?"

Coraline counters,

"Well, we do have a long journey ahead of ourselves, and I could use the help in finding the right supplies for the group."

"Didn't the guys already do some shopping a few days ago?"

"Yes, but not enough for everyone collectively. I also wanted to check out that book from the library before I lose the chance."

Inuyasha grumbles to himself with an ear-twitch,

"She's got a line for everything..."

"And besides..."

"Huh?"

The redhead turns to flash an endearing smile while adding,

"This also gives us an excuse to spend some time together without the entourage, you know what I mean?"

...The dog demon's cheeks highlight, and he looks away from Coraline's stare shyly, while she turns to face the front again with a giggle in her breath.

 _He acts so tough around everyone, but when it's just us one-on-one, his more sensitive side starts peeking out._

 _It'll probably be a long while before he'll be able to do it without retreating back into himself..._

"(Turn) Say, Inuyas-Huh?"

But when she moves to meet his eyes again, she sees that the dog demon was gone.

"(Looks back and forth) Inuyasha? Inuyasha!...Oh!"

Coraline spots him again a few feet in front of her, sniffing at the glass of a bakery shop display:

"Uuuh, Inuyasha?"

The dog demon turns to her with an enthusiastic smile:

"Hey, Coraline! This is food, right?"

A random woman wearing a causal blue business jacket and skirt combo walks past the two, chuckling a bit under her breath while looking at Inuyasha, causing Coraline to smile a bit nervously and say with her own giggle,

"Ah-heh, he's still a little new to the city, and gets excited about new things..."

 _Hoh boy, should'a seen this coming..._

Shaking her head with amusement, the redhead walks over to the sliver-haired dog demon and lightly pulls him along.

"Come on, we need to keep going down this street. But if we have time, we'll circle back and I'll introduce you to the cinnamon buns they serve at this bakery."

"Cinn-a-mon buns?"

"Yeah! It's a type of bread made with a spice called cinnamon mixed with icing sugar. They're really tasty."

"Mm, sounds good...So what's the name of this place we're goin' first?"

"The supermarket."

They eventually made it to the tall building after a couple more blocks, and as they passed through the push doors, Coraline asks while grabbing a hand basket,

"So, starting off with you, Inuyasha, what's number one on your craving list?"

"Ninja food!"

"(Laugh) Yeah, I figured that would be your answer."

Once they were fully into the aisles, Inuyasha was in awe of the stocked shelves of food, ranging from conventional, processed products to fresh vegetables, fruit and meat...The redhead silently laughed behind her hand at her boyfriend's starry eyes, before getting them back on track:

"Alright, so we need to head to where the ramen is...Four shelves right, if I'm not mistaken."

She takes the dog demon's hand to lightly drag him in that direction, causing him to exclaim,

"Hey," before his cheeks burned up again from the gesture...

Inuyasha's attention would then be directed to the large stacks of boxes containing many different brands and flavours of the instant noodles.

"Wooow, look at 'em all!"

"Which one catches your eye?"

"This is gonna be a tough decision..."

He examines the rows of ramen with his arms folded and an inquisitive expression on his face, a sweatdrop quickly forming from having so many to choose from. Sensing this might take a little time, Coraline claps a hand on his shoulder and says,

"I'll leave you to think. When you've got it, meet me in the meat section."

"Mhm..."

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

 _Okay, that took a bit more time than usual..._

We finally exited the supermarket once we got everything we needed from there, but while I was carrying one large cloth bag filled with some wrapped meat (chicken to be exact), vegetables and a few sweets, Inuyasha was carrying three boxes (the largest filled with beef-flavored ramen) that were stacked tall enough to obstruct his view. I look back and ask rhetorically with a sheepish smile,

"Um, is it possible we might've overdone the shopping just a bit on the supermarket alone?"

He peeks his face from behind the boxes and replies with a sarcastic grunt,

"That's an understatement!"

I sweatdrop and mutter inside my head while focusing back up front,

 _Oh dear. Now we definitely need to stop back at that bakery._

 _Hopefully, a new treat will cool him down a little, as well as the promise of not having to carry anything else after this..._

"...Hm?"

It was then something catches my eye, causing me to stop, and Inuyasha to bump into me while nearly letting the boxes fall to the pavement.

"Gah! Thanks for nothin'! What'd ya stop like that for?!"

I quickly turn and help him set the stack down on the ground for a moment, before straightening up and pointing to what caught my eye.

"Over there."

"Huh?"

Across the street in front of the local florist shop...was Souta, looking at some of the bouquets. I raised a brow while wondering,

 _What on earth could've possessed him to stop at a flower shop of all places?_

One of Inuyasha's claws then lightly pokes my shoulder, prompting me to turn to his form that was leaning causally against the red brick wall of one of the shops.

"Mind explaining why we're just standin' here? Not that I mind a pause from carryin' those boxes, but still..."

"I'm just, curious about Souta. (Narrows eyes) This is a new level of weird for him, stopping at a florist..."

With the traffic in an equally-odd slow period for the afternoon, I was just able to make out the words of the florist who came out to talk to my little brother.

"Looking for a gift? Do you see anything you like?"

Though I couldn't see his face, he must've had an expression on his face similar to Inuyasha's when he was stuck on deciding what ramen to get, for the woman just adds a touch nervously,

"Well, you let me know if you decide on anything..."

She then walks away, leaving Souta to stare at a pot of pink-petaled flowers (I think they might be the Pinkfairies Clarkia), almost turning to move on his way from the shop before stopping himself to stare some more. By this time, Inuyasha was getting interested in his behaviour, stepping a bit from the wall to stand beside me while one of his hands rested on my shoulders.

"What's he doin' over there?"

I smiled a little at the hand gesture, before placing one of my own palms overtop and whispering back,

"Can't say for sure, but he's definitely got his eye on those pink ones..."

It was then three girls about my kid brother's age turn the corner from the other side of the shop and walk to Souta's direction, prompting him to duck behind some of the potted plants.

 _Huh? Now what's he doing?_

I shift my focus over to the young girls coming up:

The first on the right had straight black hair cut into a bop just ending at her earlobes with a light green barrette clipped on her left bang, tan-peach skin, dark brown eyes, and wore a light green/white striped t-shirt, tan-brown shorts and brown shoes with long white socks.

Girl number two in the middle had a paler complexion, light freckling around her nose, with long black hair tied into two little braids with red ribbons, dark blue eyes, and wore a light blue sleeveless shirt with a mustard yellow ribbon tied under the collar like a tie, a white skirt that went to her knees, and powder blue sneakers with folded over cream-coloured socks.

Finally, the third girl on the left had wavy, dark brown hair cut into a bob that went a little past her ears, peachy pale skin, cobalt blue eyes, and wore a plain white shirt, high-collared with a bit of ruffling on the end cuffs, a cream sweater shrug over top tied on with a thin red ribbon, a pink skirt with light lacy ruffling that was the tiniest bit shorter than knee-length, and long white socks with light pink Mary Jane shoes.

"Yeah, and then what happened?"

"I accidentally stepped right into the pail, right up to my knee and I ended up getting totally soaked!"

The first and third girl laugh lightly at their friend's tale as she adds,

"I could've killed dad for leaving it there! What a lame-brain he is sometimes..."

Her friends chide,

"Sounds like my dad..."

"You're lucky you didn't twist your ankle."

"Actually, I told him that I did twist it. You should've seen how white he turned!"

The three girls giggle at the thought, and I found myself smiling sadly as I thought of my own father:

 _I was definitely daddy's little girl in those old days, and he always got panicky whenever I showed any signs of physical injury, no matter how many times I braved a smile that said I was okay...just to make sure, his heart wasn't aching over more than, the struggle to keep going without mother..._

I give myself a mental headshake, tucking away those bittersweet thoughts, and focus back on why I was looking across the street, noticing that Souta's gaze was fixated on the girl with wavy brown hair as she and her friends passed on without seeing him...

"Weird..."

"Huh..."

"...Well, I dunno what's running through his head, but I guess we'll find out later at home, won't we?"

"Keh, right...So, is there anywhere else we need to stop at?"

I take the smallest box off of the stack to carry over my shoulder and left the other two for Inuyasha to grab, while replying,

"Just the library so I can check out that book, and Hōjō's Herbal for some extra medical supplies."

Now that his face wasn't as covered, I could make out a mild scowl that formed on my boyfriend's face at the mention of the second location.

"Oh. That right?...Is that guy going to be there?"

"Uh, probably not 'til later since it's a school day...(Frown) And whether he being there or not shouldn't matter. Need I remind you that he is in his own relationship with a girl and knows that we're in our own?"

We're walking alongside eachother by this point, and Inuyasha stutters defensively,

"O-Of course I remember! Sheesh, I'm not that dense..."

"(Light sigh) Never said you were..."

 _One thing's for sure: When it comes to being possessive, Inuyasha can and will make it public._

 _...But that might not be a bad thing all the time. Just means he cares._

Time Skip, No POV

By the time evening casts its mix of orange, pink and red hues through the sky, Coraline and Inuyasha will have returned from their shopping trip with the supplies they scoured for to add to the haul for the journey ahead in Edo, and were now sitting with the Higurashi Family and the twins at the dinner table to eat. By this point, the 'trio pest patrol' (aka Grandfather Higurashi, Besa and Freeman) had finished refurbishing, cleaning and re-trap-setting the storehouse that had been broken into by some rats, and were eating their portion of the meal with both hearty appetites and tired bodies.

"Haaah, well, that took alot longer than usual. Thank you again, boys, for assisting me with the problem."

"Think nothing of it, sir...Ugh, but how those rats got into the storehouse this round is beyond me..."

Freeman agreed with Besa's thought with as much exasperation:

"I know, right? They must've used a chisel to get past the quick-dry cement lining between the crawlspaces where they broke in last time!"

Coraline glances over at her older brothers with an amused smile and quirks,

"Actually, a rat's jaws and teeth are more powerful than they look: They can chew through concrete like it's made of rice cakes, or at least the European species are well-known to."

"What?" "Aw come on, that's not fair at all!"

She laughs a little at their mixed expressions of disgruntlement and disbelief, while Inuyasha rolled his eyes and comments,

"Kuh, well if they're anything like the demon variety I've seen a few times, then it'll take more than those mouse traps to get rid of 'em..."

But while the four older youths were engaged in lightly-animated conversation, the youngest Higurashi family member was in a listless daze, sighing quietly at his bowl of rice...Akari would ask about it with that motherly worried frown:

"What's the matter with you, Souta? Have you lost your appetite?"

"U-Uh, (shakes his head) no, nothing's the matter, Mom..."

The elder of the household saw otherwise, and hms before pulling out a pink-shaded, shell-like scale from his robes.

"Maybe this will help you, my boy."

"What's that thing?"

"A mermaid's scale. It's been passed on for generations. Tape this scale to your navel before you go to bed and you'll be cured!"

Souta stares at the item for a few seconds...before taking it, only to turn around towards where the family cat was resting.

"...Bu~yo...You have it."

The cat bites his teeth onto the scale and starts walking away with it, much to the elder's panic:

"Aaah! No, no-no-no, wait! Get back here; give me that thing...!"

While he chased Buyo around the table to get the scale back, Souta decides to leave his dinner behind.

"(Mumble) May I be excused?"

"It's a family heirloom!"

Akari watches the young boy go with a perplexed expression:

"Wonder what's gotten into him?"

By this time, Freeman had scooped up the cat with a free hand and took back the scale to give back to Grandfather Higurashi.

"Here. You might wanna start reconsidering who you give these items to if they're just gonna end up the cat's..."

The elder smirk-glares at the cheeky comment:

"Hmph. Very funny, young man...(Turns with a frown) Anyway, to answer your question, Akari, something tells me he's not feeling well..."

"Eh, it's nothing to be overly concerned about."

"Hm?"

The adults turn to look at Coraline, who shrugs and comments,

"It's more an affliction than an illness, sent by Cupid's arrow to be precise."

"Cupid's arrow?!"

Akari smiles and chimes with a smile,

"Wonderful! I'll make red bean rice to celebrate!"

Coraline almost chokes on her food, and Grandfather adds,

"If you were in school, child, that would be a good excuse to get out of class!"

"What?! Psh, would not!"

"Any teacher would be fooled!"

"This isn't the fifties, grandfather: None of the teachers today could ever be that dim!"

While those two got into a silly debate, Inuyasha bends his head towards Besa to ask in a whisper,

"Uuh, who's this Cupid person?"

"I can explain, but first, let's finish eating and take this to a quieter room..."

Small Time Skip, Inuyasha's POV

It's now nighttime, and I'm heading up the stairs to Coraline's room, leaving Besa behind in the living room after he gave me an explanation about Cupid and his symbolic role for this holiday celebrating Love called Val-en-tine's Day.

 _Well, that was a weird learning moment: So there's supposingly this guy with wings that can control how people love another by using a bow and quiver?_

 _(Shakes head) Humans from the West have the craziest imaginations..._

I let out a yawn as I come up to the upper corridor, only to see the kid, Souta, waiting for me:

"...Say, Inuyasha?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Can I, uh, talk to you?"

"About what?"

"It's kind of a, man-to-man thing..."

That only served to confuse me more...but I could tell he was serious, so we head out the glass door to sit in the courtyard and talk. Only problem was, the kid kept his mouth shut for an annoyingly long amount of time:

 _Geez, what's with him? Does he wanna say what's wrong, or doesn't he?_

After a couple more minutes, I stood up with an impatient grunt:

"If you're not gonna talk, then I'm goin'."

Souta tugs my sleeve to stop me from leaving:

"No, hang on!"

"What is it? Hurry up and talk if ya gotta!"

 _Gods, I should've grabbed one of the twins: They have a better tolerance to this nonsense than I do._

Just as I thought that, the kid asks me one question I wasn't prepared to answer:

"What is Love?"

"Guh!"

My face erupts in a blush as he pries,

"Is Love eternal?" I tug back my kimono and bark,

"What do ya mean; where's this comin' from?!"

 _Now I really wish one of the guys was out here and not me...!_

"Tell me: Who said 'I love you' first? Was it you or Coraline?"

"Huh?!"

"So, who was it?"

I dart back to a sitting position with my arms folded and answer too quickly for my thoughts to connect out of embarrassment,

"I-I don't know; what're you askin' for?"

"Well, you are boyfriend and girlfriend, aren't you?"

My face heated up even more, I too stunned by the boldness of the question to even bop my head, no matter how much my inner voice yelled at me to do something.

 _Dude, just nod a little! What're you doin', you idiot?!_

"Aren't you? Well if you weren't her boyfriend, Coraline wouldn't be risking her neck all the time to see you in your era. A-And you wouldn't come here to take care of her when she's sick..."

I could only sweat a bit nervously, secretly amazed by how intuitive this kid was...

"(Eager smile) So, who said it first? What did you say to her?"

For a second...I almost considered telling him, but I didn't for two reasons: One, it was embarrassing, and two, he still looked a bit young for this sort-a thing. Instead, I exclaimed defensively,

"Get off my back! As if I'd say mushy stuff like that to Coraline!"

 _...It didn't even come out like that either, looking back. I said what I wanted my own way, my version of sweet._

"You mean, Coraline told you first? W-Well, what did she say?"

I didn't so much deny the fact, but just muttered incoherently, feeling like I shouldn't just blindly spill out the day in question to just anybody...Souta took my reply differently, though:

"Come on, don't tell me neither of you had said anything..."

"G-Gh, what, are you talking, about?"

"So, you haven't?"

I fall backwards in exasperation before straightening up and finally getting a decent sentence out:

"Of course we have, ya little twerp! It's just not somethin' you go gabbin' to everyone about! You keep the words between you and your other, ya know? Like, a nice memory to look back on..."

That seemed to be a good enough answer for him:

"Ooooh...Sorry, I wasn't aware."

"Tch, whatever...Now what's mine and Coraline's love life gotta do with this 'man-to-man' talk?"

 _Although Im startin' to get a good guess to what this might be about..._

"(Looks down) Well...it's just...I don't know what to do..."

"Huh?"

 _Yep, now I'm definitely sure I know what's happenin'...and it's not like I would know exactly what to do._

 _...I was on auto that day._

"The girl I'm talkin' about, is called, Hitomi..."

 _I didn't ask you, but at least we're gettin' somewhere..._

Souta goes on describing this girl he's clearly pining over:

"She goes to my school; we're even in the same class, and she sits right next to me in the classroom...She one of the cutest girls I've ever seen, with great big eyes, her skin's so nice, she used to live overseas, she doesn't like parsley, a-and she never carries a backpack..."

For some reason, I felt a short-lived smile come to my lips at the words 'used to live overseas' and the way he described her appearance.

 _Kind-of sounds like a smaller and more innocent version of Coraline..._

Shaking back to reality, I cut in before the kid went any further with the details:

"I hardly understood half of that, but basically you're telling me you love this Hitomi girl, right?"

He blushes before confirming,

"Yeah...but I don't have any idea if Hitomi feels the same way...So I figured...I should just, come out and tell her how I feel!"

My eyebrow twitches as I think to myself,

 _And you're telling me all this, because...?!_

 _Again, Freeman or Besa would be better off speakin' with you, not me!_

"You, gotta help me!"

Despite my thought, seeing and hearing how desperate the kid looked told me to stay put a bit longer:

"What do you want me to do?"

"Let me practice on you."

"Huh?!"

"Let me practice saying 'I love you' so I can say it to Hitomi..."

The further clarification didn't make me feel that much better...

"Please say yes..."

His eyes started shining in a pleading manner, making me twitch back a little in disbelief:

 _Shoot, that's a hard look to turn away from! Now I know where Coraline learned that trick..._

 _Argh, damn me and my soft spot for kids...!_

Sighing in exasperation, I hold up a single digit and grumble,

"Alright, but just once."

"Aw man, this is great!"

 _I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?_

We both move to stand a few feet away from one another face-to-face to start the practice...and once again, we're greeted by a wall of silence...

"What's the matter? Hurry it up."

"I, dunno if I'm ready for this..."

"Kuh, if you're not going to say it, then I'm goin' in."

"Uh, n-no, don't leave me!"

I'm hauled back by my sleeve even harder than last time, and I look back at the kid with an annoyed growl, while he does that pleading expression with his eyes again...

So we try round two...and I finally get some sort of result:

"Mmmm...I...l-l-l-love, you. (Blushes with a shout) I love you!"

"Uhh, guys...?"

"Gh!" "Guh!"

Our heads turn back to the doorway, and standing there was Coraline, wearing a pair of soft black pants and matching tank-top, staring at us with a barely-contained amused expression, along with Freeman and Besa, they wearing matching soft grey pants with white t-shirts, who were too busy trying not to laugh. She then adds with a giggle in her tone,

"I understand there's the whole 'Bro-mance' concept, but this is taking it too far..."

All three of them then burst into laughter, making my face light up as red as my kimono in embarrassment.

 _Oh, gods...!_

Once they calmed down some, we all moved into her room to talk about the situation, which only spiked more laughing from my girlfriend and her brothers...Souta whines in embarrassment as high as mine was a little bit ago,

"Aw come on, you guys don't have to laugh..."

"Oh, take it easy, little bro. It was such a ridiculous scene to walk in on, I couldn't help but laugh...But anyway, you should've just came to me from the start."

I look up at Coraline with Souta, as she chimes with a smile,

"Inuyasha's perspective on how a girl's feelings work doesn't always run deep. He's had a few lucky moments, but out of the two of us, I usually pick up on the emotional atmosphere faster than he does."

"Well of course you know more than me; you're a girl!"

Freeman argues,

"That isn't always true: Men can pick up on emotional cues as quick as women can. It's all in how you're taught and what interests a person."

I frown at him skeptically, while Besa cuts in with his own words:

"All that aside, we can all lend you a hand or two, Souta. Four heads are better than one."

The other two nod vigorously, and the kid and I look to one another apprehensively:

 _I dunno about this..._

Coraline's POV

 _Wow. I knew that this topic would come up for Souta eventually, but I never expected it to be this early in his life..._

After promising and assuring my younger brother that I would do what I could to help, he leaves for bed in his room, leaving me and the guys to brainstorm ideas for a plan of action...

It would be at least forty-five minutes before we could agree on the details, and with that done, my other brothers left the room to get some shut-eye, leaving just me and Inuyasha. He asks me with a raised brow,

"Are you guys sure ya know what you're doin'? I could barely follow half of that babble..."

"Like Besa said, it's good to have multiple minds to tackle a problem...(Nervous smile) Though we're really just doing our best to wing it: Dealing with one's personal love life is one thing, but meddling in another's can be a little taxing, especially when you factor in age."

"Kuh, hasn't stopped ya from trying to meddle with Sango and Miroku."

"That's precisely my point: Those two are a bit easier to read since they're in our age category and are relatively at the same maturity level as we are (even with Miroku's immaturity tendencies with women in general...). I'm getting to be eight years Souta's senior, and he's just dipping his toe into the realm of romantic relationships, which in my opinion, he's doing a little too soon."

Inuyasha folds his arms with a concentrating hm...before asking,

"How too soon is too soon, really?"

"Mm...That's a fair question...I can't speak as an expert on the mind's psyche, but honest opinion, any major leaps in how one feels for another before hitting double-digits just sounds too early. I mean, heh, it's cute to have a crush on someone when you're little, but to go in too deep before you really understand the subject itself isn't always a good idea...(Blush) especially if it's before 'The Sex Talk'."

 _Oh god, did I seriously just blurt that last part?!_

I look over and see Inuyasha bulge his eyes at me with a crimson blush dusting his face, sputtering incoherently without forming an actual sentence...

 _Yep, I did. Crap..._

 _But you know...circling back a little on this conversation..._

 _There's actually a question, I've meant to ask him...but would it be too personal?_

 _...Oh you know what, what the hell? We're kind-of talking about age anyway._

"Um...Inuyasha?"

Snapping out of his daze, he asks me,

"What is it?"

"...Seeing as we're, on the topic of age...there's something I've been curious of for a long time. A, question I wanted to ask you..."

"Oh? What?"

I slip out of my desk chair and move to kneel in front of Inuyasha before bringing out my question, using a careful tone incase he became offended.

"...How old are you, truly, going by human numerals?"

"Huh?"

"I know physically, you're likely about Freeman and Besa's ages, but, I was wondering in terms of the actual years going by, how much time has passed for you...(Looks down) I-If you'd rather not answer, I understand."

...The room goes quiet for a moment, and I steal a peek up from the floor to see that Inuyasha...was in deep thought.

 _Oh...He's actually thinking about it. Does that mean he's not offended?_

After about ten, fifteen minutes, he opens his eyes and meets my blue irises with his amber while answering,

"I dunno...I, kind-a lost track of the years as time went on. I didn't really see my agin' as a priority as I grew up, mostly since I had to focus on stayin' alive...But, I think I'm somewhere around, maybe two-hundred years old, give or take? That's my best guess."

My eyes widen a little in wonder from his answer...before I lightly half-smirk and joke in good nature,

"Well I must say, you certainly look good for roughly two-hundred."

He smirks back with a smug chuckle:

"Well, duh. I am half-demon, after all: True, our aging time's not as slow as the full deal, but we're pretty close. It'll still be a long time comin' before I really start to look as old as my number..."

The boastfulness in his tone as well as his wording made me giggle a bit, causing him to eye me with a slightly annoyed expression.

"What? What's so funny?"

"It's nothing, really. It's just, you sound about as smug as you were back when you first relayed the whole 'not gonna get old for a long time' sentence to me and Kaede during the first few days we knew eachother..."

"Uh...You really remember that far back?"

The softness in his tone as he asked made my heart swell a bit, and I smile meaningfully at him before answering similarly,

"Of course. I remember everything from the beginning of my whole adventure in Edo. The good, the bad, all the way back to the first time I went down the well, (mumble) even though technically I was dragged in by that nutty centipede demon..."

I hear a chuckle quietly bubble in Inuyasha's throat, and I add,

"One of my favourite, earliest memories was when I first laid eyes on you at the Goshinboku Tree, before you woke up...Uh!"

I slapped my hands over my mouth, realizing what I just said, as my face burns with a blush of embarrassment.

 _Cripes, I gotta remember to think things through before saying them so casually...!_

I dared to dart my eyes back up at Inuyasha, and saw that his expression was stuck in surprise...Neither of us said a word more for a few minutes, and just stared into eachother's eyes...

...But then:

"...Why?"

"H-Huh?"

"Why, is that your favourite memory of the early days?"

"Um...I guess, it was the tranquility of the atmosphere, and how...peaceful you looked, even with the arrow. Somehow, I just, knew you weren't...dead, but frozen in sleep by some out-worldly force...A-And your appearance, was unlike anyone I've ever seen. (Sheepish smile) You took my breath away."

I could see his ears twitching a little in happiness (I've slowly learned they do that with some of his stronger emotions), but then he looked down with an expression I never thought I'd see on his face: Insecure.

"...A half-demon like me, actually took your breath away?"

"You still do."

"Uh..."

He looks back up at me, and I place a hand on his cheek while chiding,

"I would think a smart guy like you would get it by now: Blood doesn't mean a damn thing to me. You're what I believe to be a perfect balance of human and demon, regardless of any flaws. You see through a grey scope and not the binary black and white like most regular humans and regular demons would...Overall, I love you inside and out."

"...Coraline..."

We ran out of words, and consummated our love for one another with a kiss, leaning into one another with no hesitation whatsoever. The feeling of his lips against mine...is so addicting, always leaving me wanting more. This time round felt, a bit more needy, more...heated, or it certainly felt that way when he suddenly pushed me to the floor, hovering overtop me with his hands pinning my wrists by my sides, somehow not breaking the kiss.

"Mph!"

 _O-Oh my gosh...!_

I was caught well-enough off-guard that Inuyasha would easily slip his tongue into my mouth, making me moan a bit loudly, while he lets out a low, feral growl of approval. One of his hands then releases a wrist and opted for gripping my waist, squeezing it every couple seconds while he dragged the claws of his other hand lightly on the skin of my neck and very close to my chest...

Thankfully, he wouldn't go any further than that for both our sakes, and after another breathtaking minute, we parted from the kiss, both of us flushed and breathing a bit heavy.

"Hah, hah...Wow..."

"Hah...Double wow..."

We chuckled a little on my line, as he lifted himself off of me while pulling me up with him and into his lap, tucking me into his arms as I hugged him around his middle. Both of us were smiling as we held eachother close, and I quietly quirk,

"I think that was one of our best kisses yet, (giggle)..."

"Agreed...and I can't wait for the next one."

I pull back and lightly punch his shoulder with a playful smirk:

"Inuyasha!"

"(Chuckle) What'd ya expect me to say? I am a guy."

Sighing with an eyeroll, I say to him,

"You're lucky I'm a bit more laid back and understanding of the guy mind and not one of those snooty, stick-up-their-butt girls."

He teases back,

"I dunno about that: You do have your buzzkill moments."

"Oh please, I'm far from being a proper lady, if that's where you're going."

We break into another moment of laughter, careful that we weren't too loud as to wake up anyone else in the house (I'd never hear the end of it from anyone here, not even Grandfather...), before I let out a tiny yawn while rubbing one my eyes.

"Hmm, looks like someone needs to head to bed..."

"Oh shush, you...but you're right: I should get to sleep before it becomes too late in the evening...Will you, lay with me?"

Chuckling a little at my shy tone, Inuyasha replies,

"Sure."

He then shifts me to hold an arm under my legs and another around my waist, before standing up and walking to my bed while carrying me. The blankets were already tucked back, exposing the mattress, so all he had to do was lay me down while tucking my legs under some of the sheet and duvet, before climbing in on the left side shortly after and tugging them over both our bodies. I cuddled into his chest, feeling his warmth surround my own, and shut my eyes while whispering,

"Goodnight, Inuyasha."

Just before I fell asleep completely, I felt his arm wrap around my waist and his lips brush my forehead:

"...Goodnight, Coraline."

And just like that, we both take the trip to dreamland.

Time Skip, No POV

Come the next morning, the three modern teens would start their work on helping Souta with his crush crisis, the first plan involving a new wardrobe. He was now wearing a dark blue coat over a very light blue-white shirt, a red bow tie, a pair of grey blue shorts, and his nicest red/white sneakers with folded back white socks.

"Are you sure about this...?"

Freeman, his day outfit being a form-fit grey t-shirt, skinny-fit blue jeans and his signature black/white high-tops, kneels down to do a last adjustment on the youth's tie while assuring,

"Positive. In order to succeed in your goals of life, ya gotta dress like you know what you're doing. Besides, I hear that Detective Conan's still pretty popular among kids like you..."

Once the teen stands up again, Besa, he wearing a dark blue t-shirt with a flame design in the middle, lazy-fit black jeans and his own matching high-tops, comes outside with a bouquet of the Pinkfairies Clarkia that Souta was looking at in the florist shop yesterday, the former having ran down to get them earlier this morning as per Coraline's directions.

"There you are."

"(Takes flowers) You guys..."

Coraline, she wearing an outfit of a crop-cut red tank-top, an unbuttoned blue/black/white checkered flannel shirt, acid-wash skinny jeans and her black combat boots, cuts in from her place beside Inuyasha on the right side of the doorway.

"Alright, let's go over the plan once more: During recess, give Hitomi the message that you have an important confession to make after school. Meet her in the playground then, and just blurt out your feelings with no hesitation. Nice and simple!"

"You mean I gotta wear this outfit 'til after school?"

Freeman chides in a playfully-offended tone,

"Auh, how rude, and after all that trouble I went through...! (Wry smile) But seriously, would you have preferred a tux?"

"Gah! N-No!"

"I didn't think so, now off ya go."

He gently pushes Souta forward, while Besa and Coraline cheer encouragingly,

"Go for it, Souta!" "Banzai, little bro!"

Inuyasha tugs the tap of a party toy, making confetti pop out while his face was set in a 'You people have lost me' expression...

"(Light nudge) Come on, Inuyasha, you and the guys join in! Banzai!"

"O-Oh, Banzai!"

All four teens kept the cheer going for a couple more minutes, until the youngest Higurashi family member was out of sight from the top of the shrine steps...

"...We can stop now, right?"

"Yep, we're done."

The three teenage boys exhale with relief, while the redhead shakes her head at them with a smile:

"You guys can't seriously be out of shape from one little cheer...Anyway, I'm heading to the courtyard to do some combat practice. Join me if you think you're able to..."

Small Time Skip

It's now approaching noon, and we turn attention to the back of the Higurashi residence, as the four teens worked on perfecting their skills in hand-to-hand combat...

(Punch, punch, punc-KICK)

"Gyah!"

Currently, it was Inuyasha versus Freeman, the latter being thrown back to the ground by a particularly strong left leg hook by the former, causing Coraline and Besa to wince from their spot by the sliding glass door. As the teen moved to get up, the dog demon jeers with a chuckle,

"Come on, is that the best you got? Give a little more muscle, why don'tcha!"

"(Pant, pant) I'm tryin', man!"

"Well, try harder! Remember which era you'll be headin' back to!"

The redhead shakes her head with a soft sigh at how rough but well-meaning her boyfriend was being:

"As much as I'd like to disagree with the drill sergeant tactics he's using, I know he's being tough for a purpose..."

Besa nods:

"Yeah. He's just trying to help prepare us for any possible one-on-one fights with demons we could be forced to do when we head back to Edo and continue our journey."

"...Do you think we'll find a new lead in regards to honing in on 'that bastard'?"

"Dunno. All depends on where the Northeastern roads take us..."

"Hm..."

After about ten more minutes, Freeman comes jogging over to the other two modern teens to tag out.

"Hah, hah, hah, are any of ya, willin' to go in now? I can't swing another punch...!"

Coraline laughs a little before replying,

"Sure, bro. I'll switch."

She and he slide-five before shifting their places so the redhead was standing to walk to the middle of the courtyard, while the coarse-haired teen plopped onto his behind with his head ducking between his knees in exhaustion.

"Yeeeeesh...I'd almost prefer Master Yoshi's strict drilling."

Besa just pats his brother's back with a mildly concerned smile, before turning his focus on the new fight about to ensue, the shift of his head making his cornrow-styled black locks bounce a bit.

 _Let's see if Cora can last longer than Freeman against Inuyasha..._

Said girl and dog demon move to stand a couple feet from eachother, readying themselves for battle:

"My turn again! This time, I'm gonna flip you for sure!"

"Ha, in your dreams, maybe! Now gimme all that you got!"

"Count on it!"

Coraline makes the first move, lunging forward with a left hook of her fist:

"Haaa-aah!"

(Swing)

But Inuyasha sidesteps away in time, before trying out his own right fist:

"Dodge, this!"

(Swing, leap)

"Uh!"

Using her Aura sensory, Coraline jumps up into the air and backflips over Inuyasha, dodging his fist, before trying to land a shooting star kick at his back.

"Yaaaah!"

(Thwack)

"Ugh!"

She succeeds, but the dog demon's endurance holds out and only stumbles forward before regaining his balance as the redhead lands smoothly on her feet.

"Hah...How's that for givin' it your all?"

"(Smirk) Not bad. You're gettin' faster, I'll give you that...Still..."

(Dash, whack)

"Waaah!"

"Your reaction time's yet to climb to meet my levels!"

Coraline's thrown backwards to the ground by a hit from Inuyasha's open palm, the sound causing the twins to wince.

"Oooh..."

"That must've hurt a little..."

Thankfully, the redhead was fine, if having a bit of the wind knocked out of her, and props up on her elbows with a breathy laugh.

"Guess I deserved that for getting a little cocky..."

She then pushes herself to jump back on her feet, a determined smile on her features:

"But I'm far from tagging out: Let's keep going!"

"Keh, that's the right attitude. Here we go!"

(Lunge) (Dash)

"Haaaah!" "Rrraaaaahhh!"

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

It's now about three-thirty in the afternoon, and my bros, Inuyasha and I are sitting around the living room table snacking on some homemade ginger cookies and tea after some vigorous combat training while waiting for Souta to come home and regale the results of the plan...

"Man, what a crazy workout. I think I must've pulled a hamstring on that last punch...You really know how to train hard, Inuyasha."

He shrugs at Freeman while grabbing another cookie and stating matter-of-factually,

"Can't get better at kicking and punching without a little muscle pain..."

I then felt his stare as I rubbed my left shoulder:

"...What?"

"Somethin' wrong?"

"Nah, my own muscles are just a little stiff. Probably just an aftereffect from that cold: I didn't really move as much as I wanted to, so my joints kind-a seized up a bit."

"Hm...C'mere a sec."

"Uh? Alright..."

I scoot over closer to my boyfriend, and he turns my body so my back was facing him while I sat near his legs, before one of his hands starts massaging my stiff shoulder.

"Oh! Oh...aaahhh..."

"Keh, better?"

I hum in satisfaction while shutting my eyes in bliss,

"Much better. Thank you..."

"No prob."

I then hear Besa ask aloud,

"Wonder what's keeping Souta? It's getting close to fifteen to four..."

Freeman replies,

"Well, it's either he got rejected and is taking his sweet time to collect his thoughts, or Hitomi did return his feelings and he just froze from shock."

I come out of la-la land and pipe in,

"All depends on whether the force of Love wants to grant him a favour or not."

Inuyasha's hand leaves my left shoulder and tugs me back to his chest before grabbing his cup of tea to sip and voice his thoughts.

"I bet there was a little flaw in your guy's plan..."

I look at him with a pointed smirk for the tug-back while Freeman argued,

"Can't be. It was fool-proof!"

(Ka-chank)

"I'm home..."

We all shared a look on the tone of voice Souta used to greet the house, and Besa mutters,

"Ooo, that doesn't sound good."

Moving off of my boyfriend, I stand up and rush to meet with my kid brother to find out what happened:

"Souta? Gh!"

I flinched when I saw his downcast expression...

"What the heck happened, little bro?"

He doesn't answer, and I think to myself with a worried hum,

 _Oh dear. I've seen that mood before: Hitomi must've felt differently...Or, did he even get the words out?_

 _Either way, looks like our plan backfired._

Souta starts to slowly pad along down the hall, and I follow after him while trying to cheer him up:

"Oh, Souta, don't be sad. Maybe you're just timing it too early in terms of discovering girls..."

"Kuh, cheer up, gloomy boy. There's lots and lots of other women out there."

I would've agreed with Inuyasha's statement, but something told me that Hitomi was a special case, so I looked at him with a mildly stern expression.

"I don't think that's something Souta needs to hear right now, Inuyasha..."

"Why? What's the problem?"

Before I could explain, Souta mutters sadly,

"It's not that..."

"Hm?" "Huh?"

"She, didn't really turn me down..."

Freeman and Besa pop their heads out from the sides of the living room entrance to out in the hallway and ask,

"Then what happened?"

"Was she not in school or something?"

"No...I, couldn't tell her."

I ask my younger brother in surprise,

"Seriously? Not even a hint?" He explains,

"I called Hitomi out after school just like you guys told me to...but then..."

Long story short, his message got caught in his throat thanks to a bundle of nerves, and while Hitomi didn't turn him away harshly, she basically said that she prefers boys who are confident in what they're talking about...

Souta's now seated at the table in the living room, and bangs his forehead on the hardwood while wailing,

"I'm never falling in love again!"

I sigh with an exasperated smile and think to myself,

 _If this track record keeps up, we might have another, more dramatic Hōjō in the next few years..._

Inuyasha scolds Souta for his behaviour:

"Idiot! You haven't even told her yet, so quick cryin' like a baby!"

The latter shoots his head up with a frustrated glare and shouts back,

"What's the point in telling her now?! I'm a weakling and she's too good for me; I can't even say what I want to!"

"What're you talkin' about?! If that's how you feel, then change yourself!"

...We all look at Inuyasha confusingly, until he adds with a determined smile,

"Don't worry, kid: I'll toughen you up and make a man outta ya!"

Once he said that, I felt a smile creep up on my lips:

"Inuyasha..."

My brothers smile too and whisper to one another,

"I just hope for Souta's sake, he doesn't get overworked like we did a few hours ago..."

"You said it..."

We all move into the courtyard, and watch as Inuyasha does a, demonstration of strength, by slicing a tree into two with his claws.

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash, crash)

I widen my eyes in disbelief, while Freeman sighs and mutters,

"I'll go get the axe from the storehouse," before walking off...Inuyasha turns back to Souta:

"Okay, now you try it!"

"I dunno..." He urges,

"Try it," and Souta, while not as confident, gives it a shot:

"U-Uh, (swings his arm) Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer."

"(Smile) Excellent! That's not bad at all for your first time."

I tilt my head in confusion, while Besa mutters,

"Uh, not quite following this, but then again, he wasn't really following our plan either..."

"Okay! Give it another shot!"

Souta nods halfheartedly, and does the same gesture as Inuyasha does when he uses his attack:

"Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer."

As he kept that going, Besa and I jog to my boyfriend's side to get some answers to what the heck his plan was.

"Uh, Inuyasha?"

"What?"

My brother and I ask in a whisper,

"Where exactly are you going with this plan?"

"Yeah, we're kind-a lost..." He explains,

"This is all a matter of spirit: I'm just tryin' to get his adrenaline pumping and boost his confidence."

Besa and I light up in realization:

"Ooooh..."

"That makes sense." Inuyasha adds with a slightly smug air,

"He's in good hands."

Souta then pauses in his actions and asks us,

"Is somethin' the matter?"

Snapping out of our conversation, we turn to him and I reply,

"Nah. Just chattin'...Say, Souta, I might be seeing too soon, but it looks like you've put on some strength from the training."

"Huh, yeah?"

Catching onto my encouragement, Inuyasha and Besa add,

"Y-Yeah, she's right, I think you have gotten a bit stronger!"

"A new man's coming out of ya."

My kid brother blushes a bit and scratches the side of his face while asking,

"You really think so?"

I smile and nod:

"Totally! Your inner, confident self is starting to peek out." The guys add,

"You see, Souta..."

"All about hard work..."

Then all three of us clench our fists and call determinedly,

"Do your best!"

He looks at us apprehensively, but tries to form a smile back all the same...

No POV

After another half hour, everyone of the house was standing in front of the front door to send their positive energy to Souta in his second attempt to tell his crush how he feels. The four teens, Akari and Grandfather stood in a line and waved their arms up and down enthusiastically while calling the same cheer from a couple hours ago.

"Banzai! Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!..." Souta stares at them all and mumbles to himself,

"Now Grandpa and Mom are in on it..."

Coraline pauses and gently turns the boy in the other direction:

"Don't focus on us, Souta: Focus on your goal. Now off ya go to Hitomi's!"

He starts walking away, but was still a bit skeptical of the situation:

"I dunno, something tells me this is a trick..."

Once Souta was gone, everyone heads back inside the house, with the adults heading for the living room, and the teens going up to sit in Coraline's bedroom. While she was scribbling down some notes and reading a few passages in the old book she borrowed from the library, Inuyasha sat on the floor by her left while hitting his shoulders.

"Aw, man. This stuff is way harder than slayin' demons!"

"Which is ironic considering you were in a similar situation not too long ago."

The dog demon looks up at Besa with a mild glare, who was sitting beside Freeman on the side of Coraline's bed, and argues,

"That was different: We're on the road to being adults and Souta's still just a kid...(Blushes) And, I guess if I can be honest, it's not like we weren't going to end up together. We kind-a...already said it without knowin' it at the time..."

"Oh?"

Inuyasha nods meekly, and Coraline pauses in her work to smile down at him with a small blush of her own:

"Yeah, I guess looking back...it was just meant to be before the thought even crossed our minds."

Shaking her head lightly, she gets back to current events:

"But getting back to Souta, let's all cross our fingers that this plan works."

Inuyasha hmphs and comments,

"Your kid brother is sure hard to persuade."

Freeman jokes,

"He's like a runaway groom that can't commit."

Coraline smiles exasperatedly and replies,

"Yeah. It's funny: He wasn't always this timid of heart when we were younger, but then again, I've only really known him since I arrived here at this shrine almost four years ago now..."

"Still, mullin' over the problem's not gonna solve anything at all."

She nods in agreement with Inuyasha:

"We certainly know from experience that the longer you delay a confession, the harder it becomes to convey."

"Yeah, definitely. (Half-smirk) Makes me kind-a glad that you were the braver one during that day."

"(Giggle) Thanks."

...A while later, as the sun started casting a light orange glow in the sky for the coming sunset:

(Ka-chank)

"Hm?"

A familiar young boy returns to the house, looking more downcast than before:

"Souta!"

"Oh no, don't tell us...!"

He's now seated on his knees across from Inuyasha after explaining what happened, and the latter was not impressed.

"So, you came back with your tail between your legs?"

"I can't do this. I thought about it, and I realized that a little training isn't gonna make me strong. I can't change my personality that easily!"

The twins facepalm with quiet groans while Coraline smiles sadly:

 _Shoot. Strike two...Oh Souta, you weren't always this bashful. Where did that excited boy I used to play with go?_

She jumps back to reality as Inuyasha lets out a frustrated yell and stands up:

"Aaaargh, damn it all! Would you cut this out?!"

Souta flinches as the dog demon adds,

"Stop dawdlin' like this and go tell the girl how you feel already!"

"Yeah, it's easier said than done, 'specially since you've had better luck than me..."

"Quit making excuses! C'mere!"

Inuyasha suddenly yanks up the boy by his collar and starts dragging him out the room, despite the protests.

"Stooop!"

Coraline and the twins mutter,

"Hoh boy..."

"Now the kid's done it."

"We better go make sure Inuyasha doesn't do anything too crazy..."

They follow the other two downstairs to the front door, as Inuyasha drops Souta on the front steps:

"Oof!"

"Alright, off ya go, and don't come back until you've told her, you got that?"

"(Eyes bulge) You're not serious!"

"If you do come back before you've told her, then you're not gettin' back inside!"

"But this is my house...!"

"Come on! Have a little backbone; make up your mind! That's all it takes!"

"I know, b-but..."

"But nothin'! Don't be so wishy-washy, Souta! Didn't you tell me the other night that you loved this girl?!"

That seemed to finally strike a chord in the young boy...He stares at Inuyasha as he finalizes,

"Listen: Are you a man, or aren't you? Have courage and just go for it!"

...Souta nods, a new form of determination on his face, making the dog demon smile. Just before he leaves, the boy calls back over his shoulder,

"Cross your fingers?" Inuyasha nods,

"Sure," and the other three chide,

"Good luck, Souta."

"You got it this time, dude." "Third one's always the charm."

With that, the boy rushes off to meet his mark...Just as he vanishes down the shrine steps, Coraline turns to Inuyasha and says,

"I'm goin' to witness. You comin' too?"

"Huh?"

"As his older sister, I want to be there to watch out for him. Might've missed the first two times, but still..."

"What, you mean like spy?"

"Mm, more like monitoring, but whatever. (Grabs his hand) Let's go!"

The redhead starts pulling the silver-haired male along to follow Souta, much to his minor protest:

"Guh, h-hey, Coraline!"

Watching them leave, Besa sideglances Freeman and asks,

"You wanna tag with 'em?"

"Nah, I'm good. They're more likely gonna get into a make-out session down at the playground, and I for one, do not wanna see that."

They head back inside the house as the former gawks,

"Auh, bro!"

"What? It's a plausible scenario!"

Small Time Skip

It's now evening, about six-ten to be more precise, and as the sunset burned its many shades of light and deep orange, we turn our eyes to the middle of the local elementary school playground, with Souta and Hitomi facing one another by an intricate monkey bar structure, while Coraline and Inuyasha peer at the scene from behind some bushes a distance away...It would be the little brunette who broke the silence:

"What's the matter? You seem sort-of different today, Souta."

"Hitomi..."

"Uh?"

"I have something important to say..."

"What is it?"

The two teens watch with attentive expressions, subconsciously grabbing eachother's hand to hold in anticipation for the words Souta needed to say...The last sentence from Inuyasha echoes in the young boy's head:

 _(Flash)_

 _"Listen: Are you a man, or aren't you? Have courage and just go for it!"_

 _(Flash)_

 _Inuyasha..._

"Hitomi...I'm not strong, and I'm not very reliable and probably not very good at saying how I feel, but...I...I really, really like you, Hitomi!"

Her face flushes over as lightly as Souta's did:

"...Souta..."

"...Would you be, my, girlfriend?"

A short silence follows...before Hitomi smiles and answers,

"'Kay!"

"(Gasps with a smile) You will?!"

Back in the bushes, Coraline and Inuyasha smile proudly...before they become taken aback when they watch the young boy and girl step up and hug one another endearingly!

"O-Oh wow, I guess they must be, m-more mature in mind than in age..."

"G-Gotta give him credit..."

...They focus away from the cute scene and to eachother, their faces each glowing a little from redness, before Coraline smiles and says,

"But then again, we know that age is too weird to fully understand...especially when you dive headfirst into Love."

"(Smirk) Keh, yeah, no kidding..."

"...Inuyasha..."

"...Coraline..."

They felt no need to use anymore words, and opt for a more physical expression of their own love, leaning forward to one another and locking lips with the other in the evening glow...

Time Skip

Come the next day, our four teens would be inside the house of the Bone Eater's Well, doing a last check-over to make sure they had everything before diving down back to Edo, with Souta seeing them off.

Coraline, wearing her hair tied back in a braid, a sky blue, form-fit t-shirt, green khaki jeans and her combat boots, her sword over her shoulder behind her satchel and her combat knife strapped to her thigh, counts the giant cloth bags of supplies she packed with the items she and her brothers bought.

"One, two, three, and four...Yep, looks like it's all here. (Looks up) You guys got your weapons too?"

Freeman, who was wearing a green tank-top, blue jeans with minor ripping at the bottoms and his high-tops, his satchel saddled on while his long hammer was slung over his shoulder, salutes with a smile.

"Check!"

Besa, who chose an outfit of a dark red t-shirt, black jeans and his hightops, he also carrying his satchel on his back at the ready while his sickles were strapped in their holsters on his hips, follows his brother with an,

"All good to go!"

Inuyasha nods at all three, glancing at the faint glow from Lumos as he slipped into the front pocket of Coraline's satchel, before saying,

"Well, I guess it's time."

"Right."

The teens turn to meet Souta's eyes with smiles as Inuyasha tells him,

"See you later, Souta!"

"'Kay. Good luck over there."

"Bye for now, little bro."

"See you next!"

"Yeah, what he said, and congrats with Hitomi!"

The dog demon and the twins reach down to grab two and one bag each respectively, just as Souta adds,

"Hey, Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"(Smile) Thank you."

"Sure."

Inuyasha then turns to the well and says to the others,

"Let's go, Coraline, guys!"

"Okay!"

"Down the rabbit hole..."

"...and back to Edo!"

And they all jump in two at a time, disappearing into the time-space glow...


	100. Chapter 99

**Chapter 99: The Suspicious Faith Healer & The Black Kilala**

The sun shines brightly over a path cutting between a small slate cliff and some bushes of wild daisies that were getting a visit from one of the local Cabbage White Butterflies, as our group begins their trek to Edo's northeast almost straight after Inuyasha, Coraline, Freeman and Besa's return from modern Tokyo...

"Finally, we can get back to tracking Naraku. We sure wasted alot of time on that trivial junk..."

Coraline becomes a bit bristled by Inuyasha's careless comment:

"(Glare) Beg, pardon? What happened to my boyfriend that was taking good care of me during that asinine cold and was kind enough to help Souta out with his girl troubles?"

Everyone stops, as the dog demon forms a nervous expression upon cluing to his choice of tone and words, while Sango mutters with a sigh,

"Oh boy, what a fool. He's digging his own grave again..."

Shippo and Miroku follow with their own comments of exasperation:

"Yeah, what a doofus."

"Eh, it's not his fault he's a dimwit..."

Freeman roll his eyes and whispers into Besa's ear,

"Guess his more sensitively-inclined side can only last for so long, eh?"

"Mhm. He's got a long way to go."

Coraline hmphs and turns away from Inuyasha, opting for silence rather than blowing her temper, while he himself scoffs the tension off.  
Miroku then steps in to get everyone back on track:

"(Clears throat) So, Naraku disappeared into the direction of the Ox-Tiger, correct? (Looks away from the cliff face) That's northeast, meaning it's in that direction."

Inuyasha quickly replies in a forced enthusiasm,

"Ha-ha, good call, Miroku! What're we waiting for? Let's get going!"

(Leap, leap, leap...)

"Just you wait, Naraku! I'll find you!"

Coraline, her minor spout of anger fully dissipated, starts running after the dog demon while calling in a better mood,

"Eager much? At least slow down a little!"

...Not too far ahead of the group, stood a large village nestled near a thick, mountainous forest, where several of the men, hoes and shovels in hand, were surrounding a defensively-agitated twin-tailed cat demon that bared similar countenance to Kilala, but with more black-shaded fur around its calves and collar.

Near them, stood a man with scanty eyebrows and whiskers, pointed ears, straight black hair that went to his neck, small, rodent-like teeth, wearing the outfit of a faith healer, including a green robe over a cherry-red haori, a cream-white hakama and a pointed black hat. He thumps his wooden staff on the flat rock he was standing on, before calling out to the villagers in a reedy voice,

"Hear me out: The divine oracle has been received! The twin tail invites calamity!"

"Twin tail? You mean that cat?"

"It is said that when a cat's tail becomes two, it possesses supernatural powers. You must expel the twin-tail from the village, or there is sure to be misfortune!"

(Gleam...)

The faith healer's eyes flash red, and reflects off the pupils of the village men, shifting their expressions to that of a zombie state, before they proceeded to throw rocks at the twin-tailed cat demon. The faith healer sneers and laughs, before he's pounded on his noggin by the cat, knocking him to the ground while the latter escapes into the forest...

"Gh, you'll do well to stay out of this village! Damn you to Hell, cursed twin-tail!"

Time Skip

It's been a couple days since the twin-tailed cat demon was cast out of the village, and as a murder of crows caw overhead the rosy-orange hues reflected in the sky above for the coming evening, we turn to the mountain-high forest by the human populated homes, as someone weaves through the trees searching for another.

"Kuroro...! Kuroro! Kuroro!..."

Getting a closer look, we see the individual to be a young girl with pale-pigmented skin, light nut-brown eyes, short black hair tied into two small pigtails on the sides of her head, and wearing a short lilac kimono with pick cherry blossom designs lightly decorating it and a red ribbon sash.

"Kuroro...? Kuroro!"

(...Rustle)

Not too far away from where she was standing, Kilala (in dormant form) was bounding along up front Shippo in some tall grass, leaving the fox demon to speed-walk after her confused.

"Where are you going, Kilala? Kilala? Kilala!"

As soon as he got into a thinner patch of the green, Shippo found that his friend had gotten too far ahead of him to know where she was.

"Ugh, where did she get to now?...Kilala? Hey, Kilala!"

He shoves his way out of some bushes, and comes upon a river running through the forest. He decides to pause in his search for Kilala, and hopped down to the stony riverbank to scoop up some water to wash his face.

(Splash)

"Much, better..."

"Kuroro?"

"Huh?"

Shippo turns his head to the right, and sees Kilala standing near the young girl from earlier:

"Kuroro..."

"(Blush) Oooh...what a cute girl. So that's what you were following, Kilala: The sound of her voice."

He snaps out of his daydream when the girl calls to Kilala (mistaking her for a 'Kuroro'),

"Kuroro...so this is where you were. I was so worried."

She kneels down and beckons the cat demon closer:

"Here, kitty, come on..."

The young girl then picks up Kilala after she nears close enough, and starts to pet her happily:

"That's my girl. There you go; you're safe now! (Giggle) I'm so glad I found you, Kuroro."

Shippo walks over to clear up the mistake of identity:

"(Clears throat) That one is not Kuroro. Her name is Kilala."

"Let's put this collar on..."

"Kilala is Sango's partner...huh?"

He opens his eyes back up when he realizes the girl wasn't paying attention to him, and sees a ribbon collar with a small bell now around Kilala's neck!

"There, it's on. Now let's go home, Kuroro."

As she stood up with the cat demon in her arms, Shippo tries again to explain the misinterpretation, becoming a bit exasperated.

"I told you: That's not Kuroro! Her name's Kilala!"

Before she could respond, the girl then sees three of the villagers heading their way on the path above the riverbank...

"(Gasp) It's the villagers again. (Sets Kilala down) Run away, Kuroro, quickly! Don't let the men capture you!"

She then takes off, with Shippo mumbling while watching her form,

"I keep telling her, it's Kilala...She's cute, but kind-of a strange girl."

He then picks up on the growling that his twin-tailed friend was directing at the approaching villagers:

"Hm? What's the matter with you, Kilala?"

By this time, the men see Kilala's form on the riverbank:

"Look over there: That cat again!"

"I thought we chased it far away from the village!"

They start climbing down to the stony shore with angered expressions, and as a bristled Kilala continued to hiss and growl at them, they start throwing rocks at her.

"Let's get it!"

"Get outta here!"

Shippo rushes to shield his friend:

"Stop it! What do you think you're doing?!"

He gets hit with a particularly large stone and falls backwards, prompting Kilala to become all the more agitated, readying herself to shift forms...But Shippo waves his hands frantically at her in protest:

"Wait, no, Kilala! You mustn't bear your fangs against humans!"

As the fox demon shields himself from some more rocks...

"Hey, Shippo! What's wrong?!"

"What's going on here?"

"Hey! What do you lot think you're doin' to the little dude and Kilala?!"

Inuyasha, Coraline and Freeman's voices ring in, and Shippo looks to see that everyone else had arrived on time.

"Ooh, thank goodness..."

The three men stop, and turn to the rest of the group while readying more rocks on the offensive:

"Who are you? Are you in league with that demon cat?"

Inuyasha believes they were talking to him:

"Who are you calling a demon cat?!" Miroku stops him from doing anything rash:

"Come, come now, Inuyasha..."

"What's your problem?"

"I think I better handle this..."

The twins pull the dog demon further back and whisper in his ears,

"Besides, I think they're talkin' about Kilala, not you."

"Yeah, what he said."

The three men become more wary and ready to throw, as the monk tries to appease them in a calm manner.

"Villagers, violence never solved anything."

(...Thwap)

"I'm sure we can talk things out."

(...Thwap, thwap)

Unfortunately, come the third rock to his head, Miroku would take a page out of Inuyasha's book and lets his temper rise.

"Why, you...!"

Coraline and Sango move to calm him down, knowing that squeezing his staff can only help control his anger for so long.

"Whoa, easy there, Miroku."

"This isn't very monkish of you..."

Thankfully, before the situation could really start to fall to pieces, the village headman, an older gentleman with gray hair tied back in a bald topknot, a gray moustache, tanned skin, dark eyes, and wearing a dark green kimono with teal leaf patterning under a tan-lilac vest robe, a brown hakama and wooden sandals, comes rushing over from the village.

"Stop that, men! Stop that at once! Please, don't do anything violent! Cats are vengeful and will curse you for seven generations. Besides, that cat is not Kuroro."

The three men take a second look at Kilala, and realize their mistake...A few minutes pass, before they and the headmen are bowing to the group in apology for the misunderstanding.

"Oh dear. The villagers have been awfully rude to you." Inuyasha replies to the headman,

"Never mind that. Tell us, though: What's all the fuss over one little cat?"

"Well, it is not that simple..."

As they spoke, Shippo holds up the bell collar he took off of Kilala to his eyes and muses to himself,

 _I wonder who that girl was? Kilala seemed to like her..._

 _She must have a kind heart. (Smile) I bet she does._

Small Time Skip

After walking to the village, the headmen leads our travel party into his home to have dinner as a way to make up for earlier, and explained the issue that was going on currently.

"A smart cat named Kuroro lived in this village. She used to play often with the children of the village, but, several days ago, a very important faith healer passed through the village and found out about our friend the cat. And he read an oracle that said the twin-tail was bad luck, and he commanded us to expel it from the village."

Everyone glances at Kilala, who was drinking some milk from a saucer in content, and Shippo concludes mentally,

 _I see. That's why the girl mistook Kilala for Kuroro..._

The headman adds with some regret,

"I feel badly for the children, but, we cannot afford to have any calamity befell our village."

Coraline hms in thought, placing her bowl and chopsticks down before placing a finger under her chin while her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"The only time I've ever heard of a cat being a symbol of bad luck is when they're pitch black, but even then, that superstition isn't always sound...Something doesn't add up."

Inuyasha agrees:

"Yeah, somethin's fishy about that faith healer."

"I attend to agree. I think we ought to pay the man a visit."

Besa remarks after Miroku,

"The guy's more than likely a swindler of sorts with a complex against cats."

Freeman asks aloud,

"But why pick on felines? What's the deal with that? That sounds oddly specific..."

As this went on, Shippo pulls out the bell collar from his robes and looks at it for a moment...before standing up to walk out of the room, much to Coraline's confusion.

"Hm? Shippo? What's wrong?" Inuyasha causally suggests,

"Well I think all this rich food is givin' our little guy a bellyache..."

The fox demon offers no answer, and slides the door closed on his way out...

Shippo's POV

After leaving the headman's home, I stop to gather myself and figure out where to start my search for the girl that this ribbon bell belonged to.

"I wonder where I can find that cute girl I saw down by the river?"

"Kuroro..."

"Uh! I know that voice..."

I look back and forth, before spotting the source down the hill from the headman's home, walking along the path between the irrigated fields.

"That's the same girl!"

"Kuroro...Kuroro..."

I run down the path to meet with her:

"Hey! (Holds up the bell collar) I think this is yours."

"Hm?"

"My name's Shippo. I just wanted to tell you that wasn't your Kuroro that you put this collar on. It was Kilala."

She tilts her head to the side in enlightened confusion:

"Uh? Kilala?"

 _Good. Finally got that cleared up...Now then._

"You're looking for a cat named Kuroro, right?"

She nods, and I give her a beaming smile before offering,

"I'd be glad to help you look for her."

That seemed to please her, for she smiles a little bit at me in return before taking back the collar:

"Thanks. My name is Koume."

"Koume? Oh, that's pretty."

I felt my cheeks heat up a bit, and I noticed hers did too...I shake myself loose and say to myself,

 _Get it together, Shippo! Focus on helping her find Kuroro, not flirting!_

No POV

At the same time the fox demon child offers to lend Koume a hand in searching for the other twin-tailed cat demon, and everyone else learns more details about this supposed faith healer, we turn our eyes to a small shrine sitting on the outskirts of the village, the faith healer inside and deep in chant while sitting in front of a strange tapestry altar...

The volume of his voice suddenly jumps a bit higher come a certain point in his passage, and his eyes open to flash red like before, just as black fumes emerge from his shadow, spreading outside the shrine and into the atmosphere...!

...Come nightfall, and Inuyasha and company were walking past the flooded fields and homes in the village in the direction of where the faith healer was currently located...well, all expect one.

"Damn that Shippo! Where'd he go?"

Sango comments after Inuyasha's annoyed exclaim,

"He was sure acting strange..."

Freeman hms and says,

"I think I saw him lookin' at a ribbon with a bell attached to it before he left the headman's home. Maybe he's trying to find its owner?"

Just before anyone could respond, Coraline suddenly points to the sky and calls out,

"Guys, up there! Look!"

Eyes follow her direct of sight, and spot the giant cloud of blank fumes slowly spreading into the sky above the village. Inuyasha asks,

"What is that?" Miroku answers,

"An ominous Demonic Aura." Besa narrows his eyes and concludes,

"It's gotta be that so-called faith healer. He's finally showing his true colours."

Coraline prompts,

"In that case, let's step on it. The headman said that the faith healer was housing in a shrine just out of here."

With that decided, everyone breaks into a run for that direction:

"Right!"

Shippo's POV

It's been close to an hour or two since Koume and I left the village for the forest heading up the mountain to search for Kuroro, but so far, we haven't had any luck, even with her calling out to the cat while I combed the thicker bushes incase Kuroro was hiding...

"Kuroro...! Kuroro! Kuroro...! Kuroro!"

 _Darn, still nothin'..._

I pop out of the bush I was currently looking in, startling Koume:

"Oh! Shippo!"

"I don't think she's around here."

Her face forms a look of disappointment, making me a little sad at first, before smiling a bit when I realized,

"You really cared for this cat. I can tell."

"Yeah...'cause, Kuroro's going to have a litter of kittens soon."

 _Oh! Kuroro's an expecting mom? Oh boy, we really need to step up the search!_

I don't let my slight jump in panic show on my face, keeping a calm smile and tone:

"She is? She's going to be okay! I promise I'll help you find her, Koume."

She smiles and nods, and I hop down to the path with her while urging encouragingly,

"Come on. Let's go further into the forest!"

...But just as we ready to continue along, the wind starts to pick up in an unnaturally fast pace, making the leaves and branches on the top of the trees shake wildly! I knew from an instant that the cause wasn't one of the good kind:

"I-I don't like the looks of that..."

...That's when a large could of black smoke came flying down from the sky, and struck the ground in a bright red light!

 _Uh! A demon?!_

When the light dies away, it leaves behind a huge swarm of rats! Koume shrieks, and I quickly use my own powers to distract the vermin:

" _Fox Magic: Spinning Top!_ "

(Pop, spin...)

My illusion does its work, spiraling on top of the rats and scaring them, giving me enough time to get Koume to hop onto my back.

"Here! Hang onto me!"

She climbs on just as my magic exhausts out, and I start leaping up the rocky slope of the mountain:

"We have to get to higher ground!"

 _Oooh man, if only I could warn Inuyasha and the others about this!_

No POV

While Shippo took Koume to a safer locale away from the rat horde, we cut briefly to a path on top a knoll overlooking the village just as three men return home, only to spot something approaching over the flooded rice fields.

"Huh? What's over there?"

Getting a closer look, we see that it's the swarm of rodents that appeared just a few moments ago, the size being much larger than previously thought!

"Uh! Rats! A huge army of rats!"

The three hurry to warn the rest of the people of the army of pests closing in...

Not too far away from the village, stood a large Buddhist Temple, and a monk was making his rounds in the outside corridors, when his ears pick up on a squeaking sound coming from one of the rooms.

"Hm? What's this?"

He slides open the door, and gasps, finding several dozen rats nibbling their sharp teeth on some scrolls, climbing all over the floors, walls and even the bronze Buddha statue set up inside!

"Rats! W-What's going on here?! The Scared Scroll!"

The ones chewing on the rolled paper turn their eyes to the horrified monk, their irises flashing red...

We now check in with the 'faith healer' inside the shrine he was housing in, as he uses a mystic mirror set up on the altar to watch as the rats he summoned eat away at the bales of grain in a storeroom, and lets out a laugh.

"Foolish villagers! Not a sign of the frightful twin-tail in the village! While the cat's away, the rats will play, and devour everything in sight!"

The mirror flashes away the second sight, and looking in its reflection, we see that the true guise of the faith healer is actually a giant, gray-furred rat demon!

Shippo's POV

It's been close to twenty minutes since I started my run with Koume riding on my back, but the rats were still chasing us, and my stamina was beginning to wear off...

A few of the pests catch with me and bite on my legs, making me wince:

 _I can't go much further...!_

...Suddenly, a twin-tailed cat demon dashes out from the bushes and lands on the path between me and the rats!

"It's Kilala!" Koume corrects me:

"Kuroro! It's Kuroro!"

 _...Oh, right! Kilala doesn't have as much black fur as this one does!_

"Your cat has two tails also."

"Oh, you came for me!"

Kuroro nods her head at Koume, before her body wraps itself in a faint red glow, and she springs forward at the rats, killing them with stealthy speed!

 _Whoa! She's fast!_

Once most of the rats were dead, with some scampering off in the opposite direction like the cowards they were, Kuroro walks over to us, stares, then motions us to follow her...

No POV

At the same time Shippo and Koume received help from Kuroro, the rest of the Inuyasha group had finally reached the shrine outside the village, only to find access blocked by a green-shaded domed barrier!

"Shoot..."

"Just as we thought: The Demonic Aura's created a barrier." Sango adds after Miroku,

"Which means that the faith healer is a demon in disguise!"

Inuyasha grins and remarks,

"Well I ain't standin' for that: I'll break through that stinkin' barrier!"

He then pulls out his Tessaiga at the ready, and leaps up high to swing the blade down hard on the barrier:

" _Tessaiga!_ "

The fang blade wraps itself in static, before melding over in the blood-shaded colour completely, just as Inuyasha slices down on the green dome.

(Slash)

The energies collide, with the Tessaiga coming out as victor, and the barrier dome rippling out of existence!

"Heh. That should do it...Huh?"

Suddenly, the grounds begin to rumble, and the whole shrine collapses, the giant rat demon emerging out of the rubble with a cackle! Inuyasha scoffs,

"Finally show yourself, huh, Rat Demon?"

"Hnh, I see that you're actually a half-demon. How dare you, a half-demon, defy the great Lord Tesso!"

"I'll show ya how!"

Kilala then rushes forward to Inuyasha's left and shifts into her true form, growling fiercely at Tesso and making him nervous.

"(Gasp) A feline!"

Miroku comments,

"Hey, he may be large, but he still fears cats..." Freeman turns to Besa and says,

"You called it, bro: Swindler with a cat complex." Coraline remarks,

"This would explain his reason for fearing the cat that the children loved: Big or not, he's still cat bait!"

Inuyasha smirks and exclaims,

"That's all the information I need: I'm takin' you down, rat!"

(Leap)

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

The three-clawed attack hits Tesso dead-on, making him shriek in pain as his body is sliced into pieces!

"Ha! Should'a known he was all nothin' but talk!"

...But just as Inuyasha made that boast, the pieces of flesh suddenly form back together and morph into Tesso, alive and well! The rat demon laughs and jeers,

"Is that the extent of your so-called power, half-demon?" The dog demon mutters to himself,

"The Wind Scar won't work on him..."

"What's wrong? Paralyzed with fear?"

"Hardly!"

But just as Inuyasha makes the move to run forward and try his Wind Scar again, Miroku stops him and warns,

"Wait, don't be a fool: That's not the demon's true appearance."

"It's not?" The monk nods and explains in a low tone,

"I'm fairly certain that he's created from the Demonic Aura of the other rats. A sword will pass through without doing any damage."

"Huh. Then what do we do?"

"I can handle this...My Wind Tunnel should take care of that rat instantly!"

But just as Miroku readies to unleash the power of his cursed hand, Tesso's body dissipates into a cloud of red fumes!

"What happened?!"

A strong wind carries the fumes away, leaving nothing behind except the shattered remains of the shrine...

"He completely disappeared...!"

"He escaped!"

The twins comment after Sango and Miroku,

"Tch, seriously?!"

"Talk about playing chicken!"

Coraline hms and casts narrowed eyes back in the direction of the village:

"The fight's not over yet...Lumos?"

The Will O' Wisp pops out of her satchel pocket and hovers to meet her eye-level, as she politely requests,

"Please help us find the Demonic Aura's trail."

Lumos 'nods' and floats over to the wreckage of the shrine, his body emitting a soft in and out white-blue glow...before he takes off at a steady pace back to the village. Coraline motions the rest to follow:

"He's got a beat on him; let's go!"

Shippo's POV

Koume and I follow the twin-tailed cat demon further up the mountain forest, to an area where the trees thinned to leave room for large rock formations to spike out from the ground...

"(Pant, pant) Kuroro, where are, ya tryin' to lead us to?"

She doesn't really give a straight answer, instead motioning us to come inside a small cave...We do, and come across a really cute sight: Three little kittens sitting on some straw!

"Kuroro! Your kittens are safe!" I smile and think to myself,

 _Guess they must've been born early..._

Koume and I move closer, kneeling by the kittens and Kuroro:

"That's great!"

"(Nod) Let's go back to the village."

Koume takes out the bell collar and attaches it around Kuroro while adding,

"We never have to be apart again, Kuroro!"

...But just as we all get ready to leave the cave, I sensed a dark energy approaching fast, as did Kuroro.

"(Hiss)"

"A Demonic Aura!"

The cat demon then yowls angrily and runs out of the cave, prompting Koume to try and follow:

"Kuroro!" I stop her and tell her seriously,

"You can't go out there, Koume! It's way too dangerous!"

"But, I..."

"Kuroro can handle whatever's out there. She wants to protect these kittens!"

Koume looks down at the three babies in her arms...and nods, while I added in my head,

 _And I'll do what I can to keep us out of harm's way too._

No POV

Just as Kuroro dashes outside the cave to stand against the source of trouble coming their way, the cloud of black fumes cloaked with red energy manifests into the rocky clearing.

"I found her!"

It shoots to the ground, and reforms into Tesso the Rat Demon. Kuroro moves closer on the offense and hisses at him, while he shouts,

"You! Why must you keep interfering?!"

Using his large tail, Tesso slaps the twin-tailed cat demon into the rocky face of the mountain next to the mouth of the cave...Inside, Shippo and Koume's ears pick up on the ruckus ensuing outside, and the fox demon says to the young girl in a whisper,

"Koume, stay here and don't move a muscle."

"Shippo!"

He rushes to the cave entrance to see what was going on, and spots the injured cat demon:

"...Kuroro."

She struggles to get back on her paws, her resilience making Tesso infuriated:

"Persistent creature! Now you die!"

He flings his tail at Kuroro again, but this time she was ready for the attack, and she hops up onto the appendage before biting it hard with her sharp teeth!

"Daaaaah! Release me! Gaaaah!"

Kuroro lets go after being shook around a bit, before shooting down from midair and claws Tesso across his face:

(Slash)

Shippo praises from his spot by the cave entrance,

"Good work, Kuroro!" The rat demon curses, his face now scarred by the cat demon,

"Damn! Feel my magic rat power!"

He then opens his jaws and spits out a beam of pink energy, splitting the ground and upturning the rock face of the mountain right above the cave!

"Oh no!"

Shippo ducks back into the cave and helps Koume shield the kittens from the dust and falling rubble, until the cave opening was completely blocked off by large rocks...

Once the shaking stopped, the fox demon sits back up and checks on the young girl:

"Are you alright?"

She sat up with the kittens still in her arms, they too being okay, and replies,

"I'm fine, but it looks like the entrance has been sealed."

Shippo stands and proclaims with a reassuring smile,

"Don't worry, Koume! (Pats his chest) I'll find a way to get us out of here!"

He licks one of his fingers to test for wind current to figure out which way to start digging...

"Ah! (Points to his right) The exit has to be over here!"

At that, the fox demon started scooping handfuls of rocks away, determined to get himself, Koume and the kittens to safety...At one point, his finger catches on a sharp flint, forcing him to pull back with a wince:

"Gh!"

"Shippo!"

Koume quickly kneels by his side with a concerned expression:

"Are you alright?"

She then takes his digit into her mouth to suck out the flint, causing the young fox demon's face to flush a little. Once the task was done, Koume then rips a small piece of fabric off of her kimono to use as a makeshift bandage for his finger. As this was going on, the kittens mewled and cuddled up to one another...

"Does it hurt?"

Shippo smiles and shakes his head at Koume:

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm immortal!"

At that, he gets back to work on digging their way out of the cave...

Coraline's POV

We followed at a steady pace behind Lumos as we reentered the village, trying to figure out where that rat demon, Tesso vanished to. Inuyasha comments aloud in irritation,

"That damn rat. I bet we scared him and he took off and escaped from the village."

"Not likely. I doubt he'd abandoned the village after he went through all that trouble to get rid of the cat..."

I nodded in agreement with Miroku:

"Yes, and Lumos hasn't stopped yet since he searched for the demon's Aura. The vermin is close."

I hear my brother Freeman half-joke to Besa,

"Gee, bro, we came back from a rat job only to get roped into another one."

That earned him a light smack in the back of his head:

"Ouch!"

"Wait until after the faker's taken down before you start crackin' jokes, thank you."

"Fine, fine..."

Just as we make it more than halfway down the path cutting through the flooded rice fields, we all stop when our eyes and ears catch three of the men from the village heading in the opposite direction with torches in their hands.

"Kuroro!"

"It's that twin-tail; she's back again!"

It would be those shouts that made my Will O' Wisp companion stop, before he whirled around and started darting after them.

"Oh! Lumos?...Looks like we're changing course, guys. Come on!"

We head back towards the forest outside the village heading up a mountain, and notice several villagers have already begun searching for the twin-tailed cat demon, Kuroro, their flamed torches casting spooky orange glows in the shadows of the trees.

"Where is she?"

"Flush her out!" "Don't let her escape!"

"Show yourself, twin-tail!"

We stop for a moment, and Freeman puts his hands on his hips while commenting on the agitated shouts of the search party.

"Hmph, you'd think they would've realized by now that the cat's not to blame..."

(...Rustle, jingle-jingle)

"Hm?"

Suddenly, a cat demon who bore similarities to Kilala (though with a bit more black fur) comes walking out of the bushes near us, looking a bit worse for wear, but was also wearing that bell ribbon that was in Shippo's possession not too long ago!

"Is that...?"

"That's the collar Shippo was holding before!" Miroku ponders after Inuyasha,

"Is this the cat the villagers were talking about before?" Besa replies in a sure tone,

"Yes. This has to be Kuroro."

She mews at us weakly and wobbles a bit on the spot, making me frown sympathetically:

"Poor girl. Must've gotten in a recent squabble."

Lumos floats past me and hovers by the cat demon while moaning in concern, but she just turns around and starts walking back the way she came, motioning with her front paw for us to follow, which Sango would note.

"That cat wants us to follow it. I think it wants to take us somewhere."

Nodding, I call out softly,

"Lumos. Lend our new friend a hand."

He 'nods' as he kept bobbing along with Kuroro, and moves so he was hovering over her body before releasing a small burst of his energy to the cat demon.

(Twinkle...)

Some of her injuries heal over, and her next mew came out more easily and a little stronger than before, before she started to up her speed. We all start following after the two, myself smiling at my partner's kind act, which quickly shifted into a concerned frown.

 _If Kuroro came to us looking this battered, then Shippo must be in trouble too._

 _He's a capable boy, no doubt...but still...Please be alright, Shippo._

Shippo's POV

 _Come on, come on, I gotta be close to the outside by now...!_

I kept digging as fast as I could, ignoring the strain in my muscles and hands, while Koume moved to lay against the wall of the cave with the kittens in her lap, she becoming weakened by the shrinking amount of oxygen in this closed space.

"Hah, hah...I can't breathe...no air...I'm losing air..."

I pause for a second and urge her to stay positive:

"I think I'm almost to the other side! Hold tight, Koume!"

I get back to work, as she replies a bit tiredly but assuredly,

"Okay...I'm, alright..."

(Scoop, scoop, scoop...)

"Just a bit, more! I'm, almost there! Hold tight, Koume! I'm almost there!"

 _Come on, outside, come on! Show yourself!_

After a couple more minutes, I finally broke through the major rock, and stumbled onto the dust cover:

"Gah!"

(Crumble...)

Once it cleared away, I could see the outside, making me grin widely:

"I did it! (Looks back) Koume, we're through!"

She smiles at me and nods, a bit too winded to speak. I help her sit a bit closer to the new opening so she could get some air (and the kittens too), before moving to see if the coast is clear.

 _Alright. Let's see if that rat is still hanging arou-Doh!_

I'd cut my thoughts off with wide eyes when I saw that the demon was looming right at the entrance way of the cave!

"(Laugh) A young little demon? Out of my way! I know there's a human child inside that cave. Move and let me devour her!"

 _He wants to eat Koume?! Not while I'm breathin'!_

I glare hard at the rat demon before making my charge:

"Not this time!"

"Move, you little pest!"

(Crash...)

I leaped up in the air to dodge the rat demon's fist, it connecting with the ground, and as I flew through the air, I notice that his face was intact.

 _The scratch he got from Kuroro has vanished!_

But I should've also paid attention to his tail, for it suddenly came swinging in my direction!

 _Oh no!_

"Hrrrah!"

(Slash)

Luckily for me, that was when one my friends came in to help me with his own claws:

 _Inuyasha!_

We land back on the ground, and Inuyasha readies his sword while scoffing in disgust at the rat demon:

"Huh, eatin' a human child to increase your own demonic power. How repulsive can you get?!"

"Silence, you! Have you forgotten your half-demon tricks don't work on me?"

His body then glows in a red demonic aura, before his tail morphs back whole again! I then remark as the others arrived to lend a hand,

"He's an illusion! He doesn't have the scratch!" Miroku caught onto where I was going:

"An illusion? Now it all makes sense..."

He then pulls out one of his magic sutras:

"This should work."

He channels some of his spiritual power into the paper, before shooting it into the air, and it flies up to the top of the cave where another rock was, plastering onto it and revealing another cloud of those black fumes!

 _That's gotta be the real rat demon!_

Miroku then says to Inuyasha,

"Inuyasha, behind him: Aim for that rock there!" The illusion forms a horrified expression:

"What?! No!"

"So that's where you've hidden your true self! _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

The clawed attack shoots straight for the rock and blows it apart, revealing the real rat demon, who gets hit full-blast by the sword's energies and shrieks in pain and horror as he's destroyed instantly, which also cancels out his giant illusion...!

Coraline smiles and exclaims,

"He did it!"

Freeman high-fives with me, grinning widely like I was, before attention was turned to Kuroro as she collapsed.

 _Uh oh. She must've exhausted herself out getting back here..._

"Kuroro?"

"Uh?"

It was then Koume comes running out of the cave with Kuroro's kittens in her arms, and stops to kneel in front of the cat demon with concern.

"Kuroro..."

She sets the kittens down to pick up Kuroro, and Miroku says to her gently,

"You should be proud: Kuroro is extremely brave. She ignored her injuries to lead us to you two."

"Kuroro...Thank you so much, Kuroro."

Koume hugs the cat demon to her with a sad frown, making me frown a little bit too:

"Koume..."

"Don't worry."

"Hm?"

Freeman and Besa then kneel by Koume, and the second says to her with a reassuring smile,

"If you'll allow us, we have these special crystals (gestures to his wrist) that have the power of healing. My brother and I can relieve a good deal of Kuroro's injuries." _  
_

"(Soft gasp) Really?"

"Mhm...What do you say, Kuroro?"

She mews at Besa with a slight nod, giving him and Freeman permission to assist, so Koume holds the cat demon out a little, and the twins hover their Seven Light Shards over her body...before:

(Sheen...) (Sheen...)

The crystal pieces emit that soft rainbow light, which spreads onto Kuroro's body, and erases almost all signs that indicated injury, save a bit of scuffing in her fur! Once it was done, Freeman and Besa pull their wrists back as Kuroro lets out a more relieved mewl of content, making Koume smile broadly with a giggle in her breath before she hugged the cat demon close to her, making me smile too.

 _Everything's gonna be okay..._

Time Skip, No POV

Come the next morning sunrise, our group would begin exiting out of the village, the people seeing them off with grateful smiles and waves.

"Thank you very much!" "We will never forget you!"

"You saved us!" "Goodbye!"

...Shippo glances back at the village once, and sends the following message through his thoughts:

 _Take care, Koume..._

We check in on the young girl at her hut which sat just a bit outside the rest of the village homes near the forest entrance, as she opens the door to see to Kuroro's kittens.

(Slide)

"Come on, kitties. Time for something to eat."

Standing near her was the twin-tailed cat demon mother, whom thanks to the healing energies of the Seven Light Shards, looked alot better than she did last night. She walks up to her babies, and they immediately began suckling for some milk from their mother, while Koume knelt near with a smile.

"We're going to be together forever...Kuroro."

...We catch up now with the Inuyasha gang as they traveled on their way to elsewhere down a path in an expanse of drier ground outside the forest with few patches of grass spread about, as the dog demon and his mate-to-be praise the fox demon on his efforts.

"Shippo. Looks like you did a good job."

"Koume told us all about you protecting her and Kuroro's kittens."

He crosses his arms proudly with a serious expression and replies,

"Yup, just doin' my job, protecting a woman in trouble."

Freeman smiled with a head shake as Besa comments,

"He keeps growing with each experience like this..."

Miroku says to himself with mild surprise,

"A rescue mission without ulterior motives," prompting Sango to comment with a disapproving frown,

"It's too bad a certain monk doesn't always practice what he preaches..."

As the monk grimaced from the coolness in the slayer's tone, Inuyasha teases to the young fox demon,

"Hey, Shippo~. I'll bet that you were in love with that little human girl."

He of course, tries to deny the suggestion of an innocent crush:

"No way; I was not!"

"You had a thing for her."

"(Hops up) Did not, did not, did not!"

Shippo's eyes began tearing up, his sensitivity starting to reach its full peak, but Inuyasha kept going:

"It must be true, otherwise you wouldn't be so mad!"

"You're wro-ong! Don't, tease me!"

"(Sniggers) Stupid!"

"Oooh~, so what you're sayin' is that Shippo's no different from how you used to get pent up?"

"Huh?"

Both dog and fox demon turn to Freeman, who smirks at the former and adds in his own jeer,

"If I recall, someone used to get rather frazzled whenever someone commented on their crush on Cora, usually by getting really mad and denying it in almost the same fashion Shippo is right now. In other words, way to be a hypocrite, my friend."

"Wh-What?!"

As Inuyasha sputtered, said fox demon broke into a happier smile, frustrated tears forgotten, before he started laughing at the dog demon.

"He's right! You're one to criticize me: Maybe I did like Koume a little, but you have no right to work me up when you used to act the same way!"

"Grh, s-shut up!"

Shippo just kept on laughing, Freeman joining in, as those two started jogging up ahead with the dog demon in pursuit.

"Get back here, you two jokers!"

"Try and make us!" "That's what you get for being the pot that called the kettle black!"

The rest of the group sighed with amused smiles on their faces, and started walking after the three, as Coraline muses to herself,

 _(Sigh) Boys..._


	101. Chapter 100

Whoo-hoo! We have now reached the one-hundredth chapter in this story, people! Personal milestone achieved!

First of all, I'd like to say thank you to those readers who have been devouring my fic since the beginning, and to all the reviewers (both with and without accounts) for leaving your words, positive and constructive. It's helped me to become stronger in my writing, and also to stand tall and proud against those who for reasons unknown to myself and others, feel the need to bring people down. I hope the message is clear by this point: I am an author who is very satisfied of their work, and I will keep writing to my heart's content regardless of anyone's opinion.

Second, there will soon be new content to come between the original storyline, and while I won't give too much away, I'll give you a hint: It'll be centering around one of my OCs and a certain wolf demon.

...That's it from me. Anyway, enjoy this next installment in the Inuyasha universe!

* * *

 **Chapter 100: Victims of Necromancy  
**

The weather casts a thin overcast of clouds over the inky blue sky, the glittering stars and bright moon shining translucently down over Edo's countryside for another night...

Two of the soul-collecting demons known as the Shinidamachū float over a river cutting through one of many thick forests that scatter the landscape, as their ally, Kikyō, weaves out from between some beech trunks to stand near the riverbank's edge.

She then senses another presence, and turns to her left to see a young woman, currently unconscious face-down on the dirt nearest the river, with long, copper brown hair tied back into a messy yet somewhat elaborate ponytail half-do, and wearing a short, double-layered, sleeveless kimono of burgundy-red with an orange underskirt and light red sash around her waist, her wrists and lower calves sporting bandage-style guards, and her feet bare-soled. The woman's body was also littered with bruises and dirt scuffs...

 _That girl..._

Kikyō directs one of her Shinidamachū to give the other woman one the souls it had (suggesting they, like herself, also wander between life and death), and as soon as the orb dropped inside her body, it shimmered with the Soul's glow, while also healing some of her bruising...The brunette's eyes blink awake, revealing irises that were the colour of a sunset's first burn, and she thinks to herself,

 _...A Soul Collector? What is it doing here?_

She weakly pushes herself up to her knees and mutters,

"Don't interfere..."

The second Shinidamachū then softly drops its collected Soul into her body, which for reasons unknown to all except the brunette herself, sparked agitation.

"Go away! Leave me alone!"

As she watched the neutral-siding demon float away, the brunette then spots the specter priestess standing nearby.

"Huh?"

Kikyō would be the one to spark a conversation:

"So you wanted to die, or rather, you wanted to remain dead?"

"...I know you. (Widens eyes) You're Kikyō, aren't you?"

The priestess was a bit taken aback by the address:

"How is that you know my name?" The brunette's eyes narrow in anger as she replies,

"I knew it was you..."

(...Fwooooom)

Suddenly, fiery flames erupt around the woman's body, before shooting at Kikyō, who calmly shuts her eyes until it passed, only to open them again and find that the brunette...had vanished...!

The priestess looked to the skies with a sad expression, knowing where the young woman's origins laid:

 _...Urasue must've brought her back to life. I had no idea that others shared my suffering._

At the same time this went on, a huge company of soldiers had gathered in front of a large castle nestled on a hilltop between mountain peaks covered thickly by the dark greenery of pine and oak, the structure surrounded by a stone-cut wall. Up top, the guards of the castle were firing flame-tipped arrows to cut down on the approaching enemy, but getting a closer look, we see the attack does nothing to slow them down, for they appeared to be made of clay pottery!

Their leader, a man with mid-length, shaggy-cut silver hair, bangs hovering over a headband, wearing a samurai uniform with dominating colours of blue, black, yellow and gray, rides on a dark auburn-haired steed in a charge for the front gate, his sword raised and slowly wrapping itself in fire...

(...Booooom)

The doors are blown open, with several guards perishing from the explosion's impact, as the leader of the pottery army orders,

"Destroy them, my lifeless clay soldiers! Stain the earth with the enemy's blood!"

With their spears raised, the loyal 'men' march inside the castle, and despite the efforts of the rest of the guards, no weapon would be sharp enough to penetrate the other's 'skin', leaving the whole place vulnerable to conquest and ultimately its own destruction...

As the castle went up in a towering fire, smoke billowing thick and morbidly, the leader of the clay army laughs manically and shouts to the heavens,

"Take a good look at me, mother! I shall fill this world with the walking dead!"

Small Time Skip, Inuyasha's POV

It's been a few days since we all left the village that was being swindled by that creep of a rat demon, and we decided to stop in a small clearing sitting between some cedars for the night. While most of us chose to sleep close to the campfire we built a few hours ago, I opt to sit against a tree trunk that sat just a bit further away, with Coraline laying her head on my right leg while curled under that blue blanket that she brings in her bag. I remember falling asleep a couple minutes after she did, my clawed fingers softly combing through her hair, when about an hour or two later, my nose picks up on a scent I haven't smelled for a long time.

"(Sniff, sniff...)"

 _Huh? Wait...is this...?_

The monk must've heard me, for his voice broke into the quiet with the question,

"So, what's the matter? Smell something?"

I inhale the scent once more before I remembered what it was, and I reply as I blink my eyes open,

"Now I know what it is: The smell of medicinal herbs."

 _And not the good kind either..._

"Herbs? What're you talking about?"

"Mmm-mm? In-(yawn)-uyasha?"

I look down to see my intended was waking up, rubbing one of her tired eyes while muttering in a concerned tone,

"I felt you tense and heard you say, 'medicinal herbs'..."

My irises softened a bit at how quick she was able to sense my troubles, and I help her sit up before I stood to my feet while replying to her and Miroku more seriously,

"It's the exact same smell of the herbs used by that sorceress, Urasue when she resurrected Kikyō."

At the mention of the hag's name, Coraline became more awake and shivered in discomfort with a frown:

"Urasue...Now there's a name I won't soon forget..."

Everyone else was rousing from sleep by this point, and Freeman asks Coraline,

"Is that the creepy witch that tried to steal your Soul away back when it was merged with Kikyō's?"

She nods solemnly, the expression making me all the more motivated to find out if it is the hag or some kind-of ploy.

"I hope I'm wrong about this...Wait here: I'll check it out."

I start leaping off in the scent's direction, ignoring my intended's cry for me to wait, for if that old hag really is alive,

 _I'm not about to allow her to get near Coraline again...Not after almost losing her once._

Coraline's POV  


Shortly after gathering our things and dousing the fire, my friends, brothers and I began heading after Inuyasha through the forest, with Miroku and Sango aboard a transformed Kilala and the rest of us running on foot, save Shippo who was riding on Besa's shoulder and Lumos who floated ahead.

"How can he expect us to just sit around and wait?"

"Yeah, we're as worried as he is!"

I hmmed in agreement with Miroku and Sango, adding to myself,

 _I know he wants to protect me from, her, but...I want to protect him too. _

_If that witch is somehow alive, which I highly doubt considering how she died, I don't want Inuyasha to become her next soul-snatching victim..._

"It's strange, though: I remember clearly that shortly after Kikyō was forcibly resurrected, she quickly destroyed Urasue with her purification powers..."

"And by destroy, the witch was burned to ash, right?"

I nodded in confirmation to Freeman, who shakes his head in skepticism:

"Then there's no way she could've revived. The winds would've scattered her remains to god-who-gives-a-damn-where."

Besa narrows his eyes in thought:

"Still...there's something I can't help but wonder..."

"What?"

"What if Kikyō wasn't her first victim? Urasue's life was all about making live clay bodies mixed with human bones, black magic and living Souls...Maybe it's not her Inuyasha's nose picked up, but rather..."

I quickly caught onto where my brother was going:

"Uh! You think there's another poor Soul who was brought back to life by Urasue?"

He nods, and I mutter,

"...That's actually a good possibility."

 _But the question is, did they share a closer relationship with the witch, or will they be just as hostile as Kikyō was?_

No POV

We catch up with the mysterious brunette from before, who was now walking up to an area up the river nestled with some beeches lining the rocky ledges, a few small waterfalls and a pool that any other day would be an inviting swimming hole. But such activity was not on her radar, her focus more on crossing some stepping stones with a wobble in her step, continuing her trek on a path further into the woods for a bit longer before stopping to lean against a pile of boulders to catch her breath...

But her break would be cut short, when several clay soldiers appear a couple feet behind her!

"Uh! Clay warriors? Stop; what do you want with me?"

One jumps in front of her and grasps her wrist, prompting her to try and struggle away:

"What're you doing?! I command you to leave me alone! Obey me!"

The soldier does not heed her and tugs her forward, making her more angered and frantic:

"Agh! Nooo! I refuse to go back! (Beats their arm) Release me!"

"Let her go!"

"Uh!"

(Leap)

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash, shatter)

Luckily for her, Inuyasha jumps in to dispatch the clay soldiers, reducing them to pottery rubble! He watches as the Souls once trapped in the clay bodies begin floating away for freedom, narrowing his eyes.

"So I was right: The clay warriors Urasue created."

"...Inuyasha!"

"Hm?"

He turns his head left and sees Coraline and the others rush out from the trees and stop near him by the riverbank.

"Inuyasha..."

"Are you okay?"

He nods with a grunt at them and replies,

"Yeah," while the twins cast their eyes to the shattered pieces of the clay soldiers:

"Whoa..."

"Cora, are those...?" She nods with a wary frown:

"No mistake: These are the same clay freaks made from ground human bones and graveyard soil. A recipe of Hell, if you ask me...But what could've possessed then to show up here?"

Inuyasha directs his eyes to the brunette, who was now laying unconscious by the water:

"I dunno what's goin' on, but it seems they were after that, girl..."

He leaps down to her first, with Coraline rushing down afterwards, Shippo tailing with her:

"Is she alive?"

The redhead knelt her ear down, intent being to listen for a heartbeat, until her own nose picked up on a scent.

"Huh? Funeral incense...Uh!"

She retracts back in shocked realization, and Inuyasha grimly voiced similar thoughts:

"Yeah. It's the smell of medicinal herbs used by Urasue."

Miroku gasps a bit, and Sango asks with a bit of edge,

"What's going on here?"

The dog demon answers, his tone a bit heavier,

"This girl is dead...just like Kikyō. She was revived with Urasue's black magic."

Coraline forms a deeply saddened expression:

"This poor girl...forced to walk the earth again with death eluding her...like Kikyō."

Time Skip

Come the next day, our group would be housing in a deserted Buddha shrine hidden deep within the forest, the tiling on the roofs littered with gaps and the screen doors worn thin with some holes already forming in the thin rice-paper...

Right now, it was only Coraline, Sango, and Shippo sitting inside the house, while the brunette specter rested on Kilala's tail, and Lumos floating near her with both curiousity and concern. As she waited with her friends for the girl to wake up again, Coraline's wandered back to an earlier time in her excursions to Edo.

 _It feels like it was ages ago, that day..._

 _We were pursuing that grave-robbing witch, Urasue, who desecrated Kikyō's tomb to steal away her ashes. Unfortunately, about halfway through the fight with the clay soldiers on that rickety-old bridge, she intervened by slicing it in two with her scythe, taking me hostage and leaving Inuyasha, Kaede and Shippo to almost plummet to their death._

 _(Flash)_

 _"...After all my hard work trying to revive that corpse, I won't easily give up its reincarnated soul. I have plans in store for you... _plans to bring back Kikyō._ "_

 _(Flash)_

 _Once I was restrained, she placed me in a stone basin filled with so many medicinal herbs, the smell was sickening.  
_

 _The feeling of the spell as it took effect was even worse, like the hand of a claw machine trying to tug out a hard-to-get stuffed toy..._

 _But the worst part, was definitely hearing_ _ _Kikyō's Soul struggle to stay away from the living world, almost begging to remain in the afterlife.  
__

 _ _(Flash)__

 _ _ _"Do not call out for me...Do not call out my name!"___

 _ _ _(Flash)___

 _ _ _But, her wish would not be heeded: In the end, the poor priestess was successfully resurrected by that ogre of a woman...___ _ _ _ _  
____

The redhead then smirked grimly and added,

 _ _ _...Still, karma got the witch pretty good, when___ _ _ _ _ _Kikyō used her power to destroy Urasue.  
_____

She then places a hand over her heart, shifting to a smile that was both sad and happy:

 _And after many trials and tribulations, I was able to return her Soul to what it was before that whole mess..._

 _ _ _ _ _Kikyō...I dunno how much longer you'll have to wander the earth until you can finally be at peace once again, but I wish you all the luck in the world.  
_____

At the same time, the four men had followed the scent trail Inuyasha's nose picked up to a large, quiet lake sitting not too far away from the run-down shrine. Freeman folds his arms while holding his long hammer between them and mutters,

"Shoot, end of the road." Miroku remarks,

"The scent of the herbs led us this far, but we found nothing."

The silver-haired dog demon disagreed, holding up a bit of soil to his nostrils:

"No, not necessarily nothing: It's faint, but Kikyō's scent is still here."

That caught the other three men's attention:

"Kikyō's scent?"

"Really?" "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, but I'm fairly sure she's not around here anymore..."

Inuyasha then tosses the little clump of dirt into the lake, creating small ripples to billow on the water's surface, as Miroku ponders,

"I've heard that a strange army of soldiers has recently destroyed a number of castles in this area."

The dog demon scoffs,

"I've got better things to do than get involved in stupid human wars."

"There are rumours that it's a demon that's behind these attacks. These soldiers cannot be slain by swords, and not even spears will pierce their armour..."

Freeman asks Miroku,

"You're thinkin' this army might be made of those clay soldiers, right?"

"One thing is for certain, and that someone is bringing these clay warriors to life."

"Well it's obviously not Kikyō who's doing it."

"Hm?"

Miroku, Inuyasha and Freeman turn to Besa, who explains his reasoning for such an easy judgement:

"Given how bitterly she reacted to Urasue during her revival, she wouldn't want anything to do with that witch's power. It's more likely that she came across the specter girl before we did and tried to help her, but was likely turned away."

"You think so?"

"Mhm. Plus, what would she gain in something like terrorizing regular folk? That wouldn't be like her at all...Her agenda's currently filled with the same goal we have: Finding and eradicating Naraku."

Inuyasha hms and mutters with a slight growl in the end of his voice,

"...You're right. I know you are, Besa...still, what's goin' on, anyway?"

He then turns and leaps off, much to the other's confusions:

"Huh? Dude!"

"Ah-Hey, Inuyasha, where are you headin' now?"

He calls back,

"Where else? I'm gonna slay whoever's controlling these clay warriors!"

Miroku sighs and thinks to himself with a worried smile,

 _Whenever_ __Kikyō's involved, Inuyasha plunges in without a second thought...  
__

"I'm gonna head with him."

"Huh?"

(Sheen...)

Besa activates his Seven Light Crystal, enveloping himself in its power, his body now wrapped in a ringed, transparent rainbow glow, and adds with a determined frown,

"He knows that I'm more than likely right, but wants to be sure. Besides, I have this weird feeling he's gonna need backup."

"Are you sure you can catch him?"

"Positive. I'll see you guys later."

With that, the dark-skinned boy with corn-row hair takes off in the direction Inuyasha leaped to, with Freeman calling,

"Be careful, bro!"

"(Distant) I will, brother, promise!"

Once his brother was out of sight, Freeman lowers his hand with an exhale of worry:

 _Stay safe, Besa..._

Coraline's POV

I had just finished brewing some tea for myself, Sango and Shippo over the mini camp-stove in the courtyard, when I heard some shuffling coming from the front door of the abandoned shrine house.

"Hm?"

Turning to look, I saw that the girl finally woke up, and was using the door frame to keep herself balanced. Smiling at her gently, I greet,

"Hey there. Glad to see you're up...Are you sure you can stand, though?"

She stares at me for a moment, before a moan escapes her lips and she slips to her knees with a heavy pant.

 _Oh dear. She must not have alot of spiritual support..._

I get up and walk over to her side to help her up while sternly chiding,

"Don't overexert yourself if you can't even stay on your feet."

"Mph, so many people interfering...like those Soul Collectors last night..."

My brow raises in confusion from her reluctance to accept help:

"Soul Collectors...You mean the Shinidamachū, correct?"

"She should've just left me for dead like she found me..."

 _She...Oh!_

"Then you must've met with Kikyō."

"Hmph...so that was Kikyō. I wondered where she had disappeared to after she killed my mother."

Sango asks,

"You mother? Who would that be?"

I quickly deduced the identity, but wanted to be sure:

"(Narrows eyes) Please tell me you don't mean that witch, Urasue."

...She doesn't answer verbally, but I did see her shoulders tense a bit, which told me all I needed.

Inuyasha's POV

Tracking the scent of the clay warriors, I reached a huge castle hidden on a hill overlooking the forest that bordered a grass plain, where in the courtyard, a very large army of those pottery figures stood at the ready. I'm watching this from atop a tree branch, with Besa sitting beside me, he somehow managing to catch up with me using the power of his Seven Light shard.

 _To think, he and Freeman can almost match a demon's speed with just a little spark of energy...Crazy, but definitely not useless._

Turning my eyes from his form, I peer over the clay army again while thinking,

 _Whoever is controlling these soulless warriors is around here somewhere..._

I feel Besa tap my shoulder, and turn to see him pointing to one of the rooftops while whispering,

"My heightened senses are picking up a figure with similar structure to the clay soldiers over there. I think it's safe to say they're the ones controlling the army...and to answer your next question, no, it's definitely not Kikyō."

My eyes widen a bit at his deduction, before asking in just as low a voice,

"How can you be sure?"

"Because if it were her, I would've detected a more live heartbeat. That's what Cora said that she could sense in Kikyō now since, well, you know, her flesh was restored...?"

"Hm...In that case, let's get a closer look at who's really runnin' this."

"Right."

No POV

Inside the castle itself, the leader of the clay army was speaking with his retainers about which place to storm next, pointing to a location on a map with a stick.

"Next, we'll attack this castle. Even though it's heavily guarded..."

Three of the retainers finish his thoughts:

"No one can hope to overcome our powerful army."

"Our dream of ruling over the land will soon come true."

"It's all because of you, my lord."

He in turn adds,

"And the clay warriors created by Enju and me."

The leader then laughs, before stopping when he senses a disturbance...Back outside, Inuyasha lands on the rooftop that Besa pointed out, the latter lightly hopping off the former's back when they safely settled onto the tiles. The dog demon turns to the dark-complexioned boy and gives him an expression that asked,

 _You sure they're here?_

He nods firmly, and they quickly jumped down to the path leading to the section's entrance, peering their eyes around for anything suspicious...

Suddenly:

(Glow...)

"Huh?" "Uh!"

A flaming blue light appears in front of them both on the porch steps of the castle section, revealing the leader of the clay army!

"What business do the two of you have in this castle?"

Inuyasha narrows his eyes as Besa hissed,

"That's them: The one with the structure like the clay soldiers!"

"Yeah, I see it now. (Turns eyes to the leader) You're the one: You're controlling Urasue's warriors and raging havoc in this region! This place reeks of dead men."

The leader does not deny it, and introduces himself:

"My name is Kawaramaru. I am Urasue's son."

That threw both boys off:

"Urasue's son?!"

"No way!"

"You were a traveling companion of the priestess who killed my mother. Perfect timing."

(Click, click...)

Several soldiers from the clay army appear, circling Inuyasha and Besa while pointing their spears at them. Kawaramaru then says to them,

"I built an army of soldiers in order to conquer the neighbouring lands, but first, I shall deal with you and your friend. (Raises a hand) Turn them both into flesh and bone!"

Inuyasha retorts with claws raised as Besa quickly brought out his sickles,

"Not happening!"

The clay soldiers charge, as does the dog demon:

"You're dead! _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash, shatter...)

Besa adds to the pressure by pierce-hacking a few more of the soldiers:

"Hrrrah!"

(Stab, shatter...)

However, just as it looked like the fight was in favour, the hollowed bodies of the clay figures suddenly release a light green gas that engulfs the air around them, forcing Inuyasha to cover his nose with his sleeve, and Besa to use his arm.

"A miasma has been placed in the chest of those clay warriors!"

"(Cough) And a strong one too. If not for my crystal, I'd be hacking up blood by now...!"

Kawaramaru jeers,

"Your skin and flesh will melt. I shall use your bones to make you my slaves!"

Inuyasha and Besa try to trudge away from the suffocating gas:

"(Cough, cough) My vision's getting blurry...!"

"And I can, (cough) feel my skin burning up...!"

Two clay soldiers rush at them with their spears raised, but the dog demon just breaks the one in front of him with a hand swipe.

"Move!"

Grabbing Besa, he leaps over to the barrier wall, and they both dodge a few of the weapons that were thrown at them, before the latter uses his Tessaiga to slice the clay soldiers away.

"Hah!"

(Slash, shatter...)

Inuyasha then says to Besa,

"Get ready, 'cause we're gettin' outta here," before leaping into the air to unleash a stronger attack:

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

Not only would any other clay soldiers in this part of the castle be destroyed, but so would a couple of the buildings that make up this large structure...Walking through the rubble and splintered wood, Kawaramaru peers around the area before smiling when he realizes,

 _They escaped._

Scene Shift: Abandoned Buddha Shrine

While Inuyasha and Besa uncover who's responsible for the rise of Urasue's clay figurines, we check back with Coraline, Sango and Shippo, as they sat on the front porch of the shrine house with the brunette specter girl to speak about what she knew. She peers at the piece of clay in the redhead's hands:

"Fragments of clay warriors from my kiln...Kawaramaru forced me to make them."

"And who is he?"

"My name is Enju. (Sad frown) Urasue brought me and the one known as Kawaramaru back to life to serve her. She even called us her children. It seems so very long ago..."

Sango asks,

"She used her black magic?" Enju nods and goes on:

"Kawaramaru was once a warrior who was betrayed by a vassal. He excels in commanding soldiers and after he was reborn, Urasue gave him the power to control clay soldiers...Before my death, I used to be a potter by trade."

Coraline nods with a firm frown:

"I can see now what Urasue's intentions were: Much like Kaede explained to me back when, the witch's goals for resurrecting the dead was to exploit the skills they had from before they died."

Enju nods:

"Urasue made me help her make clay warriors...and she intended to make that priestess help her find fragments of the Shikon-no-Tama...And then, Urasue was killed..."

A moment of silence falls between the small group...until Enju adds,

"Then, Kawaramaru ordered me to begin making the clay warriors...I didn't want to. I didn't want any part in creating warriors that killed people. (Depressed frown) But when I became frail from a weakened spirit, Kawaramaru brought back more Souls of the Dead to animate this body...I didn't want any. I just wanted to rest in peace..."

"And so you ran away?"

"Huh?"

Enju looks up and sees Miroku peering at her with a smile, while Freeman moved to sit with his sister:

"Hey, bro. Where's Inuyasha and Besa?"

As he whispers about where he believes the two had ran off to investigate, Miroku compliments the undead brunette.

"You are beautiful even though you were once dead."

Coraline scolds,

"Miroku, that was thoughtless for two reasons!"

"You say you want to rest in peace, but now you have a second chance at life. Why didn't you cherish such a golden opportunity?"

The monk turns his eyes to the bronze statue sitting inside the shrine:

"Turn around. Look at the Buddha's smile...He smiles because he loves all forms of life, every living being."

The redhead smiles at the serious and heartwarming thought:

"That's a better message." Sango was impressed too:

"Incredible, Miroku. What a great thing to say!"

Shippo, on the other hand, could see a hidden motive in the monk's kindness:

"He might be able to deceive you two, but he's not fooling me."

Freeman chides with a shrug,

"Eh, cut him a little slack, kiddo: At least his heart's in the right place."

Miroku then says,

"And so it seems Kawaramaru does not intend to let you go."

He and Enju then dart their eyes to the left side of the shrine courtyard, just as several of the clay soldiers appeared! Sango stands up on the defense:

"They followed her!"

Coraline pulls out her ShatterSoul Sword from its sheath and directs,

"Bro, Shippo, Kilala: You three stay back and protect Enju!"

The fox demon replies,

"Count on it! They won't get near her!"

While he sat on the full-formed cat demon's back on Enju's left, Freeman crouched at the ready with his long hammer on her right.

"Figures they wouldn't give up yet..."

The clay soldiers began to slowly march towards the group, and Coraline raised her sword to swing:

"Hold it right there, or I'll cut you down in one swipe!" Miroku says to her,

"It's useless to talk to them. Lifeless clay warriors would never understand."

He then jumps into the air and smashes the soldiers into pieces using his staff, surprising Enju:

"He crushed the clay warriors I made...!" Shippo chimes,

"Nobody will deny that Miroku is a lecherous monk, but he has incredible spiritual powers."

Freeman adds while watching his sister,

"And he's not the only one..."

" _Spirit Slash!_ "

(Swipe, shatter)

Another set of the soldiers is cut down with an ice blue slash mark, and Coraline turns to the brunette to say,

"Enju, don't worry: These pottery mummies don't stand a chance against us!"

Sango uses her Hiraikotsu to knock apart more of the soldiers while adding fiercely,

"Nobody, could possibly want to be a soldier after death!"

Miroku takes down more of the clay soldiers, before praying for the departing Souls that rose from the shattered remains.

"Return to the soil and find eternal peace..."

Enju shakes her head, not as enthusiastic as the others were:

"It's useless. A handful of soldiers won't stop him: Kawaramaru controls thousands more. Besides...hm?"

She and the others then pick up on the echo of hundreds of footsteps marching in progression, and rushed to the edge of the grounds making the abandoned shrine that overlooked a distant grass plain...Miroku then spots the source over yonder:

"Over there!"

It would be the almost impossibly-large army of clay soldiers from the castle before...Enju remarks,

"Kawaramaru's army must be moving to conquer another castle somewhere."

Shippo and Freeman were impressed by the size:

"There must be thousands of them...!"

"Definitely more than I can count, holy crap!"

Despite the overwhelming numbers, Coraline felt all the more determined to put an end to the terror:

"We can still annihilate them; I know we can!" She adds to the brunette,

"So promise me this, Enju: If we come out on top in this next battle...you must try to keep on living."

Enju looks at the redhead in disbelief:

 _Why? Why are you doing all this for me?_

Zooming down below to the plain, we see Kawaramaru and a few of his retainers riding up front of the army on horses, confident of their next victory...

"Hold it right there!" "Stop!"

Kawaramaru pulls his horse's reins to a stop, as he spots Inuyasha and Besa charge towards the army's way with claws and sickles raised respectively, which made him smirk smugly. The dog demon then leaps up high and makes his first move in this new battle:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash, shatter)

Besa followed after against three clay soldiers:

"Hah!"

(Hack, swipe, shatter)

The clay figures fall to both fighters in pieces, just as Miroku and Freeman arrive next:

"Inuyasha!" "Bro!"

Once they stopped, the monk turns his eyes on Kawaramaru:

"Look at that warrior, the one in the blue armour. Is he the general?"

Inuyasha replies,

"Yeah. So we just have to stop him!"

More of the clay soldiers try to attack the four, but they scatter away and dodge the spears, before Freeman took a crack at destroying them.

"I got it! Hrrrah!"

(Swing, shatter-crash-crash)

Using his hammer, he knocks one soldier into two others, smashing apart all three at once!  
He grins, but snaps back to reality of the army's size:

"Damn. Crushing a few doesn't leave much of a dent, does it?"

Miroku uses his staff to take down a few more and nods:

"There are too many of them. I'll use my Wind Tunnel."

But Inuyasha and Besa immediately protested the idea:

"Stop, Miroku! The clay warriors have miasma in their chests!"

"If we cut them down too recklessly, we'll just get hit by the toxins!"

"Then I'll have to use... _Sacred Sutras!_ "

The spiritual papers shoot from Miroku's hand and onto the faces of some of the clay warriors, before sparking with a static power and forcing them to fall to the ground. At the same time, Freeman moves to activate his Seven Light shard:

"I better up my own protection then...(Sheen) There...now..."

He raises his long hammer at the ready:

"Batter up!"

(Swing, smash, shatter...)

While he and Besa use their weapons to shove the soldiers down to break apart far away enough that they wouldn't get hit by any possible gastric cloud releases, Inuyasha lunges at another section of the clay army.

"Out of my way! Move it!"

(Leap)

" _Blades of Blood!_ "

(Swipe, tok-tok-tok-tok-tok...)

He cuts down on several of the pottery men with blood-fused air blades...Kawaramaru scoffs with a sneer at how hard they were all fighting:

"Ha. Your efforts are in vain."

"...Inuyasha!" "Miroku!"

"Hm?"

He then turns to see the rest of our main travel group arriving to the battlefield, the two girls running on foot, while Shippo and Enju rode atop Kilala. Slowing to a stop, Coraline readies to cut down on a number of the soldiers using the power of her blade:

" _Spirit Sl-_ "

"Sis, wait, don't!"

"Gh!"

She freezes her swing about halfway, looking over at Freeman in disbelief for his protest, until he warns,

"These ones aren't like the clay freaks from earlier: They've been built with a potent miasma in their chests!"

"You're kidding!"

"No lie: Cut 'em the wrong way and we'll be saying hello to a gas chamber!"

Gritting her teeth, Coraline reluctantly sheathes her sword, and opts to pull out her combat knife:

"In that case, I'll switch to this until I can come up with another plan for my sword..."

She then jogs with Sango to join up with the others, Kilala landing with Shippo and Enju on her back none too far behind them, moving to stand close with Inuyasha, and sending a nod to her brother.

"Thanks for the warning."

"Right."

"(Faces up front) So I'm guessing the man on horseback in the fancier armour is Kawaramaru?"

Inuyasha nods in confirmation:

"That's him alright. And you and Sango brought along the dead girl Urasue resurrected?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, it was her who crafted these clay warriors, until she had the guts to finally make a run for it."

Shippo adds,

"She didn't wanna have to make any more of those clay killers."

The dog demon wasn't as sympathetic to Enju's tale:

"She didn't have any problem makin' the first couple thousand, and only now she's sick of it? Sounds a little too convenient."

He then pulls out his Tessaiga and points it threateningly at Enju, much to Coraline's protest:

"Wait, Inuyasha, please don't-"

But then Enju herself says to Inuyasha in a dead tone,

"Kill me. That's what I've wanted all along."

...The dog demon lowers his blade with a scoff, and Enju walks over to stand a few feet away from where Kawaramaru was.

"That's why I ran away from you."

"...Enju..."

"We, are the walking dead. We have no right to be in this world."

The undead samurai refused to believe that:

"Ha! Don't make me laugh. If that's the case, then why were we all resurrected? Was it just mother's whim?...Why won't you come join me? Enju, if we slay every living person, you can finally find peace as one of the walking dead."

...Coraline's free hand clenches hard, knuckles cracking in anger, having heard enough of Kawaramaru's words.

 _That tears it!_

She storms over to stand by Enju's side (which prompted the clay soldiers to ready their spears on the offense, sensing the rapidly-rising hostility in the redhead) before shouting,

"Are you out of your fucking mind?! You understand nothing of Enju's true desires! She would rather die in peace then continue to be used by you like that necromancy hag used both of you!"

Kawaramaru barks back,

"A living mortal could never understand what we feel!"

"I understand more than you think, you bastard, but you were obviously built with too thick a clay skull to let any non-violent suggestions enter your mind!"

The silver-haired samurai grinds his teeth from the insult, while the twins snicker and whisper,

"Oooh, snap!" "He just got sniped!"

Inuyasha almost smirks at how bold Coraline was acting, but focused back on the frustrations rising in this battle.

"Damn! It's fools like you that are better off dead!"

"Ha-ha! You're wrong: We have been reborn! We'll do as we please!"

Kawaramaru then urges his horse into a charge, forcing Inuyasha to jump out of the other's path, the horse stopping on top a knoll.  
The undead samurai then raised his sword to the dark-ridden skies:

"Arise from the earth! I summon you, Demon of Hell!"

His blade catches flame, before a lightning bolt cracks from the clouds and strikes Kawaramaru! Coraline jumps from the noise and huddles near Inuyasha, who pulls her close with his free hand, while Shippo hopped into the safety of Freeman's arms, he shuffling close to his brother, who held his shoulder in a brotherly fashion...

(CRACK, CRUMBLE...)

The ground beneath Kawaramaru splits apart into huge pieces of upturned soil and rock, and everyone gasps, as an enormous, white-skinned demon soldier wearing gladiator-like samurai armour rose into view with a rumbling growl! Kawaramaru, who was now standing on the demon's left shoulder, lets out a loud, dark laugh:

"Demon of Hell: By my mother's sorcery, you awaken! Attack! Destroy them!"

Inuyasha charges forward to attack:

"Just try it!"

After dodging a slam of a giant palm, he then slashes the demon's upper arm with the Tessaiga, causing toxic fumes to spill out, which throw him back and made him vulnerable to being grabbed by the demon's other hand!

"Inuyasha!"

Coraline readies to rush in and help him, but Besa pulls her back:

"Cora, don't! You'll be overtaken by the miasma!"

She stops struggling, grinding her teeth in frustration, while Kawaramaru jeers with a laugh,

"He'll squeeze the very life out of you!"

Miroku prepares to remove the prayer beads on his cursed hand:

"I'll use my Wind Tunnel! (Turns eyes to Inuyasha) Get away from there!"

"Stay out of it, Miroku! I'll take care of him!"

The rest of the clay soldiers start advancing towards the group, to which Coraline would face bravely, switching her knife for her sword.

"Lumos! I need a boost!"

The Will O' Wisp pops out of Coraline's shirt pocket, and releases some of his power to the blade, before floating by the others, knowing what his partner was going to say next.

"While Inuyasha takes on the big guy, I'll strike down these clay pots in one shot!"

Everyone was flabbergasted by her proclamation:

"Coraline!" "What?!" "Are you crazy, sis?!"

"Don't ask stupid questions, just get outta here! Now!"

Though hesitant, the rest of our group does as Coraline asks, with the twins shouting,

"Let's go, guys!" "Clear the way!"

Miroku takes the undead brunette's hand to lead her to safety too:

"Enju!"

Once they were out of the line of fire, Coraline glances up at Inuyasha with a determined look:

"You ready, Inuyasha?"

He nods firmly, and turns back to the hysterically-laughing Kawaramaru with a rage-filled expression:

"You're disgusting! You can't use Human Souls for your own little games! Now Die!"

(SLASH)

At the same time the Wind Scar is unleashed, so to was the ultimate technique of the ShatterSoul Sword:

" _Soul Shatter X!_ "

(Swipe, swipe, shing...SLASH)

The Demon of Hell and Kawaramaru would be killed instantly by the power of the three-clawed, yellow-toned slash, while the clay army fell prey to the X-shaped, ice blue cut mark, both causing an explosion to ensue...!

...Once the dust smoke clears, the clear, bright blue sky would highlight the shattered remains of the pottery warriors, with Inuyasha and Coraline standing back-to-back with their weapons raised, panting heavily...Miroku comments,

"The power of the Wind Scar blasted the Demonic Aura and Kawaramaru into ashes..."

Besa adds,

"And the energies of the ShatterSoul Sword obliterated the clay warriors while blowing away any traces of the miasma..."

Speaking of the sword, its wielder would be rather winded after such a power release, and dropped to her knees with a soft moan of exhaustion, prompting the other swordsperson to turn around and check up on her.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. (Weak smile) It's just been a little while since I used that attack, and it drains me quite a bit."

The dog demon nods, and gently pulls the redhead to her feet, holding her close to his side...

...Enju stood apart from the rest of the group, staring aimlessly at the ruined plains littered with pieces of the clay army and the dust of what used to be her, 'brother', until she sadly mutters his name.

Small Time Skip

After parting ways with Enju, our travel group returns to the lake near the abandoned Buddha shrine to drop pieces of what little remained of Kawaramaru's armour into the deep water below...

Once that was done, Inuyasha asks Coraline,

"You sure this is okay?"

"I'd say so. Unless someone in this era's invented deep-water diving, no one will discover that armour for a very long time...You know, this whole battle has got me thinking about the concepts of life and death."

"Hm?"

The redhead smiles thoughtfully and muses,

"One mystery that remains such is the question why we are born, as both individuals and the human race in general...But, there's always something deep within our spirits, this, push to keep going."

She places a hand over her heart with a grimmer smile:

"I certainly got to know that piece of my spirit a few times..."

Inuyasha stares at Coraline for a moment, before moving closer and wrapping an arm around her front overtop hers, placing his palm on the hand resting on her breast.

"That's what makes things interesting. I suppose there's no telling what tomorrow will bring."

"Mhm...(Brighter smile) Say, what do think Enju's doing now?"

Smiling a little himself, the dog demon pecks the top of his girlfriend's head before replying,

"Hm, she's probably just feedin' a fire."

...Somewhere deep in a high mountain peak, a kiln lightly billows out smoke from its chimney, the fire's tender being the brunette of conversation. She then looks up behind her to see a Shinidamachū fly down to her with a Soul, and she asks it,

"Was it Kikyō that bid you to come?"

The demon does not answer, and drops the Soul into Enju, her body enveloped in a brief blue-white glow, before she says to the air with a small smile,

"I am giving life a chance...just as I had promised."

...Down in the deep forests below the mountainside, the specter priestess was standing between some skinny tree trunks near a section of the river, as two of her demon allies float past her...before she mutters with a smile,

"Giving life a, chance..."

 _Hm...I have a feeling my dear, Soul Sister, has to do with that._

 _ _ _ _ _"Kikyō...I dunno how much longer you'll have to wander the earth until you can finally be at peace once again, but I wish you all the luck in the world."_____

"Heh...same to you, and Inuyasha."

The priestess then turns around, and wanders back into the shadows of the canopy cover...


	102. Chapter 101

**Chapter 101: The Mysterious, Lecherous Monk**

It's a new, red-orange hued evening in Edo, and we zoom in on the outskirts of a village surrounded by a forest of pine, as our well-known monk, Miroku, sends his goodbyes to some of the people he helped.

"I shall be off now, my good people."

We see that each of these villagers was holding a charm in their hands, grateful smiles on their faces:

"Monk, we cannot thank you enough for what you've done for us."

"Finally, we can now live again in peace."

"You saved our village and gave us peace of mind."

Miroku replies modestly,

"No such thing. I only did what had to be done. Farewell."

One man who was of somewhat heavier build calls to the retreating back,

"Wait, monk! Please tell us your name before you leave."

He pauses, before turning around to flash the villagers a suave smile while replying,

"I'd be more than happy to tell you my name: I am the monk called Miroku!"

They all gaze at his confident form in awe...

Time Skip

Come the next morning, we'd catch up with Inuyasha and company as they set out along another path for the new day. Coraline, she dressed in a white tank-top with an unbuttoned red/black/white flannel shirt, faded blue jeans with a small rip in her right knee and her black combat boots, lets out a yawn and says aloud,

"It's been a while since we've slept indoors, hasn't it? Not that I don't mind the great view of the stars, but it wouldn't hurt to try for an Inn..."

Freeman, he wearing a green tank-top with his black leather jacket, brown jeans and monochrome high-tops, stretches his arms over his head and comments back,

"Tell me about it. I need at least one night of lumbar support before my spine decides to file a two-week notice."

"So what I'm hearing is that out of the two of us, you're gonna be the old man first?"

The short-cut, coarse-haired teen side-glares his cornrow-styled twin, he wearing a light blue t-shirt, black jeans and his black/white high-tops, cheeky smile abundant, and retorts,

"Shut up. This don't got nothin' to do with getting old."

"Already in denial, huh? Now I'm concerned about your eventual midlife crisis."

"Besa!"

Everyone laughs at the brotherly banter, before Shippo spots a coil of smoke overhead past a small hut sitting at the edge of a pine forest, which was a clear indicator that there was a small populace of humans near.

"Look, a village!"

The group pauses, and Coraline comments with a smile,

"Really? Wow, that was convenient. We can all get some well-deserved Zs this time."

Miroku adds,

"And the villagers might be able to tell us something about Naraku."

Besa says with some excitement,

"Then let's not stand here pondering about it. Let's go!"

With that decided, they all begin making their way to the village, which as it turns out, is the same one with the many trunks of pine making up the greenery...Inside, the villagers were going about their morning business, including two women washing some linen in a tub by the riverbank.

"Nice and clean..."

By this time, our travel group had entered the village, walking along the dirt path running between the ribbon of water and some fields being attended to by a few of the men. Two of them recognize the monk in the party, and became, agitated?

"Guh, it's him!"

"Miroku!"

Another runs to ring an alarm bell for the rest of the village to hear, warning them of the monk's arrival:

"Miroku is coming, Miroku is coming!"

They all panic, and run inside their huts to hide, one mother pulling her daughter behind the door flap:

"Come inside..."

Inuyasha and the others would of course hear the warning bell, and became confused, with Freeman scratching the back of his head while mumbling,

"What's got their robes in a twist, and over Miroku of all people...?"

Attention would then turn to the village men, who were now surrounding the group with angered expressions and farming hoes at the ready! One man shouts,

"You corrupt monk! How dare you deceive us!"

Said accused steps up to try and figure out what's going on:

"Now hold on a minute! What on earth did I do?"

"Don't act innocent!"

"No need for talk; get him!"

The men all charge at the group, with one man raising a hoe to attack Coraline! Thankfully, Inuyasha was quick on the defense and used his sheathed sword to block the farming tool before throwing the man back. He then turns to ask,

"What's going on, Miroku?!"

Another villager tries to attack him, but is blocked by the twins holding the tool back, and Freeman adds,

"Better yet, could you explain to these guys we have nothing to do with, whatever-the-heck they think you did?!"

The monk himself was busy fending off a few other men with his staff:

"I'm trying to figure that out myself!"

Shippo and Kilala hold onto one another as they dodged a few of the hoes being swung at them, while Sango uses her Hiraikotsu to block another.

"What'll we do? There's so many of them, we'll be fighting forever!"

She shoves the man away as Miroku meets her back-to-back:

"I agree. There's only one thing to do before anyone gets injured...Run like the wind and don't look back!"

With that, the group makes a fast-paced tactical retreat, leaving the village and its bristled people behind, not wanting to take their chances any further than they had to...

Time Skip

It's now nighttime, and everyone was now sitting by a campfire in a small clearing inside a forest made of beech and oak trees while discussing earlier events, Sango beginning by asking aloud,

"I wonder what that was all about?" Freeman exclaims,

"No kidding! I get this era's not famous for peace-talk, but what the hell happened to conversations before violence?"

Besa hums,

"I dunno, but something tells me we won't be going back to that village for a long time, (mumble) at least not until the people get their heads checked..."

Shippo frowns into the fire and comments,

"We all know what Miroku's like: He probably did something sneaky and got on their bad side."

Sango replies,

"Whatever it was, they sure seemed angry..."

Coraline turns and asks the monk the question that was on everyone's minds:

"Miroku, what did you do?"

"Huh, I can't imagine..." Sango eyes him suspiciously with a hmph:

"You sure?"

The monk thinks on the subject for a moment...before brushing it off with a carefree smile:

"Oh well, no sense on dwelling on matters of the past."

The demon slayer sighs in exasperation, while Inuyasha scowls and accuses,

"I bet you can't keep track of all the bad things you've done!"

"Trust me, Inuyasha: If I was surrounded by beautiful women and living it up each and every night, I wouldn't forget it!"

Besa winces and mutters,

"Baaad choice of words, my friend," as he notices Sango gain an irritated tick-mark:

"(Growl) Listen...!"

(BONK)

One clonk on the head gives Miroku a painful entry into dreamland, with Freeman peering down at his form from his seat with wide eyes.

"...Well he won't be able to now."

Coraline yawns and scoots herself closer to Inuyasha to lay her head on his shoulder:

"Let's just forget it for now and go to sleep, okay?"

She's answered with a mixed chorus of 'Kay' and 'Fine', and everyone settles down to rest for the night, with the redhead sleeping in the arms of her dog demon boyfriend, the twins resting between Sango and Miroku (Freeman flat on his back while Besa laid on his stomach), the slayer sleeping on her side with Kilala tucked by her head, and the monk asleep with Shippo snoozing away on his chest...

Meanwhile, in another village, this one caged by a forest of bamboo trees, a familiar figure was sitting with some rather pretty, giggly girls inside a fine mansion.

"Would you consider bearing my child?"

"Oh, yes!" "I would!" "I would love to!"

One young woman with black hair tied in a bun under a light pink headscarf, matching her skirt wrap that went over a salmon pink kimono, says to Miroku(?) excitedly while pouring him more rice wine,

"I'll bear your child, so drink up!"

A second one with her hair tied down at the end, wearing a yellow kimono with a white skirt wrap beams with a giggle,

"Come on, drink it all up, monk!"

"Alright then. Bottoms up, (sip)."

The girls clap and gush at the monk like he was the Messiah, while he blushes and laughs cheerfully...

Time Skip, Coraline's POV

The next day after being chased out of that hostile village, my friends, brothers, lover and I come across a new one surrounded by stalks of bamboo.

"Look, another village!" Freeman comments after Shippo,

"Maybe this time, we can sleep in some nice beds for the night..."

 _I sure hope so, bro...Hm?_

Suddenly, we get a different kind of unexpected greeting, that being a group of fairly pretty girls running towards us with cheerful smiles, or rather, to one of the men in our party.

"Miroku, (laugh) you're back!"

I fold my arms and hum,

"Well, I guess this is a slight improvement to yesterday's reception, but nonetheless strange..."

Miroku seemed to think that as well, and asks the girls crowding him while the rest of us stood back to the sides,

"Ladies, what is going on here?"

"Oh, where have you been? You promised I could have your child!"

"Don't be ridiculous: I'm going to bear his child! Isn't that right; tell them, Miroku!"

I facepalm and grumble,

"On second thought, I'd take angry villagers again over this stupidity..."

Freeman whispers to me,

"I feel worse for Sango...but at least Besa's taking the initiative to comfort her."

I look up, and see said brother held a hand on the mood-dropping Sango's shoulder with a sympathetic smile, making me smile a bit.

 _It's a wonder Besa doesn't have a girlfriend yet with that sweet heart of his..._

"My my, is that so? You'll just have to take turns, ladies!"

Sango calls to the leaving monk walking with the 'fan-club' in agitation,

"Where are you going?!"

"You have some nerve coming back here, you fake monk!"

Our eyes then fall on a new group of angry men with their farm tools at the ready:

"Don't think you'll get away with this!"

"Oooh dear. This is not voting well for us, ladies. (Turns with a nervous smile) Any objections to shortening our stay in this village?"

Sango and I give him our own expressions of a disappointment, I for once, not in the mood to try and lighten his possible actions.

"Uuuh, what are you looking at me for?"

"You're the one in trouble. Why should we have to run?"

"I'm with Sango this time: Man up and apologize for whatever blunder you conveyed this round."

"Ladies, don't be so heartless..."

Sango adds with a cold shoulder,

"Besides, you made the bed; you should sleep in it. Take responsibility for your actions for once!"

 _Yipes..._

"I told you, I didn't-...Hey, Freeman, Besa, won't either of you lend me a hand?"

My said brothers shoot Miroku matching mean smirks and quirk,

"If you're lookin' for a quick way out of idiocy,"

"You're lookin' in the wrooong place, dude."

 _Double yipes...literally and metaphorically._

Inuyasha chuckles under his breath at that response, and Miroku tries to appeal for help once more time.

"...Shippo? Won't you back me up?"

"I-I'm just a kid! I don't understand this grown-up stuff!"

I smile sadly down at the fox demon's form, knowing he actually understood more than he makes himself to, and was just trying to keep out of unnecessary trouble like the rest of us...So with all possible shortcuts blocked, one of the village men decides to get on with grabbing Miroku:

"Quickly, capture him!"

"Please, stop! Hear me out!"

The rest of us watched the scene with sweatdrops, Shippo muttering,

"I'll have to make it up to him," and Besa adding in exasperation,

"This better not become a new pattern..."

Soon, Miroku was sitting under a tree by a fence, tied up tight with rope around his arms and torso, while we watched from the side of the angry crowd. I hear Shippo say while sitting on Freeman's shoulder,

"I'm never gonna get involved with women," and he whispering back with a wry smile,

"Why do you think I prefer men? Jealousy over and from women's more dangerous..."

Sango walks to them with a fierce glare and asks,

"Did you say something?" They reply with winces,

"No, not really..."

Sighing with an eyeroll, I focus my attention to the angry crowd to try and get a story this time:

"Okay, so what precisely are you lot accusin' Miroku of doing, anyway?"

"Not a damn thing, and that's the problem."

Another man with a goatee nods, and I raise a brow at the first's statement while Besa asks with a frown,

"Can you be more specific than that?"

They explain how our friend played swindler by marketing sacred sutras that based on their furious faces, did not do what they were made for...One fellow steps up and points an accusing finger at Miroku while shouting,

"Now you understand?! This despicable monk tricked us into buying useless charms, at exorbitant prices!"

I put my hands on my hips and reply back sternly,

"Excuse my criticism, but some blame has to go to you all for falling for the con."

A man of heavier built shoves the other down and barks up his piece of the tale:

"That's not all! When he was at my house, he went through the pretense of an exorcism, and then ate and slept like there was no tomorrow!"

That made me widen my eyes in confusion:

 _Huh? That, doesn't sound like Miroku at all. I mean sure, in the past, he sometimes asked for a bit more food than needed, but he was never a pig..._

"That's not the half of it!"

Besa groans and asks,

"Fantastic. What else could he have possibly done?"

"Every time he came to the village, he flirted with the women. Thanks to him, now all the women are-well, see for yourself!"

Following the goatee man's point, we glance over at the crowd of young girls who were acting like those crushing sheep you'd see at the red carpet of a celebrity awards show.

"Oooh monk~, even under arrest, you're simply divine~!"

"Release the monk so I can have his child~!"

Shippo comments,

"There you go. Just the usual Miroku stuff, nothing special."

Freeman and Sango seemed to disagree:

"I dunno, little dude: Miroku may be a flirt, but I don't remember him drawing this big a crowd..."

"Same here. He was never this popular with the ladies before..."

And Miroku obviously disagreed with them:

"I beg to differ, you two." Sango asks back,

"And how exactly are either of us wrong?"

"First, about my popularity: The ladies have always loved me. And of course, by standing idly by while I wrongly suffer the humiliation of being tied up."

I scoff at his choice of argument:

 _Really, that's the case you're going with? What an idiot..._

Inuyasha then asks Miroku,

"What'd ya mean, wrongly?"

"(Smile) It's very simple: This is the first time in my whole life that I had been to this village."

...There's a long silence, before the man who spoke about the first crime Miroku allegedly committed spat with a tick-mark,

"Stop your lying!"

The heavier-built man gets into our friend's face and shouts,

"How can you just sit there looking so unbelievably smug and lie through your teeth like that?!"

"But it's the truth. You have to believe me."

"First yesterday, now today, you're nothing but lies! You'll pay for your brazing dishonesty!"

 _Wait...did he say yesterday?_

 _...Oh my god. Add that to the rest of these details, Miroku really didn't-_

"Come on, men, let's throw him in the river!"

Just as the men ready to grab Miroku to punish him further, I quickly cut in to stop them:

"Okay, stop! I've heard enough!"

"Huh?"

The men back a bit from my heavily annoyed and fierce expression, and Inuyasha asks me,

"What is it, Coraline?"

"I'll tell you what: This whole situation is a bunch of nonsense. (Glares at the villagers) You people are accusing the wrong man!"

They look at me with disbelief, which gave me the opportunity to move in front of my friend to state my case, holding up a finger in a matter-of-fact manner.

"First of all, while there are alot of words to describe Miroku, Glutton is not one of them. Sure, sometimes he takes a bit more than he needs, but never enough to feed a starving horse by the way you're describing. That's just overkill!"

I twitch up a second digit as I went on:

"Second, while he does have an old reputation of being a con artist, it's been months since he's pulled anything, and even if he were to start up again, he certainly wouldn't use the more obvious tricks. I mean, selling fake sutras at high prices and conducting a weak exorcism? (Holds up hands in exasperation) Come on, even a five year-old could see through those ploys!"

The men glare at me a bit from the discreet insult, prompting Besa to duck his head to me and whisper,

"Uh, sis, you might wanna dial back a bit before they consider throwing you in the river...?"

"No worries, Besa, I got this."

"If you say so."

He steps back, and I finish my deduction:

"Finally, and I cannot begin to stress how important these last two points are, Miroku's reputation as a ladies man is not as successful as one may think. He knows how to talk, and that's it; not much in the long-term commitment department. (Sly smile) My brothers are more likely to land themselves romantic partners before he does..."

That didn't serve to please my friend on the stand:

"Hey!"

But it did make the rest of them snicker a little, with Freeman muttering,

"She might not be wrong if we compare track records..." I continue:

"Also, you said that this all occurred yesterday, correct?"

The men nod...

"Well we've all been traveling and sleeping in the backwoods for days now, and had only just arrived in your village. Through this entire time period, Miroku has been with us and nowhere else. Unless someone can show me evidence that he can teleport, it's pretty obvious that the man who's been causing you trouble is not the one you have currently tied up, moreover, an imposter."

The villagers gasp and start whispering among themselves, and I turn around to face Miroku, who gives me an annoyed smirk and asks sarcastically,

"Gee, you couldn't have stepped in sooner with those deductions, _Sherlock_?"

 _Heheheh, he must be reading Besa's books again..._

I smirk back and reply,

"Can it, _Watson_. You're lucky I'm deciding to not be heartless and help you."

My brothers give me a thumbs-up each and chime,

"Nice work, sis!" "Way to sleuth!"

I nod back at them, while Inuyasha and Sango ponder the situation themselves:

"She's right..."

"Then that means..."

Miroku sighs in relief and says to himself,

"I can't believe they were doubting me until Coraline stepped in..."

Shippo then asks while tilting his head in confusion with Kilala,

"I don't get it, Miroku: If it wasn't you, then who could it have been?"

 _That's a very good question, Shippo..._

No POV

At the same time everyone was cluing into the possibility of a mischievous 'Miroku-Double' on the loose, we zoom in briefly to a third village generously fruited with plum trees, they just starting their flowering and acting as home to one of the local thrush bird species, as a middle-aged man spoke with whom he believed was the monk in question.

"Ooh, so you are the famous Master Miroku."

"Y-Yes, uh, yes!"

"So, Master Miroku, what is it that brings you to our small and humble village?"

'Miroku' replies with a more confident air,

"Whilst on my travels, I happened upon this village quite by chance, and I sensed a very suspicious Demonic Aura."

The villagers gasp, and the middle-aged fellow replies,

"I should've known..."

'Miroku' forms a look of confusion, and the man adds,

"You are amazing. How incredible that you were able to sense the presence of the demon that plagues our village."

As the rest of the villagers walk off, the man prepares to guide 'the monk' to where their problem was:

"We must ask you to slay the demon at once."

He readies to turn, but then his eyes catch the shape of 'Miroku' bugle at the sides briefly as their knees buckle...

"Hm? I could've sworn you've grown larger for an instant..."

'Miroku' panics a little but manages to talk his way out of any possible suspicion with a nervous laugh:

"Uh-heh, uh, must be your imagination."

Back to the Bamboo Village

"(Collective) A fake?!"

Miroku nods firmly and says to everyone,

"I'm afraid so. As Coraline cleverly deduced, someone using my identity is up to no good in this region."

Said redhead adds as her eyes flash back from icy blue to their normal two-tone blue,

"Not only that, but I'm picking up faint traces of an Aura that's trying to mimic Miroku's."

Freeman asks,

"Can you narrow down who it is?"

"Not from this distance, at least not without help...Lumos?"

Said Will O' Wisp pops out of the Coraline's satchel and hovers in front of her eyes as she directs,

"Could you please take a quick tour of the village and see if you can get a better hair on this copycat?"

He 'nods' and darts off through the air, leaving everyone else behind to brainstorm on the situation. Sango was still skeptical of the facts:

"I'm not sure if I can fully believe this..."

"Why not?"

Inuyasha answers to Coraline,

"Because why would someone try to imitate Miroku of all people?"

Besa shrugs and suggests,

"Maybe this is just a really bad practical joke," and Freeman adds with a joking smile,

"Or maybe we finally found Miroku's doppelganger, (laugh)!"

Coraline smirk-glares at him and replies,

"Come on, be serious, Freeman: Finding anyone's doppelganger is incredibly rare. I'm willing to bet a demon might be responsible for this."

"A demon?"

Shippo comments,

"If I was gonna be someone, I'd pick somebody important."

Miroku pipes back in with a frustrated tone,

"And that is why I am suggesting that we check this out!" Coraline chides,

"Why do you think I sent Lumos to scope the village? Exercise some patience, people."

The villagers then cut in, too mad about what had befallen them to fully listen to reason:

"We don't care about these theories!"

"Just grab him and throw him in the river!"

Coraline groans and barks back,

"Would you people please hold your anger for the real trouble-maker?! (Grumble) Honestly, as if yesterday's round of hornet buzzing wasn't annoying enough..."

Sango adds in calmly,

"I understand your frustrations, but he said he didn't do this to you, and she's made some rather valid points."

Miroku mumbles with a chagrin,

"Kind-a not helping, Sango..." Shippo suggests,

"Why don't we wait until we find out the truth, and then you can throw him in the river?"

The twins lightly scold the fox demon:

"Shippo!" "Dude!"

The monk wriggles a little in his bindings and says,

"I don't even care anymore, just please untie me!"

The heavy-built man exclaims with a glare,

"Don't try to talk your way out of this, 'cause it's not gonna work!"

"I'm not!"

The first accuser then says,

"Okay then, if it really was someone else, then show us proof besides this red-haired lass's strange ability!"

"How can I do that?"

Coraline becomes a bit bristled by the villager's lack of faith:

"Auh, rude much! Are they suggesting I'm a fraud, or are they that nit-picky?"

 _Lumos, now would be a good time to return with your findings..._

"(Growl) I've had enough of this racket!"

The redhead snaps out of her thoughts to the sound of Inuyasha's aggravated shout, and he walks over to stand by her while putting a hand on her shoulder and looking at the men with a fierce glare that made the twins and Shippo shudder a bit from their stand on the sidelines.

"Yipes...!" "Look out, people." "Overprotective boyfriend's out..."

"Hey, you there! If you're gonna insist that Miroku's guilty and insult my intended's intelligence, then how 'bout you show us some proof!"

Coraline blushes a bit from his defense, but then forms her own glare and adds,

"He has a point, ya know: Where's your evidence?"

"I knew you'd say that!"

"Hm?" "Huh?"

The man with the goatee says as he and the rest of the men reach into their robes for what will likely be the same item,

"Then we'll show you. Ready, men?"

(Brandish)

"(Collective) Here's your proof!"

And low and behold, the evidence is revealed as...leaves?

...The grounds fall silent for a moment, quiet enough that you could hear one of the roosters pecking the dirt nearby, as our group looks at the villagers in disbelief, minus Miroku, who was...smirking humourously, before bursting into laughter! Sango asks him with mild concern,

"What's wrong?" Shippo asks the twins,

"Has he lost his mind?"

"Beats the heck outta me..."

"Same here...Either that, or we're missing an inside joke he just found."

Miroku then remarks,

"Leaves...Now it all makes sense."

Everyone makes a noise of confusion, as the monk rises his head with a confident smile and exclaims,

"I have unraveled this mystery!"

He glances in Coraline's direction and adds,

"And when Lumos returns, tracking our true culprit will be easy, will it not, my friend?"

She smiles a bit and replies,

"Uh, I suppose, but perhaps we should untie you first...?"

Shippo comments with his arms folded and eyes closed,

"He still doesn't look too convincing." Miroku replies back in exasperation,

"That's why I keep asking you all to untie me! Hasn't anybody been listening?! Come on!"

Freeman and Besa sigh before stepping over behind the monk to undo the rope:

"Alright, alright, we get it now. Quit your bellyaching..."

"Sooner we find this real troublemaker, the sooner we won't run into this problem again for a third time..."

Once the group finishes persuading the villagers to let them leave in peace, they set off across a grassy plain to track down the impersonator who's been causing our poor monk trouble for the past two days...

"We must hurry! The imposter is heading for the next village!"

He was aboard Kilala's true form with Sango, Shippo and Freeman, while Inuyasha leaped not too far behind them with Coraline and Besa piggybacking opposite sides of his back, and Lumos was floating ahead all of them to help track the imposter down.

The redhead then calls out,

"Hey, Miroku! Is this copycat who I think it might be?"

"We'll know for sure once we get there! He obviously knows me well-enough to imitate me!"

Facing the front again, Miroku adds more to himself,

" _It was that leaf that gave him away..._ "

Scene Shift: Cave

By this time, the Fake Miroku had been lead by some of the men outside the plum tree-abundant village to a cavern cut into the bottom of a cliff deep in the forest, where the demon that's been causing the villagers trouble was hiding out.

"Go inside, monk."

"(Hesitant) Yes, right..." A more portly-bodied man adds,

"There is a shrine deep in this cave. You can't miss it. The spirit of a racoon-dog now haunts the interior of the shrine."

Though a little nervous, the Fake Miroku's heart calms at bit from the description:

 _A racoon-dog. Then, he should listen to reason..._

A younger man remarks,

"It would be no problem if it fed on mountain prey, but now it attacks our livestock and fields. We don't know what to do."

The middle-aged man and portly gent add respectively,

"We're confident that you monk, Miroku, can put an end to our problem."

"But please be careful." The imposter monk replies to them confidently,

"Nothing to fear. Leave it to me."

He then enters the cave, and once he was deep enough in, he began calling out for the demon:

"Yoo-hoo, racoon-dog! Come on out; show yourself if you're in here!"

After a couple more steps, he finds a small shrine house set up inside the cavern:

"Huh. That must be the shrine..."

"...What do you want?"

The Fake Miroku flinches a bit from the sound of the evilly-raspy voice, but reassures himself on remembering,

 _Calm down. It's just a racoon-dog; nothing more._

"Are you the demon?"

The shrine doors open, and stepping into the dim cave light, was not a racoon-dog, but rather, a large weasel demon!

"What business does a mortal have with me?"

The Fake Miroku sighs with relief (and obviously a bit clueless on specie differences):

"You are a racoon-dog."

"I'm a weasel!"

"Uh? But you look more like a racoon-dog to me..."

The weasel demon is annoyed by Fake Miroku's characterization:

"I don't even look close! (Smirk) But I love eating racoon-dogs..."

That seemed to make the imposter monk nervous, and the weasel demon sniffs the other before asking slyly,

"Are you really a human?"

"Uh..."

"You smell more like a vermin to me."

Fake Miroku's eyebrow twitches as he think to himself in a light panic,

 _Not good...!_

He quickly goes on an offensive defense, and jumps up high to thwack the weasel on their head with his staff before shouting,

"What are you saying? My name is Miroku, and if I may say so, I am a famous monk around these parts!"

"M-Miroku?! (Jumps backwards) The one who uses the Wind Tunnel?!"

"Precisely! (Holds out right hand) Apologize now and I'll forgive your transgressions!"

...However, while the weasel demon may have been nervous at first, they suddenly broke into a laugh before stating with glee,

"This is an opportune time! (Steps forward) I shall devour you and become the most powerful demon in the world!"

That would be enough of a threat to get the Fake Miroku crying for mercy:

"No, please don't hurt me!"

His body starts bulging again, just as the demon weasel opens its jaws wide and closes in...!

...It would be around this time that the real Miroku and the rest of the group arrive at the mouth of the cave, surprising the village men who were waiting for the imposter.

"Huh? But, how did you get out here?"

"I don't understand. We saw you go inside the cave, Miroku."

Everyone gasps, realizing what could be happening at this very moment, and Miroku says to them,

"We better hurry," before they all rush inside...

Meanwhile, the weasel demon's teeth did bite down on something, but it wasn't the Fake Miroku. Instead, it was a porcelain statue of a tanuki!

"(Spits object out) Where did this come from?!"

It looks up ahead, and sees the imposter monk running for his life in a panic, their body now fatter and sporting a bushy racoon tail on his back...

"You are a racoon-dog! A missing ingredient for my stew!"

The weasel demon then jumps over and blocks the Fake Miroku from escaping, before whacking him into the wall of the cave.

(Crash)

He falls down to the stone floor with a wince, sitting up as the demon closes in on him with an taunting laugh...

"Stay where you are! Come any closer, evil demon, (holds up right hand) and I'll expose you to my Wind Tunnel!"

Though seeing through most of the ploy, the weasel demon was still a bit worried about the possibility of being vacuumed into oblivion.

"G-Gh! I dare you!"

"Are you sure you wanna test your luck?"

Unfortunately, just as Fake Miroku said that, his face begins bulging, making the weasel demon sweatdrop:

"All that threat, but look..."

(Poof)

"Racoon-dog, you've turned back."

And surprise, surprise, the imposter had been Hachi all this time! He gasps, and feels himself over to confirm that his disguise was gone, before looking up at the weasel demon nervously for a short moment...then bursting into a panicked wail.

"Oooh, noo-ooo-ooo!"

"Stupid racoon-dog. Your time is up!"

"No, stop! (Kowtows frantically) I promise to stop this, please forgive me!"

"You better live up to that promise!"

"Guh?" "Who said that?"

Hachi and the weasel demon turn to where the path lead to the mouth of the cave, and standing a couple feet away on a small incline cliff, was everyone from our group! The tanuki felt tears of relief spring to his eyes:

"Oooh, Master Miroku!"

"Been a long time, Hachi." The weasel demon addresses the monk:

"So you're the racoon-dog's partner."

"Hey you, racoon-dog!"

"I said I'm a weasel!"

"I don't care about that. Just go back quietly to your mountain. I simply detest violence, so let's be civil about this and do the right thing!"

The weasel demon scoffs at the suggestion of settling this peacefully:

"Your kind of racoon-dogs don't talk big! I'll make stew out of all of you!"

Freeman mutters with a raised brow,

"He gets bristled about being mistaken for a tanuki, but messes up our species? Wow, talk about not smart..."

As the weasel demon jumps forth to take down the group, Miroku smirks and quirks,

"Hmph. I guess this racoon-dog doesn't understand reason..."

He then unleashes his own truly cursed power from his right hand:

" _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whoooooosssssssshhhhhhhh...)

"What?!"

The weasel demon was taken aback, as Miroku began sucking back the loose stones of the cave, while Hachi ducked down in a safely-distant corner and everyone else in the group held onto eachother to stay grounded...

"Damn it, he's the real Miroku!"

Scrambling to hang onto a sunken stone, the weasel demon cries for mercy from the monk:

"I'm sorry, forgive me! I'll never do it again, I promise!"

Miroku smiles...before closing his Wind Tunnel, sparing the demon's life.

"I'm going to hold you for that!" Inuyasha was surprised by the monk's action:

"What? It's over already?" Sango and Shippo comment,

"That was pretty quick."

"Huh. Weak racoon-dog."

The three modern teens correct the fox demon at the same time:

"He's a weasel, not a tanuki."

Inuyasha sheathes his blade, while Miroku walks down the cliff incline to address the surrendering demon.

"Hey, racoon-dog!"

"I'm a weasel, damn it!" The monk replies fiercely with a thump of his staff,

"That is not the issue here!"

The weasel demon whirls around to face Miroku in a kneel as the latter says sternly,

"I want you to promise not to be naughty from now on."

"I promise, I promise!"

"I'm glad you learned your lesson. Now go back to your mountain."

The weasel demon does not hesitate:

"Yes, I'll go! Excuse me...!"

With that, the weasel flees from the cave...Miroku's stern gaze then falls on Hachi:

"Now..."

"Gu-ah!"

"I know what you've been up to and I want a full explanation without any lies!"

Small Time Skip

As soon as everyone was outside again, Hachi immediately kowtowed in apology to Miroku and the villagers.

"Forgive me; I'm so sorry!"

Coraline then asks curiously,

"So why'd you impersonate Miroku anyway?" The tanuki sits up to explain his actions:

"I just decided on the, spur of the moment! I was so hungry, I couldn't bear it, so I, (looks down) I impersonated Monk Miroku just one time..."

Shippo asks,

"And it went well for you?"

"(Holds out arms) Oh yes, oh yes! Better than I could've ever hoped!"

"Right, and before you knew it, you were hooked."

He bows back down guiltily to the tune of Sango's stern remark:

"Like a sluggish bottom-feeder..."

Besa quietly chuckles behind his hand and whispers to his brother,

"And people say Vegas has an addiction problem..."

"Hey, at least he's admitting it unlike most would..."

Miroku sighs before addressing the racoon-dog demon a bit calmer then earlier:

"Listen here, Hachi."

"Yes?"

(Bonk)

The latter then receives a whack to the head by the former's staff as they finish,

"I hope you learned something from your mistakes and will never try something so foolish again."

"(Nod) I won't..."

"And to think, all the trouble I went through because of your deceptive ways..."

That remark stroke some confusion in the tanuki:

"(Sits up) Y-Yes, but there's one thing I don't understand..."

"Hm?"

"Okay, I really did impersonate you, and I'm sorry, but I never did anything that tarnished your name."

That earned him another whack to the head from Miroku, who was highly offended by such a ponder:

"How utterly disrespectful of you, you wicked, wicked creature! Is that how you honestly see me?!"

"Hey, take it easy, would you?! I really did my upmost to pretend to be you!"

Coraline hms in thought over Hachi's impersonation skills:

"Well, aside some slight overacting..." Shippo finishes,

"How you acted, wasn't any different from how Miroku would've acted."

Kilala mews and nods in agreement, and everyone else folds their arms with grave nods, to which the monk would not be pleased by.

"Auh, how rude of you!"

Freeman smirks and says coyly,

"Not that you haven't been improving, but you're sure taking your sweet time letting go of old habits."

Sango adds with her eyes closed,

"The only thing different is that Hachiemon was more the ladies man."

Those comments made Coraline and Besa laugh, the second joking,

"Wow! Then that means he got out-Casanovaed by a tanuki; that's hilarious!"

Inuyasha twitched the corner of his mouth up in amusement to the description, while Miroku shoots a glare at Besa before walking over to kneel in front of Hachi with an intent expression.

"Hey, Hachi?"

"Hm? Y-Yes?"

"(Whispers) Do you think you could teach me your methods?"

"(Whispers) Methods for what?"

"(Hiss) I mean the secret to your popularity with the ladies! What else?"

The racoon-dog forms a cheery smile as he sits up again and replies,

"Oh, well that's easy! Nothin' drives 'em mad like total indifference!"

...Miroku felt a wave of epiphany wash over him from his friend's words:

 _Indifference..._

It would be broken when Sango walks closer to him and asks with her hands on her hips and a suspicious glare in her eyes,

"Miroku! What are you two whispering about?"

"Gh, uh, n-nothing. Nothing at all."

"Something lecherous again, no doubt."

Miroku stands up with his back to her and insists,

"Don't be silly! (Turns with a smile) Now does this look like the face of a man plagued with lecherous thoughts?"

Sango sweatdrops, and stutters with a light blush on her face,

"...W-Well, yes."

The monk sighs in exasperation from such an answer, before kneeling back down to Hachi to whisper about something in secret.  
Once the racoon-dog got the message, they both stand back up, and he places a leaf on his head, before:

(Poof)

Hachi transforms into his Miroku guise again! The two then run around in a circle, mixing up their identities profoundly enough that it would be difficult to tell who's who.

"Okay, let's go!"

"Gotcha!"

The double Mirokus take off past Sango, who whirls around with a heated glare and shouts,

"You get back here this instant, Miroku!"

She starts chasing after them as they reply with matching grins,

"I think you're mistaken: He's the real Miroku! Tell him what's bothering you!"

"Don't listen to him, Sango: He's the real Miroku, trust me!"

"(Growl) Stop this fooling around, you trickster monk! You womanizer! You lecher! Crook! Fool! Are you even listening to me?!"

Everyone else watches on with mildly worried and amused smiles, and Besa asks Coraline,

"...So which one's which, sis?"

"(Sheen, smirk) Left's Miroku, Hachi's on the right."

"You gonna tell Sango?"

"Nope."

"Thought so."

The demon slayer continues to yell at the Mirokus:

"Answer me when I'm talking to you!" One says to the other,

"Indifference is the key!"

"(Chuckle) That's never going to work for me!"

...

...Suddenly:

"(Screech, screech)"

"Huh?"

The slayer, monk and disguised tanuki stop to the tune of a bird call that had sparrow origins, but were more pronounced and fierce. That chirp of course, would belong to our familiar Yozosume messenger bird, who came soaring out of the skies and flew low over the three, forcing them to duck, before it landed near Freeman, adding a few more calls that sounded, urgent?

"Huh? The Yozosume..."

"Strange, they seem to be more agitated this time...Oh! Their wing!"

Zooming a bit closer, we see that some of the brown/black feathers on its left wing were a bit ruffled with a scarring cut underneath, indicating an injury of sorts!

Freeman bends down to the sparrow demon's eye-level and gently asks with a worried undertone,

"Are you alright? What happened; did something attack you?"

The bird doesn't answer in human speech, but holds out its right leg with an intent and slightly panicky stare in its red eyes like it was saying 'Read the message, quick!'. Though slightly confused, the recipient does as they ask, and unties the scroll from their leg to unroll and read for himself.

 _Something's wrong. I can feel it...  
_

...A minute or two later:

"GH!"

 _Oh my god...Ginta!_

"...Freeman? Freeman, what's wrong?"

He doesn't answer directly to Shippo's question, but the look on his face indicated that the letter's contents were not as lighthearted or neutral as they usually were, and he dashes off the ground to where Hachi was standing.

"Hachi!"

"Uh!"

"You still wanna make up for the mischief you caused these last two days, right?"

Startled back into his regular form, the tanuki replies with a surprised expression,

"U-Uh, yes I suppose, why?"

"Then you can help your karma by taking me to the Sea of Trees, now!"

"Now?!"

"Yes now, please! It's a matter of life and death!"

Concerned by his erratic behaviour, Coraline, Besa and Inuyasha ask respectively,

"Freeman, what's going on?"

"Bro?"

"What's got you so hyper? What did that message say?"

He turns to face them with an increasingly-worried expression and exclaims,

"I dunno for sure what's going on; he wrote it so fast, but, Ginta...he's in trouble! _Big time trouble!_ "


	103. Chapter 102

Hey guys! My apologies for the longer delay; I wound up making this chapter longer than anticipated, plus I caught this nasty cold a few days ago that's now just starting to back off.

But I promise the wait will be worth it :)

Anyway, before we move forward...I'm sure some of you have gotten curious a while back about why I chose to make Ginta homosexual. I'd like to finally alliterate on my reasoning:

First, I didn't want just my main OC to be in a romantic relationship with one of the characters.

Second, I wanted to try a hand at taking one of the minor characters of the Inuyasha Universe and giving their personality more depth, with a little twist.

Why a yaoi relationship? Well, why not? It makes for an interesting side-story within the story.

...Anyway, that's all from me. Read away, my friends!

* * *

 **Chapter 102 (Special): Love's Compass & A Wolf's Decision**

"Hah...hah...hah..."

We continue our adventures in the fabled lands of Edo Japan during its most war-fueled years, with our eyes casting view to the edge of the landscape that led to a meld of hardened molten rock ground and deeply-dense, temperate-mix broad-leaf forest, a testament of mother nature's temperamental attitude during Mount Fuji's last eruption centuries before...

Bursting out of the cover of shrubbery and heaping tall tree trunks, was Ginta the wolf demon, he looking a bit worse for wears since we last saw him, his clothing a bit torn and grimy, while the rest of his body sported a few bruises and cuts, a new thin coat of sweat forming as he paused to catch his breath.

"Hah...hah...I hope, I finally lost that crazy woman for a while..."

 _Damn it...Now I know how Kōga felt when Ayame was hunting him down._

 _But, at least they actually have a chance to be together._

 _Me and, her on the other hand...(Glare) I'd rather have my head torn off by a Bird of Paradise then mate with her!_

Flashback, Ginta's POV  


 _The last time we spoke with one another was a couple nights ago, when my friends and I came back to our pack's cave for a short time, and the damn woman was bugging me to high heaven about forgetting my wishes to be with a man (yes, she somehow figured out that I wasn't into females) and that I should just give into traditions..._

 _But ever since those days when Kōga tried to court Coraline, and, when I met her brother, Freeman...I've been slowly feeling this rise of confidence to speak my mind about my feelings, no longer wishing to be silent and just, give up on being truly happy with someone I could love..._

 _She and I confronted eachother by the waterfall in the cover of night outside the cave, both of us fed up with this pursuit._

 _"Will you just get off my back, Asuka?! I'm sick and tired of hearing your screeches for something we both know will never happen!"_

 _"Ginta, unless you wish to become a pariah in our tribe, I suggest that you accept becoming mates with me and not continue with this charade of avoiding me!"_

 _I gritted my teeth into a hateful snarl at the woman before be, her long brown hair tied back into two ponytails with short bangs styled over her forehead, eyes the colour of a murky river, her outfit similar to many of our fellow wolves consisting of brown fur over a black armoured breastplate, her skirt reaching just past her upper thighs, fur-lined leg and wrist guards, and a tall demon sword with a curved blade sitting across her back unlike some of us who only carried regular katanas or spears..._

 _"I haven't been faking anything! I've hated you since the day we were paired up, not only for being a woman, but for having the personality of a pest who does nothin' but make me miserable!"_

 _"Ginta!"_

 _Sucking in a big breath, I then mutter lowly,_

 _"I despise you and these meaningless traditions...If you wish to continue this stupidity, by all means go ahead and try. (Hard glare) But I will soon die before I ever become your mate!"_

 _Asuka clenches her fist, not pleased by my defiance:_

 _"...Is that so? In that case..."_

 _(Shing)_

 _She pulls out her blade, the tip gleaming dangerously in the moon's glow:_

 _"(Snarl) If I can't have you, no one can!"_

 _(Lunge)_

 _"Uh!"_

 _I barely dodge Asuka's sword before it could cut across my torso, her warcry echoing loud enough for some of the others to wander out to the mouth of the cave to see what was going on, including Kōga and Hakkaku._

 _"What the hell's going on out here?!"_

 _"Ginta?!" "Asuka!"_

 _We pause our fight for a minute, and I lock eyes with my two best friends, they flinching a little from how intense my stare was._

 _"Guys...I'm sorry, but I have to go, or I'll never know what I want."_

 _"What? Ginta..."_

 _"Ginta, wait!"_

 _I just shake my head, before grabbing a spear that was left out on the island in the middle of the waterfall pool and using it to knock Asuka's sword out her hands in a burst of strength._

 _"Guh!"_

 _With her distracted, I made a break for it, ignoring the cries of my friends and pack members to come back, knowing I couldn't go back on what I've done..._

End of Flashback

...I cracked my knuckles, trying to shake off the negativity in that memory and focus on right now.

 _I can't just mull around. I gotta keep moving into the Sea of Trees..._

 _That's where, I'll hopefully meet up with the one person who can help me now..._

His name slips past my lips in a longing whisper:

"Freeman..."

With that, I willed my sore muscles to keep moving.

Freeman's POV

It's been about an hour since I left the others with Hachi, who was gracious enough to give me a ride on his gourd form to Aokigahara, or the Sea of Trees Forest, where the letter from Ginta said that he wanted to meet with me at...

Just thinking about what was written on that bit of parchment makes me shudder:

 _"Freeman,_

 _I don't have alot of time to explain, but I'm in real hot water and I need your help! I would ask for you to bring Coraline and the others, but...you might be the only person I can trust right now._

 _Meet me in Aokigahara where the old Fugaku Cave is._

 _\- Ginta_

 _P.S. Be careful: There's a slight chance that the one after me might catch wind of you and threaten your life."_

Short, discreet and not leaving alot of room for a clue as to what's going on: In my books, that's one of the worst kind of messages a person could get. His writing was also a bit smudged and scraggly, suggesting he likely wrote it all while on the run, which only makes me all the more concerned.

 _Ginta's never acted this freaked before. I mean sure, sometimes he can be a bit of a Nervous Nellie with Hakkaku, but not at this magnitude._

 _...It's gotta be a demon for sure, but, it's definitely not that bastard Naraku, otherwise he would've asked for all hands on deck._

 _Plus...he's asking for my help specifically, which, while I'm flattered by, is a bit odd._

I mumble aloud while rubbing a finger under my chin in thought,

"What kind of hurt is this person trying to deal to Ginta that he'd call on me?"

...That's when an idea struck:

 _(Gasp) I wonder. Could, this have something to do with his sexual preferences?_

 _Did someone in his pack find out he's gay and wants to end him?_

 _Hm...Plausible, but at the same time, there's something missing..._

"Freeman! We're here!"

I snap out of my thoughts to Hachi's call, and look down to see the huge patch of forest sitting at the northwest flank of the infamous Mount Fuji, the sight below thick of the colour green with a few pockets of rusty hues from the volcanic impact left behind since the mountain's last big blowup. I was in awe of how beautiful it looked up here in the sky, still untouched from human development, or at least for a few more centuries...

We're soon on the rocky, moss-covered ground at the western edge, where the soon-to-be-infamous lava caves would be nestled in the cover of these tall, hulking beech, cedar and oak trees. I hop down off of Hachi, and stretch my limbs over my head while thinking,

 _Okay...now the only question is how am I gonna find the cave?_

 _These woods are super dense and an easy trap for people to get lost in..._

(...Pulse)

"Hm?"

I then felt a light throb from my wrist where my Seven Light Shard is attached, and looked to see a soft glow emanating in and out, like back when my friends and I were navigating out of the modern version of these woods.

 _...Just like before...Does it know where to go, or, maybe, can it sense my desire to find Ginta?_

"Uum, are you sure about going in there by yourself? I've heard that ghosts like to wander around these parts, and their favourite targets to scare are humans..."

I turn to the racoon-dog and reply,

"I'm pretty sure that's just a local myth to discourage people from doing something stupid like getting lost and starving to death. And even if there is some truth to it, as long I don't piss the ghost off, I've got nothin' to be afraid of, right?...Besides..."

My eyes narrow in both worry and determination to find my letter crush (Yes, I admit it, I like Ginta in that way).

"Ginta's countin' on me to help him in his hour of need, and I'll be damned before ignoring his call. I know that this isn't one of the easiest places to navigate, but I don't care: I'll let my heart guide me to his!"

...I then did a double-take on my choice of words towards the end:

 _Uh! Wait...did I really just say what I think I just said?_

 _...Is it, possible...that, I-I'm in love?_

Hachi gapes a little at me in surprise for how strong my tone came out, before he smiles a little at me and replies with a nervous laugh,

"Heh, then you're alot braver than I am. I don't think I can go in those creepy woods with you, but I'll stick around here if you'd like so you and that wolf demon have a ride later."

I was a bit touched by his little spout of courage to stay in the area:

"(Smile) Thanks, man. That's right appreciative, but I won't ask you to be a hero: If we don't come back here by sunset or things take a one-eighty in terms of peace and safety, book outta here as fast as you can and get help."

"(Salute) Gotcha. Good luck, and be careful."

Sending a final nod to him, I turn my vision back to the treeline where the Sea of Trees begins on this side, before starting my way inside in a jog, my gut and my crystal teaming up to tell me which way to go.

 _Hang in there, Ginta. I'm on my way._

Coraline's POV

It's been a little more than an hour since my brother Freeman left aboard Hachi to the Aokigahara Forest after receiving some sort of SOS letter from Ginta, and despite our protests, he insisted on going alone to help the wolf demon...

The rest of us have since left the village that was being terrorized by that weasel demon (while also being the third victim of Hachi's 'Fake Miroku Scheme'), settling by a flowering plum tree on a small knoll in the outskirts none too far away from the main dirt road path, trying to decide on a course of action to take from here.

"What do the rest of you think: Should we just keep going forward without Freeman or wait until he returns? I dunno how long he could be gone for, but, I'm worried about moving along too far ahead without him..."

Besa nods in agreement with me, his expression being the most creased with concern out of all of us, which is understandable considering how strong his brother bond with Freeman is. Miroku hms and ponders,

"Well, Hachi did promise he'd stick as close to Freeman as possible, but given his cowardly streak..."

Inuyasha scoffs and interjects into the conversation:

"The longer we sit around, the less chance we have of catchin' onto where that bastard Naraku is. Don't get me wrong, I'm a bit worried about Freeman too, but we don't exactly have time as a luxury."

 _Hmm, he's technically in the right with his judgement: There's no telling how long the tip we got from the Monkey God will hold out before Naraku decides to shift locations again..._

Shippo pipes in,

"Well I say we wait for him to come back for two days at the most! If he's gone for any longer than that, that's when we should all start worrying and go after him."

...We all peer at the fox demon in mild surprise for how, smart his suggestion was, which made him squirm a little on the spot in nerves.

"W-What's with the stares? Did I say something wrong?"

I reply with a small smile,

"No...Actually, that's not a half-bad plan."

"Really?"

"Mhm, (glances around) as long as everyone else agrees. Guys?"

Sango, Miroku and my other twin brother nod, Kilala and the Yozosume (whom for some reason decided to stay with us for a bit longer) mewl and chirp in recognition, leaving Inuyasha to sigh in reluctance to the idea.

"Fine. We'll stick around here for two days, and if he's not back by then, we'll track him and Ginta down."

I smile at him, knowing he's actually about as worried as the rest of us and just doesn't want to show it so openly.

 _Thank you..._

Sango then brings about the question that hasn't been fully considered yet:

"What I can't seem to understand is why Ginta only called for Freeman's help. Wouldn't it make more sense to ask for the assistance of his pack, or even just Kōga and Hakkaku?"

I voice in,

"Well based on what was said in the letter, it seems Ginta's trust has been limited to just Freeman...Which has me wondering if something happened between him and his comrades."

We all hm in thought, and Besa argues,

"But Ginta doesn't seem like the type to wanna start a conflict with anybody. That's more Kōga's department if anything...Still, just calling on my brother...there's some kind of personal factor to this whole situation."

"A personal factor?"

"Yeah, think about it: They've been exchanging letters for a long while now, and, I've seen something light up in Freeman's eyes with each one coming and going. (Knowing smile) He might argue otherwise, but I think his feelings for Ginta might've grown into something more than just simple friendship."

My eyes widen a little at the suggestion, as do the others, with Shippo exclaiming,

"Are you saying that Freeman might be in love with Ginta?!"

"Could be."

 _Oh wow...Freeman, in love with a wolf demon?_

 _That's just, wow...Is it possible, he really found found 'The One', here in Edo?_

"Hang on...(Narrows eyes) Besa, are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"That there's a chance this distress call may have something to do with any possible secret feelings the two might have for one another? Well, I'm not positive, but it's the only scenario I can think of that seems to make sense."

I turned to my boyfriend to ask a rather strange question:

"Um, Inuyasha, just out of curiousity, you wouldn't have happened to hear around if demons...you know..."

"Form same-sex relationships? (Shakes head) No idea, and I kind-a don't wanna know to be perfectly honest...But I've never heard of anything that suggested it's discouraged, so who knows."

 _Huh. That's an interesting bit of info to learn..._

Miroku then remarks,

"Whatever such opinion it may be, I doubt that the wolf demon tribe would actually turn their backs on Ginta for something like that. They share an intense loyalty with one another, like family...Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Perhaps this issue lies not with the pack, but rather, a singular member besides Ginta himself..."

 _A single member besides Ginta? Who?_

 _(...Gasp) Wait: What if this is like what happened with Ayame and_ _Kōga?_

 _...Oh man, and if it is..._

 _Freeman, bro, please be careful!_

Small Time Skip, No POV  


At the same time the gang discusses what could be going on regarding Freeman and the distress letter he received from Ginta, our long hammer-wielding teen from the Modern Era had wandered deep into the undergrowth of Aokigahara Forest, which certainly lived up to its reputation as a 'Sea of Trees': The trunks of semi-various species seemed to meld together like a field of wheat, the moss and gargantuan roots making claims over the stony dirt dominated by the remains of Mount Fuji's last raging eruption, creating a both tranquil yet slightly unnerving atmosphere...

"...I hope I'm heading in the right direction. Not that my gut's lied to me bad before, but even it's not the most reliable compass."

 _I never noticed it last time I was in this forest (mostly because my mind was focused on avoiding bullets) but, the silence in this place is almost deafening._

 _...It's like the plants are the only ones brave enough to stick it out. I haven't even sensed a demonic presence aside from who I'm searching for._

Freeman's brows crease over with minor worry:

"Maybe there's more to Hachi's hesitance than I thought...Maybe there are ghosts wandering about."

 _Even so, it's too late to back out. I promised myself I would find him no matter what it takes..._

 _...Ginta..._

Suddenly, just as he comes over a small knoll of mixed roots and moss:

(Glow...)

"Huh?"

Freeman's green irises catch the sight of a transparent body manifesting before him in an ethereal white shine, namely, a female of sorts with long, wild black hair and bangs covering her face, a gray-white simple kimono long enough that their feet are not noticeable, paper-pale skin, and a hitaikakushi worn over their forehead!

"Uh!"

 _I-Is that, a g-ghost?!_

Swallowing a bundle of nerves, he cautiously steps forward towards the entity and greets,

"Um...hello? W-Who are you?...Are you, a wandering spirit?"

The transparent woman turns her face to his, and nods slightly...Freeman then takes a breath and says,

"Um...You don't look like you wish to seek vengeance...do you?"

The ghost shakes their head, making the boy let out a small breath of relief:

 _Looks like I came up lucky and found a neutral spirit...Dunno why they're here, but it might be best not to ask..._

 _Hang on...maybe they know where Fugaku Cave is!_

"(Clears throat) Say, if it's not too much to ask, do you know where the lava cave named after the wind is? There's, someone I need to meet with there, but I'm having a bit of trouble finding it..."

...There's a pause...before the ghost woman nods, and waves a hand in a following gesture, before turning to walk towards the more northern part of these woods. Freeman hms with an appreciative smile, and starts walking after them...

After about half an hour, the odd pair reach their destination: A large cave entrance that went deep underground, covered by weakened layers of hard-packed dirt and basalt mixed with twigs, moss and patches of grass, various shrubbery and young saplings shielding it from peering eyes until one were to look more intently.

"Wooow, so this is Fugaku Cave...(Turn) Thank you for guiding me here, miss. I really appreciated the help."

The ghost nods with a slight smile on their shadowed lips, before turning their body to walk away, fading into the streams of sunlight peeking through the tall leaves...

Once they were gone, Freeman focuses back on the cave entrance with a determined frown.

"Okay...(Inhale) Here we go."

He descends down the old stone steps that someone had built many years prior to his own arrival, and into the darkness of the lava tube, pulling out a small flashlight to help light the way. The deeper he went, the the taller the ceiling got, its walls made of shining black basalt rock, the temperature colder than the outside, so much that icicles were abundant alongside the rope-shaped lava forms, while frost and thin sheets of ice coated parts of the path. Freeman shivered a bit and puffed out a visible cloud of his own breath:

"Brr...so cold...Where the heck is he?"

 _Would it be safe to try calling out for him? Hm...You know what, I'll risk it!_

Cupping his hands around his mouth, Freeman tries to call for his letter friend/crush:

"Gintaaa...! Are you there?! It's me, Freeman; I got your letter!"

His voice bounced down and up the passages of the cave, creating a substantial echo for all who are inside to hear...

A minute or two later, a response is given:

"(...Distant echo) Freeman? Is that really you?!"

Following the voice echo, Freeman walks down further into the lava tube, careful not to slip on a stray patch of slippery ice, until he turns the corner left to an inner chamber where a medium-sized frozen pond sat, with a familiar wolf demon standing near!

"(Soft gasp) Ginta!"

He rushes over to greet the other, and Ginta turns on the defense, quickly relaxing when he sees that the approaching body was who he was hoping for.

"(Relieved sigh) Oh good, you really are here. I was worried that your voice might've been a trick of some kind. Did you make it here okay?"

"Yeah, I had Hachi the racoon-dog drop me off, and he said he'd stick around for a while at the treeline if we want a ride out...It's, really good to see you again, Ginta."

"Same. (Weak smile) To see your face is a great comfort to me at present."

Freeman was taken aback by such a compliment, but then takes a better notice of the wolf demon's physical condition.

"Uh! Ginta, you're hurt!"

He tries to brush it off in a similar manner to his leader friend:

"Eh, it's not as bad as it looks. I've, had worse..."

But the dark-skinned boy saw through the act, and gently reaches to touch the other's arm with an expression of deep concern.

"...Ginta...what happened to you? Who did this, and what's with the sudden SOS call?"

The wolf demon stares at Freeman with his own expression of surprise by how worried the other sounded, his cheeks dusting a light pink, before he sighs heavily and gestures them both to sit down on a large, flat-surfaced rock.

"This is gonna take a little while to explain, but...Someone from my tribe is after me."

"I'm assuming not your friends Hakkaku and Kōga?"

"Correct. If anything, they're likely worried sick about me after I bolted out of the den to get away from, _her._ "

Freeman winced a bit from how bitter-sounding Ginta's voice became at the end of that sentence, before forming a serious expression of his own.

"Her?"

"A fellow wolf demon named Asuka...At one time in the past, we were okay friends, grew up together. She was, the first and only one in the tribe to find out about my early development of feelings towards men."

"Oh..."

"(Nod) At first, she made no comments about it...but as we grew older, Asuka started to become infatuated with me and concerned for my future, and somehow convinced her folks to have us engaged, even though she knew that I would never be able to requite her feelings."

Ginta clenches his fist hard, a glare slowly forming on his face:

"Nevertheless, Asuka kept trying to convince me that us getting mated someday would be the best option for us in not being alone and looking like odd ducks compared to other couples...But that didn't matter to me: She didn't care at all my personal conflicts with such an arrangement. I would just as well be content with being with Kōga and Hakkaku, my friends, for the rest of my days then marry someone I could never love."

"Ginta..."

The wolf demon tries and fails to suppress a growl, before springing to his feet and letting out a cry of frustration while driving his fist into the hard wall of the cave chamber!

"That woman makes me so mad!"

(Slam)

Freeman felt his heart skip a beat in shock from such an aggravated action:

"Guh! Ginta!"

"(Growl) I hate this, so much! Asuka just doesn't get it: I can't love women, and I never will be able to! That's just who I am! Why does she wish to torture me with blackmail and threaten my life for something that will only make us both miserable for the rest of our days?!"

...The cave grows silent aside from the dying echoes of Ginta's yelling, he himself taking ragged breaths to try and cool his temper...which would break when he feels a hand take the one he used to punch the cave wall.

"Huh?"

Freeman looks at the bloodied knuckles with a mixed expression of sympathy and seriousness, before looking up eye-to-eye with the wolf demon.

"Come on, man, don't literally beat yourself up over this craziness and take your anger out on the cave...Now sit down and I'll grab out some gauze for your fingers."

"...Freeman..."

Ginta does as Freeman directs him to, and the latter is soon applying rubbing alcohol to the former's broken skin before wrapping the white bandages around the injured fingers, both parties keeping silent all the while...

"...Why the hell are you letting this bi-atch get into your head anyway?"

"Huh?"

"If I recall, you're the one in control of how you feel about the people around you, and no one else...But, if you're here and not submitting to this Asuka person, then you must know that already, right?"

Ginta says nothing, only staring at Freeman in amazement, he looking up from his tending with a sad smile.

"I do understand what you're going through, though...I, also had to deal with someone who didn't understand that my sexuality was not a strange life phase. (Looks down) They're actually the reason why my twin brother and I had to leave our old home and country...otherwise...I, probably wouldn't be alive right now."

"Uh...Who, was it, if it's okay to ask?"

Freeman hesitates, but then answers in a whisper while continuing with his medical work,

"...My father...He was one of those types with an aggressive personality, 'specially when he drank, with real conservative views about how love works. As soon as he caught the signs I was gay, it all went to hell in a hand basket: Constant verbal abuse with the occasional beating. He, made me feel, so worthless, like my feelings about anything mattered shit...But he was wrong. Very, very wrong."

He finishes his work on Ginta's knuckles, and looks up at the other with a fierce expression:

"How I feel does matter, and always will. No one has the power to change that, not even that old bastard who gave birth to me! I am who I am, and feel what I feel...and, the same lies for you, Ginta: You're free to love whoever you want to love, regardless of what any negative naysayers will try and fail to argue. This Asuka has no right to make you feel the need to bottle your true preferences like a dormant volcano."

"Uh...Freeman..."

Said dark-skinned boy shifts his mouth into a kind smile as he asks,

"You've never heard anything that says members of your tribe can't be mate with the same sex, have you?"

Ginta stutters for a moment, before a look of epiphany spreads on his face:

"...No. No, I haven't. It's just been, a thoughtless tradition for men and women to mate with one another. Nothing, has ever been said that discourages same-sex relationships...!"

"I thought so. Not alot of history texts say much about same-sex romance occurring in Japan, but also does not discourage nor encourage. I'm willing to bet that it just hasn't happened enough, for humans or demons, to even become a topic of conversation."

"Yeah...that sounds right."

"So why not be the first to have courage, and open up about it to your pack?"

The wolf demon bolts to a stand with a freaked expression:

"W-What are you saying?!"

Freeman calmly rises to a stand, and takes Ginta's shaking hands into his before saying in a gentle tone,

"I know the idea sounds scary, but trust me: Once you get it all out, a huge amount of weight will come off your shoulders. (Weak smile) I won't lie that they're won't be some haters who can't wrap their heads around the concept of two men romantically involved with one another, but that's their problem, not yours."

"...But, what if my pack can't understand? What if, H-Hakkaku and Kōga, can't look me in the eye anymore?"

The wolf demon's silver-blue eyes begin to form tears of insecurity:

"I...I don't want to lose my friends, or my pack. T-They're all I have, all I know."

The dark-skinned boy frowns sympathetically at the other, his heart breaking a little at seeing how, vulnerable the wolf demon looked.

 _Oh Ginta..._

He brings the other young man before him into a comforting hug, and whispers over their shoulder into their ear,

"God forbid they are dumb enough to turn your back on you for something like this...I'll be there without a second of hesitation, or you come to me."

Ginta felt his heart stop at the gesture and message, his eyes ceasing their watering, opting to stare down at the human with cocoa-shaded skin in shock.

 _...Freeman..._

"...But why? Why, go through all that trouble, just for me?"

"...Because...because I love you."

Ginta's POV

It was as if the chill of the cave was enough to make time stand still, when this human, said the one set of words I never thought any man could ever say to me.

 _He...He loves me?_

"...Are you for real?"

He chuckled slightly before replying,

"I am...and believe me, I'm just as surprised to be saying these words."

We pull back from eachother so my silver-blue irises are staring into his bright jade ringed by a brown as dark as the furs of my tribe, as he continues his thoughts with a sheepish smile.

"My world may have a more accepting atmosphere, but it's still difficult for a non-straight man like me to find a romantic partner, or a steady one at least. For these last few years, I've only had more causal relationships, the longest standing being no more than a few months, a-and, the rare overnight hook-up..."

 _Overnight hook-up?_

 _...Oooooh!_

He sees the realization in my widening pupils and laughs a bit:

"Yeah, I know, not a real moral way of maintaining good karma for romance, but it's taught me a thing or two about what I'm looking for...And, I want someone, who won't be just a passing fling. At one time ago, I'd say it would be next-to-impossible for me to be in a long-distant relationship, given how you and I have duties in different parts of Japan...But you know what?"

Freeman moves one of his hands to cup my cheek, making me draw in a quick breath:

 _Oh, wow...His skin is, so soft, but his palms are worn, like a warrior's..._

"To Hell with such thoughts. In the time I've spent with my siblings and friends here in this world, I've learned that anything can be possible if you believe in it hard enough."

He then looks down, suddenly radiating a bashfulness unlike the confident man I've seen now and again.

"I, do understand if your heart doesn't beat as strongly as mine does...Just know, that there is someone who wants to take a chance like this one, with you."

...I wasted no second thoughts, and made my answer plain through action:

(Yank)

"Uh!"

My lips come to land on his in a fiery first kiss, the feeling as I've always dreamed it would be: Wonderfully forbidden, unique to the standard, and worth everything!

 _Who the hell cares about what other demons may think? I...I love this boy, this human._

 _Yes, I love him! I want him!_

Our kiss becomes all the more heated, as we took hold of one another as tight as we could, one set of his fingers grasping onto my hair while mine grab around his waist and back...We part away briefly to catch our breath, his face looking as flushed as mine probably was:

"Hah...Ginta...does this mean-"

"Hah, hah...Yes...I want to take that chance, with you. I want you, Freeman, I need you. I-I didn't realize how much before, but now, it's all clear: You're the one for me!"

"Uh, but, what about us being-"

"Like you said, who cares about the differences? So what if I'm a demon and you're human?! I love you regardless!"

"...Ginta, I..."

I pull him into another kiss, this one a bit rougher on my part, but only 'cause...I was, craving him.

His taste...

His scent...

 _His everything._

No POV

...It was in that moment, that the force of reason slowly gave way to passion, courtesy of the inner beast that rose inside the wolf demon, Ginta. His eyes suddenly clouded over in a transparent dusty red, his voice purring out growls akin to that of a wild canine. The exchange of kisses became more feverish and quick-paced, no longer limited to Freeman's lips, but his face, his neck, basically any patch of skin the wolf demon could find!

Next thing Freeman knew, he was on the cold floor of the cavern near the ice pond with Ginta hovering overtop of him!

"Guh! G-Ginta!"

An unexpectedly low, sensual growl bubbled in the back of the wolf demon's throat, as he nips the bare skin of the dark-skinned boy's neck and purrs,

" _Mine..._ "

"...Ginta..."

 _Is he...asking for what I think he's asking?_

 _...Can we really-_

"Freeman...Before we go any further, then I think we're going to, I must ask you: Will you be, _my mate?_ "

The human male's green eyes go wide, staring into his silver blue that were clouded over with a red, making it look like the moon reflecting over the sunset, the dominant emotions being love, lust and desire...

Freeman dove deep into his heart, and quickly found the answer he knew was right:

"... _Yes._ "

He then pulled Ginta forward for another blazing kiss, each giving into their innermost wants and sealing their fates, oblivious to the world...

Unbeknownst to them, _danger was fast approaching._

Small Time Skip, Hachi's POV

It's been about close to forty-five minutes since Freeman left into the forest to find that wolf demon, Ginta, who asked for his help, and I was starting to worry a bit for their health.

 _Wonder what's keeping those two? Hope they're not in any trouble..._

I'm currently lounging up against one of the older beech trunks, trying not to let the quiet of this particular forest get to me thanks to all those tales I've heard regarding its ghostly infamy. I shiver a little like the bundle of nerves I know I really am:

"Oooh, this place gives me the creeps, even if I'm not inside. If I see even one ghost, I'm outta here."

 _Hm, but then again, that wouldn't be fair to my friend who's brave enough to walk in on his own..._

 _Why humans continue to pull stupid-crazy stunts like this is beyond me._

(...Rustle)

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the leaves of one of the larger bushes in front of me leading to a different patch of woods shakes, and I feel a new chill in the air that wasn't normal.

"U-U-U-Uh, that doesn't feel right at all...!"

Next thing I knew, a skinny figure with a raging, Demonic Aura comes barreling out of the cover, making me jump into the air with a yelp before using my tanuki powers to hide.

"Ka-boom!"

(Poof)

I zip away to a higher branch in a cloud of smoke and leaves, which thankfully worked in making whoever the figure was think I fled...Looking down, I see that they were definitely a demon, a wolf demon at that:

 _W-Who's that? A woman?_

"(Growl) He's in there alright. His scent is this way...Just you wait, Ginta: You'll be sorry you turned me down!"

 _Huh? Wait...Uh: She must be the one causing ill will to Freeman's friend!_

I watch with wide eyes as the suspicious and angry female wolf demon makes headway into Aokigahara, heading in the same direction Freeman did! I wait until I'm sure she wouldn't be able to sense me, before dropping back to the ground in a huff, my mind already beginning to fall into panic.

"Aw man, this isn't good: Freeman and Ginta are gonna be in trouble real quick, and there's no way I'll be able to find them before she will! What'll I do?!"

 _Wait: Freeman said that if things got dangerous, to leave for help...and that's what I'm gonna do!_

With a determined frown on my face, I pull out my leaf to transform into my gourd form, and immediately left back to where Master Miroku and everybody would still be.

"Gotta hurry, gotta hurry...!"

 _Stay strong for as long as you can, Freeman, you and Ginta!_

Freeman's POV

It's been just a little over twenty minutes after...Ginta and I gave ourselves into one another's desires, and we're now busy catching our own breaths from...the action, our bodies bare and covered in a thin amount of sweat...

I think to myself in bliss and disbelief,

 _Holy crap...I can't believe, I really just...wow._

 _...I've, never felt my heart race so much from, 'doin' it' before. Never felt this, connected._

 _Have I really found my perfect match? My, partner for life?_

"Hah, hah...hey."

"Hm?"

I stir out of my thoughts for a moment to turn attention to...my mate, as he turns himself over so he was laying on his side while holding a hand over mine that was laying on my chest, eyeing me in tender concern.

"You alright? Sorry if, I was a bit too rough. We wolves have that tendency to, heh, not hold back..."

"...Yeah, I'm okay...and you?"

"Good. (Breathy laugh) Actually, better than good. I, haven't felt this close to someone in, well, ever."

I feel a somewhat exhausted smile form on my face at the sentiment:

"Yeah...I know what you mean. I may have gone about romantic relationships a couple times now, but, this is the first time, I feel like something beautiful came out of it, you know?"

"Glad to hear...You, are aware of the gravity in our new situation, though, right?"

I subconsciously touch the left side of my neck where the um, mark Ginta gave me was with my free hand.

"You mean, us being mates now?"

"Yes. Wolves mate for life, and wolf demons are no exception to that rule. You are who I choose to spend the rest of my life with, barriers be damned."

 _Oh wow...that sounds...so wonderful._

"And I accept that wholeheartedly, make no mistake."

We shift so we're sitting up by one another, and I place a hand on his chest where his heart is and say to him,

"I'm done with short-lived boyfriends, anyway. I want to, commit with someone. It'll be hard, given where our paths are at the moment, 'specially with that bastard Naraku to worry about, but I know we can do it. I'm with you all the way, Ginta...as long as you're with me."

"Freeman..."

"Ginta..."

We lean in for another searing, long-minute kiss, before remembering where we were and what we were lacking on our persons.

"U-Uh, we might wanna slip back into our clothes before either of us freezes our tailbones off."

"Good idea."

We both laugh a little, before quickly scrambling back into our respected clothing...Once we were dressed, I turn to Ginta to ask,

"So, um...shall we get a move on from this place?"

"Yeah, preferably before Asuka somehow figures out that I'm here."

 _Asuka?_

 _...Oh crap, right: I can't believe I almost forgot about why I even came here to begin with!_

 _Damn hormones, making me have memory impairment..._

 _Wait...if Ginta and I are mates now...does that mean..._

As the two of us slowly make our way out of the cavern inside Fugaku (mindful of our sore muscles from, ahem, 'recent activities'), I ask with a slight rise of nerves,

"Um, Ginta?"

"Yeah?"

"...On a scale of one to ten, ten being highest, just how pissed do you think that Asuka bi-atch is going to be when she finds out about, us?"

He cringes and mutters,

"Definitely ten, seeing as she was nine and a half when I chewed her out before I fled the den."

"Got it...and just how strong is she in terms of combat?"

"Compared to other wolf demonesses, she's unfortunately fairly powerful, but not close to how strong as say the power Kōga has in his legs thanks to the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama...(Narrows eyes) Although that sword she was using against me was throbbin' with a scary energy that nearly threw me off the cliff into the waterfall."

 _Ooooh, great..._

"But I won't let her hurt you."

"Huh?"

Ginta pauses his step, grabbing my arm to pull me to a stop too, and says to me with a firm expression,

"As your mate, I will protect you in every way I can. I've just claimed you, and I'm not about to lose you."

"Uh...Ginta..."

I put a hand on his shoulder with my own serious expression to reply in kind,

"Same: I won't let our share of intimacy be for nothing. You're every bit mine as I am yours, and no damn woman's gonna change that."

"Good."

(...Whoooosh)

"Ugh!" "Rgh!"

And it was in swearing our love and loyalty to one another and promising that no one and nothing would come between us, that the object of our problem came out of nowhere in a whirlwind! But unlike the types I've seen with other wolf demons like Kōga and Ayame, this one had a black haze in it, making my nerves high.

 _Oooh, that does not bode as a good sign..._

The whirlwind cancels out, and reveals a young woman with long brown hair tied back into two ponytails with short bangs styled over her forehead, somewhat dull brown-blue eyes, wearing an outfit of brown fur over a black armoured breastplate, her skirt reaching just past her upper thighs, fur-lined leg and wrist guards, and was carrying a tall, scary-looking sword with a curved blade that kind-a reminded me of the ones used by Arabian marauders, complete with a red hilt and a copper-brown spike at the end. I also noticed it was glowing in a similar manner that the Tokijin blade used to before that formal jerk Sesshomaru got his hands on it.

 _Aw great, another demon blade, just what I need...!_

"Ginta! So this is where you've run to, is it?"

"Grh, Asuka!"

 _So, this is her, is it?_

I could practically feel the anger rising in Ginta's body and voice, and his hand takes mine before pulling me close halfway behind him in a protective manner. Meanwhile, I send a glare at the woman who's been giving my new boyfriend (or mate, I should say) Hell, and feeling my stare, she turns her eyes on me.

"Hm? Who're you, human, and why do you stand so close to Ginta-Wait..."

She suddenly starts sniffing the air for a minute or two...before breaking out a really angry snarl that was pretty close to what a normal wolf would sound like, and shouts in seething disbelief,

"No...No, you didn't, Ginta! You actually-How could you?! You would dare, m-mate with a male, and a human nonetheless!? I don't know what part is a bigger insult to the tribe! Why?!"

I was a bit surprised that she could tell that much from just one sniff of her nose, but then again, she was a demon after all...Anyway, my own temper quickly rose from how she was dissing Ginta so harshly, and I bravely barked back,

"Who are you to say who Ginta can or cannot be with? You don't control his heart: He can choose whoever he wants to!"

Ginta cuts in after me:

"He's right: What you're talking about is a bunch of outdated nonsense that's never been enforced! I made my choice, and there's nothing you can do to change it, Asuka, so give up already!"

"... _Nothing at all, huh?_ "

We both form confused expressions from the quick drop of volume and low tone in the woman...before becoming nerved by her body slowly billowing in the same red glow of her blade's aura.

"Gh!" "Uh, oh..."

" _Like I said before you ran off from the den: If I can't have you, no one will...And given that you've gone and rutted with that human scum..._ "

She darts her head up with a dangerous, rage-filled glare:

"I'LL JUST HAVE TO TAKE BOTH OF YOU OUT!"

 _Oh Shit!_

Asuka then lets out a warcry, before swinging her demon blade in a diagonal downward stroke, unleashing a torrent of energy similar to that shadowy whirlwind she came in, forcing Ginta and I to separate so we could dodge it!

"Gah!" "Wagh!"

(Whooosh, CRASH...)

After thanking god that I was fast enough to escape the blow, I scrambled to my feet to help Ginta off the ground.

"Ginta!"

"You, bastard human!"

(Lunge)

"Whoa!"

(Clang)

But I was then intercepted by Asuka, and quickly met her blade with my long hammer, blocking her next attack to protect myself and my boyfriend!

"Grh, damn you!"

"Ha, like I'm gonna get caught unawares by a deluded bi-atch? Dream on!"

I managed to throw her off her feet in a burst of strength, before quickly whirling around to yank Ginta upright, he gazing at me in awe for my skills.

"Freeman...!"

"Come on, now's our chance to am-scray!"

He doesn't hesitate, and we both began bolting up the path to exit the cave, but Asuka wasn't gonna let us go so easily.

"You won't get away from me! You're both dead!"

We just kept urging our feet on, ducking and swerving from side to side to dodge the onslaught of whirling cut marks that she continuously threw at us from her sword.

(Crash, crash, crash...)

"Grh, how is she even doing this?! Even our strongest pack members would get tired after a while!"

"Well that's what happens when anger and rage blinds you: Any thoughts about stamina and endurance go right out the door! Just ask Inuyasha! Gah!"

I stumble on my footing, but Ginta keeps me upright, his and my hand enclosed in one another tightly like our lives depended on it, which, let's face it, they pretty much did...I squeeze the palm in mine and silently vow,

 _I won't let go, even if we die...But I'm praying to Kami our last days aren't today._

"Uh! There's the entrance!"

A grin of anticipation and relief spreads on my face, as we scrambled up the stone stairs to meet with the hard-packed grounds of the forest...

...But that was the furthest we got, before one of Asuka's attacks blasted at us from behind:

(Crash, BOOM)

"Aaaaaaaargh!" "Aaaaaaaah!"

Both Ginta and I were thrown off our feet and flew several yards, before my body connected with a tall pine trunk.

(Slam)

"GUH!"

 _Uuugh, that's gonna, s-smart...!_

...I dropped to the ground hard face-up, my body now sporting several cuts and tears in my clothes, and a few choice bruises forming on my back and the backs of my legs, but thankfully nothing too damaging that I wouldn't be able to get up again. Ignoring the protests of my muscles, I slowly push myself up on my elbows, only to widen my eyes at the sight of Ginta, who was still alive but looking even worse off than I was!

"(Gasp) Ginta!"

 _Crap, I gotta help him!_

...A dark-toned laugh then comes echoing in from the dirt smoke left behind from Asuka's attack, before she herself emerges into view, her eyes focused on my wolf demon boyfriend.

"Pathetic. Did you really think you and that weak mate of yours could get away from me?"

I hear a groan come from Ginta, before he tries to move to a stand, only to get kicked back down harshly by Asuka.  
The sight was all my adrenaline needed to get me moving again:

"Grrh, stop! Leave him alone, Asuka!"

Lifting my hammer into the air, I let out a cry and try to attack her in a bludgeon swing, only to miss, and get spin-kicked back a couple feet.

(Thwack)

"Gaaaah!"

"(Grit) Freeman, no!"

I fall down the low hill incline that led to the cave, rolling onto my side painfully:

"Grh!"

 _Damn it! What, the hell, am I gonna do..._

 _I, need help..._

I roll onto my back, gritting my teeth from my injuries, as I whispered to the air above,

" _B-Besa...hear, me._ "

(...Sheen)

Besa's POV

(...Sheen)

"(Jolt) Uh!"

 _Freeman!_

As I sat in the grass with my friends and sister by the plum tree, when I suddenly felt this spike of energy from the Seven Light Shard in my bracelet, and darted to my feet as my ears are filled with a strange, distant echo that sounded just like my brother!

 _"Be-sa...hear, me...Hel- me...!"_

 _Brother!_

"Besa...Besa, what's wrong?"

I snapped out of my daze to see everyone looking at me with worried and alert expressions, and utter out,

"...Freeman. He's in trouble. I can feel it: I heard his voice in my head just now, calling for me! He sounded injured!"

Noticing that I wasn't screwing around and that I looked that spooked and serious, Miroku stands up with me and asks,

"You're sure?"

"Yes...Something's wrong, really wrong."

I look down to see that my crystal shard was throbbing in and out in the rainbow shine, but something about it seemed different from the times I activated its power on my own, like, it was pulsing in pain...

"What's going on with your crystal?"

I look up at Inuyasha who was eyeing my wrist in suspicion, and I answer,

"I can't really explain it, but, my shard and Freeman's...I think they're more deeply connected then we initially thought. It's like, they've been strengthening our brotherly bond in ways that cannot easily be said aloud."

"Like that weird twin telepathy thing that some conspiracy theorists have pondered about?"

I send a nod to my sister:

"Might not be as crazy as some argue: Even before we obtained these crystals, Freeman and I seemed to always know when the other was in trouble...(Shakes head) But anyway, we need to get to Aokigahara now befo-"

My sentence was suddenly cut off, by the sound of someone shouting from up in the air:

"Master Mirokuuuu! Everyoooone!"

 _Is that, Hachi?_

We all look up to the sky, and saw the racoon-dog in his gourd form flying towards us at a frantic pace that matched his facial expression, all the more convincing me that something happened to my brother.

"Hachi!" "What's going on?"

"Where's Freeman?!" "What happened, Hachi?"

(Poof)

He lands on the grass after switching to his regular form, and exclaims with his hands waving in the air,

"You gotta hurry; I think Freeman and Ginta are in danger!"

Miroku steps up to him and says while holding his own palms up in a calming gesture,

"Calm down, Hachi, and tell us what happened."

"I-I was just waiting outside the forest for Freeman when suddenly this figure, a woman, with a strong Demon Aura came barreling out of the trees in front of me! I quickly hid, and overheard her talking about making Ginta pay for turning her down or something! (Shudder) She looked really angry too..."

"A woman with a Demon Aura?"

"Y-Yes. I think she was a wolf demon too. (Bow) I know what you're all thinking, and I'm sorry I didn't stay to help him, but Freeman said that if anything went wrong before he and Ginta came out to get the heck outta there for help, so that's what I did!"

Miroku sighs and pats the tanuki on the back with a straight face:

"It's okay, Hachi. You only did as you were asked to, and that's fine."

Shippo shivers from atop Coraline's shoulder and jitters,

"First Besa gets a warning through his crystal, now this? That's all I need to hear: Freeman's gotta be in big time trouble!"

I nod in agreement, as do the rest of us, and Inuyasha exclaims with a fist raised,

"Then let's not stand around like a bunch'a idgits: Let's get a move on to Aokigahara!"

"(Collective) Right!"

At that note, Kilala shifts into her true form so Sango and Miroku could ride her, while Hachi transforms into his gourd form for the rest of us to ride, and the Yozosume flies ahead us all alongside the Will O' Wisp, Lumos. We take to the skies, making for a fast pace to the northwest to find Freeman and Ginta before it was too late.

 _(Clenches fist) Hang tight, brother...We're coming for you; just stay strong!_

Time Skip, No POV

"Hah, hah, I dunno, how much longer, I can keep, going...!"

"We, uh-hh, gotta keep trying, Freeman! One pause, is all that she-devil needs, to eliminate us both!"

Catching up with our endangered new couple, shortly after Freeman sent a message of distress through a telepathic connection via the Seven Light Crystal shards (which he may or may not be fully aware of...), the energies would give him enough of a boost to get off of the ground and use his hammer to throw Asuka off-balance with a wave of seismic vibrations, before lifting Ginta to his feet so both could start sprinting out of the area as quick as they're able to...

They've since exited the section of forest where Fugaku Cave resided, and we're now entering the southern region between Aokigahara and Mount Fuji where Saiko Lake sat, the waters casting a brilliant blue sheen in contrast to the deep green mountain vegetation surrounding it, the shoreline a mix of gravel sand and water weeds growing together with wheat stalks.

Unfortunately, the beauty of nature would fall as a much later afterthought, for their attention was concentrated on avoiding having their heads taken off by the shadow-black wind blades send upon them by Asuka the Wolf Demoness.

(Swipe, swipe, swipe)

(Crash, crash, crash...)

"You both can't run forever! I will have your hides!"

Freeman curses to himself,

"Son of a-this is ridiculous! We're like two doves bein' hunted by a crazy falcon! There's gotta be a way to beat her before we get wasted!"

Ginta responds with furrowed eyebrows,

"If we could just disarm her of that demon blade, we might stand a chance for tomorrow...But that's askin' for a miracle..."

"...You know what? Screw miracles: I'm done playing defense!"

"Huh?"

With his mind made up to no longer run like what he would deem as a coward, Freeman slides to a halt, and whirls around to stand at battle ready with his hammer in the air, glare set.

"I say we show this bi-atch what for, that no one's gonna stand in the way of us...Are you with me, Ginta?"

Ginta was taken aback by the show of bravery...but then nods firmly with his own determined expression.

"I'm with you, Freeman; let's do this!"

They move to stand by eachother's side, and wait until Asuka slows to a halt a couple feet away from them, their backs to one side of the coast, hers to the other. She takes in a couple breaths, before asking with a taunting smirk,

"You two finally giving up your lives?"

"Hell no!"

"We're just done running from you, Asuka! If a fight's what you want, a fight's what you'll get, so bring it on!"

"(Frown) Hmph...alright then. It's your, (lunge) funerals!"

With that, the real battle of two against one commences, both sides charging to overpower the other...

At around this time, Inuyasha and company had arrived in the Aokigahara region, and the dog demon himself had jumped off of Hachi to lead the way as soon as his nose caught the mixed scents of two wolf demons and a human.

"Are you sure they went this way, Inuyasha?"

He calls back up to Coraline,

"Positive! My nose hasn't lied to me yet! Plus look around: There's battle damage all over the place!"

The path they were traveling had multiple lacerations on tree trunks that emanated with a hazy black energy, upturned ground and hard-stepped footprints left by the rage-fueled demoness...Shippo shivers from the sight and comments,

"Whoever did this must be really strong..."

Sango, who was still riding in the air on Kilala with Miroku, replies in her own train of thought,

"Either that or they have a powerful weapon. Hachi, you said a bit earlier that this demon woman was carrying a blade on her back?"

The gourd-formed tanuki chimes,

"Uh-huh. I couldn't see it too well from how high up I was, but I think it had a curved blade. It also seemed to be where most of the Demon Aura's strength was coming from..."

Miroku hms with a deep frown and mutters,

"In that case, we may be facing a strong opponent soon."

Besa shakes his head from his place beside Coraline and exclaims with a worried glare,

"I don't care how strong this woman is or isn't: All that matters to me is that we find Freeman before he's killed!"

 _Please be okay, brother..._

(Pulse)

"Uh! (Point) Up ahead: That lake! I can sense Freeman's Seven Light shard!"

Inuyasha further confirms the direction:

"Yeah, and that's where the wolf scent is strongest too! Let's hurry!"

Doubling their speed, the group rushes to meet the end of the treeline that kissed the rocky shores of Lake Saiko...And it would be revealed that their arrival to lend aid was cut close, for despite how hard the pair fought, Freeman and Ginta were unable to get a leg over Asuka.

(Swing, slash)

"Aaaagh!"

(Clang, shing, KICK)

"Aaaaarrrrrhhhhh!"

The male wolf demon received a new cut across his torso after a failed dive kick to knock Asuka's sword from her hands, before she and Freeman go blade to hammer in a short standoff, ending with he getting a hard jab of her right foot in his stomach and thrown back several feet to land beside his fallen partner!

"G-Grh-ah, G-Ginta...are you, alright?"

Doing his hardest to ignore the pain in his bruises and cuts, the wolf demon slowly shoves himself to his knees and mutters with a grit,

"H-Hrgh, b-been, better...You?"

Freeman moves into a similar position, holding his ribs with one hand and using his weapon to help push himself off the graveled ground.

"I'm hangin', i-in there. But this is, m-more damage that I've taken in one sitting..."

"...Freeman!"

"Huh?"

They dart their heads up to the treeline at Besa's call, just as he and the rest of our ragtag group emerge from the southern edge of Aokigahara! The dark-skinned boy stares with wide eyes at his twin's form, muttering their name under his breath.

 _He...He heard me. And they all came..._

Hopping down from Hachi as he transforms back into his regular form, Coraline and Besa quickly become horrified by the sight of their injured sibling (and to another extent, Ginta's injured form).

"Oh my god, Freeman...!"

"Are you and Ginta okay?!" Freeman calls back with a pained grin,

"Not, exactly, but we're still breathing!"

"Not for long, mortal."

"Mph!"

Focus turns to Asuka, who takes a few steps closer to the grievously injured pair with a hateful expression, her blade charging up with power again.

" _You and Ginta will soon die by my hand..._ "

"Stop!"

"Hm?"

She turns her attention to the side, as Coraline steps forward onto the gravel beach with ShatterSoul at the ready in her left hand, Besa following on her right with his sickles out of their holsters.

"Don't you dare take another step closer to them!"

"Or you'll regret the day you were born into this world!"

Asuka's eyes narrow in suspicion at the redhead and her blade:

 _That mortal woman, and her sword...Could she be the priestess warrior that's been talked about through the grapevine?_

 _The one said to have the power to use her own Soul Energy as an attack?_

"You there, the one with the foreign blade: Are you the one known as Coraline?"

Said addressee grips her blade hilt a bit tighter, as Inuyasha quickly moves to stand on her left in a protective manner.

"Who's askin'? Who are you, and what's deal with savagely attackin' Freeman and Ginta?"

"My name is Asuka, one of the many members of the Eastern Wolf Demon Tribe..."

Asuka points the tip of her demon blade in Freeman and Ginta's direction with a snarl:

"And these two, that man and his _bastard mortal_ , have dared to call eachother their own, violating the traditions of the tribe and condemning their lives!"

The rescue party forms a collective 'Hah?!' expression, while said injured pair shout with annoyed glares,

"Those traditions are a bunch of crap!" "Yeah, what he said!"

"Silence, or do you both wish to have your lives ended much quicker?"

Freeman and Ginta grit their teeth and grasp eachother's hand, which did not go unnoticed by the former's brother and Sango.

"(Whisper) Did you see...?"

"(Whisper) Yes...Is it, possible they're..."

Miroku cuts into their train of thought by saying,

"We can figure out those details later, but right now we need to get them out of the line of fire before they're destroyed."

"Right..."

So while they, Lumos and Hachi begin to quietly sneak over and help the injured human and wolf demon, Coraline inquires Asuka with a serious frown,

"And why does such a so-called, 'violation' matter so much to you? Is this a case of unrequited feelings for Ginta, or do you simply hate the idea of two men forming a romantic relationship? Either way, you'd be in the wrong because no one has control over the force of love: It acts on its own accord and to its own rhythm."

"Hmph! What a load of self-righteous nonsense! What of the consequences that can occur with a love so different from the norm? How does one suppose the tribe will look at Ginta after this?! I only wish to save him from a life of ridicule and shame!"

Besa pauses his steps towards his brother and Ginta to counter with a glare,

"At the cost of his heart's freedom and living miserably for the rest of his days? Nice way to 'save him'."

"Shut up, mortal!"

Inuyasha then cuts in while brandishing out his Tessaiga:

"Alright, I've heard all I need to hear: Obviously, you're not gonna stop until you lop off Freeman and Ginta's skulls, but that's not happenin'..."

He then lunges straight at Asuka, adding,

"Because it's your head that's comin' off!"

(Swing, CLANG)

Unfortunately for the dog demon, his blade would meet in a standstill with the female wolf's, and sparks of energy would break out between the metal, before Asuka manages to throw Inuyasha off with a black-shaded wind cut that blasts from her sword!

(Whoosh, slash)

"Gaaa-aaaaah!"

He flies backwards to the treeline, but manages to recover by springing sideways off a trunk and land safely on the grass with a huff. Shippo rushes to check on him with a worried expression:

"Inuyasha, are you okay?!"

"Grh, I'm fine, squirt...but that blade she's carryin's got power. Almost reminds me of that wind witch, Kagura, but not as strong and more, wild if that makes sense."

"Wild? Like, those tornadoes Kōga uses to amp up his speed?"

"Yeah, somethin' on the lines of that mangy wolf's abilities...I dunno where she got that demon blade from, but she definitely knows how to use it."

Inuyasha begins to move back up to a stand, just as Asuka turns to notice Sango, Miroku, Besa and Hachi helping Freeman and Ginta to their feet to walk them to the grass edging the shoreline, the third one and the Will O' Wisp having already used their own powers to heal the injured pair as best they could.

"Grh, no you don't!"

(Lunge, CLANG)

"Uh!"

"Just what I was going to say!"

Thankfully, Coraline was able to move fast enough to stop the wolf demoness from charging at the small group and blocks with her own blade, each one pushing on the other to throw them off-balance! The fox demon exclaims from atop Inuyasha's shoulder,

"Whoa, amazing! Coraline's holding back Asuka's sword with her own!"

The dog demon widens his amber irises in wonder:

 _Huh? How's she doin' that? Coraline does have skill, but I don't remember her bein' that strong...unless..._

 _Is it possible that ShatterSoul is stronger than that wench's demon blade?_

Asuka was just as flabbergasted:

 _What? She's, blocking me!_

 _...She truly isn't any ordinary mortal..._

"(Smirk) Tuh, not bad for a mortal wench. Your blade truly is as strong as they say...I'll tell you what..."

She then releases the clash and jumps back a few feet from Coraline, much to the latter's confusion, until the former continues.

"If you wish to save Ginta and his mortal boy, then let's have a duel!"

"What?"

"You heard me. Here are the stakes: If I lose, then I swear to never lay a hand of harm on your group nor on Ginta again."

Coraline narrows her eyes in suspicion:

"...And if I were to lose, then what?"

"Then the one known as _Freeman_ dies, you relinquish your sword to me, assuming you're still alive once the battle is over, and Ginta is to come back with me to the tribe with no resistance."

Everyone gasps at Asuka's words, and she asks the redhead with a taunting smile,

"What do you say: Do we have a deal? Are you brave enough to take me on?"

Coraline's POV

 _Holy crap, did I seriously just get challenged to a Duel to the Death?!_

 _...What do I do? On one hand, if something isn't done about Asuka, this'll just turn into a ridiculous hunting exercise._

 _But, on the other hand, if I do accept the challenge, I'll be putting myself in the line of fire alongside Freeman and Ginta, and while I don't doubt my skills, there's no actual guarantee that'll be able to prevail over her..._

 _What a conundrum..._

"Don't do it, Coraline!"

"Huh?"

I turn to meet the eyes of Freeman and Ginta, who were sitting off to the side of the shore looking a little better thanks to Besa's crystal and Lumos, as the former adds,

"Don't put yourself in killing range for our sakes! We're not worth that much trouble!"

I could see that he was just concerned for my life and didn't want anyone else getting hurt, but that mattered crap to me...

"Freeman...(Soft smile) You're worth all the trouble in the world, as is what, or should I say, (glances at Ginta) who you fight for."

"Sis..."

"Besides, she challenged me, so it's all up to me whether I accept or not."

 _And I know exactly what my answer is..._

I turned back to face Asuka and call to her with a serious frown,

"I accept your challenge!"

My friends, family and lover gasp, and I steal a glance with Inuyasha while adding,

"And Inuyasha...if by some terrible luck this ends badly...you should know what to do afterwards."

His mouth gapes a bit, before he nods firmly, while mouthing the message 'Be careful, love.' I nod back as seriously, before getting ready for the fight that would soon begin, lifting ShatterSoul over my person with one hand.

 _Here goes..._

One minute passes with the coming breeze, before Asuka and I began our battle, each of us charging at one another blades raised.

"Hraaaaahhhhh!"

"Haaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

(Clang...)

Our swords meet in their second clash, but this time seemed to be one that the she-demon was ready for, and she would shift her stance in a feint drop of weight, before shoving me back and unleashing one of those strange shadow wind attacks!

(Swipe, whoooosh)

"Gh! _Spirit Slash!_ "

(Slash, fwoooosh)

Thankfully, I was fast enough in releasing one of my own blade's special attacks, and it collides with the hazy wind blade before both blow apart in a spark of energy, the impact waving down on us all.

"Grhhh..."

 _That's some power...!_

Once the aftereffect of the collision dissipated, I would straighten up at the ready, only to find my opponent out of sight.

"Uh!"

 _Where'd she go-_

 _(Pulse)_

 _Behind me!_

"Hrrrah!"

(Whirl, clang, clang...)

After a few rounds of blade clashing on blade, I took a turn at shoving Asuka backwards, before landing a swift kick in her abdomen.

"Hah!"

(Kick)

"Rgh!"

She's thrown back a few feet, but stays upright, and gives me a look of scorn before charging at me once again:

"Let's see you best this speed, wench!"

(Clang, clang, clang, shing)

"Guh!"

(PUNCH)

"Uaaaahhhh!"

Unfortunately for me, I was the slower one that time, having my offensive arm holding my sword propelled upward and giving Asuka the opening to land a fist in my torso! I fall back twice as far as she did, landing on the rocky shores face-up:

"Agh!"

 _Dammit!_

"Coraline!" "Cor!"

I manage to push myself up on my elbows, but only got that far before Asuka came lunging at me to try and take my head off, forcing me to use my blade to block hers.

(Clang...)

Now we're caught in a contest of strength: One slip-up on my end is all it'll take before the demon blade comes cutting right through my skull...

"(Pant) You've got guts fighting against the likes of me thus far!"

I look at Asuka's face with confusion for the uh, compliment, she eyeing me with a frown before adding,

"That seems to be the only thing I can't understand about you mortals: You're willing to take on opponents like we demons without so much as a second thought to the danger, purely for other lives or for concepts too high above the mind. Why is that?"

I give her a gritted smile and reply,

"Can't speak as an expert, for even I don't know the true answer, but...maybe it has something to do with our spirits."

"Hm?"

Summoning a burst of strength, I shove her off my person before trying to swipe at her with my blade, she dodging in a leap, as I defend my choice of words.

"All I know is that when the going gets tough, there's always something inside the human spirit that will push us beyond our limits, telling us not to give up, and that what we fight for will always be worth the ache and pain in our bodies in the end..."

I steal a glance at my brother Freeman and Ginta, they watching me in just as bated breath as the others, but were holding hands in a way like Inuyasha and I do as a couple...which means,

 _Something definitely happened between those two...something they won't give up._

 _And that's why I won't lose!_

With that set in my mind, I get back to the current issue that was finishing this battle with my life in tact. It winds up being a series of metal and energy attacks, with the occasional punches, kicks and scratches, leaving Asuka and I fairly battered and bruised, but neither one of us willing to forfeit despite our waning stamina...

Then came the moment that would provide me the opening for the win, and the she-wolf hers for the loss.

"...Asuka!" "Gintaaa!"

 _Uh! That sounded like Kōga and Hakkaku!_

And right I was, when both male wolf demons suddenly came barreling out of the trees just a couple feet back from where we all came out! Asuka was certainly taken aback by their appearance:

"Guh! K-Kōga, Hakkaku!"

 _She's distracted. This is my chance!_

Not wasting this well-timed opportune, I quickly ran at the wolf demoness and used my Aura to knock her sword out of her hands!

" _Spirit Slash!_ "

(Slash, FWAP)

"Uh! My sword!"

It flies several feet into the air, before landing into the waters of the lake, but not so deep that its hilt couldn't be seen...

"Now with that outta the way...try this!"

(Slash)

"Raaaah!"

I use another ice blue energy slash to knock her backwards, before sheathing my blade and switching to hand-to-hand combat, using all that I've learned thus far under Master Yoshi's training to keep up with Asuka's raw speed and strength...

And after a few minutes:

"Hiiiiyah!"

(KICK)

"Aaaauuhhhh!"

My foot connects hard with Asuka's chest, making her fly back several feet and roll onto the gravel beach until she stopped on her back...I take in a few gulps of air to steady my racing heart, before walking over to the wolf demoness's form with an indifferent expression, she pausing in her grimace to look up at me with both irritation...and acknowledgement.

"Hah...hah...well...you win. So...you gonna end my life or what?"

 _Does she seriously expect me to?_

"...Why should I? What would be the point?"

"Huh?"

I give her a serious frown and state,

"You already agreed to the terms of no longer doing harm to me, my friends or Ginta. There wasn't anything that said I would kill you. That'd be taking it too far...besides..."

I look up to see Kōga approaching us with Hakkaku not too far behind him:

"I reckon you'll be receiving worse punishment in a minute."

Small Time Skip, No POV

Soon enough, the whole story would come out: From Ginta's personal inner conflicts to the issues he was having with Asuka, leading all the way down to their most recent skirmish that roped in Freeman's assistance before he tagged out with Coraline...

"So, all this time, you were hiding your feelings about men from us, Ginta?"

The wolf demon nods meekly, his eyes downcast and unable to meet the irises of his two best friends:

"I'm, sorry I never told either of you. I just...I was scared of how you'd react."

"Over what? Somethin' as minor as that you're not into girls? Don't be ridiculous, Ginta."

He darts his head up to look at Kōga in surprise, who smiles at him gently and says,

"It's never been enforced that men can't be with the same sex, more like the thought's, hardly crossed our minds. Either way, we won't ever abandon you because of something as meaningful as finding your mate. If anything, you could be startin' a revolution."

"Uh! A, revolution? Me?" Hakkaku replies with a shrug,

"Why not? Those old traditions are gonna become yesterday's news someday anyway."

"Guys..."

Ginta felt happy tears form in the corners of his eyes, and rushes to hug the other two wolf demons in gratitude for understanding.

"Thank you! Thank you!"

"Whoa whoa, easy, Ginta!" "No need to get mushy!"

He lets them go after a minute, and backs up with a sheepish smile:

"Sorry; went a bit overboard."

Freeman then walks over to him and wraps an arm around his shoulders with a knowing smile:

"See? Told you they wouldn't be dumb enough to start hating you because you like men."

"And you were right..."

Kōga watches their closeness for a moment, hmming in thought at the way they were smiling at one another, before turning stern eyes on the wolf demoness responsible for recent problems.

"Now then, Asuka."

"Mph!"

He moves up until he was just a few inches from her face and barks,

"You've got some nerve terrorizin' my second in command and one of your fellow pack members the way you did! What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I-I-I-"

"(Holds a hand up) Don't. On second thought, based on what I've already heard, I don't even wanna know what's goin' on in that head of yours."

(Lunge, grasp)

"Ugh!"

The wolf demon leader then springs at Asuka and holds her up in the air by her neck, shocking the spectators.

"Uh!" "Kōga!"

"Is he gonna-"

"You don't think he'll...?!"

He growls at the struggling wolf demoness and mutters lowly,

" _I've got a right mind to snap your neck, you wench..._ "

"Wait, Kōga, don't!"

"Hm?"

Ginta then rushes over and grabs the wolf demon leader's arm while pleading,

"Don't kill her! It's not worth it!"

"Not worth it? Even after all the pain she's made you go through?! Are you serious?!"

"I am. I won't deny that she's hurt me...but to go so far as killing her...even I don't want that. She needs to learn that she can't force things on people and expect it to be the right thing. She can't do that if she's dead."

Freeman and Hakkaku mutter Ginta's name with wide eyes, as Miroku comments,

"That's quite a noble gesture, to allow her to live in order to repent for what she's done."

Inuyasha scoffs,

"Keh, if it were me, I would've let her die without a second thought."

Coraline gives him a pointed look, but chose to keep quiet, her eyes on the scene before her:

 _Like I said: She already agreed to not cause harm, and killing her's not gonna change anything except leave a bigger impact of the pain..._

 _And Ginta knows that. He'd rather she learn from her mistakes than die because of them._

"...Tuh, fine."

Kōga drops Asuka to the ground, before he states in a strong tone,

"Asuka, I will spare your life, but you will still be punished for your crimes against the tribe: You are hereby banished from the den!"

"(Gasp) K-Kōga-"

"Now go, before I come up with something worse."

...The demoness rose gingerly to her feet, her head downcast in shame with her bangs covering her eyes, and she slowly walks over into the shallow end of the lake to retrieve her weapon, before disappearing in a hazy black whirlwind...

Shippo whimpers,

"That was scary to watch..."

Hachi nodded in agreement with his own shiver:

"I'll say. That Asuka's lucky she was only banished and wasn't executed..."

Kōga lets out a calmer breath with a frustrated frown:

"Man, I hate havin' to go leader like that, even if it's for a good reason. (Grumbles) Leaves a bad taste in my mouth..."

"...You did the right thing, though."

"Hm?"

He turns eyes to Freeman, who flashes a grim smile and says,

"Coming from someone who's experienced mental cruelty similar to Ginta's, I know that ridding the one responsible off the face of the planet's not gonna change anything. It's better just to move forward with your head high and find people who don't look at you solely for that trait, but at everything that makes you, well, you. Show the opposer that their bullcrap means nothing."

"Hm...I guess that would stick it to 'em better, wouldn't it? Screw with their heads."

"(Laugh) Yeah, that's one way to look at it."

"Now then...there's just one more thing I need to know."

"Hm? What's that?"

Kōga steps up to Freeman's proximity with an intent expression, and sniffs the air around the human before asking seriously,

"Was there any merit to what Asuka was addressing you as before, as 'Ginta's mortal'?"

"U-Um...hoh boy, this is awkward..."

Freeman's face starts colouring over in a blush before Ginta, his face also forming a bright red flush, steps over to try and help the former out.

"W-Well, you see, Kōga...(Sigh) The truth is, before we got ambushed in that old wind cave, Freeman and I, we...might have..."

"Might've wha-(Widens eyes) Wait...no...Did you two...!"

Both boys laugh nervously while rubbing the back of their heads, and Besa quickly clues into the unsaid message.

"...Oh, my, god..." Coraline asks,

"What?"

"Uh...sis, you remember that, 'glow' Freeman sometimes got during those days when he came back from a 'night on the town'?"

"...Oh geez, you mean-?!"

"(Gulp) He's got that glow and then some."

The redhead makes the 'oooh' sound while burying her face into her palms in mortification (though secretly smiling at her brother's proclamation with the wolf demon), while Inuyasha mutters with furrowed brows,

"I don't ge-...Wait a minute...(Widens eyes) What the hell?!"

The rest would quickly clue into the topic of discussion, with the slayer and monk bulging their pupils out, Hachi making the 'Whaaat?!' expression, while Shippo covers his ears and shouts,

"Aaagh! No more info for me thanks; I'm still a kid! Wait...does that mean, Freeman and Ginta, are mates now?"

...Eyes fall on the bashful new couple, who reply,

"Um, yeah..."

"No use denyin' what's true..."

"Uh, you two are aware of what the implications are with becoming mates, right?"

Kōga adds after Hakkaku,

"Especially since one of you is mortal. Not sayin' that to discourage; just pointin' out one of the, possible problems you'll have to face."

Both Freeman and Ginta nod, replying as seriously,

"We're well-aware of what we've done, and we aren't going back on it either."

"We don't care about the differences. What matters is that we want eachother's hearts, end of."

Everyone was in awe by how devoted the two sounded, their expressions and tones reflecting just how much they did care about eachother...Kōga then breaks out an amused laugh and says while slapping a hand on his forehead,

"Wow, what a flip of fates this turned out to be! Here I was chasing a mortal's heart at one time, and now you've gone and took one for your mate! Gotta say...you've got more guts than I do, Ginta."

"Uh! (Small smile) Y-You really mean that, Kōga?"

"Yeah, sure...And I promise to make sure the rest of the tribe respects your decision too."

"Thank you..."

Sango comments on the scene before her the others with mild surprise:

"Well this is an interesting turn. I didn't know that Kōga could be this understanding..."

Coraline smiles a little and replies,

"Well, thinking about how close-knitted the wolf demon tribes are, I don't find this loyalty act too surprising. Besides, he, Hakkaku and Ginta are especially close."

"Very true..."

"(Small frown) What does concern me a little is how each of our travel parties are gonna go about from this point onward..."

Inuyasha asks her,

"Why's that?"

"Well wouldn't it make sense that Freeman and Ginta would want to be close to one another as often as they can?"

"...Oh yeah, that might be a problem."

"No need to worry about that, you guys."

"Huh?" "Hm?"

They turn eyes back on said couple of discussion, who smile a touch sadly but determinedly as Freeman adds,

"We already talked about that, and decided that given how uncertain things are in this ongoing war against Naraku, it'll be better just to continue traveling in our respected groups like normal, but find as many opportunities as we can to meet up."

"Uh...are you guys sure about this?"

"Mhm. Sometimes you gotta work for Love to meet it."

Freeman turns to Ginta to say in a softer tone,

"And I will work my damnedest for us, Ginta. That I can promise you."

"Same here."

They stare into eachother's eyes for a moment...before leaning in to claim the other's lips in a deep kiss, much to the surprise of the bystanders.

"Guh!" "Whoa!"

"Wow...!" "Holy crap...!"

A minute or two passes before the two men part, with Ginta making a surprisingly bold move in lunging at Freeman's neck to nip at his skin with a slight growl, making the latter eep and the former chuckle a bit as he whispers in the waiting ear,

"Until next time then... _mate._ "

"U-Uh, yeah...'til next time."

They step back from eachother, Ginta sporting a cheeky grin in opposition to Freeman's blushing smile, before the wolf demon turns to leave with his comrades.

"Yep, that'll hold me for a while...Shall we get goin', guys?"

Kōga and Hakkaku snap out of their dazes and scramble to catch up with their confident-aired friend:

"Gu-uh, right! Later, mutt, Coraline, and the rest of ya!"

"Bye, you guys! See you around!"

And the three wolf demons take off from the area, moving along on their own trail for the accursed half-demon...Freeman watches the one wolf demon who captured his heart go with a wistful smile, clutching the whistle that summons the Yozosume tightly into his palm like it was a promise ring.

 _...I love you, Ginta, and one day, we'll be with one another without all the chaos..._

 _That, is a promise._


	104. Chapter 103

**Chapter 103: The Shikon-no-Tama Maker, Part One**

Time has gone on in a steady pace since the re-ignition of the war for the fabled Shikon-no-Tama, a jewel born from the Souls of a powerful priestess named Midoriko, and an equally strong demon of many beastly origins, who battled against one another centuries ago before the Sengoku Era began...

But what happened to the shells of these two beings once the jewel was created? Where are they now?

...It is said that in the Abandoned Village of the Demon Slayers, there houses a limestone deposit cave where the once alive human warriors discarded demon parts deemed unnecessary for their trade, and deep inside, stands an impressive stalagmite statue depicting a beautiful woman wearing samurai-like armour, yet the robes of a spiritual practitioner, bravely fighting off a beast of massive size...

Could she be the priestess in question, this, Midoriko?

...That is what the newest visitor believes, they a young man with shoulder-length black hair tied back into a small ponytail, a black hat, wearing the robes of a scholar, the haori dark blue and patterned with white flowers and a white hakama.

He walks up as close as he could to the statue and compliments to the air,

"How beautiful you must have been when you were alive, Midoriko...Was it that beauty that gave you the power to create the Shikon-no-Tama?"

...The scholar then leaves without another word, adding further mystery to his character and motives regarding the fabled jewel in question.

Time Skip

We catch up now with Inuyasha and company on a new day in Edo, the skies open and clear for the sunshine to stream over the landscape. They're all sitting around a large yellow blanket in a large field of grass near some bushes and a flowering beech tree, having lunch and taking advantage of this break in the buzz of activity that's been ensuing since the disappearance of Naraku.

Coraline, she dressed in a blue cropped tank-top, a black unbuttoned, khaki-style shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, dark blue skinny jeans, and her brown hiker shoes, takes a bite out of her rice ball and muses over how far she and her friends, family and lover have come since the start of their journey.

 _Gosh...It's almost hard to believe that it's been about a year since I tumbled down that well, and wound up accidentally refueling the fight for the fabled prize that's the Shikon-no-Tama..._

 _Can't say it's been a real prize so far. Sure it's got power, but at what cost?_

 _Many lives, human and demon, have lost their lives, not just in this era, but centuries before that too..._

 _It's certainly not helping anybody that Naraku, the bastard, has possession over a good portion of the jewel._

The redhead looks up from her lap and peers over the people surrounding her, a smile slowly forming on her lips.

 _But, I guess the hardship's worth it, as long as you have people who will stick with you no matter what._

 _We've all had our share of trials and tribulations...but they all formed a road that led us to eachother._

"...Deep in thoughts again, sis?"

"Hm?"

Coraline looks over to her right at Besa, he wearing a grey-white buttoned-up shirt with a dark green vest overtop, light blue jeans and black sneakers, and nods while replying,

"Yeah, just reflectin' over time again..."

"Mm, I gotcha."

"Speakin' of time, I can't believe you finally hit sixteen yesterday!"

They turn to Freeman, he wearing a white t-shirt with a sun symbol on it in black, grey skinny jeans and red sneakers, as he added with a smirk,

"So, how's it feel being another year older?"

"(Shrug) Meh, no different than being a teenager of fifteen. Heh, and nice touch with the twin sugar skull candies, you guys; real cute."

"You expected anything less? Cinco de Mayo, hello?"

The twins laugh at their light joke for Coraline's birthday, who just rolls her eyes in amusement...

* * *

Note: This is mostly for those who have read my other fic, but in this story, my main OC's birthday is May Fifth, 2002. Just a date I thought would make sense in accordance to the timing when she first fell to Edo. Thank you!

* * *

A wisp of wind then blows by, tousling her hair a little and causing Lumos, who was floating around the group in a calm buzz, to accidentally tumble into her red locks.

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Oh! (Giggle) Whoops, hang on, bud..."

As the redhead worked to untangle her Will O' Wisp companion from her hair, Sango comments on this new spout of tranquility while she petted Kilala, who was resting on her lap in dormant form.

"The breeze feels so nice, (Slight chuckle) even if it steers Will O' Wisps off-course..."

Shippo pauses in his eating of two rice balls and makes his own observation:

"It's so peaceful..."

The dog demon of our group, however, wasn't feeling as joyful about this break of activity.

"(Frown) We haven't found a single clue leading to Naraku, and here you are wasting time like this. Hurry up and eat!"

He then proceeds to start scarfing down a few rice balls before washing them down with some large gulps of water from a plastic bottle, making Coraline roll her eyes again, but in exasperation this time. Freeman mumbles with a brow raised,

"Huh. To think he was a bit more relaxed yesterday, now we're back to the on-edge warrior..."

 _But I guess sis's birthday may have had something to do with it..._

Miroku then cuts in with his own thoughts in response to Inuyasha's comment regarding the overall mission, arms folded and looking down with a slightly grim expression.

"To make things worse, demons that were laying low when Naraku was around are now coming out of the woodwork in droves. Things couldn't be more discouraging..."

"You goin' somewhere with this?"

"I'm saying, let us relax and at least enjoy our meal in peace."

Shippo then chides to the dog demon with his own arms crossed,

"You should have a little more sympathy for them, Inuyasha."

"What?"

"Coraline, Miroku, Sango, Freeman and Besa aren't strong like us. They're only weak mortals. (Closes eyes) You're expecting the impossible."

Inuyasha growls a bit at the fox demon, while the three modern teens chuckle a bit under their breaths, and Sango asks in disbelief,

"Did he just call us weak mortals...?"

Besa hms and says with a small grin,

"Not sayin' I'm offended. Mortals are mortals, but I'd like to argue that the strength of humanity is as unique as a demon's."

Freeman nods in agreement, while Miroku says to the youngest demon of the group,

"That being said, it's a good thing you understand, Shippo."

"Huh, what? I didn't say something weird, did I?"

Coraline shakes her head and replies,

"Nope, that was just the grown-up part of your head talking. Nothing wrong with that."

Shippo sighs with some relief, and looks around at everyone before asking to make sure,

"I'm not, wrong, right?"

Inuyasha then sighs with a mixed-in 'feh', and turns his body a little while holding his Tessaiga to himself while muttering,

"What do ya mean, strong like us? (Lies on his side) Go ahead and keep eating then. Wake me up when you're done."

(...Shift)

"Hm?"

He then sees Coraline's face appear in front of his, she laying down near him with a small smile.

"May I join you on that plan?"

"Um...yeah, alright."

So for the next little bit, everyone else would continue to eat their fill while the silver-haired dog demon and redheaded human took a small nap together on the grass. Miroku and Shippo comment again on the atmosphere for the afternoon:

"Clean air and delicious rice balls!"

"And nice weather!"

"That too."

Freeman nods absentmindedly, his eyes stealing a glance at the young couple who were nestled close to one another, Inuyasha's arm draped over Coraline's waist and one of her hands lightly grabbing the sleeve of the dog demon's fire rat robe, their eyes closed with restful smiles, and found himself smiling a bit distantly as his mind drifted over a special someone of his own...

"Hey, bro."

"Huh?"

He snaps out of his daze and turns to meet the green irises of his brother, who smiles at him sympathetically while asking,

"Thinking about Ginta again?"

...Gripping the black glass whistle around his neck, Freeman nods with a slightly sad smile.

"Yeah...It's only been a few days since we last saw eachother, heh, in more ways than one...and I miss him."

Sango chides with a kind smile,

"I'm sure it won't be too long until we run into him and those other two again."

"Yeah, I know. At least we're able to stay in touch through the Yozosume, so that's better than nothin'..."

 _But it'll be magic again when we can see eachother face-to-face..._

A few more minutes of quiet pass...before the swordswoman in our group stirs awake when she feels a familiar buzz of energy.

(Pulse)

"(Blink) Uh!"

 _No way...was that...?_

She quickly moves to a sitting position with a shocked expression, causing Inuyasha to awake and move up with her while eyeing her form in concern.

"Hm? What'sa matter?" Sango was curious too:

"What is it? Is something wrong, Coraline?"

"Hard to say..."

The redhead moves to a stand and narrows her eyes in suspicion:

"I sense something, like the Shikon-no-Tama shards, but at the same time, it's not..."

Inuyasha inquires,

"Well, which is it, Coraline, yes or no?"

"Again, I'm not certain. The pulse is similar, but, with a different rhythm than usual, like something's trying to copy it..."

Hmming, the dog demon gets up to his own two feet and asks with his own suspicions rising,

"Where is it?"

Using her Aura Sight, Coraline narrows the pinpoint and extends a finger out in front of her:

"From the woods, far down there...Uh! And it's coming our way too!"

Zooming in on said woods, we find the same scholar from before running down a dirt path between the thick-branched trees with a frantic expression on his face, his object of fright being a large, raptor-like demon with copper-brown skin, red eyes and sharp teeth!

"You there: Halt!"

The scholar turns back to his front and focuses on trying to get away...when Inuyasha suddenly leaps in from the bushes on the right side of the path!

"Leave that to me!"

So while the dog demon charges off to fight the raptor demon, the scholar moved to the safer distance where the rest of the group was, Miroku and Sango chiding,

"You're safe now."

"It's okay, don't worry."

"Thank you."

Focus turns on the battle about to take place:

"What do you want, half-demon? How dare you interfere!"

Ignoring the threatening tone, Inuyasha turns his head to Coraline's direction to ask,

"Is this guy the one?"

"Yes. He has, something in his stomach that beats like a Shikon-no-Tama fragment..."

Raising a brow at the hesitance in the redhead's voice, the dog demon turns back to the raptor demon and grips his sword's hilt at the ready.

"Sooo, where'd you get the Shikon-no-Tama shard?"

"(Chuckle) Now that you know about my Shikon-no-Tama, you will now do as I say and surrender the human!"

"(Sarcastic) Really? You could surrender the jewel and escape with your life, if you're lucky!"

"I detest such impudence!"

The demon then launches himself into the air at the same time Inuyasha unsheathes his blade, the former adding in a jeer,

"You will regret opposing me!"

The raptor demon then unleashes a cloud of toxic fumes, but that did little to slow the dog demon down.

(Leap)

"Nothin' but hot air!"

(SLASH)

He then slices the enemy into two halves!

"Uuugh! That, wasn't, suppose to happen...!"

...The pieces of the dead demon land on the ground in time with Inuyasha, before attention is drawn to the source of power that flew out from the flesh...The twins, Coraline and Miroku each made their own verbal responses of shock:

"Is that..."

"No freakin' way!" "The Shikon-no-Tama?!"

"Impossible...!"

Inuyasha catches the marble-sized jewel into his palm, before holding it up between his fingers to show...

However:

(Crick, crack...)

"What's happening?"

(SHATTER)

"Auh! Inuyasha shattered the jewel in his hand!"

He heavily disagreed with Shippo's exclaim of surprise:

"You fool, the Shikon-no-Tama doesn't shatter that easily!"

Coraline nodded in agreement:

"He's right, plus, it didn't really feel like the real deal. More like a weaker copy that had good luck in pulsing strong enough to get my attention."

"That's correct: It's only an imitation of the real Shikon-no-Tama."

"Hm?"

Everyone turns eyes to the man in the scholar's robes as he ponders,

"It would seem, there is a demon trying to create a duplicate of it."

Inuyasha asks,

"Huh? What're you talking about?"

"I'll explain, but first, may I, have a drink of water?"

Freeman pulls off his satchel and reaches inside to pull out a jade green, see-through water bottle:

"Here, man. Have some of this."

The scholar takes the bottle, and marvels at its make while holding it to the light of the sun:

"My, how remarkable...Such a beautiful water container..."

Inuyasha tilts his head to the side in confusion from the observation:

 _What's with him?_

...Unbeknownst to the group, there was another demon of more serpentine origins skulking behind a tree, watching them for a moment, before forming a smirk and walking away...

Soon, everyone was sitting on top a circle of boulders in a small clearing just a couple feet away from the main path, opening their ears to the story that the scholar was about to tell.

"My name is Izumo. My family has served as Guujis for centuries."

"Guuji? What's that?"

Shippo, who was sitting on Besa's lap on a boulder adjacent to Izumo, was just as confused as Inuyasha, whom was sitting across the new face with Coraline on his right.

"Beats me."

Said redhead explains the term used:

"It's another title for someone who works as head of a shrine. For example, Grandfather is the current Guuji at the Higurashi Shrine."

"Indeed. So you must be a priestess." Coraline smiles awkwardly at Izumo and says,

"Ueh, kind-of, but not really. It's really more a case of knowledge than actually being a part of the occupation."

Inuyasha gets the conversation back on track:

"You were saying?"

"I began my studies in order to better serve the Gods, and as my thirst for knowledge grew, I traveled to many countries to serve, learn and record."

"I don't care about you or your personal history. Tell us about the imitation Shikon-no-Tama."

Izumo obliges:

"The very purpose of my studies is to learn everything I can about the Shikon-no-Tama."

Sango, who was sitting on a large stone with Miroku standing on her back right, and Freeman laying against the rock while sitting on the grass near her feet, cuts in with her own remark.

"So that's how you knew of its existence..."

"All the universe, everything in life, is created from four spirits."

Miroku catches onto the philosophy:

"Aramitama, Nigimitama, Kushimitama, and Sakimitama. Those are the four. When these four Souls are in synthesis, they become one Spirit, or the Human Heart."

Inuyasha groans in exasperation:

"Would somebody answer my question?!" Shippo meanwhile, couldn't wrap his head around the concept:

"I heard that one before, but I never really understood it..."

Besa smiles down at the fox demon and says,

"Try thinking of that puzzle I brought for you once, except with just four pieces that you need to use to form the whole picture."

"Hmm...Oooh, that helps!"

Sensing that particular rise of frustration in Inuyasha that usually led to a blow up of temper, Coraline grabs his hand to squeeze in a calming gesture before asking Izumo,

"If we could get back to current events, please, Izumo: Do you know where the demon from earlier got that copy-cat jewel?"

"Someone gave it to him." The dog demon urges,

"Who did?"

"It was a demon."

Inuyasha yanks the scholar up by his robes edgily:

"Are you lookin' for a fight?!"

"N-No, nothing of the sort!"

Coraline tugs her boyfriend's arm back with a stern gaze:

"Inuyasha, don't." She then sends a kinder smile to Izumo and asks,

"So why was the demon chasing you, then? You obviously don't have anything on your person they would've been interested in."

"Because I happen to come across some demons and their fake Shikon-no-Tamas."

 _(Flash)_

 _We see Izumo traveling up a hill in the forest valley near the mountainsides..._

"I heard there was a shrine which told the legend of the Shikon-no-Tama, and I made my way to the mountain path...Eventually, though, I got lost..."

 _He pauses when he meets the tree canopy again, and looks around for his next route, only to find his eyes catching a familiar pink fushia glow...!_

 _(Flash)_

"That's when I came upon a demon handing the Shikon-no-Tama, to that other one..."

We now see everyone making their way out of the forest in the direction of the valley that Izumo spoke of in his recollection. Inuyasha then asks,

"Was this demon called Naraku?"

"No. He called himself, Orochidayu. And he said that the jewel was not yet complete, but that soon, a true Shikon-no-Tama would be made, at least that's what he said."

Freeman asks with a worry brow,

"So in other words, there's a demon runnin' loose that's making imitation Shikon-no-Tamas?"

"Unfortunately, that was all I was able to hear."

Eventually, the group makes it to the valley, the oaks and beeches sitting nestled between the large crevice of garnet. Sango would then switch into her demon slayer gear and survey the skies aboard Kilala's true form, leaving everyone else to look around on the ground.

"Strange. I don't sense the presence of any demons." Izumo says to Miroku,

"It was just around here that I came upon the demon."

Inuyasha uses his nose to try and catch a whiff of the scent he was expecting to pick up...however...

"I'm not catchin' any scent of Naraku. It doesn't seem like he's involved in this."

Besa then asks Coraline,

"What about you, sis? Sense any presence of the jewel?"

"(Shakes his head) Nope, nothin'. Not like the first round before was that strong to begin with, anyway..."

She glances over to her left and asks her Will O' Wisp companion:

"Sensing anything unusual, Lumos?"

He bops left and right with a moan that was his own version of 'Nuh-uh', just as Inuyasha scoffs over the situation at hand.

"That's 'cause it's a fake!" Shippo adds,

"It probably doesn't work all that well, either," but Freeman shrugs,

"Either way, it don't make this new problem any less troublesome. (Looks up) Oh, Sango! What'd you and Kilala see?"

She points out in front of her and calls back,

"There's a village over there!"

And up ahead, in the lower valley area, was a relatively large village below a shrine, the huts made from planks of wood, plotted around and near the surrounding forest, and several fields tended to for the next growing season...

But after combing the entire village, everyone meets back up to report similar observations regarding the lack of, people to occupy the land.

"No one's around."

"There's no sign of anyone."

Coraline hms with a finger under her chin in thought:

"Reminds me of what happened in that village the Panther Demon Tribe used to terrorize...Something must've happened to them."

Inuyasha comes leaping in and notices that their temporary addition wasn't here:

"Hey. Where'd that priest go?"

"Hm? Izumo?"

Freeman then points in the direction of the archway path leading to the shrine:

"I think I saw him heading that way."

Meanwhile, atop the steps of said holy structure, Izumo was holding his arms out for the local Japanese Skylarks to land on, being as still and quiet as possible, with a somewhat faraway and peaceful smile on his face...

It was then that Inuyasha comes walking up the stairs with Shippo on his shoulder, and calls to the scholar.

"Hey, what're you doing?"

The birds become startled by the dog demon's voice, and fly off, much to Izumo's disappointment...

"Well?"

"Word has it, that this shrine houses the Deity of Origin."

The eyes of the three turn to the shrine house in question, and Shippo hops off Inuyasha's shoulder to scamper inside for a closer look. He would find that the interior was just as bare as the village homes below, and with broken furniture and pottery strewn across the floor...

"It's empty."

By this time, the rest of the group catches up, and Sango asks Izumo,

"What is the Deity of Origin?"

"There is a legend, that claims the Spirits of Kushimitama and Sakimitama, were born from the heart of this deity."

"Ooh, is that so?"

Miroku adds onto the explanation with his own insight:

"Kushimitama embodies Chi, or Knowledge, and Sakimitama embodies Ai, or Love."

Izumo nods and continues:

"Aramitama, or Yuu, Nigimitama, or Shin. Yuu, Shin, Chi, Ai: These are the Four Spirits that make up the Shikon-no-Tama."

Shippo slaps his palms on the sides of his skull, the information going over his mind and spinning in a washing machine's spiral.

"Uuuh, my head," and he faints back onto the porch of the shrine house...

"Let's save all the talk for later. I'm gettin' a weird feeling from this place, and I don't like it."

Miroku agrees with Inuyasha:

"I think we should investigate a little more around here."

"I'll check just outside the village."

The twins and the girls nod, before the dog demon leaps off to the woods outside the area...

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

It's been another half hour since we all began perusing the village again for anything that could tell us what happened to its people, but so far, nothing has offered a good explanation...I exit out another hut with Shippo on my shoulder, holding the door flap open a bit higher to allow Lumos an easy leave while grumbling,

"Shoot, still no clues...Huh?"

I then see that Izumo was basking in the sun rays, looking in its direction with an intent expression...Shippo asks him,

"Uh, what're you doing?"

"I wonder how it is that the sun can be so warm and blinding."

"Who knows? It's just one of those natural things."

Izumo didn't seem to think so:

"Natural? Not to me it isn't...Is something burning on the other side of the sun?"

He holds his hands up to cup around the big ball of burning gas in the sky:

"And, what is the distance from us to the sun?"

Shippo whispers to me,

"This guy thinks up such weird stuff..."

But I smile, knowing that this scholar's pondering, was but the spark of something wonderful for the people of this era.

"Actually, Shippo, he has merit to pondering such thoughts. This is about the time the Renaissance Period in Europe begins, in which many scholars there, here and around most of this side of the world's hemisphere have begun asking those type of questions that open the door to scientific exploration."

He turns to me in curiousity:

"Does that mean there are alot of guys like him in your era too?"

As Izumo wonders,

"Why does the night fall as the days end," I nod and reply,

"Much like Izumo here, my era has scores of scientists and philosophers whom have asked the big questions like 'Why is the Sky blue' and 'What makes the Earth move'. My father is included among such groups of thinkers with his work in Archaeology, though his train of thought took him to the mysteries of life and the connections between mortals and the supernatural."

"Oh, okay..."

We turn back to Izumo, and Shippo asks,

"Say..."

"Yes?"

"Those 'Four Spirits' you were talking about earlier. What do they mean? That Yuu and Shin."

"Do you mean, Yuu, Shin, Chi and Ai, fox demon?"

"Yeah, those ones!"

Izumo almost smiles a bit from Shippo's animation, and obliged with a more detailed explanation.

"Aramitama, or Yuu represents the Spirit of Courage."

That caught both of our attentions:

"That's good. Now we're getting somewhere with all this."

"Interesting...and the others, Shin, Chi, Ai?"

"Shin represents Friendship. Chi represents Knowledge, or knowing the ways of the world. And Ai is of course Love."

Shippo nods in comprehension:

"Okay, that stuff makes sense. That 'mitama'-something you were saying was starting to give me a headache."

I smile in amusement at the fox demon, while Izumo goes on to say,

"Aramitama of Courage, Nigimitama of Friendship, Kushimitama of Knowledge, Sakimitama of Love..."

He moves his stance over to a beech tree as he finishes,

"When these Four Spirits are gathered into one, and Good and Evil are sealed inside the chaos, then it is possible for a Shikon-no-Tama to be created."

While I understood the last parts of his explanation, Shippo's mind became muddled by the extra load.

"Gaah, oh no, there he goes, he's lost me again...!"

I watch as Izumo holds his hand out to the little bird, a Rosefinch I believe the species was, and pondered over what was said.

 _Hm...Four sides, Good and Evil in Chaos, to meet a singular end..._

 _That sounds more like a way to look at the complexities of the Human Race rather than a jewel..._

"Stop, don't run away!"

I was startled out of my thoughts when I heard a familiar voice calling out to another, and turn back to the direction of the path leading to the main part of the village.

"Huh? Was that, Sango?"

Izumo and I hurry back the other way, with Lumos floating ahead of us and Shippo remaining on my shoulder, only to discover Sango chasing after a young lad, he tan complexioned with short black hair that was styled with a bit of bangs over his forehead and a ponytail-like topknot out the back, wearing a very worn outfit consisting of a moss yellow-green haori and gray hakamas.

"I won't hurt you!"

"Stay away!"

I deadpan a little bit and say to myself mentally,

 _Probably isn't helping that you're riding on a full-formed twin-tail cat demon, Sango..._

The boy tries to urge himself on, but was then blocked off by Miroku, who offers a gentle smile and chides,

"We're travelers, not bandits. Have no fear; we won't do anything to harm you."

While Izumo chose to wait by the huts, I went up to their proximity, meeting my brothers halfway.

"Oh! Hey, guys."

"Hey."

"We heard the yelling and came from the fields. (Looks to Sango and Miroku) What's happenin', you guys?"

The boy gasps upon seeing Shippo on my shoulder and backs a step while shouting with a point,

"Stay away, demon!"

My fox demon companion gapes, but Miroku dispels the boy's worries:

"Yes, Shippo and Kilala are indeed demons, but they aren't bad. Why? What's the matter? Did something terrible happen in this village?"

The lad couldn't answer at first, he suddenly bursting into tears and falling to his knees...Besa kneels by his left and places a comforting hand on his back:

"Easy there, it's alright...What's your name, first of all?"

"(Sniff) Sh-Shou-s-suke..."

"Okay, Shousuke. I promise that whatever happened here will not happen to you. We will protect you and won't let any harm come to threaten your being."

The rest of us nod with sympathetic and serious expressions, and Shousuke takes in a shaky breath before starting his tale.

"The, the demons...The demons came, and..."

"They attacked the village, right?"

The lad looks up at Besa with teary brown-blue orbs and nods slightly:

"Everyone was taken away...I was punished for being naughty, and put in the chicken coop..."

He goes on to describe a humanoid demon with serpent features leading a torch-wielding army of others, threatening to burn the village and everyone in it unless they willingly surrender themselves. And it would seem that Shousuke was the lucky soul who managed to elude capture...

As the sun began setting, casting red and yellow over the land and skies, we gathered around the lad as he sat on a small boulder with Besa sitting beside him and holding an arm around his shoulder, as he finishes his tale.

"Everyone was taken away by the demons that night."

"When was this?" He replies sullenly to Miroku,

"About five days ago. I've been hidin' in the coop since that terrible night."

Freeman ponders quietly to himself,

"I thought I heard somethin' in that hen house besides the chickens...(Slight smile) You picked a good place to keep out of sight, kid. Those demons must've been real dumb to not look in there."

Shousuke flashes a tiny smile back as Miroku remarks,

"Well, that answers the question of why the village was deserted..."

"Tell me...what happened to them all? Wh-Why did the demon take my parents away? Why?"

We couldn't find any good words to say to Shousuke, and only stared, before he finally asks that one question.

"What happened? Did the demons eat them?"

 _I hope for your sake, they didn't, lad...at least not yet._

"No, I do not believe that is the case. If they had only come to eat, they wouldn't have come to take them all away."

I turn to Izumo with some hope:

"You think so?"

"Yes. I don't believe they've been eaten." Miroku and Sango didn't seem to think so either:

"He's right. The demons that did this aren't fools: They know that if they attack the villages and kill everyone, people will hire demon slayers."

"If the demons took them alive, they must have a reason for it."

Shousuke asks with hopes rising,

"You think my parents are still alive then?"

Besa replies,

"Most likely, but we'll need to find them as quick as we can."

Freeman adds while tapping the handle of his hammer against his shoulder,

"We'll also take out those demons for darin' to bring terror to your home."

Shousuke begins sobbing with gratitude:

"I'm so glad...! Thank you...!"

"This won't be easy...It'll be night soon. I hope we can find 'em in the dark."

I half-smirk at Miroku and quirk,

"A little darkness won't be able to stop us, (glance) isn't that right, Lumos?"

My Will O' Wisp partner bops up and down with anticipating moans, making me laugh a little.  
Izumo then makes a rather dismal observation of the coming time of day:

"Nightfall...hm...The night cloaks all in darkness. Even the most beautiful creature, is hidden under the black robe."

"Nm? Uh, you, took the words right out of my mouth..."

As Miroku says that, I quirk up an eyebrow at the scholar's statement:

 _Huh...that sounded more personal than some of his other daily observations..._

(Pulse)

"Uh! The Shikon-no-Tama's near!"

I whip my head to my right to where the plains began out of the village, and see a demon with a remarkably-similar countenance to that fake water god we encountered before, leading an small army of other demons! His voice sounded similar too, though with a less emphasized accent:

"What a surprise. I thought I sensed the presence of mortals. I see you have real Shikon-no-Tama shards."

Shousuke exclaims,

"Huah, that's them! They're the ones who kidnapped my parents and the others!"

The demon says to us,

"Surrender now, and hand over the Shikon-no-Tama shards."

Freeman and I move closer to the lad and Besa, the three of us readying our weapons (I choosing my combat knife rather than my sword), and Miroku steps forward while placing his grip on the prayer beads wrapped around his cursed hand. He calls back in a strong tone,

"You're the ones who should be surrendering! So, you're the wicked Orochidayu...Where did you take the villagers?"

"Aah, monk. I've heard many rumours about you. You're the one with the Wind Tunnel in your hand."

"You know about that? Good, then you'll know what hit you."

Orochidayu raises his spear-tipped staff and orders,

"Take him!"

A few other demons rush at Miroku, but he stands bravely before unleashing his power:

" _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whoooooosssssshhhhh...)

He easily sucks them into oblivion, before relinquishing his cursed hand and demands,

"Now, will you behave and do as we ask?"

...But suddenly, he lets out a pained gasp and peers down at his hand with worry.  
Orochidayu holds out another one of those imitation jewels and explains,

"See, these Shikon-no-Tamas are a collection of noxious demonic vapours."

 _Auh! Oh no!_

Sango rushes to Miroku's side as he leans back a bit on his staff while gritting his teeth in pain.

"Miroku!"

"Rgh..."

"And unfortunately for you, it's toxic to humans." Izumo mutters,

"It's an evil spirit. That jewel will defile the human soul."

 _...Evil, defile? I dunno about that: Humans aren't exactly all pure to begin with._

I don't make this observation aloud, instead just narrowing my eyes and commenting,

"This isn't good: Each of these demons possess a copycat jewel."

The demons all chuckle at their advantage over Miroku's Wind Tunnel, while he growls,

"Why, you...!"

Sango them tries to land a hit at the small horde using her Hiraikotsu, but they just move aside quick enough in a dodge...I hold up my knife at the ready before calling,

"Izumo: Take Shousuke away from this area!"

"Yes, right away." Besa then says,

"I'll go with them as backup!" Shippo helps with distraction by using his Fox Fire:

"Take this, demons!"

(Fwoom...)

The demons flinch back, giving Izumo and my brother the opportunity to lead Shousuke to safety.

"This way!" "Come on!"

They run through a hut for extra cover, just as Miroku uses a sacred sutra against one demon, and Freeman tries to rush at Orochidayu with his hammer.

"Hrrrrrah!"

(Clang)

But the humanoid serpent demon manages to block him with the base of his staff, before shoving the other back altogether!

"Whoa!"

"Hiraikotsu!"

(Toss, spin...)

Sango tries a second attack with her weapon, but the demons just dodge once again...She comments while catching the boomerang on the rebound,

"You're much stronger than the average demon."

"Could the Shikon-no-Tama be that powerful even though it's an imitation?"

Freeman replies to Miroku as he rises back to his feet after sliding backwards on the dirt from his failed attack,

"Well, there was that crystallized poison that Naraku made into a fake jewel shard a long while back to trick Kōga into dying so Kagura could steal his real shards from his legs. If something like that can be used to mimic raw power, why not a fully-formed version?"

I ponder,

"Still, it doesn't answer the question of how these fakes were created..."

Shippo cuts in with his own words:

"Maybe we should talk about it after they're gone..." Orochidayu then calls to us,

"Now then, give it up. You have no hope."

Freeman jeers back with a glare,

"Says you, creep!"

Miroku grabs hold of those prayer beads again:

"There's no choice but to use my Wind Tunnel again." But Sango protests:

"You can't. It's too dangerous."

"But..."

Just as the demons begin to slowly trudge towards us...I hear the outcry of my boyfriend come from the far right, and turn to see him leaping towards us!

"(Happy gasp) Inuyasha!"

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(SLASH)

He takes down a couple of the demons with his claws, and my brother and Shippo greet,

"Good timin', man!"

"Where were you?" Inuyasha replies to Shippo gruffly,

"Aw, save it! How was I suppose to know you'd be attacked?"

I move the fox demon to rest on Freeman's shoulder, before quickly move to give my man a kiss on the cheek and say to him with a smile,

"I'm just glad you weren't ambushed either. Thanks for comin' on good time."

His mouth twitches up a bit and gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze, before turning to face the demons with a glare. Orochidayu then orders two demons forward:

"Tsuchigumo! Ikkaku!"

The first one was a spider demon, ugly face abound, but with only six legs and orange fur all over its back. The second had a look similar to that of the more popular Western Pop Culture depictions of the Devil, tall and red-skinned with good muscle build, but with long gray-white hair, a single horn protruding from his forehead, red eyes, and wore a small navy cloth over his shoulders like a cape, as well as a dark blue toga.

(Ping...)

Orochidayu then tosses each one a fake jewel, which upon contact would make their size double what they were before! But that didn't faze Inuyasha:

"Kuh, don't think that swallowing a fake jewel will make you strong!"

But just as he pulls out his Tessaiga...suddenly:

(Crash)

"Uaaaagh!"

Besa comes flying out of the wall of one of the huts, and falls to his back while losing hold of his sickles!

"Bro!" "Besa!"

He was then followed by an ape-like demon wearing only a red hakama, who had Izumo and Shousuke under his arms!

"Release us!" "Nooo!"

I call after the two as the demon makes off for the forest, and Inuyasha readies to chase after them.

"Oh no ya don't!"

Unfortunately, the demon Ikkaku blocks his way, and charges with his horn, forcing Inuyasha to block with his sword...Sango and Kilala then try to go after Izumo and Shousuke, but are caught in the webbing of Tsuchigumo! The spider starts reeling them in, and I turn to eye Besa as Freeman helps him off the ground, thankfully none too injured other than maybe some bruising on his back after crashing through the wood planks.

"Besa!"

"Right!"

We both tag-team in a charge, he swiping his sickles at the spider's face while I swung my knife at the web to cut it.

"Hah!"

(Snap)

 _Got it!_

At the same time, Freeman rushes to lend Inuyasha a hand after the latter shoves Ikkaku back, the former adding extra trajectory with his hammer.

"Take, this!"

(WHACK)

The demon flies and crashes on top of Tsuchigumo, and with them disoriented, Inuyasha releases his Tessaiga's power.

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

Ikkaku is eliminated, but the top half of Tsuchigumo tries to hang onto life and escape...until he's hacked down by a familiar demon bone boomerang...

"You guys did it!"

Freeman slings his hammer over his shoulder and shakes his head with a frown:

"'Fraid not, Shippo." Inuyasha agreed with him:

"Yeah, the others all got away! Sango! (Points right with his sword) Over there; let's go!"

She nods, and quickly snatches up her Hiraikotsu before taking off ahead with Inuyasha to chase after the demons, the rest of us running not too far behind them.

 _Hang on, Izumo and Shousuke. We'll find you!_

Small Time Skip, No POV

We now cast our eyes inside a deep cave hidden within the mountainsides, where the people of Shousuke's village now lay, encased within large toad embryos!

The demon responsible for their fate, was of course a toad demon, similar in appearance to the one who possessed the body of a lord to devour the Souls of young women (including Princess Tsuyu), but was wearing a mahogany red robe, and spoke in a voice that held no nasal tone.

"Aaah, such delicious looking Souls~..."

Orochidayu then appears with Shousuke under his arm:

"Don't you eat any of them, Gamajiro. Here; take this boy's soul too."

He tosses the boy to the hard-rocked floor, and he stirs awake, only to meet the sight of his captured parents!

"Father! Mother!"

Shousuke rushes to their embryo-encased forms as Gamajiro laughs and jeers,

"Don't worry. You'll be with them soon enough."

The two demons then turn to meet eye-to-eye with a third beast, one who held the features of a humanoid oxen...

"Gyu-Oh. Now then, it's time for us to put your skills to the test."

...Heading back to the outdoors, we see our group traveling along a path in the mountainside, Shippo using his fox fire while riding Kilala with Sango to help light the way now that the cover of night has set upon the land. Everyone else was walking, while Lumos floated around the group as they went, making his body glow a bit brighter to help with their limited sight.

"Are you sure it's this way, Inuyasha?" He replies to the fox demon,

"Yeah. This whole place reeks of blood and demons."

Miroku then asks Coraline,

"Sensing anything, Coraline?"

"Nothing too clear in terms of the fake jewels, but I am catching onto the Aura Trails of those demons from before..."

The group takes a couple steps more, only to stop to the tune of a demon growl, and the redhead warns,

"Guys...a fake jewel's coming our way!"

The ground begins rumbling, and something spurts out of the dirt towards the group, forcing most to scramble out of the way while Inuyasha pulls out his Tessaiga at the ready...

(SLAM)

"Ga-uh!"

But the dog demon was knocked strongly back, landing in the trees that he and others just came out from!

(Crash...)

He of course, is fine thanks to his demon blood, and growls angrily at the new arrival:

"...Bastard!"

Getting a better look, we see that the force was noneother than the oxen demon from a moment ago, Gyu-Oh, with dark grey-green skin making up his lower half while the rest was of lighter shade, hooves for feet, strong-armed clawed hands, which were holding a club, medium-length black hair spouting out the back of his horned head, orange-red eyes, and a snouted mouth with sharp teeth.

Sensing something off with the weapon in the demon's hands, Coraline gets a second look with her Aura Sight, and gasps when she sees several protrusions with a fushia pink glow in the club's base!

"Inuyasha, be careful: The club's been infused with multiple fake jewels!"

"Are you serious?!"

Gyu-Oh then calls to the dog demon with a gruff voice,

"Come on, show me what you got, you foolish half-breed!"

The latter obliges in a charge:

"So what if I'm a half-demon?!"

Inuyasha leaps into the air and tries to slice down on Gyu-Oh, but the oxen demon manages to block the Tessaiga with his club, before spewing out a smoky black cloud in the former's face!

"Grh! A toxic, miasma!"

He's then shoved back, but recovers in a backward somersault, just as Sango tries to strike Gyu-Oh with her Hiraikotsu from the air on Kilala, which was whacked aside like the attack meant nothing!

"Did you see that?!" Shippo exclaims after Sango,

"Whoa, he's strong!"

Coraline brings out ShatterSoul, and takes a turn at an attack, sending a blade of energy at the oxen demon...but even that wouldn't be enough to take Gyu-Oh down, he breaking the ice blue slash mark with his club! While she curses, Inuyasha decides to take his own attacks up a level:

"If there's one thing I can't stand, it's an ugly demon with a bad attitude!"

(SLASH)

He unleashes a Wind Scar, but the power only billows over Gyu-Oh, his body protected by a green barrier of sorts!

The twins were floored by the lack of damage:

"Aw man!"

"Not even the Wind Scar's enough! What is this beast?!"

Gyu-Oh turns his gaze on Coraline's form, as everyone regroups on the ground:

"Warrior...with the Shikon-no-Tama." She narrows her eyes and asks,

"What is it, demon?"

"The Human Soul must be polished too, otherwise, the jewel is no more than a stone."

That caused an eyebrow raise for the redhead:

 _Huh? What does he mean?_

 _...And why does his tone seem, familiar?_

Before she could figure it out, Gyu-Oh raises his club into the air with a roar, the weapon shining with a deadly, sparkling blue light, before he slams it onto the ground hard!

(CRACK, CRUMBLE)

A good chunk of the valley wall breaks away with the crack-up of the ground, and everyone falls inside the crevices, their fates obscured by the thick dust clouds of the burying rock and dirt...!


	105. Chapter 104

**Chapter 104: The Shikon-no-Tama Maker, Part Two**

Picking up where we last left the events in this latest adventure, we turn eyes to the pile of rubble created from the power of the ox demon, Gyu-Oh's club of imitation Shikon-no-Tamas...

Or rather, a giant crater of what used to be the pile of rubble, thanks to a second explosion of power following after, its rainbow-shining remnants still lingering on pieces of garnet rock from the valley's cliff side, courtesy of twins Freeman and Besa Brownlee releasing the energies of their Seven Light Crystal pieces...!

They were now laying on their backs against the dirt and powdered rock wall of the crater, catching their breath from the expel of power and gradually building back up their own life energy they had to sacrifice in order to blow the 'burial mound' apart to save their skins. Nearby on their right, was the rest of the group (minus Inuyasha, Coraline and Lumos), but with Miroku being the only other person conscious at the moment.

He glances over at the twin's exhausted forms, their chests rising and dipping with each slow gulp of air, before going back into thought over recent activities.

 _...Is it possible that a demon can replicate the Shikon-no-Tama?_

 _It may be inferior to the real jewel, but it's still able to empower demons with more strength._

 _...It's probably the power of the Shikon-no-Tama._

He looks up from his pondering, as the rays of the sun come over the distant horizon, sending hues of pale yellow and pink to dust over the tips of the bountiful forest grounds.

"Hm. It's daybreak..."

After a couple more minutes, the fox demon would wake, followed by the slayer and her twin-tailed partner, the former being greeted by the monk with a small smile.

"Ah, you've come to."

Shippo rubs his right eye and asks a bit groggily,

"What, happened to me, anyway?"

Sango replies with just as gentle an expression,

"We were all buried in the soil. Freeman and Besa used a burst of power from their crystals to blast us free."

"And a good thing too, since we were a bit injured ourselves."

Shippo scampers over to where the twins were laying and asks with worry for their condition,

"Are you guys okay?"

They sit up one at a time and reply with tired smiles,

"Hah, yeah, we'll be fine, little dude."

"Just, phew, a little winded..."

The fox demon then takes note of the missing members of their group:

"What happened to Coraline, and Inuyasha? I don't see Lumos here either..."

Miroku deduces with a bitter air,

"Coraline must've been kidnapped by that bull demon while we were all still buried."

"What?! Coraline was kidnapped?!"

"Yes. Inuyasha has gone on ahead to try and see if he can find her."

Besa adds after Sango,

"And I remember seeing Lumos fly off with him, so he'll already have help."

Miroku then stands up, ready to move on to join in on the search:

"Well, my friends, we should be on our way."

Sango follows his example:

"Yes, let's hurry. Freeman, Besa, are you two able to get up now?"

They gesture a thumbs-up and push themselves off the ground, replying a bit less exhausted,

"Yep, we're good."

"Let's go find those demons, and pay 'em back double for what they've done!"

Meanwhile, far up ahead out of the valley and into the deeper parts of the mountain forest, Inuyasha was doing his damnedest to try and track down Coraline and her kidnapper, but was now running into difficulties narrowing in on the scent.

 _Damn! The bull's scent was so strong! Where'd it go?!_

 _(Sniff, sniff) I don't smell Coraline either...All that's left is..._

He looks up above at the Will O' Wisp who was floating between some gaps in the tree branches, trying to find the right route his own way.

"Lumos! Can you find their trail?"

The orb of light moans back in a discouraged tone, he also finding himself roadblocked...until he picked up on a different Aura, and starts blinking in and out red!

 _Uh! He's picked up on danger! Where?!_

There then came a rustling from above, and Inuyasha jumps out of the way to dodge two demons, one a scorpion and the other a centipede with a skull head! He then turns to address the new arrivals with a growl:

"Who the hell are you?!" The scorpion speaks first:

"(Laugh) If we kill you, Orochidayu will give us more Shikon-no-Tamas!"

The centipede demon then jeers,

"So you must die, half-demon!"

It then charges at Inuyasha, but he easily kills it with a swipe of his claws from one end to the other!

"Die, filthy worms!"

He lands a second slash across the scorpion demon, forcing it to crash to the ground...

But neither attacking party was dead, thanks to the fake Shikon-no-Tamas they already possessed. Their bodies are enveloped in a fushia pink/red mixed glow, before rising up once more with intact bodies, much to Inuyasha's surprise.

"Don't underestimate us!"

"I warn you: We possess Shikon-no-Tamas!"

That caused no worry for the dog demon, who flexes his claws and retorts with a smirk,

"Kuh, don't say? Then I'll just destroy you along with your 'Shikon-no-Tamas'!"

...And as that went on, we move further up the mountain to a large, hidden-away mansion, where inside, laid our heroine redhead, who was just arousing from her forced sleep after being taken away from the group by Gyu-Oh.

"Mm-mm...(Blinks eyes open) Uh!"

She darts up to a sitting position, and peers around the empty room in wary confusion:

 _Oh no...now where am I?_

Coraline stands up, and feels a familiar weight on her back and on her left thigh, belonging to noneother than her weapons!

 _Uh! I'm still armed!_

 _...But how? Unless...is it possible that ShatterSoul protected itself, like how Tessaiga does for Inuyasha?_

"(Shakes head) Better leave that mystery for another day. I need to figure out where I am first."

She exits the room, and follows a random path down the corridors to the outside courtyard that was surrounded by rocky mountain walls, trying to recall details of what happened before she fell unconscious.

 _The last thing I remember was trying to take down that bull demon,_ _Gyu-Oh, with everyone else, but nothing we did worked..._

 _I don't sense the others are here, so I must've been the only one taken._

"...Hm?"

The redhead then spots a cave entrance to her left, and felt the need to investigate...What she would find, was the embryo-imprisoned villagers, whom were being watched over (or _fawned over_ , depending on how you look at it) by the toad demon, Gamajiro.  
He lets out a laugh while embracing one embryo containing a young woman:

"Simply delectable! They look so delicious!"

Coraline glared at the demon from around the corner of the cave entrance:

 _Oh great, another one of those toad demons...Crap, and I see he's got Shousuke too._

 _...I'd go down there and gut the bastard with my knife, but there's no telling for sure if he has back-up nearby._

Gamajiro glances up at the entrance to his hideaway, sensing a presence, but Coraline had already dashed out of sight. She's now standing by a corner of the mansion, catching her breath while deciding,

 _It's better to stay low for now and get an idea of what I'm up against. Plus, I need to find Izumo..._

But it would be him who found the redhead, and sensing someone behind her, Coraline whirls around while pulling out her combat knife on the defense.

"Who're y-Izumo!"

"Ah, Coraline. Are you, by yourself?" She lowers her knife and replies more calmly,

"Looks that way. Are you alright? How did you avoid Shousuke's fate?"

"The demons have demanded my assistance. They want to use my knowledge to create a real Shikon-no-Tama for themselves, and not merely a replica."

"Lemme guess: They want somethin' more on the lines of the real deal."

Izumo nods, and shifts his footing to stare off in thought:

"It would appear that the demons have also been studying up on the Shikon-no-Tama."

That's when Coraline remembered:

"Oh, shoot! The jewel shards!"

She reaches into her jeans pocket, and pulls out the tiny glass container that still held the three pieces of the original jewel, much to her relief.

"Phew, still safe...(Grumbles) But maybe not for much longer if we stay here..."

"You are probably thinking that there is little ways of escaping from here."

Izumo then points out in front of him:

"Both their workplace and their residence are just up ahead. Make sure you get some rest."

Coraline frowns at such a suggestion:

"Hmph. I already had enough of a rest while I was unconscious. Besides which, there's a toad demon here who's holding the villagers captive, including Shousuke. I dunno if he plans to actually eat them, but they need to be rescued."

"But are your weapons strong enough to combat the demon?"

"Probably, but what concerns me is the unknown number of other demons that could be lurking by..."

Coraline then gets an idea:

"Ah! I got it: We just need a heat source!"

Izumo begins walking off to another part of the mansion, and Coraline follows while thinking,

 _If I can create a fire big enough, I'll not only scare the toad demon into submission, but it'll hopefully keep any possible back-up distracted long enough for me to free the villagers and lead them outta here with Izumo!_

 _...And if that doesn't work...I'll just have to fight as long as I can 'til everyone arrives._

Unbeknownst to Coraline, everyone was already hard at work to find her, with the bulk of the group currently fighting off some demons. Miroku sends a sacred sutra at one fiend carrying a curve-bladed spear, the spiritual power zapping them to the ground. Shippo was busy dodging the arms of a mantis demon, until Besa dive-rolled to scoop him up and out of the beast's path.

"I've gotcha, Shippo!"

That gives Sango the lead-way to whirl her Hiraikotsu at the giant mantis, who dodges the first swing, and leaps up to attack her and Kilala, only to get sliced in two come the returned trajectory of the boomerang!

The slayer and cat demon land on the ground, the former panting in frustration,

"There's so many of them!"

Freeman comments just as agitated as he swings his hammer down on the head of a flying snake demon,

"No kidding! They're worse than cockroaches: Take one down, another two replace it!"

...Out of the shadows of the trees, appeared the primate demon from before, casually tossing a fake jewel up and down in his palm, before catching it swiftly as he glances at the demon horde behind him.

"Go after them! Only then do you get your reward!"

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was experiencing similar problems:

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

He takes down a few more demons with his claws, but we see upon landing back on the mossy grass that he was starting to lose breath, for even a half-demon like he can only fight for so long...

"(Ghostly moan)"

Luckily, Inuyasha would get a helping hand from Lumos, as the Will O' Wisp quickly moves to hover over the dog demon's head before releasing a small burst of rejuvenating energy.

(Twinkle...)

"Hah, hah...thanks. That helps, Lumos...hm?"

He then notices multiple sets of red gleaming eyes skulking in the shadows of the tree cover in front of him, and curses before drawing out his Tessaiga at the ready. Standing on a branch up above, was Orochidayu, who says to the new army,

"Those who distinguish themselves will be rewarded with a real Shikon-no-Tama!"

With that kind of motivation, the demons waste no time in charging full-throttle at Inuyasha, while the humanoid serpent demon chuckles with an evil grin...

Coraline's POV

It's been about roughly an hour since I woke up in that mountain mansion, and Izumo led me to another smaller residence that sat on a cliff overlooking the lands below. It's certainly a much more cozy-looking place with a good view of nature's beauty, from the surrounding oaks and beeches behind the fences to the beautiful field of purple iris flowers making up most of the garden.

If I wasn't so edged thanks to current events, I probably would be basking in the tranquility of this place...

I kneel down by Izumo as he plucks up a few of those flowers and tells me about where we are.

"I was told to live in this house."

 _Hm, looks like a nice place to lose yourself in...But nevermind that: We need to finalize a plan of action._

We walk inside a simple kitchen that had many herbs already prepped on one table, as I ask with a raised brow,

"You're not seriously going to follow the words of those demons, are you?"

"If that is the only way to stay alive, then it is my only choice..."

I glare at him for his ease at losing hope in escaping, because I knew in my gut we weren't done for yet. At that, I try to perk up his spirit:

"Come on, don't wallow down yet. I'm more than positive that Inuyasha and everyone else are coming for us."

Izumo then asks me one question that kind-a threw me off:

"Have you no interest in the jewel at all, Coraline?"

"Huh? I don't understand your question."

"You must have at least one wish you want the Shikon-no-Tama to grant."

I hm in thought for a moment...before frowning bitterly and proclaiming,

"The only wish I could possibly have at this point is for that blasted rock to vanish off the face of the earth."

Izumo gasps a bit at my cold tone, but I wasn't done:

"It's become the symbol of the Grim Reaper for all I give a damn, especially now that Naraku has a good number of the shards...Once it's all been gathered up and returned to its 'former glory', (grits teeth) _I want it to suffer destruction for all the pain its brought since day one._ "

 _...Huh. Well that was rather dark of me...Still, I meant every last word._

 _I want that sparkly little marble to go, be smashed to pieces, until it's nothing but powder, and never return.  
_

"...We should check inside the mansion. Would you help me?"

I snap out of my semi-violent imagery to Izumo's call, and move to follow him with a surge more optimism.

"Of course! We should focus on finding a flame source and something to fuel it ten-fold."

 _At this point, I'm ready to burn the entire mansion down if that's what it takes..._

 _Oh god, I've really become violent. Haaah, I really need to detox from this fighting drama once this is all over..._

Time Skip, Inuyasha's POV

It's already reaching a new sunset for the day's end, and I've barely made any progress through the mountain forest to find the place where my intended had been taken to. I'm now catching my breath against a boulder after fighting yet another horde of demons, my lungs burning for air, the blade of my Tessaiga leaning on the ground. Lumos comes to rest himself on my shoulder, the little orb finally beginning to feel tired, and I curse in my mind,

 _Damn, there's no end to this, and even Lumos is starting to get exhausted!_

 _...Coraline...where are you? Why must you be hidden from me?_

"Found him!"

"Hn?"

I glance behind me and see even more demons leering at me from the shadows, and I turn to face them with my sword at ready, ignoring my fatigue.

"...Kuh, bring it on!"

 _I hope the others are doin' a bit better than I am...and Coraline, wherever you are, stay safe until I find you!_

Miroku's POV

 _Ugh, what a turn. If only there wasn't so many of them..._

After several hours of back-to-back battles, we all decided to hide out in a pit shadowed under a few fallen logs so we could catch our breath and try to elude the demons for a little while...

Eventually, I couldn't see any floating overhead, so I quietly conclude aloud,

"I think they've gone."

Shippo sighs in relief and releases his fearful grip on Freeman, but Sango fairly interjects,

"But we can't stay hiding here like this forever."

"I'm worried about Coraline."

Besa adds after Shippo in his own concern,

"And only god knows how Inuyasha's doing right now. Probably in a similar fix we are..."

I take a sip from my bamboo water container and pass it to Sango so she could gulp down some water, as Freeman chides to his brother,

"He should be okay as long as Lumos is still with him to lend a hand."

I nod with a smile at his judgement, and reach out to pat Shippo's head in comfort.

"Freeman's right, and I am also concerned about Coraline's well-being, Shippo. But we need to rest for a little while or we'll all collapse."

Another minute passes...until we heard a growl, and look up to see that fiend of a monkey demon from before! He hops back and calls,

"I found 'em!"

 _Damn! Guess our break's up..._

Shippo utters my name in worry, and I call to the others softly,

"Let's go, Sango, guys."

"Right." "Got it." "Time for the next round."

Coraline's POV

"Ugh, this is getting ridiculous! There's gotta be a fire-starter here somewhere!"

I've been perusing the corridors of the mansion for a while now, looking in a room here and there to try and find anything that could help me make a fire for my plan to scare the toad demon. But much to my frustrations, there's nothing here remotely useful in that department...I slide open a new door while grumbling bitterly,

"Some demon mansion this is. I might as well switch to Plan B and take my chances in gutting the amphibian with my knife...Hm?"

Much to my surprise, this next room, while rather barren, wasn't unoccupied...

"...Izumo?"

 _What's he doin' sitting in here?_

"The Shikon-no-Tama, was born from the immense spiritual powers, of a priestess named Midoriko."

"Uh, yeah, I already heard about that piece of the story..."

 _Why's he bringing it up now of all times?_

Despite my slowly-rising suspicions, I continued to listen to the scholar:

"It was created during a battle, between Midoriko and the demons. Midoriko tried to destroy the demons, and they in turn, tried to destroy her. The Souls of the two sides, were captured, and became one."

"Yes, and the war continued on inside the jewel itself..."

"The Pure Soul of the priestess, Midoriko, and the Evil Souls of The Demons intermingled in the Shikon-no-Tama. The imitation Shikon-no-Tamas also have both human and demon souls sealed within them..."

He continued to go on and on with the information already mentioned yesterday regarding those Four Souls, which had me believing Izumo had become more obsessed with the jewel's history than he's let on. I was only half-listening by then, for my attention was caught by, something else, regarding his being.

 _Wait...his body...It's not rising or dipping with movement of breath._

 _...Like he isn't breathing at all. Something's not right._

As he kept talking, I used my Aura Sight to peer inside Izumo's Aura, only to widen my eyes when I see,

 _...No Aura. But, how?_

"...Izumo?"

I walked over to snap him back to reality by tapping him on the shoulder, only to discover to my shock, that who I was speaking to, was a mummified body dressed in a scholar's uniform!

"Uh!"

 _Holy-!?_

 _...Well, I guess this explains why there was no trace of life in him._

 _Still...how did I hear Izumo's voice project from this, mummy?_

"What's the matter, Coraline?"

"Hn?!"

I whirl around back to the entrance, but see no one...My left hand clenches into a fist, with any nerves I had switching to anger for this trick.

 _Okay, enough is enough. Clearly, Izumo knows more about this whole thing than he's letting on._

 _Time to get some answers!_

I rush out of the mini mansion, and found him facing the sunset next to an oak on the path we came here on.  
His hand was outstretched for a single Rosefinch to rest on his fingers, only to fly off a few seconds later...

"The birds have all gone..."

 _There's another thing that's odd: His fascination with birds..._

 _(Shakes head) No, Cora, now's not the time. Stay focused._

Glare set, I call out in a strong, firm voice,

"Izumo, we have to talk: What's going on here? What is your true role here in this demon stronghold? Are you...really who you say you are?"

He ignores my questions and mutters,

"The birds have no fear of the dark. It's me: I am the one who fears it, and in turn, those birds fear me."

 _...Hang on..._

 _He fears the dark, and claims creatures like birds to be afraid of him..._

 _(Gasp) Is it, possible...that Izumo's-_

"...Who are you, truly, Izumo?"

The skies grow dark for the cover of night as he finally answers me:

"Izumo was the name given to my deceased father. He was a scholar, excelling in poetry. The flowers and birds were his passion...Izumo was my father."

 _The mummified body in the room...!_

"Then...what is your true name?"

"The name my mother gave me, is, Gyu-Oh!"

"Uh! The ox demon!"

 _Oh dear lord...!_

The man turns to me, and his body throbs in and out in a similar manner to Inuyasha's during the Night of the New Moon, as he adds with a deepening voice,

"That is how I appear during the day..."

His skin turns a dark green, and black hair grows longer and shaggier, with two horns protruding out of his head, before he shucks off his scholar robes, to reveal his true identity as Gyu-Oh the ox demon, or should I say, half-demon!

"This is how I look at night!"

Despite my shock, I managed to keep my voice calm and even as I remark,

"So then...you're half-demon, who shifts forms come each end of half a day."

"Very clever of you, Coraline."

That wasn't what my brain was thinking:

 _Ugh, stupid me! I should've checked into his Aura sooner! I would've likely seen his structure to be similar as Inuyasha's!_

"Get off me! Stay away from me!"

"Huh?"

I look up from my mental self-scolding to see Gyu-Oh shooing away two carrion crow demons, before he says to me,

"By day, I am thus, a man like my father. But at night, become a demon like my mother. I will create a real Shikon-no-Tama, to free myself from this half-demon fate!"

"So then all of this was your doing, (Glare) you conniving liar!"

He does not deny my words, but merely proves my earlier guess of obsession with the following statement.

"I traveled to many countries to learn about the Shikon-no-Tama, and that's how I found out about you...With your Souls, I can create a Shikon-no-Tama!"

"What?! Our Souls?!"

 _He can't be seriously thinking-?!_

And yet, he was:

"Warrior who denies the role of Priestess: Your spirits and the jewel shards will form a foundation for the new Shikon-no-Tama, however, that's not enough. Shikon-no-Tamas require Souls, hence I must collect more spirits."

 _More? Uh! Shousuke and the Villagers!_

"The Spirit of Courage will come from that half-demon."

 _Inuyasha..._

"The Spirit of Knowledge can either come from the monk, or the dark-skinned human who wields sickles."

 _Miroku...Besa..._

"The Spirit of Love also has two possibles: The slayer, or the second dark-skinned human who wields a long hammer."

 _Sango...Freeman..._

"And the Spirit of Friendship will come from that little fox demon!"

 _Shippo..._

"The Four Spirits will come to the divine good, and I shall create the Shikon-no-Tama!"

I didn't know what pissed me off more through that whole plan reveal: That Gyu-Oh sees us as ingredients for a marble rock...or that he sees me as a 'divine good', for in my conscious, I felt no such right to a title like that.

 _If he only knew what I've done in the past to reach where I am today...I'm not even close to being some divine entity._

But I wouldn't mull about back when, my focus being on chewing this guy out for his crazed ideals.

"That's a load of crap that'll never come to vision! Nothing even remotely pure could possibly come out of using the living as materials!"

"Yes, warrior. Fight, resist, and make your Soul grow even stronger! Only vultures will come to this abominable body. Birds take flight at the sight of me; flowers wilt at my breath! I'm sick of it!"

He stamps one of his hooves on the ground for emphasis of his frustrations, making me pull out my combat knife on the defense...

"With the power of the Shikon-no-Tama, I will possess everything that is beautiful in this world!"

 _...I think I know what his wish is._

"(Narrows eyes) You want to use the jewel to become fully human, don't you?"

"Yes. Then I will be able to abandon this Soul."

 _Then he's setting himself up for failure. I get the why, but even so, it's a selfish wish, and the jewel's been as cruel as a genie with wishes like that._

 _...No. He can't succeed. I have to get out of this place and find the others!_

No POV

As Coraline uncovers the truth behind Izumo's identity and true motives regarding the Shikon-no-Tama, everyone was closing in on the demon mansion where she was being held. Inuyasha was currently charging with his Tessaiga in the air through another horde of demons trying to slow him down.

"Outta the way!"

(Slash)

"Move it!"

As multiple carcasses laid scattered around the dog demon, he growls before shouting to the sky,

"Coraline! Where are you...?!"

"(...Ghostly moan)"

"Huh?"

His attention is then drawn back to ground-level, when Lumos starts bopping up and down in excitement while moving towards a gap between some bushes and tree trunks...

"Uh! Can you finally sense her?"

The Will O' Wisp 'nods' and darts back to Inuyasha to fly around him in a fast circle, and back to the new spot, as his way of saying 'This way!'.

"Keh, alright, lead the way!"

(Leap)

By this time, the redhead whom everyone else was looking for had started her escape from Gyu-Oh, running from the area where the small cliffside residence was, and made it back into the courtyard of the much larger structure. She pauses to catch her breath, feeling her muscles starting to seize a bit from the short puffs of air they were barely receiving.

"Hah...hah...okay. Before, I leave here, I should use my plan B on that toad demon, to rescue Shousuke and those others...Rh!"

She whirls around upon sensing someone coming from the courtyard exit, and turns to see the ox demon approaching, with two carrion crow demons on his shoulders.

"Aw hell!"

"There is no escape from me, Coraline."

"...Coraline!"

"Huh?"

She turns around to the call of a familiar young voice, and sees Kilala in her full form flying down with Shippo, Sango and Miroku on her back, while the twins jump-scale the mountain walls none too far behind thanks to their Seven Light shards heightening their abilities for a short time!

"Coraline!"

"Coraline, are you okay?"

"Sis!" "Thank god!"

They all land on the ground safe, but Coraline warns them,

"Wait, don't! You guys gotta get outta here!"

"We came to rescue you, Coraline!"

"You don't understand, Shippo: It's a trap!"

Suddenly, the toad demon, Gamijiro crawls out from under the porch walk where another entrance to that cavern laid, before blowing out a giant bubble to send at Miroku! He tries to break it with his staff, but winds up encapsulated, and fell to his knees from a wave of immobilizing power, before the bubble floats up high off the ground!

"Miroku!"

"He's trapped!"

Gyuoh then rushes at Sango and Shippo with his club in the air, and knocks it against the slayer, who tries to block with her Hiraikotsu, but trips backwards before becoming encased in her own bubble!

Freeman then spots a long red tongue heading for the fox demon:

"Oh, crap: Shippo, look out!"

Coraline tries to rescue him, but wasn't fast enough, and Shippo would be tossed into his own bubble!

"No!"

Gamijiro laughs tauntingly at her, while Besa grumbles,

"This isn't looking good. We need to get off the ground. (Turns) Kilala!"

The twin-tailed cat demon roars in recognition to the call, and runs to each of the three modern teens so they could jump aboard, with Besa up front, Freeman in the middle, and Coraline bringing up the rear. They take to the skies and thank Kilala for the help, just as Gyu-Oh orders the two carrion crow demons after them.

"Get those three!"

They take flight, and their bodies enlarge to a more monstrous size, revealing that like the other demons fought, they also had fake Shikon-no-Tamas!

But that did not deter Coraline: She draws out the ShatterSoul sword, before sending two Spirit Slashes at each one, destroying each one in an explosion of flesh and jewel fragments, with a pink fushia light dancing in the skies!

...Just down below in the forest, Orochidayu was facing off against Inuyasha, using a three-tine spear as a weapon.

"Diiiie!"

The dog demon uses his sword to block the spear, forcing the humanoid serpent demon to hop backwards onto a tree branch...They then catch the light of the two shattered fake jewels mixing with sheens of blue, and Inuyasha immediately knew who caused that.

"Uh! That's Coraline!"

Speaking of, she and her brothers high-five one another from the destruction of the carrion crows.

"Yes!" "Alright!"

"Now...we just gotta take down that toad, and I'm sure we'll free every-Oh crap!"

It was then the primate demon comes leaping in from a rooftop and kicks Kilala in her side, forcing her to crash to the ground while throwing the three teens off!

"Rgh!" "Auh!" "Shit..."

"...Coraline!"

"Uh!"

They shake off their stupors, and look up to see Inuyasha had finally made it, as he tried to swing his blade at the primate, who dodges in a backflip at the last minute. The dog demon focuses on getting to the sides of the teens and Kilala, muttering,

"So this is where the demons have been hiding..."

Lumos darts past him to meet at Coraline's side while blinking his warning colours of red and blue, making her look up with her brothers to see what the trouble was...

"Uh! Inuyasha!" "Watch it, man!" "That snake's comin' up behind you!"

He turns to their call, and watches as Orochidayu morphs into his true demon guise, that being a giant snake with brown scales, a tan underbelly and yellow cat-shaped eyes!

It springs in their direction, but Coraline quickly rose to a stand and sends an Aura-charged attack from her own sword at the area where she saw the fake jewel. The demon's neck spouts blood and a fushia pink light, while he growls and becomes stunned, leaving him wide-open to getting slit down the middle from head to tail by Inuyasha!

...With that demon eliminated, he turns to the horde of demons on the sidelines, led by Gyu-Oh, Gamijiro and the primate demon, and asks in a low tone,

"Who's gonna take me on next?"

The toad demon opens its mouth to blow a new bubble towards Inuyasha, but instead of getting trapped like the others, he merely popped it with one wave of his Tessaiga! Gamijiro was shocked, but Gyu-Oh merely orders,

"Don't just stand there: Break down his defenses!" One random demon asks,

"But, Gyu-Oh: What about Orochidayu?"

"Orochidayu is dead. Now you must obey me!"

But the primate demon wasn't so keen on the change in command:

"Not on your life, half-demon!"

Inuyasha raises a brow from the bitter address:

 _Half-demon?_

"You're just a half-demon, yet you dare order us around?! Now that Orochidayu is gone, I refuse to be-"

(Whack)

"Gaaah!"

Gyu-Oh thumps the primate on its head hard with his club, before turning to order Gamijiro,

"Gami: Take his Soul and preserve it at once."

The toad demon gapes at the ox, but the latter barks,

"Do it!"

Gamijiro complies in a panic, using a bubble to encase the primate...Inuyasha then says to Gyu-Oh,

"Damn bull, so you're the one behind all this! (Readies Tessaiga) And you're a half-demon as well. (Smirk) Not that it really matters; now why don't you come for me?"

"Bring him to his knees, and receive a Shikon-no-Tama!"

The demon horde charges past Gyuoh to do as he commands, as Inuyasha counters with a release of power from his blade in return.

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

In one quick, three-clawed swipe, all the beasts are eliminated, including Gamijiro, shocking the ox demon...

"That's enough! Release everyone now!"

"Uh?"

He turns to see Coraline pointing her sword at him with a fixed glare, with her brothers readying their weapons on each of her sides.

"No! I need their souls to carry out my plans, and yours as well!"

"And just who's soul am I addressing: Izumo, or Gyu-Oh?"

"My own soul is now in a state of utter confusion. That's why with the Shikon-no-Tama, I will obtain a Human Soul!"

Freeman asks with some sarcasm,

"Uh, and how exactly do you figure that?" Besa says firmly,

"If that's truly where your mind is, then any chances for you becoming human are shot to Hell!"

"Uh! And why is that?!" Coraline replies harshly,

"Well doigt, 'cause the jewel will become dark-ridden by your greed like the true one has been and currently is by Naraku!"

"Silence! How dare you compare me to that demon!"

Gyu-Oh then swings down his club, and releases a fushia pink Aura that engulfs the courtyard and upturns bits of the ground under! The teens cringe back from the power, as the ox demon proclaims,

"With the Shikon-no-Tama, I can become an undefiled human being!"

Coraline calls over the rush of energy in a strain,

"Rgh, Izumo, Gyu-Oh, whoever, you must stop this! You're still you, no matter what form you are, but you'll only destroy yourself if you continue this insanity! The jewel has no sympathy for selfish hearts!"

"En-ooough!"

The ox demon releases a second wave of power on top the first one, throwing the three teens off their feet to hit the dirt in a hard slide.

"Uh!" "Urgh!" "Rg-gh!"

...The redhead struggles to her feet just as Lumos comes floating by her with concern, but she smiles bitterly at him and whispers,

"I'm, alright, bud..."

She turns her eyes back on Gyu-Oh with a worn-down glare:

"Don't, do this!"

"I will, abandon this body..."

The twins move up to a stand beside their sister and mutter,

"He's really lost it, hasn't he?"

"Yep. Went to Loony-ville..."

Inuyasha meanwhile takes out two demons in his path, before leaping down in front of Coraline. She smiles at him and whispers his name, and he flashes a concerned look at her, before growling at Gyu-Oh.

"Enough already!"

"Inuyasha, your Courage is necessary. I need you in order to succeed. And in order to get you, I will do anything!"

He lifts his club into the air, and all of the fake jewels embedded inside fall out to be swallowed up by the ox demon, causing a red glow to envelop his body...

"He swallowed all of them!"

"Oooh, this is bad...!"

"Crap!" "Damn!"

Gyuoh's body enlarges to twice his size, and his skin shifts to a dark red, as he snorts out a puff of black fumes before shouting,

"I will create an authentic Shikon-no-Tama!"

"You are one stubborn bastard!"

While Inuyasha tries to land a hit against the newly-empowered ox demon, Coraline and her brothers use this distraction to rush to each of their trapped friends so they could free them, starting with the monk.

"Hang on, Miroku!"

As the redhead starts cutting into the embryo sac with her combat knife, Besa says to her,

"Sis, you get him out, and we'll go free Sango and Shippo. Here, Freeman, use one of my sickles."

"Thanks. Let's get 'em out!"

Back in the middle of the courtyard, Gyu-Oh and Inuyasha continue to whack club against sword...

"Inuyasha!"

(Swing, clang)

"You must share my feelings: Don't you detest your half-demon existence? Don't deny it!"

"Half-demon, half-demon, I've heard ENOUGH!"

Inuyasha lands a swift side-kick to Gyu-Oh's jaw before adding fiercely,

"I'm me, I'm strong! Who cares what I look like?!"

 _Besides...I have a woman in my life who loves me inside and out, and that's worth everything and more._

"What?! You wretch!"

"Who are you callin' a wretch?! _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

Despite the wave of power thrown at Gyu-Oh, he manages to push through to charge at Inuyasha thanks to the extra power from those fake jewels he consumed, becoming increasingly desperate to reach his goal.

"The Shikon-no-Tama; I need the jewel!"

"Kuh, yeah..."

"I must have the jewel, before day breaks!"

By this time, Sango, Shippo and Miroku were free from their bubbles, thankfully only unconscious. Kilala licks the slayer's cheek to try and wake her up, while Freeman lightly taps Shippo's face, and the other two teens shake Miroku's shoulders.

"Shippo? Can you hear me? Wake up, little dude!"

"Miroku?" "Come on, man, wake up!"

The monk slowly stirs with a wince, just as Coraline's ears pick up on the sound of Inuyasha crying out in a struggle!

"Uh! Inuyasha!"

"Go to him. We've got it from here."

"Okay. (Glances up) Lumos, if you're not too winded, please assist in waking these three up."

The Will O' Wisp nods, and the redhead turns to rush over to the middle of the courtyard, where Inuyasha was being held by his head by Gyu-Oh!

"Let, go of him!"

(Slash)

The ox demon hisses in pain when Coraline's combat knife cuts across his wrist, forcing him to let go of the dog demon. She quickly kneels by her lover's side and asks,

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine, but you should get back."

"No way."

"The sun is rising!"

The two look up in confusion from Gyu-Oh's exclaim, as his focus turns to the sun rays appearing over the horizon, brightening the sky...

"Not yet! It's too early! Hear me, Sun: I will change my destiny! Rejected by humans, even demons wouldn't accept me, all because I was a half-demon!"

"So what? Couldn't you handle it?"

The ox demon looks back at Inuyasha, who's now on his feet with Coraline beside him, as he adds bluntly,

"Quit complaining, and make something of yourself!"

He then grasps Gyu-Oh's arm, and flings him over his shoulder, forcing the ox demon to crash to the ground several feet away while losing grip of his club!

"Agh! Damn, you!"

Gyu-Oh lets out a roar, just as the sun rose higher, casting a long-tailed shadow from the ox demon's weapon...  
That's when his skin began shifting back to green, much to his plight:

"O' Sun, please, not yet! Just, grant me a few, more moments...! R-ra-GYAAAAH! Please, Sun!"

(Sizzle...)

His skin begins to burn away, as he growled and writhed in pain, his transformations coming back to hit him hard...Inuyasha turns to Coraline and asks,

"What just happened?"

"The fake jewels, are killing him..."

Looking back at the demon, we see that his top half of body has reverted back to his human form, though while maintaining the wilder hair!

"I, regret it..."

"It's him!" Coraline explains in a solemn tone,

"Izumo and Gyu-Oh are one in the same. An ox demon by night, human by day. And now that it's daybreak, the imitation jewels he swallowed are too toxic for his body to handle..."

The half-demon Izumo/Gyu-Oh feels said jewels shatter inside him, and seizes up with a sharper pain than before, the toxins seeping into his bloodstream and nerve system...With tears streaming from his closed eyes, he asks wistfully,

"Coraline...am I, going to die, as a, human...?"

With a final pained breath drawn, he succumbs to death, collapsing on his front, his body reverted to a half-human, half-ox form...Everyone stares at the body in silence, the monk gesturing a hand in prayer, while Coraline sadly whispers,

"...Oh Gyu-Oh..."

Time Skip

Soon, everyone of Shousuke's village was freed and led back to their homes safely, these terrible events now just a memory to look back on...

Come a day after Izumo/Gyu-Oh's demise, the people would all wave the group off, with Shousuke calling happily,

"Thank you! Thank you all!"

A little while later, down a new path traced in the forest of oak and beech, Coraline's eyes spot two Rosefinches perched on the branch of a tall, proud trunk...Thinking about the mixed reactions the desperate oxen half-demon got from these creatures, she stops for a moment, and decides to try her hand out at inviting the aviaries to sit on her palm.

...One stays on the branch, but the other hops gently onto her hand, making the redhead smile a bit...

"Hey. Whatcha up to now, Coraline?" She softly calls back to Inuyasha,

"Nothin' important. Just, trying something."

The birds then take flight to the air, with Lumos floating along with them for a bit in a playful manner before moving back to the main group, while the finches kept their path towards the direction of the large, yellow star in the sky...


	106. Chapter 105

**Chapter 105: Jaken Falls Ill**

As Inuyasha and company continue their hunt towards the northeast to find the half-demon whose veins run strong of evil, we now catch up with one of the other groups in Edo on similar route, they being Sesshomaru, Jaken, Rin and A-Un.

Currently, they are making their way through a heavy-greened forest, the dog demon leading the way, while the vassal imp pulled along the reins of the two-headed dragon demon, whom the young human girl was riding upon...

Suddenly, a small rumble passes through Rin's stomach, sending the wordless message to find food.  
She turns to look towards Sesshomaru and asks,

"Lord Sesshomaru, I am starting to get really hungry. May I please go and look for something to eat?"

He does not answer, but Jaken does:

"Quiet. A forest like this one will have nothing for you to eat. You'll just have to wait."

"Yes, but-"

"I don't wanna hear any 'buts' out of you! Now be quiet and-Huh?!"

The imp cuts himself off mid-sentence when he sees that Rin had jumped off of A-Un, and was starting to make her own way through the oaks and thick bushes, letting her hunger doing the decision-making and not her common sense.

"I'll be very quick!"

"Doh, silly girl...You come back here right now, Rin!"

"Jaken."

He stops waving his fists furiously and turns to look at his lord in disbelief, who merely says to him,

"Let her be."

 _Guh, I don't believe it!_

...And Jaken wouldn't be the only one thinking such a remark: Moving along to a path cut through an expanse of vibrant green grass with pockets of wildflowers decorating it here and there, Coraline would be calling her boyfriend out on his own decision-making skills.

"I don't believe it! Really, Inuyasha? You had to eat all of that bag?"

"Get off my back, would ya?"

Letting out a frustrated sigh, the redhead, wearing her long hair in a braid today, as well as donning a grey tank-top, acid-wash blue jeans with a rip in her left knee, and her black combat boots, holds up a small plastic bag with shiny stars plastered around its surface that was previously tied close with a white ribbon.

"Just great. And that was the last bag of assorted sweets too..."

By this point, the group had paused in their movement as Inuyasha steps in front of Coraline to argue casually,

"So what? It was just a few bags."

She glares mildly at him and replies,

"The 'what', as you so eloquently put it, is that I was saving that last bag for Jinenji. And since when are you so into sugar?"

The dog demon stubbornly retorts with his arms folded,

"It's not my fault! I took one piece and I couldn't stop."

Coraline mutters to herself with a head shake,

"Honestly, I expect this kind of behaviour from Shippo...Just don't blame me if you get a sugar crash later. Anyway, what am I going to offer to Jinenji now?"

Miroku then cuts into the conversation with the question,

"Uum...who's this Jinenji person?"

The redheaded swordswoman looks at him a little perplexed at his lack of knowledge:

"You don't remember? When Kilala got infected from Naraku's miasma, it was Jinenji who crafted the antidote with the special herbs from his garden."

Sango's memory was better at recalling the incident than the monk's:

"Ooh, I remember that!"

Kilala, who was in the slayer's arms in her dormant form, mews in recognition of the day too. Freeman and Besa, who today wore coordinating outfits of light blue t-shirts, black jeans and gray hightops, form expressions of confusion.

"Uh, do you remember sis talkin' about a Jinenji?"

"No, I think that might be one story she hasn't conveyed yet..."

Coraline then says,

"Since his village is on route, I thought maybe we could drop by and see how he and his mother are doing. (Sideglances) Though somebody scarfed down the sweet bag I was going to give him..."

Inuyasha growls a little at her before exclaiming exasperatingly,

"Quit goin' on about that!" Shippo then asks curiously,

"Say, isn't Jinenji a half-demon as well?"

Coraline replies with a smile,

"Yes, but he has a gentle soul and is kindhearted to those who deserve his generosity. (Sad frown) Although the people of the village couldn't see past his appearance and used to terrorize him..."

Freeman replies,

"Aw, that sucks...Wait, 'used to'?"

"(Slight smirk) Well, let's just say thanks to an attack from some rather unpleasant creatures, Jinenji showed that he can be tough when he has to be. Hopefully, it also taught the villagers to be more mindful of their opinions to who the enemy really is."

"Gotcha..."

Besa hms, then reaches to grab a small container out of his bag:

"Well, if you still want to gift him with something, how about some exotic fruit, heh, well, exotic to this era at least."

"Huh?"

Coraline takes the container from her brother's hand, and opens the lid to see several pieces of Dragon Fruit, Kiwi, Grapefruit, and Honeydew Melon.

"Oh! This is perfect, Besa; thank you!"

"Glad I can help."

Miroku then says,

"And given that there is an antidote to such poison, we really should stop by to get some for safe-keeping."

Sango adds with a grateful smile,

"I want to thank him for saving Kilala too."

Said twin-tailed cat demon mews as Freeman gives her a scratch on the head before saying to everyone,

"Sounds like we've got a plan of action, then. Let's go!"

As they all began moving in said village's direction, Coraline pats Inuyasha's arm with her hand and tells him with a straight face,

"Feel free to choose what you wanna do, but the rest of us are heading this way."

She then pecks him on the cheek and rushes to catch up, leaving the dog demon to stare at her back with a tiny flush of pink creeping on his cheeks that was camouflaged by a scowl while he mulled in his mind,

 _Crafty little woman..._

Cutting back to the deeper woods, we find Rin stopping between some close-rooted oaks, before spotting some wild mushrooms growing at the foot of one around the corner.

"Oh!"

She rushes over to kneel before the welcoming sight of the fungi, smiling widely as she notes,

"These are edible!"

...Suddenly, the soil behind the young girl shifts, and Sesshomaru and Jaken's ears would pick up on the shrill scream of Rin just a few seconds after! The dog demon wastes no time in running to see what the trouble was, finding the girl being snatched into the bony, green-skinned hand of a demon!

One swipe from Tokijin is all it takes before the demon arm is sliced off, the action forcing the hand to release Rin. Sesshomaru lands on the ground smoothly, while the young girl flies downward on her back, a bush breaking her fall.

"Aaah!"

Jaken arrives and compliments on his lord's skill:

"You are excellently brilliant, Lord Sesshomaru!"

Rin pops up from the collection of green to follow with her own praise, the smile on her face indicating she was fine.

"So dashing, Lord Sesshomaru!"

But his focus would be on the severed demon arm...which to his surprise, would suddenly transform into a drone of the poisonous insects known as the Saimyōshō!

Jaken gasps, also recognizing the mutant wasps:

"The Saimyōshō! Naraku's poison insects!" _  
_

The dog demon rises to his feet while ordering his more vulnerable human ward,

"Stand back, out of the way. That Naraku: He left behind some annoying vermin."

The wasps then morph back into the green-skinned hand, and Sesshomaru says to the imp,

"Jaken. There should be a hive located nearby."

"Yes! I'll go look for it!"

As the imp took off to find the source of this insect horde, the demon hand tries to attack Sesshomaru, who uses Tokijin to block its pointed nails. He then hops backwards and springs forward off a tree trunk, just as the demon hand tries to swipe at him but only succeeded in chopping the oak in two, and the dog demon would whirl around to cut the arm down its middle into two!

...However, given that its made from many bodies of Saimyōshō, the attack only forced the horde to revert back to their real guise, before flying off in another direction. The dog demon instantly knew which way the insects were heading:

"Jaken."

Meanwhile, said imp was searching in another section of the forest for the wasp nest, with Rin following to assist...It would be her who spots it:

"Look, Master Jaken: That's it, the hive!"

And up high a particularly tall oak trunk, was the Saimyōshō nest, its make being a combination of mud and wax like other non-demonic species, shaped to look like a bushel of gourds with holes for the wasps to crawl in and out of.

Jaken releases a few jumbled sounds of nerves, before spotting the horde of poison insects approaching Rin from behind!

"Rin, get down now!"

"Alright!"

She squats down behind the cover of a thick bush, while the imp readies to attack the swarm.

"Feel the wrath of the Staff of Two Heads!"

The old man head of the staff spits out a torrent of fire, burning a good number of the wasps, but there were still many to come...Jaken rushes closer to where Rin was squatting and keeps up the pressure:

"Persistent little pests!"

(Fwoom)

"Rin, keep your head down!"

She peers up at him in surprise, while he thinks to himself a bit nervously,

 _I must protect Rin, otherwise who knows what Lord Sesshomaru will say!_

The little human girl was touched by his actions:

 _Master Jaken..._

Suddenly, more of the Saimyōshō buzz out of the hive, intent on avenging their torched comrades and killing Jaken! But he wasn't gonna go down without a fight:

"What? Still here?"

As he began waving his staff wildly at the wasps, Sesshomaru finally locates the imp and Rin.

"Jaken."

The dog demon readies his sword, Tokijin, the emanating glow of power making Jaken sweat nervously, before he immediately ducks down with Rin out of the line of the sword's fire, its Aura crashing through the air like a tidal wave and evaporating the remaining Saimyōshō and their hive! _  
_

(Spark, crack, creeeeeea-Crash...)

It was also powerful enough to split the tree holding the hive in half before its top tipped over and crashed onto the forest floor...A moment later, Jaken and Rin rise to their feet with matching sighs of relief, before calling to the dog demon respectively,

"You saved me, Lord Sesshomaru!"

"Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru!"

...Unfortunately, about half a dozen of the Saimyōshō somehow survived, and fly behind Jaken before biting his arm and/or stabbing their stingers into the appendage's flesh!

"Gaaaaah!"

"Master Jaken!"

Having done what they wanted to, the wasps began flying away, with Sesshomaru watching them go.

"...They should lead me to him."

He decides to tail them and see if they would lead back to their master, much to Rin's protest.

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

But he was already gone...Focusing back on Jaken, he suddenly rips off the sleeve of his right arm where he was attacked, and we see two angry-red stingers slowly sinking into his flesh. With a wince in his voice, the imp says to the young human,

"R-Rin, take the stingers out!"

She takes his arm into her own hand and tries, apprehensive though she was, but wasn't able to get them quick enough, and they bury so deeply into his skin that not even a competent pair of tweezers could tug them out...

"D-Did you get them out?"

"I'm sorry. I couldn't get them..."

Jaken immediately broke into a panicked sweat, and lets out a squawk before running forward a few feet and spinning in a circle before shouting,

"No! The toxic poison has entered my body!" He bangs his head on a tree trunk and adds despairingly,

"If I don't do something, I may die!"

Rin immediately felt the rush of guilt flood her body:

"I'm sorry. It's my fault...You saved me..."

The imp rushed to deny such a claim:

"Don't be so foolish! I'm not going to sacrifice my life for you! I die for Lord Sesshomaru!"

The imp then felt his nerves seize, and fell backwards with a strangled gasp, prompting Rin to rush to his aid, not wanting to believe there wasn't any other options left to avoid Jaken's end.

"Master Jaken! Isn't there some way to get rid of the poison?"

"It's much too late for me now...I have been happy touring the land with my lord and mentor, Master Sesshomaru. Even if my life should come to a tragic end here, I can die in peace."

Tears began to form in the corners of Rin's sweet brown eyes:

"(Sniff) Master Jaken..."

He too was feeling the weight of sentimentality:

"Tell Lord Sesshomaru this: I will be praying for his well-being and success from my resting place in the Netherworld. Tell him for me..."

He shuts his eyes and makes blubbering sounds, which just fueled more motivation in Rin to try and save him, falling to her knees for emphasis in how choked up she was at the idea of the imp leaving this world.

"Master Jaken, please! (Shakes head) Don't talk like this! I don't wanna see you die!"

He snaps his eyes open, and raises his head to stare at the young girl in shock and awe...

"Please, please, tell me what to do! I'll do whatever you ask!"

"...You, you will?"

Rin pauses in her sobbing, and meets Jaken eye-to-eye as he says,

"There is one small glimmer of hope..."

After helping him to sit up against the tree trunk, the imp weakly gives the young human the following instructions that may very well save his life.

"Listen well, Rin: To the East of here is an herb farm known as Jinenji's Garden. Go there, and get the Berries of the Thousand-Year Flower."

"The Berries of the Thousand-Year Flower?"

We see that the poison was already beginning early-stage effects, the imp's skin breaking into a new sweat, his voice weakening and sounding like someone who's coming down from two back-to-back marathons.

"That's, correct. Rin, if you truly want to save me, you must hurry...before the sun sets. I must swallow the Berries of the Thousand-Year Flower, or else the toxins will spread throughout my body, and I will be doomed..."

Nodding firmly, Rin moves to stand up and go find A-Un while replying,

"Don't worry, Master Jaken. I will return before the sun sets...I promise."

Soon, she was flying on the two-headed dragon demon across a lava-hardened field outside the forest, her expression set in a hard determination.

 _...Master Jaken, don't die!_

Rin tugs the reins and calls,

"A-Un, go faster!"

The two-headed dragon demon growls in recognition, and ups their speed...

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

After about a half hour, we reach the fielded area off the side of the path Inuyasha and I took to find Jinenji's place and discovered the unfortunate fix that he and his mother were in before we came and helped clear the tensed air that fogged the minds of the village's people...

"Hm...Are you quite sure this is the right way, Coraline?"

I look to Miroku and reply with a shrug,

"Should be. I think that tree we stopped at should be nearby..."

I pivot my head back to my boyfriend:

"Just to double-check, we went down this path, right?"

He just sticks his nose into the air away from my direction and asks sarcastically,

"Oh, now all of a sudden, my opinion is important?"

 _Hoh boy, bein' spiteful again, are we? I thought we were past moments like this..._

"Don't tell me you're still harpin' about my words from earlier...Haaah, look, I'm sorry for going on about it like a petty bitch, but I still wish to stop by and see Jinenji. I would think that by now out of the two of us, you'd handle these spats we have more maturely."

He gapes a little at me for my crudeness in the second sentence, but then growls slightly and starts to ask,

"You tryin' to say I'm no-"

But then he cuts himself off, when his nose picks up on something in the air:

"(Sniff, sniff) I know that smell..."

He sniffs around more, and I ask him,

"What's wrong?"

"That's definitely them: Naraku's poisonous insects!"

My eyes bulge in surprise and edge:

 _The_ _Saimyōshō?!_

...It was then my ears picked up on the sound of weak buzzing, and we all turn around to see two of the said wasps flying in our direction!

 _It is them!...But wait: I haven't sensed any shards or Auras that mimic Naraku's._

 _...So then what are they doing here?_

Inuyasha didn't seem to care much about the oddness that was the insect's presence:

"Kuh, I couldn't ask for better luck: This place could use some pest control."

He then unsheathes his Tessaiga, ready to take them out, but Miroku prevents him from doing so.

"Inuyasha, wait a minute."

"Huh?"

"Coraline, are you sensing any Shikon-no-Tama shards nearby?"

I shake my head and reply dully,

"Not even remotely close. I also can't sense any Auras like Naraku's incarnations, so we can rule that possibility out."

"And no demon puppets either?" Freeman remarks,

"If there was, it would've attacked us by now. Naraku's a schemer, but not always that patient with quick-fights like those creepy root puppets."

Miroku nods, and we watch the wasps continue to pass us overhead as he ponders,

"Then perhaps the poisonous insects, are returning to Naraku."

Besa hms,

"That makes more sense: He hasn't made any moves as of yet since he vanished, so he must still be recovering from the battle at his castle against Inuyasha and Sesshomaru."

Sango wonders,

"If we follow them instead of killing them..."

Inuyasha finishes her thought while putting his sword away, a smirk on his face:

"We'll find Naraku. Let's get goin'!"

 _Guess Jinenji will have to wait another time. Oh well..._

But we only got to follow them to more than halfway across the field, before the wasps began dropping from the sky like mosquitoes after being sprayed by insect killer!

"Look, they're falling!"

"What?"

We reach their fallen forms, and I notice that they were missing their stingers:

 _Aaah, that explains why their flight pattern looked a little sluggish..._

"Are they dead?"

I kneel by Shippo as he was looking at one of the Saimyōshō and reply matter-of-factually,

"Looks to be. They might be demons, but it seems they're not too different from regular bees and wasps in terms of living. Once they lose their stingers, they can't go much further before they die."

Inuyasha nudges the other one with his foot before he asks aloud,

"I don't get it. What's going on?"

My brothers get a closer look and make their own assumptions:

"Well, if they managed to fly this far, then they must've stung someone recently..."

"Questions are, who was the unlucky soul, and why are they comin' out in the open now?"

Before we could all come up with more guesses, a giant ball of light suddenly shoots out from the side of the forest surrounding this field, and floats fast between us before stopping a couple feet away, re-materializing as Sesshomaru!

 _Uh! What's he doing here?! Unless...was he following these wasps?_

Inuyasha exclaims his half-brother's name, tensing up a little on the defense, as the full dog demon asks,

"What happened to the Saimyōshō? Did you kill them?"

"Saimyōshō? You mean these poison insects?"

"You're so short-sighted."

"What?!"

Sesshomaru then confirms my suspicions:

"I was following them to Naraku, but now I have nothing to lead me."

"Lemme make one thing clear: I didn't kill those bugs!"

Unfortunately, Sesshomaru does not believe Inuyasha, to which I blame their rocky relationship on.

"You have an excuse for everything. It does get so tiresome."

"Kah! I don't have to make excuses for you; I'm tellin' the truth!"

I cut in with my own words:

"These Saimyōshō don't have their stingers, so they barely had any life when they flew here! They dropped dead on their own accord after a small distance more!"

Inuyasha then pulls out his Tessaiga and says to me,

"Stay out of this, Coraline: He's so stubborn, he never understands!"

 _...Gee, so it's a family trait, then?_

I dare not make that comment aloud, for I knew there would be aggressive protest on both sides...Sesshomaru then says to his half-brother,

"Inuyasha, I'm not feeling particularly magnanimous today. I won't go easy on you like I have in the past."

"Aw, cut the crap, and don't come cryin' to me afterward!"

And with that, they began another one of their stupid, completely unnecessary swordsmanship contests, Tessaiga versus Tokijin...

I groan loudly and facepalm before shouting,

"If either of you wants to talk about what a load of crap is, I'm starin' at it right now! Kindly remember who the real enemy is, please!"

Shippo informs me,

"You're wasting your breath."

"I know I am, but it doesn't make my words any less correct..."

"Those two are constantly at odds with eachother..." Sango agrees with Miroku:

"I'll second that."

Meanwhile, my brothers shrug and comment,

"Meh, as long as they don't chop off eachother's heads, I say let 'em blow off some brother-grudge steam."

"As for us, maybe we should back up a couple yards to the safety of the treeline until they're done? If it gets too crazy, that's when we'll interfere."

I reluctantly agree to that plan, as do the others, and we all speed-walk to the nearest oak, just as Sesshomaru brings Tokijin down in a jump-swing against Inuyasha, who blocks with Tessaiga before shoving the other off. I shake my head while muttering to myself in exasperation,

"I'd actually take the futile exercises between my boyfriend and Kōga over this..."

At the same time, Rin's POV

After a while of traveling East, A-Un and I reach the village where this Jinenji was suppose to live. I have them land at the bottom of a slope, and make my way up while calling over my shoulder,

"A-Un, you wait there until I get back!"

I bound down a path through the village, and eventually found a wide field of herbs, which I instantly concluded to be the farm I was looking for.

"I can't believe it: An herbal garden, and this is the plant I need!"

 _I just hope Jinenji is here..._

Wandering over to the hut sitting in the middle of the big garden, I peer passed the door flap, and found someone sorting some herbs, but I don't think it was him...

"Uum, excuse me?"

"Hrm? Who're you?"

I make a noise of surprise from this older woman's appearance:

 _A witch!_

 _...Or, maybe someone who's been in the sun too long?_

"What do you want?"

Her gruff address did not hinder my goals, and I bravely ask,

"I'm really sorry, to intrude, but I need to see Jinenji..."

"No can do: Jinenji isn't seeing anyone today. Go on home."

My eyes wander to something large hidden underneath a blanket, which I quickly figured out must've been who I was looking for...

"You're here, aren't you, Jinenji? Please hear me out: I need to you to give me some Berries of the Thousand-Year Flowers...My friend has been poisoned, and he might die any minute!"

A soft but deep male voice replies from in the blanket,

"That's a terrible shame...Nonetheless, I don't have any Berries of the Thousand-Year Flowers here. Go home."

 _Why does he not show himself? Is he shy?_

"Jinenji, what's the matter with you? Why don't you come out from under the covers and talk to me?"

The old woman explains for him:

"You're just a little girl, so you wouldn't understand. Jinenji, is a half-demon."

"Half-demon?"

 _Like, Lord Sesshomaru's half-brother, Inuyasha?_

"From time to time, his demon appearance changes and he takes on a human form. He's such a coward: He doesn't want anyone to see his human self."

 _Oh. How sad...In that case._

I move inside and ask,

"Then tell me how I can find the berries, Jinenji. I'll go get them myself!"

"These berries are used as an antidote for demons. Are you trying to save a demon, little girl?"

I nod at the old woman, and then she asks me a most peculiar question:

"Do you mean you are smitten with this demon?"

 _Huh? Smitten?_

"Smitten? What does that mean?"

"Never mind, dear. You're so young, you couldn't possibly know about it. I was like you once, young and innocent..."

But the redness on her cheeks spoke more to me than she knew, and I snap her out of such strange thoughts.

"Never mind that! I have to try and save Master Jaken!"

"...Mother."

The old woman and I turn to see Jinenji's eyes shining at us from under the blanket:

"This girl resembles Coraline."

 _...Coraline?_

 _Hmm...I think Master Jaken mentioned her name once: A strange woman with red hair, who doesn't dress as though she's from these lands...  
_

 _Ah! That's right: I sort-a met her when I woke up after Kohaku tried to attack me..._

"Coraline? (Smile) Ah yes, that young girl..."

Jinenji's Mother turns to my direction again, and must've saw something in my face that matched, Coraline, whoever she is...

"You're right."

He then tells me where the berry flower is located:

"The flower grows in the ravine of the mountain out back. But there are lots of beasts and demons in the area. A human, would never make it back, alive. When it's dark, I'll return to normal. Why don't you wait until then?"

 _...I might not have anyone to return to if I wait that long._

 _Scary as his words sound...I must get those berries at any cost!_

I rush over and kneel in front of Jinenji to plead,

"It'll be too late! Tell me what kind of flower it is; I'll go get it myself!"

"...You are so similar to Coraline."

 _Please, Master Jaken...hang on with all of your might!_

No POV

While Rin inquired Jinenji about what sort of flowering plant she'll need to keep her eyes out for, back in the forest, Jaken was struggling to hold onto life, the poison taking a further toll on his strength. He barely manages to pull himself up to look over a fallen log, thinking aloud about the two people who might miss him should his life be forfeit.

"R-Rin...Lord...Lord, Sesshomaru..."

The imp breaks into a sob, burying his face into one arm as he weakly cries out,

"Nooo, I don't want to die alone...!"

...Shifting to a less depressing atmosphere, we head back to the open field nearing the village where Jinenji's Herb Garden grows, as the sword-fight between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru continued on, neither side showing any signs of fatigue or wanting to call it quits.

But while half of our group was watching the scene on the sidelines with undivided attention, the three teens from the modern era have settled into a mixed mood of disinterest and slight annoyance to this ongoing ego clash, and were now only half-invested in the action, while also focused on playing with a deck of cards to pass the time...

"Hm...I got fifteen."

"Eighteen."

"Twenty-One; I win."

Coraline and Besa groan lightly from their loss, while Freeman smiles smugly at his victory. The three then glance over at the hotheaded dog demons who were still going at it sword-versus-sword.

"...Sheesh. We've already played thirty rounds of Blackjack. How much longer can this go on?"

"Well, they each have demon blood runnin' through their veins, so who knows..."

"Meh, I think we're actually gettin' close to one of them disarming the other. Once that happens, that's when we make our move."

As those three agreed to a future course of action, we zoom in overhead in the skies, as Rin and A-Un make headway in the direction of a wide mountain range coming up in the distance.

"A-Un, there's the ravine! That must be the place!"

At the same time, Inuyasha decides to kick his attacks up a level:

"Time for my _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

...But unlike what happened last time this three-clawed bolt of energy was thrust at Sesshomaru, the full-blood dog demon was able to stave off the Tessaiga's power by using the demonic aura of Tokijin to cut it down the middle, both energies cancelling eachother out!

"What?!"

(CLANG...TOK)

Following that move, Sesshomaru uses his demon speed to zoom in close to Inuyasha's front, before disarming the latter of his sword, it spiraling several yards to land blade-first in the ground before shifting back into its dormant form!

Tessaiga's wielder would crash down to the dirt and grass in a cloud of dust merely a second afterward, only to have the tip of Tokijin pointed at his throat by their wielder, whom by this point, was finished using any 'formalities'.

"I win this time. Are you prepared to die, Inuyasha?"

"Kuh, I don't care about my life...Kill me and get it over with!"

"Indeed."

"Hey! He might not care about his own life, but I do!"

"I second that!" "Third!"

The two dog demons turn to their right (left for Inuyasha) and see Coraline and the twins fast-approaching, stopping just a few feet away from their proximity, before Besa discloses the information Sesshomaru was seeking.

"If you're that hell-bent in finding Naraku like we are, then head for the Ox-Tiger, or Northeast."

Coraline adds,

"A deity we helped spoke of sensing the bastard's Aura heading that way."

"Besa, Coraline, shut up!"

Freeman glares at Inuyasha and retorts,

"Dude, you're the one who needs to shut your trap before this fight goes on 'til Christmas. (Glances at Sesshomaru) By the way, you could've just asked one of us instead of immediately provoking a sword-clash with your half-brother. It would've saved us all a headache..."

Sesshomaru narrows his eyes slightly at the dark-complexioned boy for the lecture, before replying neutrally,

"In the direction of the Ox-Tiger?...That's all I need to know, thank you."

He pulls back Tokijin from Inuyasha's neck, and turns to head out from the area:

"You were fortunate this time, Inuyasha."

As said dog demon sits up, he calls to the retreating back,

"Wait, Sesshomaru! Why are you after Naraku?"

He does not make any signs of stopping, and simply replies with a growling undertone,

"...I have a score to settle."

Rin's POV

I finally reach the mountain ravine, but I would soon find out just how many demons would call it home...I'm now being backed towards a rock wall, whimpering as several beasts slowly inch closer to me.

 _Oooh, there's alot more demons here than I thought there'd be...!_

Just as I flinch back from a charging fly demon, a bolt of blue light comes shooting down to destroy them all, leaving behind a burn mark in the ground for my eyes to see when I uncover them...I turn to smile gratefully at the one responsible:

"Thank you, A-Un!"

 _Thank goodness they're with me...(Deep breath) Okay, focus._

I continue on my way through the ravine, holding out a drawing of the flower I needed that was given to me by Jinenji.

 _Berries of the Thousand-Year Flower...Where are they?_

Just as I take a few more steps, my eyes finally spot a purple flowering plant that was shaped exactly like the drawing, growing on a high ledge!

"There it is! That has to be it!"

But my smile would shift into a scared frown, as I felt the ground under one of my feet begin to sink! I scramble forward in time before I could fall, just as several more demons spring out from the hole!

 _Oh no, not again!_

I let out a scream, and A-Un comes rushing in to kill the demons. I felt bad that they had to do the heavy work, but knew this might be my only opportunity to get the plant...

"Sorry, A-Un! Keep them at bay! I'm going to get the berries!"

So with that, I rushed over to the face of the cliff and began to climb, ignoring the sounds of the demons who wanted to make a meal out of me, leaving them to my two-headed friend...

I get about halfway there just as evening was coming, but slipped on a loose rock and almost fell down!

"Aaah!"

Luckily, I grabbed onto a sturdier part of the wall in time...Even so, my being was cloaked with fear.

 _I'm scared...Lord Sesshomaru..._

I continue on with climbing, thinking about the lives I've already lost in my short years:

 _My mother, father, and older brother...they're all dead. I don't want anyone else to die._

 _I don't want to see anyone else die!_

Come close to sunset, I reach a narrow ledge that was close enough to the flower that I only had to climb a little bit more before I could reach my hand out to the flower. I do so, as I think of the one who so desperately needs this plant:

 _Master Jaken...please don't die. I don't want anyone else to die!_

I had to stand on the tips of my toes...but I finally snared it!

 _Yes!_

...But my excitement would be short-lived, when the ledge I stood on gave out!

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

In a fit of panic, I cried out for the one person who could save me:

"LORD SESSHOMARUUUUU!"

...And the last thing I remember, was a large orb of light barreling towards me from midair, before I passed out, keeping a firm hold on the berry plant.

 _I don't...I won't...I can't, let anyone else...die._

Jaken's POV

It's now approaching sunset, and much to my misfortune, Rin has not returned with the berries I need to dispel the poison of those damned insects...

My body reaches a new level of heat, sweat seeping out of my skin, and my nerves jolt with more pain than before.

"Agh! Rgh, the poison, is spreading...!"

I look up with weary eyes to the blazing sky:

 _The sun is setting on me..._

"Rin, didn't make it back in time with the antidote..."

 _That foolhardy girl must've perished trying to find it...So, we might be seeing eachother in the afterlife, eh?_

"Ugh, my vision is becoming blurry...Uh?"

My eyes then catch the sight of a familiar figure standing near in front of me:

 _...Am I seeing things?_

I rub them to be sure, and was surprised to see my lord!

"It's you! Lord Sesshomaru...!"

He then tosses me the fabled berries I need to rid myself of the cold hands of death.

"Haaah, the antidote!"

I eat them up with no hesitation...but couldn't help but wonder:

 _Wait...does this mean..._

I glance over to see A-Un, who was carrying a rather disheveled and worn-down Rin...I almost miss the words she mumbled in her sleep:

"Master Jaken...don't die on me..."

 _Rin..._

 _Hm, to think, my life was saved by my lord...and a young human..._

 _What are the odds?_

Small Time Skip, No POV

It wouldn't be until nightfall that Inuyasha and the others reached the village that held Jinenji's Herb Garden, and they would soon hear of the news regarding Rin and her quest for the Berries of the Thousand-Year Flower...

"Really? A young lass came here?" Jinenji's Mother nods to Coraline:

"That's right. I've been worried if she managed to get the Berries of the Thousand-Year Flower she needed..."

Jinenji didn't seem to be as concerned:

"Something tells me she did okay. She reminded me so much of Coraline here."

Inuyasha glances at said redhead and asks a bit perplexed,

"She was like Coraline?"

Jinenji nods while looking at the small container of fruit he was presented with a moment ago.

"She was. And I'm quite certain she was stronger than even I am. Like Coraline, she warmed my heart: She was like the child of the sun. She has a very kind heart, that much I'm sure of."

Coraline blushed slightly and replied with a smile,

"You're the one with the big heart, Jinenji, but I'm, flattered that you believe so for not just myself, but for the lass in question..."

 _I wonder...could she have been the same little girl who travels with Sesshomaru?_

"Lemme correct you on somethin', Jinenji, 'cause I think you got somethin' all wrong."

Jinenji and Coraline both tilt their heads in confusion, before Inuyasha says,

"Coraline's heart is not as big as one may think it is."

"(Slight glare) Is that so? Well then, in that case..."

The dog demon flinches on the defense from the tone the redhead was using...before:

"Sit, Boy."

(Gleam...Wham)

The subjugation beads are activated, and Inuyasha face-plants into the dirt...

"Ggh...What'd I tell ya, Jinenji? Would a kindhearted person do that?"

"No, but if you really wanna see how small my heart can appear, keep talkin'. (Irritated smirk) _I dare you_."

The dog demon catches the hint of a taunt hiding in Coraline's threat, and growls a little at her in his own irritation, while Shippo, Miroku and Sango comment with matching deadpanned expressions,

"He's so stupid..."

"I'll say..."

"Yeah..."

Freeman and Besa just shrug with a 'meh', before moving to pull Inuyasha to his feet by his arms while whispering,

"Look on the bright side, dude: At least she's not mean enough to 'Sit' you to the center of the earth."

"Yeah, that would be overkill..."

...Meanwhile, on a knoll just outside the forest where Sesshomaru's group was previously, Rin was slowly rousing from sleep after her grueling journey to find the poison cure for Jaken.

"Mm...mm..."

"Oh, you're awake."

"Hm?"

She looks over to her right, and sees the imp standing near her laying form:

"Master Jaken...you're all better now. (Sits up) Either that, or maybe I died when I fell off the cliff..."

Jaken quickly dismisses her more perilous guess:

"You silly fool. Lord Sesshomaru brought you back. You didn't die."

"Do you mean, he saved me?"

"That's right, and you better stop causing him so much trouble, young lady."

"...I know...I'm sorry."

Rin's body fills with overwhelming relief in seeing her efforts weren't in vain, and launches herself at Jaken to hug him with tear-filled eyes!

"Master Jaken, I'm glad you're well again! I was so worried about you!"

"Stop, Rin! Get away; shoo!"

"I won't!"

As that reunion went on, Sesshomaru was standing nearby a tree, his gaze fixated on the star-filled skies in thought over his major objective, and the new tip he received.

 _...To the Northeast, is he?_

He comes out of his thoughts to the tune of his name and title being chimed by the human girl and imp, and he glances down at them before saying,

"...We're going."

They hurry to follow with no hesitation, each having a cheery laugh under their breath, the imp commenting aloud happily,

"We're all together again, my lord! Isn't it wonderful?"

And the small mismatched group is on their way through the countryside again, their path lit by the many gleaming lights of the stars above...


	107. Chapter 106

Hey everybody, I'm back; I'm alive!

Sorry that I left you in suspense for longer than usual. I've been battling two different spouts of the cold/flu for the past few weeks, plus busy with prepping my fall schedule for school and finding some p/t work (mission accomplished on that front a few days ago; yay!).

But I'm feeling better and a little less congested, physically and mentally, and I usually find a slower pace pays off.

Anyway, hope you enjoy my newest addition to the story! Read on :)

* * *

 **Chapter 106 (Special): Goblins, Ninjas & Saki's Strike**

 _"Breaking News: A priceless heirloom sword has been stolen from the Tokyo National Museum yesterday night. No major details have been released about this said artifact, other than it was discovered by Archaeologist Professor Reo Hashimoto and his team in an excavation project several months back. Requests for interviews are being denied at this time to allow the police time to conduct a thorough investigation of the crime scene, whom so far have no conclusive details to report with regards to whom was responsible for the theft. We will continue to follow this story as it develops..."_

That would be the newest report broadcasted over Tokyo's news stations for the coming afternoon, leaving all watching or listening to ponder in their own circles what could've brought about this thievery and 'who done it?'...

With the exception of two individuals.

First, we zoom in on a tall skyscraper nestled discreetly within the other hulking buildings of the Japan's capital's busy downtown, made from black glass and gray concrete, and had a large symbol in the middle depicting a headset communicator hovering around a simple picture of the infamous Mount Fuji, the icon of an infamous technology company known as Fujiterra.

Inside, its CEO, Saki Hikiji, was sitting in his private study overlooking some new files, when one of the shadows in the ceiling shifts, and he looks up to see three ninja drop down to kneel several feet in front of his desk, their outfits being rather standard in terms of the iconic look.

Full-black garments, shin and arm guards made from what looks to be steel, and masks that merely covered their lower faces rather than their entire heads. On the part of their robes over their hearts, was a circular patch that shows a black tri-claw mark overtop a light purple background...

Saki pauses his work to address these new arrivals, his brown eyes narrowed in a calculated expression, highlighting the light ring of purple.

"Your report."

The ninja in the middle of the other two stands up, and removes a silver cloth-wrapped bundle from his back, before walking up to present the mystery item to the man.

"The mission was a success, master. We secured the blade in question."

Saki unwraps the cloth, and smirks when he sees the bounty that his subordinates had acquired: The Sword of Tengu!

"Ha. At last...The sword is back in the hands of those meant to use it."

 _The damage done to the blade is but a formality to be fixed. The rest of the sword is as immaculate as ever..._

 _All I need, is the gem that binds._

Looking up at the ninja, he then orders,

"Proceed to phase two, and send the 'invitation'."

"(Bow) Yes, master."

A few seconds later, the three black-clothed warriors were gone, disappearing into the cloak of the dark, while Saki carefully sets the ancient blade down on the cloth on his desk, before turning his view from the highest point of his building, face set in a mix of indifference and a dull burn of fury.

 _This time, none shall stand in the way...not even you, 'old friend'._

Moving to another part of the city, we find ourselves inside a condo apartment building nearby the dojo run by Master Yoshi, who was currently in meditation in his living room, legs crossed and eyes closed in thought since he awoke early in the morning from a rather foreboding vision he received in his dreams.

 _...The darkness is on the rise once more, after all these years..._

 _That blade wishes to be made again, but for what purpose and whose?_

 _...What truly worries me, is the battle I saw, but there is nothing I can do to stop it. Fate has control this time._

 _I can only hope they are ready for what comes...and will be able to stop him._

"...Hm?"

(Toss, shooooom)

Suddenly, Yoshi snaps his soft brown irises open, and quickly springs away in a back-flip from the path of a shuriken that came flying for his head! He darts his eyes towards the direction of the weapon's path, that being his halfway-opened window, but sees nothing...

Using caution, he steps up to dislodge the shuriken from the floor, noting a small scroll of paper tucked inside a sliver cut in the metal.

"Hmm..."

Unrolling the scroll, Yoshi reads the message, his eyes narrowing with each word, before letting out a weary breath.

"So...the time has come once again, has it?"

He walks out of the living room and into his bedroom, unhooking a floorboard near his closet to reveal a secret compartment he made to hide his more precious valuables, and reaches in to pull out a set of sheathed double katana.

"...Hah...I had hoped I wouldn't have to use these again in battle aside from assisting the young ones with training...but I suppose one cannot avoid forever."

After strapping the swords to his person, Yoshi prepares to exit his home, thinking to himself,

 _Hard to say if this will be my last battle...but I shall not deter my duty to prevent those from abusing the powers of the ancient._

 _...So...this is the path you chose...'old friend'._

Meanwhile, in Sengoku Edo...

"Weeeell, this is a different compared to what we've seen this last while..."

Freeman's characterization was directed to the group's latest destination:

A rather old and worn-down village sitting near the bottom of a large cliff that looks to have been abandoned for a substantial amount of time. It was a bit smaller than some of the other places they've come across in their adventures, the grounds being flat, dry and void of any real nutrients required for anything to grow, other than a few odd patches of crackled grass. Most of the homes have deteriorated, but the few that were still standing looked to be made from a mix of wood and mud bricks, the roofs partly caved in from the pressures of nature and holding fragmented remnants of rather random items, from pottery to sharpening tools and calligraphy brushes, telling us that the people of this village must've had a rather, diverse culture. Whether peaceful or not, is anyone's guess...

As everyone stole glances around the landscape, Miroku notes a strangeness in the air's aura.

"Hm...This does not feel like the type of village to house humans..."

Coraline, who today was wearing a white tank-top with deep blue jeans and her combat boots while her long red hair was tied back into a braid, asks him,

"Are you suggesting that this place may have been a demon village at one time?"

"It's possible. I do sense demonic energy, but it's much too dull to indicate a presence..."

Inuyasha hops up a barren tree and peers around with narrowed eyes before sniffing the air, checking out the vibe of this new area for himself.

"...Yeah, this place is definitely dead. I can smell demon, but it's way too weak a scent to say there's anyone left."

Besa, his day outfit being a tan tank-top with a pair of dark grey khakis and his monochrome hightops (mirroring his brother minus their top being the muscle-style other than a regular tank-top), calls up to the dog demon in curiousity,

"Any idea to what the demons might've been?"

"Hrmm...I only caught this scent once a long time ago when I was a kid, but, I think it might be goblin."

"Goblin? That's different..."

Shippo pops out from inside a shallow-dug well with Kilala (she in her dormant form) and chimes,

"I've heard of 'em: They're suppose to be these weird bird-like demons, but some have claimed to have seen them looking like monster kites. (Shudder) And the last thing you wanna do is tick one off, for they aren't short on having the smarts to kick butt."

Sango adds in her own insight:

"Yes, I too have heard such depictions. Not all are described as malevolent beings, but they've often been associated with foreshadowing wars to come, as well as being rather fierce guardians of the forests and mountains."

Leaping back down from the tall trunk, the dog demon of our group scoffs,

"Psh, big deal! So goblins have a tough reputation; I've heard scarier. Anyway, it doesn't look like there's anything worthwhile here, so let's keep moving."

Everyone agrees to the plan...well, all except Coraline, whose attention was suddenly caught by one large hut down the end nearing the cliff face.

 _Huh...Strange...I feel, something, coming from that hut over there._

"Hang on a second, Inuyasha..."

She begins to jog over to the old home, much to everyone else's confusion:

"Huh?" "What's she..."

"Hey, Cor! What gives?"

Ignoring them, Coraline reaches the hut and pulls back the shredded cloth door covering the entrance way, finding herself in what looks to be an old weapons workshop, with an old, chipped stone table in the middle that had a few scratch marks on the surface, along with some worn crafting tools, a firing hearth in the back, a few large vase-shaped pots sitting by a window on the left side filled with what looked to be rusted metals, some in straight cuts while others looked more shaped into blunt blades, and another small table standing on the corner right that held an old scroll or two in surprisingly fair shape and a few old ink stains.

"Huh...Looks like a rather understated forger's depot...Hm?"

The redhead then spots a fragment of bone near the pottery holding the metal samples, and steps over to get a closer look, feeling something strange radiating off it.

 _That bone...I sense a dormancy of power in it, which isn't common for ones of human origin._

 _...Uh! Is it a demon bone then?_

"Hmm...I don't sense the dark energy making any beelines to attack, but Sango's always said that any parts of a demon that haven't been exorcised are usually hostile, so I better not agitate it."

Turning away, Coraline's eyes then catch sight of the scrolls on the tiny table set aside in the back of the room, and was immediately interested in their contents.

"Huh...curious: Considering how old this place looks, I'm surprised there's any written records here..."

She walks over and picks up the one that had a more rusted tan hue, just as everyone else caught up to her, with Inuyasha being the second to enter with a confused scowl on his face.

"Hey! What'd ya dart off fo-What, the...?"

His sentence breaks off when his amber irises take in the details of the hut:

"...What is this place?"

Coraline replies as she unrolls the paper,

"Can't say for sure, but I think this might've been a forger's hut at some time ago...Uh!"

Her eyes then bulge out in surprise after unfurling the scroll, the contents being something she did not expect.

A scene of several events tied together, with the protagonists being that of demonic origins, anthropomorphic beings with rust red skin pigments of various hues, thick, aviary wings protruding from their backs, heads shaped in a mix of a falcon and human, the noses being very long and phallic, and wearing garments of similar fashion to that of mountain hermits, including the tokin headpiece and pom-pom sash going around their robes. Some carried fans made from feathers similar to their own, while others held staffs, and one held a very familiar-looking katana...

Noticing that Coraline's hand was starting to shake from shock, making the paper scroll rattle a little, Miroku, whom had just entered inside the hut, asks with a bit of concern,

"What's wrong?"

"...This village...It's, where it was forged. _That sword._ "

That only served to confuse the others more...until Besa puts the pieces together:

"Gh, wait a second: A goblin village with a weapon forger...Sis, are you saying-"

"Uh-huh...This, is where the Sword of Tengu was made."

The twins gasp at the same time Inuyasha's eyes widen with surprise, while Shippo asks with a confused expression,

"The Sword of what? Since when do goblins wield swords?"

The redhead clears up the muddle by regaling what she has found out thus far with Professor Hashimoto about the blade in question...Once she was done, the group found this hut and the rest of the ancient village to be much more interesting than earlier.

"This is a rather intriguing yet peculiar mystery: What on earth would goblins need a sword for, and what happened to it?"

The scroll Coraline found was now spread completely out on the large stone table for all to see, along with the notes and images she possesses in a file folder for her research. She replies with a hm to Miroku,

"Well I dunno about the why, but based on the comparisons of the sheath's message to this scroll, it's a definite possibility that the sword was stolen from the goblin forger by a human samurai after they engaged in battle on an unknown date. After that, it looks like the forger left the village to hunt down the human to retake his creation, and never returned...Then I guess the goblins must've exhausted the natural resources out and moved on from this place..."

Freeman finishes with a casual hand,

"And this village became a ghost town...Say, is it possible that the forger might still be alive and somewhere else in Japan?"

Sango remarks,

"More than likely, since demons have exceptionally-long lifespans."

Besa then wonders,

"And what about that samurai? What happened to him after the theft?"

Inuyasha scoffs and replies with a gruff air,

"Well assuming the sword's power didn't kill 'im, he likely passed it onto his next of kin, whoever that is...Still, somethin' about this seems off: How could a samurai have gotten away from a goblin without leaving a trail?"

"Maybe the samurai...wasn't a samurai at all."

"Huh?"

Eyes fall on Coraline's form, as she takes a magnifying glass out of her satchel to run over the images captured on the scroll and the pictures of the sheath's secret message, hovering specifically over the human samurai figures. Zooming in, we see that on the right breast of the samurai armour, despite some faded obscurity, was a crest of sorts, one that the redhead would recognize instantly.

"Gh!"

 _It's, that clawed crest...The one from the dream I had when I was sick._

 _...Does this mean, this samurai in both records, is a member of the Kage no tusme?_

"Then that dream...was it a premonition of things to come?"

"What dream? Sis, is there something you haven't told us?"

Coraline snaps out of her rising epiphany to meet the eyes of her brother Besa, whom was gazing at her with a serious expression laced with concern, which would fall similar for the rest of the group. Taking a breath, she would reply somewhat hesitantly,

"Actually...yes, there was something I meant to bring up with you all. I only haven't said anything yet 'cause I wanted some time to think about it on my own and be sure that it wasn't just one of those paranoia night terrors. But after seeing this...well, I'm starting to think otherwise."

She would then reveal the details of the strange dream she had during her recovery in her era from the cold she got, from the battle between the Bishop doppelganger and her look-alike, all the way down to the appearance of Naraku and the mysterious male figure with the Shadow Claw clan crest. Faces would be struck with shock over the retelling, though Inuyasha's would fade away first thanks to a new surge of anger and overprotective tendencies.

"So lemme see if I got this right: You had a dream that involved that bastard Naraku and didn't think to tell me right away?!"

Holding her hands out on the defense, Coraline calmly if a little loudly explained her reasoning.

"First of all, I was still sick: If I panicked over something I didn't understand off the bat, I would've only succeeded in making myself feel worse thanks to stress. And second, it's not like I wasn't going to tell you! But I knew that getting you riled up more while worrying over me wouldn't be a smart combination. I wanted to wait until we were both in a fair place mentally, but then the subject kept getting backseated by other problems as soon as we returned to Edo, and it wasn't until now that the thought came out of its hidey-hole. Honestly...I dismissed the dream as just a weird night terror."

Looking down, she adds a little more quietly from a sudden rise of nerves,

"But it seems the universe wants to prove me wrong today. I'm sorry."

Inuyasha grumbles incoherently to himself for a few seconds, eyeing the girl before him with a scowl...before letting out a sigh and tilts her chin up with one of his clawed fingers, looking at her with slightly softer amber irises.

"Damn right you should be sorry...but I guess I get why you wanted to keep it to yourself for a bit. You shouldn't hafta mull about it on your own, though: This is something that needs a second opinion or more."

"I know..."

"Good...Now moving away from that bastard for a second, the other figure you saw standing beside him: They had this clawed crest on their robes, right?"

Once her chin was released, Coraline nodded in confirmation:

"That's right, the same one that's pictured here on this scroll and the one in the sword sheath...And thinking more on it now...their build seemed similar to, Saki's."

The twins hm, and Freeman mutters with a frown,

"The same jerk who's been harassing Master Yoshi, who said that Saki is secretly the leader of a ninja clan called Shadow Claw-(Shakes head) No way. Too freaky to be a coincidence; the symbol and name have gotta be one in the same."

Besa adds with a grimmer air,

"Which means that samurai on the scrolls...There's a good chance they were a disguised member of the Kage no tsume, which would explain how they got away from the tengu weapon forger."

Sango nods, recalling her encounter with the Shinobi sisters Serina and Suzuna:

"Yes: While they are not quite as skilled in fighting demons like demon slayers, Shinobi are masters of stealth and using trickery. This one could've easily used something like a smoke bomb to elude the goblin long enough to get out of sight."

Coraline concludes,

"I guess this confirms that the Kage no tsume did exist back in the older days of Japan, real old since these scrolls and the fragmented sword date back to the eleventh century..."

Everyone bops their heads in agreement...just as another sub-topic pops up in Freeman's head.

"Say...call this a huge stretch, but, I'm almost wondering if this warrior pictured here, might be an ancestor of the Hikiji family..."

Miroku tilts his head in confusion:

"Hikiji?"

"Yeah, that's Saki's family name...Wait. Okay, prepare yourselves for another stretch, but, what if this is tied into why Saki has been threatening Master Yoshi?"

Eyebrows raise up in surprise, and Coraline asks,

"Are you thinking that Master Yoshi might know something about the sword?"

"Can't say for sure...but all this new and old info is givin' me this creepy shiver down my spine, like, something's coming: Somethin' that'll tie this era and ours together again like what happened with Trinity."

A flinch wave passes through the bodies in the room, with the dog demon holding down a low growl in recollection of the events regarding said organization, his fixation being on a certain deceased commander and what they had nearly done to his girlfriend/intended. Sensing the rise of anger, Coraline took one of his hands into hers to squeeze in a reassuring gesture, which helped to cool his temper a little, but didn't stop him from muttering while gritting his teeth,

"Those guys...If I so much as see another member of those bastard humans, (Knuckle crack) I'm gonna bust some heads."

"Easy, Inuyasha. We don't know if they have any ties into this possible development."

"Doesn't change my opinion."

Rolling her eyes slightly, Coraline nods understandingly, knowing that this was a part of his protective nature in their relationship...

Suddenly:

(Pulse)

"Rh!" "Uh!" "Mh!"

She and the twins felt a faint yet prominent wave of energy go through their nerves, as if they were struck by a stronger version of static electricity! The other two humans and two demons ask,

"What is it?"

"Now what's wrong?"

"Are you three okay?"

"What's the matter?"

Lumos floats closer to his partner's side, his wispy moans laced with concern as he taps into Coraline's mind to help amplify and identify what the trouble was.

(Glow...)

He would not be the only source of clarity: At the same time the Will O' Wisp sends his own power into the redhead's mind, the Seven Light Crystal shards owned by Freeman and Besa begin to shine that rainbow light, it traveling up their arms to billow over their heads and unhinge the uncertainty they were also feeling from the static-like shock.

...But what the three saw, only brought a course of further unease and worry in regards to recent information and theory.

 _(Flash)_

 _Two blurred but familiar male figures are seen going head-to-head in a battle on a small expansion of grass near a bridge going over a brook, one using what appears to be a twin set of swords, while the other was using some sort of a twin set of triple-bladed metal plaque guards that rested on the back of the figure's hands._

 _After a series of clashes between both weapons, the one with the clawed blades on his hands gains an opening and lunges forward before slashing the swordsman across his torso._

 _(SWIPE)_

 _"Graaah!"_

 _(Flash)_

Blinking sharply back to reality, the three teens dart their eyes to meet eachother's saucer-wide stares for a moment, before Coraline shakily broke the silence by asking in a hushed tone,

"U-Uh...did y-you two see...?!"

Both twins nod vigorously, feeling a new rush of anxiety creeping up on their bodies:

"Uh-huh..."

"Th-There's no mistaking that voice...That, had to have been Master Yoshi."

Miroku cuts into their new conversation, he, along with the rest of the group, becoming gravely concerned by these new expressions on the modern teens.

"What happened?"

"We're, not exactly sure ourselves, Miroku, but...I think, something just sent us a warning of things to come."

Inuyasha folds his arms in a skeptical manner:

"Just a something? Can't you be more specific?"

Besa shakes his head and continues on for his sister:

"Afraid not. I'd say it's like a more visual version of those gut feelings, but maybe this is a new kind of paranoia. I dunno..."

Sango slowly asks,

"What exactly did you three see?"

"It wasn't in complete focus, but...there were two figures, both blurred, fighting against one another, each one using their own twin set of weapons."

Freeman pipes in,

"That's what I saw too! They were at this, quiet area by a brook and bridge; one of those kinds of places that you seldom see alot of people...I think, one was using katana, and the other..."

Coraline finishes,

"The other was using a strange set of metal claws built in the style of wrist guards crossed over with brass knuckles...They were wearing full black, while the other was wearing robes that reminds me of...Master Yoshi's sensei uniform..."

The three shiver and add together,

"We also, heard his voice cry out in pain,"

"When the one in black,"

"Swiped at the other's torso with his weapons..."

"And you're sure it was his voice you heard, no one else's?"

They nod in confirmation to the monk, causing everyone to frown in a foreboding manner...Another moment of silence passes, before Inuyasha broke it with the following suggestion.

"Okay, normally I'd say we should ignore this and move on in our mission to find that demon bastard, Naraku, but this, on top of all the other uncovered info is givin' me a bad feeling. I dunno what the hell's goin' on, but it wouldn't kill us to comb this ghost town again for more answers."

The rest of the group gazes at the dog demon with mild surprise by his lenience on the subject, before nodding in agreement. Coraline then says,

"In that case, I think I'll keep looking in here for more clues about the goblin forger. Maybe there's something in here that can tell us where he went after the sword was stolen."

Besa chimes,

"I'll help, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. What about the rest of you?"

Freeman gestures back out the door and says,

"I'm gonna see about that one hut with those feather imprints I saw on the walls."

Miroku finishes,

"And the rest of us will try and uncover anything we might've missed from our first look."

With a plan set, Coraline, Besa and Lumos would soon be the only ones left inside the decayed weapon workshop while everyone else moved to other parts of the ancient village to see about finding something that could help in removing the blockades in this new mystery...

Modern-Day Japan, Yoshi's POV

Following the directions written in the message sent to me, it would be roughly an hour and a half before I arrived at the place where _he_ and I are to meet that laid just outside the concrete buildings.

The area is one rarely touched by human activity, save a quaint little wooden bridge that arched over a stream connecting to one of the main city rivers, the green of the grass bright and inviting, dusted with both cherry blossom petals from the surrounding trees and gentle white daisies.

...But any tranquility this place may have to offer, does nothing to quell the unease and tension that was building within me.

Shortly after retrieving my blades, I had switched into my white and gray haori and hakama, and readjusted my cherished gem pendant so it was resting on a stronger chain rather than the black ribbon.

Coming over the bridge, I found myself gripping the small bit of crystallized pearl-blue under my robes as if it were a lifeline.

 _...I can only pray that this will not be my final confrontation._

 _I still have much to offer to the minds of youth in this city...especially those three._

 _...Croft-san, Brownlee-sans...they have so much potential._

"...Yoshi."

I look back up, and see my opponent standing a few feet away from my person, he dressed in sensei garments similar to mine, but were in the full black like his student ninja, complete with the Kage no tsume crest on his right breast, his hands carrying that dreaded weapon I hoped to never see again.

 _The Panther Claws..._

"Saki..."

"This confrontation does not have to come to pass. All you need do is hand over the Gem of the Ancient One, and the both of us can walk away with our lives."

I shook my head with a neutral expression:

"You and I both know I cannot do that. I swore to protect it from the wavering and the selfish, and I intend to uphold that promise, just as my predecessors have done before me."

His face contorts into one that hid his fury behind a tight-lipped smile:

"I see...Tell me, Yoshi, how long do you think you can continue to pretend that you are not among the abnormal?"

My eyebrows knit and narrow to his question:

"What do you mean?"

"Come now, don't play the part of a fool with me, old friend. We both know the true reason you were entrusted with that particular jewel...I find it remarkable that no one has figured out your mystery after all these years."

I form a grim smile and reply,

"I have become careful in keeping that identity under guise...I do appreciate that you've kept my secret, (small frown) yet I am curious as to why, since you no longer wish to see me as a mutual companion."

"Call it a last formality, the only one I'm willing to continue to respect...But nevermind the past: My destiny is within reach and I shall not let anyone stand within my way. Not even you."

"Saki, I implore you to rethink your goals: Blades such as the Sword of Tengu are not meant to be wielded by mortal hands. You will only lead yourself down the same path as your ancestor did, one that had not a pleasant ending."

He holds up a hand to stop my speech:

"Enough. Your words fall on deaf ears; I will restore the Sword of Tengu to its former glory. And since you've obviously chosen to not hand over the Gem of the Ancient One willingly..."

Saki poises himself into battle position:

"There is but only one other way to obtain the item. Prepare yourself!"

Letting out a breath of despair through my nose, I unsheathe my own weapons, my double katana, the blades gleaming in the light of the sun...

A breeze flutters by, before our match began:

(Lunge)

"Haaaaaahhhh!"

"Hrrrrraaaaahhhh!"

(Swipe, clang, clang...)

Using all the techniques I had learned over the years in my training as a master of the martial arts, I fought with all my ferocity and wisdom against Saki, the tips of my swords colliding with the steel claws on his knuckles, our legs occasionally striking true outward to try and knock down the other...

Come about twenty minutes, and many intricate flips later, my opponent would get the upper hand, lunging forward just as I landed back on the ground from a backflip to swipe his triple-clawed blade across my torso.

(SWIPE)

"Graaah!"

(Pulse...)

 _Uh! That was...The Gem..._

 _...Could it be projecting this scene to elsewhere? But why?_

Sliding back on the grass, I grimace while holding one of my fists to my bloodied chest, before realizing,

 _Ah, I see: It also senses the connection...with those children..._

 _Or perhaps this is the doing of another jewel that has been causing unnecessary issues..._

 _Either way, I must try to uphold my position...no matter how dim the ending will be._

Though my body was sore and pained from the stress it was undergoing, I rose back to my feet and readied myself to continue. Saki watches me with a fist extended outward in a threatening manner, his face neutral and indifferent, though his eyes reflected an old gleam from the past when he and I were comrades and not enemies.

"Yoshi. Why do you insist on wearing down your body for an old promise made to the divine?"

"I feel that explaining such a reason would become lost to you. Perhaps not years ago when our connection ran as strong as a brotherhood, but now, it would just be wasted on your selfish heart...Saki, please, I ask you once more: Do not rebuild the Sword of Tengu, if not for the sake of the lives you'll jeopardize, but for your own fate."

"Silence! I have heard all I can take of your passive words."

He then charges at me with a renowned speed, uppercutting his weapons against me to try and doll new damage to my body, to which I would dodge and block with my katana for the most part, save a few attacks that slipped by my vision to create new tears in my flesh and clothing...

Come another ten minutes, and my stamina will have worn down considerably thanks to blood loss from my more prominent injury across my chest and the push I was forcing on my muscles.

"Hah...Hah...Hah...!"

 _This, is quickly, becoming a problem. I won't, be able to, fight for much, longer...!_

(Dash)

"Hrh!"

"Hiiiirrrrrrah!"

(SLICE)

"AAAAAGH!"

And my disadvantage would be my downfall, when Saki suddenly rushes out of my sight, only to use his Panther Claws against my back this time, opening a new wound, throwing me to the ground...!

...I hit the grass hard, forcing most of the air out of my lungs, and a new shot of nerve pain to run from my injuries to the rest of my body.

"Rrh! R-Rgh...!"

 _Curses...I've, been defeated..._

 _...Forgive me, gods._

Footsteps softly approach my battered body, and the owner would harshly roll me onto my back with the tip of their foot, causing me to grimace, before looking up with a pained expression at Saki, his own face holding indifference but with triumph gleaming in his irises. Letting out a cough that spattered out a little of my blood, I try once more to talk sense into my former friend, my voice coming out weak and wheezed.

"S-Saki...don't, do this...It will only, (hack) end in, t-turmoil for you..."

He ignores me, and bends down to snap off my chained jewel from my neck, before rising to a stand and making his way out of the area, leaving me to watch helplessly as he disappears through what looks to be a rip in space and time...

I knew instantly where he was going:

 _He now has the fragmented sword...and the gem that will help bind a new blade._

 _God help the people of that era..._

 _But all hope is not lost, if those three and their friends become wise to the danger approaching._

"...Yoshi! Is that you, boy?!"

I wasn't aware how long exactly I was laying on the grass-bedded earth after Saki left, but it seems the world will not let me leave it yet, when suddenly, I was met with the voice and face of an old colleague of mine.

 _Higurashi-san..._

He bends down by my head and asks with a frantic expression in his elder features,

"Good lord, what happened to you?! Akari, call for an ambulance!"

"Right, dad!"

A younger boy, his grandson, appears on my other side, looking down at me in a higher concern and panic.

"Grandpa, is he gonna be okay?!"

"He will as long as we hurry. (Looks down) Yoshi, don't try to speak: Focus on staying awake for as long as you can!"

I nod slightly, a grave smile forming on my blood-stained lips, and keep my vision on the elder man and his grandson, who would soon be joined by Akari, also looking at me with concern.

"The ambulance should be here shortly. Stay strong, Yoshi-sama; we won't leave your side."

Higurashi-san remarks with a half-smile,

"It's a good thing we chose today to come here on a family outing...If only this were a more peaceful circumstance..."

If I had the strength, I would've chuckled at the well-timed irony:

 _Ha, how fortunate. Perhaps I will not be moving onto the heavens today..._

 _(Frown) But the Gem of the Ancient One...I can only pray that it will return to me somehow._

 _And as for the Sword of Tengu, I leave the task to them. Croft-san, Brownlee-sans...be strong, and be prepared._

Small Time Skip, Sengoku Edo, Saki's POV

After returning to my office to grab the sword and clean my weapons from the earlier battle, I used the transporter I acquired from Trinity base several days ago to travel back in time to Edo, using similar coordinates to that of the deceased Constantine...

Once I had landed, I immediately began following the directions I had deciphered from the scroll hidden in the sheath, and another old scroll containing the last testament of one of my family's ancestors who last saw the goblin forger who created the sword.

My journey would take me up a high mountain peak cloaked in a misty fog, sitting near another currently in volcanic activity, said to house another demon weapon forger of equally mysterious title...

As I neared the cave entrance where the goblin supposingly is, I think to myself,

 _Rather unfortunate that Yoshi and I had to part on such violent terms...but it was unavoidable._

"...Who are you, mortal, and why do you dare approach the home of Yokuto?"

I stop a few feet away from the mouth of the cave, and call back calmly to the deep voice carrying a light nasal mixed in,

"My name is Saki Hikiji, and I have come to offer you a proposition regarding one of your older creations..."

Reaching to my back, I pull out and unwrap the sword from the silver cloth to hold out in both of my hands towards the forger inside the shadow of the cave.

"I'm sure you recognize the Sword of Tengu?"

"...The Sword of Tengu. Ha, it's been so long since I've laid eyes on it, when it was stolen by another one of your kind."

There's a pause, before footsteps echo towards me, and I'm greeted by the demon forger's appearance.

Much similar to the images portrayed in ancient texts written by humanity, he had the body of an anthropomorphic bird, his skin a muted shade of rust red, thick, white and gray aviary wings protruding from his back with red tipped feathers, his head humanoid but with falcon-shaped irises of a sharp yellow and black-gray feathers intermingling with short, sleeked hair, a long and phallic nose, and was wearing the garments of a mountain hermit, worn and dusted with what appears to be ash, his head holding the tokin headpiece, his feet baring wooden sandals.

He narrows his eyes as he looks at me up and down, before stating,

"You carry similar features to that human shinobi who first robbed me of my treasured blade. I assume you are related kin?"

"That is correct."

"Teh, if you are wishing me to repair the sword so you can use it yourself, then you may as well give it to me now and leave with your life. Your ancestor is already dead thanks to its power, and it would be a waste of your existence and my own energy to repeat their mistake."

Expecting such an answer, I reply smoothly,

"Ah, but unlike my ancestor, I come prepared with an item that will help me gain the sword's acceptance."

"Is that so?"

Shifting my hold so the sword was balancing on my right palm, I reach into the left pocket of my robes to pull out the Gem of the Ancient One, its shine catching Yokuto's attention.

"Ooh...You have that gem, do you? Hmm...Perhaps we might be able to exchange civil talk after all."

I smirk in anticipation:

 _Excellent. Everything is coming together as I planned..._

 _Soon, the Sword of Tengu will be restored once more, and none shall stand against my power!_


	108. Chapter 107

**Chapter 107 (Special): Modern Samurais versus Deep-Root Shinobi/Ninja**

(Clang...clang...clang...clang...)

It's been a fair couple hours since Saki has arrived in Edo at the mountain forge of the Goblin Demon, Yokuto to engage a commission deal to restore the Sword of Tengu the latter created centuries earlier.

Apparently, the Kage no tsume clan leader/Trinity officer had arrived at a good time when the forger was readying new metal for future projects, and only one strip of shining steel would be required, along with the power of the stolen Gem of the Ancient One.

(Siiiizzzz...)

Yokuto removes the perfectly-shaped blade from the firing hearth, and lays it atop a stone table near the handle to begin the bonding process.

 _Hmm...I never expected to see this fine sword again..._

 _And it will be taken away once more by yet another human._

He glances behind him at Saki, who was sitting quietly outside the cave entrance in meditation, narrowing his bird of prey-shaped irises.

 _Tch, humanity truly is becoming more foolish with each generation..._

 _Perhaps I need to remind he and others what happens when they tangle with power that isn't meant for their hands._

A smirk forms on the goblin demon forger's face, before he turns back to his work, pulling out the Gem of the Ancient One at ready.

 _I will use this to bond the sword again...but this man will soon realize the grave error he made in allowing me to, not to mention committing a crime against the divine._

(Sheen...)

The pearl-blue jewel emits a soft, mauve-shaded glow, and the energies travel from it to the two pieces of the soon-to-be restored sword, sparking an electrical chain between them both, before they slowly move towards one another to meld together.

After several minutes, the process is complete, and the jewel dims down to normal levels, leaving behind a sword that looks like it was brand new, the blade gleaming silver gray and the handle shining, the white wood base for the hilt looking polished, while the gold embellishment spinning around the surface, more making up the pommel and shaped like the head of a goblin, and then three sharp blades made onto the blade guard were sparkling!

Yokuto lifts the Sword of Tengu up to look over, hmming in approval at what he saw.

 _Glorious. Just as beautiful as it was made the first time..._

 _Hah, alright. It is time to give this blade to its next wielder._

Turning away from his crafting station, the goblin demon walks back to the entrance where Saki was waiting, expression neutral but with eyes reflecting a hidden motive in fulfilling their end of the deal.

"Hikiji, was it? Your patience has been rewarded. The Sword of Tengu, is restored."

The man stands up, his lips forming a dark smile as he takes hold of the blade's hilt from Yokuto.

"Aah, at last...Your skill with weapon crafting is as legendary as the texts foretold, restoration at its finest."

"Ha. Interesting to hear such praise from a mortal, but I shall accept it nonetheless...I assume you have goals to meet now that this is in your hands?"

"Indeed, I do. There's a certain three warriors from my era I must, take care of...Your contributions shall not be forgotten, of course. Hang onto the Gem of the Ancient One as compensation."

Yokuto nods silently, and Saki sheathes the Sword of Tengu before fastening it onto his hip, then turns to walk away from the mountainous area, calling over his shoulder,

"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Yokuto-san."

The goblin demon forger watches the human disappear into the mist, a smirk of mischief on his features.

 _Oh yes...quite a pleasure, Hikiji._

...Unbeknownst to the two, at around the time Yokuto was doing the final bonding process for his blade, another demon weapon forger was passing overhead atop his three-eyed cow, and couldn't help but stop to listen in from the cover of a nearby, thick-leaved beech tree.

"Hmmm...so, the Sword of Tengu has been restored, has it? This isn't good..."

"What'd I'd like to know is why Yokuto would commission such a project, and for a human nonetheless?"

Tōtōsai pivots his neck to look eye-to-eye with Myoga the Flea who was sitting on his shoulder, and ponders with a frown,

"I doubt it's for a good reason in terms of the human in question. Ever since the sword was stolen by that fool of a mortal shinobi, Yokuto's opinion on the race has darkened, thankfully not to the point where he'll kill them on the spot like a reckless savage...But that one: He matches the appearance of the deceased human Yokuto described in conversation to me years earlier."

"Is that right? Hm...Could he be a reincarnation of that shinobi, or simply a distant relative of the family?"

"Another good question, my friend...Considering that expression Yokuto made to the human's retreating form, and their mentioning of another era, I believe the answer is likely closer to the first guess."

Myoga folds his arms and closes his eyes in concentrating thought:

"Yes, I caught onto that details too...Uh, wait!"

"What is it?"

"There was something else that man mentioned, three humans he wishes to end, that were also from his era...What if he's referring to-"

"Those three mortals from another time that travel with the young upstart, Inuyasha? Mmmm...Yet another troubling possibility. In that case..."

Tōtōsai signals Mōmō the bull to move out into the skies again, heading for the direction where our main travel group was...

Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV

It's now approaching mid-afternoon, and we've all finished combing around this old village with a fine tooth comb, but haven't come up with much regarding where this goblin demon weapon forger had left to centuries prior to our arrival at his old home, or anything that could tell us about the human ninja that stole the Sword of Tengu from him.

We all regrouped at the exiting edge of the place where the barren ground shifted to one showing faint signs of healthy soil fair for growing, feeling a bit discouraged and perplexed (or in Inuyasha's case, frustrated as all hell) from the lack of clues.

"Dammit, what a rip! There ain't nothin' here in this ghost town that says anything about where this goblin went to!"

I let out a puff of irritation, my mood no better or worse than his, and Besa scratches the back of his head while pondering aloud,

"I guess thinking about it now, this shouldn't surprise us, considering how old this village is. Any vulnerable biodegradable material would've deteriorated to dust by this century, and any scent trace would've weakened to the point where finding a decent trail becomes next-to-impossible..."

Shippo nods in comprehension to my brother's statement, more so the second.

"Yeah: Neither me, Kilala or Inuyasha can find any sort'a goblin trail. They're likely living in places too far from this one...So, what do we do now?"

Miroku hms and replies in serious thought,

"This isn't really a dilemma we can just move past, (looks at me and my brothers) especially after that vision sent to you three. If the forger is still alive, then Saki may try to find a way to contact him about commissioning the Sword of Tengu to be rebuild."

After going over the facts and details in both my premonition dream and the vision Freeman, Besa and I had sent to us a while ago, we all concluded that there's a possibility Saki may not just be a ninja clan leader, but may also have a tie of sorts with Trinity, and if that's true, then he would have access to the teleportation technology developed by Bishop's team...

Anyway, Inuyasha was still a bit skeptical about all the intertwining facts, which was understandable since we're basically going off of theories.

"Tuh, I still dunno about that bit: We haven't seen any proof that guy has ties with those Trinity bastards."

Despite his tone, I could tell he was really covering up an appending concern that the possibility was true, and given how my history with the organization came to hit me the way it did in the present, I couldn't blame him.

"I'm surprised you're still thinkin' this all doesn't add up. After all that we've been through, isn't fair to say anything's possible?"

My boyfriend shoots a glare at Freeman for his casual question, making the latter flinch uncomfortably. I prepare to open my mouth with some words to cool the tension down, but was prevented from doing so when a cow bellow suddenly rings through the air.

"Huh?"

"Did anybody just hear a cow?"

"I sure did...Wait, could it be-"

We would get our answer in the form of a lightning strike to the dry dirt several feet in front of us, crackling down to reveal a familiar three-eyed bull and its passenger.

"Tōtōsai?!"

"And Mōmō!"

 _What're they doing here?_

As the elder demon hops down from Mōmō, we all quickly approach their forms, with Inuyasha initiating a greeting first (well, his version of greeting).

"What the heck are ya doin' all the way out here, old man?"

"What a way to greet your elders...Anyway, I came here to warn you youngsters about something Myoga and I just witnessed not even an hour ago."

 _Myoga?_

"Oi! Cut that out, dude!"

(Slap)

 _Oh, there he is..._

Once the flea demon unflattened himself into Freeman's open palm, he and Tōtōsai quickly tell us about what they saw, leaving all of us ill at ease...

"What?!"

"Seriously?!"

"The Sword of Tengu's been restored?!"

The weapon forger nods solemnly:

"That it has, which means that soon these lands will once again feel the wrath of the Tengu Sword's power. (Shudder) That was one thing Yokuto certainly remembered to put in every weapon he created: Strength unparalleled."

"You've seen the sword used before?"

"Yes, I have, young lady. I was actually the one who acted as Yokuto's witness when the sword was first created many decades ago. (Sad smile) We were even partners at one time before, back when we first began the practice of weapon forging before we parted on solo journeys. Our friendship is an old one..."

His lips form a frown as he described what he recalled in regards to what the sword was capable of.

"Anyway, I remember that day quite well: The sword was able to harness the combined sorcery of the Wind and Sound of all things, creating rings of sonic energy that are able to obliterate anything from wood to the thickest of stone."

 _Sonic rings of power? Yikes..._

"For it to have been given to the hands of a human who obviously held ill intentions, (shakes head) I don't know what Yokuto was thinking..."

"You didn't by chance see where Saki had left to after he took the sword, did you?"

Tōtōsai hms with his arms folded, but Myoga would beat him to the punch with his own insight.

"I believe he was heading towards the direction of Iga Province last I saw before we came here, which confused me since his intent seemed to be directed towards you three."

My brothers and I stiffen up with suspicious glares and utter at the same time,

"Us?"

"Yes, something about 'taking care of' three warriors from his land, and the cloth he wore looked nothing like the ones humans of this era wear. I also remembered seeing a strange design tattooed on one of his upper arms when he rolled his sleeves up shortly before disappearing into the mountain mist, which did not match the clan symbol on his robes..."

 _A strange design...Could it, be...?_

I reach into my satchel and pull out one of my notebooks that held the ripped arm band with Trinity's symbol taped onto one of its pages as a reference, holding out for Myoga to see.

"Did it look anything like this?"

The flea demon hops up and down on Freeman's open palm in excitement:

"Yes, yes, that's exactly it! But, how do you have it, Corali-Wait...no...That isn't, _their_ symbol, is it?"

I nod in confirmation, and he lets out a sound akin to jittering nerves, he having already heard me convey the event regarding Trinity's entrance to Edo to capture my friends and I, ultimately ending with me ending Bishop's life in the ancient tomb of my family in my old village before we all returned home. Freeman then stutters a little nervous himself,

"S-So this means...Saki's a member of Trinity too, or at least the Japan division...! Holy crap, a company CEO, ninja clan leader and secret organization officer? Talk about a triple threat of the lethal kind."

Fighting the urge to roll my eyes and/or bop him offside the head, I nod in agreement with my brother, as does Besa who then notes,

"There's no telling what he has in store now that he has the Sword of Tengu, other than coming after us, which I can't quite understand aside from our affiliations with Master Yoshi..."

 _And there's another thing to wonder: Master Yoshi's condition._

 _...Is he-No, no, don't think about that, Cora. As long as you don't think that way, he'll be alive._

 _Right now, focus on the real problem._

"Guys, we need to find Saki now: If he has the capability of wielding power of that caliber, no one of this or the other era will be safe from his wrath. And if he's heading for Iga Province...then he might be seeking out members of the earlier Kage no tsume Clan."

Inuyasha raises a brow and asks,

"Why would he do that?"

"The History of Ninjitsu is murky enough as it is in future texts. We don't know what the state of the Shadow Claws is because of how secretive Shinobi in allowing knowledge to be leaked, so...as impossible as this is gonna sound, Saki's influence could be what jump-starts the future growth of the clan in coming decades, especially now that he has the Sword of Tengu."

With that all in mind, our plan was fairly clear: We would begin tracking Saki in the direction of Iga Province to relinquish him of the Sword of Tengu by any means we needed to, and stop him from causing any possible harm he could bring to Edo, especially since it's teetering enough on the imaginary fault line between 'false sense of security' and 'high vulnerability' thanks to this war over that damned jewel.

 _...We've already got one madman with a lust for power to worry about...We don't need two._

Time Skip, No POV

Come about two to three days later, we catch up with our group, joined by Tōtōsai, Myoga (him a bit reluctantly, which is expected considering his bravery track record) and Mōmō, as they close in on the border of Iga Province in search of Saki and the new demonic power he possesses. Coming over a new hill in lead was Inuyasha, with Coraline and Shippo riding on his back, followed by Sango, Miroku and Besa aboard Kilala, while Freeman rode with the elder demon weapon crafter and the flea demon atop the three-eyed bull.

The second twin mentioned then calls,

"You sure we're heading the right way, sis?" The redhead calls back,

"Yeah: My Aura Sight's pickin' up a significant trail of demonic energy from the Sword of Tengu! And it's getting stronger the further we go this direction, so we can't be too far from Saki..."

"I still find it amazing you're able to discern the specific demonic aura!"

Coraline smiles and calls back to Sango,

"Yeah, well, I couldn't have done it without Lumos and Inuyasha: One gave me the low-down of what to look for by tapping into his demon senses, and the other provided a boost of sensory power to see the trail."

She peers down at said dog demon and says to him appreciatively,

"Thank you again, by the way."

He in turn felt his face heat up slightly and mutters,

"Keh, sure, whatever..."

(Boom...)

"Huh?"

Suddenly, there came a distant echo of an explosion overhead the next few hills, a dust cloud billowing behind the tips of a line of tall conifer trees...Everyone stops in their tracks for a moment at the bottom of the current incline they were coming over, spotting the sign that they were closer to their quarry than thought initially.

"Uh!"

"What the heck was-?!"

"That didn't sound good...!"

Tōtōsai immediately knew what the cause was:

"Ooh, there's no mistaking it: That was the Sword of Tengu alright, and it sounds like that Saki's already testing it's restored power!"

Inuyasha's nose then picks up on a troubling scent:

"(Sniff sniff, growl) I smell human blood, and a whole lot of it too. He's not only testin' the sword; he's found a few test subjects..."

That observation was all Coraline needed to hear:

"Then we better get a move on before the casualty toll gets any higher."

...Another twenty minutes pass, and our view changes to that of a wide plain cut to go down the middle of a large forest bordering the mountains and a nearby river, where a substantial-sized army of samurais was traveling across to their next destination...That is, until they became caught under the non-remorseful irises of Saki, who would use them like they were no more than modern-day crash test dummies to find out just how powerful his new weapon was.

(Bzzz-BOOM, boom-boom-boom-boom...)

"Aaaaaaah!" "Rgaaaahh!" "Aaaauuuuuuhhhhh!"

Another ring of sonic energy wrapped in a neon yellow-green light blasts apart a piece of the army, upturning and virtually vaporizing a new chunk of the dirt and rock they were previously standing on!

One surviving warrior pull-crawls to his injured commander, and asks in a bated whisper,

"S-Sir, what do we do?! We stand no chance against this man's power; at this rate, we'll all be dead!"

"...In that case, w-we must try, and strike down this man-this, demon of a man, or die trying."

"What?!"

"It's as, you said: At the rate of this destruction, we won't be coming out of this alive..."

The leader of the army forces himself onto his feet again, using his sheathed sword as a crutch to compensate for his right leg that was bleeding out from a few lacerations, his eyes burning with a fighter's will.

"But we, can still go out from this world, with the honour of a samurai. Better to die fighting, then to die doing nothing at all."

"Sir..."

"Are you with me, soldier?"

The younger samurai stares at his experienced senior with awe...before nodding firmly and moving to stand on his own, drawing out his spear.

"I'm with you, sir. If it's our destiny to die, we die with honour, not cowardice!"

"Good...then get ready, on my mark."

By this time, the destruction pauses, as Saki takes a moment to observe the damage to the surrounding environment, from the new craters streaming wisps of smoke to the numerous dead bodies scattered to and fro, before looking down at the blade in his hand responsible, smirking darkly in satisfaction.

 _Aaah yes...It is just as I had hoped for and more._

 _This sword is as incredible as my ancestor foretold it to be in the texts: Sonic waves of unparalleled power..._

 _Yet he was only able to wield it for a short time, because his spirit wasn't strong enough to compensate for the demonic power within the blade._

His gaze fixates on the new accessory enveloping the skin of his right hand, that being a glove made from stainless steel-like metal with black leather decorating the knuckles and wrist guard, the palm carrying the Trinity symbol and the back a medium-sized, spherical-shaped piece of what a very familiar clear-coloured crystal...

Saki's smirk grows slightly:

 _Ha. This glove made by the technical division works perfectly, and the large shard of the Seven Light Crystal has enough energy to help a mere mortal such as myself wield a demon's weapon with no issues._

 _That, and of course having the forger use the Gem of the Ancient One to not only bond the new blade to the base, but also vouch for a mortal's strength._

 _No errors have been committed. I am virtually invincible._

"...Stranger! Your terror ends now!"

"Hm?"

Shifting his expression to a neutral line, Saki looks up to see the samurai soldier and commander standing just a few yards away from his proximity, holding their weapons at battle ready despite their signs of fatigue, that being deep breathing and profound sweating added on top of their cuts and bruises.

"I don't know what exactly your goal in this exercise is, but as long as we breathe, we will not allow you to bring destruction to innocent lives! We will fight until we fall: That is the warrior's way!"

"Is that so? Hmph, then you will both be meeting the face of death shortly...Very well: If you wish to die a fool's battle, by all means, come at me with all of your remaining strength!"

"You'll regret your words, you monster!"

With that, the two samurai charge at Saki, determined to take him down...That moment, would be when our group finally emerges past the treeline to meet the edge of the plains, only to witness the last stand of the warrior army reduced to two.

"Uh!"

"An entire samurai army, save two, massacred!"

"And it looks like those two will be joining their comrades..."

The leader attacks first, aiming to bring down his katana across Saki's neck to decapitate him, but was too slow on the delivery, giving the Ninjitsu Master time to dash out of the way in time, before using his left hand that was holding one of the Panther Claw weapons to jab the blades into the samurai's stomach!

"Aaaaagh!"

Blood spills, and the warrior goes down hard...His comrade's face contorts into a shaken expression, before shifting to one filled with rage and anguish.

"No! Sir! (Growl) You, bastard! I'll avenge my commander, by taking your head!"

He then lunges at Saki head-on with his spear, missing his mark before trying and failing another couple times, the latter just going with the motions before finding an opportune opening to knock the former down with a swift roundhouse kick.

"Hrh!"

(KICK)

"Huuuuurgh!"

The samurai flies through the air several yards before skidding down the grass hard, and he tries to get back up with shaking limbs, but would only get about halfway before Saki comes at him with the Sword of Tengu, this time merely using it as a blunt instrument to slit the warrior's throat!

"Uuu-cuuu-uuuugh...!"

...The last member of the army drops dead in a flash of silver and spurt of his crimson blood.

Saki looks down at the corpse with an indifferent expression:

"...What a fool."

"...Saki!"

"Mm?"

He turns around and sees our group approaching, pausing a few yards from his proximity with Inuyasha, Coraline and the twins standing up front with their weapons ready, while Sango, Miroku and Shippo stood near Kilala a foot back on the left, and Tōtōsai, Myoga and Mōmō took the back right, the swordsmith positioned behind the bull out of nerves.

"Ah, I was wondering when I would be tracked down by your like. Coraline Croft, was it? I've come to know your particular image on several occasions, the first being an old Trinity enemy's list that once classified you as 'Presumed Dead'..."

Said addressee smirks grimly for a short moment:

"Sounds like your tech monkeys need to do some updating. I feel plenty alive. (Frown) But neither of us are here to discuss the activities of that bastard organization: This is all about that blade you carry, the one I assume you sent your shinobi agents to steal from the museum in the modern era?"

"Very clever, Croft-san. Once that was done, I had to procure an item from an 'old friend', which unfortunately involved some rather extreme measures. I'll be quite surprised if he's still alive, heh, then again, (sardonic smile) Yoshi has had the knack of slipping from the hands of death, but not without maintaining a scar of such."

Freeman and Besa speak up next, heated glares on their faces:

"So it was you: You attacked Master Yoshi, and you're admitting to leaving him for dead! You bastard!"

"What item was so important that you would commit to doing something so heinous as brutalizing a man for god-who-knows-how-long who wishes for nothing but peace?!"

"I don't know how either of you have knowledge to that event, but I suspect the item I fought to get, the Gem of the Ancient One had something to do with it. And to answer your question would be wasted on minds trapped by honour and the greater good."

The twins both growled at the accusation, while Coraline muttered with a perplexed expression,

"Gem of the Ancient One?"

"Aaaah, now there's a name I haven't heard of in years. I suppose that must've been the item left to Yokuto's possession after Saki left..."

Miroku pivots his head to Tōtōsai's direction to ask,

"You know what he's talking about, Tōtōsai?"

"That I do: The Gem of the Ancient One, named for the deity in question, was a pearl-like jewel with extraordinary power not too far from that Shikon-no-Tama, but has a less bloodied history since it very rarely fell into the hands of mortals. Also, it's energy never teetered on the brink of purity and impurity: It was just as it was, nothing more or less."

Shippo raises his brows in confusion:

"Just as it was? What does that mean?"

"That, even I don't know. The Gem's history is even more fragmented than the Shikon-no-Tama."

The fox demon collapses on Kilala's back in exasperation, replying sarcastically,

"Ooh, that's helpful..."

Inuyasha cuts in with an angered and serious air:

"I say we save the history lesson for another day and get back to the real problem at hand!"

He points an accusing finger at Saki:

"You just killed an entire army of humans, on top of leaving another man for dead without so much as a bat of an eyelash! If that's not a good enough reason to take you out, I dunno what is!"

"Hmph. You truly believe you can take the Sword of Tengu on, boy?"

"You bet I do!"

At that, the dog demon readies to charge in with Tessaiga...but was stopped by Coraline's hand.

"Wait, Inuyasha!...Let me and the guys take care of this."

"Say what?! Are you crazy?"

"No, just bloody determined to fight for Master Yoshi. Besides, recalling what Myoga overheard, this bastard only wants to fight us. (Turns to Saki) Am I right or wrong?"

Said addressee replies neutrally,

"You're not wrong: Given your relations with Yoshi and what he may have told you, I cannot ignore a budding threat."

"Hmph, there ain't nothing 'budding' about us: We'll show you just how much of a threat we can become when the people we care about are hurt! Freeman, Besa!"

"Right!" "Right!"

On that note, the three teens march forward to stand around the man with brown eyes as sharp as daggers in a three-point circle, weapons at the ready with fierce expressions, while everyone else of our main group stood on the sidelines to watch with mixed wary and nervous expressions. Shippo shifts his place so he was peering over Kilala's head while wondering,

"Can they really take this guy down?" Miroku replies in a serious tone,

"The only thing we can do for now is believe in their strength." Sango adds,

"But if it turns to the worst, that's when we'll jump in to help."

Inuyasha nods in agreement, his expression set in a serious scowl, and he would pivot his head to meet Myoga's eyes as the flea demon hops onto his robed shoulder to ask,

"Are you really going to leave this to Coraline and her brothers, Master? Not that I'm questioning your judgement, but-"

"It'll be fine, Myoga...I know it will be."

 _Be careful, Coraline, and good luck. Same to you two, Freeman, Besa._

Besa's POV

 _Alright, deep breath, man: You can do this as long as you fight with all you have, and pay attention to the enemy's movements._

Twirling my twin sickles in my hands, I glance over to meet the eyes of my siblings as we surrounded Hikiji in preparation for the battle to begin, bopping my head in a short nod in time with them to show I was ready.

...A short, silent breeze passes, before Freeman made the first move, rushing forward a few steps to build momentum to jump up high, then drop back down to the ground with a slam from his long hammer.

"Haaaaaaaa-ah!"

(CRASH)

The power from his weapon sends a shot of upturning dirt straight at our opponent, who stood calmly in its path long enough for it to reach seconds before impact, before he leaped up high out of the way! But, thanks to Master Yoshi's training and a few practice sessions with our friends, we were able to anticipate such a move, and Coraline made the move to charge forward at the man just as he landed with her sword raised.

"Yaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

(Clang)

None too unexpectedly, Hikiji would meet blade-to-blade using the Sword of Tengu, causing sparks of yellow-green and ice blue power to erupt between the metals as each swordsperson tried to throw the other off-balance. Somehow, they pushed eachother back at the same time, before proceeding to start a duel of the blades, Coraline speeding after Hikiji with one-handed swings more familiar in the European swordsmanship while Saki blocked and swung back in accordance with the techniques developed by warriors of these lands, using not only the sword but also that clawed knuckle guard weapon.

 _Okay, it looks like he's preoccupied with keeping sis at bay..._

 _Now's a good time to get the jump on him with my sickles, or at the very least disarm him._

I begin to circle in a fast crouch as Cora and Hikiji begin rounding in my direction, Freeman pausing on standby a couple feet back knowing what I was about to do...Then just as ShatterSoul shoves Tengu upward, I go in for the kill:

"Got you!"

(Clang)

I hook my weapons around the opposing blade and began to yank back as hard as I could.

"Hrrgh...!"

 _Come on, come on..._

"Tch, foolish boy: Do you really believe it's that simple to disengage the Sword of Tengu from its wielder?"

 _What?_

(Gleam...)

 _Oh shi-_

(Bzz-BOOM)

"Aaaaaaagh!" "Waaaaaaahhhhh!"

Next thing I knew, Cora and I were thrown back several yards in different directions by a sonic ring of yellow-green energy that hit as hard as a punching bag to the gut! I slid down the dirt hard, rolling onto my side with a gritted breath sucked between my teeth.

 _Damn, that's going to leave a burn..._

I hear Freeman exclaim our names, before another burst of power sounds, followed by his outcry of pain and a thudding roll onto the ground!

 _Freeman!_

Despite the ache, I quickly sat up to see if my brother was okay, and much to my relief watch as his form shakily gets back on his feet.

 _Oh thank you god..._

I follow his example just as Coraline jogs over to meet with me, followed by our brother.

"You guys okay?"

"I'm holdin' up...Besa?"

"I'll live...Guess disarming him won't work so easy, huh?"

"No kidding: Tōtōsai wasn't exaggerating when he said that the Sword of Tengu had power to boot. It looks like we'll have to wear down his stamina a good deal before we can even think about knocking the sword out of his hands."

I nod in agreement with Cora, as does Freeman, if a bit hesitantly:

"Still, even that plan's gonna take some major effort..."

He looks back over his shoulder in Hikiji's direction, only to bulge out his eyes and shout,

"Look out!"

We all then scramble out of the way of another sonic boom attack cutting through the dirt, and it continues its trajectory towards everyone else, forcing them to retreat from their spot.

"Whoa!" "Gaaah!"

"Owaaaaah!" "Watch it!"

Thankfully, they all got out of the way in time...but the danger was still at an all-time high, as Hikiji continued to unleash ring after ring of yellow-green energy at the three of us, forcing me and my siblings to continue our strategy talk while sprinting for our lives in a huge circle.

"Hah, hah, hah, anybody got a plan, or do we just keep striking one at a time?"

Coraline calls back to Freeman,

"Let's use the speed technique Master Yoshi taught us: Move so fast that the enemy doesn't have time to recover from the recoil! Integrate and strike in time with each coming and going move of the last person!"

"Got it!" "Right!"

"And Besa...when the opening's visible, you go in with a finisher combo!"

I was taken aback by her suggestion:

"W-What? Me?! Why me?!"

"Because out of the three of us, you're the fastest in close-quarter combat! (Encouraging smile) You can do it, Besa; I know you can!"

Freeman grins and adds,

"Yeah, what she said, bro: You got this!"

 _Guys..._

I was touched by their faith in me, and couldn't let them down, so I nodded with a determined smile.

"Alright, let's do this!"

No POV

So with the plan set, the three teens prepare to engage their new strategy by dispersing into their own directions to surround Saki again, which only served to confuse the Ninjitsu Master slightly.

 _What are those children up to now...?_

And he wasn't the only one: On their new place in the sidelines, the rest of our ragtag group formed perplexed expressions at the latest repeated move of their friends.

"Huh?" "What're they doin' now?"

"They can't be using the same strategy again, can they?"

"Perhaps so, perhaps not..."

Eyes fall on Tōtōsai's form, who watches the battlefield's occupants with a careful stare.

"I might be seein' things, but there's a new level of assuredness in each of the youngster's eyes this time. Hm...we might be witnessing something different this round, folks."

"You think so, old man?"

"Hmph, well, we won't know until it happens, so best to keep our own eyes on the battle."

Inuyasha snorts at such an answer, but did as the old swordsmith advised anyway, his irises fixating more so on Coraline's form, poised in attack mode with the ShatterSoul Sword high in the air in her left hand...

A heartbeat of time passes, before she and the twins spring into matching runs from their proximity points towards the object of their rage in the middle! Saki smirks unafraid of the warcrys ringing in the air, preparing himself to block and counter.

 _Do they really think they can use the same strategy as before? They really are but student warriors..._

Of course, he would be proven wrong in his thinking, when Coraline swiftly uppercuts her right hand containing her combat knife just seconds after trying to swing her sword, leaving a scratch mark on Saki's cheek!

"Guh!"

 _What?!_

And that shock wouldn't have time to sink in, before Freeman followed through his sister's move with a thrust from his long hammer, the base connecting with his back sharply and knocking some of the breath out of the man as he stumbled forward slightly.

"Gh...!"

 _How?!_

Besa wouldn't let the pressure drop either, zooming in to swipe his weapons in front of Saki's face, forcing him to dart back as quick as he could, only to barely duck away from a spin kick, courtesy of the other twin. The attacks just continued on and on in that fashion, each one coming and going to make room for the next without leaving so much as a few seconds between, shocking the audience watching the display.

"Whoa..." "My Buddha...!"

"Wow, look at 'em go: They're moving way faster than before!"

Tōtōsai nods with a small, knowing smile and remarks,

"Yep, what did I tell you? They've fought long enough with the rest of you that they wouldn't dare use the same strategy twice. Best way to catch an enemy off-guard is saving your best moves for the right moment, before unleashing them in such a way, they'll regret their challenge."

...Come another ten, fifteen minutes later, the battle reaches its peak and in favour of the younger warriors who were giving it their all, pushing past the stings of their bruises and cuts decorating their limbs to deal their damage on Saki, who was starting to sweat a bit more profoundly than earlier, his robes sporting several rips along with some drops of his own blood from a few well-placed wounds.

"Mrh! Hh!"

(Clang)

 _I don't understand: How could these young minds be able to keep up with a martial arts master such as I?_

 _...This strategy...it has Yoshi written all over it. I know it does!_

Just as he curses to himself, Coraline unleashes an Aura Attack from her blade at his body, throwing him back and off-kilter long enough for Besa to make his move.

 _Here we go: Time to finish this!_

"Hrrrrh!"

The corn-row haired teen rushes forward as the other two duck and roll out of his way, giving him room to begin his combo finisher against their opponent.

"Haaa-ah!"

Besa uses one sickle to hook the Sword of Tengu in a downward side-tug, before he leaps upward and releases a torrent of jabbing kicks against Saki's torso, pushing the latter in a stumble backwards with each connection until the former bounces off, and dives down in a frontward flip for one more hit!

"Hiiiyah!"

(KICK)

"Uuuuurgh!"

The Clan Master/Organization Commander is hit hard, so much so that his grip is lost on the Sword of Tengu, much to his shock.

 _No!_

(...Tok)

The weapon lands blade-first into the dry ground with its sheath sliding to a stop beside it, while Saki falls with a skid onto his back emitting a barely-contained grunt of pain, and Besa lands fairly smooth from his jump-kick a couple feet back, panting heavily from exertion.

 _Holy-Did I seriously just pull that off?!_

"Whoo, alright, Besa!"

"That was awesome, bro; ya did it!"

He looks behind him to see the beaming smiles of his siblings, and sends a grin back with a thumbs-up, feeling really proud of himself that his attack was successful. His focus then shifts frontward when his ears pick up on the sound of pained grunts and struggled movement, belonging to Saki as he somehow holds out from the attack and starts limping towards the Sword of Tengu!

"Grh, I will not lose, to a small band of upstart warriors...!"

"Damn it, his determination to beat his enemies is almost as bad as Naraku's...Stop!"

But as Besa moves to speed over and try to prevent the other from reclaiming the weapon, he suddenly collapses to his knees halfway up, feeling his stamina drop a considerable amount.

"Grah, crap!"

 _Oh sure, now my muscles are barking at me to slam the breaks...!?_

"Besa!" "Bro!"

Coraline and Freeman quickly rush to his aid, lifting him up by his underarms and shoulders just as Saki reaches within arm's length of the demon sword.

"(Chuckle) I must admit, you children have been taught well...but this, is where I take back the lead, and ultimately, the victory."

...Unfortunately, he would be proven wrong as soon as his fingers touched the hilt of the blade.

(Bzzzzz-pow)

"Aaaaaaaaaagh!"

In a twist of events, the Sword of Tengu rebounded its wielder's hand in a burst of the yellow-green sonic ring, which quickly runs up Saki's arm to billow into the shape of flames over his face, seemingly burning his skin and causing an excruciating amount of pain!

Everyone else gasps in shock, and Shippo exclaims before Sango,

"Look! The Sword!"

"It rejected Saki! But why?"

"(Laugh) Serves you right, _shinobi_ , for believing you could use the power of us goblins and the divine like puppets on strings!"

"Huh?"

Eyes fall to the treeline where the main group emerged from earlier, as Yokuto suddenly emerges into view with a sardonic smile on his face directed at the writhing form of the Ninjitsu Master.

"Did you honestly think I would allow another human to make a fool out of me and my skill in weapon-crafting? Not while I still live!"

"Uh! Yokuto, is that really you?!"

"Long time, no see, Tōtōsai! Wish I could say our reunion was on a more pleasant note, but it's a little impossible with this spawn of that accursed thief here...Not that his decision won't soon become a regret. Observe."

Once the yellow-green flames died away, we see Saki rise to his feet with a wobble, before he uncovers his face, revealing it now disfigured with the features of a goblin on his right half, from the red skin to the hawk-yellow iris, a few layers of his black hair looking an awful lot like feathers, and even the start of a phallus-shaped nose!

Shippo yelps and ducks behind Kilala and Mōmō in fear of the new sight before his vision.

"Wh-Wh-What the heck happened to him; he looks like a shapeshifter stuck between transformations!"

Saki gropes his face in shock, then realizes,

 _Oh no: My right hand is no longer cased by the glove! It must have fallen off when I was thrown back by that boy!_

His expression contorts into anger, making his new face look even more frightening, yet his subject of fury was not the teen (directly), but rather at,

"Yokuto-san! You swindler: You placed an enchantment on the sword, didn't you?!"

"I don't believe you're in the position for such blatant insulting, human...but I won't deny my act. Indeed, using the Gem of the Ancient One's power, I placed a curse on the Sword of Tengu that would activate if your skin were to make contact with it during the moment where your more darker emotions were running high. (Smirk) In other words, your greed for power and lust for vengeance has done you in."

"Grrh, damn you...!"

The goblin demon lets out a laugh at the fuming Saki, while Miroku mutters in surprise,

"So Yokuto knew what Saki was going to do, and deliberately set the other up for karma..."

Inuyasha adds gruffly,

"That, and he obviously didn't forget his own desire for revenge against the bastard's ancestor. Can't blame 'im either. (Narrows eyes) Saki took a fool's gamble thinking he could get away with the same act that other shinobi did, and will now suffer a consequent almost as bad as bein' killed by the weapon itself."

As the dog demon finished his opinion, Saki shakily pulls back his sleeve, revealing one of the teleportation watches developed by Trinity!

"Uh! The transport watch!"

"He's gonna make a break for it!"

"...Let him."

The twins turn bulging eyes of surprise to their sister, who says dryly,

"I doubt he's gonna try anything stupid from this point: He's obviously shaken up from his new disfigurement, and won't have the spirit to continue fighting us, or try to take the Sword of Tengu with him."

"You sure, sis?"

"Positive."

Speaking of said topic of discussion, once he composed himself enough that he wasn't jittering anymore, Saki pointed the tiny firing barrel of the watch to the ground a couple feet in front of him and away from the teens, before shooting out a light beam that would open up in the ground as a wormhole!

He looks back up at the three with a seething glare, making them stiffen on alert, before he calls over the whoosh of energy,

"Don't believe this is over for even a moment, for we will face eachother again, and when we do, I will claim the lives of those who dare challenge me!"

(Leap, whoosh)

With that threat in the wind, Saki Hikiji vanishes through the portal, most likely returning to his headquarters in his own time...

A minute or two passes, before Freeman mutters with a shivering twitch,

"Well, that was a bit unnerving...Should we be worried?" Besa replies,

"Hopefully not for a while..."

Coraline kept a narrowed glare on the spot where Saki disappeared from as Lumos circled around it a few times in an excited manner.

 _Just great: A new enemy for the future..._

"Well, now that he's gone, I can get to another manner at hand..."

She snaps out of her thoughts to the sound of Yokuto, and watches as he walks past her and her brothers towards the Sword of Tengu, lifting it up into one of his hands to gaze at, the blade gleaming in the sunlight.

 _Mmm...there's only one sensible thing I can do now, for the greater good of these lands._

And just before anyone could react fast enough...

(SNAP, CLANG)

(Collective gasp)

Yokuto bends and breaks the sword in two!

"Yokuto, what have you done?!"

He turns his irises to meet Tōtōsai's as he and everyone else rush to his form, and replies neutrally,

"What I had to do, my friend: This sword was only meant to have been made once, and come to its death with time, not be made whole for a second time only to be abused again by an arrogant fool...In that event, breaking it in half is the only right decision."

"Hmm, I see...You're still the sensible-type I remember all too well, even when your opinions drift to more grim outlooks."

"Grim, perhaps, but they're also a truth many must face in their lives at some point...But never mind such trivial thoughts: I'll be taking my leave of you all now."

Miroku asks,

"To do what, if you'll pardon my asking?"

"You're pardoned, monk, and the what is bury these pieces so they won't be touched again. I believe that my old residence will suffice as a grave for the Sword of Tengu...Ah, but before I go."

Yokuto reaches into the sleeve of his robes, and pulls out a familiar pearl-blue jewel on a broken string, before handing it over for Coraline to take.

"Uh..."

"You and those boys who fought with you are students of this Yoshi character, correct?"

"Um, yes sir."

"The Gem showed me his image as I used its power to place the curse on the sword...Take this to return to him when you have the chance to. (Knowing smile) I can sense a better heart in your humanity, so I know you can be trusted."

The redhead gently grabs the Gem of the Ancient One from the goblin demon's hand, nodding while replying,

"I'll get this to him as fast as I'm able. Thank you."

"You're welcome, and thank you for slowing that shinobi down so I could catch up to revel in his mistake...Now then, I am off."

Yokuto then turns to walk away out of the area, calling back over his shoulder,

"Let's remember to get together again soon, Tōtōsai; I'd really like to catch up on eachother's lives since we last spoke!"

"As do I! Goodbye for now, Yokuto!"

...As soon as the demon goblin was out of sight, Coraline suddenly felt a jolt in her brain when she realizes something.

"Ah! Oh my god...the village: Now I remember!" Inuyasha asks,

"Remember what?"

"That village, is-er, will soon be, the exact same spot where Professor Hashimoto and his team first uncovered the Sword of Tengu!"

"What?!" "No way!"

"You're kidding!"

"No lie: The location in this era's the same coordinates in the excavation report...And if it's to be buried now..."

Freeman jumps forward and clamps a hand over his sister's throat before she could go any further.

"Mph!"

"Nope, don't ya dare go there!"

"(Muffled) Gg whrb?"

"You know damn well where: The whole time-space interference crap! That's only gonna give you and everyone else a headache, so shut your yap and tuck it away like it never came to you."

Coraline glares a little at her brother...before sighing through her nose and nodding, giving him the right answer that would make him unclasp his hand from her lips. Everyone else was staring at the two weirdly from the display, before Shippo mutters with a headshake,

"I'm not even gonna bother to ask what the heck they were talkin' about just now..."

"What concerns me is how angry and vengeful Saki sounded before he exited from here."

Miroku nods in agreement with Sango:

"Yes, he certainly made it clear that his next appearance is to be as eventful as this one..."

Inuyasha scoffs,

"Tuh, let him boast: He's just tryin' to act tough to cover the fact he just got played by that Yokuto character. I doubt he's gonna be comin' back to Edo anytime soon...Still..."

He looks towards Coraline, Freeman and Besa:

"There is a chance he might try to rise in your guy's era. Think you'll be prepared for that?"

The second answers casually,

"After all the crazy we've gone through? Duh!" The third adds a bit more seriously,

"Besides which, it'll likely be a long while before Hikiji comes striking again: He'll need time to recover and figure out how to cover up his new disfigurement from the public eye."

Coraline finishes,

"Right now, our main priority is Naraku, and any possible shards of the Shikon-no-Tama that are still out there to be collected. Saki can fade into the background for now...But first."

She looks down at the other jewel in her hands, it shining in the day's light, adding,

"...This jewel, needs to go back to its rightful owner."


	109. Chapter 108

**Chapter 108: Kilala, Come Home!**

Come a handful of days after the attack of Saki Hikiji, whom would leave in defeat courtesy of Coraline, Freeman and Besa with a literal two-face thanks to the curse of the very blade he stole, and we would find our main Edo travelers spending the night on a clear patch in the forest heading due northeast once again.

A small campfire sitting in the middle of the semi-fertile dirt sends embers aglow in the air, dancing in the eyes of Shippo and the twins who haven't heeded the call of the Sandman quite yet, while everyone else was asleep in their own positions: Our favourite dog demon's slumbering body was sitting up against a fallen log with a clawed hand draped over the shoulder of his woman, who laid her head on his left leg while tucked under a fleece blue blanket. Miroku was mimicking Inuyasha's pose while propped against a live oak adjacent to the first two, while Sango slept near the monk's right and Kilala's left, lying down under an extra blanket and on top a travel mat brought by Coraline, and the cat demon had her body curled near her partner in full form.

"So, is Master Yoshi okay? You guys and Coraline went to see him a few days ago to return that gem, right?"

Freeman pivots his head from looking at Kilala to meet the fox demon's eyes, who was sitting on Besa's lap, and smiles with a nod.

"We did, and he's gonna be alright in another week or so. Thankfully, that jerkwad Saki didn't hurt 'im too horribly, other than a couple nasty lacerations from that scary-looking claw weapon..."

His brother adds,

"His colour definitely perked up when Cora returned the Gem of the Ancient One to him."

"Oh, that's good to hear...but, has he explained anything about why he has the gem of a deity in his possession?"

That question would replace the twin's smiles with matching thoughtful frowns:

"Well, we did try to ask...but that's where Master Yoshi got really quiet..."

"The conversation kind-a died after that, but he did promise that one day he would tell us the full story...His expression also seemed, heavy and distant like, there's a truth weighing him down. We of course know better than to badger him: Master will say what he needs to when the time is right."

"Hm...Yeah, I guess that makes sense. (Yawn) Okay, I can't stay up anymore; I'm going to sleep."

"Sure thing, little dude. See ya in the mornin'."

As the fox demon settles himself against Kiala's side under one of her tails, he glances at her face while thinking to himself,

 _Speaking of truths needing to be said..._

 _Kilala: Despite how fierce she is in battle, it feels like her good nature is being exploited by people's stubborn ways._

 _...It might pay for her to teach them a lesson for it, even if it's just once in a while._

The twins would follow Shippo's example shortly after him, wrapping themselves in matching forest green fleece blankets to sleep lying down between the group's young couple and Kilala...A few hours pass, when suddenly, something comes to rustle the tall blades of green towards the resting group in a fast pace, which does not go unnoticed by our twin-tailed cat demon, whose ears twitch before blinking her salmon-red eyes awake to face the unknown force heading this way...

Time Skip

Come the next day approaching mid-morning, we find ourselves outside the forest by a riverside, as Coraline, dressed for the day in a white t-shirt with a gold yellow sundial design in the middle, soft blue jeans with fraying at the bottoms, and her brown hikers gathers up more fresh water into a few water bottles with Shippo.

"...Kilalaaa! Kilala!"

The content silence was then interrupted by Sango, who was calling for her twin-tailed companion, apparently out of her sights.  
She walks over to the men to see if they had any insight, as they were preparing a fire to cook up some fish to eat.

"Hi. Have either of you seen Kilala around?"

Inuyasha, who was standing near the budding fire with twin bundles of wood, replies,

"No, not me."

Miroku, sitting near the campfire beside Freeman, who today wore an outfit of a black tank-top under a thin zipper jacket of cobalt blue, grey jeans and dark blue converse with white laces (contrasting Besa, opting for a dark green t-shirt with a grey-hooded vest, black jeans and full-black converse), parrots the dog demon's answer.

"No."

The twins simultaneously shake their heads, just as Coraline comes over with the filled water bottles to inquire the demon slayer about her worry.

"Kilala's not here?"

"I haven't seen her since I woke up; she was already gone."

Shippo moves on past them to the direction of the modern teen's satchels while voicing a suggestion.

"Maybe she went for a walk." Sango wasn't so sure:

"I dunno: She would never go off without telling me..."

"Is it possible she could've run away?" Besa disagrees with Miroku's question:

"I doubt it, considering how strong her and Sango's bond are. It's possible she's hunting and had to go a bit further out this time."

Inuyasha crouches to set down the firewood before wondering,

"Maybe she's just in heat." Freeman makes a face at the dog demon:

"Aw dude, really; can ya just not?"

"What?"

Shippo interrupts with an inquisitive scowl:

"Or she's at that rebellious stage."

Sango lets out a gasp of worry, which prompts Coraline to scold the others for their less-than-thoughtful comments.

"Guys, kindly use a bit more reassurance; you're gonna give Sango a heart attack."

The twins mutter a sorry with sheepish expressions before Miroku calmly remarks,

"Kilala seemed her usual self before we all went to bed last night."

Inuyasha follows a bit more roughly:

"She's only been gone for a while: That's no reason for everyone to start gettin' all panicky!"

Coraline shoots him a light glare while muttering his name, and he grabs a fish that was done cooking while adding a tad defensively,

"I'm just sayin', you can't go worryin' about every little thing that goes wrong. Give her some space; she'll come back before you know it."

Sango softly replies with downcast eyes,

"I sure hope you're right about that..."

The dog demon pauses his eating to pivot his eyes towards the demon slayer:

"Come on, stop worrying. Kilala can take care of herself, (grumbles with a sideglance) unlike a certain little kid I know, and I don't have to name names."

Said subject of discussion replies wholeheartedly while taking a swig of water,

"Oh I hear you big time," until he reads between Inuyasha's lines:

"(Spits out water) What, 'certain other kid'?!"

The H2O wound up being splashed onto the dog demon, who springs up and barks back at the fuming fox demon,

"A short carrot-top who's always gettin' in my face, and he's about to have a little 'accident'!"

At that note, Shippo and Inuyasha break into another one of their almost routine speed runs to burn off their tempers (hopefully)...Freeman sighs and mumbles with an exasperated smile,

"And the ultimate race is on again, folks. I better go make sure they don't kill eachother."

He pushes himself to a stand and starts jogging after the demons, while Miroku turns his eyes to Coraline and Sango's direction with a calm expression.

"Why don't you come and join us, ladies? The fish is grilled to perfection."

Besa rolls his eyes with amusement at how the monk was able to brush off the spat while the redhead's eyeroll was leaning more to annoyance.

"Good grief, I dunno who provokes the other more: My boyfriend or Shippo..."

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Hm?"

She pivots her head to see Lumos floating near her, making a sound to get her attention.

"What's up, bud?"

The Will O' Wisp moves a bit backwards, prompting Coraline to turn around and see Sango walking off from the area, making the other teenage girl frown with concern.

"Hm...Lumos. Could you please go with her to help?"

Lumos bops up and down in a 'nod', and starts to steadily fly after the demon slayer, making the redhead smile a bit.

"Thanks!"

 _At least this way, she won't be by herself for a while..._

Time Skip

The day comes and goes, and as we edge into evening, Shippo finds himself glaring up a tree with folded arms to address a certain someone with a habit of resting on high branches.

"Who said Kilala would be right back?"

Down with him was Coraline, Besa and Miroku, the third sitting on a boulder while the other two glance up at Inuyasha, whose face was contorting into a grimace in regret of his choice of words from before. He pivots over his shoulder to look down where the river sat, spotting Sango's forlorn form further up and Freeman putting a gentle arm around her shoulders while Lumos floated along the water...

"She's been missing a whole day now!" Inuyasha barks back down at Shippo,

"Get off my back! You're acting like it's my fault!"

"It is your fault: If it weren't for you, we would've been searching for her now, doofus!"

Fed up with the finger-pointing, the dog demon jumps down from the tree to try and swipe at the fox demon, who hops up in a dodge before biting onto the former's arm!

"Wha'd you say, ya little creep?! (Gritting tone) Get, off, of, me!"

By this time, Sango was finished with the aimless waiting, and pushes Freeman's reassuring arm off.

"Huh? Sango?"

"That's it: I'm gonna try and find Kilala."

She proceeds into a run for the treeline of the nearby woods...but stops come Inuyasha's address.

"Wait. You're never gonna find her without some kind of a lead."

"Now Inuyasha decides to come to the rescue..."

Said dog demon looks to Miroku in confusion for his statement, but Coraline quickly catches onto the monk's meaning.

"Aaah, right!"

She walks over to grab a small cat dish she brought along in her travels to Edo a long while back, and quickly darts back to Inuyasha's proximity.

"Will you be needing a refresher of Kilala's scent, (holds up dish) 'cause this should still be plenty coated in it."

"Kuh, nah, I'm good: I've got her scent memorized to a T...Alright, let's get this done!"

Soon, the whole group was standing on the path dividing a section of the forest grounds with tan dirt, and the dog demon was down on all fours to begin his search for the twin-tail cat demon's specific scent.

"You got this, Inuyasha!"

...But despite the encouragement from his intended, the sweatdrop forming on the side of Inuyasha's head spoke of a different outcome.  
Inching towards him as a mass, Freeman and Besa speak up for the rest in a hopeful manner:

"Well?" "Got anything?" He turns around with a half-guilty expression:

"Not really. The scent ends right here."

Coraline curses and mutters,

"So she must've took to the air from that spot...but to where?"

Another hour later, night blankets the land completely, highlighting the glow of a new campfire that was occupied by the sitting bodies of the twins, who were hunched over in discouragement.

"Well that was a bust..."

"No kidding..."

Miroku suggests from his stand near them,

"I think we better split up and keep searching."

Inuyasha calls from atop the tree he was lounging in earlier,

"It's a waste of time: Her scent ended so she must've taken off somewhere. Besides, not only am I not pickin' up her scent around here..."

He gestures his thumb at the Will O' Wisp who was floating near his proximity:

"But even Lumos can't get a beat on her energy."

Lumos lets out a sighed chirp, but Coraline wouldn't let the mood of the search drop.

"So we're at a slight disadvantage, big deal. We can't just call it quits so fast and leave Kilala to our dust; only god knows how long it may take before she catches up again if we decide to shove on."

Inuyasha hops down with the Will O' Wisp darting after him, replying to the redhead with a bit of attitude,

"Yeah, I figured as much..."

Placing an endearing hand on his arm, Coraline replies with a soft smile,

"Then you should have at least one next step ready."

The dog demon nods, before curving an arm around the redhead's waist while turning his head to Sango who was sitting on the grass closest to the river.

"Yo, Sango, are you sure there isn't somethin' you're not tellin' us?"

The slayer pivots her head behind her with a perplexed expression as Inuyasha approaches with Coraline tucked at his side, casually adding a possible scenario the former may not recall.

"Like, maybe you and her had a fight, so she took off to stay with a friend for a while...Come on, there must be something."

"I know what you're getting at, but..."

Besa, who was listening with Freeman by their place near the campfire, calls,

"Has Kilala's behaviour changed in any weird ways? Like loss of appetite or moodiness?"

The other brother suggests with a slight laugh,

"It's also possible she might've found a silver vine patch and got distracted in more ways than one..."

A ghost of a smile appears on Sango's lips for a moment, before she forms a sad frown and replies,

"No no, but...maybe it's my fault."

She focuses her vision down at the cat dish in her hands:

"It's just that, every time that I go into battle, I drag her along with me. Whenever we need to travel long distance, we take her for granted and ride on her back. I make her go on errands and don't even think to reward her. She loves fish and I almost never treat her to some..."

"Sango, don't pin the blame on yourself."

Coraline agrees with Miroku, matching his reassuring smile:

"Kilala wouldn't take off for something so trivial; she's better than that."

"I got it!"

Everyone turns their eyes to Shippo, and Inuyasha asks him,

"Got what? What're you talkin' about?"

"I think I know why Kilala disappeared."

That just served to deepen the confused expressions, joined by the twins as they walk over. Shippo continues:

"It came to me right after Inuyasha gave me a noogie: I gave it some serious thought and the answer came to me."

Freeman urges with a hopeful smile,

"And? What'd ya come up with, kiddo?"

"It's obvious..."

The fox demon shifts his tone to a more dramatic air as he concludes,

"You people drove poor Kilala away!"

(Bonk)

"Ow!"

Inuyasha whaps Shippo's noggin with the sheath of his sword and deadpans,

"Stop beatin' around the bush and tell us your little theory."

Coraline meanwhile raises a brow in time with Besa at such an accusation:

"I don't understand, Shippo..."

"Yeah, are you implying we all somehow did something to disgruntle Kilala enough that she'd take off?"

Sango thinks aloud to herself,

"I haven't been too bad..."

Ignoring the throbbing of the new bump on his head, Shippo whirls around with a serious glare, not wanting to be lenient to even his friends.

"Are you positive about that?"

"(Collective) Huh?"

"Put your hand on your heart, and take a good look deep into your Souls: Can any of you honestly say that you haven't done anything mean to Kilala?"

Excluding Inuyasha, everyone does as the fox demon child advises, taking a moment of silence to think deeply about any possible misgivings they might have dealt without realizing...Obviously, the dog demon would the first to reply:

"Yeah, I ain't done nothin'!" Miroku follows just as sure:

"I can't think of anything I've done to possibly hurt her..."

The twins whisper to themselves,

"Nothin' heinous is reachin' my mind. Yours?"

"Nope. I mean, maybe there was a few times we could've annoyed her, but not so bad that she'd hold a grudge..."

Shippo hms with a grim smile, before stating,

"I was afraid it'd come to this: I'll have to remind you of each random act of cruelty, (frown) which ultimately led her to run away! First, you, Inuyasha!"

Said dog demon forms a look of shock, as the child points an accusing finger before relaying the 'charge'.

"You used to secretly practice the Wind Scar on Kilala when you were trying to master the Backlash Wave Technique!"

"I practiced the Wind Scar on Kilala...? Hmm..."

 _(Flash)_

 _Back in the days before Inuyasha would master the Tessaiga's powers, he and Kilala acted as training partners so that the dog demon could learn to read the demonic energies of an opponent with a strong aura within the fissure of the surrounding air..._

 _Usually, these sessions involved both parties meeting at night in a secluded area far enough away from any possible high populations that could accidentally get caught in the crossfire. As soon as they were positioned a few yards from one another, Inuyasha would draw his sword at the ready, waiting for it and Kilala's auras to collide in a duo-sourced vortex of power, before slicing through the sliver in the winds._

 _" Wind Scar!"_

 _(SLASH)_

 _Unfortunately, while he does maintain a good level of control on the releasing power, the attack was still strong enough to throw the twin-tail cat demon backwards!_

 _"Oh no!"_

 _Thankfully, the saying 'cats always land on their feet' remains true, as Kilala somersaults herself to a steady land...But it's clear that this round did do a bit more damage, as a spark of power statics across her body before she collapses to the grass on her front with a whimper. Inuyasha quickly rushes to her aid:_

 _"Kilala, are you alright?!"_

 _He examines his training partner over for any signs of injury...only to discover,_

 _"Guh! Oh no, your fur...!"_

 _The Wind Scar had apparently been strong enough to cause some, 'rapid shedding', leaving three small bald spots on Kilala's head! Inuyasha darts his head back and forth to check if anyone else was watching, before rising to his feet with the cat demon and assuring,_

 _"Don't worry: It'll grow back."_

 _He pats her side, accidentally causing some more fur to fall out, but he brushes it off with an uncomfortable laugh, while she remains rather calm about the situation (you never know; this could've already been an occasional problem for her)._

 _"Ah-heh, that'll all grow back too! Uh, let's see how dinner's comin' along..."_

 _With that, the pair walk out of the field to where the latest campsite for the main group was..._

 _Unbeknownst to either, someone did witness the events, they being Shippo who was peering from behind a tree._

 _"I saw you, Inuyasha."_

 _(Flash)_

The dog demon was currently growling with a glare at the fox demon for blabbing about the incident, just as Coraline asks,

"Is that what happened, Inuyasha? You and Kilala had been sparring for a few sessions and her fur was...oh dear..."

Sango mutters to herself in thought,

"Come to think of it, she did have some bald spots...quite a few." Freeman adds,

"I remember them too, but I just assumed she might'a caught a bad rash..."

Shippo says to Inuyasha in an interrogative manner,

"You thought no one was watching, but I witnessed the whole thing! You know why Kilala ran away?"

A sweatdrop develops on the back of the head of the accused, as the younger demon finishes,

"'Cause of you, Inuyasha: You are to blame!"

Inuyasha quickly forms a nervous expression from such a conclusion, as Miroku and Sango each give him an inquisitive evil eye.

"Well, I had no idea..."

"So, Inuyasha was responsible for the bald spots...and that's why she ran away."

Besa wasn't so sure, and calls the monk and slayer out on their quick judgement:

"Come on, don't you guys think you're being a little unfair? From the sounds of things, those incidents happened long enough back that Kilala would've forgiven Inuyasha by now. Plus it was obviously an unintentional problem."

Said dog demon hops onto his feet to continue his own defense:

"Thank you, Besa! Glad someone's not so judgemental! He's right: You can't just make it sound like I drove her away because some fur went flying! She's likely forgotten all about it by now!"

"So you think she left for another reason?"

Miroku's question would have Inuyasha pause to ponder possibilities, until Shippo spoke up again.

"Maybe I can help ya there." He directs his glaring green eyes on the monk:

"Miroku, don't tell me you've forgotten..."

Eyes fall on the next accused in surprise, while he starts to scour his mind for any incidences he might've let slip...

 _(Flash)_

 _In this case, the monk's infraction would involve (to no one's surprise) a small group of young and beautiful village girls, who were doing their laundry by the side of a river while also taking some time to relax and play in the crystalline waters..._

 _"Ooo~, what luck: Pretty village girls..."_

 _The passing Miroku looks at Kilala, who was sitting on his shoulder in her dormant form, and smiles while stating,_

 _"I think it's time for you to help me out, Kilala."_

 _She's then bounding down the incline to the shore grounds, but pauses to look up at the monk a bit apprehensively for acting as his wingman-er, cat, while also recalling her battle partner's hidden feelings for the man in question..._

 _"Kilala, go to them."_

 _Nevertheless, Kilala obeys the urge (likely concluding karma will teach Miroku a lesson later) and heads over to greet the village girls, who are immediately in rapture by how cute she was._

 _"Ooh!"_

 _"What an adorable little cat this is!"_

 _"Why hello~."_

 _Come Miroku's entrance, the cat demon hops out of the one girl's arms to jump into his waiting arm as he says to the group kindly,_

 _"Her name is Kilala, and she makes a fine travel companion, wouldn't you say?"_

 _The girls crowd around him as one gushes,_

 _"She's so cute!"_

 _"Cute, but she's no comparison to you ladies."_

 _They all blush and giggle from Miroku's flirtatious compliment:_

 _"You flatter us, monk."_

 _He just flashes a smile with a glint in his pearly teeth, proud of himself for his successful plan..._

"And that's only the beginning..."

 _By that, the fox demon was referring to other times when Miroku wasn't being so much the flirt but rather, the object to flaunt over, usually done by, um, more maturely-aged and not necessarily 'traditional pretty' women._

 _"My, such a manly monk is rare around these parts."_

 _"You must spend the night in our village, dear boy!"_

 _"Come to my place."_

 _"No, mine!"_

 _The sight of so many would be enough to have Miroku squealing for assistance from the twin-tail cat demon._

 _"O-Only Kilala can get me out of this one! Kilala!"_

 _With a scratch to her ear, she would transform into her true form and belt out a roar loud enough that the middle-aged and elderly women would immediately run off scared. The monk follows the move with a sutra while calling out,_

 _"Evil Spirit, Begone!"_

 _What neither party knew was that during one such time, Shippo was near while disguised as a jizo statue, left to sweatdrop from the monk's antics._

"I saw the whole thing, Miroku."

 _(Flash)_

...Let's all take a guess at how appalled/furious the listening ears to this regale would be, shall we?

"Dude!" "Seriously, Miroku?!"

"Not that I blame you for the elder scare-off, but that's still wrong!"

"Miroku, you're even worse than I am!"

Said accused scratches the back of his head with a nervous smile and tries to talk down the incidents in question.

"Ah-heheh, i-i-it wasn't as bad as it sounded..." Coraline disagreed:

"Whether it does or doesn't, there's no excuse for your acts. Nevermind the innocent parties you played for a second: You shouldn't be taking advantage of Kilala's good nature."

"Huh. Those in glass huts shouldn't cast stones, Coraline."

She becomes taken aback by Shippo's counter, and Freeman asks the fox demon,

"Whoa now, you're not saying that Coraline has, are you?"

"'Fraid so, and you and Besa are included with her."

"What?!"

But Besa wonders aloud,

"Hang on...Could he be talking about..."

 _(Flash)_

 _This time, the clock is turned back to a more recent date, specifically, a day or two after Saki Hikiji's entrance in and out of Edo, when Inuyasha and company stop at a cheap-enough Inn for the night. They feasted on freshly-caught and cooked crabs for dinner, but it would be the three teens from the modern era who had little appetites, mostly thanks to a certain gem they procured..._

 _Noticing their expressions, Inuyasha asks,_

 _"What's with you three? Is something the matter?" Coraline mutters in absentminded worry,_

 _"What to do, what to do..."_

 _"Don't tell me, another test?"_

 _"Hm? Oh, no, nothing like that...I just, can't get Master Yoshi out of my head...then there's another thing that's come up today..."_

 _Damn, what a double dilemma..._

 _That's when Freeman snaps his finger to the tune of an idea springing in his head:_

 _"I got it!"_

 _A little later, we catch up with Shippo as he sighs in bliss while relaxing in a newly-heated tub of water._

 _"Aaah, this feels great..."_

 _"Kilala, could you please help us?"_

 _He snaps out of his daze when he hears whispers coming from outside, and peeks out the window to see Coraline and the twins speaking with the cat demon near the treeline._

 _"We realize this is an inconvenient time, but we can't ignore our worry for Master Yoshi anymore. We need to return to our era and make sure he's okay, or at least ask Grandfather if he's heard anything since they're good colleagues."_

 _"We swear we'll owe you big time for this!"_

 _"So, what do you say?"_

 _...Kilala tilts her head and blinks with a mew, which translates as a green light to the teens, who smile gratefully and chime,_

 _"Thank you so much!"_

 _But despite the slight downgrade of selfishness, Shippo would take in the context of the scene in a less positive manner._

 _I saw that, you guys._

 _(Flash)_

"Mind explaining why you three had to go home that time besides confirming Master Yoshi's condition?"

Taking a deep breath, Coraline replies with a fairly calm air,

"Okay, before anyone jumps the gun too quick again, while we did bargain a ride back to the well, we didn't force Kilala to stay afterwards."

Besa adds,

"We had a plan set before we took off..."

 _(Flash)_

 _Continuing the memory, we cut to when Kilala lands at the lip of the Bone Eater's Well with her three passengers, who hop off and position at ready to jump down, but not without giving the cat demon the following instructions._

 _"Alright, Kilala: We're not entirely sure how long we may be, so don't feel you're obligated to just wait here...However..."_

 _Lumos pops out of Coraline's satchel briefly as she adds,_

 _"When we do return, I'll send Lumos to track you down, and that will be the hint we've returned. Okay?"_

 _That plan seemed satisfactory enough to Kilala, who nods in confirmation..._

 _"(Smile) Okay then. We'll see you soon."_

 _"Again, feel free to take off if we're too long for your liking."_

 _"Yeah, you got your own life too, (laugh)! See ya 'round, Ki!"_

 _With that, the three teens hop over the side of the well to travel back to modern Tokyo, watched from up top by the cat demon, before she hums a growl and turns to walk off elsewhere..._

 _Shifting scenes, we turn heads to the inside of the Higurashi residence, specifically, the living room, which had a birthday cake set on the coffee table decorated with vanilla icing, strawberries and an edible sign that read 'Happy Birthday, Grandpa!'. The kneeling bodies surrounding it were Akari, Souta and the man of the hour, he currently distracted by a framed photograph in his hands, depicting himself and Yoshi sitting under a cherry tree in that secluded area outside the city, drinking tea while looking over some old artifacts._

 _His smile appears a bit distantly but fondly:_

 _I'm glad that my young friend will not be joining the spirits above us anytime soon..._

 _It's a shame though he won't be able to get out of the hospital for a while and join me on this little occasion._

 _(Sigh) But I suppose my earlier visit at the hospital is good enough._

 _Akari would then take a turn at sighing before saying with a smile,  
_

 _"I suppose we should start without her and the boys." Grandfather agrees:_

 _"No sense in waiting any longer..."_

 _But it would be then the three teens make it inside the house, and the door to the hallway slides open to reveal their beaming faces._

 _"Hey, Grandfather! Happy Birthday!"_

 _"(Both twins) Happy Birthday, Mister Higurashi!"_

 _"Coraline, boys, you're home!"_

 _"I was hoping you would make it back in time..." Souta then notes after the adults,_

 _"Inuyasha didn't come back with you guys this time, huh?"_

 _"Nope. This was a last-minute travel...Oh, here, Grandfather: This is from all three of us!"_

 _Coraline then pulls out a piece of a large tentacle fragment from a member of the octopus species wrapped in a neat blue bow, and hands it to the elder, who became excited by the gift._

 _"Well, isn't this magnificent...!"_

 _"It came off a giant octopus demon we all fought a few days ago."_

 _Freeman jokes with a laugh,_

 _"Mind you, the others thought we were crazy for taking it along..." Akari then asks,_

 _"Are you three able to stay for a few days this time?"_

 _"Uhm..." "Well..." "You see..."_

 _"It is a special occasion, so at least stay and have dinner with us."_

 _Souta agrees with Grandfather:_

 _"I'm with that!"_

 _Coraline thinks for a moment...then replies with a small smile,_

 _"Well, we weren't planning on staying very long, but...I guess we can get away with tonight and part of the next morning."_

 _Thank goodness we told Kilala not to bother with waiting..._

 _So with that, she and her brothers spend the night with the Higurashis and celebrate the elder man's birthday, before readying to leave come the early morning...but not without paying a visit to Tokyo Hospital, where their martial arts master was currently residing._

 _(...Knock, knock)_

 _"Master Yoshi?"_

 _He looks up from the book he was reading while sitting up in his designated bed, dressed in a simple white shirt and pants, and smiles when he sees the young faces in the doorway of his room._

 _"Aah, Croft-san, Brownlee-sans. I was expecting to see you three soon enough..."_

 _They move to stand by his left side with relieved but anxious smiles, and Besa asks,_

 _"How are you feeling, Master? He didn't hurt you badly, right?"_

 _"I will be fine in several more days. Thankfully, they were but flesh wounds and did not damage any of the inner organs of this body."_

 _Letting out a breath of relief, Coraline then reaches into her jeans pocket to pull out a certain gem to hand back to its owner._

 _"I, believe this is yours, Master. I also took the liberty of tying on a stronger leather string..."_

 _Yoshi lets out a soundless gasp, before gently taking the Gem of the Ancient One into his hands like it was made from the thinnest of glass...He stares at it for a long moment in deep, distant thought, before looking up at the youths, noting the curiousity in their eyes..._

 _Come around mid-morning, we cut back to Edo just as the three teens return through the Bone Eater's Well. As soon as they were standing upright on the grass, Coraline calls out her Will O' Wisp companion to attention._

 _"...Lumos?"_

 _He wastes no time and darts out of her satchel in a random direction to seek out Kilala...who would emerge with the Will O' Wisp about forty minutes later in her full form. The teens smile at her, and give her some well-deserved scratches and pets before they set off for the others._

 _(Flash)_

"We won't deny that we had crossed a bit of the line in bargaining a ride from Kilala, but we wouldn't dare make her stick around waiting like a lapdog. That's just plain rude and cruel."

Freeman adds with a head-scratch after Coraline's statement,

"Although, it would've been a good idea to bring back something for her as compensation like fish..."

Shippo's stare softens up a touch from the explanation, but it doesn't do much to deter Sango's disappointment.

"...Still, even you three?"

With that, she begins walking off, much to Freeman's defense:

"Aw come on, Sango, don't take the context so negatively!"

The fox demon then says to the rest in a stern manner,

"Well, I hope you've all learned your lesson today and promise to never be mean to an innocent demon again. Especially you, Inuyasha!"

"Huh?"

"(Hops once) If you give me one more noogie, (twice) no more Coraline's snacks, (and one more time) not for a whole week!"

Not appreciating the 'dog trainer' tone, Inuyasha quickly snatches Shippo up by his tail and counters with a frown,

"Since when are you callin' the shots?"

Meanwhile, Coraline, Freeman, Besa and Miroku move after the demon slayer a bit further down the river, wanting to apologize for their misdeeds.

"Sango, hang on a minute."

She turns to them as Miroku says after the redhead,

"Sango, we did do those things, but not maliciously..."

The twins bow their heads and chime simultaneously,

"Nevertheless, we're really sorry." Even Inuyasha was feeling apologetic:

"We didn't mean to hurt Kilala's feelings..."

"I know that...I'm in no position to criticize." Coraline asks,

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm no different: I turn over and almost smother her in my sleep, and when I'm in a bad mood, I wake her up at night so I can think."

"...So?"

Sango looks up at Freeman with surprise at such a casual question, but he just smiles while wrapping an arm around Besa's shoulders while commenting,

"I do the same thing to my brother and he hasn't gone running for the hills...well, not yet, anyway."

The twins laugh before Besa chides gently,

"What he means is that if Kilala had truly developed a grudge for all those incidences, she likely would've made her frustrations clear from the get-go. Plus, we're only human, Sango: We can't keep track of every cause and effect for our actions...unless you have an eidetic memory, but that's besides the point."

Coraline then shrugs and chimes,

"Hell, I'm surprised Buyo hasn't moved out of the house thanks to Souta's antics. Don't get me wrong, he's a good kid, but when he was a toddler approaching kindergarten, he had absolutely no clue how to treat a cat right. He used to tug Buyo's tail and ears constantly, feed him too much cat food at once (which I suspect may be part of the reason why the cat's so, rounded in body these days...) and even purposely did jump-scares to see how high Buyo could hop into the air."

Everyone's eyes bulge out in shock from such a description...and Inuyasha mutters,

"Wow...Put it that way, and what we did to Kilala was tame in comparison."

Shippo mutters in an agreeing tone,

"He was evil..."

...Suddenly:

(Boom, rumble...)

The sound of crashing and timbering objects came ringing through the air, shaking the forest floor and the standing bodies of the group!

Further into the woods, we find a lone villager with an herb basket running quite fast down a path with a frightened expression, indicating that he's being chased by an otherwise unpleasant source. Something then strikes into the ground behind him, upturning the dirt and sending him flying to slide on his front near a tree.

"Aagh!"

Just as the man starts to get up and continue on, a large shadow comes creeping behind him, belonging to a ten-foot ape demon with one eye and green fur! The villager lets out a cry, and the demon laughs before jeering,

"Such a foolish human. How could you even think you could escape my territory?"

"Please! Have mercy on me!"

"This forest has little food. I won't let a meal slip away."

On that note, the ape demon starts to reach one of its hands to the cowering man...only to stop, when Inuyasha calls out mockingly,

"Aw, damn it, I was hoping I'd find Kilala, but it's only some one-eyed baboon wanna-be and a mortal."

The ape demon quickly narrows down the location of the dog demon, and whirls around to try and strike the latter who was poised atop a tree branch. But, Inuyasha dodges the offensive arm and lands in front of the terrified villager.

"Hey, mister. You might wanna get outta here."

"U-Uh-aaaaah, another demon!"

The man turns and sprints for his life while flailing his arms in a panic, and the dog demon mutters while watching the former go,

"...Ingrate."

"How dare you free my prey!"

His attention then shifts back to the ape demon, who tries to slam its hand down on him, but misses again...

"Inuyasha!"

By this time, everyone else catches up to him, and Miroku and Freeman note the new enemy upon visual.

"A demon!"

"Aw man, what's with all these giant primates comin' out?"

Sango was more pressed with the missing twin-tail cat demon problem:

"Where's Kilala?" Inuyasha replies,

"She's not here, but she can't be far because I can smell her."

The ape demon catches the snippet of the conversation and asks,

"Who are you, and why are you in my forest?"

...That's when Shippo spots something on the ground, specifically, a red kerchief scarf scuffled with dirt.

"Uh, hey, look at that!" Besa recognizes the make of the material:

"That's...the scarf I gave Kilala a while back...!"

The ape demon stomps forward with a laugh, stepping on the scarf, but that wasn't the fox demon's major concern.

"That's not all, either! Look behind him: There's bones and skulls all over the place!"

Zooming out and behind the giant, we see that there was an abundant number of skeletons (most incomplete) littering the forest floor, some humanoid and others more beast-like!...And though there isn't conclusive evidence that any were related to the feline species...our group nonetheless came to a rather grimly-suspected conclusion, as indicated firstly by Sango's hitched draw of breath.

"...Oh no...!"

Inuyasha growls angrily at the ape demon, and Shippo demands with tears in his eyes,

"Where is she?! Did you eat Kilala?!"

"(Chuckle) You fools: As if I'd remember the name of every single thing I've eaten."

Inuyasha asks a similar question with a growl in his voice:

"Did you eat our demon-cat friend?"

"Now now, you'll be meeting your friend again soon enough...in my belly!"

The ape demon's fur then stands on end, before they release a torrent of dagger-sharp rays of light to assault the group, who rush to the sides to dodge. As soon as the dirt cloud clears, Inuyasha rushes in with his counterattack.

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash)

Unfortunately, the ape demon was faster than they looked, and easily jumped out of the way to speed into the trees!

"You're on my land: Everything in my forest acts as my ally!"

He unleashes another set of light rays straight at Sango, who was standing still in a daze of shock from her worst fears coming true, before Miroku tackles her out of the way.

"Watch out!"

Coraline tries to narrow down the location of the demon using her Aura Sight, but was having trouble keeping up with their speed.

"(Frustrated groan) It's no good: The ape's movin' too fast to aim!"

"He's using the tree branches to propel himself and increase his speed, and he attacks from a high altitude for advantage..."

Besa concludes for Miroku,

"Then they weren't kidding around by saying they got a friend in the forest...Damn."

Shippo mutters sadly,

"If only Kilala were here now to help us," and Freeman adds,

"Yeah, or I'd even take Kōga's demon speed if it'll get the job done...Hm?"

He then spots the red scarf flutter down to meet the ground in front of Sango, and cringes when he sees her eyes welling up with despair.

 _Oh Sango..._

Sango's POV

 _...No. This, can't be happening. I've already lost Father, then Kohaku...and, now this?_

As I stared aimlessly at the red scarf that Besa got for her...I found my mind wander back to when I was young, and Father first gave me Kilala to care for. I had been no older than my little brother is now, and was immediately smitten with my new friend. The first time she transformed into her full form, was an amazing sight for the eyes, as was when I flew on her back shortly afterward...Kilala and I, had connected like true friends, like it was meant to be...

 _Kilala...Kilala..._

"Kilala..."

I stood up just as Inuyasha draws out his Tessaiga:

"So, it seems you're more than an ugly demon who's light on his feet. I could use a good fight..."

But my presence stepping forth would stop him, for I needed this fight more than he did...

"I want revenge...(Glare) Nobody messes with Kilala!"

I launch Hiraikotsu forward to cut down a number of the trees to flush the ape demon out, just as they try to continue their speeding around the area. They fall to the ground as their next trajectory fails them, and they move to get up as I step forward.

"Don't think you can defeat me just 'cause you took down a few tree branches!"

...What they didn't know, however, is that their next leaping lunge would be their last, thanks to the rebound swing of my weapon.

(WHAM)

"Aaaaaaa-ggggaahhhh!"

Hiraikotsu grinds into their torso, before the body completely disintegrates, leaving my weapon to strike into the dirt...

Their defeat did little to sedate my depression, and I simply walked away.

Time Skip, No POV

The next day would begin on a more mournful note, for after yesterday, everyone was convinced that Kilala was not coming back, whether she truly was consumed by the ape demon or not...

Sango was currently sitting by a tree and holding the cat demon's food dish in her lap, her tears decorating the surface as she sobbed for the loss of her partner. Freeman was sitting beside her, holding a comforting arm around her shoulders and choosing to remain silent, his face contorted in sadness and sympathy.

Everyone else was standing nearby, their own expressions looking no better.  
Miroku mutters the demon slayer's name with pity, and Coraline looks down while noting in guilt,

"We all should've appreciated Kilala's companionship better than we did..."

Shippo begins blubbering,

"Kilala, was..."

But he couldn't finish his sentence, choosing instead to start his own crying, while Besa holds a gentle hand on the younger's head.

"Strong heart, Shippo. Whatever happened, Kilala wouldn't want us to grieve..."

Inuyasha then turns to walk off, but freezes with a stunned expression when he spots a familiar face up ahead the path.

"Uh...It's you!"

Everyone looks to see who he was addressing, and would become equally shocked when they see,

"...Kilala!"

Yes: Our favourite twin-tailed cat demon was here, in full form and with no signs of injury! Sango and Freeman gasp, as they hear the exclaim followed by,

"You're okay, after all!"

"Thank god!"

Turning around while standing up, they look towards Kilala as he comments with a relieved smile,

"I thought those bones didn't look cat-related...Anyway, looks like she's okay, eh, Sango?"

She nods with a smile, muttering the cat demon's name before rushing to greet the other with a few stray tears flying from her eyes. Sango hugs Kilala affectionately, but the latter breaks off with a small growl shortly after, taking aback the former...until she licks their cheek with a happy whimper.

Everyone else watches with their own smiles as Inuyasha comments,

"Crazy cat, she had us worried for a while." Coraline then hms,

"Well then...the only question now is where the heck did Kilala go?"

"Master Inuyasha..."

(Slurp...slap)

The answer would come in the form of Myoga the Flea, who appears onto Inuyasha's palm shortly after the latter hits the former for snacking on his blood, again.

"It's been, quite a while, milord."

"Myoga, it's you."

Miroku and Freeman ask,

"What brings you around these parts?"

"Yeah, didn't we see you just over a week or two ago with Tōtōsai during that fiasco with the Sword of Tengu?"

Myoga replies,

"Funny you should say his name, for he sent me to deliver a whetstone for Inuyasha's Tessaiga."

"A whetstone? What's that?"

The flea demon points due left, and we see a large, rectangle cut of novaculite sitting on the side of the path. Miroku asks with a touch of disbelief in his tone,

"How on earth did you carry such a heavy stone?"

"Well, that was the easy part: I asked Kilala to give me some help."

"(Collective) Huh?!"

"I came all this way to get her, then rode back to Tōtōsai's to get the stone, I must say."

 _(Flash)_

 _We go back to two nights ago before this whole event began, and we find out that the unknown force that came to our sleeping camp was in fact Myoga!_

 _"Kilala, it's been a long while, my friend! I need you to do me a small favour..."_

 _Also, Shippo had been awake...well, half-awake, anyway:_

 _"It's the middle of the night, you know. What're you doin' here?"_

 _"Shippo, tell Inuyasha and the others that'll be taking Kilala with me for a bit. Tell them that we'll be back in a day or so, you got that?"_

 _Shippo mumbles tiredly,_

 _"Whatever," and falls back asleep._

 _(Flash)_

"But what about her scarf? How'd it get out this way into the forest?"

"Oh that? That's simple..."

 _(Flash)_

 _Shortly after Kilala and Myoga had left the camp to make for Tōtōsai's, it would seem that the red scarf's knot wasn't tied tight enough, and the winds caught it before blowing it away. She did try to go after it, but was stopped when the flea demon asks,  
_

 _"What are you doing, Kilala? Pick it up later; we don't have any time to waste!"_

 _Reluctant, the cat demon heeds Myoga's words, and continues on her way, leaving the accessory to sit on the ground near the bones of the ape demon's past victims..._

 _(Flash)_

"And that's it."

By the time the tale of the real events was finished, a certain fox demon was already trying to slink quietly away to avoid scrutiny for his absentmindedness...But would only get a couple feet away before Besa and Coraline's stern gazes catch him:

"Ahem!"

"Freeze, Shippo."

He does as he's told, and turns to the others with an uncomfortable smile and laugh.

"Ah-heheheh, uuh, was that what happened?...I must've been half-asleep...It's Myoga's fault: He should've known better..."

That wasn't a good enough excuse for Inuyasha, who steps up to the fox demon with a growl and a crack of his knuckles.

"Well well, half-asleep, were you? Well, I hope you're good and ready for this, Shippo!"

"Aaaaah, Coraline, guys, help me!"

"Inuyasha..."

Both demons look back in said redhead's direction, and there's a pause...before she smile-smirks and adds,

"Don't give 'im hell, but just enough."

Inuyasha grins at the directions and whirls back to Shippo while quirking to him,

"You hear that?"

And with that, we were off to the races, the fox demon in lead running for his life from the dog demon who was gaining!

"Nooo! Miroku, Sangooo! Come on, Freeman, Besa, won't either of you help me out?!"

Both twins shake their heads with amused smiles and salute,

"You're on your own, man," while Coraline says to Miroku as they gaze at the happy Sango and Kilala,

"Glad it all worked out well, even with the hitches," to which he'd nod at in agreement...

"Come back here, ya little wimp!"

"It was an honest mistake! Let's start over!"

"Not on your life!"


	110. Chapter 109

**Chapter 109: Soul Sisters, Spelunking Life & Death**

A new night comes to hover over the lands of Edo, and this time around, we catch up with our specter priestess, Kikyō, as she and a few of her  
Shinidamachū allies travel through a new forest on their way towards Mount Hakurei in search of the special shrine said to be a place of refuge for the deceased seeking forgiveness for their sins...

The priestess then pauses her walk, when she senses something ahead of the tree cover.

"Hm?"

"(Distant) Help!...Someone help me...!"

"A young child, so late at night?"

Signalling the soul-catching demons to wait for her, Kikyō follows the sound of a little girl crying until she was out of the forest and in a large field of white moon garden flowers growing in front of a moss-covered cave. In front of the entrance, was a young girl with short, bobbed black hair, wearing a sea-foam green kimono, kneeling on the grass with her sobbing face buried in her hands and back turned from the approaching priestess.

"...You."

The crying stops come Kikyō's address...before the child suddenly disintegrates into dust before her very eyes.

"Oh no...!"

Next thing she knew, a strong gust of wind blows, sucking her inside the cave in a torrent of white petals!

Time Skip

Come the next day, our view shifts to looking overhead a number of irrigated fields currently being tended to by some farmers from the local village. All was rather peaceful...that is, until:

"Inuyasha, Sit!"

(Gleam...Wham)

"Guh!"

We hear the echoes of a furious Coraline and an off-guarded yelp from Inuyasha as he kisses the dirt after the subjugation beads are activated, the noise from the crash taking the men by surprise as they look towards the next hill in confusion.

Zooming up the top of said incline, the dog demon springs to his feet while glaring at the redhead responsible for his descend.

"What'd you do that for, Coraline?!"

Her glare was just as seething, if not more so:

"For your incompetence in choosing your words carefully, that's what!"

"What's that suppose to mean?!"

"The fact that you don't know is making you look worse and me all the more infuriated! Sit!"

(Gleam, Wham)

A second round of the spell is cast, and Inuyasha goes down hard into the dirt. All the while, everyone else of our group was sitting off to the side near an old oak, watching the young couple fighting with nervous and partially terrified expressions. Freeman whispers to Besa,

"And this is why we made that pact to never get on sis's bad side."

"Right..."

Coraline grits her teeth before letting out a short breath of anger while stating to the dog demon in a stern manner,

"You're lucky I have more restraint or you'd be kissing the sea floor of the South Atlantic by now."

With that, she then walks over to the tree where her satchel and weapons were sitting, and hoists on her ShatterSoul Sword over her shoulder, straps her combat knife to her thigh, before finally turning the opposite direction to march off, but not before calling her creature partner to follow.

"Lumos!"

The Will O' Wisp flies to meet her steps with no hesitation, just as Miroku calls,

"Wait, Coraline, where are you going?"

She pivots her head over her shoulder and calls back with some edge in her tone,

"To blow off some steam, and trust me, you do not wanna witness that!"

She then focuses back up front, intending to put as much distance between her and her boyfriend as possible...The monk laughs nervously with a grimace while Sango lets out a sigh of exasperation and Shippo hugs a shivering Kilala, he too a bit spooked.

"Coraline's scary, (glances at Inuyasha's form) but he did kind-a deserve it..."

The twins roll their eyes and mutter,

"Lover spats," before getting up to lend Inuyasha a hand in peeling himself from the ground...

By this time, Coraline was well into the nearby woods, greenery thick and as far as the eye could see, she still fairly miffed at the dog demon for his carelessness in his earlier commentary.

"Ugh, that's the last time I ever try cooking curry for that moron: I did my absolute hardest to make sure there was enough of a spice balance so that it wouldn't overpower his tongue, the sensitive wimp..."

She then pauses her steps, and thinks back to how she handled the situation:

"Hm...mind you, I could've done better with a calmer tone. I even used the S-word on him, twice..."

Coraline looks up at her companion with a partially-worried expression:

"Do you think I might've overreacted a little, Lumos?"

He moves in a rainbow curve from left to right, as a way of saying 'Maybe so, maybe not', causing her to sigh out a puff of air.

 _Alright, so I may have justified reason to be mad, but not so much that it calls for unnecessary violence..._

 _Good thing I stopped at two, then._

(Pulse)

"Hm?"

That's when Coraline senses a very familiar beat of power:

"That was...a Shikon-no-Tama shard! And it's close...Hm, it's not as strong, but I'm sure it's the real deal. (Turn) Do you sense it too, Lumos?"

The Will O' Wisp bops up and down in a 'yes', leaving the redhead to peer between each gap of the tree trunks surrounding her with narrowed eyes...Meanwhile, back at the hill everyone else was resting at for the day, Inuyasha was still griping over his girlfriend's temper clash.

"What the heck is Coraline's problem, anyway?"

"What are you saying? Lemme tell you something, you're the one with the problem, Inuyasha!"

He retorts back to Miroku,

"How so? All I did was tell the truth! Since when is that a bad thing?"

Sango sighs,

"Ooh, so much to learn," and Besa answers a bit more specifically,

"The issue was in how you spoke the truth. I'm not saying that you don't have rights to speak your mind, but you need to be careful in what words you use as well as your tone, otherwise you'll end up hurting that person's feelings almost as bad as if you were lying to their face."

Shippo scolds,

"Coraline cooked this especially for you! How could you go and insult her like that?"

Freeman causally chides,

"Yeah, plus it's lucky of you to have a romantic partner who knows how to cook. One guy I dated was so bad at the art, he broke half a dozen appliances and eighty-five percent of the food was either burnt to a crisp or severely under-cooked. (Mumbles) Only difference was that he was stubborn to the truth to the point of ignorance..."

Inuyasha then barks,

"Oh yeah? Were you guys able to eat that stuff?"

By that, he was pointing out the large metal pot of curry that was sitting over a fire-pit (the flames already put out as soon as it was done), made from some root vegetables, spices brought back from the modern era and some salted rabbit meat caught the other day. The rest of the gang pours some of the curry into some travel plates while also scooping up some cooked rice, and were immediately taken by the flavour and texture of the food.

"You know, it's not that bad!"

"Distinct, yet pleasing to the palate."

Sango hums in agreement with Shippo and Miroku, while the twins give a quick thumbs-up, too wrapped into their eating.  
Inuyasha watches them with a perplexed and disgruntled expression:

"There is somethin' wrong with you people. (Sticks out his tongue) How could you people eat somethin' so spicy it makes your tongue burn?"

Freeman gulps down some more curry before retorting with a smart-alack smile,

"Well if you're that put-off by spicy food, you should've explained that to sis from the start, duh!"

Coraline's POV

 _Good thing I remembered my weapons before I stormed off. Only god knows what I could be up against in terms of a jewel fragment._

Once Lumos and I zeroed in on the direction of the energy beat we felt, I made my way through a good part of this patch of forest, until I came upon a large field of beautiful white flowers growing in front of a cave entrance. Shielding my eyes from the glaring sun, I peer around before fixating the location of the jewel fragment to be inside the cave.

 _In there, huh?_

 _...I don't sense an overbalance of darkness, so it's definitely not in the hands of someone, or, something with malicious intent._

That's when I heard someone, a young girl judging from the pitch, calling out from inside for help. My initial instinct was to check things out and see if they were okay...however, as I inched closer to the entrance, I felt this other part of me that was screaming 'turn back; run for your life!'.

Even so, curiousity would get the better of me, and I would walk inside...only to hear something drop behind me and shut out the natural light!

"Guh!"

I whirled around and saw the cave entrance was now blocked by a boulder:

"Aw, crap!"

 _Ooof course, I just had to walk into a trap, didn't I?...Great, now what?_

Thankfully, I wasn't alone, for Lumos had followed in with me, and as soon as the cave grew dark, his body illuminated a bit stronger than before to provide some sort of guiding light. I smiled gratefully at my friend and chide,

"Boy am I glad you tagged along, Lumos. (Frown) Guess we'll have to just push on and find another way out, 'cause we're sure as hell not going back the way we came."

While true I could've tried using my sword to break through the garnet blocking the entrance, somehow I knew even that wouldn't be enough for such an offensive measure. So instead, I pressed on into this new, confounded underground maze, climbing over small rocky inclines deeper in and avoiding the occasional stalagmites while brainstorming over what this place may actually be.

 _I doubt this is an ordinary cave and I just caught an unlucky break..._

 _There's something unnatural about this place, like it knew I was gonna come here. I bet that voice I heard was part of the trap too._

 _The questions are, why...and am I the only unfortunate soul trapped?_

I would get the answers to both my questions, when I turn down a new path:

"...Hm? Uh!"

 _...Kikyō!_

 _...Oh, that's right: If I remember correctly, she still has a shard of the jewel unmarred by hands like Naraku's._

Judging from the how heavily she was breathing and how fatigued she looked, it's likely she's been here longer than I have...and without any of the Shinidamachū near.

 _If she's been here long enough...then that means her borrowed energies from the departed are starting to wane._

I start making my way over to Kikyō, and when I'm close enough, she opens her eyes to glance up at me with a tired smile.

"...It seems that you too possess the powers of a priestess."

"(Grim smile) Hey, Kikyō. Been a while, hasn't it?"

She just takes in a few more deep breaths and doesn't answer verbally, opting to save her energy by nodding while keeping her mouth upturned a little. I kneel down beside her and peer into her Soul with my Aura Sight:

"(Sheen) Damn, just what I was worried about: Your ties to the living world are weakening. (Looks around) I don't sense your allies near, so they're likely unable to follow you here, correct? How long have you been in here, and what possessed you to enter?"

"You certainly ask alot of questions, young lady."

I almost rolled my eyes at her playful scoff, before grimacing when she suddenly winces from a sharp pain in her chest...  
With no hesitation, I began rising to my feet while pulling Kikyō up with me:

"Whatever the case, we need to get out of here post-haste."

"It's impossible. We're in the belly of the Priestess-Sealer."

"Priestess-Sealer? So, is this whole cave suppose to be, a demon of sorts?"

She nods and replies,

"Correct. A demon who traps priestesses and absorbs their powers. It puts up a barrier outside, so no one but priestesses may enter inside."

"...Nice. Anything else I should know?"

"A priestess's powers have no effect in here. It's impossible to escape."

I found her mood to be rather deflating, and scoff while looking around this current section of the cave,

"Nothing is ever truly impossible. Every starting point has an exit, and this place, demon or not, is no different."

"It's useless to try anything."

"Oh come on, Kikyō, don't talk as if you've lost your fire!"

I hear her make a noise of surprise, and I straighten up more while supporting her body in a lean on mine, determined not to allow either of us perish in such a dumb way.

"If we don't find a way out, we lose our chance at meeting our mutual goal of taking down a certain demon bastard who's made both our lives a living hell among many others!...Now come, we need to at least try and think more logically."

Making sure Kikyō's arm was over my shoulder securely enough, I use my free hand to wet my finger and test for any wind currents...

"Okay, it's not much, but I'm getting a very faint breeze from further in. (Glance) Lumos, I need your help as a guiding light and making sure that Kikyō remains stable. Got it?"

My Will O' Wisp friend gives me a 'yes', and begins lighting the way forward in the path I pinpointed, while I urged the priestess in my arms to walk with me in a steady pace to hopefully find our escape route...

Inuyasha's POV

 _Rgh, I can't believe this. Why do women have to act so sensitive over these things?_

 _Now my intended's gone and took off to who knows where..._

 _She did take her weapons, though, so she wasn't dumb enough to let her anger blind her from going off defenseless..._

I'm sitting a good distance from the others, still incredibly irritated by earlier, so much so that I couldn't stop twitching and shaking my leg from my impatience in Coraline coming back from 'blowing off some steam'. Honestly, I'm a tiny bit glad to have not tailed her and find out what she meant like that, for based on how pissed she looked, the possibilities were endless...

"He's in a bod mood."

"Why doesn't he just go and say that he's sorry?"

"Probably too scared he'll run into the raging volcano that's his girlfriend..."

I turn around and shout at the prying eyes known as Shippo, Sango and Freeman:

"Shut up! I'll burn in hell before I apologize to her!"

They just all go back to eating like they weren't doing anything but that...I scoff before facing the front again while grumbling,

 _Damn that girl, always tweaking my nerves..._

 _(Sigh) But who am I kidding? There's a part of me that likes it when we fight, because it's just another sign we care enough about eachother to show off our raw emotions to one another every chance we get._

 _...You better return soon, Coraline, or I'm comin' after you to end it one way or another._

Kikyō's POV

 _Hm...while I do not fully understand what this girl is trying to do, I will admit, she is a welcomed face at a time like this._

As we kept moving along deeper down the winding paths of the Priestess Sealer, I found myself staring a little at Coraline in wonder for her stubborn determination to lead us both out of this new danger...She must have felt my eyes on her, for she then locked her blue irises with my brown...

There's an odd, three second silence, before we both hummed a laugh with awkward smiles.

"Boy, what a time for us to be meeting again, huh?"

"Indeed...We seem to be making it a habit to only see one another during the most dramatic of circumstances, or the aftermath."

"No lie...So, if you'll pardon my asking, what have you been up to since that last time?"

I was a bit surprised by her interest, but then decided to oblige her, and spoke of my encounter with the dying thief Rasetsu and my promise to take his remains (his topknot) to find forgiveness for his Soul...

"Mount Hakurei, eh? I think Grandfather mentioned that name before in one of his stories: It's suppose to be a place where sinners will pilgrimage to so they can find forgiveness for their misdeeds, right?"

"That is what I have heard from passers...But when I first laid eyes on the distant formation, I felt this strange air..."

"A strange air?"

I nod, which prompted Coraline to form an inquisitive expression:

"Hm...Well, hopefully when you get there, the feeling will just be what it is and not have an actual cause for alarm."

 _As do I..._

"...So how have you and your friends been...and Inuyasha?"

"Hm? Oh, it's been a series of events up and down for these last few weeks...For instance, one of my brothers is now mated to a wolf demon..."

She would go on to tell me about situations that were more surprising and, dare I say, comical in a way, ending with the more recent activity involving a man that came from the same realm she did who tried to harness the power of a demon sword...

"Sounds like you've all been quite busy...And this, Saki Hikiji...he hasn't made any returns since those several days ago?"

"Thank god, no, and I doubt he'll be making such a move anytime soon. He'll be too busy figuring out a way to continue his life with his new facial disfigurement, I mean, come on, he can't exactly face the public without scrutiny anymore, can he?"

"No, I suppose not..."

 _Funny, the way she describes the man...He almost sounds like, another version of Naraku..._

 _(Shakes head) No. That cannot be possible. There is no mortal that I know of who could ever measure to that demon's evil._

"Speaking of scrutiny, you asked me about Inuyasha...He's still about the same guy as before: Using honesty without configuring it in his mind first. Not that he isn't getting better, but, (groan) he's got a ways to go."

I could see the dull burn of an earlier flame of frustration in her features, which made me smile a little in a knowing way.

"Am I correct to say you and he fought recently before coming here?"

She sighs with an exasperated smile:

"Nothing gets past you, does it? Yeah, we had a spat, about cooking of all things. Apparently, his tongue is not a big fan of spicy dishes, and even though I did my best, I couldn't get the curry to a sweet enough level that he'd be able to eat it. He accused me of trying to set his mouth on fire to distract his body from the poison that was my food."

A grimace almost escaped my lips, shifting smoothly into a dry chuckle:

"Oh dear, that does sound like something he would say without thought."

"Mhm...Was there, any point back in the old days, where you and he were able to share a meal together?"

My lips form a sad but nostalgic smile at her question, before I answer in a soft tone,

"...I remember three different times, before, everything ended, when we had such a moment. They were but simple stews, but he thought all of them were well-done, except the second to which he'd complain had too much salt."

Both of us laughed a little that time, but mine would provoke a spout of violent coughing, forcing me to stop and kneel downward.  
Coraline would follow shortly, worried for my condition:

"Kikyō! Are you alright?"

 _(Cough) Damn...this place will soon drain me completely._

I feel her hand rub my back as she directs her orb companion to assist me:

"Lumos."

(Twinkle...)

The creature releases a burst of sparkling energy over my head like it did once already, and the power rejuvenates my strength somewhat. Coraline then mumbles,

"For gods sake, I would've thought we'd be close to an exit by now..."

"You're, quite an incredible woman..."

"Hm? How so?"

"Normally, a priestess would be unable to move inside this place."

A strange smile appears on her face, like she was irritated by the occupational title, before she retorts,

"Then this demon must've made a mistake, for I have nothing in me that qualifies for a priestess...Must've been my Soul Energy that drew it to lure me in..."

 _Does she not believe herself as one? How strange..._

 _Though given her life choices, including her weapons, it would be rather odd to call her a priestess, wouldn't it?_

 _...Even so, out of the two of us, she stands a better chance at finding a means of escape._

"...Leave me behind."

"What?"

"Even with this new flesh, I am still considered among the dead, remember? You have a much better chance of living if you go on alone with your spirit partner, rather than being burdened by me."

I glance at her mysterious blade, before giving her the following instructions:

"In order to escape from here, you must destroy the heart, which you'll find deeper in the cave."

...But much to my surprise, she refused to leave me:

"You're joking, right? As if I'd ever leave you to rot."

She then stands up and states in a firm tone,

"Look: I understand our chances of leaving together are not high, but I'm not about to give up just 'cause you say I should!"

 _...Coraline..._

She kneels back down and places a hand on my shoulder while giving me a sincere smile.

"Besides which, dying here means you'll never reach the peace you deserve. Naraku is still out there, and mullin' about here isn't gonna kill him anytime soon. So, what do you say: Are you with me, sister?"

I was left in shock from her words:

"...You're serious."

"Of course I am. One of us needs to be...Uh!"

Coraline then stiffens up on alert, before moving quickly to a stand while glaring down the way we came from.

"...I hear a drone. Something's coming for us."

I began to hear such a noise as well, and concluded,

 _So...the Priestess Sealer is sending out its defenses...This, could be a problem._

 _I hope for both of our sakes you're prepared...sister._

No POV

As we approach mid-afternoon, we quickly turn back to the rest of our main group of Edo travelers as they continue to resting by the oak tree on the hill...Or rather, Inuyasha continued to sit a distance from everyone else, growling low in impatience and irritation for Coraline to return, while they watched his twitching form.

"Hm...I think now would be the time to employ some psychological tactics."

The others nod with the whispering Besa, and Miroku clears his throat before beginning their strategy, using a purposely loud tone for conversation.

"Coraline is sure taking her sweet time! Wonder if she's alright?"

A stifled 'hmph' and an ear twitch tells us that Inuyasha was listening, and Sango takes a turn to push at the dog demon's stubbornness.

"Who knows? Maybe something happened to her!"

Que another ear twitch, before Shippo and Freeman add their own over-loud statements.

"I don't claim to be an expert, but don't you think you should bring her back, Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, if it were me and Ginta, we would've went to meet up with the other like, fifteen minutes ago!"

"Shut up! Who'd go after that...that...Guh!"

He couldn't finish his sentence, and just folded his arms with his back turned to everyone in a frustrated grunt. Besa calls over with a calm smile,

"Come on, Inuyasha, I think you've milked enough waiting time. I'm sure Cora's cooled off enough that you and her will be able to talk like adults."

Miroku chimes afterword...while discreetly inching to Sango's side,

"Besa's right: In this world, you must learn to accept things with grace and be honest with yourself. Be true to your feelings."

...Come one grope of a behind later:

(SMACK)

"Gah!"

"Keep in mind that there's a time and place for a little restraint."

Freeman chagrins while eyeing a newly-punched Miroku and replying to Sango's rather calm counter,

"I was just about to say that, actually..."

"A-Ab-solutely..."

With that stuttered word, the monk falls over at the same time Kilala mews in exasperation...Inuyasha takes a moment to think about everyone's words, as well as how he handled the situation, before slouching a little with a sigh.

...Meanwhile, back in the winding cave demon known as the Priestess Sealer, Coraline pulls out her ShatterSoul Sword at the ready of the new threat heading for her, Lumos and Kikyō's direction, they being a type of demon wasp that was built to fit the environment of the underground, thin with pointed heads of stone blue matching the colour of their spiny six legs, red eyes, a tiny yellow thorax and black abdomens.

"Alright...here we go: _Spirit Slash!_ "

(Sheen, slash)

The redhead sends an ice blue slash mark through the air, which connects with a good number of the wasp bodies before they disintegrate from existence!

"(Smirk) Ha!"

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Huh?"

She pivots her head behind her, and sees Lumos glowing red and blue in indication from another swarm of the demon wasps heading for them. Coraline curses, before unleashing another cut of her Aura power against them, destroying those insects as well...Kikyō watched the redhead continue attack after attack with little break time between, her eyes wide with surprise by how easy each execution was.

 _What power...She's able to use her own Soul's energy as a weapon through her blade, much like I channel my own through my bow and arrow._

 _...But there is something different about the way she does it, more, raw and wild._

"Urgh, come on, you'd think the rest would hightail it after seeing their buddies get singed!"

Just as Coraline takes down another part of the swarm, two of the insects suddenly speed in behind her, prompting Kikyō to spring to her feet before using her own power to create a barrier to ward off the demon wasps, ultimately destroying them!

"Uh...! Kikyō..."

Unfortunately, that move would've cost the specter priestess some, as she then collapses to her knees again with a heavy breath. Coraline stares down at her with worried eyes:

 _She sacrificed some of her weakening strength, for both of us..._

Her focus then shifts back to reality as another batch of the demon wasps come flying to their proximity, and she readies her sword while exclaiming with a determined glare,

"No way am I losing to a bunch of pests like these! I'm seeing this through!"

(Slash)

...We cut back briefly to the hillside, just as Inuyasha finally gets up from his seat, conceding to the growing concern in the back of his mind for his missing woman. Of course, he wasn't going to let the outside world see his hidden emotions, and he turns to look at his friends, who were observing him while having tea before glancing away from the dog demon's amber eyes sheepishly (the twins were whistling discreetly).

"Listen up: I am not going to look for Coraline! I'm just going to go for a walk to clear my head, and that's all!"

And on that note, Inuyasha pivots around to leap off in a similar direction to the redhead, leaving Sango to giggle while Miroku, Kilala and Shippo let out closed-eyed sighs, and the twins rolled their eyes with knowing smirks.

"Who does he think he's foolin'?"

"I know, right? So, anybody wanna learn Crazy Eights while we wait for the lovers to come back?"

Coraline's POV

It took a bit longer than I anticipated, but eventually, enough of the demon wasps were killed by yours truly that any others that could be here in these caves took the hint to back off...

Now I'm once again moving at a steady pace down the paths to find the heart, supporting Kikyō over one shoulder and with one arm around her waist while one of hers was around mine, and Lumos was lighting the way in front of us. Unfortunately, by this point, even he was feeling some exhaustion like we were from the draining effect of this Priestess Sealer, his glow dimming a little, while Kikyō and I both panted heavily as we struggled to keep walking.

 _Damn it...We gotta keep moving, or there's gonna be two new skeletons to add to this cave demon's collection._

I decided that leaning on one another wasn't gonna cut it, so I gently forced us to a stop, before kneeling down to gesture the other woman with me to get on my back.

"We need to double our speed, and that won't happen with how we're travelin' right now. (Small smile) Don't worry: If I can take grandfather's weight after he twisted his ankle that one time, you should be pretty light in comparison."

She was taken aback at first, but accepted my offer, and once she was secured on my back, I kept moving for both of us, somehow managing a slow jog...Eventually, we reach a section of the cave walls that were sporting what looked to be giant veins.

 _Huh...We must be getting really close to the heart. The stone is starting to look like blood vessels on the inside of someone's skin._

"...Inuyasha must be very worried."

"Hm? Oh, I dunno: Given that argument we had not too long ago, he might still be a bit steamed and denying any possible rise of worry. Besides, you said before that this place is masked from all except those with spiritual power, right? Even if he was beginning to try and look for me, he probably won't be able to track us down here..."

I shake my head a little and add with a slightly weak smile,

"If we're gonna escape to see tomorrow, we'll need to rely on our own strengths...so in the meantime, save your energy, Kikyō. I'll handle the heavy lifting."

 _I should be able to hang on for a while longer, but even my strength's starting to wane..._

 _(Deep breath) You can do this, Cora. Do it for yourself, and Kikyō._

Inuyasha's POV

"Coraline!...Coraline!"

Finally giving up on pretending like I wasn't concerned for my intended's life, I hightailed it to the forest where she ran off to with that little orb Lumos to try and track her down...But I guess she must've went further than I thought, for her scent trail was going in real deep between the trees.

 _Geez, just how far'd she go?_

 _...Come on, Coraline, where are you?_

No POV

After another few minutes, Coraline, Lumos and Kikyō finally reach the center chamber of the Priestess Sealer, the walls and floor made to look like the inside of a major organ, salmon pink and ribbed with veins.

"...So this is it, huh?"

"Yes. The central core of the cave."

"Alright. (Glances up) Just gotta take down that center point and we'll be-"

(Rumble...)

"Huh?"

"...It's coming."

Just as the redhead moves to set the specter priestess down, the highest point of the inner cave opens up, and pushes out a dark mahogany-coloured blob of flesh that was shaped somewhere between a heart and a uvula, throbbing beats of life...!

Kikyō then says to Coraline,

"If you destroy the heart of the demon, the cave will open up again."

The latter draws her sword at the ready:

"Gotcha. A big target like that won't be hard..."

The priestess then winces and falls over on her side, her physical health deterring even more, prompting the redhead to charge her energies into the blade.

"Crap. Better step on it!"

(Slash)

An ice blue slash mark is released, and flies up through the air on a straight course for the demon heart...However:

(Sheen, bzzzzzt)

A barrier appears over the organ and blocks the attack, making the energies spark before disintegrating completely, much to the women's shock.

"It's too much for her..."

"What the hell?! That should've connected!"

"I told you before: A priestess's power and her arrows, are completely useless against this demon...And it would seem that your sword is also unable to work, given that it uses spiritual power."

"Aw man, that's not fair at all!"

Just then, Lumos begins letting out warning moans, and flies to circle around a slit on the heart's flesh...before it opens to reveal a singular eye of dark green surrounded by moss green! Coraline curses and mutters,

"Well, this just got creepier..."

To make matters worse, the flesh then begins erupting skinny tentacles which start to move in on her and Kikyō's position!

"Oh yeah, sure, add tentacles! Why not?!" The specter priestess urges weakly,

"Run, Coraline...run! It's too dangerous to stay here..."

The redhead's ears then pick up on a second beat of throbbing, and pivots around behind her to see a new pathway, which was slowly starting to shrink back in itself...

"Wonder where that leads?"

"Run, now! You'll only die if you're trapped here."

Coraline turns to glare sternly at Kikyō while retorting,

"No way, no how, Kikyō! You're my friend and Soul Sister, which like it or not, means I'll keep refusing to leave you behind!"

The priestess struggles against another wave of draining, as the redhead turns her eyes to the closing exit, adding in a mutter,

"Besides...somehow, I doubt that way leads to anywhere more promising than here...No: There's only one way to get out, and that's to take out this bug-eyed organ!"

At the same time Coraline vows to not leave Kikyō for dead and find a way to defeat the Priestess Sealer's heart, as evening fast-approaches, Inuyasha continued his search for the former.

"Coraliiine!"

His latest leap takes him to the very field of white moon garden flowers growing in front of the cave entrance, but because it was blocked off by a boulder, the dog demon just leaped on past it.

"Coraliiine!"

Meanwhile, deep inside, said redhead prepares herself to defend against the shooting tentacles of the demon heart, this time using both her sword and her combat knife to slash and hack the flesh away.

"Hah!"

(Slice, shing)

"Hrah!"

Come another slice and dice, her body slams back into the cave wall as she steadies her stance, grinding her teeth in frustration.

"Come on, Cora, think: There's always more than one way to solve a problem!"

She uses her knife to cut away a piece of one tentacle, prompting the other two attacking to falter back slightly, giving her time to rush to another part of the cave as she racked her brain for a plan.

 _Alright: So far, my sword's Spirit Slash didn't work, and I doubt borrowing Kikyō's bow and arrow will too._

 _What other power is at my disposal?_

 _...Wait! I got it!_

Pausing her steps for a second, Coraline reaches into her jean's pocket to pull out the little glass bottle containing the three shards of the Shikon-no-Tama she currently owns.

 _Maybe if I try a temporary fusion of power with these and my sword...yeah. Yeah, that might work!_

Just as she came up with that plan, the ground beneath her booted feet began to billow like loose skin, causing her to fall frontward and lose grip on the bottle of jewel shards!

"Damn it all...!"

Coraline tries to get up and rush to the bottle, but the ground billows again, throwing her off to the side before more tentacles close in on her. She gets them to back off with a few choice slashes from her combat knife, before they settled to hovering over the jewel shard bottle...

 _Aw hell...There's no way I'll be able to get those shards, least not right now._

She turns to glance in Kikyō's direction, the latter's breathing becoming heavier and desperate, while her own jewel shard emits its own fushia glow.

 _...But maybe...Ah: Okay, I know what to do!_

"Lumos: See if you can swoop in to snag the bottle of jewel shards! I'm gonna try something else in the meantime!"

The Will O' Wisp 'nods' frantically, and begins to zoom down from up high to get the bottle, while Coraline rushes over to the fallen priestess to take the single shard from her robes.

"I'll be borrowing this for a second."

She then sets the shard onto the connector point between ShatterSoul's hilt and blade, before starting to channel her Aura into the sword. This time, not only was it emitting ice blue rings of power, but it also sparked lines of fushia pink energy down the middle of the blade.

"Alright, you bastard, round two! _Fushia Ice!_ "

(Slash)

And unlike her last attack, this cut mark had a different shape to it, like a four-point pinwheel, spinning through the air straight towards the heart's eye, which tries to hold it off with its barrier again...Coraline spotted a bit of wavering in power, making her hopeful for victory:

"This time, I got 'em...Huh?"

But unfortunately, even that wasn't enough to destroy the demon, and as the barrier dissipated, so to did the pinwheel-shaped cut mark!

"Damn it! Looks like one shard's not enough..."

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Hm?"

Luckily for the redhead, Lumos had successfully weaved through the tentacles to grab the bottle of other jewel shards, and sped over to meet her.

"Ah! Lumos, good job; you did it!"

"The shards..."

"Hm?"

Coraline turns to Kikyō's direction, who was weakly moving up to a sitting position as she urges,

"Give me, the remaining shards."

"Uh! Are you sure?" Wheezing out another cough, the priestess pleads,

"Hurry...!"

Staring with a bit of surprise at how more determined Kikyō sounded compared to earlier, Coraline then forms a firm expression, and rushes to kneel in front of the other woman, uncorking the bottle to pour the three shards into her right palm.

"Okay...now what?"

"...Give me your other hand."

"Uh, alright."

The redhead does as she's told, setting her sword down to free her left hand, and Kikyō holds both between her own, before saying,

"Now, start praying."

"Pray? But, I already said that I'm not made of the right stuff for a priestess. Plus, heh, I'm more a halfhearted prayer."

"(Small smile) It will be fine. Please trust me, and pray."

"Uh...Mm, okay, if you say so."

Both women close their eyes in concentration, and just as Lumos grants an extra boost of strength for the specter priestess, a familiar shine of fushia light begins to emit from their joined palms, the light strong enough to force the surrounding tentacles to retreat back...

Two minutes later, the hands part away, revealing that the three jewel shards had fused into one large fragment!

"Amazing..."

 _I see where she's going with this: One small shard may not cut it, but maybe it and this three-in-one will!_

Letting in a short breath, Kikyō utters,

"There's, only, one...chance..."

With that, she collapses into Coraline's lap, too drained to assist anymore than she can...The redhead felt her eyes well slightly in worry for her friend, but swallowed thickly and drew in a calming breath, before gently setting the priestess down on the ground, and adjusts the now two shards so that they formed a cross on top of her sword's hilt.

The demon heart prepares its tentacles for a torrent attack, but Coraline was feeling more than confident that the third time will really be the charm.

" _FUSHIA ICE!_ "

(SLASH)

This latest fusion attack would be the killer, the ice blue/fushia pink pinwheel cut mark larger than before, and powerful enough to annihilate not only the tendrils, but also grind through the eye and heart before they disintegrated into non-existence in an explosion of light!

...Just outside in the forest near the cave entrance, Inuyasha was circling around an area where Coraline's scent trail was, before he senses something back in the field he passed through an hour or so ago before nightfall.

What he sensed, was the destruction of the Priestess Sealer, the cave disintegrating into billions of sparkling fragments, with the redhead standing on her feet in an after-thrust position, taking in a few well-deserved gulps of breath, while Kikyō sat weakly in the flowers with her eyes closed, Lumos floating near her with a hum of concern...

But that worry would pass, once the Shinidamachū arrive to the area, and began replenishing the specter priestess's body with a few Souls of the Deceased. She heaves out a sigh of relief, just as Coraline moves to take the jewel shards from her sword to hold in her palm...Hmming in thought, the redhead turns to walk over to Kikyō's proximity.

"...You wanna continue holding onto your shard?"

The priestess looks at the other in light surprise for her question, but then shakes her head with a small smile.

"You keep it. I will be fine without it...Besides, I have this feeling you and your group will need it more than I will."

"Hm...alright, if that's your decision...Take care, I guess."

Coraline then moves back to a stand and begins to head off from the area, with Lumos trailing behind her...but pauses when Kikyō softly calls to her.

"Wait a moment."

"Hm? Yes?"

"Tell me: When you prayed, did you truly have that much faith in me?"

"Heh, and you say I talk alot?...To answer your question, of course I had faith in you."

A grim smile appears on Kikyō's lips as she then asks after a pause,

"...But why? Why is it you continue to have faith, in a dead person like me?"

"Because as far as I'm concerned...you're not dead to me. You're still alive in ways beyond the reasoning of life and death, Kikyō, and will be as long as you hang onto your own faith in yourself."

The priestess's brown eyes widen slightly, as the blue-eyed redhead adds casually,

"Plus let's face it: I think a certain guy we know would notice you were truly gone."

"Hm...(Smile) same for you."

The women each let out a short laugh, before Coraline salutes a goodbye and turns to move along back the way she first came, leaving the resting Kikyō to close her eyes with a knowing smile...

...After a while, the redhead and Will O' Wisp reach the other side of the forest, where a certain dog demon would be waiting, casually leaning against a tree trunk.

"Uh...Inuyasha."

He lets out a small gasp and opens his eyes to meet hers, just staring at her with silence.  
Coraline scratches the back of her head with a slight blush before making her way towards him and asking sheepishly,

"So, you've been looking for me, eh?"

Inuyasha's cheeks rose a bit as the redhead reaches his proximity, before replying softly with a scoff,

"Come on, let's get goin'."

Taking one of her hands into his with a firm grip, the dog demon starts leading Coraline along back where the others would be awaiting them...As they walked along the forest grounds highlighted by the glittering stars, the redhead's mind flashes with an image of the woman she helped today, and decides to tell her boyfriend about it.

"Um, Inuyasha..."

But upon noticing the rare pensiveness in his features, she somehow deciphers that he knows who she was with, and just smiles with a puff of breath, moving closer to hug his arm with hers, he meeting the gesture just as wholeheartedly, both choosing silence as their communicator for the evening...


	111. Chapter 110

**Chapter 110: Kōga & Sesshomaru - A Dangerous Encounter**

"Hah, hah..."

"Hah! Hah!..."

It's a new day across the rolling lands of Sengoku Japan, and we zoom in over a riverbank bordered by grass rather than the more usual pebble beds, as two familiar wolf demons, Ginta and Hakkaku, rush along down one side each to chase down their latest meal, that being fish.

Once they gained enough speed on the aqua life, they both lunged into a dive.

(Splash) (Splash)

Unfortunately, it seems like they need to work on their aquaculture skills, for Hakkaku caught and fumbled with one fish, before Ginta tries to take it back, only for it to slip out of his hands too...

The wolf demons watch the fish swim away with groans of frustration and disappointment.

"...Almost had 'em." "...Almost had 'em."

They soon walked out of the blue and sat themselves on the edge, joined by their pack of fellow brown-furred canines as they postulate over the difficulty in their recent hunting/scavenging.

"Sure isn't easy finding food in unfamiliar territory..."

"I know, and I'm dying of hunger."

The regular wolves started groveling in their speech, obviously just as unlucky as they were, and Hakkaku chides to them,

"Hang tight a while longer, you guys. (Focuses on Ginta) Our bad luck's gotta change."

"We were better off attacking that human village a while back..."

"Nah, Kōga ordered us not to bother humans anymore. (Small smile) Besides, it wouldn't bode so well with your mate if he finds out you robbin' from villagers."

Ginta's lips turn upward in a longing smile as he thought about his mate, Freeman.

"Yeah, that's true, and his brother and Coraline wouldn't be too happy either."

The two look up across the way and muse,

"We sure have come a long way..."

"Yeah...definitely in more ways than one for me..."

"...There's a river, Master Jaken!"

Ginta and Hakkaku's ears then pick up on the distant sound of a very familiar young girl coming up behind them.

"We can try to catch some fish!"

"Slow down, Rin; don't be too hasty!"

They look over their shoulders with curious expressions as Hakkaku wonders,

"Who was that?"

...And emerging from the cover of a thick bush connected to the forest bordering the riverbank, was noneother than Rin! She halts upon seeing Ginta, Hakkaku and the regular wolves, eyes widening in surprise to see them, which was at about the same levels as the former.

"What? It's a human girl."

The canines move an inch or two forward with growls, their hunger starting to creep into control, until the two boys scold them for their behaviour.

"Hey, hey! Calm down, you mutts."

"We can't eat humans."

...Once Rin had enough of a look at them all, right down to the wolf-like features of the demons, her pupils begin dilating with horror, recalling the tragedy that was her old village's people being slaughtered by the likes of they, including herself...

Once the imp arrived on scene, the young girl quickly found herself cowering behind his form for protection, her fears getting the better of her.

"Master Jaken!"

Jaken looks back at her with surprise at first, until he gets a good look at the group in front of them.

 _Mm, no surprise that she's afraid: Rin was once attacked by wolves._

Deciding to do her a bit of kindness, the imp calls out to the demons and animals in an attempt to drive them off.

"You there, wolves: Leave this area immediately!" Ginta retorts,

"Why should we? Besides, who do you think you're talking to?"

Hakkaku starts their introduction on a dramatic note:

"We're the right and left hand men of Kōga, the young leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe! I'm Hakkaku, the shrewd one!"

"And I'm Ginta! I've got dimples."

They both laugh proudly and state,

"Must've heard of us!"

"Nope. Never heard of you."

"Guh!" "What?!"

Then it would be Jaken's turn for his own over-the-top title:

"Cower in fear, mangy wolves! It has been centuries since I began serving Lord Sesshomaru, crossed through three-thousand worlds have I! Loyal follower, I answer to the name Jaken!"

But neither Hakkaku nor Ginta would know of any such reference, naturally.

"Oh boy, what a braggart..."

"We've never heard of you or this Sesshomaru!"

"How dare you insult my lord! (Raises his staff) Rrrah!"

"We'll take you on if it's a fight you're looking for!"

...But just seconds after both sides size eachother up for a more-than-likely disaster-prone battle, said mentioned dog demon appears on scene.

"Jaken. What's all this commotion?"

Feeling that he was a better protection, Rin whimpers the dog demon's name before hiding in a stand behind his form. Thankfully, Sesshomaru's stare alone would be enough to force the regular wolves to back up slightly, while Ginta and Hakkaku try to act the braver.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"You lookin' for a fight?"

One golden iris narrow later...

"W-We're gonna leave, but it ain't outta fear."

"Y-Yeah, you don't scare us, mister!"

But the way they took off along with their fellow wolves told a different tale...not that it really mattered to Sesshomaru, whom after staring at the retreating forms, turns to other matters.

"Um, Rin."

"Yes?"

"Weren't you going to catch yourself some fish?"

She gasps with a new smile on her face and nods,

"Yes!"

Meanwhile, Ginta and Hakkaku don't stop their retreat until they felt they were well-enough upstream that there wouldn't be much of a chance of being followed. Such a run would take them and the wolf pack to a large pine growing by a small rock wall, and they'd lean against the bark to catch their breath and rest their sweat-beading bodies.

"Hah, hah, I gotta say, he was kind-a scary, don'cha think?"

"I, agree, but haven't we seen him before?" Ginta folds his arms in thought:

"The guy said his name was Sesshomaru...I'm sure I've heard of him somewhere before...Wonder who the big-mouth is? Maybe Freeman might..."

Hakkaku doesn't miss that last bit and teases,

"Tch, you're so smitten with that human!"

"Shut up!...Anyway, we better get back to Kōga."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go, wolves!"

But while those two began jogging off to find their leader without hesitation, the other wolves...well, let's just say they took a moment to discuss the matters of exhaustion and realism in maintaining their health.

...So where was the young wolf demon leader during all of this? He had been pursuing his own path to find Naraku in a new patch of forest connecting the river and the plains, but wound up running into Inuyasha and his team.

"Tch, what're you doin' around here, muttface?"

"Just what I was gonna ask you!"

"Cheh, well you see, I would be lookin' for Naraku except I keep runnin' into you."

"Shut up, ya mangy wolf! You don't need to butt into this; I'm the one who's gonna get Naraku!"

Behind the dog demon, would be everyone else of his group, including his increasingly-exasperated intended mate, Coraline, whom today wore a braid in her hair going over her left shoulder, a light blue crop-tank with her sleeveless gray jacket, blue jeans and her black combat boots.

She sighs through her nose before stepping over between the feuding demons and chides,

"Come on, can't you guys at least pretend to like eachother so we can skip over this nonsense and focus on the real issues?"

Both males hmph and turn away from one another with folded arms, making Coraline mumble with a sweatdrop,

"This isn't what I meant, but I'll call it progress," while Lumos hovers near her and lets out his own tired moan...

"Hey, Kōga!"

That's when Ginta and Hakkaku finally arrive on scene, and their leaders asks them as soon as they stop,

"Did ya find anything to eat?" Ginta replies regrettably,

"...No, not exactly."

"You came back empty-handed?"

Freeman, he today mirroring his twin brother with an outfit of a green tank-top with black jean-shorts and gray high-top shoes, walks over to ask with a worry brow more directed at the one wolf demon,

"Are you guys having trouble with hunting?" Ginta replies,

"This isn't familiar territory to us, so finding something to eat's been a bit tricky."

"Oooh, that sucks..."

"But we're not gonna start attackin' humans if that's what you're concerned about."

Freeman focuses eyes with Kōga, who adds casually,

"I'll just catch a boar or two in no time."

The wolf demon leader's statement confused Shippo, who was on Miroku's shoulder while he stood between Sango and Besa.

"Then why'd he try to eat me before?" Sango guesses,

"He's probably putting on an act because he doesn't want Coraline or Freeman to hate him."

Miroku adds,

"More than likely Freeman given that he and Ginta are mated..."

Besa nods in agreement, keeping his eyes and knowing smile on his brother as he and Ginta start to exchange stares of longing.

 _Oh geez, they both got cupid-struck expressions..._

"Oh! If you guys are that starved..."

Freeman then pulls off and reaches into his satchel to grab out small three-pack of jerky to present to Ginta.

"Here, this should keep your stomachs from bitchin' at you, least for a while."

Shippo became shocked to tears at what he was giving away:

"Aww! Freeman's giving away the last of teriyaki-flavoured meat!"

Besa pats his head and chides quietly,

"Easy, little man; I've got more in my bag," while Ginta was taken aback by the gesture:

"Uh...Freeman...a-are you sure?"

"Totally sure. I can always get more back from my era, and between me and siblings (gestures to Besa and Coraline), we've got enough extra to keep our group going. (Sincere smile) Besides, the last thing I want is my mate and his buddies starvin' on me."

Everyone widens their eyes on the address:

"Uh!" "Did he, just..."

"Whoa..."

"Yeah! He called Ginta his mate!"

Said wolf demon was in awe, and takes the offering of food...before pulling the young man before him into a heated kiss!  
Besa and Coraline don't miss the opportunity to tease their brother:

"Whoa, easy, easy, you two!"

"Yeah, this ain't the love parade to Tahiti."

The couple parts, and Freeman smirk-glares at his siblings while retorting,

"Oh, chillax, it's not like we're gonna start rompin' in the next minute...especially not with you people here. Talk about a major turn-off."

That would bring about a mixed chorus of reactions:

"Gah!" "Dude!"

"Really?!"

"Agh!" "Didn't need to hear that!"

"Too much information!"

"Freeman, child present!"

Ginta's face erupted into a huge blush while his mate laughed at everyone with defensive palms displayed.

"Have a sense of humour, why don'tcha, people?"

Once his red face cooled back to normal, the wolf demon then asks,

"Hey, Freeman, have you or your siblings ever heard of a Sesshomaru?"

Hakkaku comes in with a description of said individual:

"A fair-skinned dog demon who wears a fur over his kimono."

"Sesshomaru? Oh yeah, he's Inuyasha's older half-brother."

Both wolf demons felt their faces pale with shock:

"Gh!"

"Inuyasha's half-brother?! Uh, what kind of guy is this Sesshomaru?"

Coraline steps in for this round of description:

"In a nut-shell, he hates Inuyasha in another matter different from how Kōga dislikes him, has a powerful sword known as Tokijin, and with his brutal strength comes an indifferent cruelty."

"C-Cruelty?"

"Mhm. (Gestures at Inuyasha and Kōga) While those two can quarrel around like five-year olds..."

She's briefly interrupted by a twin chorus of,

"Hey!" "Watch it!"

"I don't think either's crazy enough to kill the other at this point. Sesshomaru, on the other hand...given the opportunity, his opponents are rarely left alive."

Hakkaku hisses nervously to Ginta,

"You hear that?!"

Noticing the fear, Freeman quickly adds,

"But he hasn't been as coldhearted as of late; if he was, he wouldn't have taken in Rin or Jaken."

He and Coraline then pick up on the sound of a new squabble between Inuyasha and Kōga.

"What?! You're kidding; you're the five-year old!"

"Nun-uh, you are!"

They facepalm before rushing over to stop the demons from fighting:

"Guys, knock it off!"

"Seriously, before someone loses an eye!"

Meanwhile, Hakkaku and Ginta quietly discuss about the new information they just learned.

"Sounds like one dangerous opponent..."

"Good thing we didn't engage him in a fight...hm?"

That's when they sense the arrival of the regular wolf pack, who looked a bit conflicted and antsy about something.

"What's the matter?"

The canines begin speaking in their own language about an incident they've neglected to mention before, to which the wolf demons would respond in the same tongue, momentarily horrified with the news, before settling with serious looks. Given that no one else in this area could speak wolf (except Kōga, but he was distracted), Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Besa could only watch the scene a bit perplexed, the fox demon asking,

"Anyone wanna explain what they're doing?"

The teen with cornrow hair takes a guess:

"...Can't say for sure, but I think they just learned something from the canines they should've a long while ago."

Hakkaku says to Ginta,

"You hear that? They attacked that girl we saw earlier..."

"The little kid who was traveling with Sesshomaru..."

While they cringe a bit nervously, Sango says to the others as they watch Freeman and Coraline try to shove Inuyasha and Kōga a few good feet from one another,

"Don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of this." Miroku responds,

"They can't go on for too much longer."

"Inuyasha...!"

(Kiss)

"Uh!"

Finally, Coraline had enough of the nonsense and decided to take a page out of her brother's book to distract her dog demon boyfriend, namely, by kissing him fully on the lips, leaving everyone else to gape...

Once she broke away from the newly-dazed and confused Inuyasha, she turns her blue eyes to Kōga's and says with a sheepish smile,

"I, think now would be a good time to get a move on before he snaps out of it, heh, if you know what I mean."

The wolf demon barely holds back a snicker and nods, sending a salute and replying,

"See you 'round, Coraline."

He then disappears in a new whirlwind, leaving his friends to catch up, starting with Hakkaku.

"Hey, wait up, Kōga!"

Ginta takes a minute longer to steal another kiss from Freeman before saying with a smile,

"Thanks again for these rations. Let's try to get together for a longer period soon."

"Yeah, totally. Until then!"

"See you, Freeman!"

With that, the third wolf demon takes off, the regular wolves trailing behind him...Sango notes with a smile,

"Well, at least the fight is over." Miroku nods in agreement:

"Now I guess we can pick up where we left off and move onto the next village."

...And it was just as this group begins to move out down their own path that Inuyasha finally comes out of dreamland, shooting a mild glare with a rising blush of embarrassment at a certain redhead for putting him there in the first place.

"(Growl) Coraline, did you have to do that in front of that mangy wolf of all people?!"

He rushes to catch up as she playfully retorts,

"Hey, it was either that or the S-word!"

Ginta's POV

 _Mm, this dried meat is fantastic!_

After dividing these strange packages between my friends, we began eating my mate's gift with gusto, our stomachs thanking us for finally receiving something to eat. While Kōga was keeping his all to himself, I convinced Hakkaku to join me in giving a few pieces from ours to the wolves so they didn't have to go on too hungry...

 _Gee, my mate's generosity must really be rubbing off on me..._

Anyway, once those packets were gone, I began to notice the particular path we were all traveling on.

"Hey, if we keep going this direction..." Hakkaku was thinking the same as I:

"We'll hit that same river..."

Kōga notes between bites of his meat,

"Should be a river up a ways. We'll take a rest when we get there."

 _Crap! Sesshomaru might still be there!_

We try to steer him away from heading to that area:

"No no, I think we should actually go on ahead!"

"He's right, let's forget the river!"

"Nah, this dried meat is making me thirsty."

Our next plan was to try and persuade a different position of the river:

"O-Okay, then let's go up the river a ways!"

"Or even, down the river a ways!"

That was when he got suspicious of our behaviour and asked,

"Why should we do that when there's good clean water up ahead?"

"Auh...good point."

"I guess..."

We couldn't offer a straight answer and folded, knowing full-well what would happen if we told Kōga about Sesshomaru...

 _(Flash)_

 _"You morons! Why should I have to go out of my way to avoid Inuyasha's older brother?! (Smirk) He's just another mangy mutt. Bring him on; show me where he is!"_

 _(Flash)_

 _If not for our safety, then definitely his. Fighting with Inuyasha's one thing, but Sesshomaru could be a whole new story altogether._

With that in mind, I decide to give it one more go to lead him away from that direction, this time using a bit of physical force.

"Kōga, l-let's go that way; it's way better."

But he just shoves me off and furiously asks,

"How come you two are suddenly bent on ordering me around?"

"We're not, ordering you around. We're just, suggesting."

Hakkaku tries to back me up:

"W-We don't ask much. Just, this, once...?"

 _Good grief, he sounds weaker than I do..._

Nevertheless, we both begin shoving our friend and leader a new way, but were shaken off, he finally having up to here with our oddness.

"Enough! I'm the leader here: I give the directions, and your job is to follow!"

Something about his tone made us feel braver, and Hakkaku shouts back,

"We don't wanna follow; that's why we're stopping you!" I add in emphasis,

"We don't wanna go there!"

"You don't wanna follow me? Then go back home to the mountains!"

 _...Did, he just say what I think he just said...?_

Hakkaku was just as appalled as I was:

"How can you say such a thing to us?!"

"You don't understand how we feel, and you should know full-well why I can't return to the mountains, at least not at this present!"

"Since when do I care about you feel?!"

 _Uh...!...Kōga..._

My throat clenched from how careless he sounded, but Hakkaku was able to choke out a response, feeling almost as tearful as I was.

"How, could you...!"

We then ran off from the area in a mix of anger and hurt...myself mostly hurt for another reason.

 _Does that mean, it's possible...he lied about accepting my choices?_

Time Skip, No POV

We catch up now with the Inuyasha gang as evening drops in, they finding their way down a path leading into a new village, the atmosphere fairly calm and peaceful...until.

"...You possess it. I know you possess it!"

There came a deep voice from the surrounding, and everyone stops to look around for the source.

"What was...?"

"I dunno..."

"Who or what, they didn't sound friendly...Guh!"

(Crash)

Suddenly, a humongous demon with the appearance of a scorpion-like imp but pincers of a mantis shoots out from the trees!

"You possess the shard of the Shikon-no-Tama!"

Freeman exclaims,

"Look out, people, we got a live one!"

"Give it to me! Give me the Shikon-no-Tama shard!"

It moves a pincer claw towards Coraline, Besa and Shippo's direction, but while the fox demon cowers in fear on the young man's shoulder, the young redheaded woman quickly draws her ShatterSoul sword before unleashing its power against the beast.

"Haa-ah!"

(Slash)

An ice blue cut mark slices through the demon's pincer arm, taking out a good part and making the owner cringe back with a howl of pain. It then tries to attack again, but Miroku quickly stops it in its tracks with a sacred sutra to the forehead, forcing the demon to back up, before disintegrating like glass!

The monk prays to the winds do deter any lingering darkness, while Inuyasha checks up on his intended, receiving a smile and nod of assurance from her that she was fine...

"What strength..."

"Hm?"

The group turns around to see a small group of men from the village coming to greet them. The headman steps up and says,

"Our village has long been tortured by that demon, but no more thanks to your kind assistance."

He bows in thanks, and Miroku says to him,

"Lately, it seems there's been an increase in demon attacks all over."

"Well then, you must spend the night with us."

"How kind. We'll accept your generosity."

Shippo and Sango were glad that this time around, the invitation for lodging was more legitimate.

"For once, we can accept their hospitality without guilt."

"Especially since there's no reason for Miroku to do an unnecessary exorcism."

Said monk grimaces with a smile and mutters,

"Please, please," while Besa pats his back and comments,

"Can't really blame them for thinking that way, my friend..."

Meanwhile, Inuyasha wasn't feeling particularly enthusiastic about staying for the night.

"Well we're not gonna find Naraku in a village like this, not while it's under attack by demons."

Coraline leans up and pecks his cheek while chiding,

"Which means we'll just have to keep going in the morning, after we rest up and build some more energy."

Freeman adds with a shrug,

"Besides, if that bastard was here, I don't think any of us would be standin' pretty right now."

...Moving along, we now check back with Ginta and Hakkaku in a new part of the forest where the grass grew tall over the tree roots, trying another round of combing for food, their minds still mulling over the spat they had with their friend/leader.

"Stupid Kōga, I don't believe him."

Ginta was feeling especially down, his eyes welled up with sadness and his tone a bit hushed and quiet.

"...How can he be so cruel when we're just looking out for him...?"

 _Like, he promised to look out for me in my decision about Love..._

Shaking his head to try and dismiss the negative thoughts, the wolf demon then reaches into a hole inside one tree, but winds up being startled by a dragonfly before settling into a disappointed expression. Hakkaku starts using the stick he grabbed in the treetops to fish for anything while commenting,

"He's way too rash, that's his problem..."

He comes up lucky with a fruit and has a bite...but immediately colours purple from the flavour and spits it out.  
Taking a long blade of grass to chew on absentmindedly, Ginta voices more thoughts about Kōga's personality.

"He's arrogant because he's the leader of the tribe..."

"Maybe we should join Coraline, Freeman and their friends and serve under them."

Ginta spits out the grass and becomes excited about the prospect:

"Great plan! Coraline would never treat us like this, and I would be closer to my mate!"

There was just one little problem that Hakkaku suddenly remembers:

"...Oh yeah, I forgot about Inuyasha."

Ginta slouches over with a sweatdrop:

"You're right...and he's just as rough as Kōga."

Before they could ponder any further about the possibility of leaving Kōga for another team, the two wolf demons suddenly found themselves face-to-face with a dark purple-skinned, pot-bellied ogre demon! It lets out a growl before asking,

"Who are you? You're not from around here, are you?"

Ginta and Hakkaku became spooked and started dashing the other way, only for the latter to accidentally trip and fall down on the grass while the former kept going.

"Wait for me!"

"Every man for himself!"

Hakkaku quickly gets back up on his feet and dashes after his friend to chew him out on his cowardice.

"You're despicable, Ginta! Kōga would never turn his back on a comrade, let alone abandon him! Better yet, what if I had been Freeman?"

"You leave my mate out of this, and I ain't Kōga!"

"...Yeah, you're right: If he hadn't insisted on coming this far, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

Ginta wholeheartedly agreed on that spot of blame:

"You said it: All he thinks about is going after Naraku and nothing else!"

"I know he wants to get revenge, but still..."

"It didn't seem like it'd be that difficult until Naraku disappeared..."

They remember back to a conversation they had with Kōga regarding the situation drawn thanks to the mass slaughter committed by Kagura of most of the wolf demon tribe...

 _(Flash)_

 _"(Hakkaku) Why don't we give on finding Naraku's castle?"_

 _"(Kōga) What did you say?! Have you forgotten? Naraku slaughtered all our friends and family."_

 _"(Hakkaku) How could we ever forget?"_

 _"(Ginta) It's just that there's no way to find him..."_

 _"(Kōga) I'll never forget...I'll beat Naraku to death! I have to...otherwise our fallen comrades, will never forgive me."_

 _(Flash)_

The two wolf demons finally stopped running as soon as they felt they were at a safe enough distance, thinking a bit less hostile and more seriously about what they've been doing for the last couple months.

"That's what this journey's been about: A vendetta for our lost comrades."

"Kōga's the leader of the tribes. He feels responsible for their deaths."

"He's rough and he's ruthless, but he cherishes all of his comrades..."

"He's saved our butts more than a couple times too...What do you wanna do?"

Hakkaku wasn't anymore sure than Ginta:

"What do you think?"

...Suddenly, a gust of wind blows by, carrying a familiar scent:

"Uh! I know that scent: It's Sesshomaru."

"And he's coming this way!"

Ginta becomes worried when he realizes,

"Oh no, Kōga's up ahead, remember?"

"They'll run into eachother!"

"And if they run into eachother, look out!"

He holds his face with a gasped yelp of terror, already imagining a worse-case scenario...

 _(Flash)_

 _Basically, Kōga stands face-to-face with Sesshomaru and Rin as he jeers to the taller male,_

 _"You disgusting mutt! Stop giving me that smug look!"_

 _Sesshomaru glares slightly back, and the young girl points forward, uttering,_

 _"Lord Sesshomaru, he's the one."_

 _That would be all he needed to hear...before he starts to shift into his true demon form!_

 _(Flash)_

Ginta and Hakkaku both yell in a panic, before saying to one another,

"We have to do something!"

"Yeah, we gotta do something to keep them apart!"

"What'll we do, though?!"

"You tell me!"

Small Time Skip

Night enters to send the sun down for rest, and we now turn to the small group consisting of Sesshomaru, Rin, A-Un and Jaken, as they make their way through the forest down the dirt path that was heading for where we last saw those two wolf demons...A few moments later, both sides meet, the imp noting as he stopped,

"...Hm? Them again."

As it turned out, Hakkaku and Ginta decided on a plan involving using their bodies to create a roadblock.

"This road is closed; you cannot pass!"

"Turn around and take another route!" Jaken asks his lord,

"What'll we do if we can't take this route?" Rin was also curious:

"Lord Sesshomaru?"

His golden irises remain focused on the wolf demons several feet ahead as they introduced themselves.

"We're the personal assistants of Kōga, the great young leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe! I'm Ginta from the Fires of Hell!"

"And I'm Slayer Hakkaku!" The imp mutters to himself,

"That wasn't what they said earlier on," while the wolf demons punctuate,

"This road is closed! Turn around!"

Sesshomaru merely glares at them for a moment, before they become nervous, and try throwing some punches and kicks in the air as a show of strength.

"You got that?" "You got that?"

But that did little to nothing, so they switch to mock-fighting eachother...

"How was that?" "How was that?"

Again, no change of reaction...Deciding to bring out the big guns, Hakkaku seizes Ginta by his torso, before throwing him upward from the shoulder!

"Throwing Stars Attack!"

Ginta spins midair before shooting back down with a strong kick:

"Lightning Bolt Attack! Hyah!"

That one did show some power by breaking the ground beneath him, and the wolf demons face Sesshomaru.

"Well?" "Well?"

"(Narrows eyes) Make way."

Their faces pale, but they nonetheless continued to try and make their stand:

"Y-You go elsewhere! This path is closed!"

"N-Nothing to see here; move along!"

Jaken felt a sweatdrop of disbelief form as he thinks to himself,

 _Are they trying to get themselves killed?!_

That was when the dog demon lord stepped forward and repeated his message:

"I told you to make, way."

Ginta and Hakkaku start panicking again, recalling Coraline's description about most of Sesshomaru's encounters with strangers he didn't like.

 _(Flash)_

 _"...given the opportunity, his opponents are rarely left alive."_

 _(Flash)_

"(Shiver) I-I-It's all over, Ginta!"

That's when the other whispers to his friend,

"Hakkaku, we might have a chance of making it out alive if we drag Kōga away. What do you think?"

"Right! Let's get Kōga outta here!"

"...Somebody lookin' for me?"

The two wolf demons jump from the familiar voice that echoed in behind them, and turn around to see their friend/leader standing atop a ledge overlooking the piece of forest.

"Kōga!" His eyes turn to meet Sesshomaru's:

"Who are you? What do you want?"

He then hops down to his comrades and notes,

"His reeks like that filthy mutt Inuyasha..."

Rin inhales a startled breath, recognizing Kōga's appearance from way back when, and mutters Sesshomaru's name in rising nerves, prompting him to glance back at her while Hakkaku and Ginta move closer to their leader's sides.

"That's him. Inuyasha's older brother."

"Don't go picking a fight with him!"

Kōga's focus was on the taller male:

"So you're Inuyasha's older brother. Heh, 'cept you're not a half-demon."

Sesshomaru shifts his irises back on the other with a glare, making the wolf demon smirk slightly.

"What's this? Looks like a struck a nerve." His friends scold him in worry:

"Kōga, no!"

Meanwhile, the dog demon lord says to the younger ward,

"Stand back, Rin."

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

Jaken leads A-Un a couple steps backwards with the young girl on the latter's back, thinking frantically to himself,

 _Fools! They just signed their own death warrants!_

Sesshomaru moves towards Kōga as Ginta and Hakkaku rush on their knees to hold one another in fear.

"(Both) It's all over!"

...But just before something of a fight between the stronger male demons could break out, they look towards the trees and bushes behind Kōga, sensing something approaching, being noneother than that same purple ogre demon from earlier!

"Give it to me! Give me the Shikon-no-Tama shards!"

Said wolf demon who owned such a prize jump-kicks the other in the eyes:

"Not a chance!"

The ogre winces and grunts in pain, stumbling blindingly towards Sesshomaru, much to Jaken's worry.

"Look out, my lord!"

But he was more than prepared, pulling out Tokijin and cutting the other demon down in two!  
...As Kōga straightens up, he says causally to Sesshomaru,

"Thanks, but I could've handled him myself."

The dog demon merely glares neutrally at the wolf demon for a moment...before:

"Help me, Master Jaken!"

His attention would turn the opposite direction as a centipede demon comes to loom threateningly over Rin! The imp lets out a panicked yelp before trying to attack the demon with his staff, but fails and is knocked down hard to the ground in a slide.

"Master Jaken!"

The centipede demon closes in on the frightened girl, just as both Sesshomaru and Kōga sprint forward, the latter reaching first!

"No humans for you, worm!"

He kicks the other in its head hard, and thanks to the power of the jewel shards in his legs, the centipede demon disintegrates on impact!

...Kōga lands back down beside Rin and A-Un, before moving past Sesshomaru, who says to the other,

"Unnecessary interference."

"Feeling's mutual."

Jaken, Ginta and Hakkaku mutter,

"Okay..."

"Okay?" "Okay?"

Kōga puts an arm around each of his buddies and leads them down the path away from this area.

"Come on, fellas, we have a long way to go."

...Sesshomaru watches them leave, as the imp walks to his side to ask,

"A-Are you content with letting them go, my lord? Those very wolves of Kōga's are the ones who attacked Rin."

"If he tried the very same thing again today, I would've killed him."

Jaken looks at his lord with surprise, as the latter adds,

"Naraku is the only one I'm concerned with now. Unnecessary conflicts don't interest me."

With that, he begins moving on, leaving the imp to gape as Rin starts to pull the two-headed dragon demon along.

"...Hurry, Master Jaken, or you'll be left behind."

"Guh! Hey, wait for me!"

...We catch up with the three wolf demons now as they sat under the tree by the riverside to rest, and Kōga asks,

"So. Guessin' you two already ate your own packets of that dried meat Freeman gave us?"

"Mhm..."

Ginta smiles with a light blush and mutters to himself,

"I gotta remember to thank him soon. Hm, what'd be an appropriate gift...?"

"...You picked a good mate, Ginta."

"Huh?"

Said wolf demon looks up with surprise at Kōga, who smiles knowingly at his friend as he adds,

"He knows his way around provisions, that one. Might end up thankin' him myself."

"Uh...Thanks."

"Hmph...So, how 'bout explaining what you both were up to earlier."

Though a bit hesitant, Hakkaku starts the explanation off:

"We knew Sesshomaru was in the area and we were worried you'd start fighting with him if you met up."

"How come?"

Ginta mutters to the other nervous wolf demon,

"I'll, let you take a shot at that one..."

But Kōga had his answer ready:

"One day, I'll defeat that Inuyasha. But as of yet, I have no gripe with his older brother."

"Oh, I see..."

"You were actually worried over something stupid like that?"

Ginta argues,

"Yeah, but who's to say that Sesshomaru wouldn't have started a fight with you? Don't you understand?"

"Why would he?" Hakkaku answers,

"Well, you know, that human girl with him..."

"Oh, right, that human kid...Wonder why he'd let a little kid tag along with him like that?"

"Aum, well, I dunno..."

"Now if it was a pretty girl like Coraline, I'd understand bringing her along, but a young kid like that-"

Ginta and Hakkaku quickly slap their hands over Kōga's mouth, nervous of the possibility that the dog demon lord might still be near the area...The wolf demon leader quickly shoves them off and darts to a stand.

"Hey, cut it out! You guys don't think I'm strong enough to defeat Sesshomaru? Fine, then I'll go prove you wrong right now!"

But he wouldn't get very far in his mission when his friends pull him to a stop by his armour and legs.

"No, please no!"

"Don't go, stay here!"

Kōga tried to struggle, but couldn't budge out of the grip of his overprotective friends, so he just gave up with an exasperated sigh.

"Alright..."

Time Skip

Come the early morning rooster crow, we would turn back to that village our main travel group stayed at for the night, as they leave to continue on their journey...

"Looks like we're starting a good note."

But Inuyasha would disagree with Coraline when his nose picks up on certain scent.

"Huh? I don't like this smell..."

And come one whirl of a tornado later, we'd find Kōga standing in front of the redheaded female.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself, Kōga."

Inuyasha quickly meets at her left side to protect his intended:

"What do you want? Didn't we just get rid of you?"

"Relax, mutt. I'm just here to drop of somethin' to one of the other humans in your pack...Freeman?"

Said teen steps up from beside his brother to stand on Coraline's right.

"Yeah?"

"Ginta wanted me to give you this as a thank-you for the food yesterday."

Kōga then pulls out a small, rounded jade stone attached to a leather string.

"It's not much, but this was what he could come up with at the last minute."

"Uh...Oh wow..."

Freeman takes the simple gift into his hands, and looks at the gem with a fond smile as it sparkled a little.

"It's beautiful...The simplicity is what I like; nothin' over the top. (Looks up) Tell him thanks, and I'm glad I could help him and you guys keep your appetites in check."

"Sure. See ya."

With that, the wolf demon takes off in a new whirlwind...As they watched him go, Miroku comments,

"Kōga sure has changed since we first met him..." Sango adds,

"I'd say some of the influence is thanks to Coraline...but I think Freeman may have a part to play too."

Said teens turn to the demon slayer with curious expressions:

"Really?"

"You think?"

Besa quirks with a slight smirk,

"It's become more recent after you and Ginta mated, brother. Kōga likely knows better than to piss off his comrade and their mate."

Freeman blushes furiously, and Inuyasha scoffs while Shippo comments,

"Inuyasha still has alot of changing and growing up to do."

The dog demon in turn would grind his knuckles on the fox demon's temples:

"Oh really?! Now whose got alot of growin' up to do?!"

"No, no, let me go, not the ears; they're my best feature!"

Coraline rolls her eyes at the display before scooping Shippo into her arms out of Inuyasha's hold, then leans back into the latter's chest with a smile at both.

"Come on, you two. Let's get along, 'kay?"

Meanwhile, Freeman finishes tying on his new gift from Ginta onto his wrist like a bracelet so it was sitting above the Seven Light Crystal bracelet, looking at the new accessory with a loving and intent smile...

And as he waited with Hakkaku and several regular wolves on a large incline for their friend/leader to return, Ginta was looking down at a matching jade bracelet he fastened onto his wrist guard, lips upturned in a smile mirroring his mate.

 _...Hope you liked it, Freeman._

Hakkaku then spots the returning wolf demon and waves him over:

"Kō~ga! Hey, up here!"

Kōga just speeds on past them, calling over his shoulder,

"Quit sittin' around dawdlin'! Today's the day we're gonna find Naraku!"

Ginta and Hakkaku look to one another for a moment...before smiling and rising to their feet at the ready to join the third.

"You heard 'im. Let's get going."

"We'll follow Kōga wherever he leads us!"

They break out into a run after their friend/leader with the wolves trailing behind, calling after him with upbeat attitudes.

"Hey!"

"Wait up, would ya, Kōga!"

And with the blue-eyed wolf demon up front, the group from the Eastern Tribe rushes on down a new path along the mountainside overlooking the forests, continuing their own journey that intertwined others...


	112. Chapter 111

Hey all, back again, and a Happy Late Canada Day!

Pardon the delay, but you know how it is by now, busy busy with other writes and the intrusion of life (mostly my job tiring me out, lol).

So, before we begin, I'd like to send a special thanks to my PM friend, **WolfWitchHuntress1318** , who's become a good friend of mine since the early days of joining this site, for helping with the editing process in this latest chapter. Lotsa love and hugs :)

Happy reading!

* * *

 **Chapter 111: The Fears that Fuel True Courage**

A new day comes and goes for the people of Sengoku Japan's vast lands, and as the sky begins to fill with the muted shades of yellow and orange signaling the start of the evening, we zoom down to a rather gutted, patchy and dead-ridden forest clouded in a thin mist, where our main travel group had been combing through these last several hours.

Inuyasha was leading the slowed steps with his nose to the ground, trying to sniff out for anything that could pinpoint the direction that lead out of this area, but with little to no success...He pauses when Shippo squats in front of him with an antsy expression.

"Hm?"

"Well, Inuyasha? Have you found the way out of this forest yet?"

He turns away from the younger demon while replying,

"Shut up, I'm tryin' to concentrate..."

But Shippo's nerves were getting the better of him, and he rushes to crouch in front of the older demon again to voice his concerns.

"Y-Yeah, I know. It's just that you've been at it since this morning, and it's getting kind-of dark..."

Inuyasha groans slightly in annoyance, but then notices that the other was trembling a little.

"Hey, how come you're shaking like that?"

Shippo suddenly freezes in mid-jitters, just as Sango says to the monk in her own tenseness,

"Miroku, I knew I didn't like this forest..."

"Yes, I'm sure of it now: We're in a demon's territory."

(...Pop)

They both stiffen with wide eyes when they hear a loud noise break the quiet, which also caused Shippo to jump onto Inuyasha's head with a freaked expression while the other's was fixed into a deadpan...

But it turns out that the sound wasn't anything to worry about, no more than the pop of a bubblegum bubble from Freeman, whom today was wearing light brown jean shorts with a dark green tanktop and black hightop sneakers, contrasting his brother's outfit that was black jeans, a yellow t-shirt and gray hightops.

He sweatdrops with an embarrassed smile as Lumos circled around him in a 'He did it' manner and quirks,

"Heh, whoops, sorry guys."

Besa bops him on the side of his head and scolds,

"Dude, you couldn't have picked a worse time to chew gum if you tried!"

"How I was I suppose to know it would pop that loud?!"

Coraline, whom today wore her hair down, a moss green crop-tank with her red jean jacket, acid-wash jeans and black combat boots, rolled her eyes and called back to them,

"Bros, knock it off," before she froze to a new chill in the air...

"...Everyone, be on your guard. Something dark-ridden is heading our way."

"It looks like we're about to meet the demon that reigns over this forest."

Freeman mutters after Miroku with just as serious a frown,

"About bloody time, I say. I was gettin' tired of trying to decipher dead trees from barely-live ones..."

Sango then says,

"Hopefully, it's nothing we can't handle."

...It was then that a huge swarm of brown moths come fluttering in, engulfing around the group in a large whirlwind! Inuyasha wasn't afraid, though; if anything, it made him all the more motivated for a fight.

"Keh, this demon should be easy enough to get rid of..."

He carelessly tosses the scared fox demon off his shoulder (whom was thankfully caught by Besa at the last second) before drawing out his Tessaiga at the ready.

"Quit stallin' and show yourself! I'm ready for ya!"

A rush of power is unleashed from his blade, which cuts through the turbine of moths in a dusty explosion, before settling to reveal the chuckling figure that was responsible...

"Welcome to my Forest of Sorrow. I am Garamaru."

His appearance was remarkably similar to an old, deceased enemy of the group (including the weapon), but this demon seemed less vain and more serious, his face carrying red markings under his eyes and his black hair less managed.

Miroku mutters in disbelief,

"I don't believe it," while Shippo asks the teen whose shoulder he was settling on,

"Besa, don't we know him?"

"Well...he does look alot like Gatenmaru, but somehow I doubt it's really him."

The moth demon hears his reply to the fox demon:

"Oh...so you know Gatenmaru? He's the bane of my tribe of moth demons. I hear he banded together with some lowly humans, then gotten himself killed by some half-demon."

Inuyasha steps forward with a click of his blade and jeers,

"Keh, a half-demon did kill him, (smirk) the one standing in front of you...It was a stupid ending to the fight, though."

Coraline frowns sadly at such a description, knowing that her boyfriend had an outlook to the event much different from what he was saying aloud...The dog demon points the tip of Tessaiga towards Garamaru and adds,

"I'll tell you this, though: If you're lookin' to avenge Gatenmaru's death, I'll gladly take you on!"

"Avenge? Heh, surely you jest. He deserved to die; I could care less about him."

"Yeah, whatever, buddy. But unfortunately, you're still gonna hafta die, 'cause see, I got a thing about insects!"

Inuyasha then charges forward in a leap to attack, which in turn prompts the moth demon to try and spew light bladed silk at him. The dog demon would easily dodge that, before lunging with a swing to slice at the other, who hops back in their own dodge and sprouts his wings from his back to take to the air...

But before Inuyasha could go after him:

"Agh!"

He whirls around to the sound of his intended crying out, and would find her along with everyone else (save Lumos) being subdued by strange, large orbs of light moving against their torsos!

"What, is, this?!"

"Gh, it's moving!"

Shippo cries out in a struggle after the girls,

"It won't come off; it's starting to go inside my body!"

"M-My power..."

The orb Miroku was fighting enters him, and he collapses to his knees while muttering weakly,

"It's, sapping my strength...!"

The twins do their best to fight back against their own orbs by trying to activate the shielding power of their Seven Light Crystals, but only succeed for a moment...before the forming rainbow sheen shatters like thin glass, and leaving them as vulnerable as the monk!

"Agh, crap!" "No!"

They drop to their knees as Miroku calls out their names, and they curse just as weakly,

"D...Damn, it...!"

"It's, no use; even our crystals aren't, strong enough...!"

Inuyasha grits his teeth in worry and begins rushing over to help his friends and lover, but wouldn't be fast enough to stop Garamaru from diving low to spew out silk cocoons to trap the five humans and two demons! His first priority would then be to try and free the redheaded female:

"Coraline! Coraline!"

But no matter how hard he hacked at the cocoon binding her, it still held strong, much to his horror.

"The Tessaiga can't cut through it!"

He whirls around to the sound of the moth demon's laughter, and the latter comments,

"It's so uncouth to drink human blood. These days, my tribe prefers to devour the heart and soul, engulfed in fear and despair!"

At that note, Garamaru vanishes from sight...Inuyasha then switches to using his claws on the cocoons entrapping Miroku and the twins, but to no avail as the silk heals over...

"Gh! Damn! No, Miroku, don't be so weak! Miroku! (Pivots left) Freeman, Besa, come on, wake up!"

He tries another cocoon, spotting Sango's unconscious form through some transparent silk, and places his palms on top without a care to the poisonous burns that would form on his flesh.

"Sango...you gotta fight!" The moth demon's voice coos through the air,

" _Shout all you like...They cannot hear anymore._ "

The dog demon turns around and spots the Will O' Wisp circling frantically with desperate moans around a cocoon binding an unconscious Shippo and Kilala, before rushing over to help amplify a wake-up call.

"Lumos...Thank god you're still here. (Looks down at the silk) Come on, answer us! Shippo! Kilala!"

" _By morning, a part of me shall take over their hearts and souls..._ "

...Inuyasha backs up and pulls his sword out at the ready, deciding to take a more aggressive approach in freeing his friends and lover.

"I'll use the Wind Scar...It's my only option."

But knowing what scenario would most likely erupt from such a plan of action, Lumos quickly darts over and makes noises of protest to the dog demon while bopping up and down, to which he'd quickly clue in on.

"...Uh! Mm...(Sheathes his sword) You're right. It's useless. The only chance I have in breaking the curse is to defeat him. Lumos, will you help me find that menace?"

The Will O' Wisp bops in a nod, and begins darting off in a direction he sensed Garamaru was, prompting Inuyasha to follow...Meanwhile, the villain of the hour's voice muses in the chilled air towards his victims,

" _Now then...I shall create nightmares for you, and you shall feel fear and ultimate despair! Ahahahahahaha!_ "

Zooming inside each cocoon, we see Coraline, Miroku, Shippo and Kilala, the twins, and Sango ensnared in strips of silk bondage, which would quickly become the least of their problems, within the realm of the mind...

Flashback, Sango's POV

 _...I remember...back long before that tragic day..._

 _Back when I my kin, my father, my brother, lived a rather peaceful if adventurous existence in our village of demon slayers..._

 _The smile on Kohaku's face as he playfully chased after Kilala, until he would fumble his steps and fall downward.  
Father and I would watch from our home, myself laughing a little before chiding like the good older sister I was,_

 _"Are you alright, Kohaku?"_

 _As he waves a reassuring hand, Father took the scene in with a more serious air._

 _"If Kilala could bring him down so easily, maybe it's too early for him to face battle."_

 _I knew that he was joking somewhat, yet seeing my little brother get back up with a determined smile made me disagree._

 _"No such thing, Father. Kohaku is already very skilled with his chain scythe."_

 _"Well, I trust your judgement."_

 _"He'll be just fine. And if anything should happen, I'll be there with him."_

 _...If only I knew just how harshly, those words would come back to haunt me, come that horrible night in that damned castle..._

 _If the sight of father and our fellow slayers being senselessly slaughtered by my brother wasn't frightening enough, it would certainly be when Kohaku was slewed by those arrows...The terror in his weakened eyes and voice, was incredibly hard to bear._

 _"H-Help me, Sango. I'm so afraid..."_

 _"Do not worry...I'm right here wi-"_

 _(TOK)_

 _"UH!"_

 _...The arrows that pierced my back next...almost felt like a bittersweet release from that pain..._

 _A pain, that refuses to leave me now._

End of Flashback, No POV

Within the slayer's cocoon, we see her left hand shift in and out from becoming moth-like, as her lips mumble the name of her lost brother...

The next window to the past, would belong to Miroku.

Flashback, Miroku's POV

 _To think...it's been so long, since that day...  
_

 _I remember it starting out with Mushin taking me out of the temple to a brothel, he engorging himself in sake and the performances of those geshias, while I was concerned about the nonattendance of one man in particular..._

 _"(Chuckle) Tremendous fun. So, what do you think? Wears away the cares of the day, hm?"_

 _"...Master Mushin. I want to know why my father isn't here with us."_

 _The way his face shifted, expressing regret, a premeditated mourning...I knew instantly something was wrong, something that no sip of alcohol could disguise._

 _"Master Mushin?"_

 _"...Your father confided in me that he couldn't bear his fate under the curse any longer."_

 _"W-What does that mean?"_

 _"It's all irrelevant now..."_

 _...I barely needed two seconds to decipher the hidden, awful truth: My father...My father had given up on fighting the Wind Tunnel, and had decided to allow that dreaded curse to consume him whole._

 _I would watch, helpless within Mushin's hold, as my father disappeared within the abyss...forever..._

 _That same abyss, would eventually pass onto my own hand, and I would become caught under that confounded weight my dearly departed father had to._

End of Flashback, No POV

As the monk became trapped in the depressing feeling of loss and accursed duty, a pair of moth feelers flashed onto his forehead for a split second, as he mumbled for his deceased parent in his unconscious state...

He would not be the only one experiencing a terrible memory regarding a paternal figure, yet in this case, Freeman and Besa's fondness for their father would be nonexistent.

Flashback, Freeman/Besa's POV

 _More than four years, and not a day goes by where we don't remember the reason for leaving our old home..._

 _Before then, life was pretty simple: Playing outside on that old tire swing in the front yard, smiling and sharing a laugh with neighbours who were like family, and even the feeling of content shared between us and our folks as we sat in front of that beat-up TV set. That was all enough..._

 _Enough for us, at least...But for our so-called father, feelings like that weren't enough._

 _Feelings were soft and don't relieve much, especially the bigger emotions...like Love..._

 _(Punch, punch)_

 _"Ugh! A-Ah!"_

 _"Freeman!"_

 _When he found out about Freeman's/my feelings about the same sex around our eighth year of living, all hell seemed to rain upon the house every day after that. The old fool came from a more conservative time, and couldn't understand that what he/I felt wasn't a phase, or a sickness._

 _So...he decided to take out his frustrations in not being able to change for himself or for his son the only way he seemed to know how: Using his fists._

 _"You, little, priss! Think you can, make a fool outta your old man by liking men?!"_

 _Besa/I tried to help my flesh and blood in any way he/I could, by being there to act as a human shield, heal the wounds, being the emotional support that our weak mom couldn't. She was too frightened by her husband's wrath to get off her arse and help her only sons..._

 _Eventually, it became too much for either of us to bear, and we had to leave it all behind to live to another tomorrow._

 _It wasn't easy...but it would've been harder to endure, and still is._

End of Flashback, No POV

A shiver passes through each of their dark-skinned forms, and they whimper with an old fear as the tails of a moth fade in and out from behind their bodies...

Our next victim of the Garamaru's probing spell, would be Shippo.

Flashback, Shippo's POV

 _How is it that one day can start off so well, but end so horribly that you don't wanna believe it's real?  
_

 _That was how I felt, the day my parents were taken from the world...I was returning through the tall grass from the old tree grove with my arms full of acorns I gathered to show father, a carefree smile on my face._

 _"Hey, Father! You won't believe it; look how many acorns I found!"_

 _...But the second I emerged in front of my home, those acorns meant absolutely nothing and fell from my hands, as I stared with wide-eyed horror at the sight of those monsters, Hiten and Monten, who killed my folks to get their hands on those...those stupid jewel shards!  
_

 _I dunno what happened to Mother's body...but the sight of my father's fur around that devil Monten's waist was enough to make me never want to find out..._

 _I just fell to the dirt, frozen with fear and agony, while they walked away...before I cried out loud to the sky above at the loss of my parents._

End of Flashback, No POV  


The little fox demon mutters for his father, just as his lower body emits the shape of a moth's abdomen for a brief moment, he too becoming lost to the spell of suffering...

Nothing is known for Kilala's worst memories, but the whimpered growl and flash of a moth's wings above her back was enough to say that the cat demon too wasn't experiencing mercy...

Neither would our last victim, Coraline, whose mind delved back in time to one memory, she had hoped was behind her for good.

Flashback, Coraline's POV

 _...There's alot of my life before the Bone Eater's Well that I've revealed to my friends, family and lover in this last year._

 _Experiences that have either been exhilarating or trial-like, testing my capability to live, shaping me into the young woman I am now..._

 _...But there's one piece of my past that I've neglected to speak about, one that still sends a shiver up my spine at the mere flash._

 _I've only barely managed to push it past my lips in an indifferent blurb, because to go into details...means diving into a very dark part of my self-conscious I hate meeting my eyes with._

 _It all happened roughly a week before I first reached Japan, several weeks after my skirmish in the French backwoods and the encounter with the Beldam Witch. Somehow, I managed to sneak aboard a plane heading for India with some help from a couple of nameless faces escaping the borders of France..._

 _Getting off at the terminal in Andhra Pradesh, I would find myself wandering the Krishna River for several miles a day, passing from city to village without paying too much mind to the beauty of the lands and culture, remembering my overall goal..._

 _That is, until after I passed the Village of Lambasingi, and found myself upon another with no name to call its own, tiny and obscured from many trained eyes beneath the heavy vegetation of those lands, during a time of crisis that made me almost wished I had arrived in the country during monsoon season._

 _I had just come over a new hill emerging out of the thick greenery, when my eyes caught sight of a wave of smoke billowing from an area below that was set to flames, quite recently I may add._

 _If that hadn't frightened me first, the sound of distant gunfire and screams of horror sure did, and before I knew it, I was rushing down the tall hill to see who was responsible..._

 _Like I said, looking back now, a good part of me hates myself for doing just that, for I would have the unfortunate displeasure of running into several individuals who were from the very organization I had hoped to elude for longer: **Trinity.**_

 _Based on what I could strain from the broken bits of conversation melded within the roaring flames and outcries of the falling dead, this branch of the massive criminal organization had sent a team to this village to uncover a specific idol of sorts that supposingly held a supernatural power. I never did figure out the rest of the details...nor do I ever want to._

 _The senseless slaughter of those innocent men, women and children was enough to drive such curiousity away, especially when I was spotted by two of those bastards while trying to help a little boy of six or seven get back to his feet to run, and wound up captured together in twine and forced into a little circle with several other survivors to watch as death continued to rule..._

 _Wouldn't be but twenty minutes before a grieving mother had enough and lost her senses, lunging at one of the men and knocking him to the ground with the weight of her body despite her hands being tied back, using her gnashing teeth as a weapon. Her brave act gave everyone the courage to make a break for it, myself a bit slow to start after being pushed back by one Trinity soldier and ordered by gunpoint not to move._

 _Once he vanished into the smoke, I shakily got off my feet and began my treacherous journey through the dusty paths and flamed, broken huts to find the end of the village and escape, even with the handicap of my bound wrists. I was scared, but determined to not become another statistic..._

 _Then came the point of no return, the moment that would force me to perform one act that no child my age should ever have to choose._

 _I had paused in my run for freedom by hiding behind a wall of debris, as one soldier crept along looking for stragglers...only to find me. He orders me out of my hiding place, and I obeyed, knowing I wouldn't get far as long as he had that gun. Long story short, we got ourselves into a little brawl, I using a piece of shattered pottery to cut myself free of the twine during a roll on the dirt, before tackling the man to his back, knocking the weapon out of his hands. I scramble to get it before him, but he meets me halfway, before it became a battle of will and strength to turn the barrel towards the waiting victim..._

 _(BANG)_

 _...The fact that I'm able to tell this horrible tale should clearly state who the victor was._

 _...I felt no such triumph, however, make no mistake. I was so horrified I couldn't even throw up from disgust, as the man coughed up some blood before the light left his eyes, from his Soul...Once the shock wore off, I felt the agony and shame pass through me like a bullet train through tissue paper over what I had done...before my body, my heart, fell into a dead man's numbness. I couldn't even feel remorse..._

 _It didn't stop there, either, for I knew that he was but the start of what I would have to fight through. Again, to keep it brief simply because my mind chose to barely record every detail, that gun in my hands would release more than the one bullet against several Trinity soldiers, killing them._

 _...It would be sunset by the time it was all over, the village but a burned scar on the lands, their people reduced to a tiny percentage while the rest made up the scattered, charred remains of the dead, mixed with the bodies of the arsonists, none of whom were alive._

 _I remember, just, standing near a ditch of water just outside the perimeter, dazed and with a bit of craze still burning in my eyes, my body spattered with ash and blood that wasn't mine, twitching from a feeling of fear in what kind of person I had to become in that moment._

 _...That person...that side of me...is one I never wish to meet the eyes of again._

End of Flashback, No POV

A pair of moth eyes flash over the girl's shut blue, as she writhes with a grimace and mumbles,

"W-Wh...What, have I, done?"

...As these nightmares began to ensue their plaguing pressures on the poor victims, we join the cause, they being Garamaru, standing atop a withered and dying tree as he observes their struggles with a dark smile.

"Suffer...Beyond that suffering, you'll only find endless despair, waiting for you. I'll see to it that all of you get an ample helping of fear and helplessness..."

He then hears the approaching moan of a certain Will O' Wisp, and chuckles before jumping upward to dodge it and the dog demon's sword that followed shortly after. Landing on an opposite tree, Inuyasha inquires with an angered tone,

"What're you doing to torment my friends and intended inside that cocoon?!"

"(Chuckle) I'm doing nothing more than allowing them to dream."

"Kuh, dream?"

"Humans and demons are alike: All suppress their fears deep inside their hearts, fears that can only be released in nightmares...and that is what we moth demons feed on."

Inuyasha didn't like what he heard at all, becoming all the more enraged:

"How 'bout feeding on this?!"

He tries to land another thrust with his Tessaiga, but was blocked and pushed back by the moth demon's hatchet...He lands safely on the ground with Lumos trailing fast to his side, before he calls out,

"Release Coraline and my friends at once!"

"Heh-ha, amusing, half-demon...Your own fear is written all over your face."

"(Growl) I ain't afraid!"

Garamaru thought otherwise:

"Without your friends and human mate-to-be, you're so lonely you can hardly bear it."

"That's a lie!"

(Lunge, clash)

Static forms between the opposing metals, as both demons struggle to throw off the other...

"I can fight fine on my own! It's just...it's just I'm not gonna let you use my friends and my woman as ingredients for your next meal!"

"You're just another big talker..."

The moth demon sneers and lets out a laugh that drops a few octaves, as his face transforms into that of the insect his nature originates, before springing out of his armour to reveal his true form in full, they being a giant, yellow-furred moth with brown/red wings!

" **I'll kindly devour your unbearable fear of being alone!** "

Inuyasha smirks and calls back,

"Oh no you won't! Watch this! Hrrrgh, (swing) _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

One thrust of unmatched power from the dog fang was all it took to hack Garamaru to pieces, their body disintegrating into nothing save the head...

"Kuh, now who's the big talker?"

But while Inuyasha sheathed his sword with confidence, Lumos was feeling anything but, sensing danger was still afoot in the atmosphere. He emits the warning red and blue glows while bopping up and down in front of the dog demon in a panicked state, causing the latter to ask,

"Huh? What's wrong? Is he not dead?"

...A dark chuckle resonates through the air, making both stop stiff on alert, before they spot the eye sockets of the dead moth demon emit a dull red glow!

" ** _Think you've defeated me, did you?_** "

"W-What?"

" _ **Even if you do destroy my body, I shall devour the Souls of your friends and human lover. With their bodies, I shall grow a new body for myself, and when I do, that will spell the end for you...**_ "

We see that in each of the cocoons, the trapped victims were beginning to form those moth features as their minds became all the more lost in their despair and fear, while Inuyasha began to shake with his own worries and anger...

" _ **In essence, you shall be devoured by your former friends and intended mate. That is the fate that awaits you. The very moment you are devoured, you will be truly released from the fear of loneliness.**_ "

And with a final laugh, Garamaru's head vanishes in a cloud of ash to await the moment of his rebirth...

Inuyasha whirls around to gaze in the direction of his encased companions and one true love, horrified and enraged by this turn.

"Rgh! The cocoons didn't disappear! What do I do?...How do I get them out?!"

(...Slash, slash, slash, slash...)

He would quickly fall back on his earlier method of using his blade to try and cut down on the silk, careful to not release the Wind Scar, but no matter how many cuts he made, it made no difference since the cocoons would just heal over.

"Rgh! Damn! Damn, you!"

Inuyasha then switches to his claws, lunging forward at the one encasing Coraline while crying out,

"Open up, damn yoooouuu!"

(Slash)

...But that attack would too fail to leave a dent, making the dog demon's insides churn with a multitude of emotions.

"Coraline!...Shippo...! Freeman...Besa...! Miroku...Sango, Kilala!"

Meanwhile, the Will O' Wisp began floating back and forth between each cocoon in his own attempts to cry out for everyone to wake up, sensing deep into their minds to find out what was currently happening in each of their subconscious's, and not liking what he saw...

Sango's Mindscape

 _The backdrop is a blood red, as the demon slayer and her younger sibling stand apart from one another, she in her full gear, while he was wearing but his regular attire, back turned and limply holding his kusarigama..._

 _"...Kohaku?"_

 _He turns to face Sango with an 'innocent smile' and says to her,_

 _"Sis, you won't believe this: I finally did it!"_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"I slew a demon all by myself!"_

 _"What do mean? What demon?"_

 _A small laugh emits from the young boy...as a spotlight emits behind him, highlighting the corpses of Coraline, the twins, Miroku, Kilala in full form, and Shippo!_

 _Blood drips from the tip of his blade as Sango gasps with horror in her eyes:_

 _"Uh! W-What have you done?!"_

 _"Father's gonna be proud of me when he hears about this!"_

 _...Kohaku's sister would not agree with such thought, shutting her eyes to slow her tears as she bites back a whimper of agony over the loss of her companions..._

 _(...WHACK)_

 _And using her Hiraikotsu, Sango would lunge and kill her younger brother, much to his shock._

 _"W-Why, Sango...?"_

 _His body falls face-down, and the demon slayer stares down at him with regret and despair welling in her tear-stained eyes, before she rushes to his side._

 _"Kohaku!"_

 _She holds his body close to her...which would prove to be a huge mistake._

 _(TOK)_

 _"UH!"_

 _The blade of his kusarigama comes to plunge into Sango's back, freezing her still, as Kohaku turns his head to say in a dead tone,_

 _"...It's your fault, Sango. You never praised me or encouraged me."_

 _With that, she falls hard..._

Miroku's Mindscape

 _The atmosphere is surrounded in a morbid purple, as the younger monk breaks from his mentor's hold to rush onward._

 _"M-Master Mushin, let go of me!"_

 _"Miroku! Your Wind Tunnel has reached it's limit! You mustn't go anywheeeeere!"_

 _His form fades away in time with Miroku's shifting to the present young man he is, determined to end the curse passed through his family..._

 _"I'll find Naraku! He can't hide from me forever!"_

 _He suddenly stops, when he spots the distant form of the accursed half-demon, who turns his baboon-masked eyes to meet the monk's...It was in that moment, the Wind Tunnel began emitting air on its own, and Miroku fists that cursed hand while muttering,_

 _"...I'm so close."_

 _...But then, the forms of his friends (minus Inuyasha) fade into view, forcing him to try and contain his power the best he can, much to their confusion._

 _"Miroku, what's the matter?"_

 _"No...S-Stay back!"_

 _"Miroku, what's wrong?" "Miroku?"_

 _"What's up, man?" "Tell us what's wrong."_

 _He tries desperately to deter them from approaching:_

 _"Stop! Stay away-rrrgh-gaaaah!"_

 _But the vacuuming winds became too strong for him to fully contain, and as the atmosphere is wrapped in a whirlwind, his friends are each dragged into the abyss, much to his horror!_

 _"NO! It can't be...! M-My hand is covered!"_

 _The Naraku figure lets out a laugh as he jeers,_

 _"Monk, were you that desperate to be saved, desperate enough to even want it at the expense of your friends lives?"_

 _"You have no right to accuse me of anything! You cursed my grandfather with the Wind Tunnel!"_

 _The winds of his cursed ability grow all the more stronger, making the monk outcry in pain, fear and agony..._

Freeman's Mindscape

 _The sky reflects a dark red-purple, and we find our long hammer-wielder running for his life down an expanse of concrete, away from a shadow that was hunting him down, echoing the familiar whisper-shouts of someone he longed to never see again..._

 _"Where do think you're goin', little priss?!" "Come and fight and like a man!"_

 _"Show me who you really are, you little fu-!"_

 _Freeman did his hardest to ignore the antagonizing shouts, cupping his hands over his ears to block it out, his eyes welling slightly with tears..._

 _(Trip)_

 _"Auh!"_

 _He falls over on his front, and struggles to his knees to pivot his head behind where he tripped...only to widen his eyes in terror when he sees, Ginta, dead with multiple stab wounds in his back!_

 _"No! No, Ginta!"_

 _A dark chuckle resonates, and the shadow the young man was running from manifests into the shape of his father, knife in hand that was still freshly coated in blood, looking at the former with a crazed grin._

 _"You think you can just run from me, boy? You think you and your bastard brother can just turn your back on what made you?! I made you; I shaped you into who you are!"_

 _Freeman clenches his fists and yells in anguish,_

 _"Shut up; you did jack! You're a murderer, a bastard old man! You only abused me, made me feel worthless!"_

 _(...SLASH)_

 _"UGH!"_

 _...Suddenly, a familiar bone sickle cuts across his back deep, and he turns through midair to see...the expressionless face of his own twin._

 _"B-Be-sa...?"_

 _...He hits the ground hard, hands outstretched two ways: One to his wolf demon lover, the other to his kin._

Besa's Mindscape

 _The boy with the cornrow hair would do no better within his own fearful creation: In his case, his twin was already dead, leaving him helpless on his knees to stare with horror at the bludgeoned corpse._

 _"...No...this-this can't be happening! Freeman...Freeman, wake up! Please, please don't be dead!"_

 _"He can't hear you, son."_

 _Besa stiffens up at the address, and whirls around on his feet to see...his father, occupying a bloodied pipe in his right hand, and a smile that may have fooled others in looking calm, but the former knew better._

 _"You...you killed him. (Glare) Why?! Why did you take him away?! Why did you hurt him for so long, and felt you had the right to beat your own son to death?! Answer me, dammit!"_

 _"Are you angry because I hurt him...or that you couldn't do a thing to save him this time?"_

 _The boy flinches from the accusation...before tensing with fear when he hears a canine growl emanating from behind him..._

 _"I'll leave you to it."_

 _"Wait, don't you dare vanish, you two-face bastard! Coward!"_

 _But it was too late: The man was gone...leaving Besa to turn the other way to face a force more enraged by his brother's death._

 _"You, weak, mortal bastard...You let this happen. You let that scum kill my mate!"_

 _"What?! No, Ginta, please, I-"_

 _"Shut up! (Growl) I'll kill you!"_

 _And the dark-sinned boy could only yell in fright, as the anger-guided wolf demon's eyes clouded over red before he lunged fast at the former, sharp teeth pronounced and bellowing a fierce howl..._

Shippo's Mindscape

 _While the air may appear neutral, the mood of the fox demon's dream was anything but: He would find himself on the run across a field from an army of lizard demons that mimicked the one who attacked him and_ _Satsuki back when.  
_

 _...And even that was the least of his troubles, when he screeches to a halt in front of the evilly-grinning figures of Hiten and Monten!_

 _Turning around would be a mistake, as the lizards loll their tongues out menacingly, before he chooses to sprint down the side while yelling out for help..._

Coraline's Mindscape

 _...As for our heroine redhead...her mind took her inside one of the many frightening imaginatives that were set upon her during those torturous days with the dream demon she conveyed a deal with._

 _The sky twisted with blackened-red storm clouds over a light purple, while the ground was made of red rust dirt, clouded by a miasma, highlighting brown-black dead trees with sharpened branches, jagged, hollowed-out rocks big and small that echoed with wind gusts which sounded with the screeches of pain and agony. Whether from man, beast or something inbetween, is anyone's guess..._

 _Yet the background was the least of Coraline's problems: Currently, she was trapped in combat with only her bare fists against enemies deceased and alive, each one fading in and out of a singular form to take a crack at beating the poor girl senseless!_

 _Constantine Bishop, Naraku, and Saki Hikiji were the main antagonists, while the air echoed with the voices of Bridget, her cohorts and other young children from the redhead's past, jeering and calling her every name under the sun to further break her self-esteem..._

 _After several minutes of the audio and physical torture, Coraline was finally knocked off her feet, her body sporting bruises upon bruises, and multiple lacerations from blades and bullet grazes._

 _"Hah...hah...hah, (cough)...I...I can't, go on, like this..."_

 _She gropes around on the ground for anything, anything she could use to defend herself...and her fingertips brush against a cold metal shape which she'd recognize in an instant._

 _"Uh...!...A gun?"_

 _The girl slowly grasps the weapon into her left palm, and gingerly rose to a sitting position, looking down at the handgun with shaky breaths and a bewildered expression._

 _"Why...Why this? Why not, my sword or-Uh!"_

 _She would cut herself off...when the mist of miasma thins somewhat in front of her several yards...to reveal the dead bodies of the Trinity Soldiers she was forced to kill back when!_

 _"Rgh! N-No...no, not this again!"_

 _Worse still, was when those corpses began throbbing in and out with the images of the ones she held in her heart with love and care: Family, friends, acquaintances...her dog demon lover..._

 _Coraline lets out a scream of horror as the voices of those three main villains began laughing throughout the atmosphere...with a trace of a certain three-sided demon's own chortle ghosting between the chuckles like a graveyard's whispers..._

Inuyasha's POV

"Rrrgh, damn it all! _Blades of Blood!_ "

I kept it up with the relentless attacks, determined and desperate to not give up and free everyone from their silk cages, my main priority being my intended...I land on the ground while crying out her name, and catch a glimpse of her form through the silk, noticing that it was throbbing in and out towards the form of that bloody moth!

 _No...No!_

"Coraline, don't give in! You've got the strength to beat this thing! (Growl) You gonna let some nightmare sap all your power?! I thought you were stronger than that!"

I continue to claw at the cocoon, feeling the pulse of my more demon side screaming at me to free my future mate...Yet, as I paused to catch my breath, I began using that reverse psychiatry trick to see if that would stimulate a reaction.

"Hah...hah...I misjudged you. I didn't think you were the type to give up so easily. If that's how it's gonna be, then I'll defeat Naraku on my own! (Lunge) But don't come cryin' to me with your regrets later on!"

I plunged a clawed hand straight into the cut mark I made before, ignoring the sparks of energy and kept my focus on the woman I love.

"Wake up, Coraline! Wake up unless you want this moth demon to devour your Soul!"

 _...And if you somehow have a hand in this, Kami, knock it off!_

 _Let my woman go and give her back to me!_

I was so close, so close to touching her fingertips, and I swear I saw them inch slightly towards mine...but then that damn cocoon's energies had to throw me backwards!

I slid into the dirt hard...but would not lie down. I staggered back up holding my injured arm, my blood dripping slightly from my claws, just as Lumos comes flying over to release some of his power to heal me a little.

...I just nudged him away, too upset and frustrated to be concerned with my own health.

"Hrgh...Cor-aline...you're not weak. I know you can get through this...Say it...I dare you to say it..."

Gritting my teeth, I then bellow out,

"I DARE YOU TO TELL ME TO SIT!"

...The grounds fall quiet...and just when I was about to drop to my knees in my own despair...it happened.

Sango's Mindscape, her POV

 _Somehow, I returned to the very forest where Kohaku and I had fought in before during the first wave of his manipulation by Naraku's insidious hands..._

 _And once more, I was poised over his body, my katana in hand._

 _"I'm going to kill you...then myself. It's my only choice. This is the only way to free you from Naraku!"_

 _The difference this time...was that there was a sign of life in his eyes._

 _"Sango...why do you have to kill me?"_

 _...Why do I? (Shakes head) No...No, I know why._

 _I'll kill you, then I'll kill myself. This is the only way to get you back from Naraku...isn't it?_

 _My tears fall as I whisper,_

 _"Forigve me, Kohaku," and I bring down my blade...But then:_

 _(GRASP)_

 _A familiar clawed hand stops me, and I look up to see,_

 _Inuyasha!_

 _"Sango, don't kill Kohaku. We have to get him back alive."_

 _I cringe away from his eyes and mutter,_

 _"I shouldn't stay with you...It only causes everyone trouble."_

 _"Would you quit babblin' and let me talk? It's way better to stick together, and besides, (smirk) I'm pretty good at fighting."_

 _...Inuyasha..._

(Blink)

"Uh!"

Miroku's Mindscape, his POV

 _My Wind Tunnel just kept gradually building in power after...my friends were sucked inside, and I was starting to lose my ground._

 _"Rrrgh...g-graaaah!"_

 _No...No...No!_

 _But then, a strong hand comes to grip my cursed appendage before tugging me downward, the force somehow being enough to stop the vortex from blowing!_

 _Huh?_

 _"What is it that you're so afraid of?!"_

 _Uh! Is that..._

 _I look up, and met the eyes of a friend I nearly forgot about:_

 _"I-Inuyasha!"_

 _"If you try to use that Wind Tunnel again, I'll tear your stupid arm off!"_

 _He shoves me back and readies to leave, but then says to me sternly,_

 _"Don't you wanna defeat Naraku and break the curse of the Wind Tunnel? 'Cause if that's what you want, then quit wasting time and get goin'!"_

 _...You're absolutely right, Inuyasha._

(Blink)

"Gh!"

Freeman/Besa's Mindscape, dual POV

 _All I could do, was lie on the ground, weakened by my old man's words and the attack by my own brother/brother's lover, slowing descending into the deep..._

 _That's when I heard, the sound of a spotlight turning on._

 _"Huh?" "Hm?"_

 _Lifting my head gingerly, I look up, and meet the eyes of Besa/Freeman!_

 _"What-"_

 _"Are you, doin' here...?"_

 _Pushing myself onto my knees in time with him, we both crawled over to eachother, amazed we were seeing one another alive (well, barely) as opposed to earlier. My hand stretches out to lay a palm on my twin's shoulder as he does with me, like we were looking into our own opposite-of-fun-house mirrors..._

 _"...You look like crap, bro."_

 _"Keh, so do you, brother...Did, you also have a meet with-"_

 _"Our former old man? Yep...I, thought you killed me."_

 _"Me? Kill you? That's what I thought Ginta did to me!"_

 _Just as we both shocked ourselves by telling eachother our nightmares (which, somehow have synced; not even gonna try to figure out how), a third familiar voice echoes in a chuckle and says,_

 _"You're both nuts, and look ridiculous."_

 _We dart our heads to the right, and stepping out of nothing to approach us, was Inuyasha, looking at us with a kind but blunt smirk at our injured forms. Once he was close enough, he reaches down and carefully lifts us by one of our arms to our feet while berating our recent behaviour._

 _"What's with you two? Letting some bullheaded old fool beat the confidence outta ya...That's not the Freeman and Besa I know."_

 _"Huh?" "Wha-?"_

 _"You two left your home with barely anything to hold but the clothes on your backs to make a better life for yourselves, and succeeded. Why are you just letting the past hit you hard now?"_

 _He frowns seriously and adds,_

 _"That man is gone and will never find you again. You've said it yourselves, so toss out his memory and keep moving forward."_

 _We both stared at the dog demon for several moments in awe of his words, remembering having a similar conversation one time before during our early days of travel in Edo..._

 _We then nodded firmly, making him smile in a way that ghosted a smirk._

(Blink)

"Gah!" "Uh!"

Shippo's Mindscape, his POV

 _I kept running, running to get away from the faces of Hiten and Monten, and that crazy lizard demon, scared as scared can be...That is, until a good friend managed to snap me out of it._

 _"Come on, Shippo, you can get outta this!"  
_

 _Uh! Inuyasha..._

 _Hmph. He's right. What the heck am I running for? They're not really here, right?_

 _Forming a determined expression, I whirl around and unleash my power on those wicked demons!_

 _"Fox Fire!"_

 _(Fwooooom)_

 _They let out outcries of pain before they burn away from existence...I land on the ground, proud of myself for standing up to my fears._

 _"Ha, yes!"_

 _...And I wasn't the only one._

 _"Keh, hey."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _I turn around to see Inuyasha smiling at me:_

 _"Nice work you did against those demons, Shippo."_

 _I smiled back and replied,_

 _"Yeah," glad that this craziness was all over..._

(Blink)

"Hah!"

Coraline's Mindscape, her POV

* * *

Trigger Warning: Slight mentioning of Suicidal Thoughts. Read with caution.

* * *

 _After several more minutes of the torturous laughter of my enemies and dead-reckoning images...I was ready to descend into madness, and embrace the waiting hand of death, well, mentally, at least._

 _I recall feeling my shaky hands remove themselves from my ears after trying and failing to block out the sounds, and my left grasped the handgun again...lifting it up excruciatingly slow to pointing the barrel at...well, I don't think I really need to explain where, now do I?_

 _"M...Make, this...stop."_

 _...But just as my index finger begins to squeeze the trigger, that's when my saving grace arrived._

 _"...Coraline?"_

 _I froze, and looked up with tear-stained eyes to see my strong-willed, steadfast boyfriend, oddly enough in his human form, looking at me with a most tender concern at my fearful form._

 _"I-Inu...yasha?"_

 _His currently brown irises soften more at how meek my voice sounded, before he kneels down and gently knocks the modern weapon out of my hand, engulfing me into his arms, practically cradling my body to his._

 _"Shh, it's alright..._ _I promise you that as long as I'm here, you have nothing to be afraid of...But remember that you're braver than this, Coraline. Keh, d_ _on't let some stupid nightmare prove me wrong."_

 _...Gee, don't those words sound familiar._

 _He pulls back a little and hauls me to my feet but kept his hands on my form, before cupping my cheek and saying,_

 _"I love you, Coraline."_

 _I felt my heart swell with sentiment, which was eating away the pain and agony in that internal organ, and whispered back with a watery smile,_

 _"I-I love you too."_

 _...The mood would then be killed by the return of that shapeshifting menace that's been jeering evilly at me for this last little while, jumping between the forms of Naraku and Constantine. I take in a sharp breath of air and squeeze Inuyasha's hand while warning,_

 _"You should get out of here while the gettin's good. Your human form might be able to take Bishop, but Naraku's a whole other issue!"_

 _"You, fool..."_

 _I blinked with surprise by the descend of tone and growl in his voice, before watching with wide eyes as his eyes flash red while the rest of his form shifted into the half-demon I know so well!_

 _"As if I'd run, and leave you! I'm staying, (unsheathes Tessaiga) and I'm gonna protect you!"_

 _He then lunges at the monstrosity to cut it down...Meanwhile, my attention cuts to the left when I sense the presence of another, their echoing steps making their way to the area, belonging to Saki..._

 _And yet, his form didn't scare me. Not this time. My face fell into a guarded expression as I readied my stance for a fight, reaching my hand up into the air...to catch hold of ShatterSoul as it finally appears to me._

 _...Inuyasha...with you, I have all the confidence in the world. You fight for me...and I'll fight for you.  
_

 _We fight for us._

(Blink)

"Oh!"

I awoke inside this blasted cocoon just as 'dream me' prepped to lunge into battle, that fear beginning to erase itself completely as I remembered,

 _Yes...I'm not alone against this world. Inuyasha has been with me since we first met..._

The silk binding my limbs begins to tear at the seams, freeing me and allowing me to draw my combat knife at the ready.

 _As long as he, my love, is beside me, with my friends and family, no fear shall hold me down for long!_

(Sheen...)

 _I am strong, I am brave...I will not perish!_

(HACK)

"Yaaaaaah!"

Using my Aura Power, I channeled my energies into my blade to use against the cocoon, creating a slit large enough for me to climb out as the silk falls prey to the disintegrating strength of my Soul!

...And was but the first to break free: Joining me next was Sango, who used her Hiraikotsu to break down the silk.

(WHACK)

"Haaaaah!"

Then Miroku, using his staff:

(WHAM)

"Rrrrraaaaah!"

Then my brothers broke out using their long hammer and bone sickles to slam and slash away their casings respectively.

(THRUST)

"H-gah!"

(RRRRIP-RIP)

"Rrrrrrrr-hah!"

And finally, Shippo would use his fox fire to break free at the same time Kilala came crashing through to the outside using her claws and her own fire from her transformation to full form.

(FWOOOOOM)

"Aaaaaaaah!"

(FWOOM, SLASH)

"(Rowl)"

Stepping away from the place I was trapped in, the first happy greeting I would get was from my partner, Lumos, who barreled over to me and circled around my form while chirping his moans wildly.

"(Giggle) I'm glad to see you too, Lumos!"

My ears then catch the sound of my boyfriend calling out just as excited,

"You did it! Yeah!"

I looked up and saw he was a bit battle-worn, the right sleeve of his kimono ripped quite considerably, but didn't seem all that concerned about his personal injury, rather majorly relieved we were all okay.

 _...Inuyasha...Inuyasha._

My eyes began welling up with happy tears to see his face for real, and I ran full-speed to his form and wrapped my arms around his torso tight while being careful not to aggravate his injuries.

"Inuyasha!"

He doesn't hesitate to envelop my shaking body into his own arms, brushing his lips against my hair and whispering soothing words into my ear to calm me down before I could burst into sobs...

We quickly peck eachother on the lips, before he wipes my watery blue eyes dry and chides,

"Hey, no tears, 'kay? It's all over."

"(Sniff, nod) Right...all over."

I smiled as his knuckles gently drag across my cheek, before his focus shifts to include everyone else as he exclaims encouragingly,

"Come on! Let's not waste time gettin' out of this forest! (Gazes forward) That's our way out!"

By that, he meant the strange barrier blocking the main path of this infernal forest that had likeness to a soap bubble's reflection...Inuyasha would then ready his Tessaiga, the colour of the blade shifting to red in preparation to destroy the binding spell.

"Alright, follow me! _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

...The barrier of course opens up and gradually fades away...but the surprise that struck us was that it took the desolate background with it, revealing the lush landscape we're far more used to seeing in our travels!

"The forest disappeared!"

Freeman was just as flabbergasted as Shippo:

"No way...!"

Besa hms and postulates,

"So then it was all a trick of that creature's make..." Miroku nods and adds,

"More than likely an illusion created by that moth demon."

Sango sighs,

"What a shame. We wasted so much time because of him."

Inuyasha replies,

"Yeah. I won't argue with you there..."

I cast my eyes downward and shiver a bit, muttering to myself,

"Never again...I don't want this to happen ever again..."

I sensed my boyfriend's eyes on me for a moment, feeling a stare of concern, but then moves to face us all with a smug grin.

"While you're on the subject, why don't I remind you how much trouble you'd be in if I wasn't around to save you all the time?"

Hearing his words made me so close to laughing at the irony, but I opt for a smile of agreement that would be one of many among our group directed at Inuyasha. He frowns slightly, likely thinking we thought otherwise, or something:

"What're you starin' at? You got a complaint or somethin'?"

Miroku and Shippo reply reassuringly,

"No, no, we couldn't agree with you more."

"So just this once, we're gonna let you brag."

Kilala, whom had shifted back into her dormant form and hopped onto Sango's shoulder, mews with her own nod, yet these replies didn't sit great with Inuyasha.

"I wasn't braggin'; it was the truth!"

I gently chide to him,

"No need to be defensive, Inuyasha. We're all eternally grateful for the rescue."

My brothers adds,

"Yeah, what she said." "I'd call boasting rights while you're able."

"No, I still don't like his tone! If you guys are as grateful as you make out to be, then would it kill you guys to come out with a little thank you?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his attitude:

 _He's just embarrassed and not used to this kind of response..._

Miroku then asks me,

"So, as our representative, will you kindly do the honours, Coraline?"

I nod with a smile matching his:

"Of course."

I began to approach my boyfriend, who suddenly had a worried expression spread onto his face, which was likely due to a bold dare I faintly recall before my nightmare ended.

 _He really thinks I'm mean enough to use 'that word'..._

"...Inuyasha."

He flinches at the ready of an appending doom...which doesn't come.

"Thank you so much for saving us."

I end the thanks by kissing his cheek, which snapped him out of his daze with a twitch of his ears and a slight blush dusting his face.

"(Looks away) Well that sure didn't turn out the way I thought it would..."

I silently laugh behind my hand just as Miroku suggests we all begin moving on to other places.

"Well then, shall we be on our way?"

"Good idea."

"I'm peckish."

Freeman and Besa follow Sango and Shippo wholeheartedly:

"Same here!"

"It's amazing what a little terror can do to your appetite..."

Watching their forms walking off for a moment, I then turn to Inuyasha and take his hand to gently tug along after them.

"Come on, let's go."

"Uh, right. Hey, was that really what you wanted to say?"

I ask in feigned innocence,

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come off it, you know what. I know you wanna say that word!"

"Nope, not even in the slightest. You sure you're not just feeling after-stress?"

"After-stress?!"

His somewhat offended tone made me giggle aloud, and he growls lightly at me...before forming a sneaky smile, and scoops me over his shoulder!

"Aah! Inuyasha!?"

"(Chuckle) This is what you get for teasin'!"

Stunned at first, I quickly began to squirm in his hold with a small laugh and playfully beat my fists onto his back as he started on his way again.

"Put me down!"

"Nuh-uh, not happenin'!"

"Inuyasha, I will definitely say it now!"

"Keh, and you'll come down with me, woman!"

 _...Damn, he's right._

Letting out a somewhat dramatic sigh, I relax out of my protests and allowed him to continue carrying me, his smugness radiating off his form ten-fold compared to earlier while the air echoes a bit with laughter from the others...But I didn't mind in the least, residing to thinking about what really mattered after this little escapade.

 _Better to be in the arm and over the shoulder of someone who loves me than someone who wants to kill me..._

 _(Smile) Yeah...I couldn't be in safer hands._


	113. Chapter 112

**Chapter 112: The Lingering Snow from Seven Years Past**

 _A heavy wind of white blows over the snow-capped mountain ranges of the coldest altitudes for Sengoku Japan, and among those who were unfortunate enough to become caught within the frosty breath of Old Man Winter, was our familiar cursed monk, back when he was younger and first began his journey in search for the one who brought misfortune to his family bloodline._

 _He had only his signature purple robes and an additional brown cloth wrap to keep him warm, along with a green patterned scarf to use around his neck, his feet left bare. His breath came out in ragged puffs of exhaustion as he willed himself forward with the use of a wooden staff...But come several steps later, his body could no longer handle the pressures of his current surroundings, and he would fall unconscious into the cushion of white._

 _...Thankfully, he would not be the only soul in this area._

 _"...Poor thing. You got lost in the snow."_

 _He mumbled for his deceased father in his sleep, before a feminine hand with the palest of skin reaches out to lightly touch the young monk's head, stirring him awake. The stranger, a woman, would help him up against her gray-white robes as she chides,_

 _"You'll be fine now."_

 _"...Who are you?"_

 _"I go by the name, Koyuki...You called for your father. Did something happen to him?"_

 _Burying his face towards the woman's clothed chest, the young boy mutters sadly,_

 _"He died. That's why I'm on my own...You see, I have no other relatives..."_

 _"If you have no relatives or nowhere to go, then come to my house."_

 _Turning our view to match Miroku's vantage, we see that underneath the wicker cover his saviour was a remarkably beautiful woman, her countenance mirroring a Japanese version of Snow White: Hair as black as a raven's feathers, her skin a moonbeam's white, making her lips stand out as red as blood, while her eyes were a deep, onyx blue..._

 _(Flash)_

"She was a beautiful woman, with fair skin as white as the snow itself..."

Our present-day Miroku was re-accounting his tale to the demon slayer Sango, as they sat on a boulder by the riverside during a new day in this vast land of Japan's yester-years...

(Slap)

"Gah! What'd you do that for?"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Sango cracks her hand across Miroku's cheek...But zooming in, we see that her reasoning was a bit more innocent this time, as a tiny bloodsucking insect takes flight...

"Sorry, I was just getting a mosquito. Do go on."

Rubbing his reddened skin while shooting a look of annoyance at the young woman beside him, the monk continues.

"The point I was trying to make was that I once trained here, (slight smile) so I know these parts really well."

"And what about that woman? What happened next?"

"Nothing happened. Seven years have passed since the day I met her...I was still so innocent back then, with rosy cheeks so round and, supple..."

And turning our view behind the two, we see Miroku's wandering hand was stroking Sango's rear...

(Slap)

Once more, her hand is brought across his face, making him glare at her, until she presents her palm with a half-sheepish smile.

"Look, I got it. See the blood?"

...After a while longer, the pair decided to wander down the shoreline that kissed the forest some more...which would lead them toward a new problem.

"Hm? What's going on?"

Up ahead next to one of the tall oaks, an elder man was shaking the shoulders of a younger male who was unconscious, and apparently had traces of snow on his body. A few other men were present as well, they all gathered around a tiny fire that they started recently in an attempt to warm up their chilled companion.

"Please open your eyes, come on, say something! Don't die on me!"

"Hang in there!"

Moving onto the path, Sango wonders aloud,

"Why would there be snow at this time of year?"

"Wake up!"

...And after another minute, the man awakes, and instantly shivers from the cold racking his being.

"He's come to! That's a good sign!"

"Wonderful! What a relief..."

Miroku decides then to cut into their circle to inquire what was going on:

"Excuse me."

"Hm?"

"Perhaps I could be of some assistance to you all. May I ask what happened to this poor man?"

The elder holding up the freezing man replies wholeheartedly,

"Monk, I'd be glad to tell you: A snow demon has been recently plaguing this land!"

One of the other men with him adds,

"Several men have been found like this, frozen stupor."

Nodding, Miroku turns his eyes to Sango and says,

"I think you'd better return to the hut and tell everyone what's going on."

"But what about you?"

"I'll go take care of the demon and put an end to these attacks. Don't worry: The evil presence doesn't seem to be very strong."

With that, the monk begins rushing up the path that was leading into a mountain forest, with the village men watching him go, wary expressions abound.

"I hope the monk can manage on his own. He appears to be quite young."

"Rumour has it that the demon presents itself as a bewitching woman, with skin as white as snow..."

Those words made Sango suck in a sharp breath, recalling such a description from Miroku's earlier tale...

"Most men are captivated by her beauty and follow her deep into the snowy passes..."

That next sentence was all the demon slayer needed to hear, before she darted off after the monk.

Coraline's POV

It's been a few days since we left that illusionary forest set upon us by that freak Garamaru, and we're now in a piece of territory that according to Miroku was near a place he'd been to in his training days. So while he took Sango to walk across the shores, my brothers, Shippo, Lumos and Kilala would choose to hang back in the hut that's below the hill Inuyasha and I were currently standing on, after we decided to move away for our own 'couple's private time' as Besa joked as we walked out the door, earning a warning whap on the back of his head from my boyfriend.

I'm now kneeling on my jean-clothed legs (the rest of my outfit comprised of a red tank-top, my camo-print jacket and my combat boots) while rummaging through my satchel for something my other twin brother secretly gestured to slipping in just a couple minutes before Inuyasha and I left, cheeky grin plastered onto his face.

I come across the item, and shook my head with a half-exasperated but amused smile, making my long and loose red locks bounce slightly.

 _Oh geez, really, Freeman? Must've gotten 'em from Shuji again..._

Inuyasha's voice snaps me out of my thoughts:

"No sign of Naraku here either...Uh, Coraline, what're you doing?"

Pulling out the mystery items, they being a few firecrackers, I look up to meet his amber with my blue as I quirk,

"Currently, I'm trying not to plot different ways to beat the crap out of Freeman for sticking these into my pack before we came here."

"Huh?"

"(Chuckle) These are fireworks, the less dangerous kind at that and most likely procured from Shuji sometime before we returned to Edo. He, my brother, likely brought 'em along to show you and the others but forgot until now..."

Sighing slightly, I open one of my satchel pouches and pull out my small packet of matches to light one of the sparklers since it was here.

"May as well and see if the fuse is faulty..."

...But to my mild surprise, it was still functional, and the sparkler began crackling tiny yellow embers, much to Inuyasha's excitement.

"Hey, how'd you make that happen?" Laughing slightly, I reply,

"It's not me. It's the special fuel that's wrapped into the sparkler."

I shift my place so I was sitting right beside him and holding out the sparkler a safe distance away from our bodies, both of us watching it burn down with smiles on our faces.

"...Pretty neat, isn't it?"

My boyfriend nods in agreement, his head brushing mine since we sat so close, making me giggle quietly from the sensation. I sense him smirk playfully...before he gently nips my ear.

"Oh! I-Inuyasha..."

"Coraline..."

The slight husk in his tone sent a shiver down my spine, but one of those good, anticipated kinds...Then just as he turns my face towards his to steal a kiss, we suddenly notice a very bizarre turn in today's weather, namely...snowflakes!

"Huh?"

"What the...snow? But, we're just cracking into summer..."

That's when we felt a cold, harsh wind blow, sending the bad kind of shiver running through my body.

"Brrrr...I-Inuyasha, got any clue what's goin on?"

"No idea...(narrows eyes) but I'm gettin' a bad vibe from this weird snowfall. We better get back to the hut before it really starts to freeze."

"G-Good c-call..."

I quickly doused the sparkler and tucked the other fireworks into my satchel, slinging it over my shoulder while rubbing my arms vigorously from the dropping temperature.

 _Damn it, I shouldn't be this bothered by cold weather. I grew up in Ireland, for gods sake!_

 _...There's something unnatural about this._

"You alright?"

I jumped slightly from the address and hand on my shoulder, and turn to meet Inuyasha's eyes as he looked at me with mild concern. I flashed a smile and replied,

"Eh, kind-of...It's strange, though: Cold temperatures don't usually make me shake this much..."

He hms with a frown, before wrapping one of his arms tightly around my torso and guiding me in the direction of the hut, replying quietly,

"Then we really need to get you back inside where it'll be warmer..."

I blushed a little from the care laced in his words, and leaned into the warmth radiating off his body, while mentally crossing my fingers that a certain other pair was doing okay and would be back at the shelter as soon as we were...

Sango's POV

I had just began my run after the monk, moving through the shallow part of the river...when snow suddenly began to float gently down from the sky! I paused for a moment to stare in surprise at the white, fluffy flakes of frozen water.

 _More snow...But how?_

 _...Damn, now I feel more unease than ever for that crazy monk._

Eventually, I reached the part of the path Miroku took that led into the forest and up the mountain, but would soon become caught within a snowstorm, the wind howling wild as I struggled to trudge through the white depths.

"Rgh...rgh...Ah!"

My body suddenly sank through a particularly deep bank, and as I try to will myself out, my eyes catch sight of a very familiar face sitting unconscious against a pile of snow on my left.

"Miroku?! Miroku, it's Sango! I'm right, here!"

 _Damn it, it's no good. The cold must be getting to him..._

 _Hm?_

That's when I sensed an approaching presence, and a woman glides out from the blustering white to stand in front of Miroku.

 _Is, that..._

"Are you a traveler? You seem to be having trouble crossing in the snow...Is there anything I can do to assist you?"

The monk stirs awake, and weakly replies,

"Yes, there is...I was wondering...could you somehow find it in your heart to bear my child?"

 _Ugh, really, Miroku, of all times?_

I groaned slightly in annoyance from that old question, but was relieved to see he was alive...The woman then removes her straw cover, revealing the face of Koyuki, the very person Miroku had described to me a few hours ago!

"Have you forgotten? (Smile) I have already birthed your child."

 _...What?!_

Miroku was just as shocked as I was, if not more so, the difference being that I felt heat creep onto my face while he was stupefied stiff...Koyuki then gently lifts him to a stand and chides,

"Come with me and hold your baby," before guiding him away, much to my dismay:

"Miroku, where are you going?...Miroku?! Miroku!"

They either ignore me or couldn't hear me at all, and disappear into the white, leaving me to shiver as the storm strengthened...

Besa's POV

It's been a few hours since both couples of our group (well, one official and the other yet-to-be) decided to check out different parts of the new area we're in, and since then, Freeman, Shippo, Kilala and I scoured the riverside near this hut for some carp to catch and fry up. Lumos ended up being a tremendous help by tracking the movements of the tailed creatures and alerting where their swimming patterns would end. Overall, we caught seven fish as well as two pheasants that our twin-tail friend was lucky to spot and hunt down.

Now we're all sitting inside the hut in front of a new fire we got going, watching as three of the carp and one bird get licked by the flames after we stuck some bamboo skewers through them (thank god I remembered to pack the tall ones)...Kilala emits a small growl of anticipation, and Shippo says to her,

"Don't worry. We're all splitting this, (glance) right, guys?"

I nod with my brother, making the cat demon mewl with thanks, and the young fox demon smile a bit smugly.

"You know what they say? No work, no food. Why should we have to share with the others?"

Freeman gives him a warning smile and chides,

"Easy now, little dude. We were lucky to catch a good supply; it wouldn't be fair to be greedy."

I was about to agree with him, but was interrupted by a new shiver passing through my spine, making me shudder and my brother ask me with a brow raised,

"You okay, Besa? That's the third cold chill you've felt."

Hugging my black sweater jacket closer to myself (covering a grey t-shirt that was a few shades lighter than my jeans, my shoes being my monochrome hightops, mirroring Freeman with the exception of his dark red tank-top and leather jacket), I reply in a mutter,

"I think so...but I also think something strange is going on. We haven't even entered Fall yet and suddenly the temperature's dropped close to winter levels..."

(Flap)

"Hm?"

That was when Inuyasha and Cora returned, she hugged under his arm and both with...snow dusting their shoulders.

"Just in time for food!"

"Hey, guys."

Shippo, somehow missing the white on their bodies, frowns a bit at Inuyasha and replies,

"Perfect timing as usual. I bet you smelled the fish and bird and that's what you came back for."

"Hardly. It's snowing out there."

 _So that's it!_

"Huh? (Shiver) Now wonder it's so cold..."

Freeman glances at me and quirks after Shippo's surprised reply to Inuyasha,

"Guess that explains the cold chills and why Lumos was fluttering a bit antsy-like before heading inside earlier."

I nod in agreement, before turning eyes to my sister as she sits down in front of the fire while rubbing her arms vigorously and shaking a little more than I have for the last hour.

"...You alright, Cora?"

"Y-Yeah, I'll be fine, but this weather's nippin' at me like mad...Say, have Sango and Miroku come back yet?"

"Not yet..."

Inuyasha moves to sit beside Coraline and remarks casually,

"Eh, well, they'll get hungry soon," before grabbing one of the cooked fish, much to Shippo's protest.

"Hey! That fish belongs to Kilala, me and the twins!"

I pat his head and chide calmly,

"Take it easy, Shippo. Like Freeman said, we've caught more than that, and this round is covered by the first pheasant."

He pouts but sits down, while Inuyasha adds between bites,

"Yeah, don't be so stingy."

Then using his claws, he slices off a fair piece of the grilled fish to present to Coraline.

"Here, have some. It's good and should warm you up."

"(Small smile) 'kay. Thank you."

The gesture made me smile a little...but was quickly interrupted out of it when I hear our Will O' Wisp friend moaning at the entrance, bopping up and down excitedly.

"Hm? What's up, Lumos; sense something?"

 _Or maybe it's Sango and Miroku..._

I get up and walk over to pull back the door flap, and spot a pair of figures approaching from the path down here...

"Sango? Miroku? Is that you?"

When they arrive in full-view however, I would end up meeting the equally surprised eyes of a hunter and whom I'm assuming is his wife!

...Once the initial shock wore off, the others and I would end up sharing the fire and the one pheasant that we still had, plus some meat from what the hunter told me was boar, as an apology for intruding into what we learned is their home.

"Sorry 'bout the home invasion. We didn't know this place was actually occupied."

The hunter smiles reassuringly at Freeman's sheepish smile and replies,

"Don't worry. I would've done the same in a blizzard like this."

The wife adds,

"Help yourself to some boar meat. It'll be ready soon, along with the pheasant you caught."

Inuyasha was already munching away at one stick of the boar meat:

"It's good!"

"But, it's still almost raw!"

Shippo comments with a frown,

"Like he cares; he's such an animal."

Kilala mews in agreement, while Coraline says to the wife with a sweatdrop smile,

"Uh-heh, what Shippo means to say is that Inuyasha's used to an array of cuisine, ma'am."

"Oh, I see...Well, in any case, I think you'd better stay with us until the Snow Maiden passes through."

"Snow maiden, you say?"

"Ooh yes. If a young man walks alone on a snowy day like this, a young woman stops him. And if he follows her, he's sealed his fate. The next day, he's found pitiably frozen."

Freeman and I found ourselves shuddering and muttering simultaneously,

"Glad we're not out there."

The hunter then adds in his own thoughts:

"They say that the woman is a sight to behold and has a face not soon forgotten, with skin as white as the snow itself."

His wife side-glares at his less cautious description, kind-of reminding me of how the monk of our group does that when in the same proximity of the demon slayer.

 _And I think I know what's gonna happen next..._

"I'd like to see her just once, even if it meant my own freezing-Dgh! Oww, ouch!"

His mouth was immediately shut closed thanks to the woman, uh, pinching his behind harshly, and I facepalm while groaning mentally,

 _Yep. Called it...and I think I just got a glimpse into Sango and Miroku's future..._

Coraline meanwhile focused on the details with a more concerned air:

"Miroku's in danger!"

Inuyasha causally counters,

"Maybe not. (Munch) Isn't Sango with 'im?"

"...That is true...but on the other hand..." Freeman catches onto her next wary thought:

"Yeah, that doesn't guarantee much, does it? Given Miroku's track record, he'll be shot before he leaves a distressed and pretty woman by herself..."

Shippo folds his arms and ponders,

"The real question is how will Sango react?...(Forms a freaked expression) Gives me the shivers just thinking about it."

"What're ya talkin' about?"

Coraline turns her eyes to Inuyasha and replies,

"Do we really need to go over this topic again? Sango has feelings for-"

Shippo interrupts her with a blunt air:

"Don't bother. We've talked about this over a hundred times and he's barely got it even after you two became a couple."

"...Hah, fair point. (Chagrin) Least he's fully in tune with our relationship..."

Inuyasha then cuts in with his own conclusions:

"Still, (stand) if this is another demon causing trouble 'cause Naraku isn't around anymore, then we can't just sit around and ignore it."

He turns and begins heading out the door while adding,

"I'm goin' after them!"

The rest of us would quickly follow step:

"Hang on, Inuyasha!"

"We're goin' with you!" "Not so fast, dude!"

"Wait!"

The hunter then holds out a bottled gourd to us:

"Take this with you. It's a special restorative."

I take the bottle into my hand and nod with an appreciative smile:

"Thank you, sir...Alright, guys, let's get a move on."

Small Time Skip, No POV

"Miroku!"

"Saaangooo!"

"Where are you guys?!"

"If you can hear us, give us a shout!"

Soon enough, the four teens, young fox demon, twin-tailed cat demon and Will O' Wisp were combing through a snowbank up the mountainside for their two missing group members, but have so far seen nothing...

That is, until Kilala (in full form) picks up on a familiar scent from one pile of snow and begins digging, much to Shippo's confusion.

"What is it, Kilala?"

Once a good layer of white is removed, he'd see why she was so frantic...

"Uh! (Calls over his shoulder) C'mere!"

The others turn around and rushes over to see the cat demon pulling out an unconscious Sango from the snowy deep!

"Sango!"

"Shoot, how long has she been under there?!"

"Sis, give her this. I'm gonna work on pulling her weapon out."

Coraline nods and takes the gourd from Besa before kneeling down on one side of the demon slayer while Inuyasha holds their chilled body up.

"Sango, here, drink this medicine. It's suppose to work well for hypothermia."

Sango takes in a few gulps...and blinks awake, much to Shippo and Freeman's relief.

"Wow, it really does work!"

"Phew, that was close..."

Re-corking the gourd bottle, Coraline thinks to herself while looking at the recovering slayer with a wry smile,

 _I, think I'll skip telling her the ingredients for this stuff and not risk her getting sick..._

 _(Frown) Hang on, if she's here, then where's-_

Besa would beat her to the punch with the question as he drags over Hiraikotsu after struggling to get it unburied.

"Hah, hah...Sango, where's Miroku? Is he nearby somewhere in this snow too?"

She mutters the monk's name in a short intake of breath...but then recalls the event before she was buried alive in the cold, and clenches an angered fist as she slowly rose to her feet.

"I can picture it...He's enjoying his happy new family of three!"

That made everyone form a collective expression of befuddlement, while Sango continued to stare down at the snow with a hateful and disheartened look...

...At the same time this was happening, our dear monk had been led by Koyuki into a part of the forest that grew thick stalks of bamboo, his mind caught in a somewhat transfixed daze. He does manage to take note of a power blocking other lost eyes away from the area they were heading to.

 _A barrier..._

They would soon come towards a large mansion, to which Koyuki would confirm as hers, or rather, theirs.

"Right this way, my dear husband. We've arrived at our home."

Miroku thinks to himself,

 _This woman is not of this world...Why would she be harming humans?_

 _...Does she kill men in order to feed on their life spirit?_

As soon as they approach close enough to the entrance door of the mansion...the monk would be shocked to find a large group of toddlers rushing to greet him with smiles and cries of joy!

"Daddy!" "Daddy!"

"Daddy!"

One can only imagine how stunned Miroku was by the address, as he rushed to catch one of the young boys in his arms.

"Guh! Daddy?! Y-You mean...they're all mine?"

Koyuki says to him with a smile,

"Dear, keep them company for a few minutes, won't you? I'll prepare some rice gruel for our meal."

With that, she moves out to another part of the mansion, leaving Miroku to mutter uncertainly,

"Right. Rice gruel," before his face is hit with a, um, 'yellow stream'...

"You'll find the diapers in a pile by the babies."

"Ueh, thanks."

Moving into said room where several infants were swaddled in their own blankets and baskets, while a few toddlers laid about napping or merely sat while eying Miroku with interest, he grabs one of the cloth diapers to clean his face before noting the abundance of children in this place.

"...There's so many of them. They're everywhere...hah..."

"Don't do it."

"Rh!"

Koyuki looms in behind him and asks,

"Don't tell me you've forgotten about them, Miroku. They are your children; you can be sure of that."

Miroku sweatdrops as he mutters within his head with worry,

 _They're mine...all of them?_

...At the same time, the rest of the gang was running through the bamboo complex of the forest (save Shippo who was riding on Kilala) to track down their missing friend. However, Sango's bristled anger over what she had to witness had yet to quell.

"I heard it with my own ears! She said the child was his!"

"Heh, come to think of it, maybe it's time for him to settle down. Hey, this could be the perfect opportunity!"

The demon slayer would not appreciate such a comment, glaring heatedly at the dog demon, while Shippo mutters,

"What a doofus," before Coraline and Besa scold,

"Come on, you guys: It's so obvious that the she-demon lied to lure Miroku in!"

"Yeah, besides, wasn't their last meeting more than seven years ago? That would've made Miroku roughly eleven, which is waaaay too young to be thinkin' about kids, even for this time period. You can't honestly say that his preteen self was so lecherous, can you?"

The second voice of reason would cause Sango's anger to falter some, her face briefly forming an expression of guilt for her jump to negativity, just as they come across the area where the barrier laid, notified by a sound ring billowing over transparency like rippling water. Lumos began hovering in circles around the front center point, which Freeman notes as,

"Yep. Definite sign that a demon's behind this..."

Inuyasha prepares to draw Tessaiga:

"Yeah. I'll tear the thing wide open."

"Wait."

"Huh?"

But he would pause come Coraline's request, as she approaches the invisible barrier while unsheathing her combat knife.

"If it's alright...I'd like to take a crack at it with my knife, since it too has the power to break barriers. I haven't had an opportunity to test its strength yet and this seems like the right time."

"Hm...Alright, knock yourself out. Might help to jump and hack down."

The twins look at one another with knowing smiles, before moving to position themselves in kneels facing one another horizontally and holding their palms together.

"We got your back, sis."

"We can help with altitude."

She nods at all three with a small smile, before stepping back a couple feet, then draws a deep breath while poising her weapon at ready.

 _Okay, focus..._

(...Sheen)

The blade wraps itself in a thin ribbon of her icy blue Aura, but shining the same red as Tessaiga when it tackles a strong shield of energy, making the spectators draw awed breaths before the wielder rushes forward with a warcry and step-jumps on her brother's hands, whom propel her several feet upward and watch as she thrusts her knife in to the shield and drags it down with her to rip the energy open!

She lands with a soft thwump onto the snow, teetering sideways from the somewhat clumsy drop until Inuyasha steadies her.

"Keh, easy there, rookie...That wasn't too bad for your first try." She smiles and replies,

"Hah, hah, thanks...Alright, let's head in."

Everyone nods, before rushing into Koyuki's territory...

Miroku's POV

I'm now inside the laundry room of the mansion washing some linen, while also chiding calmly to the three young ones I have with me who are fussing, one of which was on my back.

"There there, it's alright, don't cry."

"A-choo!"

"Stop that! Don't blow your runny nose on my kimono!"

 _Note to self: Add that to washing list..._

I then spot two more toddler boys using my staff like a witch's broom, and call in a scold,

"Put that down; my staff is not a plaything!"

"Miroku?"

I turn to meet Koyuki's eyes, she kneeling with some other children on a mat:

"Yes?"

"Yosaku needs to be fed. Sutematsu really needs to be changed, and I need you to sing a lullaby to Otora and put her down for a nap, alright?"

"Y-Yes, right away."

 _Goodness, these tasks keep coming and coming..._

Once I got through that small agenda (while also redirecting another young boy from peeing somewhere he shouldn't...), I take a small breather and sat on the porch while holding a small sleeping child in my lap. Koyuki then comes to my side with a cloth to wipe the perspiration from my forehead.

"That's very kind of you...Have you, honestly been taking care of all these children on your own?"

"Of course. That's what a mother does: Look after her children."

"Hm...Tell me...are they honestly all mine?"

 _For I find it extremely hard to believe she gave birth so many times, even in small portions from the main mass..._

"They were children whose villages were burned down in the war, and children whose mothers passed soon after the birth, leaving them alone in the world...I began taking them in and soon I has this many."

 _Ah, now that makes more sense...Still..._

"That's a huge burden you've taken on."

"Indeed it is...but they deserve a chance at happiness..."

I notice how saddened she sounded on that particular note, and began to wonder what else this woman I met long ago has yet to reveal...

Small Time Skip, No POV

A short while later, Inuyasha and company had arrived in the bamboo expanse of this vast, frozen forest, inching all the more closer to the grand mansion where their monk had been lured to...

"Be careful. We're gettin' close..."

...Just as the dog demon warns his companions to be on guard, they all pick up on the soft distant sound of Miroku crooning a lullaby to one of the children.

"Huh?"

"Is that...?"

"Yeah, that sounds like Miroku..."

"Huh. Didn't picture him as a singer..."

Freeman then shrugs,

"Well, if there is a kid mixed into this, they can't be Miroku's. Like Besa said, he would've been too young to uh, 'get busy'...But I can't help but wonder: Maybe this woman, who or whatever she is, either had a child with another unknown guy, or had taken an orphan in."

Sango hums with a lessening glare but somewhat skeptical tone,

"I, suppose that's possible..."

Shippo then points ahead from atop of Kilala's shoulders:

"Look!"

And through the tall stalks of frosty green, the group spots the mansion!

"There it is!"

"Keh, we found it."

As they all began entering the courtyard, inside, Miroku smiles down at a sleeping baby in his arms with a chuckle in his breath.

"She's fast asleep, my little pumpkin. That's my good girl. (Turns around) There there..."

The five teens, one child fox demon, one cat demon and Will O' Wisp reach the entrance door of the mansion, which getting a closer look, was rather worn-down and seemed the type that wasn't lived in for many years, peeping through a few holes in the cracked wood to stare at the monk's form.

"Such a sweet little girl. You're going to be a heart-breaker."

Sango begins grinding her teeth in a newly rising anger, until she feels a hand on her shoulder and turns to see Besa giving her a stern expression.

"Don't believe everything you see."

"Huh?"

Freeman, who was kneeling to look through a lower hole, then points to the object of the group's spying and whispers,

"He's right, look!"

The slayer turns to look back, and widens her eyes when she sees that the bundle in Miroku's hands...was actually a tiny snow figure! Of course, based on the dazed expression on his face, the monk was obviously not in tune with the reality of his situation.

"There there. Close those peepers..."

Sango draws back a bit and says to the others in a low voice,

"Did you see that?" Coraline replies just as soft,

"Clear as day. (Narrows eyes) The woman likely put Miroku under a hypnotic spell."

Scoffing, Inuyasha suddenly leaps up onto the top of the wall going around the mansion and calls down,

"Come on, snap out of it, Miroku!"

But his voice does not reach the monk, who continued to coo at the snowballs he believed were alive...

"Miroku!"

The dog demon then tries to jump down to confront the dazed Miroku, but was stopped by a whirlwind of icy snow forming midair, which threw him backwards into a snowbank outside the mansion!

"Inuyasha!"

Everyone else rushes to his side, just as the small tornado of white settles down a couple feet away from them, revealing noneother than Koyuki!

"You there. Turn back; leave us."

She then focuses her eyes on Coraline's form, who tenses into a defensive stand, and spots a pink fushia glow from her left jeans pocket...

"(Smirk) Ah, I see. Shikon-no-Tama Shards...(Serious frown) Snow Beast, I summon you!"

Another snowy whirlwind blows, before dying away to reveal a large demon with the features of a saber-tooth tiger, but with icicle white fur that stood out wildly and frozen blue armoured patches on its hind legs, upper front legs and part of its forehead. Kilala, whom was standing nearby the wall, hisses at the snow beast, who hisses back just as fiercely, sending a shiver of fright through the former's body. Shippo notes why:

"She's not strong enough to take on that demon! It's too cold for her!"

Koyuki then orders,

"Defeat them and take possession of their Shikon-no-Tama Shards!"

The snow beast begins its lunge towards the object of their battle, to which Inuyasha would counter in his own charge, sword poised at ready.

"Think again, 'cause I'm gonna kill ya! (Leap, swing) Rrrrraaaaaaah!"

(Slash)

His Tessaiga cuts the demon down in two equal halves, and he lands on the ground while commenting smugly,

"Keh, so much for him. Too bad; I was expecting more of a challenge..."

...What he wasn't aware of, however, was that this demon had the power to regenerate, and its two halves of body rejoin to one another before charging at the oblivious dog demon again! Sango and Shippo gasp, just as Freeman decides to take the initiative by running straight in Inuyasha's direction, long hammer raised.

"Watch it, dude!"

"Guh! Hey!"

Thankfully, he ducks in time just as the other male swings hard at the lunging snow beast, smacking the base of the hammer right into its jaw to break one of its longer fangs! The fearsome tiger-like demon yowls back in anger and pain just as Freeman grabs the sleeve of Inuyasha's red haori and pulls him backwards out of the way of an incoming paw, both latter sliding in the snow and panting slightly with their racing hearts.

"Hah...You good?"

"Yeah, hah...Nice cover."

"Thanks."

Meanwhile, inside one of the rooms of the mansion, Miroku was putting another one of the 'babies' to sleep.

"Sleep tight, little blossom..."

He looks up and spots the fair-skinned female gliding past the entrance to the room:

"Oh, Koyuki."

"Yes?"

"I heard some kind of disturbance from outside. Is everything okay?"

Koyuki smiles and replies calmly,

"Some stray dogs broke into the garden, that's all."

"Oh..."

"There's nothing to worry about. I'll chase them out shortly."

Back out in the cold, Inuyasha makes his next move against the snow beast:

"Come on!"

But the dog demon was thrown back by the latter's strength, so much so that he crashed through the roof and into the room where the monk was!

"The children!"

The new hole in the tiling gave way for some rays from the sun to shine in, causing Miroku to flinch from the brightness...but then lose his spellbound daze.

"...Huh?"

His attention then falls on Inuyasha, who gets up off the ground while eyeing the monk with an annoyed glare.

"Rgh, Miroku!"

"Inuyasha?"

"Come to your senses!"

"I never lost my senses!...Uh?"

That's when Miroku takes a better look around the room and in his arms, finally seeing through Koyuki's trickery.

"...Snow?"

The woman behind the sorcery then appears, and releases a torrent of ice from her mouth at the two males, who jump out of the way in the nick of time...

"You won't get away from me." Miroku turns to address Koyuki:

"You resemble someone...a woman I once knew. Very much so...(Frown) I didn't want to be rough on you. I'm sorry."

With that, the monk throws one of his sacred sutras at the woman before him, who shrieks with pain as the spiritual power sparks and attacks her body...which shifts to foreshadow her true form as the blue-skinned snow demon!

...Meanwhile, everyone else of our group was struggling to stay out of the line of the snow beast's claws, the current targets being Shippo and Besa, the former being carried by the latter.

"Don't eat me; I don't taste good!"

The dark-skinned boy then trips in the snowbank with a grunt, as Sango tries to land a hit with her own weapon.

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...)

Unfortunately, the giant boomerang would only connect with white powder as the snow beast zips out of the way...

"It's fast..."

Coraline then takes a crack at attacking the snow beast just as Inuyasha comes leaping over the barrier wall of the mansion to help.

" _Spirit Slash!_ "

(Slash, boom...)

"Damn it, missed! Huah!"

She somersaults out of the way in time from the demon's paw as it lunges to swipe at her, and Inuyasha rushes to her side to haul her up before readying his Tessaiga.

"I'll get it! _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH...)

But the snow beast merely rolled around in the air out of the way of the incoming three-tine claw mark...

"(Growl) It just won't die!"

Miroku's POV

With the woman's guise gone, I could see her for whom she has become: A bitter she-demon with sadness corroding her heart.

"...I despise it...despise it...!"

Maintaining my stance to hold the power of my sutra, I ask her,

"Why would one as gentle and kindhearted as you intentionally deceive men and do them harm?"

"I despise them...I hate this world!"

Her eyes brim with tears as she collapses to her knees, overcome by her depression and grief.

"I hate that I was born into a world like this...I hate it...!"

 _You poor soul...You can't handle the harshness of these times._

"I only want you to find peace."

I raise my staff into the air...before telling her,

"Forgive me," and swung down hard to destroy her snowy shell...

And in doing so, I released her soul, along with several others that were more than likely from departed children. I rush outside just as the lights enter what appeared to be a snow leopard (or tiger) demon.

"I don't like the looks of this..."

I agreed with Inuyasha, just as the demon's body throbs and grows slightly. My friend then wonders in frustration,

"How are we gonna kill that thing for good?" I move near his side and reply,

"Heat. That demon's weakness is heat and fire."

Shippo was immediate to follow through with his abilities:

"Alright! I'll use my Fox Fire! (Leap) Take that, and that!"

The blue flames do connect with the snow demon's head...but were not strong enough to combat, dissipating and leaving behind a very angry predator to chase our young fox demon.

"So much for that brilliant idea!" I then hear Coraline mutter,

"Wait...I've got it! The restorative potion!"

 _Potion?_

She then rushes to board Kilala, before taking off to the air and jeers to the snow demon,

"Yo, beast of burden! Catch me if you can!"

Inuyasha calls out her name with worry, as she and Kilala flew higher and higher with the snow demon on their tails...That was when she made her move, tossing the gourd downward and cries out,

"Now, Sango!"

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...CRACK)

The weapon smashes the bottle open, spilling the substance onto the demon's back, just as Coraline draws her sword and releases one of her energy attacks, the difference this time being that it sparked more, leaving the snow demon vulnerable to catch flame! Inuyasha wastes no time:

"Now's my chance! _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

One attack was all it took before the beast was destroyed, leaving behind thousands of tiny ice crystals...which form into an image of the woman from my past.

 _Koyuki..._

"Is that a snow demon too?" Inuyasha replies tactlessly to Shippo,

"Who cares; it's going down!" I call for him to stop:

"Wait!"

He glances behind himself with confusion at me, and I add,

"That's enough; we've done our job here. Her spirit has been freed from the snow maiden."

The icy image then dips her head to me...before fading away before my very eyes, leaving me to sigh with relief for her departure to a less hostile existence...

Small Time Skip, No POV

Moving outside the mansion's area, we find everyone standing near the riverside that was thawing with the rest of the snow-dusted lands, in front of a new gravesite with offerings placed, as Miroku prays to the departed and reveals the identity of the snow maiden's victim.

"It was the soul of a woman who lost her life because of the war...After her death, she took in the souls of children and babies whom had also lost their lives in the war, and devoted herself to taking care of them. (Sad frown) Then at some point, a snow demon had found her and taken possession of her spirit."

Sango notes in a dismal tone,

"It's tragic," and the twins nod in agreement with their own serious frowns:

"What a drag..."

"Depressing way to go..."

Coraline leans her head onto Inuyasha's shoulder and muses in a saddened whisper,

"The Sengoku Era is unkind to all, and women are no exception."

The dog demon places his arm over her shoulders and hugs her to his side, before asking the monk,

"Miroku, got a question for ya: How come you followed her when she told you about the kids? You must've remembered her."

Sango sucks in a deep breath to stop herself from growling in frustration, as Coraline gives Inuyasha a pointed look.

"Really?"

"What?" Shippo sighs and mutters to himself,

"He really is a fool," just as Miroku rose and readies to answer:

"I'll tell you..."

...But Sango would beat him to the punch:

"Miroku purposely fell under her spell in order to save the woman the demon inhabited."

Inuyasha forms a surprised expression, while the three modern teens secretly smiled at one another in a knowing fashion...

"That's it. That's exactly right."

"Miroku would never father scores of illicit children...riiiight?"

(Slap)

"Guh!"

"Hm, another mosquito."

...There's a somewhat awkward pause, before Inuyasha breaks it with a causal,

"Well, I'm ready to go," and leads Coraline away as she chimes,

"Same here."

Shippo, Freeman and Besa follow quick with their own responses:

"Me too."

"Second."

"Third."

Sango would silently move with them...while Miroku lingered at the gravesite a little longer in thought.

 _She honestly resembled Koyuki...the beautiful woman who saved me when I was very young._

 _(Opens his eyes) She's still happy and alive somewhere...I wanna believe that._

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Hm?"

His attention then turns to Lumos, who was gently hovering in a circle around a descending snowflake...He walks over and watches the tiny ice crystal fall to the ground...

 _One last snowflake._

He then smiles slightly, and moves forward with the guiding Will O' Wisp, leaving behind the white-dusted tomb...


	114. Chapter 113

**Chapter 113: The Foreboding Prelude of Cheated Death**

The warm air hangs thick over the grounds of a new village during another summer night in Sengoku Japan, the skies reflecting a peaceful atmosphere in the shining stars peeking from behind the thin cloud cover...

But just outside the main perimeter of this populace of humans, where a simply-made tombstone shrine stood, some other force was about to stir awake, and one not of the pleasant variety.

(...Sheeeeeen)

A blinding light of cyan blue shimmers from the dirt up, before the gravestone suddenly splits in two from the pressures of a small quake, followed quickly by the billowed collapse of the shrine hut just as the light fades away...!

(...Step, step)

And moving to stand in front of the once proud structure, was our familiar young demon slayer whose mind was muddled by the dark, who looks down at the seven shards of the Shikon-no-Tama in his hand...

Time Skip

The sun would soon rise for a new day, and we now turn our eyes down between the tree cover of a rust brown dirt path cut through the forests of the northeast, as Miroku pauses at the mouth of the exit to check the direction he and everyone else was wandering.

"...Ox-Tiger. It's this way, if I'm not mistaken."

Besa, who today was wearing a grey t-shirt, brown khaki shorts and white sneakers, contrasting the colours of the monk's purple robes and making his own dark skin stand out, pulls out a small travel compass from his pocket and holds it out for both men to see.

"Hm...Yep, you're right."

"Good...That is a very handy device to carry, by the way."

"Thanks."

As those two began their trek again, the others were trailing a few feet behind them, with Kilala hanging out on Sango's left shoulder, while Shippo rested on Freeman's, he wearing a similar outfit to his twin brother but was wearing a muscle-style tank-top rather than a t-shirt. Lumos was hovering around in a steady circle around Inuyasha and Coraline, the two latter walking close to one another while holding eachother's hands.

The redheaded girl, who wore attire consisting of a black tank-top under a white/grey checkered, unbuttoned short-sleeved shirt, dark blue jeans and her brown hiker shoes, was currently lost in serious and somewhat grim thought.

 _Well, here we are, back on course for the Northeast...where hopefully, we'll find the source of that Demonic Aura._

"Damn that Naraku and his little tricks. Where could he have disappeared to?"

Sango replies to the dog demon's bitter grumble,

"I'm guessing that he went into hiding because you managed to break into his barrier."

The young fox demon was starting to become skeptical:

"I kind-a doubt it. Knowing Naraku, that can't be the only reason."

Freeman interjects,

"But he did get whacked around pretty hard by Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's powers. It'd make sense that he'd wanna take his sweet time to heal before comin' to lash at his enemies again...Still, even this is becoming too long a delay..."

That's when a probable theory hits Inuyasha:

"Hang on a minute...!" Coraline asks,

"What?"

Clenching his free fist and squeezing the girl's hand a little, the dog demon replies in a worked-up tone,

"What if Naraku was trying to lure us with his Demonic Aura and into another one of his little traps? We could be playing right into his hands!"

Everyone stiffens to a stop, and Miroku hms with a hand under his chin,

"Yes, that is possible," while Shippo states in a wary tone,

"It wouldn't be the first time he's tricked us, that's for sure..."

...Looking up towards the mountaintops up ahead, Coraline recalls,

 _That way..._

 _That's where Mount Hakurei is, where my Soul Sister will soon be..._

"Whatever may be waiting for us, it won't do to just turn around."

Everyone turns to look at her as she takes a breath in and forms a determined expression.

"Don't get me wrong; I'm a bit worried about the unknown...but that worry, also fuels the need to keep moving, to face the bastard beast who's been eluding our eyes like the coward he really is. (Small smirk) Right?"

The group stared with awe at how confident she sounded...before forming small smiles/smirks of their own and nodding in agreement.  
They began moving onward once more, a bit more pep in their steps, as Coraline thinks to herself fiercely,

 _You wanted to start a war, Naraku?...We'll give you one._

...At the same time that group continues their way, up on one of the mountain paths bordering the trees and overlooking a high cliff edging, was Ayame, who was rushing along with a couple of her fellow white-furred wolves back to her tribe, when she catches sight of a horde of demons fleeing in another direction in the open air.

 _The demons are running away..._

She leaps down the cliff to the lower pathways and sprints on, just as we see a thick, purple miasma rise overhead in those distant mountains...And in the lower forests, we see the Elder of the Wolf Demon Tribe pause his steps atop a fallen log, picking up an odor that made him tense.

"This scent...I know it."

Two other wolves of considerable age (one with slate-brown fur and the other sandy-brown), yet not as old as he, approach to report some troubling news.

"Elder. Our dens in the valley have all been destroyed."

"More burrows have been burned out as well."

A third older wolf, with dark brown fur and his right eye scarred, hops onto the log behind the Elder to speak his findings.

"The beast seems to be devouring everything in its path. Half of the demons on the mountain have already become its prey."

The trouble only grows as four humanoid wolf demons arrive, three of them battered and bruised while one was barely able to stand with the help of his friend.

"Our fangs and claws are useless against it."

"We don't stand a chance against its power unless we have the power of the Shikon-no-Tama."

The Elder forms a pensive and grim expression, just as his granddaughter Ayame returns.

"Grandpa. The beast is coming."

"So...it ate everything in sight on that side of the mountain and is coming down to the borders."

The injured wolf demon exclaims,

"Our comrades have been devoured!" Another one postulates,

"Kōga's the only one who can possibly stand up to it!"

A third mutters bitterly, _  
_

"Damn it all. If only Ayame grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him home to us..."

Said redheaded wolf demoness stiffens up, but remains silent, while her sharp green eyes reflected a smouldering anger from the characterization...

Suddenly, there came the crashing sound of multiple trees tumbling to the ground, echoing with the screams of horses, which gave the wolves and wolf demons the signal they all needed.

"The beast is coming!"

"Run for it!" "It'll eat us alive!"

Just as the group makes their retreat, a horde of demons appears from the air in a lunge, prompting Ayame to say to her grandfather,

"Grandpa, let's split up, okay?"

He nods, and they dart of in separate directions, while the other wolves/wolf demons began to fight off their attackers. Unfortunately, two of the men (the injured and his crutch) weren't lucky enough, and were taken down hard in a gnash of teeth...

"Why are the demons attacking us?"

"They're hungry. The beast has devoured their prey."

Her grandfather's explanation did not ease Ayame's quivering heart, nor one of the other wolf demons who exclaims in fury,

"Damn! We flee the specter only to be eaten by demons!"

The demons then start to charge at the living, but the young demoness wasn't having any of that.

"No you don't!"

She distracts them by shooting a few leaf shuriken at their heads before directing a point to the body of water ahead.

"Okay, everyone: Hurry and get across the river!"

The others run on with no hesitation, just as the demon horde catches up.  
Ayame watches them come with narrowed eyes as she wonders quietly to herself,

"How could the beast, have descended the mountains so quickly?"

She then leaps up high and drops back down fast to punch the ground strongly and release a whirlwind of green to slow the attackers down, giving the wolf demon time to hurry along and meet with her fellow tribe members...

Kōga's POV

My friends and I had stopped by a river further up these northern mountains to refuel on some water, when they tell me about something that's been going on these last couple weeks...

"A giant Demonic Aura passed overhead?"

"Yeah, and the whole area's talkin' about it."

"No one has seen it since though."

"It disappeared?"

Ginta nods, and I ask another question:

"Where to?"

Hakkaku replies with a shrug,

"No one knows."

I grit my teeth with a suppressed growl, and look back at the water with a growing unease in my chest.

 _The river upstream flows to the mountains up north. We've come close to Ayame and the Elder..._

 _Ayame said that the demon had come, and everyone was nervous. That's why she came to take me back..._

 _...But I chased her away._

Recalling the hurt expression hidden by her smile, I had to force myself to bite back a wince, but I couldn't stop my eyes from shining with worry.

 _I have a bad feeling about this..._

My tenseness would double tenfold, when my nose picks up on a sickening scent, followed by the dark crimson flowing into the watery blue...

"Blood...!"

 _What the hell's happenin'...?!_

Ayame's POV

My fellow tribe members and I had made it back up into the mountains, but the heavy sprinting was taking a toll on grandfather, who missed his footing on one leg and toppled over.

"Elder!"

"Grandpa!"

I slowed to a halt and sped around to kneel down in front of my senior family member, who says to me in a weakened voice,

"Oh, forgive me, dear. I-I was just a bit tired. I was, careless..."

Even so, his muscles protested in allowing him to rise back up, and I chide to him,

"Grandpa, don't push yourself; stay still."

Unfortunately, time was not on our side, as our ears pick up the distant echoes of the demon horde still seeking our flesh...

"They're closing in on us; we have to move!"

One of the seniors offers up a plan:

"I'll act as a decoy and attract the demons to come after me. Make your escape while you still can."

 _But...he will be-_

I argue back,

"We can't do that! You'll never make it out alive!"

That wasn't the senior's concern:

"Protect the Elder and track down Kōga...and then defeat that beast."

I could only stare at him in awe for his willingness to sacrifice his life...

"Don't worry about me. I won't get killed by any pipsqueak demons like them."

With that, he leaps off down the mountain face, despite my protest:

"No, wait! Don't go!...Please come back! Come back here!...(Mumble) He's in trouble, and he's wounded as well..."

"Let's go, Ayame."

I turn to one of the men with me, who says in a gentle but firm tone,

"We don't have time to delay. You must honour the elder's wishes and go."

 _...Damn it, he's right._

 _Godspeed, Senior. May we meet with you again._

No POV

We zoom down into the tree cover of the lower mountain, as the senior wolf with the scarred eye pants heavily but keeps up his trek to lure the flesh-seeking demons to his proximity...

His plan is a success, and the beasts lunge out from the air to bite into the wolf's fur and skin viciously, his blood spilling out in torrents to the tune of his pained howl...!

...But his luck would rise, when Kōga suddenly bursts out from the treetops to the other's aid!

"Get off him!"

A few swipes from his fists would bring down the demons in no time flat, just as Ginta, Hakkaku and the wolves traveling with them catch up.

"Kōga!"

As soon as it was deemed safe, the wolf demons would carry the senior wolf to the closest part of the river heading north to try and tend to the latter's wounds...

"Thank you...So, you're from one of the tribes to the South?"

"Elder, you have the gift of speech."

He tilts his head to Kōga, and we see that his fur was heavily bloodied in accordance to the deep wounds.

"You went to the trouble of saving me, but I fear my end is at hand..."

"Listen: Aren't you an Elder to the Northern Mountains?"

Hakkaku then says to the senior,

"Ayame came from the north to get Kōga not long ago."

"Kōga? Is Kōga here with us?"

Said subject of conversation kneels his head closer and states,

"I am Kōga."

"I'm, glad I had a chance to meet with you, Kōga. We abandoned our territories and ascended to the Northern Mountains...as did the demons that attacked us."

"You fled from your land?"

"Fled from what?"

The grievously-injured wolf answers both Ginta and Hakkaku in a bitter tone:

"...From a specter." Kōga inquires for more details:

"Specter?"

"It came from far beyond or northern border. It is neither a demon, nor a human, yet its body reeked of dead men and graveyard soil..."

The senior wolf's voice began to wheeze as he felt death's waiting hand close in.

"And it, began to, eat the demons, close, by..."

And with a final stuttered breath...his life came to a close, leaving Kōga to shut his eyes with a solemn expression...He and his friends then do their kindness to the dead and bury the wolf, leaving a single rock to mark the grave.

"...What'll we do now, Kōga?"

He replies to Hakkaku while keeping his eyes on the grave,

"I'm going."

That answer left the other two wolf demons confused:

"Huh?"

"To find the specter that he spoke of?"

"We're already busy in our search for Naraku."

"This specter has nothing to do with us."

...The young leader slowly rose to his feet before turning to look at his friends with a serious expression.

"We can't ignore that our brethren were slaughtered. The least we can do is see what this is about...Besides, the mutt's heading this way, so there must be somethin' to it."

"Inuyasha?"

He nods to Hakkaku:

"I know the scent of that mangy mutt anywhere. (Glance) Which means your mate's scent should be mixed in too, Ginta."

Said wolf demon sniffs the air...before his eyes widen slightly in realization.

"Uh! You're right..."

"Anyway, I ain't gonna stand by and be upstaged by that dog. Let's go!"

Activating his speeding whirlwind, Kōga began sprinting off in the direction he caught Inuyasha's scent, leaving the others to rush after him.

"Wait up, Kōga!"

...And speaking of Inuyasha, we catch up with him and his group as they enter a valley, he now carrying Coraline and Besa on his back, while Kilala took Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Freeman on hers, and Lumos zoomed on a foot ahead of them all. His nose then picks up on a scent that left him as disgruntled as the wolf demon now traveling nearby this area.

"Smells of wolves here!" Coraline asks him with a half-smile,

"Can you be more specific? We're kind-a building a list of known wolves..."

"There's only one wolf with this distinct smell. It has to be Kōga!"

Miroku says from the air,

"If your senses are correct and it is indeed him, then he must be heading for the Northeast just as we are."

"I wonder if he's come across some kind of clue?"

Besa calls back to Sango from his place atop Inuyasha's left,

"Shouldn't be too much of a surprise, considering his burning desire to crush Naraku's about as strong as ours. I'm actually shocked there isn't a growing stampede in this area with the same vendetta plot..."

"...Did someone mention Kōga?"

Everyone's heads perk up from the distant call of a familiar female voice.

"Hm?"

"Hey, did that sound like..."

A flurry whirlwind of leaves suddenly appears before fading back to unveil Ayame, causing Inuyasha to screech to a halt in time with Kilala's landing. It would be Lumos who approached the she-wolf first, hovering near for a moment...before breaking into an excited chirp and flutters around the girl in a dizzying circle, making her smile slightly.

 _Aw, how cute._

Coraline smiles upon getting a better look at the fellow redhead:

"Hey, Ayame! Been a while."

The twins hop off their respected rides and move to eachother's sides while whispering,

"Isn't she with one of the wolf demon tribe branches?"

"Heh, yeah and was briefly jealous of Cora 'til she saw that the other was taken by Inuyasha..."

Said girls of conversation approach one another, and awkwardly shook hands.

"Uh, nice to see you."

"Same...Have you gone to see your grandfather yet back in the Northern Mountains?"

"I-I did, but..."

Noticing the apprehensive and saddened frown, Coraline's smile fell into a concerned expression.

"...What's wrong, Ayame? What happened?"

"We were forced to flee when the beast came after us."

"Beast?"

"A beast who devours demons."

The three modern teens suck in sharp breaths, as Inuyasha mutters with a narrowed glare,

"I don't like the sound of that..."

...Moving back into the thick greenery towered by the rock formations, we find a young apprentice priest and his senior moving along as the sky darkens to a coming storm. The roll of thunder was enough jitter at some nearby birds as well as the spirit of the former.

"Gh!...Master, please listen to me: We must reach the mountains or we'll be forced to sleep out in the open...Shouldn't we turn back to that village and find an open inn?"

"Oooh, don't be such a coward. Come."

The younger man rushes to catch up with the elder as he then recalls something he heard spoken in this area.

"I heard that a giant demon has been appearing in this area in the past few days, master."

"Hm, so what if they're is? I shall suppress any demon with my spiritual powers, hahahahaha!"

The man's chuckle would be cut short when a distant rumble passes ahead, scaring a larger flock of birds away...The sky clouds over thick with an ominous purple aura, followed by a few, steady and heavy footfalls, making the younger apprentice cower in a crouch.

A few trees come crashing down near the pair...just as an enormous silhouette rises up ahead, its teeth gnashing away on a new victim of demonic origins. The senior priest looks up at the beast with wide, horrified eyes as the younger exclaims,

"Oh no, look: A demon eating demon!"

...The beast's shadowed form the turns its front to their direction, making the apprentice squeak,

"Master, use your powers to defeat him!"

Unfortunately, though he did try to hone in his energies, the elder priest was overcome by the fearful sight, and would turn around to run as fast as he could in the other direction.

"I can't!"

"Hey, wait for me, master!"

...And looking up, we see the monstrous silhoutette's eyes glow a lethal red.

Small Time Skip, Freeman's POV

We were soon lead up the mountain to a reasonable-sized cave hidden away by some boulders where Ayame's pack was resting at, mostly for the sake of her grandfather. My brother and I quickly got to work on steadily healing his injuries using our Seven Light Crystals and some light bandaging on his front legs, while sis provided some first aid to the two wolf demon men guarding the entrance. As Besa and I did our thing, we'd hear out with everyone else what's been going on in this region...

"A specter?"

"Are we talkin' full-on undead?" Ayame nods and adds,

"And it doesn't appear to be demon or human."

The Elder then very tiredly gives his insight:

"It came from...from the Northeast."

 _Northeast?! That's where we're heading!_

Miroku had similar thoughts:

"From the Northeast? The direction of the Ox-Tiger..."

Ayame and the Elder give us a description of what this undead freak's been up to since it arrived.

"In no time at all, the specter devoured all the demons and spirits that lived in these mountains. Then it descended to the borders of our own territory..."

"So many of our friends were devoured..."

My brother forms a deeply-sympathetic frown:

"My condolences for your losses, Elder...though if I may be so bold to ask, how was your pack overcome so quickly by one specter? Is it truly that strong?"

Sango chimes from a few feet away,

"I was about to ask that myself," and Ayame replies,

"The specter is about the size of a small mountain."

 _Yipes..._

Cora thinks to herself aloud,

"Hm, we've battled large beasts before, but I don't recall any of them being that tall..."

Shippo wonders himself,

"How can there be such a creature?"

Miroku then provides some info he knows about this kind of undead:

"It's been said since ancient times that men who've died with unfinished business turn into such creatures. They never let go of their hatred."

"There aren't many who could do this: Resurrect a terrifying creature that devours demons without any hesitation?"

Inuyasha would be the one who narrowed down the culprit of Sango's question.

"Kuh, it has got to be _him_."

My sister, brother and I echoed the unsaid name at the same time with matching glaring frowns.

" _Naraku._ " I add aloud in a bitter afterthought,

"No surprise; this is totally up that bastard creep's alley of nefarious schemes..."

By this time, Besa and I had done our job for the Elder, and we formed more positive smiles before chiding,

"Okay, you should be good to go again, Elder."

"Just take it easy if you're gonna choose to run on your own legs again."

He gives us a nod, and Ayame then says to us all,

"I must leave now, and try to take the Elder and the remainder of the wolf demon clan to safety...But..."

Cora immediately caught onto what the other was thinking about:

"No worries, Ayame: I have this feeling we'll be seeing Kōga sooner than later, so we'll tell him you and the rest of your clan managed to elude the specter, despite the losses."

"(Small smile) Coraline...thanks for all your help, (turn) and you two for healing grandpa with your strange crystals."

Besa and I chime,

"Glad to help."

We'd all part our separate ways shortly afterward, Ayame and her tribe heading for the exit from this area, while we readied ourselves to keep moving Northeast...

"Be careful, and good luck, Ayame!" Shippo adds his own farewell after sis:

"Bye, take care!"

The she-wolf then calls back a last warning:

"One more thing: The specter smells of corpses and graveyard soil!"

 _Corpses and graveyard soil?_

 _Hm...well, no way Kikyō's involved in this: She's become a good ally to us, and her body's technically among the living now despite being on the border between dead and alive. Plus any crazy hatred that might be remaining in her, is all directed at Naraku._

"You know...this almost sounds like that attack Kagura's used on us a few times, her 'Dance of the Dead'."

Everyone focuses their eyes on me as I stated that thought, but I then realize,

"But on the other hand, even this is too gory for her repertoire, and her loyalties have been waning...Yeah, this is a whole new ballpark of creepy, one that we're all going headfirst into. (Throws his head up) If you're listening up there, god, thanks alot for the delay and making this search for that bastard alot harder!"

Time Skip, No POV

It's now nighttime, and we return to the area of the forest mountains where the purple, miasmatic aura hung heavy in the sky, as Kohaku stood atop a tree branch observing the giant zombie from before, that was consuming yet more demon flesh to sedate their appetite...

"Master Kyokotsu."

The monster looks up, and we see that their guise was a crazed-looking man with tanned pale skin, tightened around the face to show muscle and veins with blue tattoo markings under his bloodshot eyes, sharp teeth and aqua green hair that was short and stood on end thanks to a black headband holding it up.

"The Shikon-no-Tama shards are close. The ones who possess it are approaching."

The specter, now identified as Kyokotsu, replies with a raspy deep voice and swallow of his latest meal,

"Yeah...I see. It was worth heading over there before my brothers do the same. Kohaku, was it not? You are free to leave."

Said boy turns to move on his way, just as the giant adds,

"That is all...but I will have that shard on your back!"

He then tries to snatch up the younger into his hand, but Kohaku leaps upward to dodge, before using his kusarigama to slice off Kyokotsu's hand!

"I'd advise against such deceit."

...And looking above the crouching young demon slayer, we see a few of the Saimyōshō...

"Hmm...so you're under his protection? Very well then."

Kyokotsu reaches down to grab his fallen hand and adds,

"I'll leave you alone. I value my life, especially since I was resurrected from the grave."

And we see that much like the more traditional zombies, this beast was able to reattach his fallen appendage with ease...Yet unlike the old school undead, his revival was granted by the power of the singular jewel shard embedded in his forehead...

Kōga's POV

My pack and I soon reach outside the forest and onto the path heading into the mountain valley a couple hours after we laid the Senior Wolf to rest for the afterlife...

But it was just as we began moving up the first slope, that my wolves were attacked by a giant hand springing out of the trees up top! Most of them managed to dodge, save one who was thrown backwards into the air, but I caught them before they could drop hard on the ground.

"Keep your hands off my wolves!"

Next thing I knew, this ugly bulk of a beast-man rose into view, and when I say rose, I mean he was much larger than I anticipated.

"Is it you? Are you the one who possesses the Shikon-no-Tama shards?"

 _Damn...he's huge, and how does he know-Unless...could he have been sent by Naraku?_

"I will have the jewel shards, and your life!"

My friends fought to stop trembling at the sight of this creep:

"W-What'd he say?"

"Look at the size of that thing!" I glare up bravely at the giant:

"Kuh, so you're the specter I've heard about, just as the wolf demon tribe elder said. You reek...You stink of corpses and graveyard soil! You're neither human nor demon!"

"I still smell? It's been some time since I emerged from my grave."

Hakkaku and Ginta wonder to themselves,

"He didn't blink an eye!"

"Is he really a specter?"

"I'll have to eat more, and put on muscles. (Leers at me) You, over there: You'll become one with the great Kyokotsu!"

I leaped out of the way of his lunging hand and prepped to kick down back at him.

"No chance! Damn you to hell!"

(SLAM)

Landing a square hit in the side of his face, the freak Kyokotsu falls backwards to the ground hard.  
I land and sense the rest of my pack duck behind a large boulder.

 _Probably a smart move for them right now: They have power, but I stand a better chance of taking this undead menace on..._

"How dare you lust after my blood and that of my comrades!"

The beast just chuckles and sits up with no real effort:

"I see: In your legs...You have fragments of the Shikon-no-Tama in your legs."

"Kyokotsu, you say? Tell me, just what kind of beast are you?"

 _I don't smell Naraku on this one, so I'm certain he wasn't born out of the other's flesh..._

"(Grinds teeth) What do you mean, 'what am I'? I am human; isn't it obvious?"

 _What?! No way this bastard can claim to be mortal!_

"Huh, so you're an average man, who 'happened' to emerge alive from the grave?"

Kyokotsu points a thumb to his forehead, and I catch that familiar faint glow of pink.

"Thanks to this Shikon-no-Tama shard, I fell much better than the first time I was alive!"

 _A Shikon-no-Tama shard. A real one!_

"Dammit, how'd you get a hold of that?!"

"And what if I told you? (Lunge) You're still going to end up in my belly!"

Once again, I was able to jump back fast enough to get away from that freak's hand...

"You're in serious trouble if you think you can capture me with such clumsy moves!"

"Grh, this is how I deal with quick ones like you!"

Next thing I knew, he pulls out a ginormous chigiriki made with a smooth iron ball, and spins it around before trying to whack me with the end!

"Nice try, bad aim!"

We then went into a contest of speed versus delivery, which I was easily winning...

"Aim straight if you're gonna hit me!...Missed again!"

But just as I reach the end of the path, the bastard caught a lucky break and uses his weapon to break the ground in front of me and throw me back from the impact! I hear my friends call my name with worry, and I slid on my back some before flipping onto my feet.

"Dead man or not, your tough guy act isn't foolin' anyone!"

I then invoke my whirlwind ability and speed in a circle around the giant, who tries again to strike me with the chigiriki...

"As if those tactics would work on me again!"

I barely dodge another swing of the weapon, before leaping up to snap the chain, much to his shock, giving me the opening to kick him hard in the forehead!

"I'll send you back to your grave, dead-man!"

(WHACK, Sheeeeeeen...)

No POV

The collision of opposing sides granted abilities from the jewel that sent countless lives to a world of turmoil, was so strong that the gleam of fushia pink light could be seen from a distant mountain cliff by everyone of our main travel group. Shippo the fox demon would spot the anomaly first:

"Look, Coraline: That light!" She comments with widening eyes,

"That's...the Shikon-no-Tama! No mistake." Miroku remarks,

"Yes, but why is the light so bright?" Sango wonders,

"Could Kōga and Naraku be fighting?"

Inuyasha dismisses such a theory thanks to his instinctual senses:

"Well I'm not pickin' up Naraku's scent," which has Freeman guessing,

"Then it's gotta be that zombie Ayame warned us about...Much as I wish I could be surprised by the idea of that damn jewel making the undead jump to life from the ground up, let's face it: That's no longer even close to bein' the craziest thing we've seen the Shikon-no-Tama do."

Everyone nods grimly in agreement with him, and Besa thinks to himself,

 _Which begs these next two questions:_

 _Are we finally seeing the introduction of Naraku's newest scheme...and will there be more than just the one specter?_

Down in the lower valley where the mountainous rock formations give way to the forest, Ayame, The Elder and the rest of their small pack could see the sheen of light as well.

"Over there..."

"The glow of the Shikon-no-Tama."

"The jewel?...Could it be...Kōga!"

The young wolf demoness wastes no more seconds in jumping her speed towards the source of the pink fushia glow to meet with her proclaimed fiance...Meanwhile, he himself was busy doing his best to fight against Kyokotsu, jumping out of the way of a palm slamming his way, only to get caught in that same hand's grip seconds later!

"Aaaagh!"

He's then pressed to the zombie's face, much to Ginta and Hakkaku's worries:

"Guh!" "Kōga!"

...But when the palm is removed, we see that the wolf demon was alright, standing atop Kyokotsu's neck!

"Thought about your lousy aim, you clumsy corpse!"

(Twiiiist-SNAP)

Next thing we know, the specter's face/head was turned completely upside-down, forcing a wince out of him before he collapses onto his knees!

"Look: He did it!" "Kōga!"

"Keh, that's a pain in the neck."

(...WHAM)

"Grrrrrrh!"

But just as the smug wolf demon turns to walk away, Kyokotsu's fist comes flying at him from behind, causing the former to go sliding into the ground hard...! The trouble was only beginning to brew up once more, as the zombie picks himself up with no issues despite his face/head being off its axis.

"So you thought you beat me?!"

Using his destroyed chigiriki, Kyokotsu begins wailing attacks against his victim until they roll away to the side.

"He, he's still alive...!"

"...Kōga!"

The wolf demon darts his head back to see Ayame emerge from her whirlwind of leaves, who then cries out in warning,

"Kōga, look out!"

Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough on the reaction time, and was snatched up into Kyokotsu's grip! Ginta and Hakkaku cry out their leader's name as they rushed to Ayame's sides, all three watching with helpless eyes as the wolf demon was raised close to the zombie's face, whose face/head pivots back to its original position with a chuckle in his breath.

"So much for your assumptions. Now I'll devour you, jewel shard and all!"

Kōga of course, would not make the end come easy:

"Oh ya think so?! Devour THIS!"

(WHACK)

The wolf demon's fist goes flying right into the specter's forehead...

"Heheheh, doesn't hurt one little bit."

"(Grin) It's all over."

And ripping his fist out, we see that between Kōga's bloodied fingertips...was the jewel fragment that gave the power of reanimation to Kyokotsu's corpse!

"My, Shikon, no-tama Shard!"

Purple-black fumes begin emitting from he as his flesh dissolves away, leaving the poor wolf demon to go tumbling down with a gigantic pile of bones and armour...!

...Meanwhile, the chigiriki fades away in a poisonous purple gleam, making way for a small drove of the Saimyōshō...

"Kōga!"

"Kōga, where are you?!"

"Are you alive?!"

Zooming into one section of the pile of white, we see that the wolf demon was fine, other than being stuck and struggling to reach the jewel fragment a few feet away from him. Success would elude the wolf demon and praise the one Insect of Hell who swipes the jewel piece into its legs before flying off.

"Uh!"

 _Those are Naraku's poisonous insects!_

 _(Looks at the skeleton) So he was the one manipulating Kyokotsu..._

Small Time Skip

Sunset would soon blaze its burn of deep reds and oranges across the mountaintops as the day drew to a close, the terror known as Kyokotsu having been erased to nothing but memories traced in the ivory being examined by Ginta and Hakkaku.

"Mere, bones..."

"I guess the Shikon-no-Tama shard brought 'im back to life..."

While those two busied themselves with the ginormous skeleton, Ayame approaches Kōga, whom was catching his breath after the grueling fight he undertook.

"...Um, thank you, Kōga. You avenged my comrades and friends. (Soft smile) Those who died can now rest in peace."

He nods slightly, before casting serious glaring eyes in the distant direction that other bodies were following.

"...So, Naraku's demonic aura disappeared to the Northeast."

"Yes, that's what Coraline said."

"I see..."

...Sensing what the other's agenda held, Ayame decided to take her leave.

"Goodbye."

"...Be careful, Ayame."

The she-wolf pauses, and flashes the male a sad and endearing smile.

"That's exactly what Coraline said."

She then disappears in a leafy whirlwind...leaving Kōga to form his own small smile as he thinks aloud quietly,

"...Same as Coraline, huh?"

...Our eyes then fall over a new scene in the distant Northeastern provinces, that being a massive murder of crows pecking at the fresh corpses of warriors and their horses...

The source of this new slaughter, resting on a nearby boulder and airing their face, was a male with distinctive feminine qualities, they including short black hair styled up with a butterfly pin, black irises highlighted by blue fang tattoos under his eyes, similar markings in pink on the sides of his face, and ruby red lips. His outfit consists of waraji sandals and a combination kimono/obi sash/scarf over his snake-skin armour, its shining a deep, muted purple, the kimono a lilac purple with deep green leaf patterns, the obi sash a dull plum, and the muted purple scarf was currently off his person at the moment to allow one side of his body to breathe, showcasing a lean muscle build.

"So, Kyokotsu's dead, now is he?" Kohaku, also there, replies,

"Yes, Master Jakotsu."

"Serves him right, the stupid fool. Well, I suppose Kyokotsu was the weakest one of us all...So~, what's he like?"

The demon slayer looks up with a confused expression, and Jakotsu alliterates,

"You know, my opponent, this, Inuyasha. Tell me, is he really handsome?"

"I think, perhaps, you'd be the best judge of that."

Jakotsu sighs with a dreamy gaze, and claps his palms together while muttering hopefully,

"I can't wait... _Inuyasha._ "


	115. Chapter 114

**Chapter 114: The Band of Seven (Shichinintai), Resurrected!**

 _Recap:_

 _It's been some time since Inuyasha and company had continued their journey in Edo to find all that remained of the fabled Skikon-no-Tama, as well as track the whereabouts of their greatest enemy, Naraku. From battling a future-born Ninjitsu master descended from the old clans, overcoming their worst imaginings marred within their souls, all the way to erasing the illusions of a woman's spirit that had become as cold as the white powder dusting the highest mountain peaks, they've had but one trial after the other._

 _Their most recent encounter with danger (indirect though it was), however, would certainly mark among the strange and disturbing._

 _A being that was neither human, nor demon, but no more than a corpse reanimated from the ground-up! Thankfully, they met their defeat by the capable strength of Kōga the Wolf Demon before it could ravage the Northern Mountains to ruin._

 _...But was that undead monster truly a one-time deal?_

 _"Sooo, Kyokotsu's dead, huh?"_

 _...Or was their death, merely the starting gun blast of a whole new kind of peril for our heroes spread throughout Edo?_

 _"Haaah, I can't wait...Inuyasha. (Grin) I wonder what colour your blood is..."_

 _Now..._

We turn to a new day casting sunny rays across the rich, fertile lands of the Northeast, as our main band of travelers move on in their trek past another village that had very large flooded fields bordering a river on the right side of the path, while tall conifers made up the left.

Today, Coraline was wearing a light blue cropped t-shirt that exposed her stomach (which was slowly gaining muscle tone from all the hard exercise she's getting in her journey), dark blue jeans with a small rip in her right knee, and her black combat boots. She also wore her long red hair in two side braids...Meanwhile, her twin brothers decided to coordinate their clothes, they being onyx tank-tops, green cargo shorts and monochrome high-top sneakers.

...Just as they and everyone else made it halfway past the distant village, something catches the attention of Coraline and her Will O' Wisp partner, Lumos.

"Hm?"

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Yeah, I see them too, bud."

The group stops with the redhead and creature as Inuyasha asks the former,

"What is it?"

"(Point) Over there, soldiers..."

Looking over into the path cutting between the fields and huts, we see several warriors on horseback steadily make their way through. Inuyasha comments with a grim disdain,

"Warriors off to another battle."

Miroku seemed to think otherwise:

"I don't think so: I didn't sense anything of an uprising in this area."

Sango wonders,

"Maybe they're going to subdue some demons or troublemakers."

"Look at them, all geared up. Talk about overkill."

Freeman nods in agreement with the dog demon:

"I'm with him. Those guys look a bit too armed for a simple hiring job...Something's off."

Besa then postulates,

"I'm almost wondering if this might have to do with what Ayame and her pack warned us about yesterday..."

Inuyasha asks him,

"You mean the specter that was devouring everything up in the Northern Mountains?"

"Yeah...I think it might be worth some trouble to walk closer to where the locals are and listen for anything related to the incident. I just...have this gut feeling..."

Miroku nods and replies,

"That's not a bad idea," before they and everyone else begin moving towards another path that connected into the main section of the village...

At the same time, deep within the nearby forest, we see several of the Saimyōshō buzzing along through the air, with Kohaku following close behind from branch to branch using his combat acrobatics...

Moving higher up a tall hill bushed with greenery and camouflaging a shrine-house, we find that same priest and apprentice duo who had briefly encountered the undead Kyokotsu catching their breath near a tall trunk after barely escaping with their lives the night before.

"Hah, hah, hah, that was terrifying...! I thought we were doomed!"

"Kaaaamiiii! That was punishment from Buddha: Now there is no denying the fear that exists deep within your heart."

The apprentice looks at his senior with exasperation, before turning to spot the stairs leading up to the shrine.

"There's a mountain temple up ahead. (Smiles and prays) This a Heaven-sent gift, a variable Heaven in Hell."

The elder priest thought differently:

"Enough! You have a weak heart and you depend too heavily on the help of others, which is why you see such illusions!"

"(Bows guiltily) Yes, master."

"Now then, let us seek some shelter."

As the elder leads them towards the shrine atop the hill, the younger grumbles under his breath,

"Sounds like I'm not the only one who depends on others..."

Coraline's POV

We kept moving down the path before shifting to one that bordered closer to the tended fields and huts of the village as Besa suggested we'd do, and kept our ears open for any tidbits related to what Ayame and her wolves gave warning to back North...

That's when my own hearing picks up on a conversation going on between three men just below the knoll we were walking along the top of.

"I heard that the border patrol was totally annihilated."

"It was terrible, I hear. No man could've done it..."

"Are the rumours true, that the phantoms of the Band of Seven mound have been resurrected?"

 _Uh! Resurrected from a mound...Dead men from the grave._

I shared a glance with my brothers Freeman and Besa, who nodded with serious expressions that said they heard the words too. Apparently, so did Miroku, who suddenly called to the men and started fast-walking down the knoll for more information.

"Excuse me, gentlemen! Can I speak to you for a moment?"

Inuyasha folds his arms into his sleeves and mutters,

"Hmph, what's he doing?" I turn to him and reply neutrally,

"Not like we were gonna pass without one of us wanting to hear more...Besides, (narrows eyes) I have this sneaking suspicion that the undead creature Ayame's pack fought, along with this new talk, may have connections with our main target of inquiry."

That caught my boyfriend's attention, and his face contorts to reflect a more serious air...A moment later, we were all listening to the three village men who were kind enough to reveal the tale that blankets these lands, if a touch reluctantly.

"Well, there is a temple around here that was built to quiet the souls of the Band of Seven, or to use their original name, the Shichinintai."

Miroku, who was kneeling down with Besa to the one man's eye level, asks,

"And what is the Shichinintai?"

"Their story started over a decade ago. It is believed that they traveled to our territory from somewhere in the East."

One of the older men speaks up next:

"They were ruthless mercenaries, the whole band of them. They served no one lord; instead, they lived as ronin, finding temporary employment in any battle they happened to come across."

"There were only seven of them, but their strength was incredible. They could do the work of a hundred men. And their raids were unnecessarily savage: Those who were slain by the Band of Seven were slashed to pieces, and burned alive."

The man kneeling shudders from an old fear as the third man occupying his left comments,

"The only ones who were capable of such atrocities were ones with a pension for murder."

Hearing such a description...made something inside my heart quiver, as my memories recall a similar cruelty I was forced to witness once before.

 _...They sound like-_

 _(Flash)_

 _Sounds of gunfire trying to overtake the screeches of many victims..._

 _The stomping boots making the shadow black of the men responsible of this tragedy._

 _The young me, forced to watch as these monsters shot or slashed the throats of people who did nothing to provoke such terror and brutality._

 _...Me, wrestling on the ground with one soldier..._

 _The echoing bang of that dreaded gun, the one I'd keep using with the trigger-happy mind of a video game character being controlled by the gamer..._

 _...Sunset's blood-red sky reflecting over the distant River Krishna, a beauty to which I could not absorb into my little body, the one shaking in paranoia and insanity, over what I had done to survive._

 _(Flash)_

I had just come out of that terrible flashback, muscles stiff with tension and my chest aching with an old fear, just as the men reach the closing of their tale, my ears deaf to the rest.

"...They were each beheaded and their bodies were buried."

"Still, the villagers feared they would be cursed, and decided to quiet the seven souls. They eventually erected a tomb at the base of the Sacred Mountain. The Tomb of the Shichinintai."

 _Sacred Mountain...Mount Hakurei!  
_

My heart calmed slightly as I thought about my conversation with my Soul Sister as Miroku and Besa reply to the men,

"I see."

"We heard you speaking of their Souls being resurrected. Would you mind, explaining what you meant?"

The three men hm among themselves, before the third one obliges:

"It's true: They say that the tombstone split into two...and there was no lightning that day either."

"It's believed that the Seven Souls escaped. Isn't that right?"

The two others nodded to their comrade, leaving us with a growing unease in our own spirits...  
Soon, we were on our way again, discussing what we had learned.

"Hmm, wandering spirits..."

"What do you think of the villagers tale, Miroku?" He replies to Sango,

"It's possible that with all of Naraku's evil gone from here, all the ravel have become free and possibly have even resurrected."

"I dunno if they're suppose to be specters or demons..."

Freeman replies to Inuyasha as he recalls Ayame's words,

"It's more than likely they're related to the zombie that was terrorizing the Wolf Demon Tribe...Might've even been one one of the members of that band."

Besa comments with a glared frown,

"The dueling descriptions of destruction certainly fit together well enough for them to be one in the same. The real question we should be wondering, is where are the possible others right now?"

I was only half-listening after catching the word destruction, my blood still feeling a chill after hearing about the Band of Seven's level of cruelty...and how closely it mirrored another mercenary group...

"...You're tensing again."

"H-Huh?"

I snapped out of my descending thoughts to the sound of Inuyasha's voice, and stopped to glance at him to see his amber irises looking me over with a mix of suspicion and concern.

"And there's that expression again, the one you've been makin' in your sleep a couple times since we battled that creep moth demon in that illusionary forest..."

"U-Um, I-um..."

I suddenly found myself unable to speak, and looked down to avoid his eyes...But knowing Inuyasha, he wasn't going to let a subject like this drop, which he'd confirm by lifting my chin with two of his fingers so we were looking at eachother eye-to-eye again, now convinced something was wrong.

"...What's up with you? Did that freak, make you see something you didn't want to see?"

It surprised me how close he was to guessing the right answer...and on that note, I felt that great urge to spill everything, despite how afraid I was to speak about the incident aloud. Taking a deep and slightly shaking breath in, I nod and quietly reply,

"...Yes. I, was forced to pay tribute to one piece of my past, that I've never told anyone about...because I didn't want to look back on it ever again."

The tone in my voice caught everyone's attention, and Inuyasha's fingers drop as his face contorted into confusion.

"What?"

"There's, a part of my journey to Tokyo, that I've never spoken about to anybody...A part that left me in the worst possible state of being for months afterward."

With that, I reluctantly told my friends and lover about what happened in India, from my capture with the surviving villagers, to when I went into an almost psychotic rampage with the dead man's gun to escape the destruction...

By the time I was done, everyone's eyes were as wide as saucers, while my voice had dropped to a dead tone, my blue irises reflecting grimness and a dulled fear.

"The second I pulled that trigger, was when every emotion in my body dived into a panic room to hide. Most of the details are a blur, because my own brain didn't want to believe that I was really, (grit) killing men with no second thought...Once it was all over, I would be standing outside the ruined village, blood on my shaking body, the gun abandoned, and my eyes reflecting craziness. I should've screamed to the heavens in horror over what I had done...but, I couldn't. My insides were as hard as stone..."

Besa chides my name softly in a worried tone, and I looked away with a depressed expression while adding,

"None of the Higurashis know why I seemed so, dead when I first came to live with them and the months afterward...I plan to keep it that way. None of them can know about my horrible act. It's a miracle I can even tell any of you."

"H-How come?"

I reply to Shippo with a bite of bitterness,

"Why else? Because that day opened up a part of me that only spoke of 'kill or be killed' in ways I never want to encounter again."

My fist clenches so hard, my knuckles crack, as I muttered fiercely,

"I never, never want to let that part of me take over my reason again, ever!"

...I felt a clawed hand squeeze my shoulder, and I look up to see Inuyasha looking at me with a sympathetic expression...Neither of us moves for a moment, until he pulls me in for a tight hug, whispering,

"I get it. I, understand."

 _He, wha-Oh!_

 _...Oh my-of course he'd get it...because he has similar problems with his own inner self._

I just leaned into his hold, burying my face into his fire rat robes...But the moment would be cut short, when I sensed a familiar gem close by.

"Uh!"

Inuyasha pulls back a bit, but doesn't let go of me, and asks,

"What's wrong now?"

"The Shikon-no-Tama...I sense a piece of it near here."

That was when Kilala suddenly hops off of Sango's shoulder without rhyme nor reason, prompting the latter to ask,

"What's the matter; where are you going, Kilala?"

Shippo, he resting in Freeman's arms, was just as curious:

"What's with her? She's sure acting strange..."

The cat demon would then shift into her full form and dashes off ahead of us, to which her partner would do shortly after.

"Uh! Sango!"

She ignores my call and hops onto Kilala's back as they took off for the skies, leaving us all wondering where they were off to...

Sango's POV

"Kilala. Was it, Kohaku's presence that you sensed?"

My companion grunts, indicating a yes, which leaves me to conclude,

 _He must be somewhere on this mountain..._

...My ears then pick up on the sound of a familiar buzzing, and looking ahead-downward from up in the air, I see the familiar image of that loathsome swarm.

"Uh! The Saimyōshō..."

And resting on a treetop branch just a few feet ahead of those insects...was my younger brother!

"Gh! Kohaku!"

I signal Kilala to land on the mossy forest bed below, to which he would jump to stand on opposite of us shortly afterward...I had to fight hard to not tear up at seeing my only living kin once more, while he...he seemed agitated by my presence.

"...Kohaku?"

He backs up slowly, his hand inching towards his kusarigama:

"...Who are you?"

 _Kohaku still does not remember who I am..._

"It's me. Are you still under his control?"

 _Or...is it like what Coraline said way back when, about his Soul..._

 _(Flash)_

 _"...His light is sending waves against a piece of his darkness, which I believe represents his amnesia...if Kohaku can gather his courage to face the ugliness in his memories...he'll have a chance at life."_

 _"...thanks to Naraku's manipulation, the Light in his Soul is suppressing his darkness, making his Aura...unstable."_

 _"...Unless Kohaku can find a way to face his fears...the Light in his Soul could kill him before Naraku does."_

 _(Flash)_

 _Whatever the case may be, bottom line, Kohaku needs to gather himself and break away from the hold of that bastard's influence, or he may not live for much longer._

 _...I don't want that. I don't want to lose the last of my kin._

"Rgh, why? Why do I remember your face?!"

 _Kohaku..._

The sight of him wincing in pain from the pounding conflict in his being made my heart clench, but I knew deep inside that my persistence can only do so much, and that the true strength had to come from him willingly.

...But I had little time to worry about that, when he suddenly thrusts the sickle end of his kusarigama at me, which I thankfully dodged in time!

"No, stop!"

Kohaku pulls back his weapon and readies it with a menacing expression:

"...Die."

"Kohaku, you gotta try and wake up! Gh!"

I flipped to the side to dodge again, only to become stuck using my Hiraikotsu as a shield!

"Kohaku!"

My tears could not be held back any longer, and I let them free as the two of us pause our moments, the forest heavy with our shared tension...

Suddenly, both Kohaku and Kilala stiffen, before the former jumps out of sight and the latter hoists me onto her back before taking off to the skies. From up high, I then see the trouble:

"...What is that?"

 _A smog of poison, perhaps?_

 _...Whatever it is, it forced my brother away from my eyes again._

"...Brother..."

I buried my face into my twin-tailed friend's fur, sadly asking in a mental call,

 _Oh Kohaku...just how long do you plan on wandering the dark, to avoid the truth of our lives?_

Kohaku's POV

I watched as the woman whose face haunts my muddled mind leave the area atop her twin-tailed cat demon ally, a strange feeling of conflict in my heart at seeing her go...

I then turned to address the one responsible for bringing forth this new poison smog with a scolding glare.

"You shouldn't be so careless. You're being watched."

He merely shook his shoulders with a chuckle, before he retorts,

"You were taking far too long, so we came instead...Fuh, that woman: Did you know her?"

I don't reply verbally, choosing instead to answer mentally while watching said person's form shrink into the distant skies,

 _...No...and, yes._

 _Something in me, doesn't want me to know her...because of something attached._

Small Time Skip, No POV

We now turn overhead a valley cutting through the green grassy hills bordering the backs of the tree trunks making the fencing forests, one side making a cliff edge and the other a large knoll.

Walking leisurely along the path cutting straight down the middle, was Jakotsu, who would soon meet the eyes of the company of soldiers from before riding up fast from the opposite direction...

"...Hm? Hey, you: Make way and get off the path at once!"

The man who reflected femininity only looks up with a carelessly lazy expression, prompting the leader of the soldiers to call with annoyance,

"Men, stop your horses!"

...Once they slowed, the men on horseback get a better look over Jakotsu, whom we see had the left side of his purple kimono pulled up to his thigh, his scarf around his shoulders like a shawl, the butterfly hair pin holding his black hair up in an up-do style, and was carrying a rather dangerous-looking long sword over his right shoulder. He sends a somewhat polite and causal smile to the company and asks,

"Did you say something to me, warrior?"

The general in turn asks a bit perplexed,

"What manner of being are you? Your appearance is strange..."

"You better be careful if you're going on ahead: I hear a frightening specter is in the area."

"Spare us your warnings, stranger! We're here to slay it."

Jakotsu laughs a bit and comments,

"I assume you have no idea what the specter looks like, do you?"

The general asks suspiciously,

"Meaning what? Do you know its appearance?"

The other man's laugh drops to a menacing level, before he replies with a sneer,

"Of course I do, for I am the phantom you seek!"

Both riders and mares would become spooked by Jakotsu's reveal, before the general shakes his fear off long enough to order,

"Gun battalion: To the front!"

His men don't hesitate in meeting the command, and quickly form a squatted front line with the barrels of their Matchlock Guns raised...The specter cocks his head in curiousity:

"Hm? What are those?"

"A specter over a decade old wouldn't be familiar with this new kind of weapon!...Fire!"

The popped bang of the guns echo into the air, and one bullet lands in Jakotsu's shoulder.

"Uh!"

...Moving back to the roadside bordering between the forest and valley, Inuyasha and company were still waiting for Sango and Kilala to return, when they hear the distant echo of the guns from the soldiers.

"Hm?" "Uh!"

"Was that...?"

Shippo asks with rising nerves,

"U-Uh...Did you hear that? What were those strange popping sounds?"

Coraline's eyes narrow in suspicion:

"I might be wrong...but that sounded similar to gunfire."

Inuyasha tenses, recalling the last time he heard similar sounds and their source.

"Gunfire?...As in the weapons those Trinity bastards wield?"

"Yes, but it's definitely not them."

Eyes fall on Besa, who notes in a matter-of-fact fashion,

"It's been long enough that we can safely assume Trinity won't be making any beelines to come after us again...On another note, most of their guns were built with silencers to cut down on the boom from the trigger fire and make knowing where the bullets were coming from more difficult. What we just heard was too loud...and a bit sloppy. It's more likely we just heard the first echoes of the Matchlock Guns."

Miroku asks,

"Matchlock Guns?" Freeman explains,

"Yeah, it's a type of weapon that was traded to Japan and India around this time period by the Portuguese. They're the early, crappy-compared-to-later versions of what you guys have seen as guns. Takes the patience and concentration of a saint to deal with the pain-in-the-ass load and fire process...Still, the Matchlock Gun, will soon change the very nature of human-fought wars well into the few centuries to come..."

...It certainly came as a surprise to the undead man in purple, who we turn our view back to as he reaches his right hand to touch his wounded left shoulder, staining the tip with crimson...He stares at his reddened finger for a moment, before licking away his blood and curves his lips into a smirk.

"Ah, now I understand: This is the Matchlock Gun I've heard so much about."

The general was taken aback by Jakotsu's nonchalant tone, before he glares and orders the next line of soldiers at ready.

"Retched spirit! Drrh! Second battalion: To the front!"

The first battalion steps down to make way for the next line of barrels at ready, making the specter smile in amusement.

"Don't tell me you're gonna try that again...Alright, if it's a fight you want..."

He reaches to pull out his long blade:

"Fine!"

(Thrust, SLICE)

The metal of the zombie's weapon billows over like a wave from an ocean of razors, killing the line of soldiers instantly, their outcries ringing through the air!

...And the scent of their blood would be caught by Inuyasha's sensitive nose.

"Uh!"

Freeman asks,

"What's wrong, man?"

The dog demon leaps up onto a tree branch with glaring eyes directed towards where the group heard the gunshots from, before answering,

"...I smell human blood."

Everyone tenses, and Miroku asks,

"Human?"

"Yeah, and not just from a handful of people either."

Inuyasha then leaps on ahead, convinced something wasn't right, just as Lumos pops out of Coraline's satchel while calling out warning moans, his orbed presence glowing in and out red/blue...

Meanwhile, those soldiers who still lived after Jakotsu's attack were in shock from the ease of the latter's assault.

"Impossible. How could he have slain so many men from that distance?!"

The general gazes over the fallen bodies of his fellow men, before turning eyes to the one responsible for their deaths, their blade dripping with blood.

"This brings back such fond memories of the past..."

"Rrrrgh! Get a hold of yourselves; do not fear! Surround the phantom!"

Though the air hung with slight hesitance, the desire to get revenge for their fallen comrades was stronger, and the soldiers do as their leader ordered, forming a large circle around Jakotsu with spears pointed at ready.

"He's using some kind of strange magic!"

The zombie laughs and retorts back,

"Nice try, but I don't use any such thing. (Smirk) I didn't then...and I don't now!"

(Swing)

Inuyasha's POV

I ran on ahead of the others to find the source of that strong surge of human blood, when my senses picked up on something else.

"Huh?"

 _This scent...It's weak, but it's so familiar..._

 _...That's it: The smell of graveyard soil!_

Once I reached the valley where the scents interlinked, I hopped onto the main road...only to become taken aback by the sight before my eyes.

"Uh!"

I barely had time to fully register what I was seeing, when everyone else caught up with me. Coraline calls,

"What'd you see? How bad is it?"

Worried more for her safety (mate instincts to blame on that), I whirled around and called in return,

"Stay back!"

She heeded my warning, and slowed to a stop a couple feet back from where I was, along with Besa who had Shippo on his shoulder, while Miroku and Freeman moved to stand with me on either side, and Lumos was hovering between all of us on alert.

Making note that my intended was standing a good enough distance from the new danger, I focused back up front to what had me on edge: An entire circle of soldiers (the same ones we saw in that village a while ago), all dead with only one person squatting in the middle while examining one of what I'm assuming is those Matchlock Guns Besa was talking about earlier.

"Hmm, this is unusual. I'll take it back to brother Renkotsu..."

Miroku and Freeman note,

"Those were the warriors we spotted at the crossroads."

"And they're carrying the Matchlocks...Looks like they didn't work, though."

I hear the sound of metal scraping sheath and holsters, and glance over to see Coraline and Besa (the kid still on his shoulder) approach closer to us, their weapons out in a defensive manner.

"How could they have been all killed by just one?"

"Keep in mind what we've seen before, sis: The idea of one person taking down more than a dozen isn't really impossible anymore."

"Fair point. (Squeezes the hilt of her sword) All the more reason to have ShatterSoul at ready."

On that note, the said source of trouble picks up on our presence, and rises to his feet to face us.

"Hauh! Are you the one I'm searching for? (Excited smile) Are you Inuyasha?"

 _He knows me?_

"I've never met you before; how'd you know my name?"

His next reaction...was not one I'd ever, and I mean, ever expect from an enemy.

"Auh, you're adorable!"

"What?!"

"I especially love those fuzzy ears of yours...I want them."

The licking of his lips definitely sent a small shiver of the creeps down my spine...

 _Who is he; what does he want?_

"Just who are you and whadda you want? You don't smell like a living person; you reek like corpses and graveyard soil!"

My ears catch the sound of my intended, Besa and Freeman grit their teeth in realization, Shippo shiver a bit in fear, and Lumos moaning in warning. Miroku then asks me,

"Inuyasha...could he be...?"

"Yeah. Some villagers were talkin': They said some disgusting specter rose up from the grave! That'd be you, I presume?"

"They told us of a group of seven mercenaries who loved to kill..."

Besa adds after Miroku in a tone that was also getting fired up,

"Their atrocities were so great that it costed them their lives by beheading...You. (Points ahead) Are you a member of the Band of Seven?"

The guy just looked between the monk and twin with cornrow hair in silence, prompting them to call in a stern unison,

"Answer us!"

...The specter smiles before replying,

"Inuyasha is handsome, but you're pretty sexy yourself, monk. (Glances at Besa) And you, dear boy, are quite the dark beauty."

...Once again, I briefly lost my ability to respond, as did Miroku and Besa...until the monk suddenly asks in an irked tone while inching to his cursed hand,

"Nobody minds if I suck him up, do I?"

Me and Besa reply with deadpans,

"...No." "By all means."

That was when Freeman bursts into muffled chuckles while holding his sides, and the three of us turn to glare at him while I ask,

"What the heck are you laughin' at?"

"Sorry, sorry, I know, bad time, but, your reactions to a gay guy's compliments are hilarious, gehehaha!"

 _Gay?...Oooooooh._

 _...Well, that kind-a doesn't help, but does explain some of this creep's personality. Emphasis on 'some'..._

A look of understanding washes over Miroku and Besa as well, before the other twin suddenly calls out with a wry smile,

"Gotta say, much as I hate the fact you're a stone-cold killer, I do love your confidence to flirt!"

Coraline and Shippo whack him on the sides of his head:

"Freeman!" "Why?!"

"What? What'd I say?"

The zombie was a bit taken aback by Freeman's careless comment (or at least I think it's pretty dumb to compliment an enemy), and a swear I saw a dust of pink on his cheeks before he smiled and called back,

"Thanks, and you're not so bad yourself, stud!"

 _Aw geez..._

Thankfully, my girl got us all back on track when she suddenly says,

"Wait, Miroku, don't use the Wind Tunnel: That undead menace has a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama!"

We look to her in surprise, before focusing back on him as she adds,

"It's possible the shard is providing him a life force energy."

"Makes sense. Who gave you the Shikon-no-Tama shard?"

He doesn't answer my question, instead commenting with that stupid smile of his,

"Mmm, you know, you're cute when you're angry."

"Shut up!"

I leaped closer to where he was, and prepare to start a fight incase a more aggressive approach doesn't get this guy in the mood to spill his guts.

"Okay, dead man!"

I pull out my Tessaiga for emphasis:

"Start talkin' to me and I want all the details!"

"Ooh, that's an interesting sword you have, Inuyasha..."

He swings his own blade a few times in a sizing manner before positioning it at the ready with the blade tipped straight down, a more serious smirk on his face.

"Which is stronger, though: My sword or yours?!"

Next thing I knew, a strange bend of sharp metal comes flying at me, leaving me little time to use my own sword to block the other!

"Grh!"

 _What in the name of kami-?!_

I hear Coraline call my name, with Miroku warning she and everyone else,

"We must stay back; it's some kind of trick sword!"

The bastard behind the trickery pulls back his sword with a chuckle, while I think to myself,

 _I knew there was somethin' strange about him: Those soldiers looked awfully weird for being dead._

 _He got them in the first strike...He didn't even give them the chance to block the attack._

 _I figured there'd be something tricky about his assault..._

 _It's his sword!_

Speaking of, the specter thrusts his blade at me again, and one of the blades bends to cut me across the arm!

"Inuyasha!"

"Holy crap!" "Did you see that?!"

"It's a bending sword!"

He in turn curves his lips into a smirk and replies back to our surprised expressions,

"So tell me, Inuyasha: What do you think of Jakotsu of the Band of Seven, huh?!"

"Not too much!"

Using my Tessaiga, I clash against he, Jakotsu's blade to stop it...only to find out that his weapon, was made of a series of connected curved blades, riveted by their tips so it bends! He tries to attack me twice more, and because it was so fast, I was just barely able to scramble back from its path...Miroku comments in an exclaim,

"It comes right back even if he repels it!"

Coraline adds in her own characterization,

"It's like a sword tribute to a cobra!"

This guy really had me testing the limits of my speed, continuously sending attack after attack my way with little windows of time between for me to leap back to safety...

"Keep running~!"

 _Damn!_

"Isn't this fun?"

 _For who?!_

Just when it looked like one of the strikes from Jakotsu would get me at ground-level...

"Inuyasha!"

(Swing, crack-RUMBLE...)

Freeman came to the rescue with his long hammer and threw down one of his upturn shots through the underground to block the bending blades with a geyser line of dirt and rock!

"Uh! Freeman!"

The dust cloud created falls over the area to reveal his form standing a few feet away from mine, panting a bit while sending a glare at Jakotsu, who retracts his odd sword while gazing at the other in surprise from his interference.

"Huh, that was unexpected...Hehah, yet it only makes me all the more thrilled! The fear for your friend's life is exciting to see on you, stud!"

This time, Freeman had his head on straight and grimaced from the comment before retorting back fiercely,

"Like hell I'm gonna let a zombie freak me out! Hit me with your best shot!"

"Gladly! I wanna see more fear from you!"

Jakotsu then swings his sword straight at Freeman, prompting the rest of us to call his name with worry as I rush to get him out of the way.

 _No!_

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Spin...TOK-tok-tok-tok-tok, thwump)

Luckily, a certain someone else was faster than I was, and that familiar giant boomerang comes crashing in to tangle with the bending sword!

"Inuyasha! Freeman!"

I turn around and look up to see that slayer and Kilala come to land between me and Freeman.

 _About damn time she got back..._

She turns to address the one who was nearly skewered:

"Freeman, are you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks to your fast thinkin'. You saved my hide."

Of course, what we didn't expect, was how pissed the zombie man would get from her jump into battle.

"That, wench...! Hrrrah!"

He tossed Hiraikotsu right back at her from the tangled blades, which she'd barely dodge to the side from save her wrist that got cut by part of that damn sword. Retracting it back, he then spits with rage,

"Stay out of this, you vile, despicable woman; no one interferes with me, Inuyasha and Freeman!"

 _Okay, I've heard enough of this noise._

Acting quick, I leaped in front of the undead freak to suckerpunch him in the side of his face.

(WHACK)

"UH!"

"I'm sick of listening to your pointless babble!"

And to my mild surprise, that move was quickly followed by Freeman who rushes to swing the blunt end of his weapon into the guy's torso.

(WHAM)

"GAH!"

"What he said! And nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it!"

Jakotsu barely recovers in a slide back on his feet, landing in a crouch while rubbing the new bruises on his face and between his chest and stomach.

"Mmh...oh my, that was cruel."

"Oh get over it, and tell where you got the Shikon-no-Tama shard before I seriously have to hurt ya."

Freeman moves to stand right beside me while holding his hammer over his shoulder before adding,

"He's not kidding, either: That was him restraining himself. (Narrows eyes) By the way, any shred of mercy I might've considered havin' for you went straight out the window when you tried to kill my two friends, so prepare yourself, bucko."

 _Huh. Wow: He almost sounds as serious as his brother now._

Speaking of, I catch his voice after the others as their footsteps crowd around the returning slayer.

"Are you alright?!" "Sango!"

"You're bleeding!"

"Hold your wrist out to me and I'll heal the cut over, Sango."

Feeling that faint wave beat, she must've allowed him to use his Seven Light shard, even though she assures everyone,

"It's just a graze...but something tells me that the shard was from Naraku."

 _Naraku?!_

Everyone else gasped before Sango added a bit sadly,

"Earlier, when you sensed the Shikon-no-Tama...it was Kohaku...I, saw the Saimyōshō were near him as well."

"Meaning that he is still under Naraku's spell."

She hms in confirmation to the monk, and my intended chided Sango's name, while I growled lowly at the thought of that bastard whose schemes have been driving us all to the brink...

No POV

As Inuyasha and Freeman continued to glare at Jakotsu with a new air after Sango's reported theory, the zombie in turn would smile slightly with an adoring blush on his cheeks, causing the former to mutter,

"Filthy vermin."

"No arguments, dude."

...Unbeknownst to either parties, the scene was being overlooked by another from atop the grassy knoll side of the valley, they being that figure who released the smog in the forest earlier. They were short and pudgy, wearing a full-bodied white cloak and mask that covered him save his eyes, his back carrying a basket filled with assorted jars of mystery items that could only be guessed for ill intentions.

"Excellent. He's at it again...Jakotsu hasn't changed one bit."

The figure lets out a throaty chuckle, his irises gleaming yellow...


	116. Chapter 115

Hey everybody! Just wanna give a quick shout-out to my PM buddy **WolfWitchHuntress1318** who once again helped me with some ideas for this chapter.

Also, word of warning, somewhere close to the end, there will be some graphic imagery, so if that's not your thing, just skip to the next POV change.

...That's it. Read on and prosper!

* * *

 **Chapter 115: The Stealthy Poison User, Mukotsu**

Continuing where we last left off in our tale, we find Inuyasha and Freeman still facing off with Jakotsu, one of the six members of the Band of Seven still 'among the living' so to speak (rather, as alive as a reanimated body can be)...

Little did they and the rest of our group know, that another of the undead was observing the scene from above the tall hill on one side of the shallow valley gorge.

"Hehehe, so, he's at it again. That Jakotsu hasn't changed one bit..."

This zombie of cloaking white garment reaches behind him into the wicker basket on his back, to pull out a closed bamboo container painted black, and shifts the lid slightly to taste-test its contents...

He blows out a puff of coal black smoke, and says with a gleeful giggle,

"Sorry to spoil the mood," before opening the container completely to spill a torrent of fumes into the air!

...We cut downward back on the paused battle, as Inuyasha tries once more to get some sort of clue from the feminine man about where the jewel shard they possess came from.

"Jakotsu, I'll ask one more time: Was it Naraku who gave you the Shikon-no-Tama shard?"

We see a faint glow of fushia pink emanate under the skin of the zombie's neck (ghosting the physical memory of his previous demise) as he replies while hmming in thought,

"I'm not really sure. I've never met the man."

"That's it. I've had it with your stupid little jokes!"

"Uhm, I don't think he's jokin' around this time, dude..."

The dog demon sideglances Freeman in disbelief, who in turn was eyeing Jakotsu with a wary air.

"I don't mean to brag, but I'm a bit of a self-taught expert on body language and tonal readings (comes with dating experience...), so I'm usually eight-five percent sure when someone's lying or not. In this case, annoying he may be, Jakotsu's telling the truth."

"Are you serious?!"

"As a brick through a window. In fact...I'm almost willing to bet none of the Band of Seven have actually met Naraku at all, at least not directly."

It was Inuyasha's turn to narrow his eyes in suspicion:

"Huh? What do you mean, 'not directly'?"

"I mean that it's possible the creep somehow sent the jewel shards to these walkin' corpses from wherever he's currently hiding out...Which is fishy all in itself: Why is he bothering with revivin' these mercenaries? What point is he trying to make this time?"

Before anyone else could offer their own insight to the new questions, attention was then drawn to the wave of black fumes slowly descending down the slope to their proximity!

"Huh? Smoke?" "That don't look good..."

Jakotsu mutters a bit bitterly to himself,

"Just when it was getting fun...Damn you, Mukotsu! (Glance) Inuyasha, Freeman: You two better leave while you're still able to."

With that, the zombie turns to make a break from the area, leaving the dog demon to call back in confused aggravation,

"What the heck are you talkin' about?"

(Sizzz)

"Gah!"

The fumes make contact with the skin of his feet, causing him to wince from a burning sensation, before hoisting Freeman into one arm and leaping back to where the others were standing.

"What is that stuff?!"

Coraline looks over at the cloud with an inquisitive glare:

"Must be a poison gas, and one of acidic quality if it was able to burn your skin."

Freeman flinches with a stunned expression, as Besa comments,

"Which means it could've done worse to your skin if Inuyasha hadn't grabbed you, bro."

"Yeah, no kidding...Wait, where'd Jakotsu get to?"

Said zombie would call over with a chirpy tone as he dashed down the opposite direction into the black smoke,

"See you soon, Inuyasha, Freeman!" The dog demon mutters bitterly,

"Man, that bastard's annoying," while Miroku wonders,

"The question is, where is the poison coming from?"

And panning upward to the top of the sloped hill, we watch Mukotsu's figure turn to walk elsewhere...

"Mmm, that Naraku...! Just wait! I'll show him a thing or two, I can assure you, he-eh-hehe!"

We jump now to another path cut into the northeastern forests, where Sesshomaru, Jaken, Rin and A-Un were walking in their own journey to meet the similar goal of eradicating a common enemy, the imp boasting of his own plans to take down the accursed half-demon...

Suddenly, the dog demon pauses, his nose picking up a familiar scent.

 _Hm, I can smell him..._

 _Naraku's servant...The boy..._

It was then that Rin suddenly asks,

"So I was wondering, Lord Sesshomaru: Why do you seek Naraku?"

Jaken in turn would answer for his master:

"Don't you know anything?! It's because Naraku abducted you that Lord Sesshomaru's hellbent on vengeance!"

That thought brought a small smile to the young girl's lips.

"Huh? It's all because of me?"

Jaken shoots down any presumptions of Sesshomaru's reasons related to obtaining revenge for his wards.

"Don't get so conceited, you silly child; it's not about you. Lord Sesshomaru's honour has been insulted! Don't let his calm demeanor fool you: Underneath, he is a boiling, angry, seething mass of-Oof!"

The imp's characterization is cut off when he accidentally bumps into Sesshomaru's leg...  
But that would be the least of the former's problems, when he looks up to meet the glaring eyes of the latter.

"Uh, oh..."

(...Whack)

A few seconds later, the dog demon lord was moving on his way again, while Rin was overseeing Jaken, who was on the ground with a big bump on his head.

"I gotta learn to keep my mouth shut..."

"I see what you mean."

...Shifting back to our main travel group, they have since left the valley gorge into the cover of the nearby forest to get at a safe distance from the lingering black fumes and discuss where to go about next in light of this new development. First things first, however, Coraline sought to further treat Sango for the wound she received from Jakotsu's blade earlier, applying some salve before wrapping the area with a gauze.

"How's that feel; better?"

The slayer nods reassuringly at the redhead:

"I think it's okay."

Inuyasha was a bit pressed to head after the undead warrior:

"I don't think Jakotsu has gotten very far yet."

"You'll follow?" He replies incredulously to Miroku,

"Whadda you think? I still haven't managed to get any information out of him about Naraku."

"Yes, but, Inuyasha...aren't you worried about that poisonous gas?"

"Whadda ya mean?"

"Well, Jakotsu seemed to know about it..."

That thought made the dog demon hm questionably:

"...You're right. Maybe it's another one of the Band of Seven."

Besa comments,

"That's reasonable: If Jakotsu was revived, it's fair to say all of the Shichinintai have been brought back to the realm of the living to reek havoc."

"But Jakotsu seemed to be in danger too."

Freeman argues back to Sango causally,

"Tch, more like he was annoyed that the fight got interrupted. I caught him scowling a little before he told me and Inuyasha to split."

The dark-skinned boy then steps to Inuyasha and says to him with a bit more serious air,

"Count me in on tailing that creep."

"You sure?"

"Positive. I owe Jakotsu another swing from my hammer for wussin' out on us, and for trying to kill Sango for no real rhyme or reason."

Said demon slayer stared at Freeman with awe, as did the others, before the dog demon nods in a go-ahead manner.

"Alright, but don't lag behind. (Turns to the others) Miroku, Besa, you two stay here and help protect Sango and Coraline."

"Got it."

"Done and done. You two watch yourselves out there."

And as soon as Freeman activated his physical power boost from his Seven Light shard, he and Inuyasha would take off in the direction that Jakotsu supposingly was...

Speaking of the undead man who reflected femininity, we catch up with him just as he appears behind Mukotsu in a far-back clearing of the forest grounds, who was humming away while creating some new poison mixtures.

"...Hm? Why Jakotsu! It's been a long time."

The other zombie wasn't feeling as particularly chummy, as evident by the foot pressed onto Mukotsu's skull.

"Hello yourself."

Removing the appendage, Jakotsu then squats by the shorter zombie to put a hand on their head instead.

"So, Mukotsu, you tried to do me in with your poison too, huh?"

He shoves Mukotsu a bit roughly, who in turn lets out a hearty chuckle and replies,

"Now, don't be angry: I knew you could handle yourself."

"Hmph."

"So, tell me about the others."

Fiddling with the loose piece of a tree branch, Jakotsu reports somewhat dully,

"Well, brother Renkotsu is busy taking care of Ginkotsu."

"What happened to Ginkotsu?"

"He's, you know...He needs all these new guns and gunpowder."

"Heehehe, and I suppose he needs to oil them well, correct?"

...Both members of the Shichinintai suddenly look up, and spot a single Insect of Hell hovering above them. Jakotsu asks,

"Hey, what's all this about?"

The killer demon wasp 'says' their peace, before turning to buzz away, leaving the feminine zombie to gasp excitedly.

"I see: Inuyasha and Freeman are both coming after me!"

Mukotsu lets out another guffaw and muses,

"So, that means the others are all by themselves...and this Coraline girl possesses Shikon-no-Tama shards."

Jakotsu chides,

"They're all yours, Mukotsu."

"Huh? Well then, I'll take the Shikon-no-Tama shards."

"And I'll keep Inuyasha and that sweet little Freeman all for myself."

"They are of no concern to me...What about Coraline?"

Jakotsu calls over his shoulder as he begins to wander out of the clearing,

"All yours. Enjoy~."

A darker chuckle bubbles from the posion-user's throat as he pours his new mixture into the bamboo container.

"Oh, _I will._ "

...And while this was going on, another male figure was just reaching the top of a set of stone steps leading to a large Buddha Temple atop a hill. He wore the garments of a samurai warrior, a long light blue scarf around his bald head, and had purple lines that ran from the top over his eyelids to the underside of his chin. He had arrived just as the monks were doing their daily sweep of the grounds, and the eldest would spot the warrior before walking over to meet with them.

"You have business at this shrine, young man?"

"Yes...This will do rather nicely."

"What?"

"This shrine will do nicely for the Band of Seven."

The elder monk was taken completely off-guard by the nonchalant tone of the revealed zombie.

"Are you saying that, you're one of the Shichinintai?!"

"That outfit of yours will do quite nicely as well."

The zombie finishes his comment with a grin, and the monk turns to try and run away, but would not be fast enough to escape his death by the undead...

Coraline's POV

As soon as Inuyasha and Freeman took off to chase after Jakotsu, the rest of us decide to hang back for a bit, before I notice our group's water supply was getting low and volunteered to search for a fresh source. Accompanying me was Shippo and Lumos, as I jogged along the path ahead, keeping my eyes open and my head shut from any bad thoughts about what my boyfriend and brother could run into...

"Hey, Coraline, look: It's a well!"

"Great. We really need to refill on water...Hm?"

 _Something's laying near the well...No, someone!_

I rush my steps towards the source of water, finding a village woman sprawled on the ground unconscious.

"There's someone on the ground!"

"I see, Shippo. (Kneels by woman) Hey, can you hear me?"

But when my fingertips touched the area where her pulse would read...

"Shit...she's gone."

 _And thinking about it...there's something oddly heavy about this air._

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Hm? What is it, Lumos?"

My Will O' Wisp friend floats a few feet over from the well, and squint my eyes, I pick up on the sight of...more dead villagers, along with a few birds suddenly dropping down from the sky!

"What the hell...?"

"Are they all dead? Coraline, I think we better get away from here."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

Shoving away the water bottle back into my satchel, I prepare to back out and run away from this new ghost town...only to be greeted by the sudden spurt of that earlier black smog!

"Agh!"

"Poisonous gas!"

I move to cover my nose and mouth, just as a short, pudgy figure cloaked in white approaches, calling ominously,

"You cannot escape from Mukotsu's poison..."

 _Mu-kot-su?...Uh! He must be with the Shichinintai!_

 _...Rgh!_

Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough in meeting my conclusion, and became weakened considerably by this poison, forcing me on my knees and Shippo to hop onto the ground before he tumbled.

"Coraline, please hang in there!"

 _Fuck, this is bad...!_

"Heheheh, so, Coraline: You're the one who has the Shikon-no-Tama shards, correct?"

 _Mrh, always, always the damn jewel shards...!_

"Coraline, Coraline!"

With a shaky hand, I barely manage to will my right hand to reach into my jeans pocket where the bottle of jewel shards were, before thrusting it into my little fox demon friend's robes.

"Gh! Coraline..."

"Sh-Shippo, go. Run, and take, the shards with you..."

"No way! I won't!"

I give him a stern but well-meaning glare, just as my ears pick up on Mukotsu's footsteps coming closer.

"Don't be afraid. I don't plan to kill you. No, my pretty: This is a special toxin to paralyze your body, but your mind will remain quite alert. It has no effect on demons, though."

Hearing Lumos chirp in worry for me and anger towards this zombie, I think to myself with a rueful smirk,

 _Nor, does it affect spirit creatures, you bastard..._

"You leave Coraline alone! _Fox Magic: Smashing Top!_ "

The toy enlarges in accordance to Shippo's illusionary powers and pelts down on Mukotsu's head.

"Agh!"

"How'd you like that?"

Unfortunately, it does not slow the zombie down much, and he lifts the veil over his mouth to spew some green-black gas at my fox demon friend!

"Sh-Shippo!"

Mukotsu laughs at the other's sputtering before kicking them away, then turns to advance towards me, ignoring the stronger cries of warning to 'stay away' from my Will O' Wisp partner...

(...Spin, SMASH)

That was when Hiraikotsu comes flying in, and destroys the bamboo container in the poison-user's hands!

 _Sango!_

I glance over to see her, Miroku, Besa and Kilala (she in full form) standing a distance away, as the former catches her weapon on the rebound, filter mask on.

"Miroku, Besa, stay back!"

Both men cover their mouths to avoid breathing in too much of the smog.

"It's poison: So he's the one behind the gas!"

"Cora, are you alright?!"

I struggle to give them a warning expression to deter them from coming any closer than they are.

 _Everyone, stay away...! Don't, risk your lives!_

That's when Shippo gets an idea:

"I know! I'll get Inuyasha, and Freeman!"

With that, I watch as he runs out of the area, with Lumos tagging along with him...Miroku then addresses Mukotsu:

"So you must be one of the Band of Seven."

"(Laugh) That's right: I'm Mukotsu, Poison Master!"

Besa then asks in a stern manner similar to the other male,

"Were you and the others of your band resurrected by the hands of Naraku?! Tell us!"

The zombie only laughed more and replied,

"Couldn't tell you. You'll have to ask the captain... _should you survive, that is._ "

 _Ooh I don't like the sound of that..._

 _Everyone, get outta here!_

(Shoooooom...)

Another shot of those black fumes is spurted out of Mukotsu's bamboo container, to which my brother would respond with by using his Seven Light Crystal shard alongside Sango using her weapon as a shield!

"B-Besa...Sango...Miroku, K-Kilala..."

With all the strength I could muster, I flash my eyes ice blue to check for the auras of my friends and family...and found their beats of energy through the steaming ground.

 _Oh thank god, they're still alive..._

But any relief would be shot to hell, when Mukotsu suddenly jeers,

"Now then, Coraline, the intruders are gone. _It's just you and me now..._ "

 _FML and then some...!_

No POV

"Inuyasha, Freeman! Where'd you guys go?!"

Thankfully, Shippo was able to escape out of the area Mukotsu took over with his miasmic fumes, and invoked his fox demon magic to board his flying toy horse for the skies, combing for any signs of the two young men who left elsewhere.

"Lumos, you got any ideas to where they went?"

The Will O' Wisp, who left with the fox demon to help, pauses in thought...before shivering when he feels the presence of said objects of search, along with a darker energy belonging to another being nearby. Moaning in anticipation, Lumos begins darting off ahead of Shippo, he urging his toy horse along to meet close with the orbed creature's speed.

"Whoa, guess I'll take that as a yes!"

Meanwhile, we catch up with Inuyasha and Freeman as they sprinted along through another part of the forest, tracking the feminine-male zombie with their own heightened senses.

 _Jakotsu's scent...I'm getting closer._

"My crystal's allowin' me to sense a dead beat with a sick grey ring. It's gotta be him...Uh! There!"

Freeman darts his head up sharply as he and the dog demon reach a new clearing, and they halt into a stop when they spot their inquiry standing atop a fallen log, shaking out his clothes.

"Ah, Inuyasha, Freeman!"

"What the heck are you doin'?!"

Jakotsu replies casually to Inuyasha,

"It's my scent that you're tracking, is it not? Well I thought I'd just make it a little...easier for you. (Looks at Freeman) Ooo, and I love that pretty rainbow glow on your dark skin, stud; makes you look even more appetizing."

Freeman shivers with a mix of disgust and awkwardness:

"Oh dude, you're so lucky my mate Ginta ain't here to listen on that...Plus murderous zombies aren't my type."

His dog demon friend shoots him a raised brow expression that said 'So not the time for that, man', before pulling out his Tessaiga at ready, prompting the dark-sinned male to ready his long hammer.

"Say goodbye!"

"And give our regards to Satan!"

...Cutting away from the budding battle, we now zoom in on a large hut in another clearing of the surrounding pine and beech that was enveloped in poisonous fumes to keep interlopers away...And inside, was our unfortunate redhead Coraline, her body immobile thanks to the earlier blast of paralyzing toxic gas, and at the mercy of the perilous self-proclaimed 'Poison Master', Mukotsu. He lets out a chuckle as he reaches to grab a piece of long white cloth from his wicker basket, before moving to squat in front of Coraline.

"We're surrounded by a barrier of poisonous gas. No one can disturb us...My, what a rare beauty..."

The short-stature zombie reaches to take the girl's chin between his fingers.

"I'm so fortunate to getting married to such a pretty girl..."

If she had the ability to do so, Coraline's stormy blue irises would've bulged with a new rise of fear and rejection (directed at the other being in the room, of course).

 _What did he just say?! Marry?!_

Mukotsu unbuttons his veil, revealing his face in full, which wasn't among the most handsome, but couldn't truly be classified as ugly: It mirrored the likeness of a toad, wide mouth with gaped teeth, large round eyes, pudgy nose, and red markings surrounding the outward part of his eyes and creating two lines going down from his chin to his chest.

"You see, believe it or not, there are some who find me unattractive. (Chuckle) First, the bridal preparations, then we'll have the ceremony..."

The zombie's gleeful anticipation only fueled Coraline's rising anxiety, her heartbeat suddenly jumping faster like the speeding engine of a train, her irises darting back and forth in a panic.

 _No...No, no! I'm too young, too young to be married, and to a dead man no less?!_

 _Never...Never! Inuyasha! Inuyasha's the only man for me!_

 _Help! Inuyasha, help me!_

And as the white cloth is held at ready to be placed on the poor victim...Mukotsu misses the sparking flash of ice blue in the girl's irises, indicating a new problem was on the rise...

Inuyasha's POV

 _Dammit, if there's one kind of weapon I hate most, it's the speedy type!_

A minute after finding the undead bastard, Freeman and I would soon be engaging him in battle.  
Unfortunately, for the most part, we weren't so much struggling to land a hit, but more working to avoid getting hit.

"Are you running away?!"

Ignoring the maniac's taunt, I blocked another thrust from that snake-like sword before getting Tessaiga ready to unleash one of my own attacks.

"I've had enough of this."

"Oooh, Inuyasha! I love it when you're angry!"

Jakotsu thrusts his strange blade at me again, forcing me to use my own to block, which in turn would make the gathering breeze disappear!

 _His sword...It's somehow able to disrupt the Tessaiga's Wind Scar!_

"Don'tcha dare forget about me, Jakotsu!"

(Swing, WHAM, rumble...)

Freeman then tries to throw the creep off-balance with one of his underground eruption shots with his hammer, but the latter manages to somersault to the side in time while calling in a coo,

"Oh I won't dare forget you, little boy! The fun's just beginning!"

Jakotsu takes a try at cutting my friend down, who thank god was able to barely dodge thanks to his heightened abilities from his Seven Light shard...Though I did notice as he stopped that his arm was bleeding, so he must've gotten grazed. Nevertheless, the scent of his blood was enough to make me somersault-jump over to him in concern.

"Freeman! You okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine; just a scratch...Heh, that's what I get for being careless in not remembering I don't have demon-level speed even with this power boost."

 _Freeman..._

"Alright, just don't push yourself too hard. Leave the heavyweight to me."

"Ten-four...If only there was some way to stop that stupid blade from moving, we could get the jump on Jakotsu."

Hearing us, the bastard jeers,

"Ha. Do you two really believe you can stop the great sword, Jakotsutō?"

We turn to glare at the dead man determinedly with our weapons at ready before retorting together,

"You bet we do!" "We're sure of it!"

"Inuyasha, Freeman!"

Hmming in confusion, I turn around to see Shippo up in the air on his toy horse with Lumos hovering beside him, his expression urgent.

"Another one of the Band of Seven has Coraline! She needs your help right now!"

...I felt my heart skip a beat at the kid's message, and the demon part of me growling in anger and concern for my intended's safety.

 _Someone dares to kidnap my girl...my mate-to-be?!_

 _(Growl) They won't live! I'll kill them!_

"Inuyasha!"

(CLANG, slash)

"Rgh!"

Mind you, I should've paid attention to the battle I was already in, otherwise Freeman wouldn't have had to jump in front of me and use his hammer to block the incoming connected blades of Jakotsu's sword, resulting in another injury for him, this time in the form of a gash above his left hip!

"Gh! Freeman...!" The dead-man chides in a deadly manner,

"Now now, don't forget about me, unless you want stud here to get hurt..."

Thrusting the sword back, Freeman barks back,

"Shut your hole! You wanna fight? I can deliver! (Looks backwards) Inuyasha, go find sis and leave this freakazoid to me!"

"Uh! But Freeman-"

"Just go, now!"

...I stared at the young man before me for a moment in awe for his willingness to act as bait for the zombie, before nodding with a serious look.

"Okay, show's on you. But be careful and don't hesitate if you gotta run. (Turns around) Let's go, Shippo!"

I leap up towards the kid just as my ears catch the sound of Jakotsu retracting his sword while calling,

"Oh I don't think so!"

"Giddy up!"

Shippo jumps off his horse and hops onto my shoulder, and we make our getaway just as the toy connects with the dead man's chest to create a smoke cloud to cloak his view on us. I glance down at Freeman once more time, who nods up at me with a grim smirk, before I focus forward to begin my search for Coraline.

 _I swear I'll owe you big time for this, Freeman..._

 _Now, to find my intended and slaughter the bastard who dared to snatch her away._

Freeman's POV

 _Good luck, you two. I'll do my best to keep Jakotsu's eyes on me and give you time to find everyone..._

"(Ghostly moan)"

Just as I finish sending that mental message, Lumos comes barreling down from the air to stop beside me.

"Oh, hey!...You stayin' to help?"

He 'nods', making me mirror the action with an appreciative smile, before I focus up front to the tune of Shippo's wailing mushrooms that were emitting a taunting 'negh-negh' noise, much to Jakotsu's incredulous surprise.

"W-What is this?! Heeeeey! Inuyasha, come back!"

The sight was enough to make me laugh while holding my side with one arm, before I ask in a jeer,

"Aw, what's wrong, Jakotsu? Scared of a few fungi?"

He in turn glares at me and shouts in an infuriated manner,

"Shut up! I don't fight alot of demons with this power!"

"Yeah, that's obvious...Now then."

I shift into a fighter stance, my face emitting all serious while my humour dropped to hide behind a big wall.

"You still got an opponent, so quit your bellyachin' and let's get it on...unless you wanna skip the pointless bloodshed and come clean about what you know regarding Naraku and that jewel shard in your neck."

Jakotsu looks at me with brief shock over my bravery...before breaking into a grin and lifts himself off the ground, shaking the wailing mushrooms off his person which poof away in a cloud of smoke seconds after.

"Mm, that sounds boring. I'd rather work a sweat with you, even if you won't be as challenging as Inuyasha."

"Don't underestimate me just 'cause I'm human: I've got the kind of strength that's taken on all kinds of demons, and I'm ready to add a zombie under my list of victims!"

 _Well, maybe that's a slight stretch, but I have gotten alot stronger..._

The zombie lets out a giggle-like chuckle and replies,

"That's great! I like my men strong! (Smirk) Very well, little Freeman: Let's fight...but to make it interesting, let's drag it over to where your allies are and see who's still alive by the time we reach them!"

He then rushes towards me before jumping into the air over my body into the tree cover...

"Hey!"

(...SHOOM)

"Whoa!"

Next thing I knew, I was barely somersaulting out of the way of an incoming thrust from that damn snake blade, before catching quick on that freak's idea and start dashing my way into the forest in the direction my two friends rushed to a couple minutes ago.

 _Guess this'll be one of those chase-fights...Okay, game on, zombie-man!_

Coraline's POV

If I wasn't paralyzed by this freak's poisonous fumes, I would've thrown up with disgust from his touch and his sickening idea to marry me to him. Unfortunately, I was helpless to stop him, as he placed that white cloth over my head like a veil.

"I have my faults, but I'll be a good husband to you. Now, Coraline, it's time for the ritual marriage dance. Try to keep up."

 _Ulgh, this is all kinds of wrong...!_

He then proceeds to make me move in an awkward kneeling dance, singing a song that reigned all crazy and possessive. My mind of course, fazed out the words and opt to panicking over my new predicament.

 _Those clammy hands...This touch...I can't stand it!_

 _Make it stop, please! Someone please make it stop!_

(Pulse...)

For the second time, I then felt a beat of my Soul Energy ring through my veins...but it felt, strange.

 _Wh-What is this?...Is it my Soul?_

I faintly pick up on the jewel shard embedded in this gruesome man's neck, and I think to myself in a manner of desperation,

 _If only I could rip that wretched shard from his neck..._

My thoughts would be briefly distracted when I'm laid on my front by Mukotsu, who comments in that horridly lustful tone,

"Such a fine bride. Such a fine bride, indeed. Now, how about some rice wine?"

 _Hell no! I refuse to accept anything from this freak!_

 _Come on, body, please move!_

(Pulse, pulse, pulse)

The beating of my Soul became more persistent the higher my anxiety, my hatred, my, resistance towards this fate rose. I don't know how this zombie fool could've been so blind...but I could feel the energy of my very being beginning to take over, as evident by the pulsating ice blue ring around my body.

 _Th-The energy...Something, rising, taking, over...!_

(CRASH)

That was when some of my friends came to try and rescue me, in the forms of Sango, Miroku, Besa and Kilala.

"Coraline!" "Cora!"

"Coraline!"

Mukotsu was obviously displeased that his plans were being disrupted:

"How dare you interrupt my ceremony!"

As much as I willed my throat to cry out a warning, I couldn't stop the creep from unleashing a torrent of his poisonous fumes. Sango of course felt confident in taking him on:

"Leave this to me!"

However...it seemed this particular brand of miasma was stronger than what her filter mask can handle, the signs being her gasp and Mukotsu's mocking chuckle.

"That little mask of yours won't work: This poison enters through your eyes and skin!"

On that note, my poor slayer friend collapses on her front to the ground, overcome by the power.

 _Sango!_

The two men cry out her name as well, before they too succumb to a faint from the poison...

 _No! Miroku! Besa!_

That left Kilala to try and lunge at Mukotsu, before she was blasted by those same fumes that got Shippo earlier before he escaped to find the others, finding herself writhing while shifting back into her dormant form...

 _Kilala!_

"(Laugh) That's everyone. I of course am unaffected...Nothing can harm me."

...Hearing that smug tone of his, that laugh again...

I had reached my wit's end.

 _This, bastard...He wishes to make his victims feel helpless, helpless...Just like-  
_

 _(Flash)_

 _Those men, women and children senselessly killed by Trinity in India, their outcries ringing in truest horror with the flames..._

 _(Flash)_

 _Those poor women who were victimized by Gatenmaru the moth demon, who sucked them dry of their life..._

 _(Flash)_

 _...I refuse. I refuse to be tied helpless to this beast!_

 _This bastard beast who would dare try to make me vulnerable and take me away from the man I love!_

 _I, WON'T, BE, HELPLESS!_

(Gleam)

My vision clouded over with a black-washed ice blue, the energy rising in my blood and eliminating the paralyzing numbness in my body, my mind sinking deep into emotions so mixed I couldn't make heads or tails of anything...except the feeling of pure, undeniable, white-hot Rage.

"Now then, my dear sweet Coraline. Shall we pick up where we left off?"

...My hand finds the handle of my combat knife.

"Die."

"Huh?"

No one, not even myself, would see my next move coming: I propelled myself to my feet again, and whirled around while belting out a Banshee-like screech before lunging at Mukotsu, knocking him down onto his back before bringing my knife down on him over and over and over!

His screams rang through this shack alongside my beast-like roars, his blood protruding from the multiple stab wounds I drove into his skin, my powers sparking on my blade and creating excruciating shock currents to shake with agonizing torture throughout his body! Only one thought echoed through my head:

 _KILL HIM, KILL HIM, KILL HIM...!_

I faintly recall feeling a twinge of rising anxieties from my friends and brother, but that was the least of my priorities during this psychotic...yet sickeningly satisfying episode.

I'm not sure how long I had kept this going along, but somehow, Mukotsu, despite being severely injured even for a zombie, managed to slip himself backwards from me and tried to drag himself out of the hut to escape...But I wouldn't let him slide out of his unavoidable fate.

With the calm air of an assassin, and the raw power of my Aura radiating off my body, glowing hauntingly with utterly wild hatred and rage burning in my irises, I proceeded out the doorway in a steady pace, easily keeping up with the pitiful excuse of revived life, who was now looking at me with a new air of petrifying fear.

"Please, C-Coraline, please-(cough, hack) wait...! Don't, k-kill me! Don't take, my life!"

There was no room for sympathy within this new me in control of this freaked situation. I merely glowered in a seething manner down at Mukotsu, whispering in a deadly tone while reaching my free hand to grab my sword,

"Pathetic beggar...Go back to hell where you belong, you disgusting, pigheaded, undead BEAST!"

(Shing)

"DIE!"

(SLASH)

The energy from ShatterSoul emanated a different light this time: Coal black with a dark electric blue, acting like tiny blades that shredded the zombie into thousands of fleshed pieces, before that in turn disintegrated to leave behind no more than the skeletal framework inside the white robes of that pathetic excuse of life...

...

...The area falls still to the tense winds that blew, my breathing ragged and carrying the heavy weight of my overpowering emotions and Aura. The feeling of this bastard's blood on my skin...it was disgusting, yet, disturbingly, in a good way.

"...My. So this is how far your limits will extend to allow you to continue life."

I slowly looked up, my Aura Power continuing to block my normal eyesight from getting a clear view of the new figure standing near one side of the hut...But there was no mistaking that particular demonic aura I was sensing, or that deep toned voice that I was hearing either.

 _Se-ssho-maru..._

"This demonstration is merely more proof of how well you and that half-breed little brother of mine truly match."

I ask in a haggard whisper,

"W-Wha-t, do you, m-mean?"

"You both carry a barely controllable beast within your beings, and have an annoying habit of surviving near-death."

"...I-Is that, so?"

 _Does this mean...I've, awoken my own version, of a demon ego?_

"...Coraline!"

 _Uh! Inuyasha!_

The pitter-patter of fast footfalls approaches, and I pivot my head just a few centimeters to see through my still overly-powered Aura Vision the demonic (one with their half-human core) structures that represented my boyfriend and Shippo arriving to this area.

"Gh! Sesshomaru...?"

Amber irises shift focus to my heavy-breathed, raw Aura-radiating, black-washed ice blue-eyed and bloodied form, my hands limply holding up my weapons stained crimson from the blows I dealt to the now skeletal body of the zombie poison user. Needless to say, Inuyasha was stunned beyond comprehension.

"C...Coraline...?"

"Hh...Hh...Inu-yasha..."

Shippo's jaw was slack, his green eyes shining with awe and horror, before he turns attention to the others inside.

"Uh! Oh no!"

His little body dashes inside the demolished hut, and I hear his voice cry out,

"They all look like they're dead...!"

Inuyasha's breath catches, before he turns to growl at the one he thought was responsible, somehow fazing out my disheveled and haunting appearance.

"What did you do, Sesshomaru?!"

I struggle out in a hoarse voice just barely above a mutter,

"N-No! He, h-had only arrived...after I, k-killed, M-Mukot-su..."

"Killed? Hn, that's putting it rather lightly: Looked more like you slaughtered the dead man."

Our eyes focus on the older dog demon, who adds neutrally,

"But it was more than likely he wouldn't have answered my questions, so you did both of us a favor by getting rid of him. Simple as that."

Through my fragile state of sanity, I was a bit surprised by that almost-compliment from him, while Inuyasha was more curious about what his half-brother was seeking answers to.

"What questions?"

"I caught the boy Kohaku's scent...Does that mean Naraku is near?"

(Rustle...)

"Hm?"

We then hear the sound of rattling leaves from the treeline...before we're suddenly greeted by my other twin brother, Freeman!

"Freeman!" "F-Freeman..."

What I didn't expect, was how beaten and worn-down he looked, his body sporting several bruises and shallow cuts alongside a rather deep-looking incision on his hip...It would be Inuyasha who asked,

"What the heck happened to you?"

"Hah, hah, had a bit of trouble gettin' down here thanks to Jakotsu. Hah, I, lost 'im down a small sinkhole that his blade stirred up under my feet. Nearly got buried alive."

 _What?!_

I felt that dulling rage begin to rise anew, providing clarity for my voice and temporarily erasing my weariness and stutters.

"Where is he?! I'll cut him down and make him regret coming back from the dea-UH!"

(PULSE)

...But that was when my adrenaline finally sunk to the bottom despite my still overpowered Aura, and the last thing I remember, was Freeman rushing to me and Inuyasha's expression of fear and worry, before it all went black.

No POV

The black-washed blue energy that ringed around Coraline's body billowed away as she fell unconscious face-down, her Aura Power pushed too far past its limits for her to remain awake...

"Cora!"

Freeman quickly ran over to kneel down in front of his sister, holding her up in his arms while also taking note of the splashes of red on her person.

 _What the...Where'd all this blood come from?_

 _Unless..._

He looks over at the skeleton of the newly-dead Mukotsu, before putting two and two together with bugling eyes.

 _Uh! She...Oh, Coraline, what the hell'd you have to do?_

Unbeknownst to him and the other two men, the zombie he was previously fighting had caught up to them, and was now watching their forms from behind a tree.

 _Damn that Inuyasha, ignoring me for that psychotic redhead..._

 _(Shudder) Somehow, that bitch was able to kill brother Mukotsu without any mercy._

 _...Who is this Coraline, truly?_

 _Also...who is that other self-important demon? I've never heard tale of him before._

 _But his air speaks of a power that can best an opponent as easily as swatting a fly._

Jakotsu spots an Insect of Hell leaving from the skeletal corpse to elsewhere, with the jewel shard that throbbed life in the former poison-user...

 _Hmm, I better not stick around..._

His lips curve into a small smile as he adds in an afterthought while darting out of the area the other way,

 _But, at least I had a good chase with the stud, 'til he fell down that hole. Poor boy; a miracle he managed to get here._

 _...I'll look forward to when we'll meet again for another round, Freeman._

We focus back on the dog demons, as Sesshomaru asks again,

"Answer me, Inuyasha: Where is Naraku?"

Snapping out of his state of shock and worry cast to his woman, Inuyasha mutters,

"We haven't been able to find him either. But now, we've got these phantoms possessing Shikon-no-Tama shards coming after us...I'm sure Naraku's close by."

"...That's all I need to know."

With that, Sesshomaru turns to walk out of the area, despite his younger half-brother calling after him.  
Meanwhile, Shippo was more pressed with trying to wake up the fallen slayer, monk and twin-tail cat demon.

"Please, say something, Sango! Miroku! Miroku, wake up!"

"I-It's, no use, Shi-ppo..."

The fox demon turns spins around to see Besa struggling to push himself off the floor on his elbows, his skin beading with sweat.

"Auh! Besa! But how?!"

"I, activated, my crystal at the, l-last second...But even it's power isn't gonna hold for long. This poison is, t-too strong. Urgh!"

Shippo rushes to try and help push the dark-skinned boy upward, while Inuyasha darted over to where Freeman was to gently take Coraline into his arms.

"Coraline...! Coraline! Rgh, damn it, I knew it; I should've stayed with her!"

Freeman places a hand on the dog demon's shoulder and chides seriously,

"Beating yourself up over this ain't gonna help jack, man. We should focus on giving everyone an antidote before the poison really attacks their systems."

Small Time Skip, Rin's POV  


It's been quite a while since milord left to find a possible lead in his search for that evil Naraku, and Jaken and I have settled on a fallen log on the edge of a clearing while A-Un sat on the grass in front of us. I've been getting better at trying to remain patient during these times, but it's not easy for a young soul like me...

"Lord Sesshomaru is sure late...Now I wish I had gone with him."

Jaken would dismiss my wishes by reminding me,

"Nonsense. There was definitely signs of poison where Lord Sesshomaru was going. If you had gone with him, you'd be pushing up daisies for sure."

 _Oh yes, that's right: The poison._

"Haaah, I guess you're right...Hm?"

That's when I hear the sound of soft footsteps from behind me in the trees, and I turn around to see a familiar figure walking to...well, I'm not sure where.

 _Uh! Kohaku...?_

I then watch as one of those scary insects comes hovering to his hand to present a piece of that jewel I've heard spoken about a couple times...

 _What are you doing here?_

"...What is it, Rin?"

"Mm?"

I snapped out of my thoughts to Jaken's voice, and turn to quickly reply,

"Oh, it's nothing..."

 _If I were to tell him about Kohaku, he may report to Lord Sesshomaru..._

The imp stares at me for a moment, before turning his back to me once again, while I look to see...that Kohaku was gone.  
Recalling what I had been through with that boy, the good, and the bad, I felt the feeling of worry rise.

 _Lord Sesshomaru...If you see him again, will you kill Kohaku?_

Buddha Temple, No POV

At the same time the youngest ward of Sesshomaru's group spots the mentally-enslaved demon slayer nearby the areas of these recent events, we check back to the temple another unnamed member of the Band of Seven had claimed for his fellow men, having since eradicated the rest of the monks after killing the elder, their charred bodies littering the holy grounds...

He's now speaking with Jakotsu inside one of the temple's rooms, the former having since redressed himself in the robes of the dead monk.

"I see...First Kyokotsu, and now Mukotsu."

"Yep."

"So, what can you tell me about Mukotsu's killer?"

The feminine man scowls as he went into his description of Coraline:

"Ugh, as much as I hate thinking about women...there was definitely something strange going on with that redhead. Her body was glowing a dark icy colour, and her voice, (shudder) sounded like a monster rising from Hell. I'm not even sure she was fully aware of what she was doing, like, she was losing control over her being...Still, if that woman had remained that way, I'm almost certain that she wouldn't have rested until all of us were dead, again..."

"Hm, interesting..."

"Mind you, the demon that showed shortly after the bitch murdered our brother had a similar if less aggravated air. He had cold, expressionless eyes...quite manly, I suppose you could say...But I guess if it came down to it, I'd still have to choose Inuyasha."

Sensing Jakotsu's mind drifting, the warrior-zombie moves to get him back on topic.

"I believe we're losing focus, Jakotsu..."

"But Renkotsu...there still seems to be many things we haven't been told."

"Hm?"

"Take for instance this Naraku person who revived the seven of us...Who is he, exactly?"

The other zombie, identified as Renkotsu, shuts his eyes in thought.

"Hmm, Naraku..."

"Brother...have you ever met him?"

"...No, only big brother has met Naraku. Naraku handed him the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama, including ones for us...Naraku told him that if we got rid of anyone who sought Naraku, the shards would become ours."

Jakotsu seemed to take this information in with a calm air, if a little suspicious.

"What an agreement. Two of the Band of Seven are already dead...So from the seven, that leaves only four."

"Seven minus two is five."

"Huh? (Counts his fingers) Wait..."

Renkotsu then inquires with a small smirk forming,

"But Jakotsu...you said that Inuyasha's friends were exposed to Mukotsu's poison."

"Yes, excluding that cutie Freeman who I fought down to where our newly dead brother was hiding out...I did notice his twin had a faint rainbow glow to his skin like he had, so they must be trying something to stay conscious...but, Mukotsu's poison is very persistent, and the stud can only fight the pain of his injuries for so long."

Looking to the outside, Jakotsu adds,

"By nightfall, they'll probably all be dead."

...Speaking of Inuyasha and company, we turn our eyes towards an area in the forest with a deep-pooled waterfall, our poisoned slayer, monk and swordswoman laying on their backs unconscious atop a large boulder. Freeman, who now had a few bandages wrapped around his limbs and his waist, was kneeling on the rock while having his brother Besa lean against him, the latter fighting to stay conscious with the power of his Seven Light shard, its rainbow energies glowing faintly in his veins while his body perspired profoundly.

Inuyasha, Shippo and Kilala, the only three who didn't have any severe handicaps, gazed at everyone with worry, more so the ones not awake, as the fox demon comments while holding a cup,

"Well, we gave them the antidote, but now they need rest, and lots of it."

He locks eyes with Besa and asks,

"Is it helping your crystal at all with healing you?"

"Hah...Hah, kind-of. It's getting, harder to stay awake...I'm more, concerned for sis, though: I dunno, what happened to her, but something in her p-powers must've snapped."

Freeman nods in agreement:

"Yeah...I could feel it too. Somehow, that power burst had eliminated most of the poison in her system, but it's left her extremely weak, more than Sango and Miroku..."

Inuyasha clenches his teeth slightly, and reaches to brush some of Coraline's hair from her face, muttering,

"You're right, all of you...We should really find a safer place for them, (glances at the twins) and you two since one of you's close to passin' out and the other's sporting injuries thanks to Jakotsu."

...At the same time the able-bodied began formulating a plan of action to transport the sick and injured, Renkotsu moved to stand in the doorway of the room he was speaking with his brother in, chuckling as he muses aloud,

"This gets even more interesting...As it turns out, our brother Ginkotsu is heading their way as we speak...Ginkotsu: More than a match for any demon."

...

...

And somewhere deep within the trees nearing the waterfall area...another dead man whose body consisted of flesh, _and metal_ , was slowly making their trek to find and eliminate the enemy.


	117. Chapter 116

**Chapter 116: The Sengoku Era's Undead Cyborg**

Continuing where we last left off in recent events, we check back briefly with Shichinintai brothers Renkotsu and Jakotsu, as the former gives the latter a new task to accomplish while a third of their group, called by the name Ginkotsu, picks up where their newly deceased brother, Mokotsu left behind after poisoning close to half of Inuyasha's group...

Of course, the feminine male would be less than pleased at being deterred from another possible clash with a certain dog demon and/or a black coarse-haired teen.

"It's not fair, Renkotsu! I told you before that Inuyasha and Freeman are mine!"

"That's enough, Jakotsu. Plans have changed somewhat: I have another mission prepared for you."

The latter could care less and continued to complain like a child being denied candy.

"It's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair!"

"I said, that's enough, Jakotsu."

"But Renkotsu, Inuyasha and Freeman, they're-"

Renkotsu sternly cuts in before the conversation could keep circling:

"Quit whining, Jakotsu, and listen carefully to what I would have you do."

Jakotsu makes an indignant noise and pouts angrily, until his brother turns to him with a smirk and adds,

"Then, if you hurry right back, you may make it in time...for Inuyasha and this Freeman's deaths."

...Meanwhile, after deciding that they shouldn't stick around the waterfall area incase the Shichinintai make their next attack sooner than later, Inuyasha, with some help from the injured Freeman, would place the unconscious Sango and Miroku on Kilala's back, while Besa, who was still somehow remaining awake despite being weak from the blast of poison, insisted on trying to walk and save the cat demon of some weight, his twin acting as a crutch.

...As for Coraline, the dog demon would carry her on his back himself, but not before quickly changing her into a set of clothes that weren't soaked in crimson from the brutal killing of the poison-using zombie, an action that no one of this group believed to ever be executed by the redhead...She was now wearing a red t-shirt, grey-blue jeans, and still kept her black combat boots since they were easy to clean the blood off of.

Now, as he led along Kilala and the twins in a slow march past a crystalline lake, Inuyasha found himself glancing back at his intended with worried eyes when he picks up on the faint sound of a wince from the girl.

"Are you in pain, Coraline? Hang in there just a little longer..."

 _And as for, what happened before...we'll leave that conversation for after you're better._

Shippo, who was riding on Kilala's neck while holding Miroku's staff, looks back at the unconscious monk and Sango while telling them,

"Don't you worry; it's gonna be okay!"

He pivots his head left to address the twins, noticing that Besa's fatigue was growing.

"How are you holding up, Besa?"

"Hh, hh, not terribly, but, not sure how long I can keep, walking..."

Freeman shifts his grip on his cornrow-haired brother and tells him,

"Just let me know if we need to go fireman-style, bro."

"But, you're still hurt from your, fight with Jakotsu..."

"I can handle it; they're just some cuts on my limbs and my hip. Nothin' holdin' my shoulders back. (Grim smile) I'd have t' turn into a giant scab before anyone can stop me from helping my brother."

"Freeman..."

Having heard the conversation with his sharp demon hearing, Inuyasha felt a short-lived smile form on his lips from hearing the sibling care in his friends, before forming a serious frown when he reminds himself,

 _They're puttin' on a brave front, but even Besa won't stay conscious for long, and Freeman's gonna put himself at risk if he aggravates his injuries the wrong way tryin' to help me, Shippo and Kilala..._

 _I gotta get everyone to a safe place, right away._

At the same time, we find that elder priest and student that we've seen a few times in recent days traveling past the higher part of waterfall our main group of heroes just left from only a while ago, after spending the night up in that hilltop shrine (which unknown to the pair, had experienced a takeover by evil hours after they left...).

"It's a very fine day today, wouldn't you agree, Master?"

"Yes, indeed it is. We need not fear demons nor specters in this weather."

"I-I'm not sure if I follow your reasoning, but I do not doubt your wisdom on the matter, Master."

"Now let us make haste. We would do well not to test these disputable truths."

"Right!"

...Unfortunately, such promise would not come to pass, when they reached the bridge crossing the waterfall, and discover a _fushia pink glow_ emanating behind the clear blue waters.

"Huh?"

"What is that light?"

(...Shwooooom, slice-slice-slice, CRASH)

"Gah!" "Auh!"

Suddenly, several blades came shooting out to destroy the wooden bridge before the priest and his apprentice could step onto it, which were sent...by the zombie Ginkotsu! They do not hesitate whatsoever in bolting back in the other direction while crying out in terror, as the undead bulk watched them leave with a grunted chuckle under their breath...

...Speaking of risen bodies, we check in on Jakotsu now as he sits underneath a tree on a hill overlooking a new village, plucking away at the petals of a flower while contemplating the fate of two figures on his mind.

"They will die...They will not die...They will die...They will not die...They will die...Hah! They won't die!"

He gently tosses away the flower, somewhat satisfied with the answer, but still disappointed at the fifty-fifty chance he may not witness the prediction.

"Haoh well, just when things were getting interesting...Hoh, how can Renkotsu be so mean to me?"

Images of a superimposed Inuyasha and a determined Freeman flash before Jakotsu's imagination, making him mentally swoon over their names in a lovelorn manner...

"Haaaoh, oh well, I guess it can't be helped..."

He stands up and preps to move downward towards the populace in the distance.

"I better finish up my work here before brother Ginkotsu kills those two...I sure hope Inuyasha and Freeman stay alive until I get back...But, against Ginkotsu, I don't know, still..."

Inuyasha's POV

 _Man, this couldn't be a worse situation if it tried._

 _Three of my pack members are down with poison, one barely stayin' awake thanks to his crystal, while his brother is forced to trudge through injuries after playin' live bait to that freak Jakotsu, and my intended..._

 _She might not be handicapped by the poison anymore, but I can tell she went through Hell and back again thanks to her powers._

 _...What the hell happened to you, Coraline? What did that bastard Mukotsu do to push you past sanity and, kill him in coldest blood?_

I come out of my thoughts when the kid suddenly says to me as we kept moving along this lake,

"Hey, Inuyasha, I really don't it's wise to move them any further. It'll make the poison spread faster."

As much as I wanted to agree in full, I also knew that staying rooted to one spot right now wasn't a good idea either.

"Yeah, I know that. I also know that we can't stop now: The moment Freeman and I left to go chase after Jakotsu, the Band of Seven attacked Coraline, Miroku, Sango and Besa."

Shippo whimpers in worry, before I hear Freeman add in accordance to my reasoning,

"If wind catches that we're down four of our own, those undead creeps won't hesitate to make worse trouble for us."

"Yeah, but guys, if left untreated-"

Besa cuts into the kid's worries with a weakened tone,

"T-They, understand the risk, Shippo, but, they're right too: We can't, rest out in the open. We need to find, somewhere, s-secluded."

"Besa..."

I was about to turn my head and silently thank the man for stopping me from barking at the kid - for that wouldn't have helped the situation at all - when I suddenly sensed something off on the other side of the big stretch of water.

"Huh?"

I stop, prompting Shippo and Freeman to ask me,

"Hey Inuyasha, what's wrong?"

"Is something coming near us?"

...Next I knew, these weird and very dangerous-looking round blades starting speeding at us from across the blue!

"What the heck are those things?!"

I exclaim to the others,

"Shippo, Freeman, Kilala, get down!"

Luckily, we all managed to duck in time, leaving those strange blades to go whirling through some tree trunks behind us, before swerving around to fly back to where they were first launched from.

"Those looked like, giant buzz-saw blades..."

I turn to look at Freeman in confusion for his bated mutter:

"Buzz-saw?"

"Yeah, it's a type of round, jagged blade used for electrical hardware...which is odd since it won't be a few centuries until they're invented..."

 _Hm...it must be the Shichinintai..._

 _But there's no way I can fight them now..._

"Freeman, can you activate that speed boost with your crystal again?"

"I think so. Besa, hang on; we're goin' fireman from here."

"Al-right..."

(Sheen...)

Once they were ready, I direct,

"Alright: Freeman, Kilala, follow me."

We're soon rushing through the denser part of the deep green, my red robes slow-blurring with Kilala's yellow fur and Freeman's dark skin shining a transparent rainbow, and I think aloud with a small smirk,

"Keh, I bet those flying 'buzz-saws' of theirs won't be much use in the forest..."

Freeman replies as he runs beside me carting his brother over his upper back and shoulders,

"We can only hope."

(Boom...)

"Huh? Now what?"

We stop when a large explosion echoed back from where we ran from, and looking up...I saw something I didn't think was possible: A singular bomb breaking apart to rain down hundreds of smaller ones!

"What the-?!"

Freeman would provide another one of those future technical terms:

"Aw crap, a shrapnel bomb...!"

 _Where the hell are these bastards getting such weapons?!...I'd almost wonder if Trinity's made a comeback and started giving those undead sacks of flesh pointers, but somehow I find that highly unlikely..._

It wouldn't be long before most of the forest, including where we're standing, was up in flames...

"Dammit, is he gonna blow up the entire forest?"

"Oooh, we're done for!"

"Don't panic on me, Shippo. They don't know where we are; they're firing randomly."

 _First things first: I have to get these four to safety..._

Freeman then points to a path that wasn't blocked by fire and exclaims over the boom of another one of those, what was it, 'shrap-nel bombs?',

"We better hurry before we get boxed in by the fire!"

"Good call!"

Heading that way and darting down a few other paths while doing our damnedest to block out the sound of those explosions, we all eventually make it out of the forest, and come across somewhere decent enough to duck into until we could come up with another plan.

"Look: A cave!"

 _Thank kami..._

Once we were all inside, I carefully lift Coraline off of my back to lie her down on the cave floor next to Sango and Miroku, while Besa was sitting propped up against the wall in front of them, now really struggling to stay conscious.

"Hah...hah...G-Guys...I don't think, I can stay, awake anymore...The p-poison, i-is...uuuuhhhh..."

His head dips downward in a limp, and Freeman tries to call him back awake while shaking one of his shoulders.

"Besa?...Besa! Damn it, he's out cold...! Rgh!"

He whacks a fist against the cave wall in frustration, and I could smell that he was fighting hard not to tear up, making me feel bad for him.

 _Freeman...Guess he's not used to playing the bigger brother out of the two..._

 _Damn. The poison is spreading fast...At this rate..._

The kid mutters each of our down four's names with a wavering voice, before I decide to get up and make sure this doesn't get any worse than it has to.

"Shippo, Freeman. Stay here and watch over them, and don't you dare come out."

"What're you gonna do, Inuyasha?" I reply,

"Do? Kuh, isn't it obvious?"

As I start running out of the cave, I hear those two call back,

"Inuyasha...mph! Don't worry: We'll guard them with our lives, right, Freeman?"

"Yes! Send that bastard to Hell for us, man!"

 _Don't you worry about that, Freeman..._

Before I leaped off to track down the source of those future-like weapons, I vow,

"I'll show these guys who they're dealing with!"

Myoga's POV

It had been sometime since I last saw Master Inuyasha and his friends, and I was going to drop by the area to trade words and find out about any further progress in their missions...only to discover their scents had parted for somewhere in the far Northeastern regions!

With annoyance boiling within me, I began my long journey to try and track them all down, currently flying aboard a crow.

"I can't believe it. I leave them for just one second and they all run off on me without a single parting word! What on earth are they doing so far north anyway?"

I think about some possible scenarios...and one stuck out stronger than the others.

"Hauh! Maybe they came...for the hot springs!"

I could see it now: Everyone having a grand old time in those soothing waters...  
My eyes bawl and I whack my small fist down as I exclaim ruefully,

"Gaa-hahah, I can't believe they would leave me behind for such a pleasant, relaxing time!"

Moving to a stand, I shout to the winds,

"I know this was all your idea, Master Inuyasha! I will catch up to you!"

The crow began flying faster in accordance to my cries, making me wobble a little before saying,

"H-Hey, watch it, you stupid bird!"

...Though I would eventually learn that such presumptions were false, and the situation could not have been more dire.

My first sign, was when I suddenly met with that strange creature that acted as Coraline's spirit partner, Lumos.

"(Ghostly moan)"

I did not know from where exactly he came, but his fast approach certainly startled me and the crow.

"(Caw, caw)"

"Whoa, whoa!...Lumos! What on earth are you doing out here all by yourself?"

Though I could not understand his strange language of bell-like spirit calls, based on the way he was pacing them out and how frantically he was circling around, it seemed like he was fighting to go into a panic attack.

"Hey, hey, calm down, my friend! What's wrong?"

 _Unless...could something have happened to Coraline and everyone else?_

"...Lumos, take me to where you came from!"

That seemed to halt his anxiety somewhat, and he stops dizzying himself in circles, before beginning a fast backtrack to wherever point he came, myself prompting the crow to follow.

"Follow that orb!"

"(Caw, caw)"

No POV

Moving away from the flea demon, we catch up with Inuyasha deep within the forests near the cave where he left the rest of his group to hide out, sprinting and weaving past blurred trunks of deep brown to try and track down the member of the Band of Seven responsible for the release of weapons beyond the imaginations of the minds living in this era of time.

"Where the heck is this guy?"

Pausing a moment, he darts his head around noting,

 _The smell of gunpowder's all over this place...How am I gonna find him?_

"...Huh?"

His sharp amber irises then catch sight of something shining in the distance.

"I gotcha!"

...What he wasn't aware of, however, was that the giant zombie made from flesh and metal was closing in with heavy steps towards the cave. Hearing the trudging steps, Shippo, Kilala and Freeman poke their heads to the entrance to see what the noise was, only to bulge their eyes at the sight of Ginkotsu.

"Y-Y-Yikes! What is that thing?!"

"Trouble, little dude, that's what!...Shit, and he's seriously armed; we gotta fall back and shield everyone, now!"

At the same time those three dart back into the safety of the dark rocky walls, Inuyasha had reached the source of the shine...revealed to be noneother than a dud bomb!

"Damn! It was a trap to lure me away! (Whirls around) No, Coraline!"

(BANG, boom...BANG, boom...)

By that point, Ginkotsu had begun his assault on the handicapped members of the dog demon's group, firing giant bullets from a cannon-version of the matchlock barrel attached to his shoulder at the entrance to the cave, while inside, the ceiling began to rain loose stones on the victims of this assault!

Shippo exclaims in a panic,

"This is bad, really bad; we'll all be buried alive!"

Freeman calls back while holding his body over his brother's and Miroku's upper bodies,

"Don't lose your head, man! Better yet, come and help me protect the others from the falling debris!"

 _I'd say we should run, but right now's a no-go with that...mecha-menace firing from that cannon!_

 _We'd be blown to pieces before we could get two steps away..._

The third of the conscious trio, Kilala, found herself staring outward to where the zombie was...before she suddenly broke into a charge, ignoring the sounds of her comrades calling for her. She moves to stand outside the entrance, growling fiercely at Ginkotsu, before launching herself into a pounce to fight with him.

He in turn would fire a sharp-looking metal clamp back at the twin-tail cat demon, who dodges to the side, only to become caught in the mechanism's grip when it swerves around and opens to seize her from behind!

She lets out a pained howl, before Ginkotsu tosses her harshly against the rock wall above the cave entrance, leaving poor Shippo to gaze in fear at her collapsing body...

(Clank, clank)

The zombie prepares to launch his buzz-saws once again as he remarks in a deep, somewhat robotic voice like a distorted call through a speaker,

"Geeesssh...I'll turn you all into mincemeat!"

He releases all five jagged round blades at once, making the fox demon duck and cover with a small scream...before the prodigal dog demon comes leaping in from the forest cover!

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

The energy of his dog fang blade throws the buzz-saws off-balance, forcing them to fall to the ground without causing bodily harm...

"...Inuyasha..."

He pivots his head over his shoulder to ask the shaken fox demon child,

"Are you two alright?"

"(Nod) Mhm, we're both okay."

"So are the others!"

That added call came from Freeman as he comes rushing out of the cave with a slight limp thanks to the wrapped gashes on his legs to kneel by Kilala, brushing his hand over her head while informing her softly,

"Hang on, girl: I'll have you healed up some in a sec."

She in turn whimpers a growl in gratitude, while Inuyasha focuses in front of him to address the menace responsible for the group's current predicament.

"Hey, you freak: How dare you trick me like that!"

Once the dust cloud settles, one could get a better full-view of the force known as Ginkotsu: He was a tall bulk of a man, with short, shaggy bright-red hair, a metal plate covering his right eye, the left surrounded with blue outlining, yellow cornucopias replacing his ears, a large, bulldozer-shaped metal jaw, and even a thin mechanical arm possessing a grappling claw and steel feet! Any parts of his body that were still organic were covered for the most part by his samurai armour, also customized to meet lethal mechanical standards, such as three spikes on each of his shoulder plates, several weapons with elements from past and future inventions attached to his back, and finally, he had a short uchigatana sword strapped to his left flank.

"Geeeesh..."

Steam spews from the zombie's hips as he pulls back the buzz-saws to their holster again, using a break to slow them to a stop from spinning...

"Inuyasha..."

"Keh, you don't look human, so what are you?"

"I am called Ginkotsu."

The dog demon replies in a sarcastic manner,

"Gee, I'd love to sit down and hear your life story, but time's a bit short right now. (Lunge) So I'm gonna put an end to this!"

Ginkotsu doesn't even flinch:

"So thoughtless of you to leave your friends to suffer the effects of Mukotsu's poison, 'cause at this rate, they won't live past sundown."

That caused a bit of falter in the charging Inuyasha's determined leap forward.

"Sundown? Are you serious?"

"But don't worry. I'll make you're there to greet them on the Other Side!"

Ginkotsu then launches the buzz-saw blades again to target the dog demon, who blocks two with his sword, jumps out of the way of another pair, before blocking away the last one. He then turns to call over his shoulder,

"Kilala, Freeman, Shippo: Get the others away from here right now!"

Those three nod before rushing back into the cave to gather everyone who was incapacitated...Raising his clamp metal arm, Ginkotsu prepares to snare them back, only to be met in a clash with Inuyasha's Tessaiga!

"No you don't! I'm the one you're gonna fight!"

A moment or two later, we see Kilala carrying Miroku, Sango and Coraline on her back, while Freeman held onto his twin brother aboard Shippo who shifted into his balloon form, using his tail like a motorboat propeller to speed away, calling to the dog demon with his deepened voice.

...Inuyasha glances up at his retreating friends while mentally calling back,

 _Shippo, Freeman, I'm countin' on you two._

Shippo's POV

Because there were so many of us needing to escape the area through the air, I decided to step up and shift into my balloon form so I could carry Freeman, who in turn held onto Miroku's staff and his unconscious brother, while Kilala took the other three who were still passed out from the poison of that creep Mukotsu and Sango's Hiraikotsu.

 _Oooh, we need to find another place to rest, fast! I dunno how long Inuyasha will be able to keep that, Ginkotsu busy..._

 _Also, much as I've been gettin' stronger, I'm not sure how long I can hold this form._

"We need to hurry, Kilala, Freeman, and get everyone to safety!"

Freeman calls back from atop of me,

"I know, kiddo! We should focus on an area high enough from ground-level that it'll take at least a long while before our enemies somehow track us down again..."

 _Ah! That's a good idea...But where on earth can we go that's safe enough in the tall hills and mountains?_

Kilala would provide an answer when she spots a location none too far ahead, namely,

"Uh! A temple! Good find, Kilala; we'll land down there. Hit the speed, Shippo!"

"You got it!"

Once we land in the courtyard of the temple, Freeman hops off me with Besa and Miroku's staff in his arms to allow me to shift back to normal.

(Pop)

"Ah! That's better...Hm..."

 _Is anyone here?_

I pick up the staff to hold so my friend could focus on carrying his brother, while darting my head around to search for any signs of a caretaker...Surprisingly, they would be the ones to approach us from behind, in the form of a young bald man wearing a monk's uniform. Feeling brave, I step forward to ask politely,

"...Um, excuse me," which Freeman would follow with,

"Is there any chance you could help us, preferably in terms of medical?"

The monk gives us a smile, before gesturing us to follow him as a way of saying 'of course'...

...What we'd learn later, though, is that we came to a place that would offer anything but help.

Inuyasha's POV

With my pack having successfully gotten out of the area and away from this freak's line of fire, I could focus better on fighting to take down this new zombie from the Shichinintai.

Only problem was that as unstable as he may have looked, Ginkotsu was no pushover when it came to battle, using those strange 'buzz-saw' blades to try and slice me to pieces. For the most part, my demon speed was capable of topping that of the weapons, leaving the tree trunks and even a boulder to get cut down instead of my flesh...Unfortunately, I knew this strategy was only gonna work for so long, given that the blades kept coming at me faster and faster after each return.

"Damn it!"

"Geeeesh, quit jumping around so much. You don't want your friends to die alone, do you?"

 _I'm not gonna let them die at all, you bastard! If anyone's meeting the afterlife, it's you!_

With that promise, I decide to try a different strategy: Standing still, I strained my ears to listen for the vibrating movements of those blades...before using Tessaiga to block each one coming to embed in me! It almost worked one-hundred percent, but one buzz-saw got lucky and sliced my left shoulder.

"Grh!"

 _C-Could've, been worse; might've impaled into me..._

"Geeesh, oops. Does it hurt?"

I turn to glare at Ginkotsu before retorting,

"I'll show you what hurt means, Ginkotsu! (Raises Tessaiga) _Wind_ -"

(Clang)

"Huh?"

But just as I was about to unleash hell on this undead freak, my sword suddenly got stuck within...strands of metal that webbed around me!

 _Damn! What are these metal threads?_

That hulk of flesh and rusted junk laughed and remarks,

"I was warned to be careful of that sword of yours..."

 _These threads...they're all over the place..._

 _Uh! Of course: He must've shot them out with those buzz-saws!_

 _...Rgh, this fight just had to get harder, didn't it?_

Coraline's POV

 _Black..._

 _All I can see, is black..._

 _Somehow, this seems familiar, a scene from so long ago..._

 _...No. It's not all dark: I am there, the light among the dark._

 _...But, not in a good way._

 _Red...I'm drenched in red, my, combat knife, my sword, limp in my hands, also spattered in red._

 _"Hh...hah...hh..."_

 _Where did this red come from?...Oh, yes, now I remember: I...I killed-no...I **slaughtered** Mukotsu._

 _...But why? What made me lose so much of my emotional, spiritual control?_

 _"...Chile...Chile of Croft... "_

 _H-Huh?...I'm, not alone here?  
_

 _...I hear footsteps approaching me, from the direction distant front._

 _...A face blurs into view...A, woman. Her face...it, looks so much like my own, but older...wiser...sadder?_

 _Why does she look so sad?_

 _(Sheen)_

 _Uh! Her eyes...She's an Aura Reader?_

 _...No...No, is she-_

"-oraline...Coraline..."

(Blink)

"Mm...rh..."

Before I could make heads or tails of the images within my head, my body forces itself awake, to meet the concerned yet relieved face of Shippo.

"Sh...Shi-ppo...Where, are we?"

"A temple. They've given us shelter..."

He looks over his shoulder and mentions,

"Miroku, Besa and Sango are still unconscious, and Freeman fell asleep while tending to his brother just a few minutes ago. (Sad smile) He really pushed himself to help me and Kilala..."

 _Oh Freeman, my brother..._

"Um, something else you should know: Before we arrived, Freeman and I noticed that Lumos had taken off in another direction. We would've called him back, but-"

I faintly shake my head with a weak smile of reassurance:

"It's, f-fine. I know, he'll return, eventually..."

 _Most likely went to get help...I just pray my dear Will O' Wisp friend comes back safely..._

 _Wait. Inuyasha...Is he not with us, or, maybe that's where Lumos went?_

"You're awake."

"Uh?"

I'm steered away from my groggy pondering, when a new face greets me at the entrance to this room. He was a young man who looked roughly a couple years older than Miroku, with mildly-tanned skin, bald, and wore a somewhat dressier monk's uniform of tan/pale gold with purple sashes.

"I'm so glad. Now just relax and recuperate."

 _...Something, doesn't feel right._

 _...Auh, there, his neck!_

With all the experience I've attained to this point, it's become child's play to immediately detect the tell-tale glow of the accursed Shikon-no-Tama. But that wasn't what concerned me:

 _A shard of the jewel in the neck...like, Jakotsu..._

 _This monk. He's no monk; he's another member of the Shichinintai!_

 _...But it seems neither Shippo nor Kilala can smell the scent of the dead on him. He must be disguising it somehow._

With that in mind, I try to will my muscles to move or at the very least whisper a warning to the fox demon beside me...Only problem was, earlier events had left me more physically weak than I thought.

 _Aw fu-My body feels like lead!...And I must've just used up all the strength my voice-box had._

 _...Curse that Mukotsu, his poison and his face for triggering...whatever happened to me._

"What a pity. I understand you inhaled poison, though, oddly not as much as your three other companions...Still, you really shouldn't have been moved so soon after."

 _And you know why, don't you...you wolf in sheep's clothing._

"All four of them are very weak. They won't be able to get up for some time yet. (Glances forward) Similar can be said for the other boy mirroring the image of his poisoned brother. He has greatly exhausted himself trying to ignore the pain in those injuries of his."

I dart my eyes over to Shippo's form, but could see his attention was too deep into mine and everyone else's conditions.

 _Shoot. He can't see through this man's tricks; he's too muddled in worry..._

The zombie disguised as a monk then moves to kneel in front of my free side, carrying something in one of his hands, a, flask of sorts...The other appendage reaches to me, and I glare slightly at it as he brushes his digits against my hair.

 _...What are you trying to pull?_

He merely smiles at me in a way that may have looked sympathetic on the surface, but I was no fool: I could sense that hidden killer's smirk behind it.

"You, should rest a little more."

Next thing I knew, he places and releases the contents of the flask, they being a strong incense.

 _Uh! I know this smell: It's the same stuff that Grandfather sometimes uses when he has trouble falling asle-_

 _...Oh shit._

Just as I realize what this zombie's intent was, I feel Shippo lightly flop onto my right shoulder/chest area, passing out peacefully into dreamland.

 _No...I, can't-_

As I felt the effects of the incense begin to stuff my head with cotton, somehow, I found my voice again, despite some raspy catches, and hiss to the zombie in the doorway,

"D-Damn...y-you...Sh-Sh-Shichinintai," to which he in turn would mutter back as I fell into the dark again,

"I could say the same... _to the woman who murdered one of my brothers._ "

 _(Whoooooosh...)_

...I would soon awake back in that black space again, only this time, I wasn't dripping in...blood. I was but my regular self, if a little agitated and crawling with goosebumps to being in my mindscape rather than the real world where I was greatly needed.

 _Damn that zombie's trickery...!_

 _" Calm yourself, chile. The last thing ye need be doing is become agitated to the brink as ye did against that other evil."_

 _Uh! That voice, again..._

 _"...Who's there?"_

 _" Look in front of ye."_

Casting my vision to said direction, I would be met with silence for several minutes...before someone began approaching me from the dark again. Once they were in focus...I would be struck with awe at their image:

Those Celtic garments of a checkered fall red, forest green and midnight blue dress (the top left plain with the second dominant colour), leather belt with a sword sheath (it empty), and the brown leather shoes...

Her dark, shining red tousles of waterfall curls reaching to the end of her back, skin the same subtle light tan to the fair, like mine...

Her face...reflecting every feature of my own almost to a T, right down to the two-tone eyes of a lapis/sapphire storm, only older by several years, roughly her mid-twenties.

...I knew in an instant who this woman coming face-to-face with me was.

 _"You're...you're her. The last wielder of ShatterSoul...You're my ancestor."_

 _" Correct, chile...I had hoped our eventual meet would be under less perilous circumstances...but I suppose Fate cannot help itself in weaving its webs."_

She steps closer to me until we're standing only a foot from one another, practically within arms-length...I found my voice caught in my throat once again, eyes wide with wonder as I drank her appearance in. She smiles slightly at me, before introducing herself:

 _" I, am Rosiagnes, last wielder of ShatterSoul, and second-in-command of the Croft Clan."_

 _...Rosiagnes..._

Renkotsu's POV

The demon fox child passed out quickly enough from the incense...but the girl, Coraline, held out for a bit longer, and was able to regain a wisp of her voice to hiss at me,

"D-Damn...y-you...Sh-Sh-Shichinintai," which I would respond to coolly with a subtle sneer,

"...I could say the same... _to the woman who murdered one of my brothers._ "

She was soon out cold like the rest, and while a part of me was tempted to avenge Mukotsu...I knew there was a better way to make his killer suffer.

 _Do not worry...I will not let you die right away._

 _After all, if Inuyasha arrives to find you all dead, (smirk) he might be less interested to hear what I have to say to him._

No POV

At the same time the redheaded swordswoman and company's situation becomes all the more dire thanks to Renkotsu, Inuyasha's battle against Ginkotsu had taken another difficult turn thanks to the steel wires the latter released. Now the dog demon was forced to shift from side to side to dodge the incoming jagged blades being launched to spin on the wires, becoming either more cut up or more entangled in the steel strands.

Thrown down backwards from one blitz attack, Inuyasha struggles to move back up into a crouched position, panting and glaring over at the chuckling zombie while thinking to himself,

 _Damn...what'll I do? I know I can't use the Wind Scar...so what can I..._

A new plan suddenly rose in his skull after overlooking the wires:

 _Uh! (Smirk) Keh, I got an idea..._

His first step was to cancel the powers of his sword, allowing it to transform back into its dormant form to sheath.

"Geeesh. Finally giving up, Inuyasha?"

"You shut up! I'm about to cut you up into little bits, so prepare to die!"

The dog demon then sprints into a charge straight for Ginkotsu, hopping and weaving through the steel wires just as the latter preps his cannon.

"You should've stayed down!"

(Pow, ka-BOOM)

Thankfully, Inuyasha was faster than the exploding ammunition, so Ginkotsu would go back to his buzz-saws again, also swiftly dodged by the former save a cut on his right cheek...

"It's useless!"

The metal clamp is launched, but the dog demon uses it to launch himself upward, forcing the zombie to respond by unsheathing his uchigatana to try and thrust at his attacker...However, steel would not connect with flesh.

"Gruh?"

"Up here, creep!"

Looking up, we see the dog demon poised at ready with his full-transformed Tessaiga!

"Now I've got lots of room to give you a taste of my Wind Scar! It's been nice knowin' ya!"

"Grh!"

" _WIND, SCAR!_ "

(SLASH)

The force of power released from the thrust was so great, that not only would Ginkotsu receive grievous injury from the three-clawed energies, but the very ground beneath his feet would give way, causing him to fall with a screech into a gigantic crevice before being buried un-alive...!

...Inuyasha found himself staring down at the rubble for a few moments...before he clues into the fast-approaching sunset.

With his mind clear of perilous distraction, the dog demon would begin a new sprint through the overgrowth to find his group, more specifically, one member in particular who held a place deep within his heart.

 _I've gotta hurry to Coraline and the others...!_

 _...Coraline...!_

What he didn't know, was that the three severely-poisoned, two greatly-fatigued (one more so spiritually than physically) and two able-bodied were caught in yet another sinister plan concocted by one of the members of the Band of Seven, deep in slumber thanks to the incense released by Renkotsu, who bides his time by burying the last of the monks he eliminated...

...In other news, Jakotsu was reaching closer to his next destination, his mood beginning to drift towards a more enticed rather than bored outlook.

 _As soon as I'm done this new favour for brother Renkotsu, I'll rush back and await your beautiful ends, Inuyasha...Freeman..._

Also, after discovering a new course in the path back to his partner, Lumos the Will O' Wisp began making headway in similar direction to that of the dog demon in red, with Myoga tailing the former aboard the crow, feeling a new unease rising within.

 _This doesn't feel good, not at all..._

Neither the flea demon/Will O' Wisp duo nor zombie would be nearly as desperate in spirit as Inuyasha, his being nearly screaming in worry for his intended.

 _Coraline...Coraline, I'm coming! Wait for me!_


	118. Chapter 117

Hey everyone!

Making another shout-out to **WolfWitchHuntress1318** for their help in development for the works in this chapter. Your edits and adds to the pieces I sent you were an asset as always :)

...That's all I got. Read on, my fellow bookworms!

* * *

 **Chapter 117: A Quintet of Lives in Limbo**

 _Recap:_

 _The merciless Band of Seven, or Shichinintai: A group of mercenaries from more than a decade's past, brought back from the dead to bring havoc to the lands of Edo Japan once again..._

 _Two of the brothers may have departed for the afterlife once more, but the second to die, Mukotsu, had certainly left a severe handicap behind for quite a few members of Inuyasha's group, in the form of poisonous gas!...Mind you, karma came to hit him back tenfold in the form of a rage-controlled Coraline, whom for reasons yet-to-be-rationalized, had murdered the zombie in cold blood with her own blades..._

 _The next brother of the Band to come attacking would be Ginkotsu, an undead who was half human, half machine, all __monster ,_ _and wasted no time in trying to practically tear his enemies apart! Thankfully, Shippo, Kilala and Freeman managed to gather the incapacitated to escape the area to a temple where they would be safe, while Inuyasha stayed behind to fend off the mecha-zombie..._

 _...Or so that was the theoretical plan. Unfortunately, what no one other than the semi-conscious Coraline knew, was that the monk currently running the Buddha Temple, was really another Shichinintai by name of Renkotsu, after he killed off the true monks previously tending to the sacred landmark!_

 _With the redheaded woman and her friends now forced into sleep by incense, only a miracle performed by her lover could save them from certain doom._

 _Now..._

We find our dog demon in red closing in ever closer to the temple far up the tall hill of the forest valley, determined to the upmost extreme to find his friends and love of his life before the sun sinks from the sky, taking their lives with it.

...However, just as he reaches a higher part of the sea of trunks, his nose picks up on a very familiar fragrance.

 _Huh? I know this smell: It's the scent of dead bodies and graveyard dirt._

 _...Does that mean one of the Band of Seven is up ahead?_

 _...No...It's different._

Once he found the tall marble staircase, Inuyasha would rush up to meet the packed dirt of the temple courtyard, his eyes darting over to the sight of a burnt tree that looked as if it was struck by lightning...His muscles tense on alert.

 _I'm very close..._

Sensing another presence, he moves to the back of the main temple structure, finding noneother than Renkotsu just as the latter finishes burying the dead monks in a mass grave.

...The air grows a bit heavy with uncertainty in regards to Inuyasha's mental questioning to trust the new face, so it would be the fake monk who spoke first.

"Tell me, are you Inuyasha, by any chance? I've been waiting for you to arrive."

"...Waiting for me?"

The dog demon then picks up on the more comforting scents of his group members, and darts away to follow them to the room where they're currently being kept. The first person his amber irises fixate on...was Coraline...

 _...Coraline..._

He walks over to her left side and kneels beside her, reaching out a clawed hand to softly touch her cheek, his eyes softening when he hears her hum in her sleep and watches her lean towards his digits.

"...Thank kami...You're okay."

Quickly stealing a caste kiss from her lips, Inuyasha glances over the other slumbering faces while noting mentally,

 _And it looks like the others are doin' better, barely..._

"I take it that you're being pursued?"

He turns to see Renkotsu standing in the doorway, and asks suspiciously (not aware of the latter's true origins),

"...Who are you?"

"As you can see, I am the head monk of this temple...Lately, there has been talk in the village nearby, that the Band of Seven who were ambushed and put to death over ten years ago, have been resurrected to bring calamity to this region."

 _Hm...so he knows of them..._

"The dead that you saw me burying when you first arrived were burnt to death by these resurrected spirits."

"And yet you somehow survived the attack?"

Renkotsu was prepared to answer such a skeptical question:

"I was filled with such fear, that I hid like a coward behind the statue of Buddha...I understand that you are being pursued by these seven evil spirits."

Inuyasha retorts back fiercely,

"Look, I'm not being pursued; I'm the one pursuing, so get your facts straight!"

"I meant you no offense...but please answer me this: Why has the Band of Seven been resurrected?"

Though moving to display a defensive stance with one hand hovering over his Tessaiga, the dog demon asks back calmly,

"...Why do you ask?"

"You know I serve Buddha, but I was helpless to stop the slaughter of my brethren, (bow) and so I wish to make amends. If I'm able, I wish to put at peace the souls of the dead."

A fluttering breeze blows by, causing Inuyasha's senses to fixate on the strong scent of the dead in this area.

 _This smell..._

Nevertheless, he merely grunts out while turning his eyes away,

"Hmph, just forget it. This is no business for a monk like you."

 _I definitely smell a living person...The other smell must be from the people he buried outside..._

At the same time Inuyasha was contemplating back and forth between ignoring or allowing another set of ears into this crisis, two other parties were slowly closing into the area of the temple. The first one consisted of Myoga and Lumos, who come across the area where the dog demon and Ginkotsu previously fought, the land carrying a fresh scar from the pressuring energies that collided.

"Hm? What's that?...Take me down lower, bird!"

Eyeing over the deep cut in the ground, he summarizes,

"Yep, I recognize that swap of devastation anywhere: That's the aftereffect of Master Inuyasha's Wind Scar! Hhuh, I guess Master Inuyasha didn't come here to simply enjoy the or springs or the mountain scenery..."

 _Yet another sign that something is wrong..._

"(Ghostly moan)"

The flea demon then pivots his head to focus on the Will O' Wisp currently circling around the pile of rubble, his orbed body blinking red and white-blue.

"Huh? What is it now, my friend? Danger?"

(...C-Clank...Cla-Rumble)

Suddenly, Ginkotsu's mechanical arm comes shooting outward, nearly hitting Lumos while also launching pieces of rock into the air where Myoga and the crow were hovering!

"Gah-hah-aaaa! What the heck is that thing?! Fly higher, fly higher!"

The flea demon's then knocked off the bird by a small stone, and almost goes tumbling downward to the ground...only to be saved by Lumos, who catches and allows the former to ride him instead!

"...Hooooh, that was too close! Thank you, Lumos; now let's get outta here!"

The Will O' Wisp doesn't think twice, and zooms away from the area just as the zombie rose from the crevice, seemingly unharmed and with revenge burning in his being...

The second party in question that was inching towards the main scene, would be noneother than Kōga of the Wolf Demon Tribe, who would lead the way down a rocky dirt path cut outside the forests, while his friends Ginta and Hakkaku rush to try and keep up with his whirlwind speed boost.

"Hah, hah, Kōga, please, wait for us!"

"You'd think after losing his interest in Coraline, he'd start thinking about slowing down...but I guess old habits truly die hard..."

 _If only my own speed could go that kind of distance for my mate..._

While Ginta wistfully pondered that wish, the young pack leader thought to himself with some frustration,

 _Where is Inuyasha's scent?_

 _(...Sniff) Wait: It's the smell of graveyard dirt...!_

Small Time Skip

The sun would soon be at the halfway point to making way for its counterpart the moon, and by this time, Inuyasha had decided to let Renkotsu (whom the former believed to be but a simple monk) in on what his group knew...

"Someone named, Naraku called forth the dead souls? Tell me, who is this Naraku?"

We see that the dog demon was now sitting instead of kneeling by his intended's side, one of his hands subconsciously brushing Coraline's red hair while he addressed the other who was sitting by the doorway.

"Well, he's sort-of like a demon..."

"...What do you mean by 'sort-of'?"

"Naraku is not a complete demon...Right now, I would imagine he's hiding himself somewhere. He's undergoing another transformation to increase his power...and he's using the Band of Seven as a decoy to buy some time."

...A flash of anger forms onto Renkotsu's face, but before Inuyasha could comment on it, he was distracted by the sudden echo of an explosion resonating from just outside the temple!

Rushing out the room, the dog demon mutters on edge,

"Huh? That sounded alot like Ginkotsu, but how the heck could he still be alive?"

He leaps down to the courtyard and preps to go and face the zombie, but not before calling to the disguised Renkotsu,

"Listen, monk: If you wanna stay alive, stay hidden!"

With that, he takes off...leaving the other zombie to quietly shut the doors to the room of sleepers, kneeling near Coraline while thinking,

 _Damn that Ginkotsu: He should've waited longer before coming..._

 _I've learned one important thing, though: Naraku cannot be trusted._

...He then reaches to take the tiny bottle of jewel shards from Shippo's robes (he given them by Coraline before she was kidnapped by Mukotsu), and sneers down at the seven peaceful faces as his purple markings fade back onto his own.

" _...You can all die now...you especially._ "

His hand reaches to touch the side of Coraline's neck, holding back the urge to strangle her.

" _You murderous wench._ "

Inuyasha's POV

"Geeeesh, Inuyasha!"

"Ginkotsu!"

I leaped up high onto the temple's entrance roof, before lunging downward while reaching to my sword at ready.

"This time, I'm gonna take, you, down!"

The freak in turn responds with that chained clamp, which I countered with Tessaiga, cutting it down the middle of the metal link!

 _Ha! Now what, creep?_

What I briefly forgot, however, was that wasn't his only trick in his arsenal, and I was soon ensnared by my wrists, thighs and my sword by those stupid steel strands again!

"R-Rgh...those metal threads again...!"

"Geeesh, I gotcha."

"Kuh! If you think, these things can hold me down, rrrgh...(jumps forward) then think again!"

(Thrust, slash)

"Aaagh!"

I watch as Ginkotsu's thrown backwards by my attack in shock, the steel strands releasing themselves from me...

"Keh, you had it comin' to ya..."

 _That wasn't too different from my strategy against Yura of the Hair, only this time I don't hafta waste my time pullin' on my enemy to see where to aim._

 _(...Sniff) Wait._

"I smell smoke...!"

I whirl around to where I came from...and spotted the flickering specs of embers beginning to snake out from where...Coraline and everyone else was!

 _...Oh no!_

"Coraline!"

But I would only run as far as a couple steps up, when that monk...who wasn't a monk after all, shows his face at the top of the stairs, with that kind of smirk on his face I've come to know too well thanks to all those fights with Naraku.

"(Laugh) I am Renkotsu of the Shichinintai!"

"Rgh! Why you...!"

 _That, liar...but I don't get it: He smells like an ordinary human!_

"What's the matter, Inuyasha? I dare say, you look a little confused. Your nose is extremely sensitive, am I right? I honestly thought you were onto me earlier, but then...I suspect I didn't emanate the scent of dead bodies and graveyard dirt. Am I right, Inuyasha?"

I growled, realizing what this two-faced zombie had done:

"Damn it...Now I get it...It's this place!"

 _It completely reeks of the dead here...!_

His chuckle confirmed my thoughts:

"It seems that taking over this temple was a wise move. It's surrounded by graveyard dirt of course, so you wouldn't realize the scent came from me. (Gestures his clothes) I wore the clothing that the real monk 'kindly' left behind: Your sense of smell is so sharp, and it immediately caught his, which ironically put your suspicions aside."

His explanation just made my blood boil all the more:

"Why you...! You killed the monks of the temple?!"

"And I just finished burying them when you first arrived."

"I don't believe it...How could I be so blind...?!"

 _And now...now everyone is in more danger than ever!_

"Rrrrrgh, dammit! You set the temple on fire!"

"The flames only hasten the inevitable. Three of your friends were already half-dead from the poison anyway, while the other two inch close to death's door thanks to pushing themselves past their limits...especially that murdering wench with the red hair."

 _...How dare he...How dare he slander my intended's name!_

"Get outta my waaaay!"

Just as I start to sprint upward to bring my sword down on this Renkotsu and rescue my pack, my Tessaiga's fanged blade was caught by an axe attached to a chain, courtesy of that damn Ginkotsu!

"Grh! What the...?"

"Going somewhere?"

Next thing I knew, the former shoots down flames against me on lines of string, burning me some (but not entirely thanks to my fire rat robes)...

"(Chuckle) It looks as if you're in a bit of a predicament..."

I just glare at him through my struggles, muttering,

"Grh, you...you bastard!"

 _Coraline, everyone...hang on. As soon as I break free from these creeps, I'll save you all!_

No POV

As Inuyasha preps himself for a new fight between not one, but two members of the Band of Seven, Lumos and Myoga had finally reached the temple after the former follows the Aura Trail of his partner.

"...Hel-lo, what's that smoke? Float down lower, Lumos!"

The Will O' Wisp heeds the flea demon's request, and swerves downward to the opened entrance of the room where our sleeping seven were, which now had a haze of smoke lingering...

"Hauh! Oh no, it's Coraline and the others!"

Myoga hops down off Lumos to rush over to the two redheads while the latter began darting back and forth to the others, both trying in their own ways to wake them up and warn them of the fire.

"Coraline, wake up! Shippo! It's me, Myoga! Shippo!"

"(Ghostly moan)"

They would succeed in arousing two out of seven, they being Shippo, stirring from unconsciousness after reflexively slapping Myoga for drinking his blood, and Freeman, who was awoken by a release of sparkling rejuvenating energies from Lumos.

"U-Uh? What happened to me? The last thing I remember was that monk bringing in the incense burner, then I got really sleepy..."

"R-Rh-huh? Ugh, my head...Must've dozed off...(Sniff) Huh? Is that smoke?"

(Crackle, crash)

Both souls would be startled to reality when a few burning pillars collapse!

"Whaaaaoh!" "Shit!"

Cluing into eachother's voices, they darts their heads to one another to exclaim their names, before focusing a second later on trying to wake everyone else up.

"Miroku, wake up! Sango! Coraline!"

"Come on, bro, wake up! Sis?! Kilala!"

But no matter how loud they cried out, no one else would stir...They quickly realize why:

"Oh no, they're not waking up! The poison hasn't gone away!"

"And Cora's still way too weak from that freakout with her Aura Powers, or so Besa told me before he passed out...Damn it!"

"We've given them the antidote for the poison, so why didn't it work?!"

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Hm?"

Shippo snaps out of his frustrations to the sound of Lumo's calls, and sees him hovering back and forth between Sango, Miroku and Besa while emanating a sickly green glow...

"Uh! Lumos!...Are you, t-trying to say that the poison's too strong for the antidote?"

No form of reply is given, and the Will O' Wisp resides to resting on top of Coraline's chest, now radiating a dark blue shine...

"And, what does that mean? That Coraline's somehow okay, or, is something else wrong with her...?"

Freeman shifts the conversation to more pressing matters:

"We can figure that out later, little dude. Right now, we need to concentrate on getting away from this fire."

"Uh! Right!"

(Topple...)

The fox demon then lays out his various trick items from his bag, still digging into his robes while thinking frantically,

 _Come on, there's gotta be something useful in here..._

"Aha!"

He then pulls out his spinning top:

"Maybe the wind from my smashing top will help!"

"Wait, don't!"

"Uh?"

Shippo heeds Freeman's halting hands before the latter adds,

"With how contained this room is, usin' a wind current will only make the fire spread! Then we'll really be in trouble!"

"Gah! Oh man, you're right...So what do we do?"

Wincing some from his injuries, the teen with dark skin mutters while standing up again,

"We need to evacuate everybody from this room, at the very least. Rgh, it'll be a pain in the ass with how stiff and sore my body is, but I'll do what I have to!"

"I can help with that!"

(Pop)

The fox demon then shifts his appearance to mirror Freeman's (minus the bandages on his limbs and torso)!

"Whoa! Nice one, little dude!"

"Thanks, but this form won't hold for long...If only one of the others was awake instead of just the two of us..."

"(Mewl...)"

"Hm?" "Huh?"

The dual Freemans then turn to see Kilala stirring awake, and eye the two with as much surprise at the situation as they felt.

"Kilala!"

"Thank god, you're up too!...We need to get everyone else outta here, girl. Can you handle some weight?"

The cat demon nods, before transforming into her true form, already kneeling down to nudge Sango onto her back...The disguised Shippo and Freeman turn to one another with determined expressions.

"...Let's do this!"

Coraline's Mindscape, Her POV

 _"So, let me see if I understand correctly: The reason I went into that murderous rage, is because of an unstable intertwine of my emotions and my spiritual power as an Aura Reader?"_

My ancestor, Rosiagnes, nods her head with a solemn and serious expression that made her seem older than she truly was, which, in some fairness would be correct considering how long it's been since...she departed from the physical world.

 _" That be correct, chile...Unfortunately, our kin's inherited gift of seeing into the Soul, has a dual purpose as both a gift, and a curse. Humanity in general possesses but few traits and talents that stand out among the rest, Survival being one of them...To handle the weight of being able to perceive that which is hidden from the normal eye takes an exceptional sanity."_

 _"And, I'm guessing, even our own family can't always step up for that role, huh?"_

 _" Aye...To be completely frank, only a handful of each generation survive past fifty years of age."_

 _Fifty years, eh? How ironic..._

 _" Most would have either lost themselves to the beast known as Insanity, or were killed by their very own Souls when the power became too much to contain."_

I gasped, and held a hand over my heart while mumbling to myself with a new grim awareness,

 _"So...I could, either die young, or lose my very self..."_

 _" Not if ye act now before another great catastrophe threatens ye."_

I look up at Rosiagnes with a confused air, to which she would respond to with a wise smile of assurance.

 _" Thankfully, ye are still young and in the early stage of yer power development, despite some complications in this past year..."_

 _Complications?...Oh, right._

 _She must be referring to those other two times I nearly lost control of my powers, against that first Naraku Demon Puppet, and Tsubaki..._

 _" Yer journey is actually none too far off from me own when I was young, so I understand yer struggles."_

My eyes widen slightly with interest:

 _"Is, that right?"_

 _" Heh, oh aye. Much like ye, I was a little wayward spirit, rebellious against the tide that regular folk would call normal, embracing the ever-changing waves that life truly offers...Yet, I too struggled with me place among even me supportive kin, feeling me calling was beyond me reach. It wouldn't have been until ShaterSoul made its call, that things became a little less murky..."_

 _"Yeah...That's how I feel too: Every time I hold ShatterSoul in my hands...it's like it knows where I need to go, where I stand when I don't."_

Rosiagnes bites back a chuckle that sort-of reminded me of Sonya's hearty laugh.

 _" Tis because ye and I are one in the same, chile. Blood and Soul, ye and I are Croft, and ye, are me reincard."_

 _Ah yes, of course: I am basically the new age's Roisagnes..._

 _...But her name is her own, just as Coraline is mine._

 _" That is correct, chile. I am but the last projection of that Soul, while ye are its current identity. We are the same, but not the same. As it should be."_

I jumped a little, realizing I must have mumbled those thoughts aloud, before looking away with a minor blush of embarrassment...

 _" But we are getting off topic, are we not?"_

The woman then steps closer so she could place her hands on my shoulders, while giving me one of those looks a mother would her child.

 _" Coraline. Ye must begin to train yerself to prevent the possibility of yer energy instability from spiraling out of control more frequently. Otherwise, not only will yer very life be in jeopardy, but those of yer friends and yer dog-boy lover as well. If the priestess from the foreign lands remained a part of our Soul, then circumstances may have been different...however..."_

It surprised me that she knew about my friends and Kikyō, and the fact that Inuyasha and I were together. But then again, there was a strong possibility she has become omniscient since she passed centuries before...Anyway, I swallowed a small lump in my throat, before quietly asking in a meeker voice than normal,

 _"But...how do I train me-er, myself, to do that? It can't be so simple as a mental exercise..."_

Rosiagnes merely smiles at me before replying,

 _" It can be...if ye have a proper teacher."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _" As one Croft to another, I, shall lend ye an old woman's hand."_

Ginta's POV

After a little longer, Kōga finally slows to a halt, giving me and Hakkaku time to catch up with him...

Yet, as we slowed down ourselves, I couldn't help but feel this unease growing in my gut thanks to an unsettling scent that was lingering in this area.

 _It stinks of the dead and graveyards here...just like that Kyokotsu monster..._

 _Does he have more allies? Are they nearby?_

I would get my answer quick enough, when our leader suddenly leapt out of the way of a shot of blades from a single sword!

 _What the-?!_

The weapon in question, belonged to a strange fellow whose appearance seemed to carry...similarities to a female.

"Hi there. You must be Kōga of the Wolf Demon Tribe."

 _Such a dull address after a lethal attack like that..._

"Goodness, and I thought I had seen everything."

Kōga would take a turn at speaking with this new face shortly after my muttered comment.

"Hey yourself. I figure you must be a pal of Kyokotsu...I know that smell anywhere. Tell me, have you come here looking for revenge?"

"Hmm...The outfit I kind-a like and the liberal use of fur's working for me...Haaah, but I hate to tell you, you're just not doin' it for me."

 _W-What did he just-...Unless...is it possible this man, is attracted to other men?_

While I may have gotten an idea to the behaviour, my other two friends were either truly ignorant, or played a feint.

"Huh? What on earth is this fool talkin' about?"

"I dunno."

Forming a nervous smile with a head shake, I reply to them,

"Take it from me, you guys: Be blessed that you don't know."

"Enough chit-chat. Let's get down to business!"

Next thing we knew, that stranger thrusts his blade in our direction again, and while Hakkaku and I ducked to the sides to dodge, Kōga rushes towards the other after swiftly moving to the side away from the attack.

"Now I dunno what're up to, buddy, but I'm taking you down!"

"Hrrrrrr, (swing) Gyah!"

Another attack is thrown, and my friend/leader barely swerves out of the way in time, while the blade retracted back to the point of origin like rubber.

 _What an odd sword...It moves with the motions of a serpent..._

"Look, I'm in a rush, so quit resisting. Hurry up and die so I can watch Inuyasha's death, okay?"

 _This guy doesn't sound the least bit interested in us...Wait: Did he say Inuyasha?_

Kōga caught that part too:

"Huh? Hey, whadda ya mean by that? What was that you were sayin' about Inuyasha's death?"

"Hm...what is your relationship with Inuyasha?"

"I don't care about that mutt, but there's a girl called Coraline traveling with him...She better not be any danger!"

"Her, or my mate!"

Much to the shock of my packmates, the man and myself, I bravely rushed to meet Kōga's left side while glaring fiercely at the stranger, feeling my instincts beginning to rise with warning and worry for Freeman's safety.

"If I hear anything about you being responsible for hurting Freeman, you're finished!"

"Ginta..."

The man with the snake-like sword seemed rather taken aback by my characterization of my mate.

"W-Wait, what are you saying, wolf; that the stud's taken?! Ugh, just my luck; it's always the exotic ones that get bagged first!...Hmph, well whatever, least I still have Inuyasha..."

He then sends me a sadistic grin before mentioning,

"Besides, I'll find it a wonder if little Freeman's still alive from all those cuts I gave him several hours ago..."

"Grh! What did you just say?!"

 _My mate, injured...?!_

"And as for that wench, she's probably long dead by now!"

Another thrust from that stranger's sword sends me and Kōga to scramble into a dodge in a few leaps, but the two of us...were becoming hell-bent on taking this new zombie down!

"Whadda ya mean dead?!"

"Grrrrrh...No one hurts Freeman and gets away with it...you bastard!"

Freeman's POV

"Hm!"

 _Huh? What was...I could've sworn I felt a, surge of anger that wasn't mine..._

"...Freeman!"

Snapping out of my daze, I turn to see Shippo (who was currently sporting his own copy of my body) running out of the back way of the temple with Miroku and his staff in his arms, followed by Kilala who rushed with Sango on her back, along with her weapon and the satchels that belonged to me and my two siblings.

I myself had already carted out Besa and his sickles before darting back inside to grab Cora and her weapons, ignoring the splits of pain in my limbs from the heat waving through my bandages to the cuts from Jakotsu's sword...I almost dropped sis when a beam suddenly gave way to the floor and sent some embers to burn the top left of my back nearing my shoulder, but somehow pushed through it to safely bring her to this area near a mass grave.

"Shippo...Kilala...Okay, this means we got everyone out, (glances down) including Lumos, and Myoga..."

The Will O' Wisp hadn't moved from his place atop Cora's chest, while the flea demon was now sitting between Besa and Miroku as the latter was being placed down on the ground by Shippo before he popped back to his normal self.

"Haaaah...Uh! Freeman, your back, it's...!"

I smiled grimly with a grimace faltering in and out and wave a casual hand at the little dude.

"I know. I, got licked by the flames comin' out with sis, but it couldn't be helped..."

Myoga hops onto my right shoulder and comments solemnly,

"The both of you and Kilala showed great bravery tonight...but, I fear if these events go on for longer, efforts may have been wasted."

I knew he was talking about the slowing of my friends and family's heart rates.

 _Shit, he's right: We might've tried to move fast, but there's a chance they got suffocated my the smoke...!_

 _...No...No, I can't lose them! My friends...my sister...my...my, brother._

 _Please, god, please let everyone live!_

"We can't give up, though. We still have a sliver of hope now that we're outside the burning temple."

Mine and Shippo's heads dart up from a fearful dip to look at Myoga with a flicker of hope.

"We do?" "How?"

Even Kilala was looking at the flea demon with attention, who then says,

"First things first, you three must have a short moment of rest. After that, we need to get everyone away from this temple before the fire spreads quicker than we need it to."

Fueled by the new hope in saving our loved ones, I dart to my feet a bit hastily and exclaim,

"Screw waiting around; I say we move now while the gettin's good! I don't wanna leave Besa, Cora or anyone else in jeopardy any longer!"

Shippo jumps to his feet with similar motivation:

"Me too! I can be strong longer if it means we can save them! Kilala, what about you?"

Though panting a little, our twin-tailed friend grunts and nods in agreement.

"...Hooh, very well. If you insist."

Myoga then turns his eyes to Lumos for help:

"Lumos, my friend. Can you lead us down the safest route from here to the woods yonder?"

The Will O' Wisp 'nods', and readies to float steadily ahead of us, while I reach down and grab Miroku to hoist gently over Kilala's back, followed by Sango, then Cora. I resolved to carry Besa myself, despite the shot of pain from my new burn wound I would feel with the weight on my arms.

"G-Gh!"

"Freeman?!"

"I'm, alright, Shippo...(Deep breath) Let's go."

 _We can come back for our things and weapons later. They're far enough away from the fire's reach..._

 _Besa...brother...if you can hear me, stay strong, even if your chest doesn't move!_

No POV

At the same time our three fatigued and two able (one demon, the other a spirit creature) prepare for a final run to freedom from the burning temple, Inuyasha continued to struggle under the hold of Renkotsu's flamed wires and Ginkotsu's chained axe.

"Cor-aline...hang in there. I'm coming...!"

"(Laugh) Give up, Inuyasha. It's all over for your friends: They'll either die from the flames or from Mukotsu's poison. Either way, there's no saving them."

"Why don't you, shut, uuuuup?!"

The dog demon tries to rush forward, but was tugged to a stop by the other demon who had a grip on him by his sword.

"Gah!"

 _Damn!_

Cutting briefly through a backdoor leading out of the once-sacred grounds, we spot the retreating forms of Kilala and Freeman, with Shippo riding the former's neck to watch over the barely alive three, and Myoga riding atop the teen's shoulder, all making their way into the safety of the field of trees.

"I gotta keep it together...I gotta keep it together...I gotta keep it together...!"

"That's the spirit, little dude: Keep that mantra up, and we'll be home-AGH!"

That was when the pain from his multiple injuries hits Freeman with full force, and he stumbles to the forest floor hard, causing his grip on Besa to slip and fall with a roll with him.

 _Crap...Be-sa..._

He blacks out cold, much to Shippo's dismay:

"Nooo! Freeman!"

The weakened party slows to a halt upon the teen's collapse, and the fox demon hops down off Kilala to try and shake the other awake.

"Freeman...Freeman, wake up! Oh no, his injuries got to him!"

 _Does this mean...that everyone, will..._

Fat tears began to fall from the young one's face, fearing a dreadful outcome, while the twin-tailed cat demon whimpered with worry as she glanced back at the three bodies on her back, and the flea demon bowed his head grimly once he rose from his fall off of Freeman's shoulder.

 _Damn, what a turn. If the danger continues to linger...this, could mean certain doom._

 _(Shakes head) No! I must not assume the worst yet! As long as Master Inuyasha is fighting out there...hope, is not lost._

The dog demon in question was experiencing a none-the-better crisis, he turning to address the zombie who stopped his charge with a glare.

"Rrrrgh! Gin-kot-su...!"

"Ge-he-he-eeesh, I have another idea..."

A compartment on the mecha-zombie then opens from his torso, revealing a large steel drill!

"Geeeesh, I'll run you through!"

"Grh! Go ahead and try it!"

Ginkotsu obliges, yanking the chain towards him, and Inuyasha with it! Thankfully, the dog demon manages to sneak a foothold a few steps downward, determined to hang on...

That's when a new idea came to his head, and he twists himself around before throwing his sword on a straight trajectory for the drill, to which the blade would revert back to its dormant state, leaving the chain to tangle around the drill and stop it spinning!

"Ge-heh-heh-eeesh. Can't do much without your sword, can you?"

Inuyasha begged to differ:

"I'll, show you what I can do...! _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

The force of power from his claws breaks the flaming threads, much to Renkotsu's shock.

"What?!"

The dog demon sprints downward to attack Ginkotsu, who wasn't ready to back down.

"Oh no you don't!"

He shoots his buzz-saw blades at the other, but they easily dodge while exclaiming with frustration threatening to boil over,

"Okay, that's it: I've wasted enough time on you, you freak!"

Inuyasha then swipes back his sword from Ginkotsu's chest, just as the jagged round blades come whirling back, this time impaling right into their point of origin rather than simply returning to their holster!

"Gaaaaah!"

"Try this: _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

The mecha-zombie lets out a grunted shriek as his body is hacked by the three-clawed cut mark, before exploding to pieces!

(BOOM)

...But that wouldn't be Inuyasha's main focus, once he turns to see the temple engulfed in the orange glow!

"Uh! The temple...! Miroku, Sango, the twins...Coraline!"

He wastes no more time, and runs up the steps to find everyone to help them, leaping over Renkotsu.

"Out of my way!"

...The zombie that was still alive watched the dog demon go, muttering to himself,

"Hrm...So bothering to kill me wasn't worth his time...I'm insulted."

But he smirks when he reminds himself,

"Hm, still, I did manage to learn a little more about Naraku, and I have the Shikon-no-Tama shards."

He looks at the tiny bottle of said jewel shards between his fingertips.

"Well, all things considered, that's not too bad for a day's work."

Just as Renkotsu comes to such a conclusion, five of the Saimyōshō buzz into the area to cart off the head/torso of Ginkotsu away, suggesting that we might be seeing the undead cyborg again...

Meanwhile, Inuyasha had arrived in front of the blazing temple, his anxieties rising anew at the sight of the wall of fire.

"...Coraline...CORALINE!"

Just as he prepares to run in to save whom he believed was still trapped inside...

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Huh?"

Our familiar Will O' Wisp had finally left his human partner for a short bit when he sensed the dog demon's proximity near, and flew to meet the former at the front courtyard!

"Lumos! Where'd you come from?"

Lumos didn't reply directly, instead resolving to circle fast around Inuyasha, before darting over around the same direction he had left with the others prior to the fire spread, pausing halfway to bob up and down frantically to get the dog demon's attention...

"What? What're you-Wait...Are you saying you know where everyone is?!"

The Will O' Wisp 'exclaims' 'Yes!', and Inuyasha, though somewhat uncertain, complies to following the former in a run between the burning buildings to the back ways of the temple complex...

At the same time, the fight between Jakotsu, Kōga and Ginta was reaching closer to the end, as each wolf demon tries to land a punch and a kick at the zombie, who in turn swipes his blade at them, which they would dodge.

"Whoooa, that was scary..."

 _It's the first time anyone has sidestepped my attack like that..._

 _I do believe this guy's becoming a bother, (glance) same for that other one who has a lover's rage in his eyes._

Slowing to a stop, the young demon tribe leader takes a second to observe the behaviour of his comrade Ginta, surprised that he was even fighting this time.

 _Well this is different: Normally, neither Hakakku nor Ginta is anywhere keen to taking on someone like this..._

 _But instead, Ginta's fighting as fiercely as any of our other tribe members..._

 _Must be his mating instincts kicking in...He did look real pissed when he heard Freeman was hurt._

 _...Uh! Speaking of him: His siblings, Besa, Coraline...God, we need to get outta here and find them!_

Kōga then spirals out a whirlwind and begins sprinting off in the direction of the temple, much to Jakotsu's annoyance.

"Auh! Hey!"

"Sorry, I don't have time to fool around with you right now, but the next time we meet, I'll show you what scary means!"

Hakkaku leads the charge after the leaving wolf demon, and while a part of Ginta was tempted to stay and keep fighting the zombie in accordance to a boiling anger...he snapped out of it and allowed his worries for his mate to take the wheel, following after his pack mates.

"Wait up, Kōga!"

"Kōga certainly has no qualms about retreating, does he?...And for once, neither do I."

 _Freeman...please be alright!_

Meanwhile, Inuyasha had reached the back grounds of the temple near the mass grave, and was able to pick up on the retreating scents of his group members.

 _Uh! I can smell Coraline and the others...They must have somehow escaped before the fire spread!_

 _But how-Unless...Maybe Kilala, Shippo and Freeman woke up._

"Whatever happened...I still need to find them!"

With that in mind, the dog demon continued to follow the guiding Will O' Wisp away from the burning temple, heading out the same back entrance a few other souls did only a little while ago.

"Guys!...Coraline!"

...Once they were about halfway into the thick backwoods, the half-demon/spirit pair reached the area where everyone else currently was, first finding the unconscious Freeman face-down in the mossy grass!

"Guh!...Freeman...!"

Inuyasha rushes to the teen's side, noting the new burn mark on the top left corner of his back and a bit of crimson staining on the bandages around his limbs. Gently turning the dark-skinned male on his less-injured side, the dog demon curses to himself,

 _Damn...he must've pushed himself too hard and got hurt trying to evacuate everyone._

 _...I can barely hear him breathing._

"(Sniff) I-Inuyasha..."

"Hm?"

He looks up to meet the eyes of Shippo, who was fighting back the urge to cry while slowly walking over to the other.

"Shippo...I'm glad to see you're still alive."

"I...I knew. I knew I had to be strong! I did my very best, t-to help Freeman get everyone out, Kilala too!"

"I know. You were very brave. You got everyone out and protected them."

...That's when the dog demon notices the other four bodies behind the fox demon, Kilala's dormant form curled by Sango's head while her body shivered with a sad whimper...

"I know...Gh! B-But even though, I t-tried to save them...F-Freeman, fell cold to his injuries, a-and...everyone else stopped breathing, Inuyasha!"

At that, Shippo couldn't hold back any longer, and bursts into a new set of sobs, leaving the poor dog demon to gasp and stare helplessly at the down five, specifically, the face of his young love...


	119. Chapter 118

**Chapter 118: The First Time Inuyasha Sheds Tears**

Dark cerulean with sparkling whites and palest yellows dominate the skies during another night in Sengoku Japan, and panning downward over the village with the recently tarnished shrine for the Shichinintai (or Band of Seven), we find a more neutral soul denied (or rather, denying) access to the next life examining the broken stone and wood, with the villagers standing a few feet behind her.

"The Tomb of the Seven is where the mercenaries known as the Shichinintai, or Band of Seven, were buried. Recently, this accursed monument was split in two..."

A younger adult male speaks next:

"But that is not all, priestess: The bones of the seven mercenaries all inexplicably disappeared."

And a third adds,

"We're worried that it's some kind of curse and that they have returned."

But while the grownups of this village were fearing the rise of past evildoers, the children in their huts seemed content with themselves, even singing, more than likely innocent to the dangers hanging in the air...

...Kikyō observes the spot for a moment longer, before turning to reply,

"Yes, I understand. I shall purify the site."

The men form grateful smiles to the woman of the hour:

"Ooh, that would be such a service to us, priestess."

"How can we ever thank you?"

"What a great relief..."

...Still, their hope did nothing to stop the uncertainly and judged thoughts within the specter priestess.

 _Useless, but it will put their minds at ease. I don't detect the presence of evil here anymore..._

 _In fact, the air here is unusually clean and clear..._

She turns her brown irises upward to the distant mountain:

 _Is it be because of Mount Hakurei?...Mount Hakurei, the spiritual mountain that purges the sins of all evildoers._

Kikyō reaches into her robes, and pulls out the severed topknot of the bandit thief once known as Rasetsu no Kansuke, recalling his dying words.

 _"I've heard of a place, where even villains like me can find salvation...Take this lock of hair and bury it so that I might be saved."_

...Her hand encloses around the gray hairs tightly.

 _Please, forgive me, Kansuke, but I will not be able to fulfill your wish._

 _To Live is to Die...To Die is to Live._

As those thoughts caress the mind of the black-haired woman wandering the earth to eventually reach her final goal before joining the afterlife, we turn back now to deep within the thick green of the forest abaft the burning Buddha temple, where our main travel group has been reduced to only four conscious, while the others...the others are balancing dangerously on the teeter-totter of Life and Death, courtesy of the merciless Band of Seven.

Poor Shippo had reduced himself to wailing sobs after informing the arriving Inuyasha that Coraline, Besa, Miroku and Sango had ceased breathing thanks to the combined efforts of the lingering poison gas and some smoke inhalation (though in the redheaded teen's case, her health had been compromised by more spiritual problems rather than chemical), while Freeman had his endurance cut short courtesy of his injuries received from his squabble against Jakotsu, and a final push from a new burn inflicted by embers of the fire after bravely scrambling to evacuate his fallen comrades.

...The dog demon felt his body go rigid from the younger fox's words, shock spreading through his bloodstream at the mere thought that his return to assist had all been in vain...His wide amber irises then lock onto Coraline's form, before slowly moving over to kneel in front of her ash-dusted body, carefully lifting her into his trembling arms.

"...Coraline...!"

He hugs her to him tight, his voice catching:

"This, can't be, happening...! (Shakes her slightly) Come on, Coraline, open your eyes!...Say something, Coraline!"

The young woman does not respond, only increasing the young man's fears for the worst, as well as add fuel to the fire that was his inner demonic persona.

(Pulse...)

 _My...int_ _ **ended...!**_

Thankfully, Myoga senses the rise of developed instinctual anger, and immediately cuts into Inuyasha's thoughts before all hell could break loose.

"Master Inuyasha, please, you must hold strong against your inner demon!"

"M-Myoga..."

"The situation could have been alot worse if we were still back in the temple, you must remember that. If Freeman had not taken charge like he did and led us in an evacuation effort to out here with Lumos's guidance, we would've been trapped within the fire."

The dog demon turns his eyes to glance over the sideways-laying form of said dark-skinned teen, catching the signs of jagged breathing and the slightest of muscle jerks, suggesting that he at least, might still be clinging to life.

...Even so, Inuyasha's mixed anguish and anger would not drop.

"...How could either, be worse than the other...?"

"Master?"

The dog demon sets Coraline back onto the grass, and stood up with his eyes shadowed by his bangs...before suddenly yanking out his Tessaiga to thrust forward with a yell!

(SLASH)

The infamous Wind Scar takes out a good portion of the forest due west, leaving behind chipped stumps and fragments of the tree trunks that did not evaporate from the power to rain down on the newly bare, scarred ground...

"DAMN IT!"

(TOK)

The sword's blade is planted hard into the ground, as its wielder falls to one knee, helpless to the tide of emotions crashing upon him in wake of this frightening turn.

 _I should've known Renkotsu would pull something like this..._

 _If only I had defeated Ginkotsu sooner...!_

Once that part of his head cooled some, he then turns to solemnly address the tearing fox demon.

"...Don't cry, Shippo. You did your best."

"B-But it wasn't enough! A-And if they a-all die, I-I'll never be able to forgive myself! I-It's my fault: If only I hadn't brought them to this temple...!"

"Just quit it! You're not to blame for anything! It's all my fault...!"

"Y-You're just saying that, l-like when Freeman, k-kept trying to push me even when h-he got hurt! It's all my fault and you know it!"

This time, it took the combined efforts of the Will O' Wisp's scolding moans from his place over Coraline's chest and Myoga's exclaims to snap both demons out of it.

"Hey, hey, enough already! Crying isn't gonna solve anything! We must take everyone to a safer and more open area."

...Noticing that the young fox demon was experiencing futile struggles in trying to tug at Sango's arm, Inuyasha rose to his feet to take over.

"It's okay, Shippo. I'll do it."

"I...Inuyasha..."

...At the same time, Kōga was still making his way to the temple complex using his jewel-enhanced demon speed, slowing to pause a moment while thinking frantically,

 _Coraline...please, be alive._

His comrades Hakkaku and Ginta weren't too far behind, if becoming a little out of breath.

"Please wait up, Kōga!"

"Yes! Though my worries for my mate are high, are you even sure you know where he and Coraline are?"

The blue-eyed wolf demon calls back,

"Of course I am! She and he are very close!"

 _Grh, she's close alright, but what if that mutt couldn't protect Coraline...or worse, failed to protect Ginta's mate?_

It was just as the other wolf demons and regular canines caught up, Kōga would twist into a new whirlwind again to speed off, causing them to groan slightly with bated breaths...However, Ginta quickly recovered his resolve when he reminds himself,

 _I've gotta keep it together, for Freeman's sake!...Please, Freeman, be alive when I find you...!_

...Unbeknownst to them, Kohaku was watching from above on a thick beech tree branch, his mind also dwelling on a face whose life was being tested.

"I see...Apparently, that girl died."

An image of the slayer and her twin-tailed companion crosses his imagination...which causes a stream of water to fall from his eye, much to his confusion.

"...What is this? Why do I shed these tears?...I do not feel any sadness."

We move now to the middle of a more barren clearing in the forest, where our injured and sick had been moved by Inuyasha, he not uttering a word other than cursing under his breath with a catch in his voice when he picked up Coraline again...

Shippo was sitting beside his fellow redhead currently, his crying dropping some in volume but not in strength, while Kilala sat near her demon slaying partner with a somewhat solemn expression, and Lumos continued his vigil over Coraline's chest, his orbed body now softly throbbing between an ice blue and that dark blue...

"Hey, Shippo, let me ask you again."

"(Sniff) Mm?"

The addressed looks to meet Myoga's eyes as he stood near the Will O' Wisp.

"Are you positive that they swallowed the antidote?"

"Uh, they did...I'm sure of it. It was a special antidote that Jinenji gave me. (Looks down tearfully) Doesn't matter...It didn't have any effect, and while Coraline, strangely has little of the poison in her anymore...something else made her terribly weak."

"Hm, I see...Hey, Shippo, do you know where Master Inuyasha went?"

He shakes his head, causing the flea demon to think aloud with worry,

"Oooh, I hope he isn't doing anything rash..."

 _Though considering that his chosen mate's life is currently on the brink...I cannot blame him entirely if his rage does cloud some of his better judgement._

"Mm...M-Mrh, Sh-Sh-Ship-po...My-o-ga..."

Both demons suddenly dart their heads up, and look over to see Freeman, who was set on his side like before to not aggravate the burn mark on his back, was very slowly blinking awake!

"Uh! Freeman!" "Freeman, my boy, you're alive!"

"Gh, y-yeah, barely...Wh, What, happened...?"

We leave this area just as Shippo and Myoga begin filling in the gaps to the young man's memory, and catch up to deep in the forest near some thick trunks of pine where Inuyasha had took off to, in order to release his pain and anger out on something that wasn't an ally.

"Rrrrrrrah!"

(SLICE...Crash)

Another log goes timbering to the ground, hardly doing anything for the poor dog demon who felt ready to commit murder at a serial level!

"Come on out, you filthy bastards! I'm right here waitin' for ya, so if you wanna fight, then come out! Jakotsu, Renkotsu and whoever else I haven't killed yet! _I am gonna finish every last one of you!_...Damn it! I said quit hiding and come out and fight!"

...To no one's surprise, none of the Shichinintai make an appearance, leaving Inuyasha to snarl out another curse, his body shaking with a rage that could not be quelled in a mere finger snap...

(Pulse...pulse...)

What made this particular personal battle all the more challenging...was his inner demon threatening to surface in retaliation to the attempt on his intended's life, the jagged purple stripes throbbing in and out on the surface of his face, his claws lengthening and retracting, and his irises shifting from amber to aqua blue and back again...

So where had those named brothers of the Band of Seven vanished to?

Well, while the location itself is classified, it would appear they had made their way to an workshop set deep under the earth, where Renkotsu could have access to inner core temperatures for his metal craftsmanship. Jakotsu, whom was sitting on a wooden plank mat a distance away from his busy brother, suddenly asks,

"Sooo, Renkotsu: Is Inuyasha still alive?"

"...Yes. Rest assured."

The feminine male lets out a sigh of relief:

"Ooh, that's good. I was thinking about that tasty little morsel Inuyasha the whole time I was fighting Kōga and that buddy of his. To be perfectly honest, it was a little distracting, especially when I found out that sweet stud Freeman's taken by that other wolf demon. Ugh, so unfair..."

Taking a sip of an unidentified liquid from a gourd, Renkotsu blows some fire into the smouldering contents of the pot he was standing in front of, before replying with a slight smirk,

"So, you let Kōga get away, did you? Shame on you, Jakotsu."

"Sorry, couldn't be helped; the guy ran super fast. You should've seen it."

The other zombie hmphs, before turning attention back to the molten metal just as it reaches its boiled peak.

"Excellent..."

He turns his eyes above him...where the torso/head of Ginkotsu was hanging off a few chains...!

"Geeeesh..."

"Just wait, Ginkotsu: You're about to be reborn."

"Gesh..."

"Oh yes, and I shall see to it that you are _much, much stronger._ "

Pulling a handle, Renkotsu directs the molten metal to be poured into a few molds, foreshadowing the coming new body for the cyborg zombie...Jakotsu yawns and says to himself,

"This is all so tedious. I wonder what Inuyasha's doing?"

Time Skip, Inuyasha's POV

Morning had finally come to light up the grounds around this place, but I haven't returned to the area where I...moved my friends and loved one. I just...I couldn't face their nearly-lifeless appearances right now, not while anguish still boiled in my blood.

I'm now squatting by a new waterfall that spilled into a small lake I had found during my thrashings, punching the rock of the boulder with a growled curse, pissed with myself over everything that had happened these last few days.

 _I messed up. If only I had realized sooner just who Renkotsu was..._

(Whack)

 _Damn...!_

What's worse...is that my inner demon ego, whose voice had remained unheard not counting the times I fell under its control, had somehow slipped through the bars and has been echoing through my skull for a few hours now (And in a surprisingly more intelligent manner than I initially believed possible).

 _ **What kind of a demon are you not smelling the enemy sooner?!**_

(Whack)

 _Damn...!_

 ** _Damn is right, you half-and-half moron! Your incompetence allowed our pack members to get hurt!_**

(Whack)

 _Damn!_

 ** _You just better pray to Kami that our mate-to-be doesn't die, 'cause if I catch wind that she's dead...I'll be shoving you back here to watch as a real man takes charge! Better yet, let me out now and I'll track those corpses down to rip them apart, piece, by, piece...!_**

(WHACK)

"SHUT, UP!"

"Descending into madness, Inuyasha...or are you continuing to allow your inner demon to bully you?"

I froze, recognizing the voice of my so-called half-kin...before grumbling to the source supposingly behind me,

"...Get lost. I've already got someone, something berating me, so I'm definitely in no mood to talk to you."

"So, only now you realize how weak you are?"

"...Shut up!"

He does no such thing:

"After all, you are only a half-demon. You can barely take care of yourself, and yet you wield the Tessaiga, a sword that was forged to protect others. Your friends, that human lover of yours, never stood a chance. Even your more primitive half knows it."

Growling, I reply in kind,

"Then maybe I should kill you, Sesshomaru, and take your Tenseiga. Then I can resurrect Coraline and the others."

 _ **Hey, we don't even know if they're really dead yet. Don't make drastic decisions; that's my job! Besides, do you even know how to wield a blade like that?**_

 _Quiet, you!_

I cut back to reality as my older half-brother scoffs and says,

"As if you could ever master my Tenseiga."

Gripping the hilt of my Tessaiga with a growl, I call back,

"Well we won't know unless I, (whirl, thrust) try!"

(SLASH)

...The energies die away, but I sense no signs of the attack connecting with anything, so Sesshomaru either fled before...or wasn't even here to begin with.

"He's gone..."

 _Or maybe he wasn't even here...Am I, starting to see things now?_

No POV

"Hellooooo? Uh, he's not here!"

We move to a different cleared area of the northeastern forests near the newly-destroyed temple complex, where Rin, Jaken and A-Un stood as they tried to search for their Lord after he mysteriously took off several hours ago...That was when the youngest spots him:

"Look! Here comes Lord Sesshomaru now!"

He walks out from the thicker part of the greenery, and the imp asks,

"Lord Sesshomaru, where have you been?"

"...I found him."

The dog demon's two wards make sounds of confusion, which cause him to repeat his answer more clearly and slowly, before Jaken inquires more details.

"Found who?"

"...That little troublemaker."

"Little troublemaker? Hm, little troublemaker...Oh! You mean that boy who is with Naraku!"

Rin puts a name to the face in question:

"You mean, Kohaku?"

The conversation sort-of dies off after that, as evident by Sesshomaru merely walking off without another word, leaving Jaken to rush after him.

"Please wait, Lord Sesshomaru!"

Meanwhile, Rin's worries for the young demon slayer grew again.

 _Is Lord Sesshomaru going to kill Kohaku?_

...We turn back now to the grassy clearing where our main group was, just as Inuyasha finally returns from his abrupt disappearance, his rage finally deflated from that dangerous high to the point where the echoes of his demon ego couldn't be heard inside his subconscious anymore.

"...Inuyasha."

He looks up, and saw Freeman sitting up by his twin, now occupying a new gauze taped onto his back for his salved burn, a grim smile on his face.

"Uh!...You're alive."

"Yeah...I am, yet, I'm not."

The dark-skinned teen turns his eyes back on Besa, reaching out to grip the other's hand tight while whispering,

"...Not while my brother-...I'm, I'm sorry. I should've moved faster."

"Don't you start that too."

Freeman darts his misty eyes back up at Inuyasha, who glances at him, then peers over at the teary Shippo, before muttering in a tone that wasn't any less dead than the former's sounded,

"You only did what you were able to...The fact that you're still living, says something."

"Inuyasha..."

"Both of you shouldn't be crying...Men don't show their tears, ever."

The young fox demon wipes under his green irises and chokes,

"O-Okay. I'll try..."

But even as the dog demon said that, Freeman could tell that his friend was fighting his own urge to cry as he sat in front of Coraline's body again.

 _Mph, poor guy...He's hurting something bad, but refuses to let it all go in one shot._

Inuyasha lifts the redheaded girl into his shaking arms, forcing Lumos to move from his place over her chest, hugging her tight again and tucking her head onto his shoulder while planting a heartbroken kiss to her cheek.

 _Coraline...f-forgive me. Please, forgive me._

 _If...If I hadn't failed you...Y-You'd still be here right now...!_

...A lone and very small tear falls from his right eye, which drips onto Coraline's skin...before a very weak groan emanates from her chapped lips!

"I...Inu..yasha..."

Amber irises snap open:

"Uh!"

"Inu-yasha...Are, you alright?"

"...Coraline?"

He pulls back some so he could look at the girl properly, as she slowly blinks her two-toned blue irises open, forming a tiny smile as she hears the excited chirps of her creature partner circling around her and Inuyasha. Focusing on her boyfriend, her eyes soften as she mutters weakly,

"S-Sorry, I took so long, to wake..."

"...But...you were-!"

"That's to be expected: Though I didn't have to suck out as much of her blood since most of her poison dosage had mysteriously evaporated, her physical health was just as weakened as the rest."

Turning their eyes to the left of Coraline, she and Inuyasha spot an enlarged and sweaty Myoga sucking from the neck of Miroku, likely having already done so to Sango and Besa as well.

"Whoah, I gotta tell ya, even for me, this poison packs quite a wallop."

"You're, telling me...that you..."

In accordance to the dog demon's bated conclusion, the monk slowly regains his consciousness...though wasn't completely in tune with the real world quite yet, as evident by the hand that rubbed Myoga's head.

"Mm, so, you'll bear my child, then?"

"I should've let this one die..."

The enlarged flea demon brushes the hand away before rolling over to bump into Besa's body, as he slowly blinked awake.

"Uh...Urh...Where...?"

Freeman's face erupts a huge smile of relief:

"Besa...!"

"F-Free-man?"

"Are you okay?"

"I...I think so. (Glances left) Oh...Myoga, hi."

"Hello to you too, young man."

At the same time, Shippo scampered over to greet the waking Miroku:

"Miroku...!"

"Uh...was it, all just a dream? (Pout) How disappointing."

Forming a deadpan, the fox demon mutters,

"Should've known you'd be dreaming about women..."

He then turns to the sound of Kilala's excited mews, to see that Sango was awake too!

"Uh! Sango...! Are you okay?"

Smiling weakly, she mutters,

"Uh...Uh-huh."

Watching everyone, Coraline smiles and whispers,

"So...we all made it after all...Guess Fate decided to give us a freebee."

 _"There be no freebee about it, chile: Tis destiny for ye all to remain among the living."_

Stiffening slightly in surprise from the sound of her ancestor's voice in her head, the redhead then nods in agreement with a stronger smile...Myoga then chimes in,

"I was only able to revive you because the poison had not gone completely through your bodies. Had I been any later, it would've been too late."

"Well, I gotta hand it to you, Myoga: I guess you can be useful every once in a while."

The flea demon does not take too kindly to how the fox demon phrased that 'compliment'.

"Doooh, you insolent little whippersnapper, how dare you speak to me like that!"

Turning her eyes back to the one holding her up, Coraline then mutters with a sad frown,

"I'm, s-sorry again, for making you worry..."

"Stop it! Don't apologize..."

Knowing what action he was really fighting against, the young woman fights against her weakened state to pull herself a little and properly wrap her arms around Inuyasha again, tugging his head towards her shoulder, much to his confusion.

"H-Huh?"

"Shield your eyes with my shoulder...Let them out in one go, and allow your fears to fall with them... _my, intended._ "

The dog demon froze upon hearing that one whispered address:

 _Did...Did she, call me..._

...Gritting his teeth, Inuyasha heeds Coraline's request and allows himself to let go, burying his face into the sleeve of her red t-shirt to very silently release the salt water from the corners of his eyes, his body trembling from the emotional weight beginning its quaking tumble into powdered rubble. Everyone else watched with shock, their voices caught in their throat and not daring to break the needed silence in this moment, while Coraline just held her lover close with a watery smile of her own, pecking a few butterfly kisses to the silver hair while whispering sweet, comforting words to calm the other's spirit.

 _I'm right here, Inuyasha...I'm right here._

Kikyō's POV

 _...Pure has become Impure. Impure, has now become Pure._

 _Good, has become Evil. Evil, has become Good._

 _For one to live, is to die. For one to die, is to live._

These were the paradoxes that echoed through my mind, as I wandered the forest distant to the foot of Mount Hakurei with my Soul-collecting allies...

 _Perhaps it's the power of Mount Hakurei to purge, but in its surrounding areas, there's absolutely no miasma._

...Suddenly, one of the Shinidamachū disintegrates away, which only fuels this growing suspicion in my veins.

 _It is almost too pure..._

I look back at the several other neutral-spirited demons who followed me.

 _It must be painful for you to be here, as it is for I..._

"...Mph..."

Feeling that familiar sting I had felt a little while ago, I look down to see the fair skin of my hand once again forming that red, burn-like mark.

 _Hm...Though I sense no signs of one, I almost wonder if my new flesh may carry an incredibly faint trace of, that demon from beyond this world?_

"...Huh. Now wouldn't that make my hold to existence more ironic."

Erasing my bitter smile, I look up to the distant mountain where I wished to close in on but couldn't at present.

 _Is it impossible for me to get any closer to Mount Hakurei?_

For now, I decide to turn around and back myself from this nearly too pure atmosphere...

I would soon find myself nearing a village built at the base of the holy mountain, when I stopped at the familiar pulse of a conflicting-morale power.

 _I sense the presence of a jewel shard..._

Continuing my walk, I approach the first hut closest to my proximity, only to find what appears to be a young male physician tending to an elder woman's injured hand, with a few children crowding near him.

"This should do."

"Alright..."

"Come again in three days and I'll apply more ointment."

"(Bow) Thank you so much, doctor."

 _Doctor?...That man...he has a jewel shard in his neck...Yet, it is..._

I snap out of my thoughts when the little boy carrying an infant calls to the woman,

"Take care!"

"You too, Chiyo."

He, Chiyo, then notices my presence, and rushes to greet me in all his innocence.

"Hm? Oh my...Such a beautiful priestess...!"

Flattered though I was, I had to remain focused on this new development, so I knelt down to his level to gently ask,

"Who is that man?"

"Oh? That man's name is Doctor Suikotsu."

"A doctor?"

 _How odd..._

"Ah, Chiyo. Do we have a visitor?"

Getting up, I walk over to greet the supposed healer, seeing that his appearance was of a gentle, handsome young man wearing blue robes with a tan brown overvest.

"...Hello there. You are the man called Suikotsu?"

"Yes...and you are...?"

"(Bow) My name is Kikyō."

Just then, a few of the children rush out to playfully flop onto this man's lap, who only laughs and smiles at them, making myself all the more confused if it was an act...or something else.

 _Whether he be demon or a human, if one with a wicked heart implants a jewel shard in his body, the shard will become completely defiled._

 _...However, this man's shard is not tarnished at all...The curious thing is...this man has already died._

Coraline's POV

Once we rested long enough to gain enough strength to sit up, our group slowly moved towards a nearby river to drink up some cool water before we would be given some sort of concoction that would relieve us further...

Inuyasha hadn't let me go until we reached the foot of the river, before he immediately began foraging in some bushes for...well, whatever was suppose to be going into this medicine.

 _I kind-a want to go back to laying in his arms right now..._

"Though I am mondo-glad we're all still alive, it still sucks the big one that those freaks got away with our jewel shards..."

Freeman, who was sitting between Besa and our satchels and weapons (apparently, Inuyasha had circled back to the ruined temple to get all our things back after taking us to the clearing near here last night), replies with a shrug,

"Just one of the crappy prices to pay for living another day, sis. Besides, it's not like we can't get them back."

Inuyasha replies over his shoulder,

"He's right, Coraline. We can always get them back later."

He then turns around fully to lightly toss me a clear water bottle of some red liquid.

"But here. Drink this."

He does the same for the other three people among us that got weakened from Mukotsu's poison.

"Miroku, Sango, Besa, you too." I ask,

"Uhm, what exactly is this-Actually, do I wanna know what's in it?"

Myoga calls from Inuyasha's shoulder,

"Just drink it, come on! It's my special potion! I sucked out a large amount of blood from your four along with the poison. Now if you drink this potion, it'll increase your body's blood content and make you healthy."

Though reluctant, we heed the flea demon's advisory, starting with Sango who took a big gulp of the concoction with a grimace.

"(Cough) Maybe so, if it doesn't kill us first...!"

Miroku gulps down a good amount of his portion next, also wincing from the taste, before replying,

"Just grin and bear it, Sango, 'cause the longer we take to recover, the longer we're vulnerable to our enemies."

 _Miroku's right: We're not in the position to have a good, long rest._

 _We must recover as fast as we can..._

I take a swig of the potion next, making a face from the flavour:

 _Urgh, even with the bitter aftertaste that comes with it..._

It was then that the Shippo, Kilala and Lumos return to us after being sent on a mission to find more items for Myoga's special revitalization potion.

"Hey, Myoga: We brought you some more ingredients!"

"Excellent, well done, Shippo!"

The burlap sack is dumped open, revealing several snakes, centipedes, mushrooms and even a few unidentified hairy plants!

"...Uh, is that, really what you used for this potion, Myoga?"

Hopping onto the pile, he replies to me,

"Yes! I combined the blood of this poisonous snakes with this rare fungi inside my body, regurgitate it all and voila, my special potion! Now...watch and learn."

Shielding my eyes upon his pincer entering the first snake, I mutter,

"Um, I'd rather not, thank you..."

 _Dear lord, the things we gotta do to live..._

Ignoring the sound of Myoga, erm, swishing the ingredients around and spitting them out to refill one of the water bottles, I wait until Shippo cheerily calls out,

"Here you go, guys," before removing my hand from my eyes with a forced smile.

"Gee, thanks..."

Sango and Miroku weren't feeling anymore positive than I was:

"I think I'm starting to feel more sick..."

"There are some secrets better left unknown..."

Besa, meanwhile, chose to use a form of jealousy to cope with the taste of this medicine.

"Hey, how come, (cough) Freeman doesn't have to down this stuff? Didn't he lose blood from his injuries?"

My other brother responds with a knowing smirk,

"Tch, yeah, but not even close to how much you and other three did, bro. My cuts were already beginning to clod sometime last night and my bandages prevented any unnecessary bleed-out. Ergo, I have immunity from Myoga's potion."

I grumble with a smirk-glare,

"Lucky bastard," which he'd reply with a bark of a laugh,

"Love you too, sis...and as far as I'm concerned, we're all lucky bastards to be breathin'."

He then turns to pull something out of his satchel:

"Of course, it's situations like these that are why I started carrying this in my bag..."

Pulling his hand out, I see that it was carrying...a bottle of rum!

 _When'd he add that to his arsenal?!_

Besa was wondering the same:

"What the-Since when do you have alcohol, Freeman?!"

"Since about several weeks ago when I pawned this off of one of Shuji's older brothers in exchange for keeping quiet about his secret poker excursions."

 _...Yeah, not even gonna ask._

Freeman then grabs out four shot glasses and pours out some of the rum, dark brown in colour but with a rose tint.

"This is a fairly good dark rum called Black Sugar Rose. Think it's imported from somewhere in the Caribbean...It has a strong after-bite from the cane sugar, but hey..."

He holds two of the shot glasses towards us with a smile:

"Better that than whatever the hell you guys are tastin' now. (Glances sideways to Myoga) Uh, it is okay for them to have alcohol, right?"

The flea demon hms...before giving an approval nod, much to our relief.

"As long as they don't have anymore than that tiny glass and finish their next dosage of the potion first, then yes."

 _Oh thank the stars!_

Sango, Miroku and Besa let out their own happy sighs, before all four of us quickly down the second round of potion, then take the offered rum from Freeman with a grateful chorus of 'thank you' to shoot straight afterward.

(Collective gulp)

"Whoa!"

"My Buddha, that's strong!"

"Whoo! Auh...good call on this stuff, brother. I can't even taste the potion now...!"

"(Cough) Yep, definitely needed that."

 _And thank you to whoever made Black Sugar Rose..._

Freeman just waves at us with a modest smile while Shippo eyeballed us strangely, Myoga shakes his head with an older gentleman's mumbling ("Honestly, kids these days..."), and Inuyasha quietly sniggered at us for our lack of grit to the potion...which quickly became replaced with a frowned expression when his ears pick on something.

...That something, would be noneother than Kōga speeding in with his whirlwind!

 _Uh! How-When-?!_

"Coraline!"

"Kōga...!"

He kneels down to my level with an arm over his knee while meeting my blue eyes with his, looking real worried.

"Are you okay? I came as fast as I could!"

"Uh, well..."

"Kō-ga..."

We then directed our attention below us, and saw that he was...standing on Inuyasha's back.

 _Oooh dear..._

Kōga's response was more nonchalant:

"Oh, hey mutt. You're still alive too?"

"I'll kill ya!"

My boyfriend then darts up to try and claw at the wolf demon, much to the other's annoyance.

"Hey!"

"How dare you!"

Clearing my throat, I cut in to direct away from any possible fighting:

"So how come you're in these parts, Kōga?"

He lands down beside my brothers and replies,

"I was pursuing Naraku and a guy with a strange, snake-like sword appeared."

 _Snake-like sword? (Widens eyes) Oh crap, Jakotsu!_

Sango and Miroku make the conclusion aloud:

"That sounds alot like..."

"Jakotsu."

Placing a hand on Freeman's shoulder, Kōga further explains while glancing at me,

"The rather odd fellow preceded to tell me that you were dead, and Ginta's mate was seriously injured..."

My said brother gasps and whispers Ginta's name with a longed and concerned expression, while I reply with a soft smile,

"I see: You were worried for a friend and for your comrade's lover."

"Of course! As Ginta's mate, Freeman's considered an honourary member of our pack!"

That took us all by surprise, and Kōga adds while looking down in serious thought,

"To lose him after all this time now...would mean, losing another extension of our kin...And I don't even wanna think about what could happen if Ginta went into an anguished rage to avenge his lover's life..."

 _Kōga..._

Freeman asks a bit quietly,

"Would it, really get that bad?"

"That bad and beyond, my friend: Killing off the mate of any demon's pretty much the definition of setting off a cataclysmic explosion."

Kōga suddenly darts glaring eyes on Inuyasha, but this type of anger wasn't so much fueled by his childish rivalry with my lover, but more so a teachable kind.

"You would know that kind of pain, wouldn't you, Inuyasha?"

"Huh?"

"I can smell it on you, mutt: That more demon half of you was likely yelling at you for not doing your absolute damnedest to protect Coraline. I dunno how it works exactly for half-demons like you...but still..."

He steps up so he and Inuyasha were but a foot from another before he shouts,

"If it were me, and, Coraline was Ayame, I would never allow danger to creep that close to her! You got that?!"

 _Uh!...Did he say..._

 _Does that mean...he's admitted to liking Ayame like that...?_

Inuyasha didn't really catch onto what I did, instead growling incredulously at the wolf demon.

"Grrrh, why you...!"

The latter in turn scoffs with his arms folded, prompting Myoga and Shippo to rush to the former's defense.

"Master Inuyasha!"

"That's it; time to teach this guy a lesson he won't forget!"

"Yeah! Yeah!"

"...That's not fair, Kōga."

Eyes turn to me in surprise for my response, and I push myself to my feet with a wobble while adding on,

"Circumstances, were beyond all our control. It couldn't be helped that most of us would get handicapped...Inuyasha did what he had to do, to prevent everything from getting worse. (Smile) And the thought of not waking to him again, was what kept me rooted to my body."

"Coraline..."

I turned to said subject with that smile still on my face, before inching closer for another hug...He quickly returned it, and whispered,

"It's nice of you to think that way...but still, I promise I won't let you get into a fix like that again."

"I know..."

"...Freeman!"

We pull apart to the sound of a familiar male calling out for one of my brothers from a distance.

 _Is that...Ginta?_

Kōga's response confirmed it:

"'bout time those two caught up."

Ginta and Hakkaku would then appear a few seconds later with that group of brown-furred canines, bending down to catch their breath, with the former recovering first while gasping at the sight that was my brother.

"...Freeman..."

"Ginta..."

...A moment of silence passes, before the wolf demon grits his teeth with misty eyes and rushes over to wrap his arms around Freeman!

"Oh thank Kami...You're alive...!"

"G-Ginta!"

"I, (sniff) I-I was so scared, that the zombie bastard, was speaking the truth...! Th-That you were hurt, beyond help! But...But you're okay...You're okay..."

 _Oh wow, he's more an emotional wreck than Inuyasha was a while ago..._

Freeman could only stare down at his crying boyfriend in awe for a few minutes...before smiling sadly with his own tears and pulls the other male closer to him, ignoring some possible throbbing from his injuries. We all watched with respectful silence, myself leaning into my own boyfriend's chest with a smile of understanding, he wrapping his arms around my waist and torso with a quiet hum of thought.

 _Because he and Ginta share a commonality: The feeling...to protect someone precious to them._

Kikyō's POV

Though I was highly suspicious of this man Suikotsu and his shard's purity, I made sure to be careful in not letting it show in my expressions during the time I spent in learning what I could about his intents as a Doctor, especially his reasons related to these children he allows to live in his home...

"These children lost their parents to famine and disease...And since then, I've been taking care of them."

His smile is genuine as he reaches down to tuck another young child beneath a blanket.

"They're sleeping so soundly..."

My eyes fixate on the glow in his neck again:

 _This man...No malicious intentions..._

 _How can this be, considering the bad karma the Shikon-no-Tama has been bringing for years?_

"...Hm? What is it?"

"Uh! Mm...Nothing."

"Help! Doctor Suikotsu! Please, we need your help!"

We turn our heads to the doorway, and Suikotsu stands to answer the cries for assistance, sliding open the door.

"What happened to him?"

"He fell and badly injured his leg on a sickle."

"It hurts...! It hurts so bad...!"

I peer out to see that the villager's friend had a rather nasty cut on his lower leg.

 _Oh dear, that looks painful indeed...and will require another set of hands, I think._

"...Doctor Suikotsu?"

He turns to me, and I ask,

"Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Uhm, thank you, Lady Kikyō. I'd appreciate it..."

I notice that his skin seemed to take on a new...sickened colour, like his courage as a physician had suddenly dropped.

"What's the matter? You look so pale."

"I-It's nothing. I'm just, not feeling well."

 _Hm..._

Moving the injured man inside, I and his companion would then be holding him as Suikotsu prepares some medicine salve on a strip of cloth...

"What a relief. The wound is not as deep as I feared..."

"It, hurts...! It, hurrrts...!"

Oddly enough, our patient would not be perspiring as much compared to the one treating him.

"Doctor Suikotsu...you seem tired."

He pauses to wipe away from sweat on the back of his hand, looking more peaky than before...

"...Shall I, take over?"

"Oh thank you. Please do."

Once I had finished the rest of the treatment of the injury, I would then wander out of the hut to find the physician and Chiyo feeding a flock of birds, the former looking better than he did before.

"Doctor Suikotsu? The two men just left."

He looks down with a shamed expression:

"I'm so embarrassed..."

"Don't be."

Chiyo then explains with a smile,

"Doctor Suikotsu doesn't like the sight of blood much."

 _Ah, I see. Not an uncommon problem. Even I had similar anxieties during my early years as a priestess..._

Holding a hand to his face, Suikotsu mutters,

"Haaah, and I call myself a physician...The very moment I see blood, my whole body starts to shake uncontrollably."

"...Have you been a doctor in this village your whole life?"

"(Stands) No, I was born in the Eastern Region. For a long time, I traveled to look after the sick and injured...Finally, I settled here. It's poor, but, because it's in the cold north, the war hasn't reached us yet, and, it is peaceful..."

...Suddenly, the man looks at the palm of his hand, and tenses considerably from something he sees on his skin, before rushing over to the well.

"What's the matter?...Doctor Suikotsu?"

"My hands..."

"Huh?"

"My, my hands...!"

I fell Chiyo's presence move to stand near mine, and we watch the physician begin a rather panicked cleansing of his hands.

"B-Blood...I must wash my hands...I must wash...I must wash..."

"But there is no blood on your hands, Doctor."

Once again, it would be Chiyo who offers an explanation to the man's actions.

"Doctor Suikotsu gets like that sometimes. When it's really bad, he'll keep washing his hands for an hour or more."

I continue to watch Suikotsu's fruitless efforts to rid what I'm understanding to be an illusion of his own make.

"The blood...The blood...! It won't come off...I can't wash this blood from my hands...!"

 _Hm...Could he have experienced some terrible tragedy in his past and is repressing the thought?_

 _...Or is it, something more baffling...and sinister?_


	120. Chapter 119

**Chapter 119: The Secret of the Pure Aura**

A new night has come to darken the lands of these war-fueled yester-years of Japan, and we find ourselves viewing Kikyō, the priestess revived from her more than fifty year passing, as she stood in front of a lake rich with pond reeds and other freshwater greenery, awaiting her Shinidamachū to bring a few new souls to rejuvenate her strength...

 _To live, is to die...To die, is to live..._

 _My name is Kikyō. I am a priestess who is unable to leave this world for the Sacred Place._

A bitter smile graces her lips, eyes remaining shut in concentration to connecting the spiritual energies of others to herself.

 _...No. That is not entirely the truth._

 _Once, I was a priestess. Now, I am nothing but a corpse with a cursed, false existence. No matter how much I desire to do good for others, the truth is I live off the Souls of the Dead._

 _Pure is Impure. Impure is Pure._

 _Good is Evil. Evil is Good...or is it?_

Once the process was complete, the specter woman would find her eyes wandering down to the alabaster skin of her hand.

 _Even my own body, was redone by the works of a questionable source that knew no side...Yet, they acted on the wish, of a young woman who sees me as more than my own contradictions._

"...If only I could embrace her beliefs."

Kikyō's sad smile faded quicker than it came, before she turned to return through the forest back to the village she was currently taking refuge at, one that sat near the distant foot of Mount Hakurei, its air still prominent with the almost extremely high purification energies...

 _In the hearts of man, there lies both Good and Evil. The two coexist._

 _Some become good, and others become evil...It is the way of this world._

 _...However, I am most intrigued by that physician that calls himself Suikotsu. He is certainly among the dead, like myself, yet he looks after orphan children, and gives medical attention to the villagers with a single unselfishness._

 _It would seem that he hangs onto life through the singular Shikon-no-Tama shard within his neck, but surprisingly, I can detect no cloudiness in its glow._

 _Only the most goodhearted and pure of spirit could make it thus...Could there truly be such a person?_

Narrowing her brown irises in thought, the undead priestess decides,

 _I think I shall stay and observe the situation a little while longer._

...Shifting a distance away from the areas near the village, we zoom in on an area near the riverside and under a maple tree, where our main group of travelers chose to rest at for the night about two days after the events taking place at the ruined Buddha temple. Right now, it was just Inuyasha sitting near the flickering campfire awake, while most of the others were asleep, including Sango who was laying on her side near the awake Kilala (she in her full form), the twins who were resting on their backs with their heads using their satchels as pillows, and Shippo lying on his stomach on top of both their torsos.

"...Inuyasha."

"Hm?"

He turns his head to meet Miroku's eyes, who was laying on his side a foot or two in front of the demon slayer.

"I'll take over the watch. Even you need a little rest too, you know."

The dog demon looks away and mutters with a grunt,

"I don't need to sleep."

"Come on, you can't stay awake forever. And besides, I don't think the Band of Seven is gonna attack anytime soon."

"...I sure hope you're right."

"According to Kōga, he defeated the one named Kyokotsu..."

The monk's indigo irises cast over to the form most distant from the campfire, watching as they drew their combat knife with only the deepest on concentration traced in their glowing ice blue eyes.

"Then...Coraline killed the Poison Master, Mukotsu. And you dealt with Ginkotsu, didn't you, Inuyasha?...So that would mean that three of the Seven have been taken care of already. The remaining four are bound to be alot more cautious now."

Inuyasha would find himself glancing over his intended mate as well, before replying,

"Yeah...and alot more dangerous. So before the remainder of the group attacks us, I plan to make the first move."

Miroku cuts from staring at Coraline's form to look at the dog demon's with a raised brow.

"The first move?"

"That's right. (Grips the sheathed Tessaiga) I'm gonna get them, before they get us."

The monk's mouth curves into a small smirk:

"I should've known you'd plan something like this."

"There are lots of ways to find them: They reek of dead bodies and graveyard soil, and those bastards possess Shikon-no-Tama shards. I won't rest until they're dead. _Every, last, one of them._ "

"Hm, yes...and it's possible you're not the only one holding to such a vow."

Inuyasha turns around to look at Miroku in confusion:

"Whadda you mean?"

"Come now, my friend, surely you out of all of us has noticed a shift in Coraline's behaviour these short few days."

...Focus for both men fall back on the distant redhead, whom had channeled her Soul Energy into her short blade in such a way that it was completely bathed in a white-blue light, before hovering up from her palm and zipping through the air upon her directional command in a form of telekinesis!

"Hah!...Hah!...Hh!"

 _How, am I doing so far, Rosiagnes?_

 _"Very good, chile. Not bad fer a beginner...Remember to keep yer concentration high, focuses being on flow, and delivery."_

 _Got it...Is it possible to do this with ShatterSoul?_

 _"Not fer a long time comin'. Tis better for ye to concentrate on such moves fer that short knife ye carry until ye are truly connected with ShatterSoul."_

 _I'm not now?_

 _"Haha, ye still have many a years to go, young one. Ye have formed a strong bond, of course, but until ye become one with the blade, there will still be many techniques that will elude ye...Do not think too much on the matter, though: Time is still with ye."_

As she moved in an intricate fashion with the flying weapon, using it to practice offense and defense, the young redhead replies to her ancestor with a weary sort of frown,

 _I wish I could agree with you...but I feel like Time has become neither friend nor foe, switching sides too many times in this ongoing war._

 _"Aye, I understand...but as I said, best not to let such grim thought overrun ye. Balance must be met."_

 _Right, right, of course...and, I really want to work hard, to find my balance again._

On that determined thought, Coraline suddenly reaches behind her to unsheathe her sword, before commanding in a rookie's haste for the combat knife to come right at her...

(CLANG)

She uses ShatterSoul to block the incoming short blade, and it goes flying through the air before landing in the ground just a foot away from her left toes, making her wince.

 _Ooo...Okay, that was a bit too close._

 _"Oh really, ye think? Haaah, now I know how the village elders felt during me own training...Less hastiness, chile, more discipline. Focus on one blade at a time for now."_

Sighing to herself with a head shake at her ancestor's sarcasm-laced grumbling, Coraline reaches down to pick up her combat knife after sheathing her sword again...

Not aware of the disembodied teacher who was guiding her, Inuyasha and Miroku just assumed the young woman had discovered a new way to train herself by her own merits...What concerned them, however, was the level of push she had forced onto herself in just a short amount of time after their last battle.

"We had only just recovered ourselves from the fight at the temple, and suddenly, Coraline is working herself harder than ever...She also hasn't spoken a word about, what happened to her regarding Mukotsu."

"Your point being, monk?"

"That something about that hour has clearly rattled the girl, to the point where it seems she may be falling into a muscle-stressing training regime, to prevent herself from falling that deep again...She's afraid, and angry at something about herself all at the same time. You can't tell me you haven't noticed similarly."

Inuyasha grunts...but then nods the slightest bit, his amber irises narrowing in thought over the redhead's panting form as she went back into her earlier weapon practice.

 _It's much more than Mukotsu: Something inside her snapped under pressure..._

 _What's got you so antsy this time, Coraline...and when will you tell me?_

Time Skip

We jump now to early morn as the stars begin to fade back, making room for the brightest of them all to rise and slowly start to cast its golden rays across the grounds of the village sitting near Mount Hakurei. Inside of the home belonging to the physician, Suikotsu, we see he and other orphan children he took in still sound asleep...However, his sleep was not of the restful kind.

"Hh...h-hh..."

 _(Flash)_

 _We see Suikotsu's form kneeling over the small body of a child amongst a devastating backdrop, suggesting a destructive raid of kinds had come to pass in this unknown area..._

 _"I can save her. I know I can save her!"_

 _"Get up! It's too late for her! Leave her and let's just get outta here!"_

 _"Don't be ridiculous! There's still hope!"_

 _"But the samurai are heading this way! They'll kill us!"_

 _"Flee if you want, but I am going to save this child!"_

 _(...SWIPE)_

 _Blood spatters before the physician's eyes thanks to the sudden attack from something with claws, and as he backs away with shock, the grounds around him change to be replaced with with a blustery snowstorm..._

 _A figure with bloodstained, blade-like claws fades into view behind Suikotsu._

 _ **"What're you doing, foolish man?"**_

 _Shuddering slightly from their dark tone, the doctor asks the figure,_

 _"...Who are you?"_

 _The figure offers no identity, but rather a statement that questioned morality._

 _ **"Why don't you do us both a favour and stop acting like a saint? The real you couldn't care less about saving people. Deep inside, you want to hurt people, to kill them! Isn't that so?"**_

 _"What're you saying? That's not true! I-"_

 _"Hey."_

 _"Uh!"_

 _Suikotsu pivots his head around to see six of the Band of Seven standing a couple feet away from him..._

 _"We've come for you."_

 _"Man, quit being so difficult, will ya?"_

 _Frightened by the sight of their lethal figures, the physician scrambles to his feet and tries to bolt from the area, much to the clawed figure's amusement._

 ** _"Idiot! Where do you think you can go?"_**

 _And the last thing he hears before waking, is the sound of the Shichinintai's evil laughter..._

(Jolt)

"A-Aaah!"

Taking a couple deep breaths in and out, sweat dripping from his face, Suikotsu calms down when he realizes,

"...It was a dream."

He looks over to see that the children had not awaken to the sound of his outcry, and he lets out a great sigh of relief while placing a palm over his face.

"What a horrible dream...Was it all-"

"You're awake already, Doctor Suikotsu?"

"Huh?"

He gets up and slides open the door to see who called from outside, and would find Kikyō standing near the porch of the hut.

"Oh. (Bow) Good morning to you, Lady Kikyō."

"(Bow) Good morning."

Suikotsu looks up at the brightening sky with a calmer smile on his face, feeling the effects of his nightmare beginning to fade away.

"Looks like today's going to be a fine day, don't you think?"

The undead priestess nods slightly, but her thoughts were far off from the conditions of the weather.

 _I do not understand. I have been watching this man very closely...yet I have not felt the slightest presence of evil from him._

 _All I see is the base of a goodhearted doctor...so why has such a man grounded his spirit to this world?_

At the same time Kikyō pondered her suspicions, we turn back to Inuyasha and company as they come along in a run on a path in the grass to where that village was. Coraline rode on the dog demon's back with Lumos flying alongside them, while Sango, Miroku and Shippo rode Kilala, and the twins ran between both parties.

"It's up ahead a distance; that's where I sense the jewel shard!"

Freeman comments after his sister between puffs of air,

"Well that, didn't take long, did it?" Besa replies back,

"No, it did not."

Inuyasha felt his anticipation grow in paying back his enemies for what they had done recently.

"Alright. We've got you now, you bastard!"

Myoga, who was riding in the dog demon's silver hair, asks nervously,

"Master Inuyasha, w-what is this, Band of Seven?"

A short explanation is given, and upon recalling what he saw back in that valley regarding the rise of Ginkotsu, the flea demon exclaims,

"And you're saying that there's more of them?!"

"Yeah. What about it?"

Myoga quickly gathers his things and slaps on his hat:

"I, see. How brave of you...Crow!"

Said black-feathered bird comes swooping by, allowing the flea demon to hop aboard and bail out of the area while calling down,

"Master Inuyasha, I just remembered some very important business I must attend to! Now if you'll excuse me!"

"Hey! Hold on!"

"Ho-ho-ho, give 'em hell!"

Watching as the crow carting the flea demon get smaller and smaller, Inuyasha grumbles,

"What kind of business does a flea have?"

Coraline replies with a smile,

"Eh, I say let him play chicken, Inuyasha. He's already done his tour of duty for us, anyhow: Without Myoga's help, four of us wouldn't be alive right now."

Miroku, Sango and Besa agree with similar upturns in their mouths:

"You're right, Coraline."

"Just let him go."

"He did his work, so let's just continue with ours."

Inuyasha just scoffs, while Coraline rests her head down to lay on his shoulder and thought gratefully,

 _Thank you, Myoga..._

 _...Hm?_

She darts her head back up again with a confused expression, as she got a better read of the distant jewel shard's energies.

 _That's, odd._

"Okay, this is different..."

Inuyasha asks her,

"What?"

"Well, until now, the shards the Shichinintai possessed were all laced with darkness...but this one's as pure as pure can get."

"What, so, it doesn't belong to the Band of Seven?"

Coraline frowns in thought and mutters,

"That, I can't say for sure..."

By this time, Suikotsu had left his home with Chiyo and another young child to go and gather more ingredients for his medicines in a small field up the hill from his home, leaving Kikyō temporarily in charge of his duties until he returned...

"Doctor Suikotsu, I found some!"

He looks to see what Chiyo had procured:

"Ah, Green Bell Flower, good for a weak stomach..."

The physician kneels by the boy and says with a smile,

"We'll pick these, then go home, alright?"

"Uh-huh."

...But it was then that the one man and two children look to see Inuyasha's group standing before them, the dog demon staring at Suikotsu with a particularly suspicious expression.

"Well well well, I finally found you."

"Huh?"

At the same time, the village elder had arrived at Suikotsu's home seeking the physician's aid...

"Hm? Is Doctor Suikotsu away?"

Kikyō nods in confirmation to the visiting man:

"Yes, he went to pick herbs."

"Oh, I see..."

"If you'd like, I can help you instead."

"O-Oh really? Thank you so much."

He was soon sitting on the specter priestess's right as she addresses his slowly-healing arm with a new set of bandages, he also shedding some more light on Suikotsu's background in connection to some other recent activity in these Northeastern areas...

"Yes, of course I remember: Doctor Suikotsu came to our village shortly after the Tomb of the Shichinintai was broken."

Kikyō pauses in her treatment:

"Did you say, Shichinintai, as in the Band of Seven?"

"Yes. By coincidence, Doctor Suikotsu has the same name as one of those accursed beings, so there was a scare among the villagers that he had escaped as a specter from the tomb."

"Doctor Suikotsu is a member of the Shichinintai?"

The village elder dismisses the priestess's growing concern:

"Of course not! Even if the names are the same, they have opposite personalities...I witnessed the execution of those heinous seven with my very own eyes. It was a long time ago, but I can remember it clearly. It was fifteen years ago, to be precise: Seven mercenaries who called themselves the Shichinintai escaped here to these lands northeast. They committed countless atrocities, leaving death and suffering in their wake...but they were soon trapped by the Lord of the region and then executed by the Lord's men. Suikotsu, one of the mercenaries, was a terrifying creature, who resembled more demon than human. A truly evil being..."

He then adds in stern assurance,

"But our Suikotsu is totally different. (Smile) Why that man is almost a saint."

"I see...There you go."

The elder tests out the muscles of his newly-bandaged arm:

"Ah, oh. That feels so much better now. The pain has almost gone away."

Kikyō smiles a little and replies,

"There are plenty of medicinal herbs growing in this region that I was able to use."

"Thank you very much, young lady. Please give my regards to Doctor Suikotsu."

...The priestess's smile is then replaced with a wary frown, as she turns her vision to behind her, causing the elder man to ask,

"Is there something the matter?"

"I sense a jewel shard."

"Hm?"

Kikyō thinks to herself,

 _It's approaching...Two. Ah! And that familiar beat of spiritual energy..._

Coraline's POV

 _...Hm?_

We had just reached the source of where I had sensed an oddly pure shard of the Shikon-no-Tama, when I suddenly picked up on a familiar wave of spiritual energy that ringed with life yet no life...I turned my eyes past the man and the two children he was with, towards a distant village where they must've came from.

 _That, Aura...Could it be...my Soul Sister?_

 _Did she arrive here before we did? And why?_

I focus back on our group's current subject of interest, narrowing my eyes slightly in thought.

 _Could it have something to do with this dead man before us?_

 _Hm...He has the jewel shard in his neck like the others of the Shichinintai...and, yet..._

"Who are you? What do you want with me?"

Inuyasha wasn't about to be fooled by a possible feign of ignorance:

"Drop the act; I know you're one of the Band of Seven!"

On the other hand, the man was doing almost too good a job in playing innocent.

"Hold on, there must be some sort of mistake. I'm a physician. I'm not a warrior of any kind."

"Don't play dumb: Your body reeks of dead men and graveyard soil, just like the rest of your twisted band!"

Hearing how edged my boyfriend's tone was made me shiver the slightest, for I knew that he was holding onto alot of fierce anger towards the band of undead mercenaries since their most recent attack at that temple. I didn't blame him in the slightest...otherwise I'd be considered a hypocrite.

 _Even though Rosiagnes has begun teaching me to hone in on myself...I can still feel the ravaging of my own emotions._

"What's that? Smell of death?"

"I'll make you show your true colours!"

Inuyasha began charging forward with a clawed hand raised to attack, while the man, much to my surprise, was more concerned for the well-being of the young lad and lass with him, shoving them to the sides!

"Run, children!"

Miroku and Besa call out,

"Inuyasha, wait a second!"

"Watch you don't hurt the kids!" My boyfriend retorts,

"I'm not stupid, ya know!"

(Slash)

His attack sent the self-proclaiming physician flying backwards from the impact to slide down the slope, prompting the two children to look down with worry shining in their eyes.

"Doctor Suikotsu!"

The young boy acted the braver and turned to kick Inuyasha's shin while angrily shouting,

"Mrh, why you-What have you done?!"

What pressed me was the lack of defense the man, Suikotsu, put up.

 _Strange...If he is a member of the Shichinintai, I would've expected him to have lifted the mask long enough to save his own skin._

 _...But he didn't. He took the hit just like any other man with no previous experience to battling._

"Something's wrong here..."

That's when I sensed it: It was faint...but there was a slight wobble in the purity's radiance, and it was traced with...a very dark insanity.

 _Uh! What...What was, that?_

Meanwhile, the young lass and lad rush down the slope to help the man:

"Doctor Suikotsu, are you alright?!"

"Are you hurt?!"

"Don't worry about me, you two. Now hurry and run away from here."

"No! We're not going anywhere!"

"Yuuta's right: We're not just going to leave you behind!"

The girl, Yuuta, then takes a turn at glaring at Inuyasha, who flinches back slightly in surprise from the hostility, just as Miroku comes to his side.

"To those two, you're the bad guy attacking a good guy for no reason. I hate to say it, but I think we may have been wrong about him."

"Whadda ya mean?"

"He's nothing at all like the members of the Band of Seven that we've encounter so far."

"Which may make him more dangerous than what we're seeing at present."

"Hm?"

The two men turn to me on my approach, as I used my Aura Sight to peer deeper into Suikotsu's revived Soul (which also prompted the young girl Yuuta to wince back with a somewhat scared expression), not liking what I saw.

"...Damn. I was afraid that was the case."

"What do you see, Coraline?"

"I'm not entirely sure what's causing it...but this man seems to be suffering a spiritual conflict similar to Kohaku's problem."

I feel Sango stiffen some at the mention of her younger sibling, but I remain focused on explaining my diagnostic.

"The shard in his neck...It's pure like his Soul, but almost too pure. I can barely detect the presence of darkness...but it's faintly throbbing with an unstable wobble, like it's fighting to come out. (Shudder) And this darkness is traced with an unimaginable insanity that shows no mercy to life. Even Naraku's darkness would pale in comparison."

That caused a definite widening of pupils from my friends, family and lover, and I cancel out my second vision while muttering grimly,

"What's worse is that I don't think the man himself is even aware of what is being suppressed within his Soul. You all saw the fear and inexperience in his eyes when Inuyasha attacked: He's green. (Shakes head) No. There's definitely something seriously wrong with this so-proclaimed physician Suikotsu, more so than the previous members of the Shichinintai."

Freeman gulps and says,

"So...if we go on the offensive and trigger the guy the wrong way..."

I nod and reply,

"Yeah...There's a chance he could end up being the human definition of a nuclear bomb."

Still...even though Inuyasha took my deductions in with careful attention like the others, he was hell-bent on making sure no other Shichinintai got us before we got them.

"Tuh, well even if you're right...there's no way I'm gonna be fooled a second time like with Renkotsu! (Glares down the slope) Now show your true self, you maggot!"

(...BOOM...)

"Uh!"

Our attention would then be drawn by the sound of a huge explosion coming from the village yonder. Yuuta exclaims,

"The village...! It's burning!"

 _No normal gun could've cocked that level of power..._

(Sheen)

 _Uh! The dead man's beat mixed with the jewel...The Shichinintai!_

"Oh no! The villagers!"

Suikotsu immediately began running down to aid the endangered, despite Inuyasha's aggravated calls.

"Wait, where do you think you're going?! I'm not finished with you yet!"

I tug on the sleeve of his haori to get his attention, a serious look abound my glow-fading eyes.

"We have a more pressing problem to address than that contradiction of morality."

"What?"

"I can sense them. (Narrows eyes) Those other walking sacks of murderous dead flesh are closing in on the village below."

"Uh! (Growl) You mean the rest of that bastard band is here?!"

I nod solemnly, and cast my eyes below while adding to myself with some concern,

 _She'll be down there too...Kikyō, if you can hear me, please be cautious._

Kikyō's POV

It happened in an instant as soon as the elder left Doctor Suikotsu's hut: A strange, behemoth machine of sorts began raging cataclysmic gunfire upon the entire village, leaving disaster, devastation and the sound of roaring flames and frightened villagers in its wake! Once I was assured that the orphans living with the physician were at a safe enough distance from the danger, I rushed down immediately with my bow and arrows to assess the situation and assist any stragglers in getting out of the area.

"Get away, quickly!"

One man calls as he ran past me,

"Please come with us; don't stay here!"

"Don't worry, I'll be alright!"

Another explosion or two sounds, and I cringe from the wave of dust and smoke blown towards me...before peering ahead towards a most troublesome sight. Two men standing atop a third that was half mortal, half mechanical (the other half I could not find the proper words to describe), and all three were from the realm of the dead like I, each having a single jewel shard in their necks to sustain their presence among the living.

My eyes narrow a little into a glare as I deduced,

"These men are three members of the Band of Seven..."

"Lady Kikyō!"

"Hm?"

 _Doctor Suikotsu?_

The physician had finally returned to the village and found me, only to stare ahead with awe and fear at the sight of these three undead.

"What in the world is this?!"

...What would surprise us both (him more so than I), is that the attackers knew Suikotsu as if they were allies.

"So this is where you've been."

"Hey, Suikotsu."

"Geeesh..."

The first one that spoke (the male standing atop the half-mortal, half-machine's right) then says with an air of annoyance,

"Geez, you sure made it difficult for us to find you..."

Said addressed was very taken aback, while I gazed at him with confusion.

 _They know him...yet he knows not of them. Can this man truly be that Suikotsu...?_

"Come on, Suikotsu: We came all this way to get you, ya know? You should be grateful."

The other two mercenaries nod in agreement with the one on the upper left, while Suikotsu...shook his head of something that seemed to greatly disturb him before asking in disbelief,

"Who are you...and what are you, and what could you possibly want with me?!"

 _He really isn't lying...Then what is going on?_

(Pulse)

 _Uh! That was...the beat of Coraline's Aura...My Soul Sister is approaching._

No POV  


It wouldn't be long before everyone of Inuyasha's group had scrambled down to the village following Suikotsu's path...only to find themselves standing in the equivalent of a dead field blitzed by meteors, thanks to the new weaponry of Ginkotsu.

"This is terrible...!" Shippo exclaims after Miroku,

"Holes everywhere!"

Sango and Freeman then each comment,

"I've never seen battlefields that looked like this before..."

"Yeah, we shouldn't be seeing this kind of destruction until WWI...but even No Man's Land would look more alive than this..."

Coraline mutters bitterly,

"It's definitely the Shichinintai. I can sense two...no, three darkened Shikon-no-Tama shards near Suikotsu's."

 _(Flash)_

 _Echos of a handgun's bang-bang bounce faintly against the flickering backdrop of another village set in lands foreign to Japan, with several muffled outcries of men falling dead..._

 _(Flash)_

"Mph...!"

 _Easy, Coraline, easy...You're far from India..._

 _Dislocate the rage...the fear...Focus on objective, and place distraught emotion to the back of your skull._

 _You'll have time to release after the battle's over._

Just as the girl reaches a calmer place within her heart and mind, Inuyasha notes the presence of the accursed dead men with his own sensory.

"Ooh yeah. I know their disgusting scent of theirs anywhere...Wait, did you say three?"

She nods to Inuyasha and replies,

"And one of them has mass traits of metal mixed with flesh...I think we might be seeing Ginkotsu's ugly mug again."

The dog demon curses, before he and the redhead begin the charge to the center of the ravaged village, with everyone else following close behind...Once they cleared through the mist of black, they would spot the newly remastered Ginkotsu (whose shape know resembled a tank with two huge buzz-saw wheels and spider-like metallic legs to help haul the front), with Jakotsu and Renkotsu standing atop of him, facing off with Kikyō and Suikotsu.

Both Inuyasha and Coraline would softly mutter the priestess's name, and Lumos would float fast ahead to circle around the latter in excitement before returning to his partner's side. Kikyō's smile was quick as a hummingbird's wing beat, before she addresses the young couple seriously in accordance to current affairs.

"Inuyasha, Coraline. I see you've come to the Northeastern lands as well."

The others had caught up by this time, just as surprised to see the specter priestess.

"Lady Kikyō!"

"What's going on here?"

"Kikyō?"

"Must've gotten here before we did..."

"Wonder why...?"

Once some of his shock died down, Inuyasha would be the one to personally ask the priestess what her intentions in being in the area were.

"Kikyō...what the heck are you doing here?"

Coraline then asks cryptically in her own curiousity,

"...Did you detect the same as I?"

Catching the girl's meaning, Kikyō nods to her, before saying to the dog demon,

"Now is not the time."

Sensing the silent and mutual exchange between the women, Inuyasha decides to heed their unspoken words and just focus on the real problem.

"Uh, right. Of course..."

Meanwhile, the three members of the Shichinintai were eyeing the arriving group in their own versions of surprise.

"You're all still alive. I must say, I'm quite impressed."

"Geeeesh..."

"Heeey, Inuyasha, Freeman!"

The young man with short black coarse hair shivers uncomfortably from the happy address of Jakotsu before settling into a glare to match everyone else, Inuyasha's being the strongest as he held up his claws threateningly.

"This works for me perfectly: I can deal with you all at once!"

Renkotsu jeers,

"To think you went to such great pains to stay alive...Too bad it was all for nothing."

Sango retorts while gripping the strap of her Hiraikotsu tight,

"Well we'll just have to see about that, now won't we?"

Miroku mutters just as bitterly,

"If only they didn't possess shards of the Shikon-no-Tama. I would suck them into my Wind Tunnel in an instant."

Besa hmphs and grips the handles of his sickles while replying to the monk,

"That would just mean a quick death for these cretins...I say we give them the same level of Hell they did us."

Freeman nods in agreement, readying his long hammer with a serious glare.

 _I definitely won't complain about whacking Jakotsu to kingdom-come..._

Though feeling proud of the lack of weakness in the voices of his group, Inuyasha also felt wary about having them fight while they were technically still in recovery.

"Everyone, just stay back. You're not fully recovered so you can't handle 'em. (Cracks knuckles) Leave these lowlifes to me!"

Renkotsu turns his eyes to one of his fellow mercenaries to give the following objective.

"Alright, Jakotsu: I want you to deal with Suikotsu."

Obviously, this order would not sit well with the feminine male, once again being roadblocked from fighting one or both men of his obsession.

"What's thaaaat?! Why me?"

"Because I asked you to, that's why."

Renkotsu briefly glances down at said physician, who draws a winced breath when he concludes in his own thoughts,

 _They intend to kill me...!_

"I'll deal with Inuyasha and his little friends."

"Aw come on, Renkotsu, why are you being so unfair to me?! You always keep me away from my Inuyasha! Well I'm beginning to think that you've taken a liking to Inuyasha too."

Freeman, who could hear the conversation from his stand, almost lets out a snort of amusement despite his mixed hate and creeped-out emotions.

 _Awoh geez...!_

Renkotsu, on the other hand, wasn't feeling humorous to his brother's jealous whining.

"If you keep talking such nonsense, I'll pull that tongue out of your head."

Having heard all he could take of the distracting banter, Inuyasha calls over to the Shichinintai,

"Quit your babbling, you fools! (Draws Tessaiga) I'll take you all on right now!"

The fire-user chuckles and retorts,

"Don't make me laugh," before chugging down some of the substance from that gourd as the dog demon made his lunge.

"Oh yeah?!"

(Fwoooooooommmmmmm...)

He's then stopped by a torrent of fire spewed upon him from the former, yet it did little to deter his own burning spirit.

"You're such a pathetic fool, Renkotsu! These flames aren't even hot!"

"Maybe for you!"

Renkotsu then sends out several shots of thread, which cross over in a grid pattern overtop the entire group, before setting them to flame!

"It's a net of fire!"

"Aw, that's just playing dirty!"

Inuyasha quickly got to work on trying to dispel the flames shortly after Shippo and Freeman's exclaims, but couldn't even sever one of them...

"Hehahaha, would you like me to tell you what your weakness is, Inuyasha? Your need to protect these poor, pitiful friends of yours!"

"Go to Hell!"

"You first!"

Some of the threads are tangled around Tessaiga, which leave the dog demon to struggle in maintaining his hold on his weapon...Meanwhile, Jakotsu began his approach to Suikotsu with sighed breath and his snake-like sword held loosely above his shoulder.

"Now, don't try to resist, Suikotsu."

"I don't know who your friends are, but you've come after me for some unfathomable reason...So then kill me and leave everyone else alone! Why attack the whole village?!"

"Haaaah, how long are you going to keep this up, Suikotsu? (Glare) Oh hurry up and snap out of it, okay?...Otherwise I'll kill you for real!"

Jakotsu then unleashes his sword's power against the deeply confused physician and Kikyō, the latter rushing in front of the second former while readying her bow and arrow upon the first former's weapon return.

"Get back!"

(Twok, shooooom)

"Aaaawah!"

The feminine male zombie barely dodges the Sacred Arrow in time, nearly falling over backwards in the process while looking at the priestess with wide eyes...It was around here that Ginkotsu finished fixing his position to aim straight at the struggling Inuyasha. Renkotsu would give the order but a second after:

"Fire, Ginkotsu."

(BOOM)

"Gaaaaaaah-houhhhh!"

The cannon's blasting impact sent the dog demon back several yards to skid into the upturned dirt, while his sword lands in the ground a distance away from him, reverting back into its dormant state. He curses to himself, while the fire-user calls his swordsman brother out on the lack of effort in bringing down his opponents.

"Jakotsu, shame on you."

Ginkotsu laughs slightly, before turning his mechanized body around in that direction...

"Shoot them, Ginkotsu."

(...BOOM-BOOM)

"Aaaaaaagh!"

Kikyō and Suikotsu are thrown back hard by the impact, causing Inuyasha to call out the former's name in concern, while Coraline looked over with worry shining in her blue irises between the flamed webbing.

 _Soul Sister!_

"Inuyasha."

"Grh!"

Renkotsu pulls at his flaming snares with a cruel smile and jeers to the aggravated dog demon,

"If don't pay closer attention, your friends will die!"

"... _Not today, you fiend._ "

"Hm?"

(...Sheen, SLASH)

Next thing we know, the next of fire suddenly disperses from the harsh impact of a blinding ice-blue energy, its power sending a wobbling wave to shake the grounds slightly and force onlookers to shield their eyes...!

...Once the light died down, we would see the glowing figure of Coraline with her family's ancestral blade held up straight to the sky, sending a piercing gaze to the man standing atop his cyborg brother, while her friends gazed at her in shock from the sudden release of strength.

"Whoa..." "Coraline...!"

"Cor..." "That was..."

"Amazing...!"

Inuyasha felt his voice get caught in his throat, and could only stare at his intended with wide amber eyes...

But Coraline was far from done in laying her point across.

"You, _Renkotsu_ , will be the first to die if you insist on such despicable attacks."

She lowers her sword and quickly shifts it into her recessive hand before drawing her combat knife out...then sending it flying straight at the zombie of address with her Aura wrapped around it! Renkotsu merely shifts his head to one side to dodge while scoffing,

"Ha! Is that your best aim, wom-"

(Slash)

"Rgh!"

His retort was quickly silenced when the short blade came slicing across his right cheek, leaving a reasonably-deep cut! Glaring forward with disbelief, he watches as Coraline redirected her combat knife back to her, catching it smoothly before countering with no emotion other than seriousness in her voice,

"No... _but that was._ "

"Gr-gh! How?!"

Sango was just as curious as the dead man, hers being more bated and honest rather than rage-fueled.

"She, used her knife like it was my own weapon...only she somehow, channeled it to return to her with a mere flick of her wrist..."

"What concerns me is her current expression."

The slayer and company turn their eyes to Besa, who notes while looking over at his sister with light worry,

"It's almost completely void of emotion, like she's forced them away with a gulp down her throat..."

Miroku hms and adds,

"Yes, it's certainly more prominent today...like it has been since we all barely recovered from the last attack by the Band of Seven. She's also been pushing herself past her recovering state, working hard to sharpen her skills...but in such a serious way, it's almost unnatural for her."

Watching as the girl calmly sheathed her knife, Inuyasha was beginning to think similarly to the rest of the growing unease in the group.

 _Coraline...what's going on with you?_

Checking back with Kikyō, she barely manages to stay semiconscious from the impact of Ginkotsu's cannon attack...However, her life force had certainly been shaken badly, as evident by the orbs of light exiting from her flesh.

 _...The Souls, are leaving me._

Sensing the change of strength, Coraline turns her vision in the priestess's direction, before wincing and silently gesturing her creature partner to rush to the latter's aid...

"Auh...uh..."

It would be around then that Suikotsu arouses from unconsciousness, only to lock his vision on the injured specter woman's form.

"Lady Kikyō!"

He pushes himself up and gingerly moves to hold her up by her shoulders:

"Lady Kikyō, hold on...!"

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Hm?"

Suikotsu looks up just as Lumos arrives to their proximity, startling him a bit...until he watches the little orb of light release that rejuvenating light.

(Twinkle...)

"Ah..."

 _What, on earth is this creature?...Do they mean to help?_

"Help us!" "Doctor Suikotsu, please!"

His attention is then drawn behind him, by the calls of noneother than Chiyo and Yuuta!

"Uh! Listen to me, children: Stay away!"

They either couldn't hear him from that distance or are too worried about the doctor to heed his warning.

"Doctor Suikotsu!" "We, need help!"

"Stay back! Stay away from here!"

...Unfortunately, all attempts to steer the young ones from danger would be in vain, as soon as Jakotsu spotted them.

(...Thrust)

"Ah!" "Uh!"

"Please, nooooooo!"

(SLASH)

...With that, Suikotsu makes the last-minute decision to become the snake sword's object of impact, his crimson blood spilling from a deep wound reaching from right shoulder to part of his upper back!

...He drops to his knees with pained, bated breath, just as the two children rush to him.

"Doctor Suikotsu!"

Inuyasha was confused by the physician's selfless act:

"What the hell is going on?"

Coraline wasn't too far behind him, wondering to herself,

 _His Aura...it's still radiating a bright light...But how long can he hold out for?_

"...Doctor Suikotsu."

The man smiles weakly at the teary Yuuta and Chiyo:

"I-I...I'm, alright...Are either, of you hurt?"

"N-No..."

"We're okay..."

Suikotsu releases a small sigh of relief...but, then...

(Pulse...)

"Rgh! Rgh..."

He feels a throb within his spirit, and his mind echoes with an almost eerie song sung by the voices of youth, as the jewel shard within his neck glows a bright fushia pink light...

 _"Pu~re has become impure,_  
 _I~mpure has now become pure..."_

His imagination is then invaded by the demonic figure from his nightmares...

 _ **"What are you doing, you fool? Quit acting like a saint! Your heart craves to murder and kill! You know it to be true..."**_

Suikotsu lets out a shuttered breath, just as the jewel shard's colour and viscosity shifts to a much murkier, shadow black...!

Coraline curses, sensing the dramatic change:

"The jewel shard...it's being overrun by his darkness..."

She wasn't the only one who could feel the shift: As the priestess laid silently on the ground with the Will O' Wisp hovering near her side, she thinks to herself grimly,

 _Pure, is Impure...Impure, is Pure...Good, is Evil...Evil, is Good..._

Yuuta, who had no idea she and Chiyo were too close to a newly-awakening evil (yet), tries to get the physician's attention.

"...Doctor Suikotsu?"

No verbal response is given back, before the ribbon of the man's hair tie snaps away, as his short black locks suddenly stands up on end! He then snatches and lifts Chiyo by his neck in a choke hold, much to the young girl's horror:

"What're you doing, Doctor Suikotsu?!"

Everyone of Inuyasha's group was shocked to say the least by the shift of behaviour, while Jakotsu was nonchalant.

"Good, he's awake."

Ginkotsu and Renkotsu nod in agreement, the latter letting out a laugh at the sight of his awakened brother holding up the young boy with a means to kill, much to Yuuta's dismay.

"No, stop, what are you doing?!" Inuyasha growls,

"So I was right," just as Coraline moves to his side to inform him urgently,

"Inuyasha, Suikotsu's Aura has become dangerously unstable! Please, get the children away from him!"

"Alright!"

Leaping away from the area where the net of fire previously stood, the dog demon brandishes his claws before unleashing them on the mentally-risen Shichinintai brother.

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slash)

Suikotsu drops Chiyo with a winced hiss, leaving Inuyasha to scoop the young boy up in time before they fell...

Both zombie and demon land smoothly on the ground, before the latter asks,

"...Just what are you?"

Chuckling, the undead physican lifts his head, revealing a new appearance of a tanned complexion and green striped tattoos that ran on his cheekbones and forehead, his pupils mere dots and slightly bloodshot, reflecting a murderous insanity that matched his sneering grin.

" _Who, me?_ I'm Suikotsu of the Band of Seven!"


	121. Chapter 120

**Chapter 120: D.I.D. & The War for Sanity**

With the Tessaiga still embedded in the ground and out of his reach, Inuyasha would have to rely on his bare hands to take on the newly-awakened Suikotsu to protect the young children Chiyo and Yuuta, the second former having just been rescued from being choked to death by the man who could no longer be seen as a 'mere physician'...

"Damn you, Suikotsu..."

Said dead man only chuckles darkly before replying,

"That ridiculous do-gooder physician: He's held me back for far too long."

Over to the far right of the zombie, the rest of Inuyasha's team was still trying to wrap their heads around the sudden shift of demeanor in the 'good doctor'.

"But...he...I don't understand. He's an entirely different person than he was before."

"You're right about Suikotsu. It's almost as if he possesses two different hearts..."

Coraline nods with a straight face and grimness dancing in her two-toned blue irises at the slayer and monk's characterizations.

"In a way, he does...but I'm afraid the problem goes deeper than that."

They look to her in confusion, but it would be Besa who cleared the air.

"I think I know where you're going with this, Cora: You're thinking he's suffering from D.I.D."

Not understanding the modern medical diagnostic anymore than Sango or Miroku could, Shippo asks,

"D.I.D.? What's that?"

"It's short for Dissociate Identity Disorder, a type of mental issue that involves a person having two or more distinct personality states. One of mine and Freeman's old neighbours had a cousin who was diagnosed with D.I.D...Usually, that one person experiences things like gaps in their memory that can't be explained by normal forgetfulness, and shifts in behaviour so quick and dramatic that it can't simply be brushed off as a period of moodiness."

The young man with cornrow black hair turns his focus on Suikotsu's form and adds,

"In his case, that man seems to be caught between a murderer, and a witness."

Inuyasha hmphs and says with glaring eyes fixated on the new man before him,

"I dunno about all of that stuff, but I do know that I was right about you belonging to the Band of Seven!"

Renkotsu then cuts in while tossing something to his fellow murderous brother.

"Suikotsu, here you go!"

Those items, were a pair of leather gloves fashioned with long, sharp claw blades, the gleam of the metal making the three modern teens shiver simultaneously as they recalled a similar set of weapons used by a previous enemy...As he tugged the fastening string tight with his teeth, Suikotsu says to Inuyasha,

"So, I seem to recall you asking to do battle with me. Well, you're about to get your wish."

The dog demon growls, his amber irises side-glancing over to where his dormant fang blade was...

"Ha. What's the matter? Are you too frightened to fight without your mighty sword?"

Flexing his fingers with a knuckle crack, Inuyasha retorts,

"Ha, not likely! Are those claws all you got goin' for ya? 'Cause you're gonna need alot more than that, you filthy, two-faced liar!"

That insult wiped the smug grin off of Suikotsu's face:

"Grr, you better show more respect than that! (Lunge) Haaaaaah!"

He tries to swipe his weapons at Inuyasha, who leaps up into the air before shooting back down with his own counterattack.

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Boom...)

Dirt is the only receiver of his sharp nails, however, as the zombie scrambles away in a dodge...He pauses to smirk slightly at the dog demon:

"You're a quick one, aren't you?"

Inuyasha's smirk was just as dark, if not more so:

"Heh. I'll cut you into little pieces."

Neither side moves for a moment, trying to fake the other out with a show of pride and strength...before they both charge at one another with war-cries! Inuyasha tries and fails to uppercut Suikotsu's face:

"Die!"

"Your moves are too showy!"

"Huh?"

"I'll show you what close-quarters combat is all about!"

He then moves to swipe at the dog demon a few times, who leaps back to dodge, only to end up with a slash cut across his stomach! Of course, given his half-demon blood, this did little to slow the young man with long, silver hair down, rather it made him more wary of the dead man's speed and accuracy as he kept hopping back to barely get out of the line of fire. Suikotsu doesn't miss the opportunity to taunt:

"If you keep backing away like this, how will you ever turn me into mincemeat?!"

"Shut up!"

"What's the matter? Too much for you?"

"Why you-!"

Inuyasha lunges a hand forward to grip one of the weaponized hands to a stop...

(Bzzzzt)

But was then met with a static of power ensuing from between both opposing appendages!

"Wha-?!"

Suikotsu grins and makes his move, slashing his free arm upward to cut across the dog demon's upper chest! Chiyo and Yuuta, who were watching the battle, whimper with fear and horror at the sight of their doctor acting in the manner of a monster, while Coraline felt her heart skip a beat at the image of blood spattering from her lover's wounds.

 _Inuyasha...!_

Freeman and Shippo cry out their friend's name with worry, just as he lands back on the ground while holding a hand over his wounded chest.

"Grh! Damn you, Suikotsu!"

The zombie just sniggers and licks away a bit of his opponent's blood with a sadistic smile, before rushing forward to attack again.

"Now die!"

(...Sheen, slash)

"Guh!"

But just as he got only a few feet away, Suikotsu was forced to slide into a halt when a familiar ice blue slash mark comes cutting through the dirt right between him and Inuyasha!

...Both sets of eyes turn to the source with astonished expressions, contrasting the calm, collected one occupying Coraline's face, as she then reached to pull out her combat knife from its sheath on her thigh, holding it in her right hand while poising ShatterSoul up in a forward point in her left...Two of her fingers then curl up from the handle of her short blade in a 'try me' sort of gesture, which doesn't go unnoticed by the newly aggravated Suikotsu.

"Hmph! You wanna fight me now, woman? What makes you think you can take me on better than the welp here?"

The girl with long red hair doesn't reply verbally, and only narrows her eyes in both a cool anger and a sizing measure, causing the zombie to laugh a little.

"Just that confident, hm? Very well, but it's your, (lunge) funeral!"

Coraline meets the rushing zombie in her own dash forward, and soon, both were engaged in a blades on blades battle, leaving observers to watch with wide eyes at the clash of spirits...

Some had anxiety reflected in their irises, they being the other humans and two demons that followed her...

A few merely watched with mild surprise and slight annoyance at the girl's interference, Jakotsu's being the highest.

"Ugh, that bitch just had to jump in, didn't she?...Oh well, at least her death will leave Inuyasha open for me to kill."

And speaking of Inuyasha, his eyes were locked on the battle with a mix of emotions churning in his gut, worry being the strongest in terms of his intended's safety.

 _Coraline...!_

Meanwhile, said redhead was keeping her attention on every swing coming at her, using her sword and knife to just block in time while also trying to land a hit to the zombie, who merely sidestepped away or used his own weapons similarly to she.

 _Damn, this man's even faster than Saki was during that fight. It's taking all that I've got just to block._

 _...But I've got to stay strong, just until I can find an opening._

A minute later, her wish was granted as she ducked down from an uppercut of Suikotsu's claws, which left his torso wide open to an attack.

 _Got 'im!_

"Hah!"

She twists herself up and readies to plunge her knife in his side...

"Not fast enough, woman!"

"Huh?!"

(SLASH)

"Aaaaaagh!"

What she didn't know was that Suikotsu feinted the uppercut, really aiming to bring his claws against Coraline's arm to force her to release her main blade, leaving a deep cut across the lower appendage close to her wrist!

(KICK)

"Gu-ah!"

And to add insult to injury, the zombie then brought his foot up to knock it against the girl's hip to whack her down hard to the ground, the drop's impact causing her to drop her other weapon. Scared gasps sounded from her friends, while Inuyasha felt his own blood turn to ice from the sight of his lover's spilling from the wound on her arm.

"Coraline!"

She tries to lift herself up with her good arm, but froze when the clawed blades of Suikotsu's right weapon glove come to point dangerously at her throat.

"G-Gh!"

Daring to glance up at the zombie, he looks down at her with a deadly grin.

" _It's all over._ "

He raises his other claws at the ready, and just as Inuyasha prepares himself to lunge in and try to rescue his girl,

"Cora-"

"Stop!"

Chiyo's voice finally dislodges from his own throat to try and talk some sense into the Shichinintai mercenary, he and Yuuta knowing that the doctor they've come to know was in him...somewhere.

"Doctor, what's wrong with you?!"

"Please go back to the way you once were!"

Coraline glances over at the children with pity at their lack of understanding the more troublesome details in this situation...But then her attention darts back on the zombie who had her at blade point, whose body was now shaking as he clutched his head with an agonized expression!

"Graaah! Grh! Go, away! Go...away!"

 _What on earth...? Is that other personality of his fighting for control again?_

"...Coraline!"

"Hm?"

She turns to the sight of Inuyasha rushing over to her proximity:

"Inuyasha...!"

He kneels down and carefully gathers the girl into his arms while leaning her lower back against one of his legs so she was sitting up.

"Are you alright? Lemme see your arm."

She winces from the nerve pain as the dog demon lightly grips her left appendage to examine, growling at the sight of three slash cuts bleeding in thin trickles from the broken skin.

"How, dare, he...!"

"It's partly on me for not dodging fast enough. Mph, it's, not that bad..."

"Not that bad?! Those same claws were at your throat ready to lop your head off! Coraline..."

Inuyasha pulls the girl into a tight hug and whispers fiercely,

"You shouldn't have jumped in like you did just for my sake..."

"I know...but, seeing your blood being spilled, thanks to that beast of man...I-I couldn't just stand there."

Coraline wasn't able to say anything else, and just buries her face into his shoulder while releasing a few tears from her eyes, her emotionless mask coming off for a moment to help relieve some stress. Smelling the thick salt water, the dog demon sighs a little and pecks a quick kiss to the side of her head while combing his fingers through her hair to soothe his intended mate's fears...

Meanwhile, Renkotsu watches his struggling fellow brother with a frown:

"Well this is inconvenient: Suikotsu hasn't completely awakened yet."

He then sneers a little and says,

"Well then...do your thing, Ginkotsu."

"Geeesh..."

The cyborg zombie starts up his engine, before moving forward towards the area where Kikyō laid unconscious! Lumos tries to wake her up with a series of panicked moans, but to no avail, while Inuyasha and Coraline dart their heads to the priestess's direction.

"Kikyō!" "No!"

Rushing to a stand, both parties ready to run to the specter woman's aid, but were stopped by the swipe of Suikotsu's claw.

"Gh!" "Auh!"

The dog demon pushes the human girl behind him protectively, as the undead mercenary struggles to hiss out,

"Keep your eyes on your opponent."

The couple glares at him with anger and annoyance, before switching tactics so they were fighting against Suikotsu together, with Inuyasha doing most of the heavy combat using his claws, while Coraline provided back-up with her new telekinetic ability, directing her combat knife to drive through the air to and fro like a heat seeking missile...

But even with 'double the trouble', the zombie was able to out up a substantial defense, using his own claws to block the dog demon's while also being mindful of the incoming short blade, dipping his head downward and sideways when appropriate.

"...Where do you think you're going?!"

He then stops the redheaded from trying to slip away from the area to help Kikyō, swiping one of his bladed weapons dangerously close to her already injured left arm, causing her to let out a startled cry before scrambling backwards in a spinning sidestep back to where her boyfriend was, who immediately tugged her close by the waist while growling at the one who tried to hurt her...

"Ha! If either of you want her life to be spared, you'll have to defeat me first!"

Looking forward, we see that Ginkotsu was picking up speed, getting all the more closer to where the unconscious and vulnerable priestess laid...

Inuyasha makes a fist and mentally curses,

 _Damn. If only I had the Tessaiga..._

Coraline was having similar thoughts:

 _Ugh, it just had to be my left arm to take that hit. Now there's no way I can try a close-quarter strike..._

 _If only Suikotsu wasn't so fast, then I'd stand a better chance with using my new move with my knife._

 _...Hm?_

That's when she notices two pairs of familiar forms sprinting towards where Kikyō was, making her gasp quietly.

 _Guys?_

A Few Minutes Earlier, Freeman's POV

 _Oh man, this just went from bad to really bad in zero to sixty...!_

With Inuyasha and Cora preoccupied by Suikotsu, poor Kikyō was left like a sitting duck right in the path of the coming tank that was Ginkotsu!

"It doesn't look like either of them can get to her!"

I exclaim determinedly after Shippo,

"Then we'll have to do the rescuing this time! Besa?"

He nods to me with a serious expression:

"Right. I'm sure I can bolt over there fast enough if you use your hammer to distract them."

"We'll help too."

We turn to Miroku and Sango in mild surprise:

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Hm...okay, here's the plan: Sango, you head with Besa to act as another line of cover with Hiraikotsu, while Miroku, you come with me. Shippo, stay back here with Kilala incase we need a Plan C."

Everybody nods in agreement, before we all head in our own directions, Miroku and I running down the right way while Besa and Sango started a big circle to the left.

 _We might just be able to pull this off..._

"No so fast!"

(Fwooooom)

"Gah!"

I yanked Miroku down to duck away from the incoming shot of fire, courtesy of that asshat, Renkotsu.

"You haven't got the time to rescue her right now. You have to fight with me instead."

Raising my hammer at ready, I growl back,

"Tch, says you!"

 _Thank god we have another team bolting for_ _Kikyō..._

Besa's POV

Sango and I had gotten halfway across the expanse of barren ground that was once a thriving village, when I heard my brother yelp in alarm and turned to see he and Miroku being slowed by that bastard Renkotsu.

 _Grh, figures the other Shichinintai wouldn't make it easy..._

"Should we stop and try to help?"

I sideglance to my friend running with me and call back,

"No, I'm sure Miroku and Freeman will have eachother's backs. It's better we focus on getting over to Kikyō before Jakotsu gets any bright ideas!"

"Alright!...Uh! Too late for that; look out!"

Sliding out of the way, I let Sango charge before me to release her weapon in a strong thrust.

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...Cla-cla-cla-cla-cla-TOK)

And just like last time, her boomerang would entangle with the many blades that made up the zombie swordsman's, well, sword, before both go tumbling into the ground! I see Jakotsu make an offended expression mixed with anger, while Sango turns to me and shouts,

"Go, run, Besa!"

"Right!"

I willed the muscles in my legs to go faster and faster, eyes fixated on Kikyō's form. _  
_

 _ _...Almost...there...!__ _Hang on,_ _ _Kikyō!__

...It would be just a few seconds before Ginkotsu's wheels and metal spider legs came trampling in, that I let out a yell and jumped forward to scoop the woman into my arms, somersaulting us out of the zombie's way!

"Hah...hah...hah...hah..."

As I settled into a kneeling crouch, I could feel my heart racing a mile a minute, my dark green irises outlined by deep coco brown wide as wide could get, while my body shook from head to toe from the major gamble I took with Life and Death.

 _H-Holy...crap...!_

I snapped out of it to the sound of a few distant cheers, and darted my head over to the distance to see Sango giving me a wide smile and thumbs-up while running with her weapon back over her shoulder after retrieving it from where it landed.

"You did it!"

Then at Shippo who was dancing and hopping atop Kilala with relief and glee.

"Yay, Besa!"

And then at Miroku and Freeman who were currently being protected with a shield projected by the latter's Seven Light crystal from Renkotsu's flames, their smiles gritting a little from the pressure of the fire but nonetheless positive.

"Wayda go, bro!" "Well done, my friend!"

 _Guys..._

Forming a small smile of my own, I let out a deep, silent breath to let go some of the stress wracking my nerves, before looking down at the woman currently in my arms with a friendly gaze, while also sending a quiet greeting to the Will O' Wisp who came zooming over in all his excitement.

"Heh, hey, Lumos. I'm alright...and so is she."

 _No need to worry, Kikyō...You've got more friends than you realize._

Inuyasha's POV

 _Oh thank Kami, Besa got to her in time...Kikyō's safe._

I heard my intended let out a quiet but big sigh of relief, and turn to see her with a smile reflecting said emotion, myself forming one as well.

 _Right...Now that she and my brave friend are out of danger, my lover and I can concentrate on this freak!_

As if she could read my thoughts, Coraline's face twists into a serious expression to match mine, and we nod, before charging back at Suikotsu with renewed fighting spirits, I throwing a sharp punch right at Suikotsu's torso, followed by my girl thrusting a strong spin kick in his hip seconds after.

"Hiiiya!"

(KICK)

"Uuu-hah!"

The bastard goes down with a hard slide in the dirt, and Coraline turns to me to say,

"Now would probably be a good time to get back Tessaiga. I'll keep his eyes on me in the meantime."

I was reluctant to follow her urge, considering her injured arm, but reminded myself that she was strong and I was fast, so I nodded with a grunt before turning to rush over to where my sword was.

 _Time to take these mercenary freaks down!_

No POV

We cut back to Freeman and Miroku, as the former finally cancels out his shield once Renkotsu stops spewing fire against the two, a smug smile on his face.

"Ha! How'd you like that, sucker? Everybody's got everyone else's backs; your efforts to hurt us are for squat!"

The zombie lets out his own sneered scoff before retorting to the dark-skinned teen,

"Actually, we never were after the girl."

"Say what now?...Gh, oh crap! You don't mean-"

"That's right: If we kill the children, there will be nothing left to distract Suikotsu. Then he'll be able to suppress that troublesome doctor."

...In accordance to the despicable scheme, Jakotsu had already snuck behind the huddling Chiyo and Yuuta, sword in hand.

"Hoh boy, why do I always get stuck with the dirty work?"

The young ones sense his presence, and turn around to gasp at the sight of the lethal feminine male...

"Don't worry. It'll all be over quick."

Chiyo and Yuuta let out matching shrieks, which catches the attention of the mentally-struggling Suikotsu.

"Stop!"

He clutches his head tight once again, temporarily forgetting about the woman in front of him.

"Stop! Pl-ease, stop...! I beg, you...! Rgh!"

Coraline notices that his facial tattoos were beginning to fade, and lowers her short blade slightly while thinking,

 _I can sense his Light piercing holes in his Darkness. It's trying to suppress...but it's also damaging his spirit._

 _The two personalities are just too polar-opposite to coincide with one another...so they wanna kill the other off._

Jakotsu pauses with his sword in midair while grumbling in frustration,

"Grh! Suikotsu, come on...!"

Renkotsu wasn't far behind the other zombie with his own thoughts:

 _Something is preventing Suikotsu from fully taking over. If we kill the children, it may push him over the edge and we may lose him._

He then looks to the distant holy mountaintop, wondering,

 _Could it be the barrier of Mount Hakurei?_

By this time, Inuyasha had reached his dormant blade, and picks it up while awakening its power once again, before turning to glare fiercely ahead at the forms of the Shichinintai.

"That's it: You guys are goin' down!"

He starts his run back, while Renkotsu calls back,

"I hate to disappoint you, but it seems that we can't remain in this place any longer."

Swigging down another gulp of that substance from the gourd, the zombie then shoots some flames at Freeman and Miroku to distract them long enough for him to hop back aboard Ginkotsu.

"This is it for today! Come Suikotsu, let's go!"

"Gr-gh, but why...?!"

Jakotsu hurries to help the other on their feet with one arm over his shoulder.

"Come on, let's go, Suikotsu."

They make a break for the cyborg tank as well, with Inuyasha hot on their tail, joined quickly by Coraline.

"You bastards! You ain't gettin' away!"

"Stop right there!'

The dog demon then tries to release a Wind Scar at the zombies, but Ginkotsu counters by trying to blast him with their cannon, forcing him to quickly grab the girl with him and leap away in a dodge.

(Boom...)

They land on the ground safely, and Inuyasha asks Coraline,

"You good?"

"Yeah..."

"...Inuyasha!"

The couple darts their heads forward to see Ginkotsu moving far away through the dissipating smoke, and Jakotsu waving with a cheery, smug smile.

"Bye-bye for now~!"

Suikotsu, meanwhile, was crouching while holding his head with a grinding frown.

"Damn it...How irritating..."

Inuyasha began to shake with fury at the sight of the shrinking forms of his enemies, while Coraline sheathed her combat knife with an indifferent frown, her eyes blazing with an anger she fought to not let blow up.

 _...They got away..._

"Lady Kikyō!"

"Hm?"

Attention is then turned to the distant left, as Chiyo and Yuuta kneel with Besa around the specter priestess's form with worried expressions.

"Please...wake up, Lady Kikyō!"

"Kikyō? Can you hear us?"

Unfortunately, their calls fell on deaf ears, the woman showing no signs of stirring back to consciousness...Inuyasha and Coraline approach their proximity next, kneeling in front of Kikyō with their own deflated expressions.

"...Kikyō..."

The woman with blue irises reaches her bad arm out to brush the other's black bangs away, prompting Besa to wince when he sees the slash mark, the blood drying around the open wound.

"Cora, your arm..."

"I know, and, I'll be fine, Besa. It did less damage than it may look...Kikyō..."

 _She must've lost a good number of the Souls from her body..._

 _...But then, where are the shinidamachū?_

She would get her answer courtesy of her creature partner, Lumos, who began letting out moans of urgency.

"Hm? What is it?"

The Will O' Wisp spirals upward as his way of pointing, and looking that way, we see several of those soul-collecting demons trying to enter the area, only to be prevented so thanks to a transparent barrier of sorts that purified them upon impact.

"Uh! The shinidamachū..."

"They're disappearing?"

Besa corrects Inuyasha by stating,

"No...they're being destroyed..."

Miroku, who was now standing with Freeman joined by Sango, Shippo and Kilala near the others, mutters,

"What does this mean?"

Coraline watches as the remaining shinidamachū switch to just hovering near where the rest had disintegrated, wondering,

 _Why can't they come any closer?_

 _"Tis because of the holy energies of this place, I'm afraid."_

 _Uh! Rosiagnes...Wait, holy energies...as in Mount Hakurei?_

 _"Correct, chile. Given the deeper nature of the creatures up yonder, they be not lasting long enough to enter somewhere with such a...pure air."_

 _...I heard the distaste and wariness near the end. This pureness you speak of...it's not natural, is it?_

 _"No, it is not...The priestess can shed more light on the subject, if ye hurry her away from here where her allies cannot reach."_

 _Right..._

With that...Coraline reaches down to hoist her arms under Kikyō's frame, standing up so she was carrying the other woman bridal style. Everyone looked at her in surprise for her act, and she says with resolute,

"We need to take her away from this area, where the shinidamachū can reach her...otherwise the strength of her Soul's ties to this realm will continue to wane."

"Coraline..."

She turns to shoot a tired smile at Inuyasha, before casting it over the alabaster face of the woman in her arms, her eyes reflecting a sisterly concern and love.

 _As long as your Soul still clings to this world, I won't let you be deprived of your last wish._

 _...That is my promise to you, Soul Sister._

Small Time Skip

The dark of the night comes to bathe over the lands near the holy Mount Hakurei, and we zoom in on an area outside the damaged village up a tall knoll under an oak, as Coraline sat with her back against the bark while allowing Kikyō's head to lay on her lap, and Inuyasha knelt by his woman's side, both waiting with bated attention for the priestess to awaken again. Everyone else stood to the side near them, watching as the eel-like demons deposited several Souls of the Dead into the waiting body...

...After a pregnant pause, Kikyō's brown irises flutter open, making Coraline smile a bit.

"...Hey."

"...Coraline...Where am I?"

Inuyasha would softly answer that question:

"Away from the village."

"(Glance) Inuyasha...I see..."

The priestess caught between life and death turns her head to look down at the distant, disheveled structures that were once simple, happy homes.

"So then, I take it that my Soul Collectors were unable to enter the village?"

Coraline nods her head in confirmation:

"Afraid so. They were, purified upon impact, and the Souls they carried floated to the heavens."

"Hm...What happened, to them?"

"The Shichinintai?"

"Yes. Those accursed men who possess those defiled Shikon-no-Tama shards."

Forcing back the urge to growl, Inuyasha gruffly replies,

"They retreated, and they took Suikotsu with them."

"I see..."

Kikyō then moves to sit herself upward with a slight wobble, making Coraline reach her arms out to help the other keep steady.

"Careful. You just woke up."

"I am alrig-Uh...Coraline. Your, arm is..."

Her eyes had fixated on the now bandaged left appendage free for all to see thanks to the short sleeves of the redhead's t-shirt. Said subject of attention looks at where the woman with long black hair was staring, before forming a grim smile and muttering,

"I'm alright. Just, got swiped by Suikotsu's claws trying to protect Inuyasha earlier...It wasn't too deep; just struck a good artery to allow alot of blood flow."

The priestess could sense more between what the swordswoman was saying aloud, but only brushes her fingers against the white gauze with a firmed expression, her brown irises reflecting her cooling worry...

"Kikyō?"

"...You must have seen it too, correct? The Shikon-no-Tama shard in Suikotsu's neck."

Though a bit confused on the slight shove in topic, Coraline nonetheless replies in kind,

"I did...The light within the shard became overshadowed by his darker mentality."

"And then he went away, didn't he? (Narrows eyes) It's this place...It's because of this land."

The young woman with blue irises nods in comprehension, remembering what her ancestor said not too long ago, leaving Inuyasha to stare between them and wonder,

 _Kikyō...Coraline...what are you both trying to say?_

"This land is wicked. It does not allow anyone with a demonic aura to approach...It is because Mount Hakurei, is purifying the air of the areas that surround it."

"Mount Hakurei?"

Miroku felt something click upon hearing the name:

"I've heard of it before. It is a sacred mountain which absolves and cleanses criminals."

Kikyō nods to the monk:

"That's right. The man known as Doctor Suikotsu was able to live here, because deep down inside, he had a pure, untainted heart."

Freeman then says with a look of realization,

"So when his other identity pounced up, he was considered by the mountain as bad as an evil demon and was forced to hightail it outta here."

Inuyasha summarizes,

"So then the reason they all stopped fighting, was because they were too close to Mount Hakurei?"

The undead priestess muses her own cryptic thoughts aloud:

"Pure has become Impure. Impure has become Pure. Good is Evil. Evil is Good. To Live, is to Die. To Die, is to Live...Yes, Mount Hakurei is indeed too pure."

...Coraline responds quietly with a dark smile,

"Well, even those with the best of intentions can sometimes go too far...At that, the concept of Good, becomes something worse than Evil..."

Kikyō looks at her with a flash of astonishment at the characterization.

"Coraline..."

The redhead just smiles more gently with a head shake...Meanwhile, Miroku was thinking more intently about the supposed holy mountain.

"Hmm...Mount Hakurei, huh?" Sango asks him,

"So, what should we do, Miroku?"

"Let's go check it out. I'm curious..."

Inuyasha then asks the priestess,

"Kikyō, what about you?"

...There's a pause, before she and the other woman sitting with her notice Chiyo and Yuuta standing off in the distance with two more of the orphan children, looking at the former with desperation shining in their eyes.

"Lady Kikyō..."

Forming a sympathetic expression, Kikyō then replies,

"I choose to stay here. I want to stay close to those children for a while...Besides..."

Coraline gently urges,

"Besides...?"

"Even if I wish to, I cannot go."

"Kikyō..."

"Coraline...You saw them. You saw that my Soul Collectors were being repelled by the Aura of this land...It took everything I had, just to stand at the base of the mountain."

Holding out the back of one of her hands to gaze at the skin, the priestess adds almost solemnly,

"Not only that...but, I could feel the friction of the barrier. And, it made me feel as if I was about to be set to flames. My very skin was, threatening to blister."

"Uh! But, how can that...unless...No. Your new flesh...it, has...!"

Kikyō meets Coraline's eyes with a grim smile of her own:

"I am afraid so...An extremely faint trace of that, strange demon's aura, may have been left behind in my skin."

"Oh, Kikyō..."

"It is not your fault. I, had only begun to suspect this a few days ago myself..."

Nonetheless, the redhead felt ready to pull the other into a hug, thinking to herself a bit sadly,

 _Curse that crazy triangle...and these prejudice lands._

 _Now Kikyō can't get within a foot of Hakurei..._

 _And if this is where the path of the Shichinintai took us...then maybe...maybe this area has a clue to where, he is._

"...I should at least do you this kindness."

"Hm?"

Next thing the priestess knew, she felt her long black tresses being undone from its white ribbon, making her eyes widen a little at the redhead, who held a soft smile on her face as she held up the thin material.

"...Coraline...?"

"I can't fully predict what may happen this next while...but you will make it up Mount Hakurei someway or another."

The girl with blue irises then pulls out her combat knife, and wraps the white ribbon around the handle before tying it off with a tight knot.

"This ribbon will make sure of that. I'll even make it my sole duty to drive it into the heart of the beast responsible for all this turmoil...so that the final blow, will be yours as well."

"Uh...Coraline, I..."

Coraline merely smiles determinedly, before sheathing the weapon away and reaching over to one of the pockets of her satchel to pull out something.

"Of course, I can't just take that without offering a replacement of sorts...Here."

Taking one of the undead priestess's hands, she places the object into their hand, revealed to be a white hair elastic with small, clear, spherical plastic jewels hanging off on tiny, sparkly strings.

"This is one of my own world's version of a hair tie, called a hair elastic. The jeweled parts you see are fake, made from a material called plastic, but they do shine as brilliantly as any other real mineral...It's, heh, a little girly, but, I figured this might be stronger than the ribbons you use."

...Kikyō could only stare at the foreign accessory with a slight gape of awe, touched by the other young woman's generosity...She then forms a small smile of her own, before reaching behind to her long black locks to tie them back in the same manner she would with her ribbon.

"...Thank you. This, certainly does feel like it will last."

"Mhm..."

Everyone else had watched the exchange between the women with their own soft expressions of amazement, before settling into smiles at the redhead's gesture...

Time Skip, Coraline's POV

It's now a new day approaching close to high noon, and we've all since left the area near the village that sat at the foot of Mount Hakurei...and, Kikyō. It hurt my heart a little that she wasn't able to continue further with us because of that barrier the mountain was emitting, but I knew deep inside somehow, everything will work out in all of our favours.

I'm now riding aboard Inuyasha's back, while Shippo rode on Miroku's running form, Kilala flew on between us with Sango and my brothers on her back, and of course, Lumos zoomed on ahead all of us. My eyes may have been taking in the flat green that stretched before me, but my mind was drifting back to earlier before we left...and my last word exchange with the priestess.

 _(Flash)_

 _"Well...I, guess we'll see you when we see you, Kikyō."_

 _"Yes..."_

 _She and I exchanged another hug, and she whispered into my ear,_

 _"...Be careful and continue to train hard with your ancestor."_

 _I froze a bit, before asking quietly in astonishment,_

 _"...You know?"_

 _"Heh, yes...It would seem that our connection of Soul, has opened us to one another in more ways we would not see coming."_

 _"I...I see."_

 _"I can also, sense your current predicament...So I can only ask of you this."_

 _We part, and Kikyō places her hands on my shoulders while looking at me just like an older sister would, wise and protective._

 _"...Do not lose yourself."_

 _(Flash)_

 _...I'll do my best, Soul Sister, for I know you know how it feels, to fight against the weight of your darkness._

"...Say, Coraline?"

I jolted slightly out of my thoughts to the sound of my boyfriend's voice, and look down to him to ask,

"Yes?"

"When we stop in the next bit...can we talk?"

"Uhm...sure."

 _I think I know where this is leading..._

After about another hour or so, we all stopped in a meadow that slopped somewhat, with patches of tall grass and some wild white flowers similar to daises peeking out from the green. Everyone else was sitting together a small distance away with their backs to Inuyasha and I out of respect to privacy (well, the illusion of privacy, at least), we sitting so close our hips were just a few inches from touching...

...There's a small period of silence, before he finally asks,

"So what's been going on with you lately?"

"You're, referring to my behaviour on the battlefield yesterday?"

"Not just that: This sudden jump you've made in intensive training. Even I would've taken a day at the least to rest...but you. You just shoved yourself back onto your feet like what happened at, that temple, didn't happen at all..."

He turns to meet my blue irises with his amber:

"But I know that can't be possible, especially after what everyone else had told me they remembered seeing before they passed out from that poison."

"Uh...Mm. (Looks down) Yes..."

"But I wanna hear from the source...What happened to you, Coraline?"

Taking in a deep breath and a weighted heart, I began the awaited explanation.

"Mukotsu...His manner. It, triggered alot of, unpleasant memories of feeling helpless. Gatenmaru, my, experience in India, and a few other events that came and went so fast I couldn't discern them...My Soul. It became overloaded by the emotions of Fear and Rage that were rising in me, and...I had a psychotic break. My vision was swallowed by my Aura Sight, and all I could think was 'Kill Him'."

"Coraline..."

I wrapped my arms around my knees to steady myself, my eyes dilating with shame.

"My knife just kept, plummeting into his torso over and over until he tried to crawl away...but I just followed after him, before destroying him with my sword. After that, I was barely cooling down when your brother arrived. I recognized his voice and Aura, and, he only make a smart comment before you and Shippo showed up, Freeman and Lumos following shortly after...When Freeman mentioned what happened between he and Jakotsu, I could feel my fury spiking anew, wanting to track down that zombie to kill them as well, which sapped the last of my body's strength, before I collapsed...When I was unconscious, I met face-to-face with my ancestor, who explained what happened to me."

"Your ancestor?"

I smiled slightly at the surprise in Inuyasha's voice and the thought of the spirit imprinted within my Soul.

"Yes. Her name is Rosiagnes, and, she was the last wielder of ShatterSoul, the woman from that image Sonya showed us...She told me about the truth behind the Souls of Aura Readers: As strong as we are spiritually, that same power...it's, not really made well for the human body. Our Souls are actually almost too powerful to handle, which throw our very lives and sanity at stake...I know I've told you about how most of my family tree has been killed off thanks to Trinity...but some...some died because they were destroyed from the inside out by their very Souls."

"Uh...!"

"In that event, my ancestors began to develop coping techniques to help catalyze this issue and lessen the risk...What you and others saw yesterday was one of the more common choices, called emotion dislocation. I basically forced back my more raw emotions like Fear and Anger to allow more room in my head for clarity and focus in battle. That's, why I seemed a little more stoic than usual."

...There's a pause between us that lasts a minute or two, before I open my mouth again, this time with a bit of a quiver in my tone.

"I...What happened with Mukotsu...I don't want that to happen again. That's why I've been pushing myself into training with Rosiagnes so soon after recovery. I'm...I'm just, so scared."

My body begins to tremble again, recalling India, then that poison-using zombie and the senses of being I was in at the time.

"Th-There was already one incident in the past, that I fell into such an unforgivable state of mind, a-and for it to occur again now, only worse...It feels like I'm turning into, a-a killer, and I, I-"

I was cut off from my stuttering by a set of strong, clawed hands pulling me by my arms to be swallowed into a tight hug by their source, the man beside me.

"Stop that. Stop saying stupid stuff and making yourself sick with paranoia."

He couldn't fool me, though: His words were merely meant as a distraction for the two of us from our own versions of worry...I just broke down and cried silently into his fire rat robes, finally letting the stressing weight of my new trials loose for the world to see. Inuyasha acted tender to me, running his fingers through my hair and whispering calming words into my ear between the soft kisses he trailed over my head...

Once I stopped crying, I mumble with a shaky smile,

"(Sniff) I think I now fully understand your struggles with your own soul, Inuyasha...for I seemed to be following step with you down that hard path, to maintaining our sense of reason and identity."

I hear him take a sharp breath in...before he pulls me closer until I was sitting comfortably in his lap, muttering back a touch gruffly,

"Yeah..."

"Hah, and a long road it will be: As good as Rosiagnes is a teacher, her telepathic training can only go so far."

"Keh, so I've seen. That new ability with your knife is nice, but using yourself as a practice dummy's not a great idea."

"Ah yes, I could feel you and Miroku staring at me the night before..."

"...I can teach you better."

That offer wasn't something I expected, and I lean back a little so my expression of surprise was on full display for Inuyasha to see.

"Really?...You'd, do that, for me?"

"Of course. It's actually something I've meant to put to action for a while. You've got the skills for sure, but they definitely need some work, the kind that doesn't involve you training like your fighting yourself in front of a mirror. You need serious examples of combat situations."

His mouth upturns a little with one of his fangs peeking out as he adds almost proudly,

"And what better way than to go up against a fellow sword wielder?"

 _Inuyasha..._

I found myself staring in utter awe at him for his offer, before he reaches to brush his knuckles over my cheek, moving a strand of red behind my ear, and says in a vow with a more serious expression,

"Coraline...I won't lose you to anyone or anything, not even the power of your own Soul...I'll do whatever it takes, to keep you with me."

I could feel the Auras of everyone else spike with a mutual feeling to my boyfriend's words, telling me that they would follow his example, making me in turn feel so loved...My mouth forms a small but stronger smile of gratitude, before I leaned back in to rest my head on his shoulder and whispering,

"Thank you."

 _Thank you, everyone, for being the rock that keeps me sane._

At the Same Time, No POV

"So, tell me, Renkotsu: Where are we going?"

We see Ginkotsu traveling along with his three fellow mercenary brothers aboard his form far off from where their enemies are, heading for somewhere that the fire-user has yet to reveal. He doesn't answer Jakotsu's question, of course, but any indignation for the silence would quickly be forgotten when a familiar young form is spotted ahead near a small knoll with a tree planted diagonal at the foot.

"Hey, isn't that little Kohaku?"

Renkotsu finally voices a reply:

"He's come to meet with us...(Grin) Alright then. Let's go meet up with big brother, then the Shichinintai will be at full force again."

...And somewhere even farther from that area, we see a young-looking male with tanned skin, long black hair tied back into a thick braid, wearing a set of clothing consisting of a white hakama and a matching kosode, black gloves held in place by his middle fingers, iron armour decorated with a blue/violet feather pattern, including a shoulder piece on his left shoulder attached with a red cloth strip, a red obi sash around his waist, and wore the footwear of this era's shinobi.

He stood atop a hill facing a distant castle nestled on a mountain cliff side, gazing at it with the flames of vengeance burning in his dark cobalt irises.

"...So, that's it, is it?...I finally found it."

His mouth turns upward into a anticipated grin, the laugh emitting from between his teeth in a manner that would only spell all kinds of bad news for the occupants in the far-off structure...


	122. Chapter 121

Hey all, back again!

So, just to give a heads up now that we're heading into Fall again, my updating might be on the slow side (more so than usual - lol) due to making time for both School (fifth year at university) and Work, so just continue to exercise patience like the wonderful readers I know you are.

That's it; read on and prosper :)

* * *

 **Chapter 121: Enter Bankotsu - Leader of the Shichinintai**

A gentle breeze flutters pass and stirs movement from the red flags set to mark the clan of the castle sitting on the face of a mountain distantly adjacent to a cliff hill, where that same young man dressed in fine warrior wear and his long black hair braided back was now sitting, as he attempted to compose a message to send to the far-off structure.

"Hmm, let's see..."

...But based on the more-than-half-dozen wads of crumpled rice paper, it would seem he was having trouble finding the right words to use.

"Dauh, that's no good!"

He crumples up the one he was currently working on with a frustrated groan, and picks up a new sheet with his calligraphy brush to try again.

"Wait, I've got it: 'Prepare to die...'...Hm...No, no, no! Damn it!"

Another reject is tossed away as the man buries his face into one of his palms in exasperation...

"Bankotsu sir."

"Mm?"

He, now identified as Bankotsu, looks up to see that Kohaku had appeared before him in a respected kneel.

"I have brought you your friends."

...And coming up none too far behind the brainwashed young demon slayer, was Ginkotsu and the other three Shichinintai brothers riding atop him. Jakotsu greets Bankotsu first with a cheery smile:

"Heeey, Bankotsu!"

He waves back just as merrily with a hearty laugh in his voice:

"Hey! Hehahaha!"

Soon enough, the three arriving zombie men were kneeling respectively in front of their leader, while the undead cyborg was settled a little ways behind them. Renkotsu starts the main conversation on a neutral front:

"So big brother: We are all back together at last."

"Not all."

"You see, the thing is..."

The fire-user finishes Jakotsu's attempt to explain the more tragic (to them) piece of news to report.

"Big brother. The truth is Kyokotsu and Mukotsu were-"

"They were killed. Couldn't be helped."

Renkotsu was surprised that Bankotsu knew of the fates of their fellow mercenaries, and had taken the information in more casually than anticipated.

"You knew already?" The latter doesn't elaborate:

"Now, Renkotsu." He then tosses the former the calligraphy brush:

"You're smart, so you can write."

"Sure...but what?"

Bankotsu stands and thinks aloud for a moment:

"Let's see...'The time has come to settle old scores. Our vengeance shall be found, so prepare to die', or something to that affect."

Jakotsu felt his excitement rise, figuring out where his brother's thoughts were leading to.

"Do we get to kill people?"

"Yeah...Remember that castle?"

"Why? Should we?"

A dark smirk spreads onto Bankotsu's face as the jewel shards in his neck glow dimly in accordance to the memories stirring within his mind.

"Yes. The inhabitants of that castle are the deceitful bastards who chopped our heads off."

Flashback

 _Turn back the clock to more than a decade ago, back when the Shichinintai were all together, and roamed the countryside in search of any sort of odd battle job to satisfy their cravings for thrills and bloodshed..._

 _"That last battle was alot of fun, wasn't it?" Suikotsu nods and replies to Jakotsu,_

 _"I love it when they beg for mercy." Ginkotsu agreed with both:_

 _"Geeeesh..."_

 _"Maybe this next job will be just as enjoyable."_

 _Renkotsu comments with his own cruel smile,_

 _"Maybe. What do you think, big brother?"_

 _"Will it be fun?"_

 _Bankotsu replies to both his mercenary brothers,_

 _"Yes, I rather think it will be."_

 _He pauses on the path cutting through the maple forest they all were traveling through, and looks through a gap to a distant destination._

 _"Look there: The castle."_

 _...Eventually, the band would reach the structure and enter the courtyard to meet with a general who wore a leather mask of sorts over his face. Jakotsu mutters to Renkotsu,_

 _"So, who is this guy?"_

 _"He's the general of the samurai of this castle."_

 _"You're kidding. Isn't the lord himself gonna appear?"_

 _His question would go unanswered, as Bankotsu and the general discuss the details regarding the Shichinintai's called-in objective._

 _"My lord wants you to attack a certain village in the Eastern Lands."_

 _"As an advance team?"_

 _"If the Band of Seven is as good as they say, it shouldn't be of no problem."_

 _Bankotsu felt a prideful smirk tug onto his lips:_

 _"If you meet our price."_

 _"My lord has instructed me to pay whatever you demand."_

 _"Hm. Then we accept."  
_

End of Flashback

Bankotsu and Jakotsu were now both standing near one another as their eyes gazed over towards the mountainous castle yonder, the memories of that event which brought the mercenary band to an end the first time fueling their desire for payback in only the cruelest form of irony.

"I'm glad they haven't been wiped out by some other lord over the years."

"Yes, otherwise my 'companion' might not still be there..."

Jakotsu quickly deciphers the meaning behind his fellow zombie's words.

"You mean they still have it?"

"Yeah, (dark smile) and now, _I'll show 'em how it's used..._ "

Renkotsu then approaches after finishing his letter composition:

"Big brother. Will this do?"

He hands the young man with cobalt blue irises the parchment so he could get a once over.

"Let's see..."

...Once he was done skimming through the letter, Bankotsu calls to the odd one out in this little circle.

"Kohaku!"

The young demon slayer darts his head up with surprise etched onto his face from the address, before the zombie adds,

"Take this letter to the castle for me. Give it to the lord himself."

"Why me?"

"You are a ninja, right?"

"No, sir, I am not a ninja."

"Well then, what are you?"

...Kohaku had no answer to give to that question, and reluctantly agrees to delivering the message for the Shichinintai leader, rushing down the hill in the direction of the castle. Jakotsu waves him farewell:

"You take care now, Kohaku!"

...A white cabbage butterfly then comes fluttering over the one zombie who was made of organic and inorganic material, and he watches it with a strange interest...before Bankotsu suddenly leaps up to catch the insect to present to Ginkotsu.

"Here you go."

"Uhhh..."

"You wanted to eat it, didn't you?"

Ginkotsu grunts in an offended fashion matched with the glare he sends at Bankotsu, who quickly realizes the other's intent was for once, not deadly.

"Oh, sorry, my mistake."

The younger male releases the butterfly, and the mercenaries watch it leave for the skies in silence...which Renkotsu would break a moment afterward.

"...Big brother."

"Hm?"

"Shouldn't we be getting ready?"

"Why do you think I sent that boy? Because I want to take my time and let them squirm with fear."

Bankotsu's smirk twists into a menacing sneer:

"I'll let them look after my 'companion' for just a little longer..."

Coraline's POV

It's been about a day since Inuyasha and I spoke about what had happened to me in terms of my sanity being thrashed around and beaten some by my Soul, and it feels like we've reached a new level of closeness in our relationship...as well as a deeper, shared understanding of the challenge in combating the parts of our being that threaten to shift our perspectives and morals towards something incomprehensible.

I also received quite a few questions from he and everyone else of our group about my ancestor, Rosiagnes, which I answered to the best of my capability, since even I still had much to learn from the woman who passed centuries before. Her story, her wisdom, her heart: All of it remains a mystery to me at this present, and I highly doubt I will be able to learn everything...at least not until I join her past the stars.

 _Which won't be for a very long time coming...That's one belief I'll strive to keep from being touched by feelings like Doubt and Dread._

Anyway, let's focus on current time, shall we? Today, I chose to wear a simple v-neck white t-shirt with a pair of acid-washed jeans that held a patched rip on the left knee, my black combat boots, and my red hair - which had grown quite a bit in these last couple months even with the rare self-trimming, to the point where it was past the halfway mark of my back - was left loose and free, dampened ever so slightly courtesy of the foggy air I and everyone else stood in now.

...We had finally reached the foot of Mount Hakurei.

"It's exactly as Lady Kikyō said it was."

Nodding a bit in agreement with Miroku, I watch as a flock of birds takes flight for a higher part of the tall peaks, thinking to myself,

 _The atmosphere certainly reins of serenity and peace..._

 _Yet, it feels, a bit suffocating...too calm._

I was interrupted from my suspicions by the sound of Kilala growling, and turn to see her bristle her fur in an agitated fashion. Sango, she clad ready in her demon slayer gear, asks her companion,

"What's the matter, Kilala?"

The twin-tailed cat demon then transforms back into her dormant form with a mew that sounded stressed, before she faints! Besa, dressed today in a dark blue long-sleeve shirt made from lightweight material, brown cargo shorts that had his holstered demon bone sickles strapped in by the belt loops, and full-black converse sneakers, bends down to pick up Kilala into his arms and mutters with a worried frown,

"It looks like she's nauseated...Maybe it has to do with the air of this place?"

Freeman, he wearing a dark green t-shirt with a bit of worn ripping at the bottom, black jeans and his monochrome hightop sneakers, comments as he looks over a newly dizzy Shippo sprawled on his shoulder,

"She's not the only one: The little dude's starting to look green too...It's gotta be 'cause of this mountain's barrier, right, Miroku?"

He nods to my brother and replies,

"They've been exposed to the Aura of the mountain. Lady Kikyō told us that it affects full demons like Shippo and Kilala."

His blue eyes then shift to Inuyasha's form, adding,

"No doubt Inuyasha is feeling it too..."

Turning to stare at the form of my boyfriend, he tries to walk closer to the mountain structure...only to be forced to a stop by a static of energy.

"Rgh!"

I fast-walked over to him and place a hand of concern on his arm:

"You alright?"

He nods to me and mutters,

"There's some kind of barrier here." Miroku comments,

"Yes, and it is probably intended to protect this sacred place. I believe the barrier is powerful enough to instantly purify any evil, demon or otherwise."

Looking over the two demons and one half-demon with us, I add mentally,

 _And while neither Shippo, Kilala nor Inuyasha have darkness dominating their beings...it seems Mount Hakurei is rather paranoid about allowing them entry, without some sort of friction, at least._

Placing a hand over my chest, which had tightened a little since I moved to the area Inuyasha was standing at, I realize with a grim note,

 _The same can even be said for someone like me...This mountain...it knows I'm no saint._

I wasn't the only human experiencing a minor problem standing in the overwhelmingly pure atmosphere.

"Strange that I should feel it too, a monk untouched by any trace of evil."

Sango and Besa look to one another in confusion from Miroku's remark:

"But, we're fine, aren't we?"

"Yeah, I don't feel anything...Freeman?"

Smiling between a sheepish and grimaced expression, my brother with freely short coarse black hair places one of his hands over the same area I had done myself and replies,

"Um, actually, I've been feeling a weird pressure in my chest since we arrived here. Nothing bad or anythin'; it's the same weight like when Shippo sleeps on me...And, I might have an idea why."

"What?"

"Well, this place is real antsy about demons, right? And...I'm, technically mated to a demon, so..."

I clue into where Freeman was going in his thoughts:

"You believe Mount Hakurei can sense your bond with Ginta and is against you for it?"

"Possibly. It's just a theory..."

He smiles over at Miroku in a wry fashion and adds sneakily,

"Miroku's problem is a bit more obvious, though, and I don't think I need to say it aloud for us, now do I?"

Said monk sweatdrops at my brother, before he (Freeman) and Besa nod to one another with the 'mmm-hmm' expression, and move to forcibly guide the monk towards the mountain to test his words, much to the latter's dismay.

"Uh, w-wait, what're you doing?! Please, don't do this, please!"

 _Oh geez..._

I shake my head with an amused sigh at the same time my partner Lumos lets out an exasperated moan. Miroku would of course break free from my twin brother's grips fast enough before they reached the barrier, and scrambles back to catch his breath on Inuyasha's left. Wrapping an arm around my waist, the latter comments with a sarcastic smirk,

"Looks like somebody's not as pure as they thought. Wouldn't you agree?"

I lightly shove my hand on his chest with a smile-glare, he smirking down at me in return, before the monk spills out a new theory for us to ponder.

"Hey wait, I just had an idea: Perhaps Naraku is taking advantage of this barrier and is using it to prevent himself from being detected."

 _Uh!...Is that, possible?_

Inuyasha dismisses the idea, reminding Miroku,

"No way, that's impossible: Naraku is pure evil. He takes one step onto that mountain and he'd be purified immediately."

"You're right. There's no way that Naraku could survive on Mount Hakurei."

As much as I wanted to agree with them...something in my gut was screaming otherwise.

"...I'm not so sure, you guys."

They turn to me with confusion traced with astonishment at my lack of certainty, as I look towards Hakurei with a suspicious and slightly nerved expression.

"It's just that, all the experience I've been through, solo and with all of you at different turns, has taught me that not everything is as it seems...And as an Aura Reader, I can't just automatically believe in the idea of a place that holds no trace of shadow. It's not natural...This air, this mountain, does not feel natural."

 _After all...Peace can never last forever._

"Are you saying you think Miroku's idea might be right?"

Turning to face my boyfriend and the monk, I reply neutrally,

"We have to consider every possible scenario, Inuyasha. You know better than all of us that Naraku has the capacity for almost every dirty trick in the book, no matter how improbable it may sound on the surface."

He widens his amber irises slightly, before simply looking away to the side, choosing not to retort...  
Miroku then asks me as he sits down on a rock formation protruding from the hard ground,

"So then what do you believe we should do, Coraline?"

Folding my arms and closing my eyes in thought for a moment...I then answer,

"Until Mount Hakurei presents a less hostile opportunity of entry of us, I think the best course of action to take is to continue our chase for the Shichinintai, since currently, they may be the only source of information regarding Naraku's true location."

Everyone else hms, before nodding in agreement with my reasoning, Miroku verbally stating,

"That isn't a bad idea," and Inuyasha proclaiming,

"Once we find them, we'll capture them, and then we'll force 'em to tell us where Naraku is."

...And by no real surprise, it would be the monk and my brother Freeman who began leading the walk away from the barrier.

"Well then, let's leave this place quickly."

The latter was carrying our fox demon and twin-tail cat demon friends and adds,

"If not for our sakes, Shippo and Kilala's for sure."

I smiled slightly at my brother's care and Miroku's camouflaged reason for wanting to get as far back from this place as possible, which Sango and Inuyasha would point out immediately.

"Hmph, lecher isn't fooling anybody...though I do feel a little bad for Freeman."

"Yeah. In comparison, he's way less impure of mind than the monk does."

I just rolled my eyes, before starting the walk after those two men...Eventually, we would all come across another village that was set on the path that connects to Mount Hakurei, and I found myself paying my attention to the subtle signs of nature shifting course for the next season.

 _Hm, some of the trees are already stripped of their leaves...Guess summer must be steadily drawing to a close..._

"Hey! What're you doing?"

"Hm?"

Looking over and out of my thoughts, I see an elder male with balding white hair tied back into a short topknot, wearing a slate green haori with a muted aqua vest pattered with a few black diamonds overtop, a cream white scarf around his neck, a muted dark blue hakama, and simple sandals looking down at us while holding a hoe casually over his shoulder.

"Don't you know that if young folk like you wander about here, the men from the castle will capture you!"

 _What?_

The others were just as perplexed as I was, and seeing that, the elder wanders down towards us to explain a bit further.

"All the able-bodied people have been forcibly taken to the castle, and there's no exception for travelers."

Miroku asks,

"For what reason? Is there a big battle coming up?"

"Dunno...but it seems that a warning letter was sent to the lord of the castle."

Besa asks,

"Warning letter? Of what kind?"

"It said that the castle treasure would be taken." Inuyasha inquires,

"Whadda ya mean by 'castle treasure'?"

"No one really knows for sure...but never mind that. You all better hide out for now somewhere...Huah, oh no!"

Looking where he gasped to, I could see several samurai warriors on horseback, one standing out among the rest atop a black rather than a brown mare. As he rode closer, I could see he wore a strange mask over most of his face.

 _Who is that?_

The elder man's nervous muttering answers my question:

"It's the general from the castle...!"

Stopping in front of us, the apparent general orders in a stern manner,

"You there: Identify yourselves."

Miroku took the initiative to try and pacify any possible animosity:

"Uh, actually, we're just harmless travelers."

But whatever is going on, it was leaving this general - and more than likely the one he follows - suspicious of anybody.

"Don't take me for a fool."

"Hm?"

"I am amazed that demons would dare to wander our borders in broad daylight."

That comment was more directed at Inuyasha rather than Shippo and Kilala, but it nevertheless makes me angry that most people of this era immediately focus on those who look different from they as the ones of fault.

 _Why of all the impudent-!_

My boyfriend wasn't too far off in such thought:

"You gotta problem with me or somethin'?"

(...Thrust, CLANG)

"Guh!"

Next thing we knew, the general tries to strike Inuyasha with his spear...but was stopped by Besa who jumped in the way and used his sickles to lock the blade-pointed pole between his own weapons!

"B-Besa...!"

Shoving the spear back, my brother with the cornrowed hair shouts angrily,

"What on earth was that for?! My friend did nothing to provoke violence from the likes of you!"

Gritting his teeth slightly, the general replies while narrowing his eyes at my brother,

"You're just as impertinent as your so-called friend, foreigner...but there won't be a second chance."

Turning his horse to ride away, he adds,

"Leave this place immediately," before leaving with his men back to where I'm assuming this castle is...

"You alright, bro?"

Turning to see Freeman looking at Besa with a bit of concern, the latter replies in a mutter,

"I'm fine, brother...Just a little irked by that man's manners. I can understand not wanting to trust every stranger you come across, but being hostile to everyone for no good reason at all? That's just tiresome..."

I frown a bit sympathetically at the guys, and Inuyasha looks at them for a moment, before scoffing while looking at the direction the men on horseback left to.

"Kuh, don't let that bastard get to you, Besa. He's too prejudice to realize the folly in his actions...The kind of man I can easily take down."

Shaking my head slightly with an amused smile at my boyfriend's cockiness, it would flip to an expression of alert when the elder then asks,

"Do you know about the Band of Seven?"

 _Uh! The Shichinintai?!_

Everyone else followed in their on tensing, Inuyasha exclaiming,

"The Band of Seven?!"

Miroku then asks,

"Please, good sir: What information can you tell us about the Shichinintai?"

"The Band of Seven were mercenaries who reeked havoc on these lands some years ago."

"Kuh, tell me something I don't know."

I lightly slap Inuyasha's arm with a scolding expression for his sarcasm, while the elder ignored it and continued.

"The warrior we just met was responsible for the execution of the Band of Seven."

That wasn't what we expected:

"What? That guy?" "Really?"

"Whoa..."

The elder mutters with a woeful tone,

"That man is a devil." Miroku wonders,

"What'll we do now? You think we should try and go talk to him?"

"Don't even think about it! If you all go near the castle now, you're all done for."

Freeman argues,

"Hey, we didn't ask for that stiff to get all huffy with us! He started it!"

Placing a calming palm upward, I chide,

"Easy, bro. Now's not a time to get riled up over complex social reactions..."

"But sis..."

"But nothing."

I look towards the direction where the general and his men left, finally spotting a faint wave of a red flag in the distance that likely belonged to the royal clan of these parts, and state,

"Right now...we should concentrate on the probability that our next clash with the Shichinintai, will be happening alot sooner than we'd expect it to."

Small Time Skip, No POV

We zoom in on the other side of the thick forests of oak and beech that made up this region, where rumbling along the dirt path closer to the castle in the mountains, were those mercenary zombies...Bankotsu's eyes would spot it first:

"Look. There it is..."

Suikotsu grinds a scoff as he glared ahead to the distant structure:

"It makes me sick!" Jakotsu wasn't far behind:

"You got that right!"

Of course, the leader of the band's anger would be burning brightest, as he thought back to what brought them back to this place.

"I still remember like it was yesterday..."

Flashback

 _The backdrop for this blast to the past is a large castle up in flames, as the Shichinintai made their assault on the occupants.  
_

 _"Taaaaake, that!"_

 _One thrust from Jakotsu's snake-like sword would take out a good portion of the soldiers, while Mukotsu used his special brand of poison to gas another section to death..._

 _The others weren't too far behind with their own brands of brutality, including Kyokotsu's raw power strikes from his fists, the blasting pow of Ginkotsu's mechanized weapons, the slashing fury of Suikotsu's claws, and of course, Renkotsu's spews of fire that burned his victims to ash..._

 _...Eventually, the valley held the dying scent of smoke in the air, no longer reflecting signs of resistance from the castle._

 _"Hahaha! That was easy."_

 _Jakotsu and Ginkotsu casually agree with Bankotsu:_

 _"It was over much too quickly."_

 _"Geeesh, no kidding."_

 _"These pathetic feudal lords are no match for the Band of Seven."_

 _Renkotsu then asks,_

 _"Tell me, big brother: Don't you think it's about time we find our own castle to become masters and lords of? Think of it. You could even become shogun."_

 _Taking out the leaf he held in his mouth like a toothpick, Bankotsu replies,_

 _"I'd think it'd be too much trouble," causing the group to laugh a little..._

 _"What about you? Don't you wish to become a lord or even shogun?"_

 _Renkotsu replies with a modest smile,_

 _"No no, big brother. You'd be far better suited than I."_

 _"Hey, I'll even help you if you want me to. My only ambition is simply to kill as many people as humanly possible. (Grin) Now that excites me."_

 _Jakotsu wasn't too far behind in his own bliss:_

 _"Yeeeah...What a turn-on." Suikotsu chides,_

 _"Don't worry. There are plenty of victims for each of us, and then some."_

 _The group laughs wholeheartedly at such a vision of cruelty...but pause when they hear the outcry of many men, and look over to see soldiers of a different following charging in to surround the mercenaries from the cover of the forest green. The blackhearted men of course, are unafraid: If anything, they felt humour towards the idea of another group of self-righteous warriors coming to destroy them._

 _"Ha. Haven't they learned their lesson yet?"_

 _"Geeesh, time for more killing."_

 _"Alright, let's get to work."_

 _...But they would quickly discover, that their latest job, would be their last, when the ones who hired them suddenly block them off from the other side of the valley atop the cliff._

 _"Hey! I thought we were suppose to be the advance team!"_

 _The masked general replies to Bankotsu,_

 _"The Band of Seven has become too notorious."_

 _"So you've changed your mind about paying us?"_

 _"You have become too bloodthirsty. Whether you act as friend or foe to them, the Lords of the Land have decided that the Band of Seven has become too strong."_

 _Realizing what action the man was hinting towards, Jakotsu and Suikotsu exclaim urgently,_

 _"Oh no!" "Brother Bankotsu!"_

 _Their leader in turn, replies to the general,_

 _"If that is so, do you really think you can defeat us now?"_

 _"There is nowhere you can run. The Lords of the Region have united to see that you are destroyed."_

 _...The first snowfall of winter begins, and the white ice crystals gently fell from the clouded skies, almost mocking Bankotsu with their tranquility as he saw two more armies of soldiers from different regions move in to surround he and his brothers. Renkotsu rushes to him and asks,_

 _"What now?!"_

 _"Run!"_

 _The Shichinintai did not hesitate to try and retreat from the area, but the general from that castle gestured the command for the companies to unleash a flurry of arrows in the former's direction..._

 _"You are too dangerous to allow to exist, even in this age of wars."_

End of Flashback

Opening his eyes, Bankotsu scoffs at the old lofty claim of the general, muttering while looking up at the castle,

"Before I was killed, I myself had killed 999 men. (Smirk) _It's time to finally even things up._ "

He adds to the rest of his fellows,

"Okay men, this is it: Do not fail!" Jakotsu retorts half-playfully,

"Hey, I never lose in a real battle!"

Jumping down from Ginkotsu to run off ahead, the male with cobalt irises calls back,

"Yeah well, you better not!"

...Moving inside one of the sections of the castle courtyard, we listen in on one of the conversations of two men from that village who were forced to come and act as another line of defense, and were in no way prepared for the approaching danger.

"I wonder when we'll be allowed to return to the village..."

"Yeah, I wanna go home."

"Hey!"

They dart their heads up to meet the stern expression of one of the castle retainers.

"You two get back to your posts immediately!" They reply nervously,

"Uh, y-yes, sir!"

Meanwhile, inside the castle, another retainer was kneeling in respect to the lord himself while speaking about their current numbers in terms of offense and defense.

"My lord, reinforcements will arrive soon. We've conscripted the villagers and now I can assure you, that the castle is completely secure."

The lord replies with a scoff at this sudden jump of paranoia,

"I think you're overreacting."

"But, my lord, listen: Great atrocities thought to be the work of the resurrected Band of Seven, have been reported in several regions. And what of Banryū, our clan's most precious possession?"

They turn to look behind them at a massive halberd sword sitting on display, its blade currently sheathed in a purple cloth cover.

"Hold easy. The halberd Banryū is testament that we destroyed Bankotsu, the leader of the Band of Seven. Would he return, we'd only have to kill him again."

...The confident lord would soon be eating his words, when the zombie of their conversation meets the front gate being guarded by three of the soldiers.

"Huh? Hey, hold it! Who are you?!" He smiles and replies,

"Hey. I'm here to take back 'my companion'."

The soldiers nervously mutter,

"I-It's him!"

"Take him!"

(Boom...)

Their agitation was quieted by a blast from Ginkotsu's cannons, and upon seeing the mass of flesh and metal closing in with the rest of the mercenary band from the thick smog of gunpowder, one castle guard cries out,

"Men, hold your ground! Do not allow them to enter the castle grounds!"

Jakotsu smiles menacingly with a chuckle and readies his sword, while Suikotsu holds up one of his own weapons with a sneer that echoed all kinds of doom for the soldiers, making their hearts quiver like harp strings. The guard tries to quell their worries, even though his own forehead started to bead with a nerved sweat.

"Don't...don't panic...!"

A few men stationed up in the watchtower fire a few arrows to act as a cover fire, but such an attack would do nothing against these undead hearts of coal. Suikotsu leads the counter-charge, hacking his claws away at several soldiers, followed quick by Jakotsu and his sword.

"...Take that!"

(SLASH)

The area rang loud with the screams of the men mixed with some to no battle experience, before Ginkotsu makes his move to fire at the castle.

(Boom...)

The lord and retainer would feel the quake from inside the chamber.

"Guh!"

"M-Milord, they're coming!"

"Just stay calm. They'll never get this far."

...Oh would he quickly be proven wrong, when the door suddenly slid open to reveal Bankotsu!

"Aaah, there you are. Did you get my letter?" The retainer sputters,

"Duh! I-It's you," before the lord asks a bit more calmly,

"But what about my guards?"

"Hm? Oh, your guards? I think they're a little hung up right now."

And by 'hung up', Bankotsu meant that he had the castle guards thrust right into the ceiling...!

"A-Ah! How-?!"

"Okay then..."

The zombie male holds his hand up to crack his knuckles menacingly, before the lord tries to worm his way out of dying by the former's wrath.

"W-Wait! Just listen. (Gestures to Banryū) You've come to regain the great halberd, have you not?"

An excitable smile forms on Bankotsu's face:

"Heeey, it's my Banryū!"

The lord steps aside to allow the other to move forward to reclaim their weapon.

"I-It's yours. Take it."

...He would then become shocked as the zombie picked up the ginormous sword with but a single hand.

"Uh...!"

 _That huge halberd required three strong men to carry it here, yet he can pick it up with one hand...!_

Bankotsu slides the cloth off his sword to examine the blade, liking that the steel was gleaming like new.

"Heeey, look, it's so shiny! You polished it, huh?"

Snapping out of his daze, the lord replies,

"Y-Yes, that's right...Look, I don't care if you're a specter: Will you serve me?"

The retainer was highly taken aback by his master's intent:

"Uh! But, my lord...!"

"Serve as my general, and together we will conquer this land."

Bankotsu looked at the lord with semi-feigned confusion from such a proposition.

"Hey now, come on: Are you sure you read my letter?"

"Your letter?"

"'No bounds'."

"No, bounds?"

"'Our vengeance will know no bounds'...or something like that."

It was the lord's turn to become taken aback by the zombie, who chuckles a little before muttering with a dark smile,

" _One...thousand._ (Thrust) Hrrrrah!"

...Meanwhile, back outside in the castle courtyard, the rest of the Shichinintai were surveying their masterpiece of destruction left behind from their attacks, they being spatters of fire burning around the perimeter, and many bodies of dead soldiers scattered on the ground...

"The fun's over for now, I guess."

Jakotsu mutters in agreement with Renkotsu,

"Yeah," and they all prepare to move along...until they hear the hooves of horses approaching.

"Hm?"

Heading over to the front gate, they spot the masked general and his men returning from down in the valleys where the villages laid. Peering ahead, Jakotsu exclaims with an excited grin,

"Oh-hoh, it just got fun again!"

Holding up a clawed hand, Suikotsu says with a smirk,

"Guess it's time for the next round."

"You two. Step aside."

They turn around to see Bankotsu approaching with his Banryū held at ready.

"Oh-hoh, you got your companion back!"

"Yep, and it's time to test it out."

Zooming in on the soldiers, one points ahead to the shambled structure they were all returning to and mutters in near-disbelief,

"The castle...!"

The eyes of the masked general quickly locked onto one of the forms responsible for the destruction.

"Mrh! Him again!...Halt!"

The company of mares and men stop in front of Bankotsu, who smirks up at the leader both casually and menacingly.

"Hey there. It's been a while."

"Damn you! What did you do with our lord?"

"...One thousand."

"What?"

"Our heads were chopped off, if you'll recall...so I returned the favour."

Fury would boil in the general's blood:

"A curse on you!"

"Are you ready to follow your lord?"

...A white cabbage butterfly comes fluttering by, just as the general cries out,

"Kill him!"

The soldiers charge, and Bankotsu tests the strength of his halberd on the butterfly...which is destroyed into tiny pieces from the sharp currents of wind set upon it!

 _Ha! I feel even better then when I was alive!_

He then leaped into the air just as the general met his space, before spinning the sword with a gruff outcry that spelled the end for the former and his men...

(Pulse...)

It was in that moment that Coraline felt the throb of that familiar jewel as she, Inuyasha and everyone else continued onward across a grass plain in their search for that merciless mercenary band.

"Guh! The Shikon-no-Tama...We're nearing its presence!"

Her dog demon lover adds,

"Not only that, but I smell blood and gunpowder! There's no mistake: The Band of Seven are up ahead!"

The twins, who were running between Inuyasha (he carrying Coraline on his back as Lumos flew near the couple's right) and Kilala (she in full form and carrying everyone else), confirm with their own observations.

"And I can sense their sickly grey Auras of the dead!"

"Me too! Which means we better put the pedal to the metal before that obnoxious general gets himself killed...if he isn't already dead."

...But cutting back to the shambled castle's front gates, we see the mask of the lord's general broken in half like discarded pottery, his body being among his many comrades slain by the dreaded halberd, Banryū...

Their wielder and his band of course, expressed no remorse in what they had done, instead relaxing over some sake and talking about the aftermath in a casual manner.

"Not a single person left alive? Hah, that's rather inconvenient. You weren't really thinking, were you, Jakotsu? (Slurp) You could've at least kept a woman or two alive to pour our drinks."

Said addressed only looks at Bankotsu with an almost bored expression, before shifting the subject some.

"How can I think about things like that, big brother? I've got more important things to worry about, like when am I going to see my beloved Inuyasha again..."

Renkotsu, who was standing atop Ginkotsu, dismisses Jakotsu's lovelorn words by stating,

"You mustn't worry, Jakotsu. Inuyasha has a keen sense of smell."

Bankotsu adds,

"That's true. All we need to do is sit patiently, and Inuyasha will follow the scent of blood right to us."

"You think so? Well, I guess we just wait then."

With Jakotsu's feelings settled, Renkotsu then brings up another matter needing attention.

"Big brother...are you not worried about Naraku?"

"What about him?"

"Why do you think he revived us?" Bankotsu replies simply,

"To help get rid of his enemies, such as the ones named Inuyasha and Kōga. That's why."

"Big brother, you're the only one among us who's actually met Naraku. Do you think you could tell us a little bit more about what he's like?"

The zombie with braided black hair smiles before chiding,

"Listen, Renkotsu: We've been revived so we can reek havoc just like we did in the good ole days. Isn't that good enough for you?"

"Uh, yes..."

But inside, the fire user was thinking a bit nervously,

 _Big brother is determined not to tell me anymore than he already has. Why?_

Sipping down some more sake, Jakotsu muses to himself with longing,

"Inuyasha...I really hope you get here soon..."

As Ginkotsu moves with Renkotsu across the courtyard, we zoom out to the gateway again to see that Suikotsu was standing guard for the mercenary band...

...Just then, a familiar skinny tornado appears from around a corner path towards the dead-littered castle, making the dual-personality warrior's eyes widen slightly on alert.

"Mm! Some kind of whirlwind."

It travels past him and into the courtyard, stopping a few feet away from where Bankotsu and Jakotsu were sitting, before dissipating to reveal noneother than Kōga of the Wolf Demon Tribe!

"I assume you are the Band of Seven."

Jakotsu greets him first with a cheery voice:

"Oh! Hey there, Kōga!"

Bankotsu would then comment mockingly,

"Well well well, so the wolf gets here before the dog, I see."

The wolf demon barks back,

"Quit acting so smug! I know for a fact you're in cahoots with Naraku, so tell me where he is!"

Scratching his head in a feigned ignorance, the zombie with cobalt blue eyes comments,

"Gee, it seems that this Naraku character has made enemies with alot of people..."

That just served to agitate Kōga even more:

"Tell me where he is!"

"It really makes me wonder. (Turns to Jakotsu) Do you think he can be trusted?"

"Why are you asking me? You're the only one who's met him, Bankotsu."

Quickly tired of the stalling, the wolf demon says to the conversing zombies,

"If you refuse to tell me, (lunge) I'll kill you!"

Jakotsu quickly meets the charging demon with his Jakotsutō, forcing the latter to jump high out of the way. The swordsman then says,

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot: We still have a match to finish."

"Nice try! I already know about that snake-like sword of yours, so it ain't gonna work!"

(Ka-pow)

"Huh?!"

(Boom)

Kōga is then nearly taken out by a blast from Ginkotsu's cannon, but manages to barely dodge it thanks to his advanced agility, much to the former's and Renkotsu's dismays.

"Geesh!"

"Damn! He avoided the shot."

As he landed on the ground, the wolf demon's attention would be drawn to Bankotsu, who rises to a stand with his halberd sword at ready.

"Hey, you're a quick one, aren't you? I think it must be because of the Shikon-no-Tama shards in your legs."

"Grr, why you-!"

"That reminds me: Naraku asked me if I would take those for him."

One glance at the lethal gleam shining off of Banryū would cause the wolf demon to tense on alert.

 _This guy...!_

He then springs upward to dodge an offensive swing from the halberd, the blade cutting down a section of the front gate instead of flesh and bone...

Yet we see that the expression on Bankotsu's face was of a smug smirk rather than frustration as he looks up sardonically at Kōga, who thinks to himself all the more on edge while poised on one of the castle roofs,

 _I don't get it. There's something different about this one..._

The former then calls over his shoulder to his brothers,

"Hey, everyone: Don't let 'im get away!"

Ginkotsu heeds the command first, firing multiple shots from his cannon straight at the wolf demon, who leaps and somersaults to avoid getting blasted to smithereens...Suikotsu would then take a try at attacking, emerging from an aftermath cloud of smoke to swing his claws at Kōga, before Jakotsu takes a crack at the offensive with his sword...

But no one seemed fast enough, and all the attacks would fail...that is, until Bankotsu suddenly jumps up while spinning his halberd to catch Kōga off-guard!

"Quit jumping around!"

"Uh!"

"...Move, ya wimpy wolf!"

(CLANG)

Thankfully, the wolf demon would not be meeting death's door today, when Inuyasha arrives to block Banryū with Tessaiga, the impact so mighty that it would shake Bankotsu's grip on his weapon some, surprising him greatly...!

...Both parties land on the ground again, with the dog demon pointing his demon fanged blade towards the zombie, before remarking with a dark smile,

"Well well. _Found you_ ," to which the latter would return with an equally sinister smirk...


	123. Chapter 122

**Chapter 122: Clash! Banryū versus The Wind Scar!**

We return to the newly-ruined castle that now housed the deceased descendants of the clan responsible for the first ending of the Shichinintai, just as Inuyasha arrives on scene in a leap to save Kōga from getting struck down by Bankotsu's halberd sword. Shortly after the dog demon taunts the youthful undead mercenary, all souls on both sides fell into an intense staring contest, neither half of the playing field wanting to reflect a wavering in their strong front...

Well, except for the one member of the Shichinintai who wore his heart on his sleeve.

"Haaauh, Inuyasha!"

Said dog demon would of course shoot Jakotsu's excitement down flat.

"Shut up!"

The zombie who wielded the infamous (in these parts) Banryū would speak up next.

"Soo, you're Inuyasha. My my, aren't you a strong one."

"I suppose you're the last of the Band of Seven?"

"Yeah. I'm the leader, Bankotsu."

Inuyasha points his Tessaiga straight ahead in an accusing manner.

"So, what sorts of cowards would gang up on a pathetic little wolf like that?"

One can easily imagine how said wolf demon would react to the indirect insult.

"Hey, mutt!"

(Bonk)

"Ow!"

"Who are you calling pathetic?!"

Whirling around to Kōga, the dog demon barks back,

"Shut up! I'm not the idiot who almost got the jewel shards cut outta my legs, now am I?!"

"Hey! I was doin' fine 'by myself!"

"For gods sake, can't you two zip it until we're not busy with more important matters?"

The demons turn to see Coraline and everyone else of Inuyasha's group arrive into the courtyard from the front gates, she glancing between the two with a scolding expression...

"You guys are late." Freeman casually retorts to the dog demon,

"Not our fault: You chose to speed ahead."

"Sooo, you've all arrived? 'bout time."

Focus shifts back on Bankotsu, and another intense quiet blankets the atmosphere of the courtyard...before Inuyasha broke it with an aggravated air, his disdain towards the merciless Shichinintai reaching past the limit point.

"You bastards. You've been causin' trouble around here long enough. I'm gonna send each and every one of you back to your graves!"

The zombie with dark cerulean irises felt just as vengeful:

"Same here. I'm going to avenge our fallen brothers Mukotsu and Kyokotsu."

Looking at him, Miroku and Sango each comment,

"It seems that the one holding the huge halberd is the leader of the Shichinintai."

"Yes, though he also looks like the youngest."

Coraline meanwhile scrutinizes the black-braided male in suspicion...before she takes in a sharp breath as her eyes flash over ice blue from her Aura Power.

 _Damn...!_

"What's up, sis?"

She indirectly answers Freeman when she takes a step closer towards the dog demon to warn while her hand inched for her own sword,

"Be on your guard, Inuyasha: He has three Shikon-no-Tama shards in his neck."

"What's that?"

Bankotsu chuckles slightly and says with a smirk,

"They belonged to Kyokotsu and Mukotsu...which you, _woman_ , with that strange power the others told me about, should be well aware."

The redheaded young woman narrows her two-tone blue irises with a suppressed snarl, thinking to herself lowly,

 _Yeah. Those shards have tiny traces of dying Auras unrelated to that zombie, most likely from the truly-deceased Shichinintai members..._

Kōga's voice cuts into her thoughts as he jeers,

"Puh, I kind-a wondered why you were so feisty. So that's what it was."

Shippo pieces together from atop Freeman's shoulder,

"Then that must mean Naraku gave Bankotsu the Shikon-no-Tama Shards!"

...Said zombie shoots an irritated glare towards him, causing the fox demon to duck behind Freeman's upper back.

"M-Maybe..."

The young man with dark skin and short, coarse black hair hovers a hand over the child's head protectively while glaring back at the zombie, while Inuyasha considers Shippo's theory.

"Reviving a bunch of no-good murderers like you? That sounds like Naraku."

Bankotsu replies while stepping forward,

"Yeah...and he told to use the power of the Shikon-no-Tama to kill every last one of you."

He finalizes his motives by pointing Banryū ahead at the dog demon threateningly, which of course doesn't scare the latter. If anything, he would be the most eager in getting the battle started.

"(Charge) I'm gonna tear you apart!"

"You think so? Just, (swing) try it!"

(...CLANG)

The giant dog fang and mass of steel meet in a clash, both men grinding their teeth and putting all their ferocity into their arms to try and throw the other off-balance...Miroku comments with some surprise,

"It's a deadlock!"

Sango mutters Inuyasha's name in concern, while Renkotsu readies to make his move from atop his cyborg-zombie brother.

"Well, don't just sit there, Ginkotsu!"

He pulls a cord and activates the cannon to blast against the rest of the opposing group, with Sango and Miroku rolling out of the way on opposite sides to dodge the explosion, while Kilala took Shippo on her back in the confusion...

...But there was no sign of the rest!

"Coraline!" "Freeman! Besa?!"

Inuyasha's main concern was for the redhead who had hold over his heart, pivoting his head to cry out,

"Coraline?! Coraline!"

"A word of advice, Inuyasha: You should really be looking after yourself!"

Shoving the other sword back, Bankotsu then leaps up to swing his halberd down against Inuyasha, who blocks by using his Tessaiga with his right hand gripping the hilt and his left palm holding up the middle of his blade, struggling to keep Banryū at bay...

...Fortunately, as the smoke cloud dissipates, we see that those who didn't speed out of the line of fire from Ginkotsu's cannons, were alive and safe, courtesy of Freeman and Besa who enacted their energy shield ability from their Seven Light Crystals, protecting themselves, Coraline and Kōga, while Lumos circled above them in an excitable manner. The second of the two twins asks the others,

"You guys okay?" The wolf demon replies,

"Yeah, thanks to you two," and Inuyasha calls out with an appreciative tone,

"Hey, guys: Thanks for protecting Coraline!" They call back with smiles,

"No probs," and Coraline compliments,

"Your shields have really gotten stronger."

"Thanks for noticing...Now then."

Freeman focuses ahead as he and his brother cancel the shield, and readies his long hammer.

"Hope you're all ready for a fight, 'cause here it comes!"

His point is made evident by the approaching forms of Ginkotsu and Renkotsu, who stop just before passing Sango and Miroku and near the rest...Coraline's gaze locks onto the fire-using zombie's form:

 _Renkotsu...He stole my jewel shards, and I can see them hidden in his armour._

Looking down where the young woman was staring, Renkotsu realizes,

 _I understand now: That girl can see the Shikon-no-Tama Shards..._

 _If Bankotsu finds out that I didn't tell him about the jewel shards, they'll be hell to pay._

He quickly figures out what he needs to do:

"Ginkotsu: Aim for that girl!"

"Geeesh..."

Miroku exclaims,

"What? Coraline!"

"Don't worry, Miroku!"

"Hm?"

The young redhead pulls out both of her blades, a determined expression on her face.

"I want them to come for me."

"What?!"

"So I can come for him in turn!"

She then starts sprinting ahead towards the zombies, much to the dismay of her friends and brothers.

"Coraline!" "Cora!"

"Wait, Coraline!" "What the heck are you-!"

Renkotsu sneers at the young woman charging towards him and Ginkotsu and comments,

"What a fool! Hurry and kill her, Ginkotsu!"

"Don't get cocky! Lumos, assist!"

Said Will O' Wisp heeds Coraline's command and zips downward to her side before settling on the upper center of her chest, before billowing out his power to the waiting body.

(Pulse, pulse, pulse...Vwoom)

Next thing our spectators would know, the redhead's body seemingly vanishes in a flash of ice blue light!

"Huh?! What the-"

"Renkotsu!"

(Vwooom)

She would then reappear seconds afterward in another flash right above the fire-user, and dives downward with ShatterSoul poised to impale!

"Haaaaah-ah!"

Renkotsu would be forced to jump down off of Ginkotsu to dodge Coraline's attack, and spun around to sputter with rage-laced surprise,

"H-How did you-?!"

"I've gotten much stronger since our last encounter, Renkotsu...Now, (lunge) return what belongs to me this instant!"

The zombie scrambles back to avoid getting sliced down, and as he and the Aura Reader began their own fight, Miroku comments while shaking off his stupor from what he witnessed,

"Good. He's away from the cannon...But how, did Coraline do that, and why is she targeting him?"

Besa replies,

"Must be more of that special training she's been undergoing with her ancestor...As for the second question, wasn't it Renkotsu who stole her jewel shards a while back?"

"Uh! That's right!"

Freeman encourages,

"You guys should go and help sis get the shards back!"

"What about you, brother?"

"Me?"

The young man's gaze turns to the distant Jakotsu, and glares hard before muttering between his teeth,

"I've got a score to settle with _him_..."

Though a bit wary of his tone, Besa and Miroku heed Freeman's urging.

"We're on it." "Be careful, Freeman."

They then began rushing over to where Renkotsu and Coraline were currently clashing, until Suikotsu suddenly leaps into their path!

"Gah!" "Guh!"

"I won't let you go any further!"

Miroku uses his staff to block the incoming claws while exclaiming the zombie's name, who retracts a few feet back before stating,

"I've decided that you two are gonna fight me. To be honest, I can't stand healers or monks!"

He lunges at them again, and this time Besa would take a turn blocking with his bone sickles as Miroku and he retort back,

"But you yourself are a doctor!"

"Oi, don't typecast me!"

And while that trio began their two-on-one squabble, Jakotsu complains to himself,

"Ugh, great, left out again. Everyone here is just so selfish," before fixating on Sango.

"...So is this all that's left for me?"

"Not quite."

"Hm?"

He and the demon slayer turn their heads to his back left, and saw Freeman slowly approach while tapping his hammer's handle near the large base against his free hand with an intimidating glare.

"I've got a bone to pick with you from our last encounter."

Jakotsu widens his eyes slightly with surprise, before forming a smirk and retorts,

"Ha! Is that so?"

"You better friggin' believe it!"

Freeman quickly glances over at Sango and calls,

"Sango: Go and help Kilala with Ginkotsu! I've got this creep!"

"Uh! You sure?"

"Positive."

Though hesitant, Sango nods before beginning her run over to her twin-tailed companion, who was already sizing up the cyborg-zombie in her full form...

"Hope you talked to someone about forgin' a new grave maker."

Freeman began his charge against Jakotsu with his hammer held high, adding,

"'Cause I'm ready to bury you deep!"

"Good luck with that, (thrust) stud!"

The blade of many blades shoots forth, and its target manages to swing in a downward cut with the base of his weapon to knock them aside, much to the zombie's shock!

"Uh!"

"Kuh, won't be fallin' prey to that sword this time!"

...Jakotsu's expression forms into an excited grin:

"Oh-hoh, this just got interesting! (Lunge) Haaaah!"

Shifting viewpoints, we turn back to Inuyasha and Bankotsu as they continue to shove their blades against eachother...

"I suppose being a half-demon, you should be stronger than a human. But what I don't understand is why Naraku couldn't beat you."

"What's that mean?"

"You don't seem all that tough to me!"

Their clash breaks before it forms again, and Inuyasha exclaims,

"Damn it, if you know where Naraku is, you better tell me!"

"I really don't like to be, (thrust) questioned!"

The dog demon jumps back a couple feet to dodge the halberd, before Bankotsu taunts,

"If you really wanna know Naraku's whereabouts...ask my blade!"

...Meanwhile, away from the crater of action and back at the base of the supposingly holy Mount Hakurei, we find young Rin staring upward at the majesty that was this great rock range with wonder.

"Wow...It's such a large mountain, isn't it, Master Jaken?"

The imp's response would be one of a groan as he laid sprawled on his stomach with a partially queasy expression.

"Uuugh, I feel awful. Why did I have to come to such a wretched place like this?"

"What's the matter, Master Jaken?"

He calls back to the young girl irritably,

"I'm in pain!"

"How come?"

Rising to his feet to approach the equally discontent A-Un, Jaken explains,

"Don't you get it? Mount Hakurei is sacred. Demons like me have a hard time even approaching it. You probably don't feel anything, Rin, because you're an innocent human girl, while I fell as if I'm being drag-Gu-huh?! Hey!"

Rin had grabbed onto the back of the imp's clothes and began to gently pull him along further towards the mountain with an oblivious smile.

"Come on. Let's look just a little further, Master Jaken."

Jaken thinks to himself as his perspiration doubled,

 _This girl hasn't listened to a word I said...!_

Eventually, with a stuttered outcry of,

"I gotta go baaaaack," the imp was able to break free and rush back over to A-Un, much to Rin's confusion.

"Huh?"

With a few staggered breaths, Jaken mutters to himself while resting against the two-headed dragon demon's side,

"There's no way a mass of evil like Naraku could exist here...So then why would Lord Sesshomaru want to..."

...And deep into the fog closer to the mountain valley entrance, we find said dog demon calmly walking towards the mysterious territory ahead...only to be stopped by the static energies that restricted another's entry not too long ago.

 _A Sacred Barrier...I can go no further._

He looks up at the higher mountain range in thought:

 _I came here following the scent of Naraku's servant, Kohaku._

 _...But all of a sudden, the scent stopped, like it was, cut off._

Deciding there was nothing for him to find in this area, at least for the time being, Sesshomaru turns around and makes his way back to where he left his vassals...

Speaking of, Rin had settled to sitting against a small rock protrusion from the ground-up, wondering what was keeping the dog demon.

"...Lord Sesshomaru. Where are you?"

Meanwhile, Jaken was feeling more and more ill the longer he stayed in this area.

 _I gotta get away..._

The young girl was of course, oblivious to his mental plight:

"I wonder where he could've gone."

 _Help, me...!_

"...Hm?"

That's when Rin spotted someone heading towards the valley of Mount Hakurei...but it wasn't Sesshomaru.

 _Kohaku?...There's no mistake: It's Kohaku!_

Curious, she rises to her feet and began to rush after the young demon slayer's form, snapping Jaken out of his daze and forcing him to try and chase after her.

"Huh? Hey, wait, Rin! Don't run off on your own! Lord Sesshomaru will have my hide if he finds out I let you-"

(Bzzzt)

"Gaaah!"

He's then stopped by the power of the sacred barrier surrounding the mountain, and falls back to avoid getting more singed than the sleeve of his robes...

"I was so dangerously close to being purified...!...Guh! (Looks ahead) Oh great, she's gone!"

The imp would then let out a 'dauh', before collapsing on his front...

Moving into the foggy valley, we would find Kohaku overlooking from a rock ledge down toward a large cave mouth, before jumping down to enter inside. We see the make to be fairly typical for a seldom-used mountain cave, there being many protruding stalagmites and stalactites, some of the latter dripping with water from the inner chambers of Hakurei. The demon slayer would travel several feet deeper inside...before another young voice calls to him.

"Kohaku...Kohaku!"

He whirls around with a defensive grunt and readies to pull out his katana, before relaxing with surprise when he sees Rin!

"It's you!"

"Hah, hah, I'm so glad. I get to see you again."

"Rin, what are you doing here?"

The young girl with long, bushy black hair that bunched in a tiny side-tail replies with an innocent smile,

"We didn't part on good terms last time, and it kind-a bothered me."

"Go back! This is no place for someone like you."

And why would Kohaku make such a characterization?...Well, let's just say those two humans weren't alone in the cave...

"Ssh!"

"What is it?"

"Be quiet, Rin."

Somewhere in the deeper shadows, we see several dozen gleaming eyes belonging to some rather, _demonic_ shapes!  
Rin whimpers a little in fear from behind Kohaku, who whispers calmly to her,

"Go back slowly, before they notice that you're here."

"Kohaku..."

"Hurry up and leave! If they see you, they'll kill you."

Though reluctant, the young girl heeds the equally young demon slayer's word.

"Yes, okay. But what will happen to you?"

"Don't worry, they won't attack me. Now go."

With his name dancing worriedly throughout the walls of her mind, Rin began to silently rush out of the cave, glancing back behind her once more to see the many red irises glaring at Kohaku's form...

By this time, Sesshomaru had returned to where he left Jaken, A-Un and Rin to wait for him while he investigated another part of Mount Hakurei, only to discover the latter had disappeared, leaving behind the imp to apologize for her recklessness.

"I'm so sorry! Please forgive me, Lord Sesshomaru! Rin ran off before I could stop her!"

"Where is she? (Looks ahead) Inside the barrier?"

The dog demon seemingly prepares to enter the valley, only to have Jaken block his way in worry for his master's life.

"You mustn't go, master! If you enter sacred grounds, even you will be purified!"

"Be quiet, and look behind you."

"Huh?"

The latter does so, and widens his eyes when he sees a familiar young form rushing out from the fog.

"Guh! Is that, Rin?!"

Her innocent smile grows a touch when she sees the dog demon's form.

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

But it would immediately switch to shock upon the following question asked of her by said demon.

"Kohaku was there, wasn't he?"

"Uh...!"

Jaken stares between the two for a moment, before sternly telling the younger,

"Now be honest, Rin. You can't deceive master's keen nose."

She thinks to herself with worry,

 _Does Lord Sesshomaru actually intend to kill Kohaku?_

Even so, Rin knew better than to fib:

"Uh, the truth is, Kohaku helped me escape. There were lots and lots of demons in the cave."

Sesshomaru showed a slight visible sign of being surprised by such information.

"What's that?"

 _...Demons?_

"Kohaku protected me from the demons...So, uh..."

The dog demon turned suspicious eyes towards the fog-cloaked valley again.

 _Demons behind the sacred barrier..._

He ignores Rin's confused call of his title, concluding,

 _Now I understand, Naraku's little trick._

Coraline's POV

 _Wow, this new ability's incredible! I feel about as fast as a demon now!_

 _Though as far as everyone else is concerned, they think I'm teleporting..._

It's been a little while since I began my assault on Renkotsu, using my sword and my knife against the zombie to either cut away his attacks or try to land a hit in return. So far, I've only been successful in landing a shallow slash on one of his arms, but fatal blows weren't my main priority. My real target was the armour on his chest where my jewel shards were.

 _If I can just strike there hard enough, my glass bottle should just hop out, and then I'll swipe them up before concentrating on taking him down..._

Somewhere about halfway through my fight, Kōga joined in on the action and began to try landing a few blows against Renkotsu himself with his bare fists. Some would be a little peeved by the interference; I just shrugged it off and welcomed a little extra help. Besides, we wouldn't be the only ones teaming up on one member of the Shichinintai. Miroku and Besa had their hands full with Suikotsu and his claws, using their staff and bone sickles respectively to take turns blocking each swipe.

"Die, monk and healer!"

"Not if I can help it!" "Shut your mouth!"

Also, there was Sango and Kilala, who teamed up to take on Ginkotsu, flying through the air to dodge his cannon fire before the former got a good enough opening to swing her weapon down at him.

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin...)

Unfortunately, due to his tough metal armour, not much of a dent is made in the cyborg zombie, so the giant boomerang would embed in the ground below, forcing Sango to quickly board off Kilala to retrieve her weapon before taking to the skies again, barely dodging another cannon blast in the process...

Meanwhile, Freeman was one of two members of our group engaging in a one-on-one match, namely, against Jakotsu atop one of the castle rooftops.

"Hah!"

(Swing, clang)

For the most part, the both of them were slapping eachother's weapons against the other, meeting in clashes that lasted only a few seconds, before the zombie would try a distant shot from his connected blades.

"Let's see you dodge, this!"

(Thrust)

The blades go charging through the hardwood, but my brother was more than prepared with a counter.

"Hrrrr-gah!"

(Swing, crash)

The waving power from his demon bone-infused long hammer shoots through the roof similarly to Jakotsu's sword, before both attacks meet in an explosive clash, sending wood and debris all over the place...I had little time to worry about my brother's condition, when Renkotsu tries attacking me and Kōga with his flaming threads.

"I'll roast you both alive with the fires of Hell itself!"

We of course, manage to easily dodge to the sides from the respected attacks.

"That kind-a stuff won't work on me!"

"Nor, me!"

I get in close and spin-kicked the zombie in his torso, he getting the wind knocked out of him before sliding to the dirt, and I take the opportunity to pin him down with my body, my combat knife held at his throat!

"Gh!"

"Now, you gonna be nice and relinquish my shards?"

(...Buzzzzz...)

"Hm?"

That's when my ears picked up on the sound of a very familiar horde of insects, and I looked up to see coming from above,

 _Uh! The_ _Saimyōshō!_

(WHACK)

"Gruh!"

Though I shouldn't have gotten too distracted by the entrance of those creepy wasps, for that gave Renkotsu the opening to slam one of his palms against my chest, knocking me off of him and landing on my own back to slide in the dirt. Kōga quickly came to my side and helped me up:

"You okay?"

"Y-Yeah, partly my fault for letting my guard down..."

Shippo, who was standing closer to the entrance and out of the lines of battle, calls out on the insects next.

"Naraku's poisonous bugs!"

More eyes would focus on their arrival, and I wonder to myself,

 _Where did they come from?...Does this mean Naraku is nearby?_

The Shichinintai didn't seem pleased by the Saimyōshō's appearance, Renkotsu and Jakotsu making the first comments.

"Not retreat!"

"What? Has something happened?"

Bankotsu glared up at the wasps before calling to them,

"Don't disturb me. I wanna destroy Inuyasha first. (Turns to the dog demon) 'parrently, I need to wrap things up quickly, so say your prayers, Inuyasha!"

"Keh, you're the one who better start praying! Taste my _Wind Scar!_ "

Ginkotsu tried to stop my boyfriend's fatal-blow attack with several wires to tie the other down, but missed.

"Bye bye, Bankotsu."

Though the attack did connect...I saw the zombie raise his halberd to use as a shield, and it looked like it was, holding some of the energy at bay!

 _Oh, that, could be a problem..._

Jakotsu cried out for his mercenary brother in worry, while Shippo was confident Bankotsu's life would be forfeit.

"He did it!"

...Once the Wind Scar died down, we would all see the zombie's blade embedded in the ground, but no zombie.

"Ha, well he sure had it comin'!"

...But just as my nerves correctly predicted, we would find that Bankotsu had somehow survived, and was now examining his blade with an offended and angry expression.

"Damn! You put a scar on my Banryū..."

He darts his head to the cyborg-zombie and says to him,

"Good job, Ginkotsu. You saved me."

 _Hm? Oooh, some of those wires must've grabbed Bankotsu to pull him out of the direct line of fire._

The Saimyōshō buzz close to the zombie's side and seemingly urge him to do what I'm guessing to be a tactical retreat, irritating him enough to follow the order.

"Alright, alright already!"

He pulls his halberd out of the dirt and points it at Inuyasha while saying to him,

"Inuyasha, that's all I have time for today."

"You have got to be kidding me!"

Kōga was feeling just as annoyed by the pause in action, and calls out Renkotsu.

"Okay, break time's over!"

But he's then forced to jump out of the way of a shot of fire spewed from the zombie's mouth, while I rolled away in a dodge before rushing at him with ShatterSoul.

"No you don't, fiend! _Spirit Slash!_ "

My Aura-charged cut goes flying at the zombie, and he leaps up to dodge according to my plan.

 _He took the feint._

(Vwoom...Vwoom, SWIPE)

"Gaaaarh!"

Using my new agility enhancement, I willed myself behind Renkotsu before bringing my blade down across his back, cutting into his more vulnerable upper back! His blood spills, and I dive down to tackle him to the ground, getting to work on trying to find the shards on his person.

 _Come on, come on..._

(Rumble...cri-CRACK)

But then the dirt we were on top of suddenly gives way and caves in, and I'm forced to roll off of the zombie to scramble away unless I wanted to fall in, while he was saved by one of Ginkotsu's wires!

The rest of the Shichinintai would follow shortly, all boarding the cyborg-zombie before crashing through one of the castle walls to roll out.

"See ya!"

"Why you-! I'm not letting you get away!"

But before Inuyasha and the rest of us could chase after them, we're blocked off by a rock formation suddenly shooting out from the ground, it crumbling away to reveal...noneother than Naraku!

"Inuyasha...it's been a while."

"Gh! It's, Naraku!"

 _He...He's here?! But how?!_

"Heheheh, well I must give you credit for coming this far."

My boyfriend tucked me somewhat behind him protectively while growling at Naraku's baboon-cloaked form.

"Why you-!"

"Inuyasha, I don't think it's actually him."

Kōga agreed with Miroku:

"Yeah, it's probably one of his demon puppets."

"Buying time for the Band of Seven to escape, are you?"

The fiend only laughed in response to Inuyasha's accusation...while I continued to stare at the former's form with a growing scrutiny.

 _Hm...There's something fishy going on here..._

 _The material structure looks about the same as every other demon puppet we've encountered..._

 _And yet, the power used in it...It doesn't feel like the underlying evil that is fashioned within._

No one else seemed to sense the off-put feeling I was, wolf-boy being the most impatient.

"Puh, I haven't got time for fakes!"

He charges forward to attack, much to my boyfriend's dismay:

"What're you doing, Kōga?!"

By no surprise to me, the Naraku Demon Puppet counters with its tree root tendrils, forcing Kōga to slow down and swerve his torso to dodge, before the former stretches out even more root tendrils and rises in size to block out exit!

"Hehahahaha, I won't let you pass!"

Shippo exclaims from atop Freeman's shoulder,

"Whoaah, he's gigantic!"

Sango moved so she was standing closer to me with her right hand gripping Hiraikotsu at ready.

"Stand back." I pull ShatterSoul back out and mutter,

"What a time for demon sorcery..."

Miroku and Besa try to stave off some of the root tendrils with their respected weapons, before Inuyasha leaps in front of us all with his Tessaiga.

"Keh, time to use my, _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

The three-clawed attack travels up the roots to fully obliterate the demon puppet in no time flat...  
But while I should've felt excited by its destruction, there was something that caught my eyes as the tendrils fell apart.

 _Huh? Those look like...flower petals?_

The puppet's remains gather into a pile on the ground, just as Kōga readies to bolt out on his own. Inuyasha calls after him,

"You tryin' to get ahead of us, Kōga?"

"Shut up, mutt! An incompetent halfbreed like yourself would only let the Band of Seven get away!"

Rolling my eyes at the testosterone flare-up, I sheath ShatterSoul and walk over to kneel in front of the remains of the demon puppet to further examine, Lumos joining me...

 _Gh! Impossible...and yet, here it is..._

"Wait a second!"

"Don't bother with him, Inuyasha. We have a more pressing problem to deal with."

He turns to me in surprise and walks back over here just as Miroku asks me,

"So you saw it too, Coraline?"

"What's going on?"

I nod and reply to both,

"There's something overly suspicious about this demon puppet. I can't sense any underlying darkness within it. (Glance) And Lumos would've been jittering like mad if there was any dangerous energy, but, he's as quiet as a mouse."

"So then what does this mean?"

"It means that it's full of light...That, suffocating type that I could sense from the barrier on Mount Hakurei."

"Mount Hakurei?"

Shippo leans his face a bit close and sniffs the remains, muttering in his own surprise,

"Hey. It smells...it smells nice." Sango's nose could smell it too:

"It smells of water, and flowers."

Miroku was near flabbergasted by such a characterization:

"Water and flowers?"

My brothers weren't too far behind, Besa picking up one of the flower petals that fell out from the inside to see for himself.

"This looks like a petal from the Indian Lotus, or sometimes known as...the Sacred Lotus."

"Whoa, seriously? They were trading this flower even back here in the Sengoku Era?!"

"It's actually native to a number of places in East Asia, Japan included, and has a very long cultivation history. Culturally, it holds a very special significance in Buddhism, that being purity of the mind, body and speech."

I was a bit surprised that Besa knew that much about the flower, and seeing my expression along with everyone else's, he smiles sheepishly and adds,

"I-uh, may have done a bit of reading here and there on the religion and the different meanings of the Lotus. (Looks at Miroku) I didn't screw up on that description, right?"

"Uh, no, not at all. You're correct...and I must say, I'm quite impressed."

My brother just shrugs it off modestly, before Inuyasha cuts in with his own frown of suspicion.

"But why would Naraku's puppet smell like something that symbolizes purity?"

I answer just as seriously,

"That, is a very good question...but I think this pretty much proves that Mount Hakurei, _may not be as holy as it wants everyone to believe..._ "

Small Time Skip, No POV

It wouldn't take long for the young wolf demon leader to follow the scent trail of the Shichinintai, ending at the foot of the very mountain that's constantly being pulled into topic...

"Where are you?! Where did you go?!"

...But just like every other soul with demon blood in their veins that dared try to approach Hakurei, Kōga would be stopped by the purifying energies of the sacred barrier that guards the mountain grounds.

"What, the hell is this?!...It's, some kind of barrier..."

In contrast, the undead mercenary band would have no real trouble entering the valley of Mount Hakurei, which Jakotsu would comment on as he walked near the young leader with everyone else trailing behind.

"I can see it now, Bankotsu: Mount Hakurei...Geez, what's with the air? Made me sick the last time we came here too."

"It seems to extend now."

Bankotsu replies after Renkotsu's observation,

"I suspect that the scared barrier has been strengthened. This way, neither Inuyasha nor Kōga can come after us."

Jakotsu mutters in accordance to the bitter irony,

"But it'll be tough for us too, even though we are human..."

"Wait."

Halting, the Shichinintai peer into the near distance...and spot Kanna's white-washed form emerge from the fog!

"It seems we won't have to go all the way to the base of the mountain."

Kohaku would walk to meet the void demon's side shortly after.

"Bankotsu sir."

Said mercenary leader walks over to meet the odd pair:

"Hi, Kohaku. So, who's this albino child?"

"She is Kanna."

Bankotsu nods, then turns curious eyes to the mirror that Kanna carried, joined by the more curious Jakotsu.

"What's this?"

The image that reflected...was Sesshomaru and Rin!

"Huh? Hey! Him again?"

"What? Do you know him?"

"Yeah. He's that cold-faced demon that appeared shortly after that bitch Coraline went crazy and murdered Mukotsu."

Kohaku puts a face to the name:

"It's Inuyasha's older brother, Sesshomaru."

"Aah, so he was Inuyasha's older brother." Bankotsu adds after Jakotsu,

"Yes, I see...So what?" Kohaku replies,

"You are to find him and kill him too."

"Hey!"

Bankotsu didn't appreciate being ordering around, and hoisted the young demon slayer up by his collar to say angrily,

"You better not have dragged us all the way out here just to tell us that! We were in the middle of destroying Inuyasha."

"If you had continued fighting, you would have been killed."

Cobalt irises shift to meet the abyssal black ones belonging to Kanna.

"What? What're you talkin' about, kid?"

"Your halberd cannot defeat Inuyasha's Tessaiga."

Bankotsu didn't like the sound of that...and thrusts his Banryū forward to hold inches from the void demon's face, who doesn't even flinch.

"What? You mean because of this measly scratch on Banryū? It doesn't even-huh?"

Kanna gently runs one of her alabaster hands over the area where the sword was damaged.

"It can become much stronger..."

She then looks in Renkotsu's direction, making him tense the slightest...Bankotsu quickly catches her meaning:

"Aaah, now I get it. (Turns around with a frown) Hey, Renkotsu: Time to hand them over, right now."

"What do you mean?"

(Swing)

"Gh!"

The tip of the halberd is pointed near the fire-user's neck...

"I knew it all along, that you took those Shikon-no-Tama shards from that girl Coraline, and hid them. (Gritty smirk) If you prefer, I could cut them out of your neck and finish what the woman started...It's your choice..."

...Renkotsu gently pushes the sword away from his person and replies,

"Please don't be angry, big brother. I've been meaning to give them to you all along."

Reluctantly, he then pulls out the tiny glass bottle, and tosses it for his leader to catch, turning away with a miffed expression...

"Aah, that's a wise decision, Renkotsu. You are smart after all it seems...However..."

(Crick)

Bankotsu smashes the bottle in his hand, adding ominously,

" _Don't make anymore mistakes._ "

"...Understood."

"Alright then, Suikotsu."

"Yeah?"

"And Jakotsu. I want you to go and take care of this Sesshomaru."

The feminine male zombie wasn't overly excited for such a mission, his growl of frustration making his point clear...

"What'sa matter? Sesshomaru not your type?" He angrily replies,

"I keep telling you: Inuyasha's the one I want!"

Bankotsu quirks with a wry smile,

"Sorry to break it to you, but I don't think the feeling's mutual. I'll take care of Inuyasha."

Jakotsu sighs to himself disappointingly, but made no further complaints...

"Now then."

The wielder of Banryū then melds the two Shikon-no-Tama shards from the newly-broken bottle with the blade, making it throb with a vein-like red glow...

"Yeeeah, this is great."

Kohaku then informs the zombie,

"I know which direction Inuyasha is coming from."

"Ninjas sure are clever, aren't they?"

"Haaaah, I am not a ninja."

With that, he and Kanna exit from the area in a leap and a spirited fashion respectively, leaving Bankotsu to grin down at his once again pristine blade.

 _Damn half-demon. Get ready to meet your doom._

...Our view shifts to a cliff ledge overlooking the landscape of these lands away from the ruined castle the Shichinintai destroyed, where Inuyasha and company evaluate their next move...

"Look for water?"

"As in bodies of water like lakes, rivers and marshes?"

Inuyasha turns his head to nod at Sango and Coraline:

"Yep. We keep lookin' until we find the same kind of water, and the same scent of that Sacred Lotus."

Shippo says aloud while resting on top Besa's left shoulder,

"It was the first time I smelt a flower quite like that," making the latter wonder,

"It's also possible we might be looking at a rare, undiscovered subspecies to the original..."

Miroku and Freeman were a bit more pressed with the group's current enemies.

"What about the Band of Seven, Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, I'm not sayin' this new development isn't disturbing, but, does this mean we're not chasing those bastards anymore?"

He answers both men by reasoning,

"If we keep following Naraku, they're bound to show up eventually."

That brought a collective nod of agreement from the rest (or rather, a mewl and moaned chirp in Kilala and Lumo's cases), and as he wrapped a protective arm around Coraline's shoulders, the dog demon vows,

 _Naraku...we will find you._


	124. Chapter 123

**Chapter 123: Hijiri Island's Barrier, Purity's Aquatic Reflection**

A new night in Sengoku Japan has fallen...

Cast your eyes to the edge of a dense forest made from oak and beech, silent and tranquil in an almost oblivious manner to the troubles these lands have been facing since the day that innocently-disguised jewel of legend had been severed into pieces, now near completion save a few brave fragments still resisting their eventual re-fusion...

That quiet is suddenly broken by the release of a magenta-purple energy that bursts from the tree canopy, charging out of the forest in a high curve to crash onto the surface of a small island in the middle of a large lake, its light dancing on the earth and highlighting it for all to see...And in the distance, stood the infamous Mount Hakurei...

Sitting on the other side of the body of water was a village dominated by the fishing trade, and everyone who occupied this populace would rush out of their homes to see what the matter was, including a young boy wearing a dull yellow haori with a blue overvest and gray hakama, his short black hair tied back in a topknot, and his parent, a man of middle age with balding black hair also tied back, wearing a muted mahogany haori under a moss green overvest, and light tan hakama.

"Father: It struck Hijiri Island!"

"Yes...You must stay here, son."

"But what about you?"

"I must check Saint Hakushin's temple and see that it's safe."

The older male turns to rush back to one of the huts to gather what he needed for the journey to the island, and out of concern for him, his son would follow after...

Inside, we see the man open a case containing an ancient staff made with a golden symbol up top shaped similarly to a cross, but with a circle connecting the four points near the pointed tips, and a hollow diamond shape making up the middle. Knowing his worried son was watching, the he explains the purpose of this object.

"This is the staff our ancestors were entrusted with by the wise one himself."

"Please, Father, take me with you!"

"Shintarou...return home at once."

"But Father..."

Turning to face the younger male, the older says to him gently but firmly,

"Understand: If anything should happen to me, only you, the son of the headman, will be able to carry on as the protector of Hijiri Island."

With that in the wind, the father/son pair walk over to the docked boats, and the revealed headman settles himself into one before starting his rowing toward the distant mound of earth.

"Rest at ease, Shintarou. I shall be home by sunrise."

The young boy wasn't feeling as confident, watching his parental figure becoming smaller and smaller the farther they sailed from shore.

"...Father..."

Time Skip

We now jump ahead to around mid-morning by a river cutting through the forests near the proclaimed holy mountain, as Inuyasha examined the clear waters with his eyes and nose to try and find the specific scent the Naraku Demon Puppet emitted upon its destruction in that ruined castle...

"What do you think, Inuyasha?" He replies reluctantly to Miroku,

"...Haauh. This isn't it: It didn't smell marshy like this place."

The others with him (excluding Sango and Kilala) hum in slight disappointment as the dog demon went into thought over what he was tracking.

 _Naraku's Demon Puppet carried the scent of water and a fragrance with relations to the Holy Lotus..._

 _...And it was pure, like Mount Hakurei._

Coraline, whom today wore a white tank-top, a red/black/white unbuttoned, short-sleeved flannel shirt, dark blue jeans and her combat boots, looks up at her Will O' Wisp companion wistfully floating around with a careful eye...before saying with her own sigh,

"Lumos isn't sensing anything off either...We should move onto another source of water."

Shippo, who was perched on her right shoulder (the left occupied by the strap of her sword's sheath and both straps of her satchel), wonders aloud,

"You think Sango and Kilala are okay?"

Freeman, wearing an outfit comprised of a light gray muscle tank-top, black skinny jeans with a rip in the left knee, and his monochrome high-top sneakers - contrasting his twin's clothing of a dark green buttoned-up, short-sleeved shirt, dark grey khaki shorts and brown converse sneakers - looks toward the distant Mount Hakurei with a neutral frown.

"They should be as long as they don't overdo it...but if I can be perfectly honest, I have doubts they're gonna be anymore successful than any of us have been..."

Besa nodded in agreement, following his brother's gaze with everyone else, the collective mood falling close to a hateful distrust...

Panning upward the high peak of said mountain near the gigantic tree, we see the twin-tailed cat demon flying as close to the structure of nature as possible, with the brunette demon slayer aboard her back.

"...Mount Hakurei."

...Unfortunately, they only get so close, before the sacred barrier blocks Kilala's way, even with her resistant struggles. She and Sango are thrown back harshly, barely landing smoothly on the ground, the former growling in a whimpered fashion from the pain felt by the purification powers laced in the mountain's shield. Sango gently pats her compainion's fur with an expression of guilt:

"Kilala, it hurts you too to try and go past the barrier, doesn't it? Sorry to force you...I wish I had a choice."

...After a while, the pair were forced to give up, and would meet with the rest of the group walking between the forest edge and riverside.

"Up here!"

Inuyasha addresses the slayer by name, before Coraline asks,

"I think I already know my answer, but, did you girls have any luck?"

"No good. The mountain barrier, is even stronger than before."

Miroku wasn't surprised:

"I thought so. We'll never be able to break through it."

Besa berates the monk's negativity:

"Come on now, my friend, nothing is ever truly impossible. The pathway is merely well-hidden from us; we just need to uncover it."

His brother nods in agreement, wondering with a finger under his chin,

"What's strange is that the barrier got that much stronger in that short of time...That sounds like too quick of a paranoia jump to be normal. It's almost as of that hunk of rock knows we're trying to break in, and I mean us specifically..."

Locking his green irises with his sister's blue, he adds,

"Maybe your theory from before's not off after all, sis...Maybe that holy barrier's got a dirty secret to hide."

"Yes, well, I just find it extremely difficult to believe any place is truly avoidant of chaos..."

Inuyasha concludes with a fold of his arms,

"Well one thing's for sure: Naraku's been close by, there's no question about it, which means, we'll just have to check every waterway around the mountain."

...We return now to the aquaculture village sitting near the lake of Hijiri Island, as the young boy Shintarou tries to convince three of the local fisherman to allow a ride on one of their boats.

"Please, take me with you!"

"No can do. You know you have a duty to take over as headman while your father's away from the village. We cannot do anything that would place you in danger."

That wasn't Shintarou's main concern at the moment:

"Father has been gone for two weeks already! He must have ran into trouble on Hijiri Island!"

The second fisherman reminds the child,

"Remember, boy: The only ones allowed on the sacred Hijiri Island are the acting village headman, which means your father or yourself."

"Alright, then just let me use one of your boats. I'll go there by myself."

The third man of the trio pipes in:

"Are you certain that your father didn't do anything to raise the wrath of Saint Hakushin before he set out for the temple?"

The eldest male states,

"We can't have the village cursed because of his wrongdoings."

Such suspicions would stir some anger within young Shintarou before he defended his elder.

"My father has dedicated his life to fulfilling his duties as headman! He would never do anything to harm the village!"

Even so, the fishermen could not find it in themselves to act upon the young boy's wishes.

"Nevertheless, we would be punished if we went there. Hijiri Island is scared ground."

Such a reply would make Shintarou look to the ground in frustration and disappointment...

"Hey!"

He then looks up to see Inuyasha and his group walk over to meet them, having caught the blurb about the island in the middle of the lake and its holy stance.

"We heard you mention something about scared ground." Miroku asks,

"Would you mind telling us what it is you're talking about?"

...Moving away from the shoreline, we find everyone of our travel group, Shintarou and his three elder sisters, Hana, Getsu and Yuki - the latter trio having long black hair in their own individual styles, and wearing contrasting-coloured kimonos of pink/blue, sea green/orange, and light blue/cream stripes - sitting within the latter four's home as they discussed the history of Hijiri Island.

"See out there, near the center of the lake? There's this island which is forbidden to common folk. The duty of village headman has been passed down through the males of my family. Only these select few have been allowed to set foot on the island and tend to Saint Hakushin and his temple."

Miroku hms,

"Saint Hakushin, you say?"

"Yes. He was a wise monk who lived over a hundred years ago...He became a living Buddha and is enshrined on the island."

Inuyasha could help but comment with some skepticism,

"A living Buddha?"

Our own young monk makes note of the information with a more knowledgeable air.

"It's a phenomenon called Sokushinbutsu: A monk of great virtue mediates and fasts until his death. Eventually, his body mummifies and it is then it attains nirvana."

"So we're talkin' about a dried-up old prune of a monk..."

"Watch it. You might regret that."

Coraline rolled her eyes at the two men and their contrasting opinions, while also shaking off an eeriness felt from the description of Sokushinbutsu.

 _That sounds both fascinating and creepy at the same time..._

 _Makes the Egyptian mummification process sound more favourable; at least you'd be dead beforehand._

Shaking her thoughts away, the redhead then clears her throat and gently asks,

"So, Shintarou, you mentioned that your father's been absent for a fortnight after leaving to see that the Saint's shrine was still in tact, correct?"

"Right. He's been gone for over two weeks. It started when a strange light fell on the island. Father said he was concerned about the temple."

Besa asks,

"What sort of strange light?"

But Inuyasha was already drumming up a reasonable conclusion:

"What else? It had to have been Naraku."

Yuki takes her younger brother's hands into hers with a chiding expression.

"Shintarou, you cannot solve this on your own."

"I know well, older sister, but father always told me to take care of things if anything had happened to him."

Freeman comments with a brow raised,

"Really? Doesn't seem like everybody else in this village is as confident...And what was that curse nonsense those fishermen were babbling about?"

Slapping his right palm on the hardwood in a spout of anger, Shintarou argues strongly,

"The villagers are mistaken! Father protected this village, so there has to be a reason for the failure of his return!"

Yuki mutters with a concerned frown,

"Yes. My sisters and I are equally worried about our father."

Gestu and Hana add,

"And the villagers fear there may be a curse..."

"We don't know what to do."

Hearing all that she needed to, Coraline kneels down beside her dog demon lover and says to him while lightly squeezing his left arm,

"We should investigate this, Inuyasha. This may be the closest new lead we have about our current endeavors."

Placing his right hand over hers to squeeze back, he agrees to the plan, also feeling his suspicions rise.

"Yeah. Something doesn't sound right about that island."

Shintarou was surprised to hear their willingness to assist:

"You'll go then? You would do that for me?" Shippo replies with a smile,

"Of course we will. It's only natural for you to worry about your father after all."

"Thank you, friends! I will guide you across the lake to the island. The area is always shrouded in mist, and it is dangerous if you do not know your way there."

Aware that this was the only option had in finding out what happened to the original headman, Shintarou's older sisters allow the plan to take its course, but not without Yuki and Getsu requesting,

"Please take good care of our dear younger brother."

"Our brother Shintarou is the only male born to our family."

Miroku replies sympathetically,

"That must be a very deep concern for you."

But based on the knowing and slightly exasperated expressions on Inuyasha, Freeman and Besa's faces, this brand of sympathy from the monk would have an ulterior motive, made plain when he suddenly takes Hana's hands into his in an endearing manner.

"If you're willing to oblige me, I would be more than happy to help you and your sisters bear some male offspring."

(...BONK)

"Gauh!"

Unfortunately for Miroku, his fantasies would be shot to hell thanks to a certain aggravated demon slayer, who whacks him on the head with the tip of her Hiraikotsu, while the rest of the group just sighs, averting their eyes from the more or less typical scene. Shintarou's older sisters were left shocked, before Hana mutters uncertainly,

"I dunno. Are you certain we can put our brother's safety in your hands?"

Freeman waves his hand in a casual dismissal and replies,

"Eh, just ignore his garbage," while Besa replies more seriously with a gentle smile,

"Disregarding Miroku's words just now, I can assure you that Shintarou will be safe in our capable hands."

That brought a calmer wave of relief for the trio of ladies...

The group then returns to the shoreline where the fishing boats are anchored at to speak with the men from before about lending them a mode of transportation...And by 'talk', Inuyasha used slightly (by his standards) aggressive means to convince them to hand over a boat, shoving them to the ground with an intimidating expression.

"Any complaints, men?"

"N-No." "Not at all!"

Coraline lightly slaps his arm with a scolding expression:

"Inuyasha, please, they're already jitterish as it is; let's not prolong the feeling!"

She turns to calmly say to the men sitting on the sand,

"Excuse us. We only mean to borrow one of your boats for a while."

The dog demon adds with a fold of his sleeves,

"Don't worry. We'll bring it back when we're done."

With that said, the group would soon be out on the water in one of the boats, with Coraline, Shintarou and Sango sitting at the back, the twins squeezed in the middle, and Miroku and Inuyasha up front, the latter rowing the floating wood along across the water with a long pole. Shippo would find himself perched over the side near the dog demon with a sick expression (for he was never one for aquatic travel...), while Kilala was curled up in her human partner's lap trying to fight her own discomfort, and Lumos was fluttering along ahead near the front tip of the boat, acting as a guiding light through the thick mist.

...Sango comments after a bit,

"It must be the aura from Hijiri Island. It's so strong, Kilala isn't even transforming."

"To~ li~ve is to die...  
To~ di~e is to live.  
Saint Hakushin beneath the earth,  
Mount Hakurei will return to Hijiri..."

Intrigued and slightly frightened by the words in Shintarou's singing, Coraline asks him as the rowing stick comes to splash down into the deep again,

"What, is that song?"

"It's a children's song that's been sung around these parts for a long time. Even when he was alive, Saint Hakushin had wondrous spiritual powers. They say he saved many people of this region."

"Is that right?"

The young boy points ahead to a familiar distant rock formation:

"Look. That's Mount Hakurei in the distance. At the base of the mountain, there is a place of purification."

"Place of purification?"

"It's a temple built by the wise one himself. If you pray there, they say all of your sins will be absolved."

That description triggered the memory of an old conversation Coraline recalled having with a certain priestess not so long ago.

 _That sounds like the area where_ _Kikyō meant to go for that deceased bandit, the one whose actions would send Onigumo further down the path to becoming Naraku...  
_

 _...But she won't be able to go there now. Not while Hakurei's shielding itself like a paranoid freak._

She looks down at her combat knife's hilt with a distant expression, specifically, the white ribbon tied upon it...Meanwhile, Inuyasha thought of the holy mountain with only disdain.

 _Mount Hakurei again..._

"You know, there's something that's been bugging me: Who placed the barrier on the mountain in the first place? I mean, I would say it was Saint Hakushin, but, I dunno...Something about that doesn't sound correct to me..."

Sango agreed with Coraline's uncertainty:

"Yes. Someone or something had to have risen the scared barrier...Strange, though: It's the opposite of anything Naraku would use."

"I disagree."

Surprised eyes fall on Besa's form, who says while folding his arms and closing his eyes with a thoughtful frown,

"Based on everything we have learned and faced regarding Naraku's abilities and schemes, it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to try using something typically portrayed as good for something bad."

Miroku asks the young man with cornrow black hair,

"But how could someone as evil as Naraku possibly have holy power?"

"Just because a power can be holy doesn't mean it's necessarily used for the greater good all the time. After all..."

Besa opens his eyes to reveal glaring dark green irises outlined with coco brown.

"The Shikon-no-Tama has power, but you name me an instance from its history pages where its so-called pure power hasn't backfired on the individual holding it, good or bad."

...No argument is followed, the dark-skinned male's words bouncing around in everyone's heads in consideration, Coraline's especially.

 _He and Sango both make good points: While the barrier isn't something you would expect from someone as black-hearted as Naraku, at the same time, it falls into the brand of unexpected that's become typical of the bastard half-demon._

 _...And then we still don't know alot about Saint Hakushin aside from becoming a 'living Buddha'. Was that really his choice? What were his emotions at the time? And most importantly...was he truly as holy as legend says?_

The redhead would have little time to ponder the notion, when the mist gives way to the coming island ahead past some protruding rocks...

"That's Hijiri Island. Be careful: There are jagged rocks everywhere. If the boat strikes an outcropping-"

Shintarou would be cut off in his warning when the boat suddenly jerks from crashing against a rock underneath the wooden belly, and it scrapes a large enough hole in the mode of transport for it to start leaking in water! Looking at the waterspout, Inuyasha mutters sarcastically,

"Yeah, thanks for the warning," before scooping up the boy and his lover and leaps out towards shore...

That left the others to sink with the boat, until the twins and Miroku were chest-deep in the water, and Shippo found himself sprawled on top of the monk's head with his tail covering the other's face.

"Did I, forget to mention I can't swim?"

"Come on, Shippo, move it; how am I suppose to see?"

Besa looks behind himself to watch the tip of the boat drop into the blue, and sighs while grumbling,

"Guess we're not goin' back that way," and Freeman replies,

"Aw don't sweat it, bro. We'll figure it out when we figure it out."

...The attention of all three men is then drawn to the one end of Sango's Hiraikotsu, she standing atop the bank of the island.

"Oh." "That's helpful." "Eh, I'm cool swimmin'."

Once they were pulled out of the water, the slayer asks,

"Are you guys alright?"

Shippo rolls off of Miroku's head with a seasick expression still plastered on his face, while the latter smiles gratefully at the woman before him.

"You saved me, Sango."

She smiles back, and the twins mutter to themselves with secretive smiles and head shakes,

"Love birds..."

...Moving ahead of those five, we find Inuyasha still carrying Coraline and Shintarou while jumping ahead to try and enter the grounds inland, but found himself facing some minor resistance thanks to another barrier similar to the one protecting the distant mountain.

"Rgh, here we go!...It's like the barrier around Mount Hakurei...Not as strong though, by the looks of it."

The young woman with blue irises nodded with her own grit, feeling the weight of the shield as well.

 _Mph, it does have the same purifying quality...but certainly not as hostile..._

 _Still, even here, my prejudism towards the concepts of pure and impure is felt._

Landing on the ground, the three would find themselves standing in a large, vast field of purple blossoms of similar shape to that of the Sacred Lotus, scattering dozens upon dozens of pillow-soft petals into the atmosphere...While Shintarou and Coraline formed awed expressions, Inuyasha's was firm and absolute.

"Now I'm sure of it. (Narrows eyes) It's these flowers: They smell just like Naraku's Demon Puppet."

The young boy's irises dilate with worry when he realizes,

"There never used to be flowers like these growing around here..."

By this time, everyone else had caught up, Sango and Freeman carrying Kilala and Shippo respectively. The second former asks the fox demon with mild concern dancing in his jade green irises outlined by a light coco brown,

"Holdin' up okay, kiddo?"

"Y-Yeah, sure, I'm great..."

The demon slayer notes as the twin-tailed cat demon emits a weak mew,

"The scent is overpowering Kilala too..."

Besa moves to lean on his knees to get a closer look at the blossoms, humming,

"Well, they're definitely not the Sacred Lotus, but...their fragrance and petals are similar. Must be a hybrid species able to grow on land...but it's exactly the same as the fragments of flower that fell from the destroyed demon puppet."

Inuyasha nodded in acknowledgement to the other young man's observations, feeling the hairs of his skin slowly standing on end in a bewaring fashion.

 _This is all a little too convenient...Why would Naraku do this?_

 _Why would he create a demon puppet merely for the Shichinintai to escape?_

 _And then leave the scent of these flowers...to lure me onto sacred grounds..._

"(Ghostly moan)"

The dog demon snaps out of his thoughts to the sound of Lumos emitting cries of exclamation indicating he found something, and turns left to see the orb of light bobbing up and down excitedly.

"Huh? What is it? You sense something?"

Taking that as a green light to show, the Will O' Wisp darts ahead of the group a ways, and began circling around a spot in the misty fog...that dissipates, to reveal a shrine! Shintarou would recognize the structure right away:

"It's the temple of the wise one!"

He rushes onward, noticing the considerable damage in its walls and rooftop:

 _It's destroyed. But why?_

(Trip)

"Hah! Awah!"

His foot then gets caught on something hidden in the flowers, and the boy falls forward to the ground...Rising to his knees, he pivots his body to see what the object was...and becomes spooked in seeing the fresh skeleton of a human, wearing some very familiar clothing.

"Uh!...F-Father's clothing...Huaaaaah! It's my father!"

Coraline immediately took the initiative and rushed over to Shintarou to hold him to her torso, shielding his vision from the horrifying sight...Everyone else approached in a walk to the area, looking at the skeleton with grim expressions set, as Miroku and Inuyasha discuss what must have happened.

"Your father came to this island a mere two weeks ago..."

"He shouldn't have been reduced to bones in such a short time..."

"Perhaps one of Naraku's demons did this."

"Yeah. Now I'm almost positive of it."

Freeman, who was still holding Shippo in his arms, wonders,

"Only question though is why." Inuyasha questions back,

"What is it that makes this island so special?"

...That's when the young woman with red hair sensed it:

"Gh! Near the shrine: Shikon-no-Tama shards!"

At the same time Lumos's body began emitting that danger alerting red and blue...static electricity began sparking from inside the hanging door, accompanied by a light cerulean!

"...Damn! It's about time you showed up, making me wait so long in here."

(...Pow)

That spurt of power would then burst through the doorway on a straight course for the group, forcing them to scramble to the sides to dodge...Once the electrical sparks died down, Inuyasha growled ahead at the figure seen between the scattered petals, they holding their halberd sword over their shoulder at ready.

"This place makes even a human like me feel sick. It must be even more trying for a half-demon like you, right, Inuyasha?"

Miroku quickly puts a name to the face:

"Bankotsu!"

Inuyasha curses to himself mentally:

 _Damn! So it was a trap!_

"Did you do all this, Bankotsu?"

"Keh, don't look at me: I was only told to wait here, nothing more than that."

As the zombie denies any involvement in the attack on the island, Coraline spots a familiar glow coming from the middle of Banryū.

 _Oh, crap!_

"Inuyasha, take heed: His sword has the shards of the jewel the band stole from me embedded in it!"

That gave the dog demon another reason to snarl at Bankotsu, who smiled smugly and replied,

"That's right. It got scarred during our little match from the other day, so I used them to repair it."

The zombie raises his halberd straight, before swinging it upward as he charges and exclaims,

"Now, let's finish this, Inuyasha!"

Unsheathing Tessaiga, the dog demon calls back while sprinting forward,

"Kuh, this time I'm gonna cut you to pieces!"

He tries to land an attack, but it only connects with the flower-heavy dirt while Bankotsu leaps up high before coming back down in a counter.

"I'll be the one doin' the damage, half-demon!"

The blades meet in a clash, which Inuyasha was unable to struggle against for long, before he's forced to hop back from the power, giving Banryū a turn at connecting with the ground...Sango and Miroku take note of their friend's disadvantage:

"Bankotsu has the upper hand!"

"Because of the Shikon-no-Tama shards in his halberd..."

Shoving back against another clash of swords, Inuyasha exclaims,

"Dammit...I'm sick of you! Wind Scar!"

...

...

...But contrary to what usually happens in that particularly determined thrust of the dog fang blade...nothing happens...!

"Wha...What happened...?" Coraline mutters in bated shock just as high as her lover's,

"The Wind Scar...It, isn't here...!"

 _"Beware, chile: Beware of the air of this place!"_

 _Uh! Rosiagnes!...Beware of the air?...Oh, of course: The pureness!_

Bankotsu's lips curve into a smirk as he drew his own similar conclusions.

"Now it makes sense: No wonder he told me to fight you here!"

He charges against Inuyasha again, sparking up another contest of strength between his Banryū and the latter's Tessaiga...As their fight dragged on, everyone on the sidelines was becoming concerned by the drop of power from the dog demon.

"Why can't he use the Wind Scar?" Coraline replies after Sango,

"It has something to do with the air...That's what, Rosiagnes, my ancestor, warned me just now."

Miroku catches onto what the redheaded woman was referring to:

"Uh! Of course: The Tessaiga's demonic aura is being purified by Hijiri Island. Furthermore, no matter how evil he may be, Bankotsu was still a mere human in life."

Besa finishes,

"Which means he's not being as heavily effected by the barrier of this place as Inuyasha is!"

Freeman forms a sour expression and exclaims,

"Auh, no fair! That's gotta count as cheating somewhere!"

The zombie didn't seem to think so, as he swiftly continued to swing blow after blow against the dog demon, who could only fight to block...

"Inuyasha! You're so much weaker than the last time we fought eachother! (Clang) Surrender and die! I don't wanna stay on this miserable island anymore than I have to!"

On that note, he throws the other back hard, causing Inuyasha to go sliding headfirst through the dirt and blossoms, before barely scrambling out of the way of the giant halberd, only to be forced to block the incoming blade again with his own!

...Shintarou found himself shaking in terror from the sight, prompting Coraline to hug the young boy closer while watching her lover with her own expression of worry.

 _Inuyasha..._

"Someone has to be putting up this purifying barrier, I know it!"

Miroku looks around for his answer...before fixating his eyes back on the ruined shrine, noticing that Lumos had begun circling the structure again, not letting up on his warning glow.

 _Does he sense...?...Just as I thought: It's over there._

Meanwhile, young Shintarou continued to gaze at the battle before him with fear in his eyes, particular focus being on the gritted struggle in the dog demon...He then forms a determined expression, and turns to rush towards the shrine, much to Coraline's dismay.

"Uh! Shintarou?!"

As he ran along the expanse of purple blossoms, the boy calls out,

"Saint Hakushin: Please come to Inuyasha's assistance!"

...But when he got into the trashed room, he became momentarily distracted by a familiar object thrust into the side of the center altar.

"That staff...It's father's!"

"...Shintarou?"

His ears fall deaf to the sound of Coraline's approaching voice, when he clues into the missing vital piece of the altar.

"Guh! Saint Hakushin...He isn't here. He's gone!"

"What?! Gone how?!"

"H-His body was enshrined here...!"

The redhead went into thought over this new development:

 _...Okay, now this is getting more complicated than it needs to...or is it?_

 _Hang on...Uh! Now I understand!_

She and Shintarou rush back outside as the other people currently not fighting shield themselves from a gust of power billowing from the fight between the zombie mercenary and dog demon.

"Miroku! The body of Saint Hakushin is gone! I believe Naraku may have pilfered it!"

"Someone has stolen the body?...Then it wasn't Saint Hakushin that put up the barrier."

Kilala emits another pained growl to meld with Shippo's nauseated groan, courtesy of the overwhelming energies of the island...

 _If it wasn't Saint Hakushin, then who did put up the barrier around Hijiri Island?_

Back in the fight between Inuyasha and Bankotsu, the former tries to thrust his blade against the latter, who jumps out of the way, before coming back down to land a cut across the dog demon's arm!

(Slash)

"Gaaah!"

Everyone gasps with worry, and the ladies exclaim Inuyasha's name, he rising onto his feet while cursing himself for allowing the zombie access to an opening...

Attention then turns back to the empty, devastated shrine, as Coraline and Miroku - who took the fox demon into his own arms upon Freeman's request so the latter could prep himself with his long hammer - discuss a new possibility...

"So Miroku, what do you think?"

"Well, all this time, I was convinced that Saint Hakushin was the one who put up the barrier."

Hearing this, Shintarou tried to rush to the Buddha Incarnate's defense:

"Barrier?...What are you saying?! Saint Hakushin was someone who saved people! Why would he put up a barrier?"

The young monk calmly explains:

"Remember the strange light you and your father saw, Shintarou? It was a demon named Naraku."

"...Naraku?"

"Yes. I'm certain that your father had tried to fight Naraku to protect the Saint."

...Stepping forward slowly to unhook the staff of his deceased parent from the altar, the young boy looks down at the object as he tried to imagine what must have happened...He then mutters solemnly,

"...Then that skeleton...really was my father."

"Naraku wanted to use Saint Hakushin's immense spiritual power. That's why he came here to the island...and I'm guessing that when your father discovered that, he tried to stop him."

"Hrm...That is the duty of the village headman...So he didn't die because he was cursed."

Shintarou turns to look at Miroku:

"That's right, isn't it?" The young monk smiles a little and chides,

"Of course," making the other smile in relief for his father's spirit...Coraline then shifts the topic back onto current events.

"In that case, we have two questions to solve: Where is Saint Hakushin's body now...and who created the barrier?"

 _Was it Naraku using the Saint's robbed powers?...Or...could it be..._

Cutting back briefly to the battle outside, we see that Inuyasha was still having trouble landing a hit against Bankotsu...

"One last strike! Hrrrrrrraaaah!"

The zombie comes leaping forward to try and slice the dog demon in two, who jumps backwards to dodge, causing another big upturn of grass, dirt and rock...

"This is the end for you, Inuyasha!"

...Thankfully, this was where some of our group began lending their swordsman friend a hand, as evident by the swinging giant boomerang and hammer-thrown charge-bolt through the ground, which both simultaneously force Bankotsu to halt in his next attack!

"Guh!"

With a new confidence, Inuyasha slices through the scattered blossoms to move in for a new round...

Miroku then came running out of the ruined shrine while calling over to the battlefield,

"Inuyasha! We just need you to hold him off for a little longer!"

The monk moves until he was standing in the center of the entire island, planting his staff firmly into the ground...

"Now, if I can find the core of the barrier. (Glances down) Shippo, I need to use your powers."

He then rubs the fox demon's forehead with a few of his sacred sutras, before throwing them straight forward like a pitcher's fastball.

 _Shippo's demonic power has been transferred into these charms...It should produce a reaction._

He would get his wish, when one sutra bounces off a specific area up ahead that emitted a dark pink-magenta barrier, disintegrating the paper!

"They've been purified! It's over there!"

Gently placing the young fox demon down onto the flowerbed, Miroku grabs his staff and rushes over to the concentrated point, before thrusting his staff downward onto the barrier.

(Bzzzzzt...)

Static resistance emits...before a golden, club-like weapon of sorts with tipped points appears! Coraline, Shintarou and Lumos hurry to his side to see for themselves, the youngest exclaiming,

"I've seen that before! It's an altar ornament Saint Hakushin used!"

"So, this is it..."

...But before he was close to breaking the barrier surrounding the object, it pushes Miroku back.  
Shintarou would then offer up his own strength:

"I'll use this staff the Saint once owned, and we'll try it together!"

Coraline mutters Miroku's name...who smiles at the young boy's determination and replies,

"Let's do it, Shintarou."

They're then seen standing before the defiant mini barrier, readying their staffs for a double attack, while Coraline stood on standby, her hand inching for her combat knife.

 _I dunno if it can cut through something like that...but it's a decent Plan C if this doesn't work..._

The young boy whispers to himself,

"Give me strength to succeed, father..."

(...CLANG)

Both ends of the staffs connect with the energy of the barrier, and this time, a strong wind accompanies the static power trying to throw interlopers away...But they would not be enough to stop Miroku and Shintarou's combined perseverance, and the shield shatters, taking the mysterious flowers with it!

Sango and Besa exclaim as they watch the field of purple fade away with the breeze,

"The flowers have disappeared!"

...Inuyasha then felt a familiar throb from his sword, and watched as a vortex of wind began to swirl around the blade.

 _The Wind Scar is back! The barrier has broken!_

Back over a ways, Miroku, Coraline and Shintarou crowd around the impressed ground where the strange golden object laid.

"This ornament must be what created the barrier."

"But, this vajra was locked in the temple..."

The redhead wonders to herself as opposed to the verbal comments of the men,

 _Does this mean...the Saint could be in cahoots with Naraku?_

Cutting back to Inuyasha and Bankotsu, the latter holds his Banryū over his shoulder while scoffing with a smirk,

"Don't think this'll save you, Inuyasha, because as you can see, I'm feeling much stronger too, now that the disgusting barrier is gone. Now that the barrier's gone and our powers have returned to normal..."

He gestures a few intimidating swings with his halberd:

"Let's settle this once and for all, Inuyasha!"

The dog demon could only glare back with a growl in his teeth, both aggravated and increasingly wary of the new piece of the battle he'll have to fight his way through to survive another day and get one step closer to his eventual goals...


	125. Chapter 124

**Chapter 124: Good is the New Evil?**

Returning to the scene at hand, we find ourselves overlooking Inuyasha and Bankotsu as they prep themselves for the next heat of the fight, their individual strengths flowing back now that the sacred barrier around Hijiri Island has been dispatched by the combined holy powers of Miroku and Shintarou...

But while the zombie male wielding the massive halberd was feeling confident in getting the victory, the dog demon was feeling the weight of his injuries beginning to sink in, his frustrations mixing with worry...

On another note, it seems that our young fox demon Shippo was starting to feel better now that the pure energies from that barrier weren't antagonizing his being anymore, no longer looking half as sick as he did earlier, but was still rather exhausted out from fighting against the island's atmosphere. With that in mind, Freeman took it upon himself to lift the kit into his arms with a gentle smile cast to the little redhead.

"You did real good for Miroku, kiddo. Just take a few deep breaths and the nausea should be gone."

Sango and Besa (he having Kilala on his left shoulder) move to stand on either side the dark-skinned male, the former commenting,

"At least Inuyasha's demonic powers are back."

Miroku, whom had moved away from the crater containing the mysterious shrine item with Coraline and Shintarou, replies to the demon slayer,

"Although he is still at a disadvantage: His left arm is badly damaged."

The redheaded woman with two-tone blue orbs looks over at her lover with a concern that wasn't fully assured by the soothing moans of her Will O' Wisp partner.

 _Please be careful, Inuyasha. Not just for your arm, but of Bankotsu's halberd too, since it still holds those jewel shards taken from me..._

Said fragments would glow from within the zombie's steel as he taunts with a smirk,

"Let's see you do it right this time. Show me this Wind Scar of yours."

"Thanks for the invite!"

The dog fang blade of Tessaiga throbs as it gathers power, a vortex of wind gushing 'round...

"You're dead! (Thrust) _Wind Scar!_ "

This time, we would witness a true release of the dog fang sword's power, the three-tine claw slash traveling fast towards its target...Bankotsu, however, stood unafraid staring at the approaching attack for a quick moment, before leaping into the air to counterattack.

" _Dragon Hammer!_ "

(Ka-BANG)

The blade shoots out its aura, wrapped in a familiar shade of pink light to go colliding with the energies of the Wind Scar, stopping it right in its tracks, much to the shock of the witnesses!

"He...He stopped the Wind Scar!"

"His Aura stopped the attack!"

"No way!" "Oh hell no!"

Though given some real thought, this wasn't the first time Inuyasha met with an opponent that could fight their way past his signature attack, which gave him another reason to add onto his unworried smirk.

 _Keh, I just gotta look for the whirlpool of demonic energy, then I can use my Backlash Wave._

Yet as Bankotsu lunges towards the dog demon, the latter would quickly find such a strategy would not be possible.

 _What?! I don't see the demonic aura around Bankotsu! So, I can't use my Backlash Wave?!_

"Kah, don't stand there in a daze!"

The swing of Banryū following their wielder's exclaim would snap Inuyasha out of his shock, who then scrambles to avoid getting his body hacked to pieces, leaping into the air and leaving the attacking blade to go crashing into the dirt, sending a large cloud of brown-black smoke into the air...

At the same time Coraline cries out for her lover, Shippo's green irises would blink back awake.  
Stretching his arms while still sitting in Freeman's arms, he yawns,

"I feel like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders..."

The young man with short, coarse black hair smiles a bit and replies,

"We~ll, look who's back."

"The only thing I can clearly remember is feeling really sick."

"Yeah, I was feelin' a bit nauseous too. Probably was the island's barrier giving us a hard time, though in your case, it may have been purifyin' your demonic powers."

Shippo hms with a nod:

"That explains it, and I guess that barrier didn't like your uh-heh, affiliations with Ginta anymore the mountain's did...Uhwah! Inuyasha!"

Looking ahead to the dissipating smoke, Sango answers the next question that was burning in the fox demon's expression.

"He's still fighting with Bankotsu." Besa adds,

"And due to certain circumstances, neither of the Tessaiga's special techniques seem to work on the latter..."

Zooming into the battle area, we see Inuyasha use his sword to help lift himself to his feet while cursing his failed efforts, to which the zombie would mock him for.

"He-ha, it seems you had something in store for me. Too bad it was all in vain!"

"Damn...!"

Shippo calls from the sidelines with raw determination,

"Inuyasha, I know you can do better than that!" Sango informs him,

"Bankotsu took a good shot at his arm."

"Mph! Is it bad?"

...Suddenly, Kilala leaped off from Besa's shoulder with a hissed growl and rushes forward to the dog demon's side, before transforming in a wave of fire and a strong roar! Feeling inspired by his friend's bravery, the young male with black cornrowed hair then dashes forward to hop aboard the twin-tailed cat demon's back, much to everyone else's surprise.

"Huh?!" "Besa?!" "Whoa, bro, what're you-!"

He just sends the rest a smile of assurance, before glancing down at Kilala to say,

"Hope you don't mind me tagging along, Kilala. Let's do what we can to help Inuyasha."

The twin-tailed cat demon rumbles a growl of agreement, and Besa pulls out his demon bone sickles at ready while thinking to himself,

 _I better make my next moves count, for the sake of my friends and family if not myself._

Inuyasha stares over at the two that stepped closer to his side for a moment, before focusing back on his opponent's form while delving into his own train of thought.

 _Bankotsu is a specter, but he was once human..._

 _Judging by the scope of his strength, he must be using some kind of demonic aura._

Miroku thinks aloud about the ultimate attack of Tessaiga to synthesize what went wrong.

"The Backlash Wave Technique surrounds and reverses the natural flow of an opponent's demonic aura. Since Bankotsu was once human, he doesn't produce any such aura."

Bankotsu raises his halberd upward with a single hand, grinning as he taunts to Inuyasha,

"The sacred shards of the Shikon-no-Tama want me to bring you down..."

...That's when Coraline saw it:

(Sheen)

 _The Darkness of the shards is overcoming the Light...Uh! That's it!_

"Inuyasha: Focus on the dark aura produced by Banryū's borrowed power from the jewel shards!"

The dog demon's lips form into a fanged smirk:

 _Perfect. Now that I know that, I can use my Backlash Wave!_

Seeing the winds forming a vortex around his opponent's sword again, Bankotsu frowns.

 _He's thought of something..._

He points his halberd forward and states outright,

"I won't fall for that again! Do ya only have one battle move?! Nrrrrrrah!"

The zombie plants the sharp end of Banryū into the ground, and flips himself upside-down mid-air! Spinning back upright, Bankotsu forms a deadly smile, pointing his sword into the air as dark, thunderous clouds began forming in a whirlpool in the skies, acting as a beacon to the shots of lightning that come flashing.

"He's summoned a thunderstorm!" Cursing, Inuyasha wonders after Miroku,

"What's he up to now?"

The undead mercenary with cobalt irises cold as steel belts out a battle cry before calling out his latest move.

" _Dragon Thunder!_ "

A large bolt of electricity goes shooting back into the clouds from the tip of the halberd...

"Even I can't predict where it will strike!"

Above the storm, the lightning gathers into a massive orb...before it explodes into several bolts to come crashing all over the island! Inuyasha and Miroku exclaim,

"Guh! Look at all those lightning bolts!"

"He can't use the Backlash Wave!"

The dog demon is the first to suffer from the unpredictable lightning strikes, one bolt hitting the ground in front of him and sending his body flying backwards with the upturned ground.

"Aaaaaaaagh...!"

Shintarou cowers with his hands over his head before rushing to try and escape the area...Noticing his retreating form, Coraline forgoes her own safety and runs after him just as the young monk forms a barrier around their standing point.

"Shintarou, wait!"

"Coraline, come back; don't leave the barrier!"

She reaches the young boy and grabs his wrist to pull him to her body, shielding him before crying out for assistance.

"Lumos!"

The Will O' Wisp barely speeds over to the young woman in time to release a burst of his power to mix with hers, just as a bolt of lightning comes crashing down near the three beings.

(...BANG/SHEEN)

"Grrraaaaaaaaah!"

Coraline's yell was all Miroku could hear over the commotion, her more prominently lapis blue Aura energies shining through the cloud of dirt and electricity.

"Coraline!"

The monk is then blown back by another lightning strike...Sensing similar fates were in store for the rest, Freeman quickly acts to protect those who were near him.

"Sango! Shippo!"

(Sheen...)

He activates the power of his Seven Light Crystal shard, creating a barrier that glistened a transparent rainbow shine to deflect the next probable strike from the air...But it only works so much to prevent the worst possible outcome, and would not be enough to stop the three from getting thrown back to the ground by another stormy blast from the skies!

(BANG)

"Aaaaaaaah!" "Whaaaaaah!"

"Auuuuuh!"

The last to fall prey to the multi-strike attack unleashed from Banryū would be Kilala and Besa, who dart their heads up with alert expressions to the tune of these electrical bolts, before one hits the ground too fast for them to even think of dodging!

(BANG)

"(Rowl)" "Guuuuaaaaah!"

...A few more blasts from the sky come and pass, before the Dragon Thunder Technique finally ran its course, leaving the battleground littered with smoking craters and multiple fires burning about...

...

...Inuyasha would once again be first in line to snap back to reality, rising slowly and painfully from unconsciousness with a few roughened groans. Upon getting to his hands and knees, his throat pushes out a cough, causing some crimson to go splashing onto the stony dirt...Once he fully comes out of his haziness, the dog demon casts his amber irises to his surroundings, spotting the unconscious forms of the fox demon, twin-tailed cat demon, the demon slayer and the coco-skinned twin brothers.

"Sango...! Shippo!...Kilala!...Freeman! Besa...!"

He wasn't able to spot Miroku's form...nor that of the one person in his group who meant more to his heart than anyone.

"Uh! Coraline!...Coraline?!"

He darts his head back and forth to find his girl...

"Mrh-hh, I-nu-yasha..."

And upon picking up the quiet mutter with his sensitive ears, the dog demon whirls his body around behind him, spotting the redheaded woman a distance away, weak but somehow still conscious, unlike Shintarou whose blacked-out form was laying face-up just a foot or two beside her.

"Coraline...!"

Lifting her head up with a few pants, she smiles to her man through the dull pain felt in her partially battered form.

"Inu-yasha..."

 _Glad, to know I'm not, the only one, still awake..._

Lumos was also still among the conscious, but had resided to resting on the young headman's chest, trying to gather his own strength back.

"(Ghostly moan...)"

Nodding slightly at her creature partner, Coraline resolves to try and move on her own two feet...but only got a couple steps in before the stress in her nerves robbed her legs of their mobility.

"Agh!"

Inuyasha drew a quick breath in as he watched his lover fall down to her knees again, and tries to get up himself to help her.

"Cor-aline...! Grh!"

But he was having his own issues in staying upright, and fell on his front again, keeping his blurred vision on the redhead's form.

"Coraline...How, dare you, hurt, my intended...!"

...Bankotsu's foot came in the way of the dog demon's amber irises.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. I was telling the truth when I said I couldn't predict where my Dragon Thunder would fall."

Glancing behind him for a moment at Coraline, he comments,

"I admit, I'm surprised the woman's still conscious...but her struggles will soon be put to an end, after yours."

He turns back to sneer at Inuyasha's form:

"So just lie there, little worm, and I'll hack you and your sword to pieces!"

On that note, the undead mercenary twirled his Banryū in the air, gathering another concentration of electrical power from the thunder storm he created...

Little did he know, his battle cry would not be the only one that rang through the atmosphere, as he brought his halberd down in what may have been the deciding attack...all thanks to the enraging soul of another.

Two Minutes Earlier, Coraline's POV

 _Inuyasha...Inuyasha..._

My eyes stayed locked on his form despite my fumble to the ground, desperateness and stubbornness to be by his side the only things driving me to stay conscious. It hurt my heart bad to see him suffering in his struggled attempts to reach me, watching him collapsing on his front.

 _I've got, to help, him...!_

It only got worse when Bankotsu stepped between our distant form, his back blocking my vision from seeing my lover.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. I was telling the truth when I said I couldn't predict where my Dragon Thunder would fall."

He pivots his head behind him to glance at my panting form:

"I admit, I'm surprised the woman's still conscious...but her struggles will soon be put to an end, after yours."

I just sent him a dirty look:

 _Damn you..._

(Pulse...)

Thankfully, for the sake of my spiritual health, I managed to keep most of my anger in check to prevent any possible ruptures in my Soul...Still, that didn't stop me from becoming enraged by the following threat that slid from that bastard's mouth.

"So just lie there, little worm, and I'll hack you and your sword to pieces!"

(...Sheen)

 _Not while I'm alive, you heathen!_

With Protectiveness and my undying Love for the man with silver hair and amber irises jump-starting my abilities, I bolted to my feet with slitting irises clouded over by a bright dark blue (I've come to suspect that since my training after my last loss of control, my Soul has, changed, matured even...), drew ShatterSoul and sprinted like a madwoman straight for the target, my outcry melding with the zombie's.

"Hrrrraaaaaaaaaaah!" "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"

(BANG/CLANG)

...The collision of weaponry had a real chaotic feel, and I don't mean just from my sword and Bankotsu's. Somewhere about a split second before his halberd and my long blade would meet in a downward strike and sideways uppercut respectively, Inuyasha had sped back onto his feet and rushed to meet the former in a clash, his Tessaiga landing in an area just a few centimeters above my ShatterSoul!

The feel of energy was a little terrifying, yet at the same time...exhilarating. Having the privilege to fight alongside my lover only fueled my desire to claim victory...I could tell he felt the same from one side glance to his face, he locking his amber with my currently-glowing blue.

 _Inuyasha...Let's take him down, together._

My silent message must have gotten through, for he bobbed his head ever so slightly with that serious firmness, before turning to snarl at Bankotsu for releasing that earlier attack that caused a great deal of pain for those we cared about.

"Damn you! This is between us!...Why couldn't you keep my friends and lover out of it?!"

I add just as angry,

"You're only giving us more reasons to do more than simply lop your head off!"

 _Anyone who dares to harm my loved ones...will feel my wrath!_

Pushing the bastard back at the same time, Inuyasha and I began taking turns in a series of fast-paced strikes with our swords against Bankotsu's. Somehow, his luck holds out and he's able to block each of our blows.

"Both of you, quit acting so naive; it doesn't suit either of you!"

I retort with a growl,

"Who's naive, you brute?!"

We then go into our own mini sparring match after he drives Inuyasha back, and while I was able to near-match the zombie's strength, he'd still prevail since he wasn't the one moving on pure adrenaline, swiping ShatterSoul upward before seizing me by my neck!

"Ag-guh!"

While I was stuck trying to squirm my dangling form out of the bastard's grip, Inuyasha had gained another motivation to become even more pissed.

"Coraline! Grrrh, let her go, now!"

Bankotsu only chuckled and jeered,

"And why should I? She's the one who chose to get herself into this fix...Now then."

His fingers squeeze harder around my throat, making me choke for air as he asks aloud in a sadistic tone,

"Do I kill you first, or only wound you enough that you'll be forced to watch helplessly as I _slaughter_ your so-called lover?"

Fighting for breath, I wheeze out with a weak smirk,

"N-Neither, you fool."

"Huh?"

(Sheen...JAB)

"Gaurh!"

Using a smaller concentration of power, I summoned my combat knife out of its sheath to my right hand before bringing it down into the mock flesh of the hand that held me off the ground, forcing him to release me. I dropped to the ground hard, but managed to recover and dart backwards away from him to the safer proximity of my lover. He quickly gathered me into his good arm:

"Coraline!...Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, (cough) I'll survive...And you?"

"Fine..."

We pull back so he could give me a once-over, and immediately growled at the sight of what I'm assuming must've been freshly-blooming bruises on my neck.

"That bastard's dead. No one hurts you and gets away with it alive."

"Inuyasha..."

"Grrrr, curse, you, woman...!"

We darted our heads back over to where Bankotsu stood, he glaring down at his left appendage, the back of his palm now sporting a reasonable stab wound that was bleeding profoundly. His irises then shoot upward, most of the rage directed at me:

"You're gonna regret that move, I promise you that!"

I grit my teeth on the defense, and Inuyasha tucked my form behind his in a shielding manner...

"You're both dead!"

Our enemy raises his halberd into the air, it wrapping itself in another radiant glow courtesy of those damn jewel shards.

 _Oh crap, here we go again!_

 _"Stay calm, chile, and use yer Aura against the jewel's alongside the dog boy's!"_

 _Okay!_

I prep myself to unleash hell from my sword, as does Inuyasha who calls,

"How 'bout some variety?! This is getting old!"

We then both swing our swords down in synchronization, Tessaiga and ShatterSoul's dual powers shooting across the landscape in their bright yellow and lapis blue shines respectively, twirling in an intertwine halfway, before meeting Banryū's challenge at the middle point, creating a mass orb collision to blow up on the battlefield...!

Once it died down, Inuyasha and I would take the opportunity to charge through.

"Come on, how many dirty little tricks are ya gonna pull on us?!"

"Just give up already!"

Bankotsu would retort in return while sending another wave of energy for us to block,

"What are you, stupid?! In a fight to the death, there's no such thing as fair or foul!"

By this point, I could feel my stamina start to drop, and I would have fallen on my back after blocking with ShatterSoul, if my man hadn't held me steady with an arm around my waist.

"Ah! Mm...Thank you."

"Don't mention it...Can you still go on?"

I managed a half-smirk and retort lightly,

"Need you ask?"

He smirked a little at me in return, pulling me up straight before stealing a quick peck from my lips, quickly shifting to a serious expression as we faced up front towards the mercenary again.

"We'll take him down even if it kills us."

I only nod firmly, and we release our respected Auras against Bankotsu's once more, creating yet another orb collision between us that was stronger than the first, so much so that the zombie was struggling to hold his ground.

 _We've got 'im this time, no doubt!_

Inuyasha seemed to think so too, and took the initiative in leaping up high to strike down on Bankotsu.

"You're mine now!"

...

...That's when it happened: That vajra Miroku, Shintarou, Lumos and I discovered not too far from the ruined shrine, suddenly acted on its own accord, shooting out from the crater on a straight course for the Tessaiga, stopping it right in its tracks!

 _What?!_

Stranger still...it began emitting an ethereal glow that spreads across the island, the kind that was peaceful...healing...It would certainly be enough to stir the others of our group awake, as evident by the rise of brightness and beats in their Auras.

 _Oh good, everyone's okay..._

 _...And yet, I feel more uneasy than before._

I placed my fingertips to my neck, and felt no sore impressions.

 _My bruises...gone before they can form..._

 _Where is that power coming from? Surely the vajra isn't the beacon._

Miroku would be the next to comment on this new source of interference.

"Saint Hakushin's vajra...! I knew it!"

Next thing I knew, the ornament forces the Tessaiga to revert back into its dormant form!

 _Uh! The demonic aura's been purified!_

Inuyasha was understandably edgy about this new turn:

"What's the meaning of this?!"

Miroku calls over to explain:

"Wait, Inuyasha! That vajra was at the core of the barrier that surrounded this island!...It seems that Saint Hakushin is an ally of Bankotsu!"

Though Shintarou shook his head and voiced his disbelief, I was easily siding with the monk's train of thought.

 _That would definitely fit the tone of these parts: Pure air with a paranoid skeptic's guard..._

 _Clearly not of their right mind, and unaware of who is truly friend or foe.  
_

Bankotsu scoffs and remarks,

"I take it he wants me to finish you off quickly. I admit it, it bothers me that he doesn't have faith in my ability..."

He twirls his halberd into the air, before making his move to charge against Inuyasha.

"It's too bad it has to end so soon for you all!"

"Right back, (CLANG) at you!"

I rose to the occasion and met the zombie mercenary in a clash of blades...Inuyasha cried out my name in both a proud surprise and worry for my safety, while Bankotsu grinds his teeth at me.

"You're really getting on my last nerve, girl!" I retort back,

"Feeling's mutual!"

(...Sheen, siiiiiizzzzzz)

I suppose my Aura must've been particularly self-righteous this round, when suddenly, some of the sparking dark arctic energies emitting from my blade shoot like tiny lightning bolts to hack at Bankotsu's offensive arm, burning his flesh so much that it disintegrated to the bone!

 _Whoa...Didn't see that coming._

A flash of fear rose in his cobalt eyes, and he darts back away from me to stare down at his skeletal arm in disbelief, giving me a chance to catch my breath while also trying to wrap my head around what just happened.

"Hah, hah, hah...Where'd that come from...?"

 _I, wasn't losing control...was I?_

My ancestor quickly jumps to quell my insecurities:

 _"Nay, far from it: Yer fighting spirit is merely more prominent than that of the heathen's, so much so that his necromancy body cannot handle the liveliness."_

 _...Sooo, this is simply a case of 'I'm stronger, you're not'._

 _"Mm, suppose that be another way of putting it..."_

 _Huh...Who would've thought?_

(Bu-bump...bu-bump...)

"Hm?"

My focus would then turn head to the vajra, it now throbbing a glow similar to the one that was cast over the whole of this island...Only this time, the goal was fixated on our group's current enemy, he now fading right on the spot before our eyes! He wasn't any less shocked than we were:

"What...?!"

Sango and Shippo mutter with wide eyes,

"Bankotsu is..."

"Disappearing...!"

Inuyasha tries to stop the zombie from escaping the area:

"Bankotsu, damn you...! Don't you dare!"

(...Bzzzzzt)

But he became stuck mid-jump courtesy of another barrier, likely set up by the shrine ornament!

 _Crap!_

"Sis!"

I dart my head to the far right behind me, and saw my twin brothers fast-approaching me with their weapons raised.

"Let's all three of us hit the barrier at once!"

 _Couldn't hurt to try._

I nod quick and firm, turning around just as they caught up, before we gang up together in one full swing of my sword, Freeman's hammer and Besa's sickles!

"Haaaa-aah!" "Yrraaaah!" "Caaaaah!"

(Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt...)

Unfortunately, we weren't anymore successful than my lover, our weapons getting stuck between the purifying energies of the barrier being projected. Freeman curses loudly, Besa grits his teeth, while I focused glaring irises at Bankotsu's form, he fading away completely...but not before sending a faint smirk of satisfaction my way, making me growl in both frustration and defeat.

 _Curse you, Bankotsuuuu!_

No POV

Once the undead mercenary was gone, so too would be the vajra and the barrier it created, leaving Inuyasha to fall down to the ground a bit harshly, while Coraline and the twins toppled slightly from the dragging weight drop of their weapons.

"Gah!" "Whoah!"

"Grh!...Damn bastard's vanished..."

The dog demon's brooding thoughts were none too far behind his love interest, glare fixed on his face as he lifted himself up again.

 _Damn...he's gone._

"...Inuyasha?"

He looks up to meet his amber irises with Coraline's blue, she slowly walking over to kneel down by his form with concern now fading into view on her face.

"You okay?"

Nodding, Inuyasha places a clawed hand over the young woman's arm before replying verbally,

"I should be askin' you that...Still, (looks ahead of them) now what?"

"Bankotsu isn't our only problem."

Attention turns to Miroku, he assisting Besa off the ground after doing the same for Freeman.

"The vajra has disappeared as well."

The young man with cornrow black hair asks the monk,

"You believe it helped the mercenary escape, right?"

"Yes, probably."

...Shintarou assesses the damage done to the holy shrine, his young eyes dancing with sadness and confusion.

"I don't understand...What happened to Saint Hakushin? He's gone. Where do you think he could've disappeared to?"

Speaking for the rest of the group who occupied sympathetic frowns, Freeman mutters while placing a gentle hand on the young headman's shoulder,

"I wish we could give you a good answer...but let's face it: There haven't been alot of opportunities for that lately...and I honestly don't see one on the horizon anytime soon."

...

...

So then where did Bankotsu get to?

...Well...

"(...Cough, cough) Damn it...I feel terrible..."

Our scene shifts to the outside boardwalk of another shrine of these parts set in the heart of Mount Hakurei's misty landscape, where the zombie male with cobalt irises stirs from unconsciousness. Needless to say, his mood would not be positive when as he clues into his current surroundings.

"I don't get it. What the hell happened to me, anyway? (Looks around) Where am I?"

...The sound of footfalls catches his attention, and Bankotsu pivots his head left, spotting the approaching forms of Kanna and Kohaku.

"Bankotsu, sir."

"Kohaku, Kanna...Where are we? I-It feels awful in here..."

"I would imagine so, sir. This isn't a place for men with evil hearts."

"It doesn't seem to bother you much...Figures with you being a ninja."

The zombified young demon slayer mentally sighs while muttering aloud,

"You're mistaken. I am not a ninja."

Bankotsu's eyes then fall on the void demon as she walks over and kneels by him to take hold of the golden vajra.

 _...Now I remember: The light of the vajra enveloped me._

He follows Kanna as she walks from that point A to point B, they being a large altar with a mummified figure sitting dead center.

"...Who is that...?"

Looking more closely as the stark white young lady sets the ornament down, we see that this dried carcass was sitting in a prayer position with the body dressed in an immaculate purple monk uniform with gold trim...The gears in Bankotsu's brain started to click along as he puts two and two together.

"I see: Inuyasha and his woman kept saying something or other about a Saint...This must be Saint Hakushin's body...He's responsible for creating the barriers around Mount Hakurei and Hijiri Island..."

And yet, these answers seemed to only raise more questions about the motives of the edgy spirit nestled deep within the mummy...

Small Time Skip

It would be sometime around mid-afternoon by the time Inuyasha's group and Shintarou cross the lake back to the latter's village, the young boy carrying a bundle in his arms containing the remains of his father...

His three older sisters would quickly meet with the whole near the middle point between the shore and their home, only to learn of the tragic fate of their parental figure...

"Father's, gone?"

"He died protecting the temple...?"

Shintarou nodded solemnly to Yuki and Hana:

"...Saint Hakushin disappeared from the island, because of a demon known as Naraku. I believe father died in a battle against this demon."

"Poor father..."

"At least he died honourably..."

The young boy presents the bundle for his sister in the pink/blue kimono.

"Our father's bones are in here."

"...Oh, father..."

Miroku speaks up in a respectable air:

"We give him a proper burial and lay his bones to rest."

...Meanwhile, elsewhere towards the so-called holy mountain, we catch up with noneother than Ginta and Hakkaku, the pair and their fellow wolves arriving at the foot of a waterfall that camouflaged a cave entrance, trying to track down their leader once again.

"Ugh, he's not here."

"Well, where is he?"

"...Hey!"

Their heads dart over towards the cave, and spot Kōga standing atop the boulder next to the rushing tide of water.

"What took ya so long? I've been waitin' for ya!"

"Ah, hey there, Kōga!" Ginta's lips quirk upward in a relieved manner:

"Great, we finally caught up to him."

Hurrying to stand with their friend again, all three wolf demons then walk inside the cave...

"I chased the thing all over the place until it finally ran in here..."

And by 'it', Kōga was referring to the large boar he had recently killed for his pack, much to Hakkaku and Ginta's delight.

"Meat, meat, meat!"

"It's huge!"

...They would all (including the regular wolves) soon be sitting around a campfire, gorging away on the lean swine meat and feeling their hunger finally being sedated. Looking around their current setting, Ginta comments with a half-sad smile,

"Y'know, this place kind-a reminds me of home..."

Hakkaku nods in agreement, though shivering slightly from an eeriness running down his spine.

"Yeah, but it's kind-a creepy..."

"...It's because of the barrier."

The two wolf demons look to their leader in confusion as he stood up while explaining further.

"The barrier protects the mountain so demons like us can't get near it, and it's so strong, it permeates this cave."

Air is sucked between the teeth of the wolf demon with Mohawk hair.

"Wooow, that's taking caution overboard..."

"We'll leave after we eat."

Ginta and Hakkaku each make noises of surprise, and Kōga states determinedly,

"I'm positive that the Band of Seven is hiding out somewhere in this barrier...I'll find some way to pass through it."

...At the same time the young wolf demon leader vows to hunt down the remaining zombie mercenaries currently beyond his reach, Coraline would be calling the first farewell for the group as they take their leave of Shintarou and his siblings.

"Goodbye, Shintarou, Hana, Yuki, Getsu! May the four of you take care of one another as time goes!"

The young boy calls back,

"I'll pray for your good journey!"

Miroku then calls with a wave,

"If you ever feel lonely, please don't hesitate to call upon me! I'll come to your aid anytime, day or night, especially night-Gaa-ow-ho-ow!"

Sango jerks him along by the ear to stop any hidden implications.

"That's enough out of you, Miroku."

"That's attached, ya know!" Freeman replies with a smart-alack smirk,

"Which is more than you can say about your brain, idiot."

Getsu voices the final farewell, which would be returned with a gentle smile by Besa.

"Take care, all of you!"

"We will, and you as well!"

...And in another part of the vast lands that swept within this unearthly pure air, we find Sesshomaru and his small group overlooking from a cliff standing tall against the landscape towards the distant Mount Hakurei. Though the dog demon held a slight glare of indifference with the desire of vengeance burning in the back of his molten amber irises, young Rin's brown eyes contained only an innocent curiousity.

"Wow. Look at the size of this valley, Master Jaken..."

The imp was having a hard time staying upright, having to use his Staff of Skulls to keep his swaying, sweating body steady.

"I still feel terrible, even though we've come a long distance away from Mount Hakurei..."

Sesshomaru's thoughts were fixated on what was likely hidden within the seemingly non-accessible barrier.

 _The purifying aura that keeps out anything demonic extends all the way here..._

 _Naraku's schemes are in their final stages._

(Leap)

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

...Surprisingly enough, the dog demon only received minor friction from the outer energies of the massive barrier, and was able to continue diving smoothly into the foggy valley below.

"How phenomenal...Guh! Lord Sesshomaru!"

"After him, A-Un."

The two-headed dragon demon heeds the young human's command and takes off for the air, much to the imp's dismay.

"Hold on, Rin, don't leave me behind!"

Thankfully, A-Un pauses a moment to let him jump on their tail, before continuing on after their main master...

"Slow this thing down, would ya?! I don't wanna fall!"

The imp then begins feeling the sparking pain of the barrier, causing him to almost lose grip on A-Un's tail and for him to yelp even louder, prompting Rin to scold his behaviour.

"Stop making such a fuss, Master Jaken!"

"I can't help it!"

"You're so annoying!"

"I can't take thiiiis!"

Kikyō's POV _  
_

Feeling the shift of strength in Mount Hakurei's barrier, I decided that now was the best time to leave this village and prepare for what lies ahead...

"Lady Kikyō, do you really have to leave us?"

It hurts my heart to have to leave these innocent ones behind, but I knew that my life and theirs would be placed into jeopardy if I lingered here for too long...I smile sadly and reply to Yuuta,

"I'm sorry. I had wanted to stay longer..."

"First Doctor Suikotsu, and now you..."

 _Ah yes...the 'good' doctor..._

"And now you're going to leave...Lady Kikyō, we were hoping you were going to say with us for a while, at least until the doctor returns."

My smile turns into a frown mixed with light surprise in hearing Chiyo's words.

"You're still waiting for him, even after all that has happened to you?" Yuuta replies,

"Yes. Doctor Suikotsu suffered in pain sometimes, but he was very kind to us."

 _The virtuous side of Suikotsu did protect these children...yet..._

I turned my eyes to the ground, feeling their hope was for naught considering how far Suikotsu had fallen back into his much older and more dangerous persona...

"Uh, if you happen to run into Doctor Suikotsu, could you give him a message? Please tell him that we're waiting for him."

"Chiyo..."

Smiling a little at his innocence, I nodded and reply softly,

"I'll pass that along if I see him."

...Eventually, I would find myself traveling solo along a mountain path running near these purified lands, thinking of what has come to pass thus far and what these events unveiled.

 _Suikotsu disappeared in Mount Hakurei's barrier..._

 _...Yuuta...Chiyo...the Suikotsu you knew no longer exists._

I pause my steps to look back at the mountain in the distance...

 _The barrier has become stronger. I can't take it for much longer either._

With that in mind, I continue on my way, knowing my role to play would have to wait...until some certain allies of mine open the pathway to reach it.

Inuyasha's POV

My pack and I had returned to the foot of that damned mountain again, since we really had nowhere else to head to at the moment other than there. Problem was, that stupid pure energy emanating from the grounds was rising, making any chances of me entering there next to impossible.

 _The power of the barrier is becoming stronger..._

I wasn't the only one either, of course: Shippo and Kilala were having it worse than I was given they're full-blooded demons, once again becoming weak and dizzy from the atmosphere. Freeman was hanging onto the kid while looking at him with a concerned frown:

"Mmh, poor Shippo: He looks ready to throw up again..."

He shifts his grip temporarily so he had a free hand to rub his temples with a slight grimace.

"Mind you, I don't feel any better; got an uber headache starting to knock at the walls of my skull..."

Coraline was having similar problems, leaning between my right arm and chest with an unsettled expression while muttering through her teeth,

"Damn prejudiced barrier..."

I pulled her close while softly rubbing my knuckles against her back in a soothing manner, trying to make her discomfort disappear.

 _Damn prejudiced barrier indeed: Seems like anyone and anything's capable of prying into manners best left alone these days..._

Turning my head behind me, I call to the monk,

"Hey, Miroku: Are you absolutely sure that Naraku is hiding in Mount Hakurei?"

He replies while approaching with Sango and Besa (she carrying Kilala),

"I'm not fully certain, but I'm positive that Saint Hakushin is the one creating this barrier."

"Well, it does make sense because the barrier protected Bankotsu, one of Naraku's men."

Besa wonders aloud after Sango's reasoning,

"Yet this begs the differ the question of if the saint on Naraku's side, or is he being forced?...Or maybe he isn't on anyone's side and is just becoming paranoid with the shifting times."

I hm in accordance with both of their pondering, and look back up at the tall hunk of rock that's been causing us hell.

"I would've thought that a massive evil like Naraku wouldn't be able to enter a sacred place like that..."

Coraline replies in a mix of bitterness and sadness while shifting even closer to me,

"This is unfortunately a living example of something my father taught me when I was little: Not all is as it seems. Good can be deceitful, and Bad usually ends up being the best conveyor of the truth. If you're blinded by the popular beliefs and misconceptions...you miss what's really in front of you."

 _Hmph...ain't that the truth._

Pecking her head with a soft kiss, I chide back,

"Kuh, your old man had a wise mind, then...which explains where your smarts came from."

I felt her smile slightly and her unease quell a little, which made my own tensity drop a bit...Miroku would then get us back on track:

"Once inside, though, there's no better place to hide. Think of those who hunt him: The Wolf Demon, Kōga...Sesshomaru...You, Inuyasha, and Kikyō, are all unable to go to Mount Hakurei."

 _Yeah, and even my intended and Freeman are experiencing some friction from the barrier 'cause of their deep affiliations with those harboring demonic auras..._

Sango spoke up just as my added thought finishes:

"Let's not waste anymore time, Miroku."

"Right."

She then steps over to Besa to present him the weakened Kilala as I asked,

"What're you guys doing?" Miroku replies,

"We've decided that Sango and I will go survey Mount Hakurei."

 _What? By yourselves?_

"Inuyasha, Coraline, guys, you should stay here."

Coraline asks Sango with anxiousness rising in her tone,

"Are you two, sure about this? Not that I doubt your capabilities or anything, but..."

The other young woman smiled slightly and nodded, before focusing back on the boy with cornrow hair.

"Watch over Kilala? I can't take her."

He nodded with a soft but firm expression, taking the cat demon into his arms.

"Of course."

"Don't you worry about a thing, Coraline..."

I turn my focus back on Miroku, and had to fight the urge to groan with an eyeroll at seeing where his cursed hand was wandering.

"From this point on, I won't have a spare moment to caress Sango's enticing body."

 _Kami, he really hasn't learned much about self-control, has he?_

Thankfully, Sango puts an end to the stupidity by whacking her weapon against the monk's head.

"I'll show you enticing!"

Coraline shook her head a little and replies,

"That's not what's concerning me. It's the possible danger factors that the both of you could face by entering into unfamiliar territory."

Freeman nodded in agreement:

"Yeah, 'specially since there's a real high chance that demon bastard's camouflaging in there somewhere, and if not him, maybe a few of his followers, including the remaining Shichinintai..."

Sango argues back,

"Inuyasha can't go inside past the barrier, remember? And even you and Coraline are having increasing difficulties in this atmosphere...It has to be the two of us, (looks to Besa) unless, you also wish to follow."

"Hm..."

"Sango, Miroku."

The two turn to face me, and I tell them seriously,

"Just check around, and don't take any unnecessary risks, okay?"

They smile and nod in a reassuring way.

"Rest assured, that's what we intend to do."

"We're off...Besa?"

He shakes his head in a declining manner:

"I think my place is better suited back here with everyone else. Less people scoping about means less risk of detection...Plus, I've got Kilala to look after."

"Alright then."

So on that note, Sango and Miroku start making their way to the mountain valley...The rest of us watch them leave, and Coraline leans her head on my chest while wondering aloud,

"They're going to be alright...right?"

Hugging her close, I reply simply,

"We don't really have much choice, 'cept to have faith in them."

 _And once we figure out how to pass this barrier...that's when the battle will really begin._


	126. Chapter 125

**Chapter 125: Dogs & Wolves Bearing Their Teeth - Battles at the Mountain Base**

Returning to our story just shortly after Miroku and Sango leave for the deeper region of Mount Hakurei to find out just what the source of its immensely powerful barrier truly was, we now catch up with another team on the hunt for the remaining Shichinintai, and to a lesser extent, the madman half-demon responsible for their revival...

"Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah..."

Rushing out of the misty fog on a path situated up the other side of this vastly tall mountain, was Kōga of the Wolf Demon Tribe, leading along some of his pack in a sprint to try and find some sort of weak point in the sacred barrier he could get into.

"Hah, hah...How 'bout here?!"

He slams his right side towards the deeper rocky parts of the valley, but was once again blocked off by the purifying energies protecting this nature structure, much to his rising frustration.

"Damn it! Not here either...!"

...As he pauses to catch his breath while keeping his glaring eyes directed to what continued to elude his reach, we cut back down a little bit of the path to see his comrades Ginta and Hakkaku rushing to catch up with a bit more puff in their breaths.

"What's, Kōga's, problem?! He never, listens to, anyone!"

The wolf demon with short grey hair dyed an onyx black on top replies with a sigh,

"Nope. Once he makes up his mind, that's it..."

"Auh! There he is, up ahead! Kōga, wait up, would ya?!"

He with the long black ponytail and sea blue irises pivots his head to look at the other two fellow wolf demons with annoyance at their speed average.

"You're slow, as usual. What took you so long?"

Hakkaku and Ginta stop to gulp in some air while replying back a bit incredulously (the former more so than the latter),

"You gotta, be kidding me!"

"It's not that, we're too slow. You're too, fast...!"

Kōga seemingly puts those words into thought...before his friends would speak up again, feeling rather deflated by the lack of progress.

"...What do ya say we call it quits, Kōga?"

"We've been searching around the mountain for days now, and we still haven't found a way to get past the barrier."

Though a bit deadpanned from exhaustion, the wolf demon with the gray-white Mohawk hair managed to look at towards Mount Hakurei with a flash of fear in his eyes.

"Besides, this place is givin' me the creeps..."

Ginta was a bit more concerned over his leader's physical health.

"It can't be easy on you hitting that barrier over and over again."

"Come on, Kōga, whadda you say?"

"Let's just, give up, least for now, okay?"

These attempts of persuasion did not sit well with the addressed, his sea blue irises blazing.

"Shut your trap!"

The other two flinch back from his burst of anger, as Kōga adds fiercely while pointing towards the mountain valley,

"The Band of Seven is definitely in there! And I'm gonna bust through this barrier...out of pride."

...Unbeknownst to the wild canine pack, two of the said undead mercenaries were close by, watching them from inside the fog.

"Ge-heh-heh-heeesh..."

"Hehnhn, well well, Ginkotsu. It seems they can't see us from behind here after all."

The mecha-zombie lets out another robotic chuckle, while Renkotsu went into thought over the abilities of this massive barrier.

 _This barrier is turning out to be very convenient...Hm, it's quite sickening, but why not take advantage of it?_

He shifts his focus to ordering the following of his fellow brother:

"Alright, Ginkotsu: First, go for the legs. I want you to blow both of his legs off."

Said zombie agrees with a laugh, and aims his twin cannons towards the wolf demons, just as the argument reaches its end...

"Aw come on, Kōga, at least think about it!"

"I've had enough of you two quitters! The Band of Seven are hiding in there! So how 'bout this? I'm gonna find them all and kill them myself!"

This was where Renkotsu made his presence known vocally:

" _Ooooo, we're scared_."

They - the wolf demons - dart their heads towards the inner mountain valley, but see nothing...

(BOOM)

Ginkotsu's cannons fire, and the blast hits the wolves and wolf demons hard, throwing Kōga back hard to one side while the rest fell backwards another way...!

...The mecha-zombie comes rumbling out of the barrier's visionary block point shortly after with the fire-user standing atop his side, the latter glancing down at the growling Kōga with a scoff.

"Dauh! I thought I told you to blow his legs off."

Ginkotsu makes a sound on the lines of 'I tried!', before the targeted wolf demon barks back,

"Well, ya didn't!"

...We check back now with Inuyasha and company on the other side of Mount Hakurei, they all now sitting around at the base ledge awaiting the return of their demon slayer and monk companions.

Coraline was sitting closely to the dog demon with her legs laying towards the right side, he having his right leg propped up to rest his arm on, while the twins sat with their backs against one another adjacent to the first two, Freeman holding Shippo in his lap while Besa held onto Kilala, and Lumos was hovering slowly around all their proximity in a lazy circle like a cotton ball on a gentle breeze...

Now one would find it reasonable to wonder if after all this time, Inuyasha had developed a stronger sense of patience, right?...However, judging from the subtle fast-paced rise and fall of his thumping leg and grunted growls bubbling quietly from his throat, we can easily say such thoughts will continue to be left to the imagination...

"Haaah, Inuyasha?"

Not averting his amber irises from the rocky floor, he grunts to the redheaded woman,

"What?"

Puffing out another breath of air with an exasperated smile, Coraline reaches over to place a palm on his shoulder while chiding,

"Getting worked up before anything even happens won't help. Relax, and everything will come to your favour."

"What makes ya think I'm worked up?"

"...Well, your bouncing leg's a clear-enough indicator."

Moving her hand from the dog demon's shoulder to push said thumping appendage down, the young woman with two-tone blue irises suddenly plops herself into his lap!

"Guh!"

"Which is why I'm gonna si-guh, I mean, seat myself on you to make it stop."

...Inuyasha just stares at the girl with an expression that said 'you're serious, aren't you?', before he lets out a sigh of light irritation and wraps an arm around her waist to pull her to his chest, secretly glad for a physical distraction...

"I wonder if they're okay..."

Eyes and ears fall onto Shippo's form, as he continues his thoughts aloud while propping himself up a little in the middle of Freeman's crossed legs.

"I just wonder if Sango and Miroku are gonna be okay on their own."

"Kuh, one thing's for sure, they're alot more dependable than you are."

The fox demon would glare at Inuyasha for both the mild insult and his ignorance on what the former was really referring to.

"Idiot. I wasn't suggesting we couldn't trust them."

"Okay, then what is it that you're all worried about?"

...A light crimson dusts Shippo's face as he replies vaguely and in embarrassment,

"Uh, ya know, this and that, and, this..."

Though most of the smaller group was confused by the fox child's answer, Freeman caught onto the finer details fairly quickly while barely holding down a snicker.

 _Heh, oh yeah, there's plenty that could happen when you've got two adults isolated and, 'pent up'..._

 _Though given the nature of this freaky mountain, there's no way to Sunday that's gonna go any further than the ole college try._

Moving to the first section of the long, winding path leading up Mount Hakurei, we test both probabilities on the unofficial couple of subject...

"I wonder how far this goes. There's no demonic aura or anything out of the ordinary up here. Hm..."

Sango lead the way up as she replies to Miroku,

"We wouldn't have thought to check this place out if it hadn't been for what happened on Hijiri Island."

"We have to be careful to keep on our guard, Sango."

She pivots her head to look at the monk's cerulean irises with her brown.

"I agree."

The slayer then continues her walk, giving Miroku that enticing (to him) view of her, backside...

"Remember, keep on your guard..."

A naughty smirk appears on his face, and with his cursed hand stretched out straight for the prize, he once again tries to grope the poor unsuspecting young woman...

However, the male with short black hair tied back into a rat's tail would stop right in his tracks, when he felt an overwhelming ache in his chest.

"Gh!"

 _Rgh, I can't believe this: Just one lecherous thought and I'm feeling sick to my stomach..._

 _Urh, the barrier of Mount Hakurei is strong indeed to have such an effect on me._

Not feeling the monk's presence close behind her, Sango pauses to look back in confusion.

"Wha'd you stop for?"

He quickly straightens and replies to her with an awkward smile,

"Ah-yuh, nevermind me, just, stumbled a bit. Ah-heheh..."

"Mm?...Well, watch your step, then."

With that, the young woman with long brown hair tied back into a high ponytail starts the walk for both of them again, not seeing the sigh of relief Miroku releases for not having his folly in being indecent found out...for the time being...

Returning now to the wolf demon group on the other side of Mount Hakurei, Kōga continues to snarl at mercenary brothers Renkotsu and Ginkotsu as both sides move to ready themselves for the appending battle, while Ginta and Hakkaku stayed behind the boulder they were knocked behind in the first blast from the mecha-zombie's cannons.

"Whoa...!" "Where'd they come from?"

Standing up, the leading wolf demon says to his enemies,

"So you were hiding behind the barrier."

The fire-user replies almost smugly,

"Yes indeed, we certainly were. We've been right in front of you this whole time."

Ginkotsu grunts out a chuckle, but Kōga didn't feel discouraged:

"Tuh, guess our search around the mountain wasn't in vain after all. I'm surprised you showed yourselves, though."

Renkotsu lets out his own close-mouthed chuckle:

"I suppose you would be. Would you like to know why we did so? Because of your Shikon-no-Tama shards!"

(Ka-Boom)

Another cannon shot is fired from the mecha-zombie's arsenal, and Kōga barely jumps out of the way in time...only to feel his knees buckle in some pain upon landing.

"Gh!"

 _Rh, this is trouble: He got my legs on the very first shot! I gotta put an end to this, fast._

"Kōga, you okay?!"

He gestures a halting hand towards his friends and warns them to stay clear of the battle.

"Stay back, you two!"

"S-Sure, okay!"

Ducking down closer to the ground behind the protruding rock, Ginta wonders with worry,

"Think he even stands a chance against that metal monster? That thing's deadly!"

Hakkaku couldn't provide a comforting answer, nowhere anymore confident than the other was, and both look towards Ginkotsu with terror in their eyes...Meanwhile, the wolf demon currently fighting the two zombies was glaring them over with frustrated thought burning in his sea blue irises.

 _Those two are just like Kyokotsu, resurrected through the power of the Shikon-no-Tama shards._

 _And if I can just take the jewels away..._

He recalls what happened to said Shichinintai member when the shard in their forehead was yanked out...

"I'll get you..."

Kōga charges forward in a sprint:

"I'll send you back to the grave!"

"Pull back now, Ginkotsu."

The massive zombie of undead flesh and metalwork heeds his brother's command, and rolls backwards to the inside of the mountain barrier, much to the wolf demon's confusion.

"Huh? What?! You're takin' off?!"

"It's not what it looks like."

"Wha-?!"

"We're still going to destroy you, but from a safe distance."

...With the zombie brother duo now out of the line of sights, attack and defense was going to become much harder for Kōga. This only made Hakkaku and Ginta's hearts quiver even faster:

"Look, they vanished...!"

Swallowing down his nerves and fighting to stop himself from shaking, the wolf demon with short hair and silver-blue irises glares ahead with uncertainty.

 _Now what?_

He and other are then forced to duck and cover from an onslaught of dust and rock when blasts from Ginkotsu's cannon come to greet the wolf demon stuck under the bullseye! Hakkaku exclaims,

"He's done for! How can he fight an enemy he can't even see?!"

Ducking down to dodge another wave of rock dust and upturned ground, Ginta thinks to himself,

 _There isn't much of a choice here: We need to retreat and come up with another plan, or we're gonna get blasted to pieces!_

"Kōga, let's get outta here; we're sitting ducks!"

Unfortunately for the more sensible-thinking male, his friend and pack leader was stubborn.

"We're not going anywhere!"

 _I knew what I was getting into, but now what? They're deadly!_

Continuing to hop to and fro out of the way of the incoming cannon blasts, he decides on a course of action.

"I have to find a way to lure them out of the barrier!"

...On a less stressing note, we quickly check back with Miroku as he continued his um, 'mission', to lay fingers on Sango's posterior, which as you can imagine with the repelling energies of the mountain barrier, would remain next-to-impossible.

"I'm a, bigger man than this...No, barrier's gonna, stop, me...!"

The monk does get close at one point...but that was when the slayer turns around to ask,

"What exactly are you doing back there?"

...There's an awkward two-second pause, before Miroku quickly straightens and replies,

"Who, uh, me? Nothing; nothing at all, ah-heheh..."

Sango hms in suspicion, but pivots around to keep going, giving the monk clearance to let out a more agitated sigh...

Kōga's POV

The more I kept dodging those cannon blasts, the more my temper would continue to rise...

"Damn it all to hell, I'm not getting anywhere with them!"

...But my problems would only continue to grow, when suddenly, these metal threads of fire came shooting down at me!

"Those threads are steel!"

 _If I get snared by those things, I'll be an easy dragging target for the barrier!_

"Dodge this!"

I lean out of the way of another shot of those flaming threads, but Renkotsu kept the attacks coming.

"You can't last forever!"

 _Cocky bastard...!_

What I should've figured out, mind you, was that the higher that I went in my leaps to dodge the steel strands, the more vulnerable I would become to another blast from that Ginkotsu freak!

(Ka-Boom)

"Gauh!"

I went sliding into the rocky ground hard...but as I moved to lift myself up, that's when an idea came to me.

 _That's it!_

Grinning to myself, I stood back onto my feet...but did not move an inch further than that, waiting for the next blast.

 _I'll show these bastards just who exactly they're messing with..._

...Two shots are fired into the air, that broke apart into multiple bomb strikes to hit the ground!  
I wasn't afraid, of course: I wanted something like this to happen.

 _All according to plan._

I let out a mock yell of pain...before allowing myself to camouflage within the upturned rubble...

 _Now I just gotta wait for them to come to me..._

...

...

I soon hear the sound of that hunk of metal and flesh Ginkotsu rolling towards me, stopping just a foot or two away...There's another pause, before I listen as Renkotsu remarks,

"He must've been blown to bits."

 _You wish._

"Not so lucky!"

I made my move, and burst out of the rubble to land behind the two freaks in front of barrier, much to Renkotsu's surprise.

"You're alive!"

Smirking, I call over,

"You sure fell for my plan. (Holds out arms) You're not goin' back behind the barrier now!"

"...Heh, it's a little early to be congratulating yourself."

That, was not the answer I expected:

"Whadda you mean?"

"Well you see, we have no need to escape from you, little man. You're the one who can't get away...And besides, how much harm can a wounded wolf do to us?"

I gasp as it hits me:

 _He knows about my legs!_

"Finish him off, Ginkotsu!"

As the mass zombie starts turning around, I think to myself in a grumble,

 _Guess I'll just have to keep goin' 'til somethin' sticks._

"Right."

Charging forward and dodging a shot of flames spewed from Renkotsu's mouth, I leap up high with a fist raised.

"I don't think so! We'll see who the real fool is!"

I wasn't able to dodge the next blast of fire, but that wasn't my main focus right now.

 _They have to be somewhere in his body, but where?!_

Deciding the bastard's chest was a good-enough guess, I fight my way through the flames to claw at his torso!

"Grrrraah!"

(SLASH)

I got him between the area above the heart and near the shoulder, but no jewel shards came out.

 _Damn. Must've just missed...Still, I saw the shock on his face as I struck, so those shards must be somewhere around that general area._

Renkotsu falls off of Ginkotsu and collapses with a wince from his new wound...and that's when things got real weird.

"Ren-kot-su..."

I whirled my head to look at the head of the metal zombie freak with shock.

"What did you just say?"

 _I didn't expect this creep to actually have the ability of speech...!_

I hop back to the ground, and Ginkotsu turns himself to my direction, fury burning in his eyes.

"How, dare, you! Damn you to hell!"

He then tries to fire at me, but one of the cannons malfunctions halfway through the blast, just as I had hoped.

"I stuffed the cannon with the armour that I ripped off."

"Geeeesh..."

"Huh? No way!"

The smoke dissipates, revealing that the freak was still standing, even if a little damaged from my sabotage!

"You shouldn't still be alive...!"

 _Must be that jewel shard's doing..._

Renkotsu curses at me as he moved up in a kneel, just as Ginkotsu turns to look at the other with a chuckle.  
I dunno what expression he gave, but based on the fire-breather's shock, it can't be good.

"You're really going to use those, Ginkotsu?"

 _Use, what?_

That's when the hunk of metal and flesh began rumbling:

"Huh? Now what's goin' on?"

Next thing I knew, his body transforms so that it was displaying a whole barrage of guns and cannons, some designed in ways I never imagined possible!

...For the first time in a long while...I actually felt scared out of my wits.

 _Wh-What the hell?!_

...But once he fired them all at once, I managed to shake most of my fears off when I realized that his heavy arsenal had one fatal flaw: Limited targeting. In which case, jumping out of the way of the shots was fairly easy.

"Nice guns, bad aim!"

Ginkotsu looks up at me in shock as I add,

"I'm right over here!"

I then lunge at him with a fist raised, which he would respond to by launching his own torso out from that mechanical mass he called a body, flying past me before shooting some of those steel threads to wrap around my wrist and waist! He then tries to shoot me down, but I stubbornly dodged him:

"Wh-! Why you...!"

Grabbing the threads, I use them to help me jump upward onto his shoulders to twist my legs around his neck!

"I've has just about enough of you!"

Tugging downward, I force the two of us to go crashing into the ground, his head taking most of the blow...I hear Renkotsu exclaim Ginkotsu's name under his breath, and I turn to smirk-glare at him while remarking,

"Keh, looks like you're the last one."

...Little did I know that the menace of flesh, bone and metal wasn't through yet.

"Rrrrrh...I, will not, allow Ren-kotsu, to be killed..."

"(Whirls around) What?!"

And the last thing I remember, was some sort of sparkle that emanated from Ginkotsu's neck...before he self-destructed, taking all in the vicinity with him.

(Ka-BOOM)

No POV

It would be around the time that the explosion's impact collided with all the bodies in the area...that two people on the other side of the mountain would sense something amiss.

"Hm?!" "Mh!"

Inuyasha found himself gently setting Coraline on the ground as he got up to his feet, expression serious and worrisome.

"Inuyasha?...What's wrong?"

He does not reply, staring down a path that would lead to the area where the wolf demons and undead mercenaries would be...

Meanwhile, Freeman's body had gone rigid, feeling a stinging vibration emit from the jade bracelet given to him by his 'special someone' sitting above his Seven Light shard.

 _W-What was...Something's wrong. I can feel it._

 _...Ginta..._

"Brother...?...What is it?"

He doesn't reply to Besa, instead looking upward to lock his bottle green irises with the dog demon's amber...before they both nodded firmly in silent understanding. Inuyasha then finally spoke:

"Let's go."

Not understanding the trouble, Coraline asks him,

"What? Where to?"

He merely grabbed her arm and tugged her to her feet:

"Never mind where. Just come."

Sensing that the dog demon wasn't going to provide a straight answer, Shippo tries to ask Freeman instead.

"What's going on? Where are we going, Freeman?"

Placing the fox kit on his shoulder as he quickly got to his feet, the young man with short, coarse black hair replies,

"To help some others who hopefully haven't been hurt bad."

"Huh?"

"You'll understand when we get there."

With that, Inuyasha leads the way down the mountain path that led to the other side, the twins rushing behind him as the cornrow-haired male thought to himself with a worry brow,

 _I'm already getting a bad feeling about this..._

"This is it...I've gotcha now! You're practically in my hands...!"

On a-um, another note not quite as endangering, Miroku was still as determined as a mule to complete his goal in, ahem, groping Sango, summoning up all the strength in his muscles to will himself forward.

"I can, do this...I, will, get, her...!"

...Bu~t for the third time in a row, the energies of the Mount Hakurei Sacred Barrier overpowered his lecherous tendencies, freezing him on the spot, much to his disappointment.

"Hauh! This, can't be, happening..."

Sighing to herself, the slayer stops her walk once again to turn around and find out what the heck the monk was up to.

"Okay, I'm ready for an explanation."

...All poor Miroku could do was stare at the woman before him in horror for a moment, before laughing sheepishly, in no way willing to reveal his ridiculous efforts...

Anyway, moving along, we catch up with two of the other undead members of the Shichinintai in a dense forest of hulking oaks and tall wild grass somewhere near the mountain valley, they being Jakotsu and Suikotsu. The former was currently reminding the latter of what not to do in a stern and annoyed tone.

"I really mean it, Suikotsu. Don't go turning into a good guy on me in the middle of battle, okay?"

"Quit your nagging. Isn't that why we're moving away from the barrier, to avoid its influence?...Grrh, damn that do-good doctor, showing up whenever he has the chance. After all I've done to suppress him too."

They pause in the middle of the thin stalks of greenery:

"Glad you feel that way...Alright, let's get this plan underway, then."

"Hmph. Say no more."

With that, both zombies part in different directions, prepping for what we can easily guess to be some sort of ambush...

Extending our view just outside the trees to one end of a cliff connected to a bridge that led to another that opened to the mountain valley, we find Sesshomaru, Rin and Jaken standing on the latter side, the dog demon looking out into the distance, waiting for something...

A short moment passes, before he senses the appending arrival.

"They're coming."

He then flies off, much to the imp's confusion:

"Hauh?! Lord Sesshomaru!"

The dog demon continues his travel towards the cliff that bordered the tall trunks of green...before he finds himself using his claws to block Jakotsu's snake-like sword!

Jaken gaped and Rin exclaims,

"What is that?!"

The multi-bladed sword retracts, and rising from the cover of a bush, was the feminine male himself...Sesshomaru would speak first:

"Are you Naraku's follower?"

"Hehah, how perceptive of you."

...

...

Leaving them, we return to the area that witnessed the end of the battle between Renkotsu, Ginkotsu and Kōga, as the fire-user slowly limped his way back into the barrier of Mount Hakurei, the new scar on his shoulder from the wolf demon's claws still stinging with pain.

"Hah...hah...hah...Grh!"

Wincing, he then opens his palm to look at the jewel shard now in his possession, thanks to the sacrifice of another.

"...Gin-kotsu..."

As it turned out, the mecha-zombie had thrown his Shikon-no-Tama shard towards his fellow mercenary brother just as he invoked his last resort, the energy protecting the fire-user from total annihilation...!

...Looking at the sparkling sliver of pink fuchsia now, Renkotsu felt all the more determined to live and seek vengeance for Ginkotsu.

"Hah, hah, I refuse to die here...Not in a place like this...Ne-ver...! Ah-uhhhhh..."

Unfortunately for him, his struggle towards the safety of the sacred barrier had robbed him of the last of his strength, and he would collapse on his back in exhaustion...

By this time, the other dog demon that dressed in red was nearing the area closer to where the battle ended moments ago, carting Coraline on his back while Freeman and Besa ran fast behind him holding Shippo and Kilala respectively, and Lumos lit the way through the misty fog.

"Inuyasha, I thought we were going to wait for Miroku and Sango!"

He reasons with his confused lover,

"Waiting around for Miroku and Sango isn't gonna get us anywhere!"

 _This place reeks of an explosion. Not only that, but blood...the blood of a wolf demon._

Inuyasha pivots his head slightly to the right, noting the worry and seriousness now occupying the one twin's face.

 _And there's no mistaking the anxiousness on Freeman's face: Something must have happened to his mate, and he sensed it._

The group eventually comes across the aftermath of the battle end, the upturned ground strewn with various broken parts of the once proud mecha-zombie...And kneeling by one pile of rubble, were Ginta and Hakkaku, both injured but thankfully still alive, occupying anguished, teary expressions. Upon sensing arrivals, they turn to see,

"Inuyasha, it's you...and Coraline, Freeman, Besa..."

Feeling a large wave of relief in seeing his lover was okay, Freeman rushed over and embraced Ginta.

"Oh thank god, you and Hakkaku are alright...But, wait, Kōga...Where's he; Ginta, what the heck happened?"

Struggling to avoid breaking into a sob, the wolf demon with silver-blue irises replies a bit hoarsely as he buried his face into the human male's shoulder,

"K-Kōga...he was, struck."

Coraline asks,

"Struck? What do you mean-"

She would be interrupted by the frantic moaning of her Will O' Wisp companion, as he flew around and around in a dizzying circle above...Kōga, who was buried under a piece of metal that used to make up Ginkotsu's torso!

"Auh! Oh no...!"

Hakkaku and Ginta explain with tears in their eyes,

"His, legs were injured in the attack..."

"He wasn't able to get away...!"

Freeman stroked the latter wolf demon's hair to try and comfort them as best he could, thinking to himself with a grim frown,

 _Damn that conniving Ginkotsu, he just had to end the battle in a bang..._

Shippo wonders quietly with a sad frown,

"He isn't, dead, is he?"

"...No."

Eyes turn on Coraline, who was now overlooking Kōga with her dark ice blue-clouded irises.

"...His Aura is weak, but it's not fading from the body...He's far from dead."

"Coraline..."

She cancels her Aura Sight before turning to her brother with the cornrowed hair.

"Besa, could I get a hand? I get the metal, you him?"

"Uh...sure..."

The two teens move to their respected positions, with Besa kneeling down to wrap his arms under the grievously-injured wolf demon's underarms, pulling him out from under the metal as Coraline worked to lift and shove it over some.

"Hrrr-gah...!"

Once that was accomplished, the redheaded woman then knelt down near the unconscious demon male with a scowl to say,

"Oi, wolf boy! If you can hear me, wake the hell up! You're a demon, for cripes sake; you wouldn't be taken down by a zombie of all things that easily! And near a place like this?! Come on, that's just weak!"

The other males gaze at Coraline with surprise at her scolding, and gritting his canines slightly, Inuyasha then calls out,

"She's right! Quit lyin' around and get up!"

The twins, Ginta and Hakkaku follow afterward, but not quite as harshly as the first two did.

"Kōga?!" "Come on, man, wake up!"

"Say something!"

"Kōga!"

...

...

And to everyone's relief (more for some than others), the wolf demon stirs awake, opening a single blue iris weakly! Coraline mutters his name softly, while he quietly cursed,

"D-Damn...That one, got away on me..."

Besa chides with a small smile,

"Glad to see you're still hanging around, my friend," and the other two wolf demons broke into relieved tears.

"Kōga!"

Even Inuyasha showed faint signs of relief that his rival wasn't meeting death's door anytime soon.

"Huh, so ya did survive..."

Freeman says to the weakened wolf demon while placing a friendly hand on his,

"Don'tcha worry about a thing; you're gonna be alright."

"...Glad to know, and, sorry, for making you and your siblings worried."

"Eh, don't be. These things can't be helped. (Smirk-glare) If you did die, on the other hand, you'd be hearing from my hammer."

"Heh, noted."

Ginta threw his head back and used his arm to shield his tears as he and Hakkaku then say in wobbly tones,

"You're alright...What a relief...!"

"Kōga...!"

That would be their last exclaim, before both wolf demons collapse onto one another in exhaustion, the former's head falling onto Freeman's lap, much to his mild surprise.

"Uh...(Smile) Mm..."

 _Rest up, Ginta...I've got your back now, and your friends too._

His brother overlooks the injuries and fatigue written on all three of the wolf demon's bodies, and shakes his head with a concerned smile.

"Poor guys, they really got pushed under the wire...(Small frown) I wonder, if this means we'll be seeing more of our allies soon."

Coraline hms, and turns her gaze to the misty peaks above:

 _Well, I know Kikyō won't be able to approach this far, unfortunately...But if Kōga and the guys could...maybe..._

 _Maybe another certain dog demon and his little group are nearby. Can't really call them friends, but, they're far from being enemies.  
_

Inuyasha's amber irises cast to the higher planes of Mount Hakurei as well, not bothering to keep his own thoughts quiet.

"Band of Seven...more importantly, Naraku: _Be afraid_ , 'cause I'm comin' for ya."


	127. Chapter 126

**Chapter 126: What Lies Beyond Darkest Depths? Is Death an End...or a Start?**

Turning eyes back down and away from the increasingly perilous Mount Hakurei, we find ourselves zooming within a dense, oak-rich forest blanketed by short lines of thick bushes, where our fair-skinned priestess - whose existence has been played like a cheap violin for far too long - was wandering...

She pauses to look back at the distant holy peak in silence, calculated brown irises soaking in its pretty image that undermines its more questionable context and purpose.

 _Mount Hakurei...I know for certain that Naraku is there._

 _The question is, why?_

Knowing her answer would continue to elude at this time, Kikyō pivots back to the direction she was walking, and moves on...

Somewhere on the other side of this forest just before the sea of bark and leaves, sitting in front of the defiled grave of the Shichinintai, was the group's young leader Bankotsu, who was feeling anything but excited for battle at this time, currently draining a saucer bowl of sake in a forlorn manner as his gaze fell on a familiar piece of large armour, and a backpack of poisonous concoctions placed near the broken slab of stone.

"Kyokotsu...Mukotsu...How does it feel, to be back in the other world again?"

He of course, receives no reply other than the quiet of the dead, which prompts him to throw the small bit of pottery at the grave in a furious huff, the porcelain shattering into hundreds of tiny pieces. Rising to his feet, the male with the long braid of black mutters angrily,

"That's ridiculous! Once your dead, you're dead; that's the end of it...There's no such thing as an afterlife."

With that, he pulls his halberd out from the dirt in front of the last artifacts of his fallen comrades, and slings it over his shoulder before walking away...

Some time passes, before we would meet back with Kikyō once again, who continued her travel through the dense tree cover away from the purifying energies of Mount Hakurei's barrier...She would soon come to another stop, however, when her senses pick up on a presence approaching the opposite way.

"Hm?"

That presence, was noneother than Bankotsu...The priestess narrows her brown irises slightly as she detects the dark light emanating from the dead warrior's Shikon-no-Tama shards in his neck.

 _That man..._

She maintains a calm demeanor, allowing the other to pass by, but not before spotting the other jewel fragments embedded in his sword...Bankotsu then stops.

"Woman...Are you the one they call Kikyō?" She replies back,

"And you are with the Band of Seven?"

Bankotsu merely scoffed, neither denying nor admitting to an answer, and continues walking...

"Wait."

He complies to Kikyō's call and asks,

"What do you want of me?"

"Just curious. You're suppose to kill me, are you not?"

Chuckling a little, the zombie swordsman forms a smirk and turns to the priestess while replying a bit casually,

"I dunno. Naraku never gave me orders to do so."

By the end of that reply, the woman with long ebony hair had an arrow drawn...

"Ah. I've heard rumours about you. Still, I would never have guessed you to be so beautiful...You wanna take me on, do you? Alright then, let's do it."

Bankotsu holds out his Banryū:

"I accept your challenge."

...There's a tense pause in the air, neither side making a move, as Kikyō made further observations of the undead man's power that retains his existence.

 _His Shikon-no-Tama shards emit a tainted black light, unlike Suikotsu's clear one..._

 _Does that mean he has been completely taken over by the darkness?_

"What's stoppin' you? Come on, take the first shot."

"I want to know what it is you're after. Why do you continue to kill even after you were resurrected? What reason could you have for doing so?"

Bankotsu almost wanted to laugh at the priestess for asking such.

"Now that's a strange question. I don't need any reason for killing people. (Neutral frown) I have always been this way, before my death and after I was revived."

...Kikyō relaxes her stand, taking in the undead man's words with an oddly calm air.

"In the world we live in, it is sometimes necessary to kill in order to survive. But you died once, so why not stop your evil wrongdoings?"

"Ha! I'm a mercenary through and through, and what I do is thoroughly enjoyable."

Turning his gaze from his blade back to the woman before him, Bankotsu goes into his own philosophy about life.

"People talk about Heaven and Hell all the time, but once a mortal is dead, that's the end of it."

Kikyō could only stare at the man with cobalt irises in silence, not having any counter to his thoughts...

"I've got no interest in those so-called other worlds, and I do as I please with no fear of the afterlife."

Finally, the woman with long black hair had a response, and it wasn't one meant to be kind.

"You say that to convince yourself, don't you? It's pathetic, trying to make excuses for your wicked actions."

Surprisingly, Bankotsu didn't find her words overly offensive.

"Tch, I know one thing, Kikyō: dead people like you and I will probably share the same fate. (Frown) You should be worried about yourself. Don't be so concerned about the choices I make."

He then turns on his heel with Banryū held casually against his shoulder, having business elsewhere.

"Well, it doesn't really matter. Let's just both enjoy the time that we have on earth."

As he vanishes from sight, a strong gust of wind blows in from behind the undead priestess, stirring up a few dead leaves to go flying through the air...She found herself watching the dry green foliage dance across the sky, thinking on Bankotsu's words.

"...So. We share the fate of the dead, do we?"

Images of her spiritual sister...an older woman who bore a remarkable resemblance to the redhead...and a very young girl who could be mistaken for Kikyō's doppelganger, flash before the mental irises of the priestess's imagination in accordance to her thoughts of Life and Death...

"Then I shall see where it goes."

With that, Kikyō herself makes careful haste from the area...

We now turn back to the misty cliff ledge connected to another by a wooden bridge within the valley of Mount Hakurei, just as Jakotsu made his presence known to Sesshomaru.

"I assume you're one of Naraku's followers?"

The feminine male lets a small chuckle pass through his ruby-painted lips before replying,

"How very perceptive of you."

The dog demon recalls Mukotsu's image as his nose picked up the zombie's scent.

"Just like that poison-user Inuyasha's woman killed...You reek of a dead mortal."

"My, what a keen sense of smell. Just what I'd expect from Inuyasha's older brother!"

Jakotsu thrusts his multi-balded sword at Sesshomaru, who merely flicked it away with a swipe from his Tokijin, before charging forward in his own attack. The undead swordsman gasps, before letting out a cry as he's thrown back by demon blade's aura, rolling onto the ground before making the motion to crawl away, eyes wide with caution.

"Hah, hah, that was a close call!"

Jaken, who had followed with Rin across the bridge from the other cliff ledge to stay near their lord, dances on his toes and jeers with a laugh,

"Silly mortal! Spare yourself the suffering and let him slay you quickly-Gah!"

He would pay for that taunt by nearly having him and the young girl stricken down by Jakotsu's Jakotsutō, he glaring over at the imp scornfully.

"You talkin' to me, imp?! Well?!"

"Who are you callin' imp?!"

The undead mercenary only laughed and prepped to swing his blade at the two again, only to sense Sesshomaru coming from behind.

"Auh! Hrrrh, what's this?!"

He tries to strike the dog demon with his sword again, but once again fails when Sesshomaru uses Tokijin to swat the other blade away...

"Jaken!"

"Y-Yes, milord!"

The imp takes hold of Rin's kimono sleeve and pulls her along in a run back to the bridge.

"This way, Rin, hurry."

"Wait! What about-"

"There's nothing we can do here..."

The pair step onto the connected plywood boards again as Jaken adds in a tone that spoke of a respectful fear,

"Except stay out of Lord Sesshomaru's way."

As they continue to put some distance between their bodies and the growing battle, Jakotsu pauses for a moment to observe...before commenting to Sesshomaru,

"Hm, so, you don't want the little girl to get in harm's way? Well aren't you just the kindest thing around."

"You talk alot for a dead mortal."

The feminine male in the purple kimono was becoming increasingly annoyed from being typecast based on his rewritten origins.

"I'm getting tired of you harping on about me being dead! (Sneer) Oh, nevermind. With the girl gone, at least you'll be concentrated on our little fight."

The dog demon says nothing in response...

"(Swings Jakotsutō) Come on, let's do it!"

He would then easily leap upward out of the way of the multi-bladed thrust from Jakotsu...As the battle starts up again, Rin pivots her head over her shoulder with concern dancing in her big brown irises as she continues to rush behind Jaken for the other side of the bridge.

"Hah, hah, I'm worried about Lord Sesshomaru. Think he'll be alright?"

The imp replies confidently,

"Hooh, he would never succumb to the attacks of a mere mortal!"

"You might though, Master Jaken."

"Watch your tongue, little girl! I'm a demon too, remember? I would never fall at the hands of a human! Mmph...muh?"

Suddenly, the odd pair pause a little more than halfway across the suspended wood and metal, when they hear someone else approaching from the end they were traveling to...

"Hm? What's this?"

Once the figure emerges from the fog, Jaken would become rather nervous as he gets a gander over Suikotsu's physical profile, right down to those long metal claws sharper than a Bengal Tiger's.

"Ooooh, he looks terribly strong...!"

Hearing the click of metal from the other zombie's weapon, Sesshomaru glances behind him, giving Jakotsu the opportunity to attack openly.

"Here's my chance!"

(Thrust...CLANG)

The dog demon is then disarmed of Tokijin, the blade going to land straight into a rock face a couple feet behind and above Sesshomaru...He then steps over to one side to dodge another offensive attack from the zombie swordsman who jeers menacingly,

"Hang onto your head or I'll lop it off, hehahahaha!"

Cutting back to the bridge, Rin lets out a small scream as she scrambles backwards to dodge a swipe from Suikotsu.

"You won't be able to escape me."

Jaken quickly moves to stand between the two:

"Rin, flee at once!"

She heeds the imp's command, and began to slowly crawl away as the latter struggled to stave off the zombie's metal claws with his Staff of Skulls.

 _Lord Sesshomaru will kill me if anything were to happen to Rin! I must protect her!_

"Staff of Two Heads!"

(Fwoooooooooom...)

Jaken releases a torrent of fire from the old man's mouth of the staff, completely enveloping Suikotsu and part of the bridge he was standing on!

"Heheheheh, so much for that threat!"

"Yes, but the bridge, Master Jaken; the whole thing's going to collapse!"

"Hoh! Hurry on back to the cliff!"

...But just as they start their retreat back from whence they came, one of Suikotsu's weapons comes clawing its way through the plywood steps right between the imp and human!

"Gaaah! He's alive!?"

Hanging on from underneath the weakening structure, the zombie retorts,

"You can't get rid of me that easily!" Jaken shouts to the younger,

"Don't just stand there, Rin, move it!"

She tries to get up and run...

(SWIPE, CRACK)

But one uppercut strike from Suikotsu's weapons was all it took for the bridge's supports to give way, and the whole structure fell apart, taking the three souls with them to the valley below!

Hearing Rin's shriek resonate as the loudest echo among them all, Sesshomaru immediately stops the fight between he and Jakotsu to turn around and leap down after his wards, much to the feminine male's surprise.

"Uh...!"

...An expression of deeper thought then forms on Jakotsu's face as he thinks on the dog demon and his relations with the young human girl.

 _Hmmm...I heard that girl is his weakness...My plan was to kidnap her and hold her hostage._

He opens his eyes again to watch the tall form ready to disappear over the cliff, a grin forming.

 _I never thought that he'd leave himself so wide open for me._

Not wanting to waste the moment, he thrusts Jakotsutō at Sesshomaru again...but once again underestimated the latter's sensory and speed as they dodged again. Still, he was confident that he could take the other down.

"Ha! It's only just the beginning!"

Even after Sesshomaru reclaims Tokijin from the rock face, Jakotsu felt that the battle would end in his favour.

"Now I've got'ch you!"

His latest swipe would force the multi-connected blades to coil around the dog demon, poised and ready to vice-grip and slice the form to pieces.

 _Yes!_

(...CLANG)

"Gauh!"

But unfortunately for him, Sesshomaru was able to use Tokijin to swat the opposing blades away from him without turning around, they landing dangerously close to Jakotsu's front in the ground...! The zombie was dumbstruck and honestly horrified that such a feat was possible:

"He deflected my Jakotsutō sword and flung it back at me...!"

Meanwhile, Sesshomaru thought to himself as he continued his descent to the mountain valley below,

 _Hmm. That was close...but not close enough._

Once he was out of sight, that was when Jakotsu's clothing rips across the chest area in accordance from being slashed by his deflected blades, making him gasp...before falling back on his behind with a disbelieving expression.

"...He's deadly...Killed by his own brother on my way to kill Inuyasha? I couldn't live with myself if I let that happen."

Sighing with a dreamy smile, he mutters to the skies above in a wistful voice,

"We wouldn't want that, would we, Inuyasha?"

...Speaking of which, we return now to find the younger dog demon running along a different path in the mountains near the higher base of Mount Hakurei, carting Coraline on his back, while Besa rode atop a fully-formed Kilala, holding his arms tight around Kōga's unconscious and heavily-injured form in a sitting position against his front, Shippo sitting behind them with Hakkaku's unconscious form laying behind, and Freeman ran near the former's side on his own strength, carrying his wolf demon mate Ginta over his shoulders fireman style.

"So, you got any ideas to where we should head to?...Inuyasha?"

The dog demon replies to the young man rushing beside him a touch irritably,

"I dunno how far. (Glances behind him) I'm just gonna go until we can find a safe place to take that mangy wolf, (looks at Freeman) and your mate."

"Whaddo ya mean? What're you doin' that for?"

Besa replies to the young fox demon,

"Isn't it obvious, Shippo? The Shichinintai were after Kōga for the Shikon-no-Tama fragments in his legs. Unless we get him out of sight now, his, Ginta and Hakkaku's lives will all be put in further jeopardy than they already have been."

He looks ahead with a glare burning in his forest green irises bordered by dark hazel.

"The fact that all of us are jostled together right now only increases the unknowable probability of when those freaks could strike next..."

Coraline nods in agreement, her fingers gripping the material of her lover's red haori a bit tighter.

"Very true...Lumos."

The Will O' Wisp pops out of the redhead's satchel upon her call, and flies alongside her and Inuyasha as she requests,

"Could you please help us find an area hidden away deep enough that the Shichinintai shouldn't find us, least for a while?"

Lumos 'nods' vigorously, before darting off fast ahead of the group, prompting the dog demon and twin-tailed cat demon to up their own agility, while Freeman siphoned the power of his Seven Light Crystal shard to increase his own strength...

Sesshomaru's POV

I had reached the bottom of the valley gorge where Jaken and Rin had fallen thanks to that other undead mortal who destroyed the bridge, landing on some rocks set along a raging river...

However, I could not sense any signs of my youngest ward.

 _She must've been carried down stream...The water has washed away her scent._

I was able to catch the scent of that troublesome imp, Jaken, so he at least was still alive and nearby...I walked by him as I started my search for where Rin had vanished to.

"Jaken."

...I hear him grimace, before I ask rhetorically,

"Are you pretending to be dead, Jaken?"

Hearing my tone, the imp immediately jumps to his feet to kowtow in forgiveness.

"Please forgive me, Lord Sesshomaru! I promise I will find Rin even if it costs me my life!"

 _Hn. His undying loyalty and willingness to follow orders, is part of what keeps him alive._

I began walking away again, to which he would respond to by quickly rushing to catch up.

"My Lord? Doh! Wait for me, my lord! I'm comiiiing!...Oooh, you are angry after all."

 _At you, Jaken? Not overly._

 _At the ones who believe they will get away with their foolish ambush?_

 _...Immensely._

Rin's POV

"Mmm, mmm..."

I'm not sure how long I was unconscious for after I fell from that high bridge, but when I did wake up...I found myself being carried by someone who was not my lord.

"Well now, I see that you're awake."

 _Uh! Oh no; it's him! That man from before!_

I thrash in a panic to get out of his arms, and rush to crouch with my back against a tree, staring with petrified eyes at the warrior.

 _I-Is he going to kill me?! Lord Sesshomaru, where are you?!_

Yet, getting a better look at the man...he didn't look the same way he did earlier. His hair wasn't wild; he wasn't displaying those scary metal claws; he didn't have those strange markings on his face. In fact, he looked...nicer...

"What is it? Why do you run?"

Relaxing a little from his chiding tone, he says to me gently,

"Do not fear me, child. I am a physician."

"Huh?"

 _He's not like the other man...He's changed._

Given that he wasn't presenting any immediate danger, and that I had no one else to turn to in this new forest, I had no choice but to partially trust him. We were soon walking through the green as I explained what was going on, since it seemed this version of the man didn't know...

"I see. You were with companions."

"Yes...I'm sure they'll come looking for me, though. That's why I don't think it's a good idea to move too far away from here."

He does not disagree, but points out,

"This forest is dangerous. You should stay with me until we meet up with your friends."

"Alright."

 _He doesn't seem like a bad man...Still, I should be careful._

 _Even though Kohaku wasn't doing it on purpose...he did feign niceness once, and this man could be doing the same thing._

Small Time Skip, No POV

We check back now with Miroku and Sango as they continued their climb up Mount Hakurei, the misty fog now carrying a light orange tinge from the descending sun, but still not giving way to any signs of malicious activity going on within the holy barrier...

"There's nothing here..."

"No. I don't sense any demonic aura either."

The demon slayer begins to once again question the probability of their target of inquiry actually housing within these mountain walls.

"Do you really think Naraku is around here somewhere?"

"Well, even with Coraline's great distrust for the air of this place, I can't say for sure, but our only choice is to keep searching for him...Being separated from her and Inuyasha like this, you really feel grateful for each of their presences."

Sango smiles a little and comments,

"Both of them together, with her Aura Reader abilities and his sense of smell, have made it almost impossible for our enemies to hide for very long."

"Heh, indeed, and let's not forget Lumos's moments...If we let him, Inuyasha would probably be searching around all night for Naraku, likely dragging the other two along for the ride."

Putting their light jokes aside, the monk and demon slayer pair continue their upward scale...and would soon spot the entrance of a cave just a few yards above them.

"Hey, Sango...see that cave up there?"

"Yeah...let's go check it out."

...What they weren't aware of, however, was that someone was watching them, namely, Kohaku via Kanna's demon mirror from within the shrine currently housing Saint Hakushin! His focus of course, was fixated on Sango, the young woman who's become a hindrance to his damaged memories.

 _Her again...I hope she leaves without noticing anything...I don't want to have to fight her._

Small Time Skip

It's now sunset, and we check back with Rin and Suikotsu (he personifying his more gentle nature) as they walk through a field of tall grass in the direction of the village set near the base of the self-proclaimed holy mountain...

"Huh? You're a doctor in the village?"

"Yes, that's right. I live in a house at the base of Mount Hakurei. I think you will like it there. There are many children your age about in the village, and they don't have parents either...There it is, over there. That's where I live."

...Unbeknownst to those two, another soul was sensing their arrival from afar, namely, atop the ledge of a cliff distant from Mount Hakurei's lands so that her own multi-contradictory existence wasn't jeopardized by the holy energies of the sacred barrier.

 _I sense the presence of a jewel shard...It's approaching the village..._

 _The shard seems different from the man I met earlier..._

 _It's...It's Suikotsu's!...But this presence is different from before._

Feeling the need to investigate, Kikyō turned around to start walking down the cliff to the grounds of the forest before the village...

Zooming downward to just outside the main structures of the small populace settled near the tall peak of rock, we pick up on the soft crooning of a familiar young girl who looked up to the once proud doctor that lived in this home.

"Pu~re has become impure,  
I~mpure has now be-come pure,  
Go~od has become bad...hm?"

Pausing her singing as she felt someone behind her, young Yuuta turns around from the hearth cooking dinner for she and the other orphan children, finding herself staring at Suikotsu and Rin.

"I have returned."

"Auh! Doctor Suikotsu!"

Hearing her exclaim, Chiyo and another younger child slide open the door to the house to see what was going on, becoming equally surprised to see their friend was back. He himself only continued to smile softly as if nothing wrong had happened this last while, speaking volumes about his more complex mental disorder.

"I hope you can all forgive me. I was gone for a long time."

"Doctor Suikotsu...is that, really you?"

"Of course it is. Why? Is something the matter?"

The children chose to shake their heads 'No', not sure of any other way to respond to the kind face, despite any bewaring feelings their hearts may be housing...Suikotsu then remembers,

"Oh, how rude of me. (Glance) This girl with me is named Rin. Be nice to her and show her around. She's our special guest."

As said young girl made a polite bow, we pan over to a patch of tall grass near the home, where Jakotsu was squatting and observing the scene with annoyance.

"Aaaaoh, this isn't working out. That damn Suikotsu...he's returned to his former self. Good thing I decided to stick around; looks like my hunch was right...Oh well then."

The feminine male reaches for the hilt of his blade:

"I'll just have to open his eyes."

...However, several others were about to beat him to the punch, they being several men of the village accompanying the elder in an approach to Suikotsu's home...And based on their negative expressions, this confrontation was not going to end very well for either side.

"I told you it was Doctor Suikotsu."

"He really has returned..."

Seeing the men coming, the warrior/physician turns to address them.

"My good men. What brings you here?"

The elder of the village, he riding on horseback, replies in a straight if somewhat regretful tone,

"Doctor...we beg you to leave the village."

Suikotsu forms a look of bewilderment, just as one of the younger, middle-aged men argues,

"Wasn't it your fault that the Shichinintai attacked our village in the first place?"

The elder comments,

"I'll never forget your face that night..."

Rin watches Suikotsu carefully as the elderly headman lifts himself down off his horse.

"You looked just like, a demon."

...The warrior/physician smirks the slightest...

(SLASH)

Before killing the elder with a swipe from his clawed weapons!

Eyes belonging to the villagers, the orphaned children and Rin widen with horror, Jakotsu's with shock from what they all just witnessed, while the newly-dead elder's horse whinnies and runs away...What made things particularly distressing, was that Suikotsu's appearance and voice had not changed in the slightest.

"Quite the ingrate, wouldn't you agree? And after all my ministrations as his physician."

Fearing for their lives, the other men from the village turn to run back and most like warn everyone else about the doctor's apparent psychotic break. He in turn would chase after them, calm smile/smirk still on his face.

"Hey, what's your hurry?"

Whimpering a little, Rin backs a few steps while thinking to herself in fright,

 _I knew it. He is the same man who attacked us on the bridge...!_

Watching a little of the brutal attack on the other village men, the young girl wasted little time in deciding on a course of action.

"I-I have to get away!"

But just as she turns and starts a run from the area, Rin was snatched up by the back of her kimono by Jakotsu!

"A-Aaaaah!"

"Hello."

...It wouldn't be long before night darkened the lands once more, and zooming away from the grounds of Mount Hakurei, we find Sesshomaru flying across the green plains towards the enormous mountain peak, Jaken resting weakly on his mokomoko-sama.

 _There it is. The scent of the walking dead...They're somewhere at the base of Mount Hakurei._

"I don't feel so good, my lord. Is it my imagination, or has the barrier become quite alot stronger than before?"

Jaken receives no reply from the dog demon, as he expected.

 _Doooh, he's still not talking to me...Oh, this fur is so soft and wonderful..._

While the imp demon may have had some way to cope with the energies of the sacred barrier, Kikyō, who was slowly approaching the area from another direction deep within the forest canopy, had but her own thoughts and her brave Shinidamachū followers to keep her going.

 _The battle continues..._

 _The fact that I walk this path once more, only serves to confirm my wretched fate...and, what awaits me beyond this darkness._

 _"...Tis not as bad as all portray, priestess. Ye only seeing the negative."_

"Uh...!"

The woman with ebony hair stops, when she hears the voice of another with an accent foreign to her ears gently echo within her mind.

"...Are you...who I think you are?"

 _"Aye. I be Rosiagnes, ancestor to the Crofts, one of which ye have become quite familiar, face to face, and spiritually."_

"...Coraline..."

 _"Correct again...Forgive me, but I cannot help in listening to yer plight, and I feel the need to tell ye...the end is not an abyss."_

Kikyō's face contorts to reflect confusion and light surprise:

"What?"

 _"I understand yer views, make no mistake, for I have been in yer place once before, when I was a part of the living...My time on this earth: I too lived a life of facing adversity, and was forced to undertake a task that would mean my untimely end, for the sake of many others...Yet, at that moment, something yonder the shadows of nirvana etched away any doubts me soul had, in moving beyond the earth of me homeland."_

"Beyond the shadows of nirvana?...Are you implying that the darkness of death..."

 _"Tis but the starting point for passing on, aye...Ye have nothing to feel afraid for,_ _Kikyō...The end, is but another way of saying, the beginning."  
_

...All becomes quiet around the undead priestess with alabaster skin and deep brown eyes, as she ponders the words sent by the other woman beyond this world.

 _The end...is the beginning? Hm...what a way to view death._

She starts her walk in the direction of the village again, affirming her current goals.

 _I will have to wonder more later, though, for right now...I must ascertain the whereabouts of those mortals resurrected from the grave._

...And of course, the closer she came to entering the pure air blanketing the grounds of Mount Hakurei, the more vulnerable the eel-like demons became to death by disintegration. Glancing slightly behind her on her right, Kikyō focuses back in front of her while mentally apologizing to her allies.

 _Forgive me, my Shinidamachū...I must hurry. That Shikon-no-Tama jewel shard is completely enshrouded in black light...  
_

 _Suikotsu's heart has closed shut. He will likely harm the children._

...By this point, all of those men who came with the village elder were dead, their bodies strewn across the grounds near the home of 'the doctor', he standing in front one epitome of flesh protruding a pool of blood, right-handed claws raised...

"Suikotsu. What's gotten into you?"

Pivoting his head, Suikotsu sees Jakotsu (whom we see was now displaying his under armour after tying down his ruined upper kimono) approach with Rin in their hand.

"Jakotsu...you're here."

"Before, when you had that face, you were harmless. You wouldn't have been able to hurt a fly...So which Suikotsu are you?"

The frightened orphan children watch on from the safer proximity near the house, also confused by this shift towards what appears to be an inbetween of both the undead man's personas...Even he couldn't provide a conclusive answer, yet unlike everyone else, Suikotsu didn't seem to care much.

"Hard to say. All I know is that I feel better than I have before."

We see the glow of the Shikon-no-Tama shard within his neck change viscosity and colour, from that soft fuchsia pink to an otherwise shadowy black.

"Half of me used to walk around in a daze all the time. I was never sure when I would lose myself...Now things are different. I am myself now."

"Oh yeah? I don't follow, but no matter. Does it mean you won't turn into a saint next time you approach the barrier?"

"Right. That's why I came to the base of Mount Hakurei, just to make sure. That fool doctor hasn't appeared. I am alright now."

Yuuta frightfully whispers to Chiyo,

"What's happened to the doctor...?"

He replies a touch calmer yet just as scared,

"He's not Doctor Suikotsu. His face is right...He looks the same, but it's not him."

Hearing their characterizations, the warrior holding the face and voice of the doctor turns to slowly approach the children, prompting Rin to cry out,

"Hurry, run for it!"

Yet they were not as brave as she: Those orphans could only huddle together behind the eldest boy, Chiyo, he no more or less frightened than the rest, and flinch back with whimpers from the zombie...He in turn would smirk slightly in a cruel manner, raising one of his clawed hands.

"Kah, bunch of scrawny-looking orphans...I'll put you out of your misery!"

He lunges...but then suddenly stops almost halfway, his body feeling another force freezing his limbs!

"Gh!"

Feeling no painful start to death, the teary children look up to see their former ally, trembling...struggling.

"Hrr...g-grrrh...D-Dammit...!" Jakotsu asks from several feet behind,

"Suikotsu...you got a problem over there?"

"Save it!"

Th echoes of that children's song sound within Suikotsu's mind as he tries to figure out what was happening to him.

 _"Pu~re has become Impure,_  
 _I~mpure has now be-come Pure..."_

 _G-Grh, what's going on? Why, have I lost, control of my body?_

 _I..I-It's, those, kids...!_

If things weren't already confusing enough for the undead warrior/physician, an image Kikyō flashes before his vision...

 _Grh! Dammit...why is her face coming to mind?_

After another short moment of fighting to swing his arm, Suikotsu grinds out a growl before bellowing to the skies above,

"CURSE IT ALL!"


	128. Chapter 127

**Chapter 127: Jekyll Finally Kills Hyde**

Picture a low-sloping, two-tine waterfall billowing through sharp cuts of pale gray stone, the left side holding the tall face of a cliff, while the other opened to the edge of a forest section, bushels of leaves growing at the tips of branches belonging to beech trees fighting for space between crevices wherever their roots could extend...

Floating around in circles in front of a cave entrance carved into the cliff wall, was Lumos the Will O' Wisp, broadcasting his soft, high-pitched moans for his allies to hear...

The first piece of the group to arrive, was Besa, Shippo and Hakkaku aboard Kilala, the former still hanging onto Kōga's unconscious and injured form, while the latte awoke halfway through the air travel from the battle area.

Just as they land on the hard ground in front of the cave's mouth, Inuyasha arrives, carrying Coraline on his back over and down a tall rock protrusion before hopping over some stepping stones peeking out from the rushing blue.

Then came Freeman and Ginta, the former's coco skin emanating a transparent rainbow sheen courtesy of his Seven Light shard granting him a temporary enhancement of strength and speed. Once they settled with the rest, the wolf demon with silver-blue irises would set himself down from his mate's back, a grateful if slightly embarrassed smile on his face.

"Uh, thanks for the lift."

"Hey, don't mention it. You'd've done the same if it were the other way around."

Pivoting his gaze to his brother, Freeman then says,

"Besa, turn Kōga's torso to me, and you get his legs."

"(Nod) Right."

The twins were soon gently carting the unconscious wolf demon with long black hair into the cave, his two best friends following after them with anxious expressions reserved for their leader. Watching them all head inside while sliding down to her own two feet from the dog demon's back, Coraline wonders aloud with a small frown,

"Will he really be alright? I mean, I know demons generally have a faster healing time, but still...Kōga did take some heavy damage from Renkotsu and Ginkotsu's attacks..."

Lumos comes to hover near her ear, moaning a little in a mix of his own brand of concern for the wolf demon and comfort to quiet his human partner's anxieties...Scoffing a little, Inuyasha replies,

"I wouldn't waste too much worry over him. The mangy wolf's not that easy to kill, mostly thanks to those jewel shards in his scrawny legs."

"Mm, that's true, I guess...Speaking of, with all the times you've talked about doing it, I'm, a little surprised you didn't try to relieve him of the jewel fragments."

Shippo, he still sitting atop the twin-tail cat demon's back, chimes in his own opinion.

"Yeah, I am too, to be honest."

"Tuh, do I look like the type to take advantage of a guy who can't even defend himself? Spare me."

The young woman with mid-back long red hair would easily read between the lines of the dog demon's response, smiling softly for the fact that despite the surface tension and distaste he and the wolf demon display towards one another, secretly, Inuyasha and Kōga were slowly growing a mutual respect and trust as both rivals and allies in the ongoing war that tied a great many together...

Now while this group may have found a safe haven from the metaphoric storm brewing on Mount Hakurei for a short time, those dark clouds had released more than one lightning bolt to challenge the peace of the village set at the foot of the perilous peak of rock. Suikotsu's more dark and blood-lusting persona had reached high enough levels of domineering control over the singular body that even while using the appearance of 'the saintly doctor', none were safe from his wrath, as evident by the senseless slaughter of the village elder and his men.

...Yet, just as Suikotsu was about to add the innocent orphaned children to his kill tally, his motor functions were suddenly paralyzed by a strong inner force, suggesting that his more kind identity, _may still be alive_...

But whether that theory is true or false will have to remain unknown for a while longer.

(Buuuuzzzzzzz...)

A single Saimyōshō arrives to deliver a message to the two zombies, warning them of a force heading their way to get payback for an earlier attack.

"Suikotsu! Sesshomaru's coming!"

Rin, who was still being held by the back of her kimono in Jakotsu's right hand, becomes hopeful of a possible rescue.

"Really?"

"Kill the kids later. Right now, we need to lure Sesshomaru into the barrier."

With his frustrations only beginning to settle, Suikotsu retracts his life-threatening position and replies with bite in his voice while looking at his metal claws,

"Yes!...I know."

...We move now to the very edge of Mount Hakurei's foot, where the subject dog demon was currently approaching, his efforts concentrated on tracking down the two mercenary zombies who dared to try and pull an ambush on him while also making off with his youngest ward.

(...Bzzzt)

And just as before, he would be met with some resistance from the growing strength of the holy barrier...But Sesshomaru wasn't about to let such stop his travels this time.

 _I found them...They're just up ahead._

As he continued forward, Jaken struggles to catch up on his own feet after barely regaining enough strength to move by himself.

"Ah, hah, wait for me, my lord. Guh, hah..."

(Bzzzt)

"Gaaaaaah!"

He of course would be met with a more substantial repel by the mountain's purifying energies, his body getting singed but avoiding full-on obliteration...Once he got his breath back and wasn't cringing from his new injuries, Jaken calls in warning to his master,

"Lord Sesshomaru, it's a trap! That's why they've abducted Rin, hah, so they can lure you into the barrier! Don't go any further!"

(Bzzzt)

"Dauh! Huaaah!"

The imp shields his irises, expecting the worst when the sacred barrier shocks against Sesshomaru's body again...but would become a little flabbergasted, when he sees the other walk onward into the misty fog without so much as a flinch.

"...Huh? Lord Sesshomaru! (Trip) Doh!"

Lifting his face from the ground, Jaken stares on ahead where his master vanished with a gaping mouth of awe and disbelief.

 _Doesn't he feel anything? Am I the only one feeling sick?_

Feeling inspired by the dog demon's physical resolve, the imp forms a determined expression and exclaims while rising to a stand again,

"If he can handle it, I can! I can do anything once I put my mind to it!"

He makes a run for the direction that Sesshomaru disappeared to...

(Bzzzzt)

"Gaaauh!"

But the imp's stubborn determination would unfortunately not be enough to help him pass through the energies of the sacred barrier, leaving him to go flying backwards to the ground again, his yellow eyes spinning on axis as he dizzily corrects himself.

 _Th-Then again, maybe not..._

By this time, Suikotsu and Jakotsu had left the home situated at the farthest point of the mountain foot village with their young hostage, leaving Chiyo and Yuuta to pick up the broken pieces left in the form of the scattered, bleeding bodies and shattered trust in the once gentle doctor...

They and the other orphan children then sense another source of life approaching, and look up to see our priestess unlawfully called back from the land of the dead slowly making her way over to them, using her bow as a crutch as the holy energies of these lands mercilessly take their toll on her own grip to the living earth.

"Huh?" "It's Lady Kikyō...!"

Smiling softly and weakly, the woman with long, black ebony hair tied back with the modern-day elastic gifted to her by another greets the young faces.

"Children. I'm glad to see you safe."

...After assessing the damage, however, Kikyō would conclude that the word 'safe' only applied to more physical matters...

"I'm too late...Suikotsu did this, didn't he?"

Chiyo nodded his head with a regretfully sad expression, and Yuuta mutters with a sad frown,

"I don't understand...The doctor came back looking so kind."

"He's changed, though...inside."

The priestess nods, understanding what the young girl and boy were referring to, and turns her brown irises towards the distant mountain, glaring a little in thought.

 _...Mount Hakurei no longer has any effect on Suikotsu, which means, the Shikon-no-Tama shard has become more tainted._

Softening her gaze a bit to reflect a more neutral front, she then asks another woman from beyond,

 _Rosiagnes...what is your take on this development?_

 _"Well, as me reincard and one of her kin had already sussed out before, the heathen's mentality expresses a more complex issue than seen on the surface. To put it in a way we women of the older world can comprehend, his Darkness has nearly devoured all of his Light...which may be this Suikotsu's very undoing in the end."_

 _How so?_

 _"Recall that despite what society may speculate, no being in existence can ever truly live without one side or the other. Light, Shadow...they must grow together with understanding, work together mutually and respect eachother's place within the Soul. If they clash like the dichotomous forces they are not...dire, perilous consequences will ensue for the one caught in the middle."_

That grim philosophy would carry on the winds upward bound Mount Hakurei, as said subject of the topic led his feminine mercenary brother up a path cutting into the side of the rock face, he now carrying the despondent Rin under his arm. Pausing to look back where they walked, Jakotsu remarks,

"He's not following. I guess the barrier's too strong for even Sesshomaru to make it this far."

"Huh, I wouldn't say so."

Sounding a noise of confusion, he turns to follow Suikotsu's gaze forward towards a cliff ledge several feet above they...and spots Sesshomaru's figure through the dying fog! Rin's demeanor would brighten considerably as she casts a grateful smile towards the dog demon.

"Lord Sesshomaru, you've come!"

He does not sound a reply, of course, but if one looked closely, they would see his molten amber irises soften the slightest upon seeing that the young girl was alive and well...

"He cut us off."

Jakotsu curses after Suikotsu,

"Damn the wretch. (Glares at Sesshomaru) You're a demon yet the barrier isn't affecting you."

Watching the tall dog demon draw Tokijin, he would pull out his Jakotsutō blade to thrust in a first attack.

"Then maybe this will!"

But the multi-bladed sword would only connect with rock as Sesshomaru leaps to dodge a few offensive-driven swings, blocking the third...but not without taking a cut across his singular arm near the wrist! Rin was shocked to see that her lord actually took damage:

"My lord, you're wounded!"

Chuckling, Jakotsu smirks and comments with a smug tone,

"I thought so. You're skills have been dulled by the barrier."

Kikyō's POV

Given the present situation, on top of Rosiagnes's words regarding the consequence of allowing one's spirit to be overpowered by one over the other, I knew that I had to leave fast to catch up with Suikotsu, to find out if all hope for him was truly lost, as well as escape from these growing energies of Mount Hakurei's barrier. I boarded a horse whose owner was among those recently killed, and the young ones gather to me, confused and still innocent to much bigger crisis...

"You must leave the village at once, children, at least for a little while."

"Lady Kikyō..."

"We have nowhere to go."

"Listen well: if you stay here any longer, misfortunes are sure to befall you."

I do not explain any further, and nudged the mare to get going, riding fast across the plains along the edge of the forest...As I galloped on, I found myself recalling Bankotsu's words from our short meeting.

 _(Flash)_

 _"I know one thing, Kikyō: Dead people like you and I will probably share the same fate...Let's just both enjoy the time we have here on earth."_

 _"I have no interest in those so-called other worlds. I do as I please with no fear of the Afterlife."_

 _(Flash)_

 _...If only I was able to find joy that lasted longer than short-lived..._

 _Perhaps then my heart would not quiver in thinking of dying once more._

No POV

We catch up now with the demon slayer and monk from our main group of heroic travelers, as they wander about the cave they discovered within the valley of the sacred mountain, using a torch to light their way...

"Look, Miroku."

"What is it? You see something over there?"

"Is it possible that we may have gotten lost? This is the same path we just took."

...There's a two second pause before the monk replies,

"Is that so?"

Pivoting her head from the spot she was staring that which tipped her as a landmark, the woman with long, banged dark brown hair remarks,

"The faster we turn around, the easier it'll be to backtrack."

"Perhaps. This cave is incredible. It's almost like a maze in here."

That wasn't the answer Sango was hoping for:

"Hmph. Now I get it...You don't know the way outta here, do you?"

"What about you? Can you lead us to the outside?"

"Kah, I was just following you; I didn't think I'd have to remember the way!"

"There you go again, always blaming others!"

...Realizing that arguing was going to do squat except prolonging eachother's frustrations, the pair sigh deeply before resolving to continue walking down the pathways until a viable exit presented itself...

"Nothing here..."

...

...

Soon enough, they come across a glowing silhouette of ghostly green in the next shadowed length of the path up ahead, before it vanishes from sight. Sango asks Miroku on alert,

"You saw that just now too?"

"I did."

...The figure reappears in the deeper part of the cave, the glow now confirmed to be a luminous cloak covering most of their body...Watching them go further in, the young monk comments,

"It's almost as if it wants us to follow it..." Sango speculates,

"It may be some kind of trap..."

"I don't sense any demonic aura. (Slight smile) Besides, you know how the old saying goes, Sango: 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'."

As they begin trailing after their new lead in the strange goings-on of this mountain, we zoom in on the glowing figure...and find it to be noneother than Kohaku!

 _I can't let those two go any further...Please, just follow me..._

Shifting to the outside of Mount Hakurei's inner sanctums, we return to that area opening into the valley, where Sesshomaru was facing off against Jakotsu while Suikotsu held Rin under his arm as leverage. As soon as her big brown irises caught the drop of blood trickling from her lord's arm, she immediately began struggling for freedom.

"Aaauuh, Lord Sesshomaru!"

But she would stop as soon as a section of sharp metal claws pointed threateningly at her person.

"Be quiet."

Meanwhile, Jakotsu comments on the dog demon's perseverance.

"Your pride is truly astounding...especially since you can barely even stand, all thanks to the barrier!"

He then thrusts Jakotsutō at Sesshomaru, who uses Tokijin to wrap the multi-bladed sword around his own, before harshly tossing it and their wielder up and over his own body! The feminine male barely had enough time to prep himself for the flip, before struggling to leap in a backwards somersault to dodge the counterattack, landing in a one-knee kneeling position...

 _That, wretch. Hah, hah, acting like he's perfectly fine when he's not._

 _He's gradually trying to move away from the barrier, though...which means it is hard on him._

"Hey, Suikotsu, make sure you don't move away from the mountain!"

"I don't need to be reminded, Jakotsu. You just concentrate on ridding the menace. Make it fast 'cause I'm just _itching_ to slaughter this brat."

The zombie with dual personalities aims his claws closer to Rin's neck, she letting out a quiet cry as he thought back to that moment in the village.

 _I couldn't kill those village kids 'cause the doctor interfered..._

"This time, _I'll do it for certain._ "

Frightened, the young girl whisper-yells,

"Help, Lord Sesshomaru...!"

Jakotsu jeers at the dog demon,

"Don't do anything funny...One wrong move and the kid is dead, you got that?"

Another intense pause comes to pass along the breeze, and the feminine zombie forms his ruby lips into a snide smirk as he took a step forward at the ready for round two.

"It's funny. It's just a matter of time when you think about it."

"Is that what you think? Hah."

Watching Jakotsu raise his blade...Sesshomaru hms with a small smirk of his own, causing the former to get bristled.

"Why you arrogant wretch, what's so damn funny?! You're hardly in any position to be laughing!"

Jakotsutō is thrust forward...and in response, the dog demon charges forward, while also shooting Tokijin on a straight course behind him, much to the zombie's shock!

 _He threw his sword away!_

(...TOK)

The demon blade lands right into Suikotsu's left breast...at the same time Sesshomaru's mokomoko-sama is damaged by the blades of Jakotsutō, he ignoring the sting of the injuries...

(SHOOM)

"Aaaauuuuuuuuh!"

So he could drive his singular hand right into the feminine male's chest! Blood pours from Jakotsu, and he lets out several grimaced winces, his face falling against the fur of his opponent, just as Suikotsu fell to his knees from the penetration by Tokijin...Rin shoves herself away out of the zombie's arm, before hurrying to run towards her savior.

"Lord Sesshoma-Ugh!"

...Unfortunately, the metal-clawed male wasn't through yet courtesy of the Shikon-no-Tama fragment keeping him rooted to this world, and reaches out to pin the young girl face-down on the ground, his lips forming a sadistic, pained smile.

"You're not going anywhere."

He wouldn't be the only one: Jakotsu was still technically alive as well since his jewel shards remained, and he struggles to move himself off of Sesshomaru while commenting,

"R-Rgh...Up close like this, you really are attractive. Keh-heheheh, nice try, but we cannot be slain like normal mortals."

Pulling Tokijin out his chest and tossing it aside, Suikotsu inquires,

"Whaddo you think? I've waited long enough...I'm gonna kill her now. That idiot doctor...he's too scared to come out 'cause of my injury."

Rin gasps as the zombie's jewel shards emit that black sheen in time with his fellow mercenary brother's...

"It's incredible. This urge to kill is overwhelming..."

He raises his weapon high, and Sesshomaru broke away from Jakotsu to rush in and stop the former.

"You fool! It's too late to save her!"

"Now die!"

(...TOK)

"Uh!"

...Unfortunately for Suikotsu, another force would put the breaks to his assault, in the form of a Sacred Arrow striking him straight in his neck where his tainted jewel shard laid!...That arrow, was released from Kikyō's own bow, she arriving in the area just in time to save Rin from that horrible fate.

 _Suikotsu...The light from your Shikon-no-Tama shard is tainted black..._

 _You are no longer._

His body falls flat on his back, and Rin wastes no time in reaching her lord's side.

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

Settling herself down from her horse, the priestess weakly makes her way down to the group with a few stumbles kept in check with using her bow as a crutch again. Jakotsu forms a hostile, and somewhat fearful expression:

"Gh! That dead priestess again...She scares me more than anyone."

He decides to hide himself for the time being...Kikyō walks past Sesshomaru and Rin, and kneels beside Suikotsu, who pivots his head towards her...a softer, sadder smile on his face.

"...Lady Kikyō, it's you."

"Uh!...Doctor Suikotsu."

"At last...I have, returned..."

We see that the jewel shard was glowing that pink fuchsia light again, indicating that for this moment at least, Suikotsu would be dying as a good man rather than a killer...Turning his head so his vision was cast to the twinkling lights high in the skies, the mentally-suffering zombie laments over what had happened to his more dormant persona.

"The tainted dark light blocked my way...I couldn't become myself..."

The undead woman with alabaster skin and ebony black hair wonders to herself, conflicted,

 _Did my Sacred Arrow purify the shard?_

 _...What do I do with him now? Must I kill him?_

 _"Whether ye do or not, the heathen's fate is already sealed, I'm afraid, priestess."_

 _Uh!...Already sealed?_

 _"Aye...His expression says it all, what road he wishes to travel now..."_

Rosiagnes's predictions would be made plain with the following plea made by the man in question.

"...Lady Kikyō?"

"Hm?"

"...Please remove the Shikon-no-Tama shard from my neck...Do that for me...then it will all be over. I can rest in peace...My last wish...is, to be released."

"...You're certain? Do you choose death?"

"I'm certain."

Suikotsu blinks, his eyes shining slightly as his mind floods with long forgotten memories.

"I finally remember what happened...I died before, long ago in the past."

Flashback

 ** _"Pu~re has become impure,_**  
 ** _I~mpure has now become pure..."_**

 _We find ourselves overlooking the grounds of a village being burned to the brink, that deceitfully innocent song acting as a warning of things to come..._

"When I was alive before, I was, tormented by uncertainty...I-I didn't know what was right, or, what was wrong."

 _Zooming in on the wooden debris of one destroyed home, we revisit the scene where the physician side of Suikotsu with the nervous heart of a saint tried to save the life of a young girl who was but a stone's throw away from taking Death's inviting hand._

 _"I can save her. I know I can save her!"_

 _One man who was still alive tries to plead the other to flee and not be a hero._

 _"Doctor, it's too late for that child! Just let her die and let's get out of here!"_

 _"Don't be ridiculous! There's still hope!"_

 _"But the samurai are heading this way! They'll kill us!"_

 _No threat to his own being was going to stop Suikotsu, firm in his faith._

 _"Flee if you want, but I'm going to save this child...!"_

 _...But as we'll recall..._

 _(SLICE)_

 _The little girl will have been slaughtered before the physician's eyes, which is revealed now to have been the fault of a mercenary samurai stabbing her with his sword!_

 _"Hauh!...You, killed her. Why?! How could you do that?!"_

 _"I put her out of her misery. You should be grateful."_

 _Suikotsu could only stare with horror as the blade is pulled out of the little chest, irises fixed onto the crimson dripping from the steel..._

 _"Just following our lord's instructions. He instructed us to kill every last person in the village."_

 _With that in the wind, the mercenary prepares to advance on the physician, who falls and crawls back with terror at the male's sneer._

 _"No, stay back!"_

 _Out of defensive reflex, the latter quickly grabs one of his surgical knifes, and just as the former raises his sword to strike..._

 _(SLASH)_

 _Suikotsu beats him with his own attack, cutting deeply into the torso! Blood spills with the winced outcry of the mercenary, red spattering onto the shell-shocked doctor, watching as the other falls hard on the ground face-up..._

"I, was a physician, who had sworn to save people's lives..."

 _...The knife drops._

"And yet, I had killed someone with my own hands..."

 _Suikotsu joins afterward, falling to his knees, bug-eyed with fear over the action he had just performed, his body shaking with hitched breaths as he gazes down at his bloodstained hands..._

"Looking back, I was probably harder on myself than anyone else might've been. I couldn't forgive myself...I didn't know what to do."

 _Rather, he knew no other way to react than let out a yell of anguish to ring through the smoke-filled air, before burying his face into his palms to sob..._

"That's, when it happened. When I, heard the voice."

 _ **"Why don't you stop acting the part of the saint? You're not interested in helping people!"**_

 _Freezing for a second to the sound of a deeper, deadlier projection of his own vocals, 'Suikotsu the Physician' darts his head up from his hands to look around, finding no one but himself...He would soon dart to his feet upon hearing the voice get louder, his imagination manifesting an image of his other self, the 'Suikotsu of the Shichinintai'._

 ** _"Deep inside, you want to kill. You're just itching to kill and kill!"_**

"...Suddenly, it became clear to me: the person who was speaking was me. Myself."

 _Time passes, and we would soon pay witness to the killer mercenary those back in the day would know as Suikotsu, he showing no remorse or mercy to those he murdered with his metal claws._

"An incredible evil lurked in my heart...and that evil, made me kill over, and over again..."

 _...In the aftermath of one violent raid, he would meet the faces of the young leader of the Shichinintai and his feminine brother._

"Not long afterward, I met Bankotsu, and joined the Band of Seven, and murder became second nature to me."

End of Flashback

"I've done some horrible things...My dark side has killed so many...and during it all, the doctor in me wasn't able to stop the senseless brutality. No matter how many lives I saved...no matter how hard I tried to make a difference...my soul has no hope of being redeemed."

Kikyō felt her heart go out to the struggling man, understanding his contradictions through her own hardships.

"...Doctor Suikotsu. You are not alone in your turmoil: Good and Evil coexist in all men who walk the earth. You must not give into the dark side."

 _Just as I myself, was close to being swallowed by my own bitter side of the Soul..._

Even with the truth in the priestess's words, Suikotsu was sure that he was a lost cause.

"You're wrong, Lady Kikyō...I would likely do it all again if I were able to...I couldn't stop myself...The mere, thought is unbearable...!"

She, Sesshomaru and Rin stare with pity at the dying man, whose eyes fill with tears as he mutters his dying wish once more.

"Please, I beg of you, Lady Kikyō...remove the jewel shard and release my tormented soul."

"Doctor Suikotsu..."

"...Please do this for me...I beg of you."

Not wanting him to suffer any longer, the undead woman raises a hand to fulfill Suikotsu's request...but stopped herself as her thoughts echo with both Bankotsu's philosophy, and Rosiagnes's metaphor.

 _"I know one thing, Kikyō: Dead people like you and I will probably share the same fate..."_

 _"..._ _ _the end is not an abyss...__ _ _ _but another way of saying, the beginning."___

With these words in mind...she attempts to reach towards the dying mercenary's neck again, hesitant...

(Thrust, TOK)

"Uh...!"

But just then, the blades of Jakotsutō come flying in to hack at Suikotsu's flesh, ripping away the Shikon-no-Tama shard and causing it to fly through the air...into Jakotsu's waiting hand.

"Hmph. (Smirk) I'll take this as a memento."

He turns to rush back, while Kikyō focuses her eyes on where the jewel shard was taken from.

"Doctor Suikotsu...!"

"And so it ends. It's finally over..."

...Suikotsu smiles...and his body glows faintly as the flesh rots away, leaving Rin to gasp with a look of shock as the mercenary of dual identities is reduced to an armoured skeleton...! Jakotsu wastes no time in running out of the area, knowing there was no battle to be had here anymore.

"Ha! Farewell, losers!"

But the others could care less whether the zombie got away or not, attention focused on the degrading wisp of dead skin dust leaving the worn skull of the man formerly known as Suikotsu...Kikyō's face contorts to express a stony sadness, closing her deep brown irises to mentally pray for the zombie's reentry into the afterlife.

 _...Suikotsu...may you rest in peace._

After a moment, Rin would approach the older woman to thank her for the well-timed rescue.

"Excuse me, priestess? Thank you so much for saving my life."

Smiling a little, Kikyō replies in a soft tone,

"You're welcome. I'm glad you're not hurt. You must have been scared."

The young girl with bushy black hair styled with a tiny pigtail on her right side nods, but then casts a sad expression to the new skeleton laying on the valley floor.

"At times, he was frightening...but other times..."

She then senses Sesshomaru beginning to part from the area, and quickly bows to the priestess before rushing to catch up.

"Goodbye!"

Kikyō watches the two leave for a minute...before residing to her own agenda.

 _I too must leave this place...before the Souls within me helping to root my own fade, and I'm left unable to move._

...As she started her slow trek back to her horse, Sesshomaru pauses to glance back at the woman's form.

 _Hm...The priestess who bound Inuyasha to a tree..._

 _She's just like the others: reeking of bones and graveyard soil._

 _...Perhaps she was given a glimpse of her own fate._

"Lord Sesshomaru?"

"...We must leave, Rin."

The dog demon walks on again, and his young ward simply replies,

"Coming," they leaving on their way to where he last left Jaken...

Time Skip

Morning light would soon to come to stream over the lands of Mount Hakurei, and we climb up the tall stab of rock to an exit from the winding paths within, where Kohaku would stop at after leading Sango and Miroku astray. He removes his cloak, which upon kissing the sun rays loses its luminous green, and looks back where he came where the slayer and monk would soon come from with a rather, conflicted expression.

 _I wish they would leave. I don't want to fight them._

"...Kohaku."

"Uh!"

He turns around to meet eyes with Kanna the Void Demon, who tells him,

"Stop them...They mustn't escape."

Despite the rising confusion in his heart courtesy of the spiritual battle within his very Soul, Kohaku knew he couldn't afford hesitance in his current affairs.

"(...Nod) Right."

...

A little while later, he and the incarnation would be gone, leaving his sister and Miroku to step-climb out of the cave to gaze outward to the sunrise...Looking back where they just came out from, Sango concludes,

"We must've spent the entire night trying to find our way out of the cave."

The monk wonders while peering back himself,

"I can't seem to figure out that apparition. Why would it have done that?"

He would receive his answer in but a few seconds, when Sango spots the green cloak Kohaku accidentally (or purposely) left behind. Reaching to gingerly pick it up into one of her hands, she mutters in surprise,

"This cape...Don't tell me..."

"What do you think it is?"

The brunette woman doesn't answer aloud, thinking observantly,

 _This cape is made from phosphorescent moss. Demon Slayers use it for night raids..._

Her irises shine with a shivering realization:

 _Kohaku is here._

"...Sango?"

Quickly rising to her feet, the slayer informs the monk with a serious tone,

"We must hurry, Miroku," before they both cast their irises to the towering peak above...

As for the bulk of our main group of brave travelers, we would find them settled inside and near the mouth of the cave by the low-sloping waterfall, recuperating from escaping the area where Kōga fought in a vicious battle against Ginkotsu and Renkotsu.

The wolf demon himself was still unconscious, propped up in a laying position against a smooth protrusion of stone with the Brownlee twins, Ginta and Hakkaku keeping a vigil over his condition.

"...Will you guys be able to help Kōga? With your crystals, I mean."

Freeman and Besa hm in confusion from Hakkaku's question...before smiling softly and replying,

"We'll do our best,"

"But most of the healing needs to be done by Kōga to avoid a possible development of dependency, so we'll only go as far as the first scabbing."

Nodding in understanding, Ginta chides,

"Do what you think is best...Just please, don't let him die."

Softening his face into a sympathetically assuring smile, Freeman reaches to squeeze his mate's shoulder, muttering,

"We won't. Kōga's not leaving this earth today."

He then turns to face the unconscious wolf demon, and hovers his wrist with the bracelet holding the prism-coloured shard of crystal over the latter's torso, Besa's joining overtop.

(Sheen...)

"Ready, bro?"

(Sheen...)

"Always, brother."

...Then outside near the entrance, we find Inuyasha and Coraline sitting together on the edge of a small cliff dipping down with the winding blue, his arm around her waist and she leaning into his side, their gazes cast away from the current situation for this moment. Shippo and Kilala watched them from a few feet higher up, the former questioning in a whisper,

"...Wonder what they're thinking about?"

The twin-tail cat demon only mewed in response, no more sure than the young kit...Focusing on the young couple, we see that their irises were each narrowed into distasteful glares, fixated on the distant, pretty picture that was Mount Hakurei for this new morning.

 _Nrh, weather's too nice around here._

Coraline's mental comment would be a little more hateful.

 _...What a loathsome place._

Unbeknownst to her, Kikyō, whom had exited the valley where Suikotsu's skeleton now laid and was now distancing herself from the mountain, pauses her steps when she hears a faint, telepathic echo...and smiles bitterly.

"Heh."

 _I couldn't agree with you more...Soul Sister._


	129. Chapter 128

**Chapter 128: A Mercenary's Hellfire**

Following the dozens of magma tubes down into that underground metalwork shop owned by the Shichinintai member whose heart burned with as much fire as his brand of attacks, we find the said zombie loading numerous cylinder-based weapons onto a wagon, preparing to head out and seek retaliation against a certain hot-blooded wolf demon.

As he bent down to check the stability of the mystery weapons on the wagon, Renkotsu grits his teeth while seething,

 _I should've mounted this on 'im as well._

His mind fills with memories of the recent battle's last leg, from when Kōga drove Ginkotsu's torso down into the ground from the air after twisting free from the steel threads, to when the latter invoked a self-destruction sequence, hitting everyone within close range, and finally, the aftermath when Renkotsu himself was laying on the ground, battered and bruised, before deciding to use his newly dead mercenary brother's jewel shard for himself to heal his more severe injury, not wanting to submit to Bankotsu...

Closing his thoughts, he gazes up at an old copper pot he used to craft the parts for the deceased mecha zombie, affirming his views.

"You can't accomplish anything if you're dead...Isn't that right, Ginkotsu?"

Soon enough, he would be pulling the wagon out of the underground up from the mouth of a cave sitting right to a waterfall...

Getting a better look at Renkotsu now that he was in the sunlight, we see him dressed in a new outfit - save his light blue bandana - after his old one was trashed by a combination of Kōga's claws and the explosion from Ginkotsu's last resort. Now, the fire-user wore a steel blue kosode with a gray sphere-shaped diamond pattern, a breastplate coloured in a way that made one think of the molten surface of that great star in the sky with four matching kusazuri, a white-gray sash around his waist matching his new hakama, cedar brown arm guards and suneate, and a pair of white tabi.

...Just before he got too far away from the cave, a singular Saimyōshō comes buzzing down to hover by his left.

"You found him?"

The poisonous wasp demon tells him their information...

"Excellent...Never mind reporting to brother Bankotsu. There's one more job I need you to do."

Understanding what Renkotsu meant, the Insect of Hell turns to fly away to their next location.  
The former watches it go, the desire for revenge blazing in his dotted black irises.

 _I will obtain that wolf's Shikon-no-Tama fragments...by any means I find necessary._

...Moving along, we head back to that other cave sitting beside the more billowed waterfall river, far enough away from Mount Hakurei that the sacred barrier's purifying energies wouldn't be as heavy a bother, just as Kōga's deep blue irises finally blink awake.

"Rh...r-uh..."

He would find himself staring back at the relieved faces of twin brothers Freeman and Besa, Shippo, Ginta and Hakkaku, the latter two forcing back tears.

"Look, he's awake!"

Hakkaku chides his friend/leader's name after the fox demon's remark, followed by Freeman quirking with a smile,

"Welcome back. Gave us a good scare there, dude, unconscious all night long."

"Free-man..."

Placing a hand over the back of the addressed's palm, Ginta would gently ask the awakened wolf demon,

"Kōga, do you remember what happened to you?"

The wolf demon with the white-blond Mohawk speaks up incase their leader was suffering from memory impairment.

"You were caught in that blast when that metal monster Ginkotsu exploded."

Thankfully, the male with long black hair tied back into a ponytail wasn't inflicted with that bad a trauma, nodding a bit and replying weakly,

"That's right..." Besa then asks him with a mild frown,

"How are you feeling now? Freeman and I did use our crystal shards on your injuries last night, but we didn't want to go too far because your body needed to do most of the work."

"Ah, is that right? (Sniff) Guess that explains why your scents are on me, along with a bit of that cat demon."

"Heh, yeah. I volunteered to hang onto you as we left the battle area, while Shippo kept an eye on Hakkaku so he didn't fall off of Kilala before he woke up halfway."

The male with coco espresso skin and black cornrows sideglances his brother with a little smirk.

"Meanwhile, lover boy here piggybacked Ginta in a similar fashion to a certain dog demon's method of carting Cora."

Freeman slaps Besa's arm with an irritated smile and retorts,

"Aw, stuff it with that lover boy junk, ya dingus!"

"Tch, what, just 'cause I'm still single means I can't tease you and your mate? What kind of unwritten rule is that?"

"Brotherly respect!"

"Psh, su~re, and you follow that to a T? Gimme a break."

"Shut up!"

The demons present in the cave found themselves laughing a little at the silly argument between the bickering twins, before Kōga comments with a small upturn of mouth,

"Well, I'll say this much: I'd rather stink of your scents than dog breath's."

"Ey, watch it, ya scrawny wolf!"

Eyes turn to the cave entrance, where Inuyasha and Coraline now stood, Kilala resting on the latter's shoulder. The former had a scowl plastered onto his face thanks to the one wolf demon's insulting comment, while the redheaded woman held a hand to him in a calming manner.

"Come on, no need to let that burrow in your head. If anything, it was the least insulting comment he's made about you."

"Maybe, but doesn't make it any less annoying. And for the record, wolf, I'm also glad that I didn't wind up with your scent soaked into my clothes."

"Hey!"

Hakkaku and Ginta quickly hold back their leader before he tried to get up.

"Simmer down, Kōga..."

Rolling their eyes, the twins mutter,

"Testosterone," under their breath, before Inuyasha says to his pack members,

"Alright. We've got the wolves in a safe place like you all wanted, now let's get going."

Besa replies with a disbelieving expression,

"What? Inuyasha, we can't just ditch them here in the cave! They haven't fully healed from yesterday."

Freeman adds while gripping Ginta's hand tightly and forming a firm glare,

"Yeah, I'm certainly not leaving my mate in the shape he's in."

Said wolf demon mutters the former male's name with bated breath, and Coraline gently argues,

"Guys, as much as I agree it wouldn't be right to leave them behind, keep in mind that there's two other members of our group we've yet to hear back from."

Shippo chimes with a small gasp,

"That's right: Miroku and Sango! I wonder what happened to them after they left for Mount Hakurei?"

The twins hm with newly worried expressions forming on their faces, Besa muttering,

"If they've been gone for this long, something must have delayed them..."

"Then I propose a temporary split."

"Hm?"

He looks up to meet Coraline's two-tone blue irises (along with everyone else) as she says,

"It's not ideal, but I think we can afford having a few of us heading back to where Sango and Miroku left from while the rest hang back here. Once they're back, we'll guide them this way so we can all come up with a game plan, together."

She pivots her head to meet her lover's amber eyes:

"How does that sound?"

"Hmm...Alright. I dunno if I like teaming up with wolves again..."

Inuyasha glances over Kōga, Ginta and Hakkaku:

"But I, guess it wouldn't be right to leave you three hanging..."

The wolf demons could only stare at him with surprise for his less callous tone, he taking their silence with a quiet 'feh' before gently grabbing Coraline's hand to lead her out the cave.

"Let's go."

"Right. You comin' with too, Kilala?"

The twin-tailed cat demon mews and nods from atop the redheaded woman's shoulder.

"Alright...Lumos, I'd like you to stay back here for now. If the situation turns in any way, bolt over to us as fast as you can."

The Will O' Wisp bops up and down quick in his own nod, and the trio began to move out...only to stop fast when they see an unwanted guest already here!

"Uh!" "(Growl)"

"A poison insect!"

The single Saimyōshō takes flight from their spot atop a vine growing above the mouth of the cave, and Inuyasha spins on his heel to face Coraline while nudging her back to the others.

"Change of plans: you all stay here while I go crush that thing before it gives this place away!"

Before any protest could be made, the dog demon leaps off after the Insect of Hell...Unbeknownst to him, however, Inuyasha's locked focus on hunting the demon wasp down was exactly what their sender, Renkotsu, was edging for, he hiding behind one of the oaks in the forest as the former passes by without detecting the latter!

Coraline's POV

 _Something, doesn't feel quite right...I hope Inuyasha takes down that Saimyōshō quickly._

While my boyfriend left to take out that freak wasp, I signaled Lumos to release a burst of his energies over Ginta and Hakkaku to relieve any remaining pain on their bodies. They watch the sparkling white-blue lights dusting their skin with awe, making me smile the slightest, before thanking my creature partner for gifting my friends.

"Thank you, Lumos."

He chirps a soft moan in appreciation, hovering back to my side as I ask the two less-injured wolf demons,

"Feel a bit more rejuvenated, you guys?"

"A little, but not quite back to normal yet..."

"We did get hit pretty hard in the attack."

"Of course."

Freeman wraps his hand around Ginta's and softly offers,

"If you'd like, Besa and I could use our Seven Light crystal shards on you guys next. We'd use bandages, but, our first aid kit's gotten real low on supplies this last while and we hadn't had an opportunity to refill."

Hakkaku holds his hands up in a modest protest:

"Oh, no need to apologize!"

Ginta puts a hand to the back of his head with a sheepish smile and adds,

"We're just grateful you guys would even ask how we are!"

 _Heh, they're definitely the more humble of the three, while Kōga's the proud one..._

(Pulse...)

"Hm!"

That's when I sensed a very familiar jewel nearby:

 _A Shikon-no-Tama shard...radiating darkness..._

 _...Could it be the Shichinintai?_

"What's up, sis?"

I mutter with narrowed irises to Besa,

"I'm not entirely sure...but some sort of hostile force is nearing us."

He takes in a sharp breath of alert, and I rise to my feet to head for the entrance of the cave, followed by Shippo who hops onto my shoulder, also sensing something strange.

"Do you smell it too, Coraline?"

"Probably not with my nose, but I can sense the dark aura of a jewel shard closing in, mixed with the undead...Tell me what your senses are picking up, though."

"I smell something like, gunpowder..."

 _Gunpowder...Renkotsu!_

 _He's the only member of the Shichinintai still roaming around that uses such fuel for his brand of weaponry._

 _(...Sheen) Now...where is he?_

Using my Aura Reader abilities, I scanned around the river/waterfall to zero in on the zombie's location...when suddenly, a section of the rock face opposite of us explodes downstream, causing a bunch of boulders to block off the directional flow, and the water level to churn into a rising whirlpool!

"Uh!"

 _What's happening?!_

Shippo sniffs the air, before darting his head to our left:

"Something's coming!"

And that something...was a pile of fire-sparked logs, spreading a slick layer of oil overtop the blue!

 _...Oh crap!_

The pile of burning wood crashes into the new dam, plunging the flames into the oily water, and creates a river of fire! Shippo and I yelp, barely scrambling backwards to escape a lick of the fire, causing the guys to call out from inside the cave,

"What's, the matter?!" "Sis!"

"Shippo?!"

"What's going on out there?!"

I yell over my free shoulder,

"Nobody come outside; the river's been set to flames!"

I hear a collective 'What?!' echo back, and Shippo asks aloud fearfully,

"What is this?!"

Growling, I unsheathe ShatterSoul and shout with all my might,

"Renkotsu! I know you're there, you despicable fire-eater, so if you're not a coward, show yourself!"

...I'd get my wish quickly enough, as the undead mercenary appears atop the cliff opposite the cave.  
We both stare eachother down with ugly glares, before he calls,

"I have filled the river with plenty of oil! You're all trapped!"

"Says you! Shippo, head back inside and get everyone ready to bug outta here!"

"Uh! But what about you?"

"I'm gonna make sure that bastard's eyes stay on me...Go!"

The young fox kit heeds my order, and jumps down to dart back inside the cave, while I drew a big breath in accordance with my soul channeling spiritual energies into my sword, the blade billowing rings of the dark arctic blue that clouded my eyes.

 _I see his shard...No, shards. There's a new one in his shoulder...Could it have been Ginkotsu's?_

 _Well, either way, if I aim an energy cut in an angle with both his neck and shoulder, that should take him out._

Just as I positioned myself to do so, Renkotsu pulls out a weapon of his own that looked like a giant, simplistic pump launcher, and expels a stream of fire straight for me!

"Aah!"

"Coraliiiine!"

Luckily for me, Inuyasha returns in that moment before I could become barbecued, using his Fire Rat kimono to deflect the shot flames before scooping me up to take back inside the cave!

 _Inuyasha...!_

He gently sets me on the floor, before shucking off the upper coat of his robes to drape over me, then turns to snarl with a piercing glare directed outside,

"Damn that Renkotsu! He must be real anxious for me to kill 'im since he hasn't wasted any time gettin' here!"

"Wait, Inuyasha, you should be the one wearing this, not me!"

Shippo argues,

"She's right: the robe of the Fire Rat will protect you from the fire!"

My brothers even offer an alternative:

"We can shield everyone else with our crystal shards just fine."

"Please, Inuyasha, don't disregard your own safety..."

My boyfriend argues back with a shake of his head,

"Coraline, you and Shippo will need that more than I will, (looks at my brothers) and you two will have your hands full protecting these battered wolves."

Kōga would growl into the conversation next, not liking the idea of Inuyasha taking on his fight.

"Keep your hands off of Renkotsu, you mutt! It's my jewel shards he's after; I'll be the one to kill 'im!"

To my surprise, it would be Besa who counters the wolf demon's words by lightly smacking the latter offside the head before sternly reminding him,

"You're currently in no shape for battle, pal, so stuff a cork in it and let us pull the heavy weight! (Softens his gaze) It's not a bad thing to accept help once in a while. Listen to the people who want to give a damn, not your pride."

Kōga grinds his teeth at my brother, who just stares back unafraid...before the former hmphs and turns away with a defeated glare. I sigh quietly and silently thank Besa for acting as the voice of reason, before moving to a stand while gripping the Fire Rat kimono top to me tightly.

"Inuyasha, please watch it out there. I saw that Renkotsu has two jewel shards in his possession now."

He nods in understanding, but smirks confidently before replying while pecking my cheek,

"Not as many as Bankotsu had," then turns to rush out the cave...

"What's wrong?! Too hot for you in that hole?!"

I narrow my irises at that latest taunt from Renkotsu, noting,

 _His tone has more aggression than before...Has he become blinded by a raging vendetta, or, is this his endgame?_

The sound of Tessaiga being drawn rings in next as Inuyasha retorts,

"As if! Just stay where you are 'cause I'm comin' for ya!"

Quickly gathering Shippo into the Fire Rat robe, I rush out with Ginta and Freeman to watch my boyfriend propel himself upward.

"Holy-!" "Whoa...!"

"Good jump!"

Renkotsu sneers and calls back,

"What makes you think I should wait for you?!"

He then readies another weapon, this one with an appearance akin to the barrel of a cannon, before firing out a volley towards Inuyasha, he barely shifting to the side to dodge...

"You won't be able to dodge this in midair!"

(Boom)

Another cannonball flies, and is blocked by Tessaiga's blade, causing an explosion that launches my lover backwards for the fiery river below! I cry out his name in worry, just as Kilala rowls and transforms into her full form before flying down to catch him in time! Letting out a sigh of relief, I mutter with a tiny smile,

"That was close," and Shippo chimes,

"Great! Kilala can't be hurt by the fire!"

Yet, Freeman notes,

"Still, even they won't distract Renkotsu for long. He's gonna try blasting us down here, I know it...We should all try bailing out of this area and head for the cliff forest above."

Ginta asks,

"You think we can make it?"

"Any attempt's better than being a sitting duck...Come on, let's get the others."

Deciding that my brother's logic was reasonably correct, we hurry to gather our things and people, before Lumos and I lead the way in a fast but careful trek along the edge of this blazing river, with Besa behind me, then Ginta and Hakkaku helping Kōga along with his arms around their shoulders, and Freeman bringing up the rear. We ignore Renkotsu's frustrated shout of,

"I have no time for the likes of you," followed by another blast from that cannonball launcher...

Stopping about halfway upriver, Besa suggests,

"Let's head up this section here!"

"Got it!"

We all start our somewhat slow climb up the tall rock face, the wolf demons carefully leaping up ahead while my brothers employ their Seven Light Shards to enhance their own human abilities so they could take me between them and jump together in a similar fashion, Shippo clinging to my torso...We get about halfway up, when I suddenly saw a familiar blur get smacked into the cliff a distance away from us, followed by a thick gunshot!

(Boom...)

Shippo cries out Inuyasha's name, and I curse under my breath before Freeman gasps,

"Oh shi-Everyone, move!"

I hear the sound of another blast from that cannon, just as my brothers and the wolves make the motion to jump higher...

(BOOM)

...By some miracle of fate, we all just narrowly escape being incinerated to kingdom come, and land in individual slides on the barren surface of the cliff opening from the forest...! Gingerly, I move to my feet with my brothers and Shippo, as Besa asks,

"Hah, hah, hah...Is everybody okay?"

I turn to see the wolf demons struggle a bit in standing up themselves, before replying with the rest of us,

"Yeah, we're fine,"

"Barely..." "That was too close for comfort."

"I'm good." "So am I..."

...Lumos then stiffens on alert before letting out a series of frantic moans while buzzing around in a circle, his body glowing in and out the normal white-blue, and a warning red!

"What is it, Lu-Uh! Wait...Renkotsu's heading for us. Everyone, get ready!"

The boys all resound growls and grunts of preparedness for a fight, and I turn around while pulling out my sword again, while also shifting Inuyasha's kimono so my arms slipped through the slits near where his shoulders would sit and hooded the top part over my head.

 _Now I feel like the warrior version of Little Red Riding Hood, teaming with a trio of big but not bad wolves..._

 _Which I guess makes Renkotsu the woodsman gone insane._

Speaking of him, the undead male would arrive but a moment afterward, still carrying that cannon and god-who-knows what else in a wicker bag strapped to his back. Once again, we get into a mini staring contest...before I would inform him,

"Your plans are failing, Renkotsu! You may have temporarily stopped Inuyasha and Kilala, but we won't fall so easily!"

The others jeer,

"Yeah!" "What she said!"

"Ha! You think you've outwitted me?!"

The zombie pulls out a pair of way-old school TNT sticks from his bag.

"This battle is far from over! I'll blow you all to Hell!"

Besa calls in a disbelieving tone,

"Hold on: you've turned this entire area into a giant landmine! You'll be sending _yourself_ to the afterlife if you throw that thing the wrong way!"

"Silence! There's no turning back for me now!"

 _No turning back? What does he mean by that?_

"Kōga, I'm gonna have those two shards in your legs, no matter what it takes to get them!"

Said wolf demon growls back,

"You cretin," and Renkotsu lights a fire starter:

"This is no meaningless threat!"

Ginta and Hakkaku bravely stand protectively in front of their more injured leader with nerved glares as Shippo exclaims,

"He really means it," and Freeman retorts,

"Oh yeah? Well I really mean it when I say this: eat dirt, you pyromaniac!"

He then swings his long hammer downward to create that track of geysering earth to go shooting for Renkotsu, who swiftly moves to the side to dodge.

"I won't fall for something like that twice!"

Besa and I took this opportunity to speed forward with our own weapons at ready to strike, both of us shouting,

"Don't be so arrogant!"

I swipe ShatterSoul through the air to send a slash of energy to hit Renkotsu, who does get his side grazed even if dodging the bulk of the damage.

"Rgh!" Besa exclaims with a smirk,

"Ha! You're mine now," and swipes his demon bone sickles at the zombie's hands to knock away the explosives and fire starter!

"Uh!"

The items go flying backwards to the grounds below the cliff...

"Grrrr, you brat!"

(GRIP)

"Cau-guh!"

Next thing I knew, Renkotsu seized Besa by his neck with a single hand, so strongly that the pressure's shock causes the latter to drop his weapons! Freeman and I cry out our sibling's name in worry, while our wolf demon friends call out aggressively,

"Let him go!"

"Kuh, oh I'll let him go..."

The bastard then proceeds to hold my brother out over the ledge of the cliff!

"As the first victim of my river of fire!"

Besa struggles to get himself free, clawing at the hand that was holding him up by his throat, while I grind my teeth with hints of tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

 _Dammit! If any of us tries to strike Renkotsu now, he'll just drag Besa with him!_

 _What'll we do?!_

Renkotsu lets out a maniacal laugh at mine and everyone else's hesitance to make a move...

"Don't push your luck!"

"Huh?!"

His head pivots sharply to his right, meeting the very angry expression of my boyfriend! Shippo, Freeman and I exclaim in relief,

"Inuyasha," as opposed to Renkotsu's very agitated spit of,

"You again!"

"Coraline, take him down with your sword, now! Trust me!"

Nodding, I unleash an attack from ShatterSoul I hadn't used in a while, pointing it straight ahead for the enemy.

" _Aura Drive!_ "

(...Bzzz-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow)

Those rings of dark arctic blue light shift into arrowhead-like needles of energy to launch from my blade, piercing against the mercenary's torso and forcing him to release Besa, who would be yanked away from the edge of the cliff by my fast-footed dog demon lover.

"I've gotcha!"

"Inuyasha!"

Renkotsu lets out a yell as he falls backwards over the side, seemingly to his doom...But, then.

"Oh crap, he's not down yet, folks!"

Freeman's cry would be followed by that damn zombie's hand lifting the rest of his body back up onto the flattop, somehow stopping his trajectory before he hit rock bottom!

 _Ah come on, seriously?! And here I thought Naraku was a stubborn bastard to kill!_

Yet, the moment that the mercenary stood up straight, was when Inuyasha made his move.

"Not for long!"

He lunges forward and tackles Renkotsu over the side...both of them heading for the flaming river below!

 _NO!_

(...KA-BOOM)

Any explosives that were still in the mercenary's pack went off the second they touched the fire, causing a massive explosion to ensue, launching a ball-like geyser of water into the air in the process of eliminating the last of the oil! We all duck down from the impact...and as soon as the ground stopped rumbling, I looked up, seeing the smoky spray...and no signs of my one and only.

 _...Inuyasha...INUYASHA!_

"Inuyashaaaaa!"

I scrambled to my feet to rush over to the edge of the cliff, and looked down to the now raging waters below with a very sick and paranoid feeling in my stomach, fighting back the urge to burst into helpless sobs.

"...N-No...No...don't, s-s-say he's...!"

 _Please...Please god, let him be alive!_

Small Time Skip, Ginta's POV

Shortly after that huge explosion, we would all follow after my frantic sister-in-law (since Freeman and I had mated, I've slowly begun referring to his siblings as my own) in a search along the river to try our hardest in finding any signs that Inuyasha was still alive.

 _Which I pray for her sake, he is..._

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha, where are you?!" Hakkaku calls to the scared woman,

"I'm sure we'll find him soon," and I reason,

"He probably washed up along the riverbank."

But then Kōga had to go and say something that was way too insensitive for the situation, even for him.

"That's if the mutt wasn't blown into a million pieces..."

 _Oh, Kōga, why...?_

...Sis Coraline slowed to a complete stop with a frightened squeak, with her brothers quickly taking the initiative to try to comfort her.

"Sis..." "Cora..."

Hakkaku and I glare at our friend and leader for using his callousness against the half dog demon at a time like this, mine particularly piercing since I understand my human in-law's strife very well when I nearly lost Freeman to that persistent she-devil of a wolf demon.

"Don't say that!"

"Grh, Kōga, you should know better! Think of her feelings; she and Inuyasha are in the middle of courting as mates!"

He barks back defensively,

"I'm just telling it like it is! Besides, if that idiot hadn't-hm?!"

Kōga immediately cuts himself off, when he sees Coraline starting to silently cry into Inuyasha's robes...

"C-Coraline..."

Hakkaku groans,

"Now you've made her cry," and my mate and his brother shoot our leader glares that nearly matched mine...

"N-No, don't cry, please..."

"This...This was my doing...! (Sniff) I, I chose to wear this, and n-not, force it back on him...!"

 _Coraline..._

It hurt to hear how heartbroken she sounded...Kōga tries to still her tears like the friend he should've been acting like (well, kind-of).

"It wasn't your fault, Coraline; I saw the whole thing! You didn't wanna touch that thing, but he forc-"

(Bonk)

He's once again cut off...by the familiar fist of the very battered form we were searching for!

"You were saying? Who wouldn't wanna touch it even if his life depended on it?"

Hakkaku and I gasp,

"Inuyasha," and Freeman cheers with Besa and Shippo,

"Hey!" "You're alright!"

"You made it!"

Coraline stops crying, and tilts her head up to also see his form as he scoffs,

"My body's built differently than yours...and besides, as it turned out, that Renkotsu valued his life more than I would've guessed. At the last minute, he threw his pack of fire bombs away."

 _Oh...Does that mean the mercenary could still be alive?_

I shuddered to think so, while Kōga comments as he eyes Inuyasha,

"Tuh, that's what I thought all along; you know the old saying, 'Idiots never die'."

"Idiots? Think you'll get away with that?"

"What, you wanna take me on now?!"

"Today's the day: I'm gonna put your lights out once and for all!"

"With that beat up body of yours?! Not on your-"

The sizing banter would end mid-sentence, all thanks to my sister-in-law.

"Inuyasha!"

She launched herself at her lover's torso, leaving him and Kōga at a loss for words as she held Inuyasha tightly, burying her face into his chest.

"(Sniff) In...Inuyasha...You're still here...! You're still, a-alive...!"

"...Coraline...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you all upset."

Sis Coraline peeks up and replies with a hushed voice still a little raw from crying,

"N-No need to apologize...I mean, isn't this what, lovers do? Worry for one another?"

Inuyasha formed a small gape of surprise from her statement, and I found myself sharing a meaningful smile with my mate, saying to myself like he may be doing,

 _Yeah...That's what lovers do._

Our dog demon friend snaps out of his daze with a firm nod, wrapping an arm around Sis Coraline in a very comforting way...I then hear a very nonchalant hm emit from Kōga, and turned to see that he was observing the two with a rather, calm air, his eyes distant like he was picturing another pair in their place.

"Kōga..."

"You were right, Ginta."

"Uh...I was?"

"Yeah, for telling me off like you did...I, should've been more considerate..."

He glances over at the human/half-demon couple and comments with only a very, very slightly bitter undertone,

"Especially since as much as it kicks me to say it...I lost the battle to you before it even started, mutt-face."

 _Am...Am I seriously hearing what I'm hearing? Kōga, is admitting defeat?_

The rest of us were just as shocked by this humility as I was, even Inuyasha himself...But then again.

"Keh, nice of ya to finally admit it. (Smirk) You thinkin' of that wolf chick while sayin' that, idiot?"

"Guh!...Pah, as if! I'm just trying to be the bigger man here for once, which is more than you can say, moron!"

The dust of pink on Kōga's cheeks said otherwise, which Inuyasha would not waste time taunting him for.

"Yeah yeah, deny until the sun goes down, but I think we all know who really snagged your heart in the end, doofus."

A very quiet giggle sounds from Sis Coraline, and the rest of us were fighting the urge to laugh at this new version of the usual squabbles between these two men.

"Teh, well, this is different." Hakkaku nods in agreement with Shippo:

"Re~al different..."

"Different, but refreshing."

"I think the 'kids' have finally grown up."

Freeman asks Besa and I with a quirked smile,

"Yet I kind-a feel bad for both Cora's and Ayame's futures of dealing with high-maintenance husbands."

We couldn't hold back anymore after that comment, and started howling with laughter, much to Inuyasha's and Kōga's furies.

"What did you say?!"

 _Hahaha, these are the moments you live for!_

No POV

While matters near the holy mountain have settled for another moment of peace, we move back up Hakurei to catch up with Miroku and Sango as they exit out from another cave higher up the steeping peak...

"Haaah, nothing in there either..."

"No sign of demons at all..."

Yet even with the lack of confirming evidence, the young monk was certain that this place was the latest citadel of that despicable half-demon scarred by the mark of the spider, bringing up the shrinking group of undead mercenaries.

"There's definitely a connection between Naraku and the Band of Seven though. And it was a fact that Saint Hakushin was protecting the resurrected group."

"But we still haven't figured out why."

He nods to Sango,

"Right. If he's helping Naraku by building this barrier around Mount Hakurei, then that leads us to one conclusion..."

"Yes."

The demon slayer casts her gaze to the upper mountain, noting with narrowed irises,

"That Naraku is hiding here somewhere."

"Let's go on to the top of the mountain for starters. If we turn back empty-handed, we'll hear about it from Inuyasha."

"You're right."

"One more thing..." Miroku looks down and says more to himself than aloud,

"I have to do something about this barrier. Here we are alone together and I can't even make a move towards her...! (Flexes his fingers) I can't take it much longer...!"

He then notices the demon slayer already moving ahead, so he takes a deep breath to collect himself, before making his way after her in a much more serious manner...

Moving way down the billowing waterfall river within range of the mountain's barrier, we find Renkotsu, he somehow making it out of the explosion and being washed downstream without any noticeable scathing (other than his pride), now walking through the shallow section of the blue ribbon cutting through the valley in deep thought over where he should go next.

 _Damn it! I failed again!...I didn't manage to steal Kōga's Shikon-no-Tama shards.  
_

His right hand moves to hover over the shard in his shoulder.

 _If word gets out that I'm using Ginkotsu's jewel shard...then Bankotsu will kill me for certain._

 _...What should I do?_

Just then, an Insect of Hell buzzes overhead.

"Uh! A Saimyōshō!"

...Following his gaze to where the poisonous wasp flew, Renkotsu's eyes widen, at the sight of the very brother he was currently worrying about!

"Ban-kotsu. This is a surprise..."

"Hey, Renkotsu. I heard the news from the insects. Our poor friend Ginkotsu bit the dust, did he?"

Ignoring the nervous bead of sweat dripping down the side of his head, the fire-user manages to mutter,

"Uh, yeah."

"That's a terrible shame, especially considering all the time you spent constructing him so adeptly..."

Bankotsu pivots his head to smile at his mercenary brother:

"I'm glad about one thing: at least you're still alive. (Sad frown) Suikotsu went after Sesshomaru, but now he's dead too."

"Suikotsu?"

"(Nod) And you know what that means..."

The young leader of the undead group steps over to wrap an arm around his elder.

"There's only you, me and Jakotsu, just the three of us are left...and that's where we stand. I'm gonna be depending on you more than ever."

"Yeah..."

"Let's move on ahead then."

Watching the male wielding the giant halberd sword walk on ahead, Renkotsu thinks to himself bitterly,

 _That creep Bankotsu...Didn't he even notice Ginkotsu's jewel shard?_

Scoffing mentally, he starts moving after the other, choosing not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 _It looks like he's got some use for me yet. I guess I gotta reprieve this time..._

...Heading back up the higher peaks of Mount Hakurei, we find our duo monk and demon slayer forced to stop again, when the former comes across a section of the path that's been cut clean off like it was as easy as dividing cookie dough.

"Hmm..."

"What's the matter, Miroku?"

"Look at this...A dead end. It's almost as if someone hacked off part of the mountain..."

"...Over there, Miroku."

Following Sango's point to the broken section of the path opposite them, the monk with the very short rat tail sees,

"A cave...It looks like the path used to lead up to that cave."

"Do you wanna go in?"

"Can you get us there?"

"I can try."

The slayer with long dark brown hair tied back into a high ponytail then tosses her Hiraikotsu to land into the rock face of the pathway's other end point.

"Excellent."

She then readies a grappling hook kept under her right shoulder guard, and tosses it hard to hook onto the path's surface near the cave. Once she was sure the hook was tight and secure, she jumps and swings herself in an uppercut, then hops off of her weapon to land safely on the other side. Miroku's face contorts into a smile of awe, before being called to attention by Sango.

"Here, catch onto this, Miroku!"

He smoothly catches the tossed end of the grappling rope, complimenting,

"Very impressive, Sango."

The monk then takes a turn jumping and swinging to the other side, landing atop Hiraikotsu before being helped up by the slayer...Looking inside the new cave they found, both parties could feel a much different air compared to the dull quiet they've been getting since the start of their investigation.

"It leads far into the mountain..."

"...I sense a demonic aura here. Let's go, Sango. No doubt about it, Naraku is deep inside this cave."

Fastening her giant boomerang made from demon bone over her back again, Sango nods in agreement, before both began running down the tunnel...

Zooming to the end of this cave, we find ourselves looking downward a gigantic pit, lit with the ominous blue glow of several torches set on the walls, circular paths cut into the rock to line around the pit, and wooden parapets further lining the edges.

...Sitting on one said parapet, was none other than Kagura, her face set in an expression of bitterness and boredom.

 _Damn that Naraku...How long is he going to keep me shut up in this place?_

"...Kagura."

She turns her head behind her, and sees her incarnation sister, Kanna standing before her.

"Oh, Kanna, it's you...Boy, you sure have got it good. You don't emanate any demonic aura, so you can come and go on sacred ground. I can't even take one step out of that annoying barrier, because if I do, I'll end up being purified."

The wind sorceress grips the parapet while cursing to herself, before Kanna's Demon Mirror glows to show off Miroku and Sango's forms.

"They're coming..."

Kagura gets down and takes a closer look at the reflected image.

"Those two. The monk and the demon slayer..."

Rising to her feet, the demon incarnation felt she was about to receive a very good distraction from all her waiting around.

"Mm, well isn't that interesting...We're long overdo for a little trouble-making."

...And hovering right behind her, was a mass swarm of demons!


	130. Chapter 129

Hey all; finally updating this story!

Pardon the longer delay. I'm reaching the tail end of the first half of this new university year, so that means last assignments and exam prep. Then there's work, plus, I've been getting the ball rollin' for a new story, which for those who haven't checked it out yet, is based off the TMNT-verse (check out my profile for more info). Lol, yes, I'm a busy bee...

I'll keep trying to post new chapters as soon as I can, of course. Things should pick up in the next while once school settles for winter break.

Read on, fellow bookworms :)

* * *

 **Chapter 129: The Holy Mountain's Rotted Core**

Picking up where we last left off, Miroku and Sango had begun their sprint inside the cave they discovered up within the higher peaks of Mount Hakurei, which was permeating a strong demonic energy from the inner depths...

The deeper he lead the descent into the mountain cave, the more assured the monk became of his conclusions.

 _The demonic aura is getting even stronger._

 _As I had surmised, the barrier around the sacred mountain has been hiding an evil in its depths!_

The pair soon reach the end of the tunnel, opening to the enormous pitted shaft hollowing Hakurei's insides.

"...Parapets?"

Tying on her metal filter mask, Sango comments,

"The demonic aura is thick in here..."

...Miroku then lets out a startled sound, and the brunette follows his direct of sight, spotting the horde of several dozen demons and demon spirits rushing down from the higher point of the shaft!

"Naraku's demons!"

"I guess he doesn't intend to hide himself any longer."

In saying that, the young monk prepares to release the power of his infamous Wind Tunnel...that is, until Sango sees a few of the Saimyōshō buzzing within this dangerous crowd.

"Up there! Naraku's poisonous insects!"

Holding a hand out to her companion, the brunette warns,

"Miroku, don't use the Wind Tunnel. If you suck them in, the poison will get you!"

She then takes the initiative in making the first offensive move.

" _Hiraikotsu!_ "

(Toss, spin, wha-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack...)

Miroku would follow the slayer's attack with a different, more spiritual-bound move of his own.

" _Sacred Sutras!_ "

The paper charms fly, taking down three more demons upon impact, fried by the purification power from the monk...

"Hmm, well, who would've thought?"

The pair's attention diverts to the vantage point across from they upon hearing that familiar silky female voice, spotting the wind-oriented demon incarnation through the rain of flesh and bone.

"You two mortals made this far inside all by yourselves?...Then again, your friend Inuyasha can't come in beyond the barrier, now can he?"

"Kagura!"

"(Dark smile) You certainly have guts, that much I'll grant you..."

The Wind Sorceress fwips out her fan:

"But you won't make it out of here alive!"

She sends a torrent of her wind blades to cut down the two humans, who scramble to their right to dodge, just as another section of the demon horde charges down to attack. Using her giant boomerang like a club, Sango kills one demon with a bludgeon strike right down the middle of its head, commenting with a scoff,

"It looks like they don't want us to go any deeper!"

Destroying another with his staff, Miroku replies back,

"Yes, so we must be closing in on Naraku!"

Taking down another half dozen together, the monk then leads the slayer towards a set of stairs heading for a higher part of this spiraling pit.

"Sango, this way!"

"Heh...fools!"

Kagura sends another set of wind blades right for them, and they crash right into the stairs, creating a huge gap between the human duo!

"Sango!"

...Thankfully, the demon slayer wasn't hurt, and steadies herself before she could fall into the depths of the pit.

"Miroku, you go on without me!"

His face contorts into an expression that protested otherwise.

"I can't do that!"

"Don't worry about me; finding where Naraku is hiding is our first priority, right?"

Sango then focuses her dark brown irises on the incarnation getting in their way.

"Kagura... _Hiraikotsu!_ "

The giant boomerang goes flying straight in the direction of the wind sorceress...

"Uh! Are you throwing that weapon at me?"

Kagura would create a strong updraft in response:

"I am the Wind, remember?!"

Hiraikotsu is carried upward, much to Sango's irritation...which would shift to a familiar shudder of surprise and an old ache of anguish, when she sees her wayward kin standing up in a higher part of the shaft, he staring down at her.

"...Kohaku!"

"Fool! Pay attention!"

Casting her fan downward sharply, Kagura changes the wind's direction to send Sango's weapon right back at her!

(WHACK)

"DRH!"

The slayer is hit hard in her torso, and she's flung all the way down the lower section of those stairs, landing on the ground hard, gasping haggardly before falling unconscious...Overcome with worry for the special woman of his life, Miroku makes a daring long jump across the gap in the staircase.

"Sangoooo!"

He sticks the landing, before rushing over to brunette's side to lift her into his arms.

"Sango...Sango! (Lightly shakes her) Say something to me, Sango!"

Only a few staggered breaths and a partial moan would be made the reply...

"Heh. How very touching, monk."

He glances up at Kagura with a gritting glare, she adding mockingly,

"Unfortunately, you might've lived a little longer if you had only gone on ahead without her."

She then swings her closed fan down as a signal for the demon horde to charge...Gently setting Sango down on the ground, Miroku stands up and turns to face the coming demons, removing the prayer beads around his cursed hand!

"You can't use the Wind Tunnel, though, for fear of the insect's poison!"

"Rrrh! _You don't know who you're dealing with_. What meaning does my life have without the woman I deeply care for?!"

Sucking in a sharp breath, Miroku proclaims with a raw desire and anger,

"I would sacrifice my life for hers! Neaaaaah, _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whoooooooossssssssshhhhhhhh...)

The black hole opens, pulling the many, many demons and demon spirits to their doom, much to Kagura's shock.

"He used the Wind Tunnel, endangering himself!"

Included among the nefarious casualties would be the pockets of Saimyōshō, each mutant wasp's body shooting their poison into Miroku's veins through his accursed ability.

(Pulse...)

"Rrgh!"

 _The insect, poison is, spreading through my, body...!_

Coraline's POV

We've since left the waterfall set away from the mountain after we defeated (but likely haven't killed) Renkotsu, and have returned to that area at the foot of Mount Hakurei where Sango and Miroku had parted ways from us the other day to check out the inside of the barrier...

 _Neither of them have come back yet...and it's been way too long since they left._

 _...Miroku, Sango...where are you two?_

"Still no signs of the dynamic duo?"

I turn to see my brothers approach my sides, Besa carrying Kilala on his left shoulder while Freeman held Shippo (who had fallen unconscious again due to the pure potency of this area) under his left arm while holding his long hammer over his right shoulder. Shaking my head, I reply to my latter brother with a frown,

"No, and my gut isn't taking that as a good sign."

"...Coraline, guys, wait here."

"Hm?"

All three of us turn around to the sound of Inuyasha's voice, he looking at us with firm direction as Lumos floats near his side.

"I'm going up the mountain to see for myself what's going on."

 _What? No!_

I didn't like the sound of that idea, and neither did the guys.

"Are you nuts?!"

"Inuyasha, you were repelled by the sacred barrier's power last time you tried to force you're way in!"

"Not that we doubt your strength or nothing, but what makes ya think this round will be any different?"

He just insists,

"I'm only half-demon. I'm not gonna let any dumb sacred grounds purify me."

I wanted to believe in his spirit, I truly did...but after that ordeal with Renkotsu, my heart aches with worry over the idea of my boyfriend going in there alone. I made that much clear as I step over to hug him tightly to me, muttering,

"But, Inuyasha, even if by fate you do make it through that daft barrier...there's no way of knowing what could be waiting on the other side. Maybe it's our friends, the Shichinintai...Hell, even Naraku could be lying in the shadows just waiting for you to go in by yourself! I...I've really come to hate the idea of you walking off solo into the arms of danger..."

I could feel his amber irises staring down at me, before he wrapped a single arm around my frame and brushes his lips against my cheek, replying a little softly but maintaining his gruff tone,

"I know you do, and I don't like leaving you, believe me...but we haven't got any time to argue about this. We need to find out what's delaying Miroku and Sango. Besides, you'll be safer down here outside the barrier, and that's my main priority."

 _Inuyasha..._

Despite my desire to try and persuade otherwise, I knew he was right in saying time wasn't on our side and that it wouldn't necessarily be a smart idea for all of us to head into Hakurei at once without knowing every detail. At that, I reluctantly nod and agree to his logic, and we part a little with his arm still around me as he looked towards Freeman and Besa seriously.

"I want you two to wait here as well, and protect the squirt and Coraline until I get back with that monk and slayer."

I could see that they too were still hesitant to have Inuyasha go off on his own, but they nod firmly nonetheless.

"You got it."

My lover locked irises with Kilala for a moment, silently ordering similarly, she responding with a quiet mew of agreement.

"Good...Hey, ya scrawny wolves! You're there, aren'ch ya?"

 _Huh?_

"Oops, busted."

Following the sound of Hakkaku's voice, I look over a ways behind us and see him, Ginta and Kōga coming out from behind a boulder.

 _Hm, guess I should've seen that coming. I mean, after what happened only a few hours ago, they're probably a little reluctant to leave us to our own devices, even wolf-boy._

"Yeah, mutt, whadda ya want?"

"...I want you to stay here too, help protect this lot."

I was a little surprised that Inuyasha would actually ask for Kōga's assistance, and he seemed to be as well as he walked over to us asking,

"Why? What's goin' on?"

Besa steps up to explain:

"Miroku and Sango left through the sacred barrier the other day to scope out the mountain, and, they haven't returned yet. We're starting to get really anxious...so, Inuyasha's volunteered to go after them."

My boyfriend adds,

"It makes sense for me to go, because the sacred grounds won't be as rough for me as it would be for a full-fledged demon."

"I see...and your intended's okay with this?"

Yet another surprising question, this time from wolf-boy, and I let out a breath before replying dryly,

"I'm not...but, I know he stands a better chance of returning fast."

Kōga gives me a look that said he knew I was more worried than I was letting on, but chose not to comment.

"...Alright. Consider your woman safe, mutt."

"Hmph, her and her brothers, wolf."

Inuyasha readies himself to leave for Mount Hakurei, adding over his shoulder,

"If I find out any or all of my friends and intended mate have gotten hurt, don't expect me to be merciful to your mistake."

With that warning in the wind, he takes off, and I call after him,

"Good luck, Inuyasha, and be careful!"

...As soon as we couldn't see his figure in the mist ahead, Hakkaku and Ginta wonder amongst themselves,

"Think he's gonna be alright?"

"Well he is a half-demon, so maybe he might be okay."

They didn't sound completely sure, but not ill-confident either...Lumos comes to hover by my head, softly crooning his ghostly moans for my waiting ear as a way to ease my anxieties, making me smile the slightest.

"Thanks, bud...Listen. If he doesn't come back soon enough, I want you to track him down, and aid him in every mean necessary to returning here."

My Will O' Wisp partner 'nods' in agreement to my gentle order, and residing to the sitting and waiting game, I think to myself,

 _Love...please don't push yourself past what your soul can handle._

No POV

Cutting ahead to the dog demon dressed in red, we find him sprinting inside the misty grounds towards Mount Hakurei's valley, despite some resistance from the sacred barrier's energies.

(Bzzzzzt...)

"Drgh!"

 _This is alot worse than I thought it'd be...!_

Gritting his teeth in some pain from the pure power, Inuyasha kept true, not wavering his speed for even a minute, his determination to locate his missing team members helping him stand against whatever dared got in his way...

Meanwhile, back inside the spiral shaft of the inner mountain, Miroku had paused his assault on the horde of demons to use Sango's weapon as a bridge over the gap in the staircase, sidestepping across very slowly with the unconscious slayer slung over his left shoulder, while prepping his cursed right hand at ready for another possible attack.

"Hah...hah...If you wanna throw your miserable lives away, then come on! You'll fall prey to my Wind Tunnel!"

The demons merely growled, choosing to keep their distance...

"Tuh, I figured as much. Even you demons place some value in your hapless lives."

Kagura was a bit amazed that Miroku was still standing.

 _The monk doesn't seem to be affected at all, and yet he must have gotten a huge dose of the Saimyōshō's poison...!_

As soon as he was safely on the other side of the stairs, the young man wearing purple slings Hirakotsu over his shoulder next to Sango, before breaking into a run upward. That's when a new section of the demon horde begins their charge for the monk, and sensing their approach, he spins around to unleash the black hole vacuum in his hand.

" _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whoooooooosssssssshhhhhhh...)

More demons meet their doom, including another few Insects of Hell, their deaths not coming without consequence by way of the poison within their blood.

(Pulse...)

"Gh!"

Tapping her fan in thought, the wind demon incarnation muses,

 _That monk must be very desperate...I don't wanna be sucked in his Wind Tunnel._

 _I'll have to let him go._

Seeing where the human male was running to, she adds with a dark upturn of lip,

 _And besides, unfortunately for you, monk, that's not where Naraku is._

As he kept running for a safer vantage, Miroku glances back at the vicious creatures still making chase, pleading silently in contrast to his earlier bitter remark,

 _...Please, don't, come after me again...If I open the Wind Tunnel one more time...mph, it'll all be over for me._

But it would seem that the monk's end was trying to come faster than he wanted to believe, when he suddenly grows faint and collapses on his front, falling on top of Sango in the process!...Struggling to stay conscious, Miroku lifts himself some and pivots his head with weakened eyes to see the approaching swarm, then turns back to the brunette and whispers,

"San-go...forgive, me," before he too blacks out, leaving both at the mercy of the creatures approaching...

...

Turning away from the inner sanctum of Mount Hakurei, we find ourselves zooming in on a path in the countryside near the holy mountain's grounds, where Jakotsu was currently wandering down, shivering from the chill he felt due to a lack of a proper over layer.

"Ah-choo! Brrh, ugh man, is it cold. (Sniffle) I gotta find some clothes before I freeze...Huh?"

He then spots a company of soldiers approaching from up ahead...

"Heheh, hello~ wardrobe."

Getting a closer look, we see that this group of warriors was escorting their lord and his valued goods to the next neighbouring province...When they see Jakotsu standing in the middle of the road, they stop, and a few of the samurai hop down from their horses while placing a hand on their scabbard swords at ready.

"Who goes there?"

"Wretch, get outta our way!"

Jakotsu asks in a challenging tone,

"And what'll you do if I don't move?"

The warriors pull out their katanas as an answer...making him smile darkly, reaching for his own blade, Jakotsutō.

(...SLICE)

A lone rabbit hidden within the tall grass near the road stiffens on its hind legs, its long ears picking up the sound of the multi-bladed sword cutting down on the warriors and lord, their outcries ringing through the air...before all the men fall dead!

With that threat quickly dispatched, Jakotsu proceeds to raid through their goods for something to wear in replacement of his ruined kimono...

"Hm, let's see now..."

He would settle on a pale yellow kimono with a blue flower pattern.

"I guess this'll have to do."

"...Jakotsu!"

"Hm?"

He pivots his head behind him, and sees Bankotsu approaching him with three of the Saimyōshō!

"Hey! I've been looking for you!"

...

As the sunset began to burn over the horizon, we would find the two zombie warriors sitting on the porch of a nearby traveler's hut discussing recent events.

"I got the news from the Saimyōshō. So, Suikotsu didn't make it, huh?"

Jakotsu sighs a bit sadly,

"No. It was a pretty sad ending for him...Oh! That reminds me."

He reaches into his new kimono, it tied off with a muted red sash and had his purple scarf over the neckline.

"I got something for you, Bankotsu."

And inbetween the fingers of the feminine male, was the shard he took from the undead doctor/mercenary!

"This is a memento of Suikotsu, a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama...Here."

The young leader of the Shichinintai was surprised that Jakotsu was giving up the shard so willingly, compared to the other sole survivor who tried to harbor power from him (and is doing so once again).

"This is for me?"

"What're you talking about? You're the one who said to hand it over if we got one."

...

Silence falls between both undead men for a moment, before Bankotsu looks back up at his mercenary brother with a touched expression for their loyalty.

"Jakotsu...I knew...(Hug) You're such a good friend!"

"Guh?!"

"You really are something, Jakotsu, and the only person in the whole world I can trust, (awkward smile) really weird but loyal."

Though a bit taken aback by the show of emotion, the male with painted red lips manages to chortle,

"You really think so?"

The pair then laugh loudly amongst themselves, feeling lucky to have such a strong bond between them...

Small Time Skip, Inuyasha's POV

Night had finally fallen over these accursed lands, and I had made only so much progress into Hakurei's valley. As much as I boasted on about how the barrier wouldn't slow me down...it didn't mean it wasn't trying to restrict me. Still, I kept up the sprint, my stubborn determination pushing me on.

 _See? I knew it: I'm not being purified!_

"Grh...hrh...!"

 _I'm gonna make it...!_

...Or so I thought. Only problem with that is that while my body may have held out, it didn't mean I wasn't draining my energy. Eventually, I was forced to stop and drop on my knees, the sparks of the sacred barrier still trying to pierce me.

 _Dammit!...I can't, move!_

"Hrgh!"

 _Does this mean it's too dangerous to go any further? Nrh...What should I do?_

My problems would only get worse, when a familiar undead creep calls from the mist behind me.

"Well well, Inuyasha. Can't go any further?"

 _Damn...not him...!_

He at least had the decency to not look that overly smug.

"You look quite weakened by the barrier."

"Renkotsu..."

Didn't stop him from chuckling a little, though:

"I'm surprised. It's not like you to not notice I was following."

I comment back as I move to a stand again,

"You again, huh? The Band of Seven must be really shorthanded."

 _Come to think of it, I haven't seen any signs of that Suikotsu character for quite a while now..._

 _Does that mean he's finally been shoved back to Hell where he belongs?_

Renkotsu doesn't elaborate, scoffing,

"Your mouth is as sharp as ever...One thing's obvious, Inuyasha: you're in a hurry to get in there, aren't you? Problem is, if you go any further, even a half-demon like yourself will be purified."

He aims that portable cannon at me...

"Get going!"

(Ka-boom)

I had no choice but to jump backwards or risk getting blasted to smithereens...However, that also meant heading straight into the more potent part of the sacred barrier!

 _Oh No!_

(BZZZZZZTTTTTTT)

"Aaaaaaaaaagggggggghhhhhhhhh!"

Gotta tell ya, that energy hurt like hell: it felt like I was heading on a one way trip to being reduced to ash...

But then.

(Sheen...)

 _...Huh...?_

There was this great flash of an odd, yet surprisingly familiar pale yellow light that encased by body, starting from my torso...Next thing I knew, I was on the ground, a little winded, but still alive...!

 _Hm...well how 'bout that._

Sensing a stare of shock from Renkotsu, I struggle back up while muttering defiantly,

"See?...I'm, still...Guh?!"

But that's when I fully register over how exactly I survived the energies of the sacred barrier. It didn't so much purify me...rather, a certain part of my being, my demonic side. Staring down at my now fully human hands, I realize,

 _My demonic powers are gone, (looks up) and it's not even the night of the New Moon!_

 _...Dammit. It's this barrier's fault!_

 _...But wait...no, that doesn't explain the light I s-_

(Sheen...)

"Uh...!"

Suddenly, I look down and saw that my chest was glowing, displaying a weird, triangle shape...a pyramid! That's what it was called, a pyramid!

 _Hang on...I remember._

 _(Flash)_

 _That, freaky demon that forged a deal of sorts with Coraline..._

 _"Huh? What was that?"_

 _ **"Mm, call it an extra protection for your Soul."**_

 _ ** **"...Of course, this barrier doesn't offer too much of a guarantee: your demon ego still has the chance of taking over your consciousness, but not so much to the point where you'll be consumed by it."****_

 _"...Are, you saying...that I won't become a full beast now, if my demon 'ego' tries to take over me?"_

 _ **"That's all up to you, Red Sword. All depends on how strong your will is when you're stuck in a corner and death comes pounding at the door."**_

 _(Flash)_

 _...Hmph. Looks like there's more to this shield around my soul that three-sided creep didn't say._

 _It must've blocked out some of the sacred barrier's power and saved me from getting obliterated..._

As that pale yellow shape fades away, I add in a partly-bitter afterthought,

 _I still hate that guy for the tortures he put my intended through...but now...I almost wanna thank 'im, almost._

Renkotsu's chuckle snaps me back to reality, and I dart my head behind me to see him staring at me with mirth in his irises.

"Well well, isn't this a surprise. I thought the sacred grounds would purify you, but only your demonic powers have disappeared. (Smirk) How convenient for you that you're only a half-demon."

Swallowing down any nerves for having to fight in my human form, I stand back up while scoffing back,

"Tch, exactly. I'm feelin' way better than I was."

"You're never at a loss for words, are you? Not that it matters, though. (Readies cannon) You're nothing but a mortal now!"

Once again, he tries to blast me to pieces, and because I don't have my demon strength anymore, I was only able to just barely run out of the line of fire, turning to make a break for the valley...

"Damn it...You won't escape me!"

I ignore his outcry, muttering to myself between pants,

"I don't have to waste with that Renkotsu. I've gotta keep running all the way into the mountain...!"

 _It's the only reasonable plan I've got right now...Miroku, Sango, hang in there while you can._

Sango's POV

"...Nnh...Hh-hnh?"

 _What, happened...?...Wait. I feel a weight that's not my own..._

 _...Uh! Miroku!?_

I gingerly lift myself up and crawl back away from underneath his, torso, feeling a new heat in my cheeks and my heart racing...But, then I notice that the monk wasn't awake.

"...Miroku?"

The stare of dozens upon dozens of eyes stops me from reaching a hand to his form, and I look up, only to see the swarm of demons!

 _That's right: we made it inside Mount Hakurei following a dark aura, and were attacked by, them!_

I immediately grab onto the hilt of my katana, but seize up from an ache of pain in my torso.

 _Oh, yes. I was also hit by my Hiraikotsu, thanks to that witch Kagura..._

 _...Miroku..._

Looking back down at his form more intently, that's when I saw his cursed hand was clenched shut...and did not have the prayer beads around it.

 _He...He opened the Wind Tunnel, and sucked in those poisonous insects?!_

 _...No...No!_

I start shaking the back of his shoulder, desperate for a sign that he wasn't...wasn't...!

"Miroku, come on, wake up, please!"

...My eyes well up with tears when I don't hear a response...

 _This is terrible. I-It's all my fault!_

"Miroku...Miroku, please, open your eyes!"

The water starts flowing down my face as my body fills with dread.

"...Miroku...!"

One of my tears drips onto his cheek...and to my tremendous relief, awakes him!

"Nn...nuh...uh?"

"Auh, Miroku!"

 _Thank kami!_

Despite being so weak, he manages to lift himself a little and smile the slightest.

"S-Sango?...Thank, goodness. You're conscious again."

He then notices the approaching swarm of evil coming towards us from behind me...  
Rolling onto his back, Miroku then urges me to leave him behind and save myself.

"Sango, don't stay here. Go on without me."

I would protest to such an idea in an instant:

"No, not unless you're with me!"

His smile became sadder, as he turned his gaze on that right hand of his.

"Mph...I think I might've pushed myself too far this time...You at least have to make it out of this alive, for me, okay?"

 _Miroku...No! I won't lose him, not this way!_

"No! Gh-hh, if you can't, go on..."

I tackled him in a hug and proclaim with a raw voice,

"Then we'll die together!"

"...Sango..."

I feel his left hand pat my back in the sweetest way, and we both shut our eyes, awaiting the end...

...

...

But, nothing happens.

 _Huh? What's going on?...And why, does my body feel less, bruised?_

I would get my answer soon enough, when Miroku suddenly sat us both up, his hand not leaving my back.

"...Miroku? What is it?"

"Why aren't those demons attacking us?"

I pivot myself to see for myself what he was looking at.

"...You're right. It's strange."

 _It's like they're stuck..._

One bold demon tries to send feelers out to jab at us, and we hold eachother to brace ourselves...only for the former to get singed by, a barrier!

"Uh...It was purified."

"They can't come any closer to us..."

 _I wonder...Is it because we're still on sacred ground? That has to be it._

Miroku then uses his staff to lift himself to his feet again, telling me,

"Let's go, Sango. There's, definitely something up ahead."

Rising to my own stand, I ask still a bit worried over his condition,

"Miroku, are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah...I guess we won't have to die together after all."

 _...Hoh boy!_

Hearing that sentence dusted a new blush onto my cheeks, and I cover my face with my hands in embarrassment...Yet, hidden under my palms, was a tiny smile of appreciation for the sentiment...

No POV

While the situation may have lightened a touch within the infamous holy mountain, things couldn't be anymore dire back within the valley leading up to Hakurei as Inuyasha - he now in his human form thanks to the unexpectedly protective actions of that mysterious shield around his soul, granted to him by a demonic entity whom shall remain nameless, saving him from being annihilated by the sacred barrier - continued to run away from the blasts of Renkotsu's cannon.

Though based on the following stalker-like thought bubbling within the dead man's mind alongside the chuckle in his throat, it's fair to say that the cat and mouse chase was going to stretch on.

 _How long do you think you can escape me?_

Renkotsu would get another opportunity at easy fire when the male with long shaggy turned-from-silver-to-black hair struggles to climb up a slope.

"Gotch'ya!"

(Ka-Boom)

"Gyah!"

Inuyasha didn't even get halfway gone when the cannon blast connects with the ground beneath his feet, flinging him over the side hard, before he rolled down the slope harshly to smack against the wall of a pit...Gritting his teeth, he staggeringly lifts his upper body by a palm, just as his attacker comes to the top of the rocky incline.

"You have nowhere to run...I guess this is as far as you go."

"Damn you...Rgh...!"

...The young man with brown-rather-than-amber irises then spots something to his right side, feeling a slight draft of air.

 _What's that...?_

"Die!"

(Ka-BOOM)

...

Lowering his cannon, the zombie was feeling confident that his aim was true this time.

"Got 'im, hehmhmhm..."

However...when the smoke clears and he walks down to the new crater he created within the pit, he would see no signs of a battered corpse!

"Huh?...Where's his body?..!"

Renskotsu would narrow down his answer rather quickly of course, when he sees a substantial crack in the wall where Inuyasha's eyes were previously cast towards.

"...He must've slipped through that crack before the blast...!"

He wouldn't have any time to stew about the failure though, when he hears a call from a familiar male voice with a feminine tone.

"Hey, over here, Renkotsu!"

"Hm?...Jakotsu."

The addressed walks out of the misty fog into view.

"Hey. What're you doin' in a place like this?"

He then conveys the bad news regarding their band's dwindling numbers...

"So, I guess we're all that's left of the Shichinintai..."

Chewing on a nail with a serious frown, Jakotsu nods and replies,

"Exactly. Hnh, and that's what the problem is."

"Hm? Whaddo you mean?"

"How can we possibly be the Shichinintai when there's only three of us left? We gotta try and come up with a new name!"

...Renkotsu is at a loss for a response, expecting a different issue regarding some 'certain jewel fragments', before he tries to steer his own secret agenda along without accidentally unveiling it.

"Oh, by the way...you don't know what happened to Suikotsu's jewel shard, do you?"

"Oh that? Well, I took it and handed it over to Bankotsu, of course."

"Yeah?"

 _...He doesn't have a shred of greed in him. Still, it's bad news for me: Bankotsu is getting all the shards._

 _Eventually...he'll want Jakotsu's shard too...and I can't let that happen._

Smiling in a shifty manner, Renkotsu decides to send his mercenary brother as a new hunter for a certain common enemy of theirs.

"Jakotsu, I meant to tell you: something interesting has happened recently."

"Hm? Interesting?"

...

So in the time that our demon slayer and young monk escape from the spiral shaft through an upper tunnel way, following this new shift in holy energy...

"Miroku!"

"Right. Let's do it!"

...

Inuyasha would have walked himself deep inside a cave set much lower down the mountain, fighting to keep his breathing even from all the running he's been forced to do.

 _This hole is very deep...I wonder if it goes all the way down?_

He'd have little time to wonder though, when the blades of the Jakotsutō sword comes ramming through the air right for him, forcing the currently-human dog demon to leap out of the way before he could get skewered!

...Recovery time would drop to be forgotten along with his stomach, of course, as he turns to glare over at the undead swordsman's silhouette walking towards him in the glow of the moonlight sliver.

"Sooo, Renkotsu was right...Is that really you as a mortal? You're as cute a human as you are a half-demon."

Inuyasha would only hiss Jakotsu's name in response and pull out his Tessaiga with the intent of using its sheath as a line of defense, not fooled by the smile on the other's face...

"Heheheh, what a pleasant surprise."

Licking his lips with a dangerous gleam in his coal irises, the zombie adds,

"I've been waiting for the time when I could fight you again, Inuyasha."

...

...

Back at the foot of Mount Hakurei, Coraline felt a shiver of worry run down her spine, her two-tone blue irises locked on the giant rock formation in front of her.

 _...Inuyasha..._

Besa stood close by, having his arm wrapped around his sister's shoulders in a comforting manner while Kilala rested on his...He glances back at the resting form of his twin brother - he holding Ginta close to his right in his sleep and Shippo in his lap, while Hakkaku rested propped up a foot away to the left, and Kōga a distance more that way - before turning back to face the mountain's direction while thinking to himself with a serious frown,

 _The more you try to force the end to come...the more stubborn it becomes to being seized._

This was certainly true for the espresso-complexioned male's friend inside the cave, as the latest obstacle in way of his ultimate goal continued to leer at him.

" _We~ll?_ "

Inuyasha only grunts on the defense and holds up his sheathed sword, prompting Jakotsu to do similarly with his own, smirking viciously.

" _Come on..._ "

Few seconds were wasted after that, and the latest battle began to the tune of the latter's maniacal laughter, he springing on the former with every intent to making this a fight to be remembered.


	131. Chapter 130

Hey all, still conscious to the world of the living!

As always, I ask you to pardon the delay. My university semester had only ended just a few days ago with a final exam, and since then, I've been coming down from it all by relaxing as much as I can (at least until my next work shift, lol).

But now that I have a little more open winter break, attention can be better focused onto my tales :)

So without further adieu, curtain up!

* * *

 **Chapter 130: The Abyssal Journey to Sainthood**

Bright light gives way to yet more of that ominous milky mist covering the exterior of Mount Hakurei, as Miroku and Sango make their way out the inner sanctum on the run from the horde of demons that were attacking them under Kagura's charge, further confirming that the malicious half-demon Naraku was somewhere within this rocky peak...

The monk and demon slayer would quickly discover, however, that their feet were no longer padding across hard stone, rather, the wooden walkway of the shrine housed on the side of this supposed holy mountain.

"Who'd've thought it'd lead to a place like this?"

"And it, looks like a mountain temple..."

Miroku adds to himself,

 _The level of purity must mean we're at the center of the sacred grounds..._

They continue to rush down the path until their bodies were within a couple feet of Saint Hakushin's altar, the mummy itself still positioned dead center in the prayer position. One can only imagine how surprised our unofficial couple would be to find the deceased monk in plain sight.

"A living Buddha...!"

"Is it Saint Hakushin...?"

...But perhaps 'deceased' is not the proper term to use...especially when the eye sockets of Hakushin's dried-up shell suddenly gain irises of coal black over pale yolk yellow sclem! Miroku and Sango gasp, and the voice of a gravely-toned male echoes from the depths of what used to be this man's voice-box, the severely shriveled lips moving as if nothing was wrong.

"...Who are you?"

Though understandably spooked, the young monk with deep blue irises manages to dislodge his own voice.

"Saint, Hakushin is still alive?"

"Who are you?...Why do you violate my sacred territory?"

The young woman with long brunette hair was still trying to wrap her head around the idea of a mummified corpse having the capability of speech.

"How can a mummy be alive?!"

Miroku manages to center his own disbelief and calmly began conversing with the 'living Buddha'.

"You're the monk that went by Saint Hakushin, aren't you?"

"Correct...My name is Hakushin."

Sango manages to calm herself down into a suspecting glare when she wonders,

"Has Naraku somehow brought him back to life?"

Her companion was having similar inquiries, and did not skip a beat with the following interrogative question.

"Tell me this, Saint Hakushin: word has it that during your lifetime, you were a man of high morals and worked hard to save many people. How is it that you now assist Naraku?!"

Miroku recalls the instances where he and several of his friends (demon, human and inbetween) had experienced a form of resistance by the energies of the Sacred Barrier that encased this mountain, making his blood boil a little in anger from the harsh hostility they had to endure thus far...

"Your powers are undeniable. You have the ability to lay down this strong and pure barrier. It's unthinkable that you're assisting Naraku because you're unable to see through his evil nature."

...The saint's reply would be a shocker.

"I know what he is...but whether he's a demon of great wickedness or not, is not my concern. I am merely carrying out, my own desires."

...

Back down at the base of Mount Hakurei, as the night came to cast over the lands, our group of three wolf demons, one twin-tailed cat demon, one fox demon, one Will O' Wisp and three humans were still waiting on the return of Inuyasha, after he left for the mountain to find out what happened to Sango and Miroku.

Coraline was becoming especially worried, feeling like she was on pins and needles as she tries to hold her patience.

 _...Inuyasha..._

"R-Rhh..."

"Hm?"

Pivoting her head over her shoulder to the sound of a weak groan, the redhead with two-tone blue irises softly gasps as she saw Shippo fight for consciousness within Freeman's arms.

"Shippo...?"

Rubbing a bit of exhaustion from one of his green irises, the fox demon weakly turns his head to where he could sense the twin-tailed cat demon, she being held atop Besa's left shoulder.

"Kilala...is the barrier hard on you too?"

She mews quietly with a slight nod in response, rubbing her head into the expresso-coloured neck of the young male she was currently resting on, he reaching his opposite hand out to gently pet her head with a sad smile.

"You're doing good, Ki, just save your energy..."

Smiling slightly at the gesture, Coraline would flip that upturn of lip as soon as her focus went back on Hakurei.

 _You better not push past what you can handle, Inuyasha, or purification's gonna be the least of your problems when I'm done..._

Moving to stand so that they were on either free side of the Brownlee twins, Hakkaku and Ginta wonder aloud in their own concerns,

"What's happening to Inuyasha? He's taking so long to get back here."

Wrapping an arm over Freeman's shoulders, the latter wolf demon replies to the former,

"Well even a half-demon would find it hard on sacred grounds..."

"Doesn't mean we should start assumin' the worst."

Ginta's sliver-blue irises meet Freeman's jade green with an expression of confusion, and the latter goes on by saying with a positive smile,

"If Naraku's miasma can't stop Inuyasha, who the hell says a sacred barrier can? He's been contradicting scores of expectations since day one, and he don't plan on slowing down anytime soon...so we as his friends and allies, shouldn't stop believin' in him."

"He's right."

Eyes fall on Kōga, who then states with his arms folded and eyes shut,

"The mutt's got a stubborn streak in not dyin' that's still climbing, so there's no way he's gonna kick the dust now...And if god forbid he does, he'll have my fist to answer to."

Coraline's eyes widen with awe at the wolf demon's words, forming a small smile gratitude for not being callous.

 _Wolf-boy's really grown this last while, heh, even if holding to his pride..._

 _He, and Inuyasha...they're actually starting to see eachother as mutual friends. I can sense it...which is just another reason I'm praying my man hurries back down here as soon as he can._

 _It would be a shame for their growth to be all for nought._

Inuyasha's POV

 _Rgh, leave it to this godforsaken mountain to provide one annoying challenge after another...!_

Now that I'm stuck in my human form, I am at a huge disadvantage against that damned Jakotsu and his speedy sword of many blades. The fact that we were hashing it out inside a cave of many winding paths leading deeper into this giant hunk of rock just made things even more dangerous...

I dodge two more strikes from the snake-like sword after catching my breath, before using my own blade's sheath to whack the other back.

"Rrrrrh-dammit!"

It worked...but only to a point, before the sword's tip would come crashing into the ground in front of me, the impact sending me flying against the divider of another set of paths. Growling, I raise myself up onto my feet again, Jakotsu chuckling at my stubborn efforts to stay alive.

"That's the way, keep running. I want to have my fill of fun...I can't even tell how often I dreamt of cutting you up..."

 _Ugh, what a sadist._

"You were adorable when you had those dog ears, but your human form is so luscious, it makes me wanna take you in my arms."

 _A perverted sadist!_

Holding down a shiver, I bite back,

"Tch, you're disgusting. Every word you say makes me wanna puke."

 _Not to mention that I don't swing that way, at all, especially not with an enemy... _

_I got no issues with the sexual preference, of course...but my heart's for Coraline only._

I snap out of my thoughts just as Jakotsu throws his sword blades at me again, so I counter with my sheath once more...What I didn't account for was them twisting around and slashing across my right arm! Gritting my teeth as I feel the sting of my new injury and blood beginning to seep into my clothes, I mutter,

"This isn't good. Even this Robe of the Fire Rat must've lost its power in here. (Glances at his upper arm) It's not serving as armour anymore..."

If Jakotsu wasn't being vile before, he would be now as his tongue licked up a bit of my blood coating his sword.

"I'll slice you up, piece by little piece. Once I get going, even smart-mouths like you can become submissive. And in the end, you'll be on your knees crying and begging me. You'll cry, 'Jakotsu, please, just hold me in your arms for a little while, please!'."

 _Tuh, does he really believe me to become so weak? Not, a chance, in hell._

I make that point clear aloud:

"Kuh, I'd stop with the ridiculous stories if I were you, (Charges forward) or I'll crack your head open!"

"Oh yeah, that's the spirit! I can't wait to see you cry!"

The same thing that happened earlier occurs, only this time I get cut twice. Hurrying back, I think frantically to myself,

 _I gotta block his attacks right or I won't be able to counter his moves, and then I'll be in big trouble!_

"Run, my pretty! There's nothing more exciting than fleeing prey!"

 _Feeling, is not, mutual!_

I struggle to keep ahead of that accursed snake-like blade, but another swing would meet its mark on my body, specifically, my stomach.

"Aaagh!"

Thankfully, it was a bit more shallow than the last few cuts were...but that don't mean it doesn't hurt worse than the sting of a paper cut. I found myself kneeling down to try and swallow in as much energy as I could, keeping sharp and angry eyes on my opponent.

"Grh...damn it..."

Another smug expel of laughter and lick of his lips only made my unease grow.

 _Kami, if this keeps up...I may not reach Miroku and Sango before they'll have to reach me._

Mount Hakurei's Temple, Miroku's POV

To hear such a disregard towards an evil that threatens all lives alike...Though I tried to remind myself that not all across these lands are overly concerned with Naraku's schemes (especially those with their own nefarious agendas), it was almost appalling to hear someone of great virtue ignore the appending crisis...

"The barrier that you created with your own powers is hiding and protecting the evil Naraku. You know that and yet you don't stop!"

Saint Hakushin does not deny my words...yet glides over my anger as he goes into a tale of what brought him to where he is now.

"Long ago...when I was alive, I never hesitated to do what I could to help the people...I entered Nirvana after several years of a great famine. Disease was rampid, and corpses laid strewn on the ground. Thus, was the era we lived in..."

 _Hm, a harsh time indeed._

It made my heart ache to listen to his account and try to imagine what life must have been like in those days. The suffering, the desperation...and it would seem the grim atmosphere eventually took its toll on Hakushin himself.

"The day came when I personally became ill, and collapsed while attending the sick. The people gathered around, lamenting my poor health...I had to give them an answer. 'You should not fear, my good people...for I will become a living Buddha, and look after the people of this land for all eternity'."

 _Sounds faintly similar to what Lady Kaede had told us regarding Kikyō's passing. That, sense of duty..._

"I fulfilled my promise, and I was buried alive in front of all those villagers."

Sango remarks from behind me,

"That's how you were able to become a living Buddha."

"My only connection to the outside world was a short piece of bamboo for breathing...In the pit, I continuously rang a small bell. When the bell fell silent, it would tell those outside, that I was dead...Outside, everyone prayed for my unhindered and magnificent entry into Nirvana."

 _In other words..._

"They were wishing for my death...For the first time in my life, I was overcome with regret. I had an attachment to life, and a fear of the great darkness...And so, I died...My remains were sanctified as a living Buddha, but my soul was left behind in the darkness, for a very long time, with no hope for salvation. And then...came his voice."

 _Naraku...Now this is starting to make more sense._

 _He must have taken advantage of Saint Hakushin's sorrowful existence, and offered a way out of eternal suffering..._

 _If only the man could understand just who he made a deal with._

"He spoke of things I dared not to admit, even to myself...Do you blame me? Can you hate me for my choice?"

My answer was serious and honest, drawn from my own experiences and those of whom I formed connections with.

"I am no saint myself. I have no intention of judging you...On the other hand, I cannot allow a barrier to stand and protect the likes of Naraku!"

With that, I raise my staff and prepare myself to attack, if not for all, then for those I hold most dear to my own life...However, I knew Saint Hakushin would not make the task so easy.

"My barrier is impenetrable."

He sends out a layer of purifying energy to surround him just as I swing downward in a leap, blocking my attack before sending me backwards to the hardwood floor.

"Miroku!" I reassure Sango,

"I'm alright," but the new battle had only just begun, as evident by the glowing blue eyes of the saint.

 _Uh...! Almost reminds me of Coraline's Aura Reader powers...but she and Hakushin couldn't be anymore different._

 _He seeks to shut all out for the sake of his own existence. That much is clear to me now..._

 _As for my friend down below this mountain...she would give her life, if it meant the lives of her loved ones would go on._

Freeman's POV

It's starting to grow dark again after these last couple hours of sitting on our butts, and we still haven't seen any signs of Inuyasha coming out of that soupy fog with a safe and intact monk and slayer behind him.

I've since moved to actually resting on the ground beside Ginta, he and I hugging eachother close with single arms around the other, while Shippo snoozed away in my lap upon my gentle suggestion so he wasn't pushing himself harder than his young body can handle against this crazy pure air. My bro and Hakkaku were sitting opposite facing us, Kilala also fast asleep in the former's lap so she could build up some strength...

As for Cora, she just kept standing stock-still, worried eyes fixed onto the mountain before us, with only Lumos hovering near her and sounding just as concerned based on his despondent moans.

 _Man, bummer mood all around..._

Then we had Kōga who chose to vent his worries through impatient frustration as he sat atop a boulder near Ginta and me.

"Curse that mutt, causing Coraline all this worry...What's takin' him so long?"

Tugging my boyfriend (or mate, if you prefer) a bit closer to me, I reply back in a near-obvious tone,

"Well wha'd ya expect, man? We're all pretty much in the home stretch for the big battle coming up, and I ain't talking about what may be left of the Band of Seven...It's fair to say our friend's gonna meet some heavy resistance inside the barrier, and that kind-a thing takes time."

"Tuh, well I say it's taken enough of our time."

The short-tempered wolf demon then stands to his feet, drawing my attention as well as the three sitting down with me.

"Hm?" "Kōga?"

"Uh, what're ya doin'?"

"That mutt's takin' way too long in there. I'm gonna go after 'im and see what's happenin'."

We all drew in breaths of surprise before Ginta and my brother exclaim respectively,

"Kōga, are you crazy?!"

"It'll be a suicide mission with that barrier still in place!"

"You think I don't know that?!"

Thankfully, my sister cuts in before a major argument could start.

"If you do, then don't."

Kōga turns to meet her eyes as she steps near us and says in a neutral tone that was likely covering her anxiety,

"More people inside the valleys of Hakurei means more danger of being detected by our biggest enemy who's more than likely hiding within the mountain walls...We need to hold ourselves together and trust that Inuyasha will return with Sango and Miroku."

"Coraline..."

She looks back at the place itself and mutters,

"On the other hand, now would be a reasonable time to send in some form of assistance...Lumos."

Our Will O' Wisp buddy floats up to attention, and Cora orders,

"Now's the time to do what we talked about before...Find him, and help him in every way you can."

Lumos 'nods' vigorously, before zipping away with a louder, more motivated moan for the foggy valleys of the mountain, leaving the rest of us to watch the little orb of light get dimmer and dimmer as he got farther out of our sight.

 _Careful in there, little dude._

No POV

So while the Will O' Wisp barreled into the thick fog clouding over Mount Hakurei in a desperate search and rescue act for his partner's lover, Inuyasha himself was teetering towards the losing end of his battle against Jakotsu, his red robes now stained with multiple dark splotches of his own blood seeping from the lacerations dealt by the latter...

As the dog demon who was currently human panted for breath, the undead swordsman readies another attack, jeering,

"Too bad you're body's not cooperating. (Swing) Hrrraah!"

"Hrr-gyaaaah!"

Despite his waning strength, Inuyasha manages to block another swipe from the Jakosutō with the sheath of his Tessaiga...Unfortunately, the connected blades twist around him and slice across his back!

"Gaah-gyuh!"

"This isn't very fun. How 'bout some more screaming and crying from you!"

Inuyasha makes no reply, focusing on blocking another attack...  
Jakotsu chuckles as his ears pick up on the deepening struggles for breath from his opponent.

"Well, at least I've got you panting good and hard..."

...Unbeknownst to either, Renkotsu was watching the battle from behind a corner of this convoluted cave.

 _Wretched Inuyasha...I'd hoped he'd at least be able to wound Jakotsu._

Hearing the tired curse, the fire-using zombie adds,

 _He can hardly move...Jakotsu's going to torture him to death._

"Come. It's almost time for our embrace...our embrace made slick with your blood..."

The feminine male starts his slow approach, and Inuyasha attempts his own retreat further into the cave.

 _Damn...my vision's goin' on me..._

"It's time to give it up, Inuyasha."

The dog demon pauses to slump a little against a wall, as Jakotsu chides,

"Don't worry, I won't kill you right away...I wanna spend some time with you first."

 _Now!_

(SLASH)

Inuyasha then springs up and unsheathes his sword to try and slice down Jakotsu from the neck...but the latter manages to jump back in time...!

"That was close..."

 _That little punk was aiming for my jewel shard...!_

"Grrh, I don't have time to spend playing with you all day!"

"Ha! You're threatening me with that dull old sword?"

(JAB)

"You don't scare me!"

Inuyasha goes down hard from being socked in the stomach by the handle of Jakosutō...before he's yanked back up by his hair.

"Drh!"

"Inuyasha...don't pass out. I wanna hear lots of screaming from you."

As the tip of the Jakotsu's blade rose to hover near the dog demon's head, he thinks to himself,

 _I'm in trouble now...I've lost too much blood..._

 _I was hoping I could catch him off-guard..._

"Come on, cry for me. (Wild smirk) Where's the fun if ya don't start whimpering?"

"Gr-hh, if ya, think you can kill me, hurry up and get on with it..."

"Heheh, what's the rush? We've got time."

(Whooooooommmm...)

That's when Inuyasha felt a disturbance in the mountain's atmosphere...and he immediately knew who was responsible.

 _It's them...!_

"M-Miroku...Sango..."

...

Back down at the foot of Hakurei, the rest of our ragtag group would watch with surprise and confusion, as the mist suddenly starts to slowly dissipate!

"Whoa..." "What, the...?"

Using her other sight, Coraline stares up at the mountain with glowing, dark arctic blue eyes to get a better sense of this new development.

 _Hm...This had better be a good sign..._

And just how was this coming to pass?

The answer lies within the walls of the inner mountain temple, by the actions of one slayer and monk duo just moments ago...

"Taaake, this!"

It started shortly after Miroku's failed attempt to strike Saint Hakushin thanks to his incredibly strong barrier, when Sango takes a try using her Hiraikotsu, only for the barrier to repel the boomerang back at her to catch.

"It's useless."

The unofficial couple then try a combination of their individual strengths.

"Place some of your sutras on my Hiraikotsu."

"Right."

Once the paper talismans were blessed, the young male wearing purple garments plasters them on the offensive side of the demon slaying weapon, before the brunette wearing her bodysuit armour executes round two.

"Alright...Here, goes!"

(Spin...TOK)

This time, the tip of Hiraikotsu was able to penetrate into the barrier...before statics of its power billow over the weapon and destroy the sutras, and Hakushin forces the object back harshly, forcing the opposing pair of fighters to duck to the sides to dodge!

"Gh!"

"Grh! It's not working!"

"It's useless. The powers of a novice monk like yourself cannot possibly break my powerful barrier."

Seeing no other options, Miroku decides to employ his cursed ability.

"So it seems...Please forgive me, but you must be vanquished!"

(Whoooooooooossssssshhhhhhhh...)

One would think even a living Buddha would have a hard time resisting the Wind Tunnel...and yet, Hakushin was able to increase his barrier's power to stay rooted to the altar, much to Miroku's surprise.

"He's resisting my Wind Tunnel...?"

...

Thankfully, even a saint has an Achilles's heel. While Hakushin himself wasn't moving an inch, the prayer beads he held sure were...And after another moment of struggle on both sides...the beads would give out, overcome by the task of keeping the barrier up!

Miroku and Sango would watch with widened irises of deep blue and brown, as the beads shot against the barrier...making its structure ripple...

(SHATTER)

And sooner than it formed, the barrier explodes to pieces!

"The barrier is broken!"

With the dome-shape shield gone, the structure of the temple and its altar became that much more vulnerable to the strength of Miroku's Wind Tunnel, including Saint Hakushin!...That is, until a swarm of the Saimyōshō show up. Seeing their approach, the young monk was forced to close off his cursed power with his prayer beads, allowing the living Buddha to fade away into the mist...

...

As the situation within Mount Hakurei became more intensified, we briefly turn attention to an old oak sitting in an area near but not too close by that our tragically undead priestess Kikyō was resting under, she turning her vision towards the mountain when she senses the change, watching as the misty fog surrounding began to dissolve.

 _Mount Hakurei...The power of the sacred ground is weakening..._

Just as she moves to stand up...her nut brown irises spot a large, glowing orb of ethereal light floating out of the inner rock.

"...Something is escaping the mountain."

...

And back within that cave made of winding tunnels, Jakotsu prepares to end Inuyasha's life once and for all.

"I'll finish you off, if that's what you want. At least give me one little scream of agony."

Renkotsu continues to observe from behind the corner, his feelings in conflict over the appending outcome...

"(Ghostly moan)"

(Snarl, roar)

"Huh?"

His attention is then drawn behind him, to the sound of Lumos the Will O' Wisp flying in after finally tracking his ally down, though with an army of demons free from the constrictions of the sacred barrier chasing him.

 _Now what? The demons are stirred up all of a sudden...!_

 _...And that little orb...It's that pesky creature that follows Coraline. Did she send him here to find Inuyasha...?_

Zipping past Renkotsu, Lumos speeds to a screeching halt near the fighting pair just as more demons begin pooling in from other paths within these rocky walls!

"What? You?! Rgh, (focuses behind him) and the demons! They're not suppose be able to pass beyond the barrier!"

Some of the more bold, devilish souls try to lunge for the undead swordsman, who starts hacking them away with his sword.

"Come and get it!"

...But he would soon realize that this massive horde was alot like cockroaches: you kill one, another two will replace it.

"Damn...There's too many of 'em!"

(Bzzzzt)

"Ouch!"

He's then attacked by energies released by Lumos, specifically, the hand holding up Inuyasha by his hair, forcing the former to drop the latter.

"Why, you-!"

But Jakotsu would have little time to worry over getting payback against the Will O' Wisp for interfering, when he's forced to run out of the cave to escape being trampled by the demons scrambling to get out of the mountain and head for the night sky.

"Mph...It feels like the barrier is dissipating..."

Back inside, Lumos lightly bounces his body against Inuyasha's head to try and stir the latter awake, crying out those ghostly moans in worry...

And just as Jakotsu returns inside...

(...Pulse)

"Uh...!"

The down dog demon's body throbs...and his fingernails grow back into his more familiar claws! With a grunt of pain, he struggles onto his knees, muttering as his appearance shifts all the way back to the normal half-demon he truly was,

"Miro-ku, Sango...I take it you're safe? (Smirk) You must've succeeded in taking down the barrier..."

(Twinkle...)

Happy to see Inuyasha was going to be okay, Lumos then releases some energy that held healing properties rather than aggressive means to fall over the former, giving them some much-needed strength.

"Keh, thanks...Man, how much more ironic can ya get? I came here to save my friends, and they wound up saving me."

The dog demon adds to himself as he invokes Tessaiga's transformation,

 _And Coraline...I know it was you who sent Lumos...so thank you too._

"So~, you've got your demonic powers back."

Forming a frown at the zombie male, Inuyasha then says,

"You're stupider than I thought, Jakotsu. You didn't kill me when you could, and now it's gonna cost ya your life."

"I couldn't help myself. I only get excited when I cut my victims up nice and slow. Besides, I've died once already. I was unexpectedly brought back to life and able to meet a sweet thing like you...not to mention that little dark-skinned beauty, Freeman. Talk about a bonus."

"Spare me the details. I can tell we're never gonna have a normal conversation."

Ignoring the deadpanned scowl, Jakotsu peeks up and notices the growing crowd of demons.

"Well, things are heating up around here, so I guess the fun's over..."

Smirking, he then focuses back on his target of inquiry and exclaims with a swing of his blade,

"I'll take those dog ears as a souvenir, though!"

"Yeah right!"

Inuyasha manages to block with his own sword...but would not escape becoming bound within the Jakostuō's many blades like a large rat within the coils of a sharp-tongued cobra! Forced to his knees, he growls up at the chuckling zombie as they jeer,

"Once I pull on this sword, you'll be sliced into pieces."

"Grrrrr...!"

"Bye-bye, Inuyasha...Of all the men who've died by my sword, I have to say I like you the best."


	132. Chapter 131

Hey all! First, wishing a Happy Late Merry Christmas and a soon-to-come New Year!

So sorry about this latest delay of update. There was this crazy wind storm that knocked out power for my family and I for several days until it clicked back to life on Christmas Eve, and it took me a bit of time after that to get back into the writing rhythm. On the plus side, I did get some more brainstorming done, along with transferring my written-in-pencil stuff from random sheets of blank paper into a new notebook I got for Christmas (thank you, mom!).

Anyway, enjoy the latest in this epic :D

* * *

 **Chapter 131: Fare Thee Well - Jakotsu's Requiem**

Picking up where we last left in the action brewing within the depths of Mount Hakurei, Jakotsu had just captured Inuyasha within the blades of his Jakosutō sword, the steel spattered in the dog demon's crimson blood. As the latter continued to growl menacingly, the former jeers both sincerely and sadistically,

"So long, Inuyasha! Of all the men I've killed, I liked you the best."

...But even upon pulling back the snake-like weapon, the feminine zombie was about to face the mistake in underestimating his opponent.

"Damn fool! I'm not what I was a while ago!"

Inuyasha manages to break free from the binding metal, much to Jakotsu's shock, before unleashing his Tessaiga's signature attack.

" _Wind Scar!_ "

The three-tine claw mark of energy cuts its way past the connected blades of Jakosutō, to hit their wielder full-blast while also thrashing away at the inner walls and ceiling of the tunnel, essentially burying the zombie 'alive' in rock and rubble...!

...

Waiting a short moment, and sensing no signs that the battle was to continue, Inuyasha mutters,

"It's over," and turns to walk away further into the mountain...until he stops when Lumos moans in warning.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

His sensitive dog ears then pick up on the sound of a ragged cough, and glances over his shoulder to see that while incapacitated...the feminine swordsman was not through yet.

"You're still alive...?"

With a weakened tone, the latter whisper-calls,

"Well?...What are you waiting for? Go ahead and finish me. (Sad smile) I don't mind dying by your hands..."

He lets out another sputtering cough, feeling some blood flow into his throat...  
Inuyasha just scoffs, and sheathes his Tessaiga, deciding that Jakotsu was not worth anymore time.

 _He's a dead man anyway...I need to save my strength for my real target ahead._

"Are you sure about this? If you don't kill me now, I may just appear before you again...I'm pretty stubborn, you know."

"Then I'll just beat you again and kill you!"

The dog demon focuses his amber irises on the Will O' Wisp floating by his right.

"Let's go, Lumos."

The latter 'nods' vigorously, before flying in lead to guide the former through the shadowy tunnel path ahead of them, leaving Jakotsu's buried form behind...And shortly after spotting two worm-like demons calmly flying for the outside overhead the dog demon and Will O' Wisp, Inuyasha's nose would pick up a very familiar, damning scent.

"Uh!"

 _This is...Naraku's scent! It's coming from the direction of those demons!_

Casting his eyes forward, the dog demon in red concludes,

 _Then it truly is as we all suspected: Naraku's in the core of this mountain!_

Lumos was sensing the dark, demonic aura as well, radiating the throbbing red light over his original white-blue glowing body, prompting Inuyasha to ask him,

"You sense the bastard too, I take it?"

"(Ghostly moan, 'nod')"

"Hmph...alright. Let's both be on our toes then."

With that, they continue their trek into the depths of Mount Hakurei...

Meanwhile, Jakotsu was left to lament over his second chance to life being snuffed out quicker than it came like the last fire in a windstorm.

"That, _Inuyasha_...what a naïve guy...Still-gh! Guh!...Heheh...guess this is it."

His mind fills with flashbacks of all he's done since Naraku revived him along with the rest of the Shichinintai, from his several clashes against Inuyasha, Freeman and Sesshomaru, to those rare moments of content he shared with his mercenary brother, Bankotsu...right up to his last fight against the half-dog demon, ending with his form currently trapped under the weight of both the cave, and his trials...

"What the heck...I had alot of fun..."

Jakotsu shuts his eyes, accepting his fate...which would open again, when he senses the arrival of another undead mercenary, Renkotsu.

...

They stare at one another wordlessly for a moment, before the fire-user says,

"Forgive me...Jakotsu."

...The male with the beauty of a poisonous flower just smiles, residing with what his fellow brother was planning.

 _Do what you have to, Renkotsu...but as smart as you may be, I think we both know your greed will be your undoing...just as my lust, has been mine._

The tainted shard of the Shikon-no-Tama is removed from his neck...and the body of the one formerly known as Jakotsu disintegrates into dust, leaving behind nothing but bones wrapped within the yellow kimono...

"Be it only one more, I need your Shikon-no-Tama shard...I will use whatever means necessary, to remain alive."

...If only Renkotsu had been aware of the Saimyōshō that was watching from the inside of a crevice, waiting until the former was gone before flying down to take Jakotsu's butterfly hairpin...

By this point, Kikyō and her soul-collecting followers had wandered closer to where the foot of Mount Hakurei would be, narrowing in on the trail of energy connected to the spirit that bailed from the mountain only moments ago.

 _It's close. Whatever it was that escaped Mount Hakurei._

She would only take a few more steps, before spotting the source through the misty grounds, being none other than Saint Hakushin encased within a spherical shield.

"...Uh!"

 _A barrier?...And it's a pure barrier. The same kind that encircled Mount Hakurei._

 _Then...is this the same person who put up the barrier?_

Rosiagnes calls from the beyond,

 _"Aye, tis he, and I recommend caution when approaching, priestess...The soul bound to that dry shell, be in a tremendous amount of sorrowful pain, and may possibly be hostile to all who dare disrupt his space."_

Kikyō nods slightly in acknowledgement to the warning, which shifts to alertness when she senses a shift on the winds upward the tall peak of rock.

 _Demonic energy is leaking out of the broken barrier..._

 _This is Naraku's demonic aura._

Swallowing back her ill of ease, the woman with alabaster skin and ebony black hair slowly walks over to Saint Hakushin's form, kneeling in front of him.

"...You seem to have been most virtuous in your lifetime."

"First a monk, now a priestess?...Do you also pursue Naraku?"

His answer would come in the form of another question, the implication being somewhat accusing.

"Did Naraku hide himself deep inside the barrier you created?"

"...What is that look you give me? Are you trying to look into my heart?"

"I do not even have to try: your heart is plain to see."

That answer catches Saint Hakushin off-guard, his mind recalling Naraku's manipulative words of poisonous wine back in that dark, abyssal void where his soul was once trapped.

 _(Flash)_

 _"It is okay to be bitter. Those fools revered you and called you holy, and made you promise to become a living saint...Then they buried you alive in solitary darkness...Hate them. Hate all humans and this world."_

 _(Flash)_

"...Do you scorn me? I, a saint who saved people and forgave their sins, became lost and died suffering. Then Naraku, a demon, saved my soul."

Fighting the urge to smirk ruefully at how similar he and her circumstances are regarding a nefarious force supposingly saving them from a most lonesome existence, Kikyō counters softly,

"Was it saved?"

 _Then what is this sadness? This sadness which permeates out of the barrier?_

Hakushin no longer kids himself regarding the expectations set by his previous occupational title.

"I was not a saint. While I was on the brink of death, I realized it."

The undead priestess laments within her head,

 _And in this place, his soul became bound...and into the darkness of his soul, Naraku appeared._

Rosiagnes voices in,

 _"Yet the saint made the mistake of trusting a devil, whom only harbors hatred towards humankind, and a bitter evil difficult to combat...A mistake of weakness, I may add, which we human beings cannot always hold strong against."_

 _Yes...Saint Hakushin. His soul will not find salvation by keeping such a tainted sacred barrier around him._

Smiling sadly as she recalls her own persona back when she only had the dark half of her soul, Kikyō wonders aloud in a whisper of irony,

"Is there anyone in this world, who has not wandered, who has not sinned?"

Hearing her, Hakushin replies,

"I had to be such a one...and I resolved to be one."

Hmming quietly as her deep brown irises shut, the priestess says with a touch more sadness in her smile,

"I was like you, when I lived...I tried to live without doubt, without mistakes."

"So I was right...You are also dead?"

"That is why I can understand some of your pain. (Looks up) To doubt, is to be human, and that is why humans try so hard to be divine."

An illusion of Coraline passes through Kikyō's vision, and she adds to herself in near amusement and admiration,

 _Well... not all humans..._

"I could not become a Living Buddha. My attachment to material life sent my soul to Hell."

"Do not be ashamed that you yearned for life...Please, dissolve this barrier."

"And if I do, what then?"

"...I wish that you will let me touch your soul."

If Hakushin was taken aback by the 'young' woman's request, he didn't necessarily make it so in his tone.

"You want to lay me to rest? You, a dead priestess?"

She only stares at him with pity, knowing that the scoff was shielding something more...

We now cut back briefly to Inuyasha and Lumos as they continued their sprint and fast flight respectively deeper into the caves of Mount Hakurei...and the further they went in, the more prominent these strange tremors in the earth shook.

 _What're these vibrations?_

Pausing for a moment to get a better feel of the jolts passing through the rock, the dog demon thinks to himself in near bewilderment,

 _They're almost like...heartbeats._

His nose twitches on alert as he deduces,

 _With each new pulse, Naraku's scent becomes stronger..._ _You must be there, Naraku!_

Unsheathing his Tessaiga, Inuyasha psyches himself up for the probable confrontation ahead.

 _I've finally found you!_

...Back down the tunnel a ways, Renkotsu was feeling the tremors as well, and felt his anxieties towards saving his own undead skin climb.

"Does this mean Naraku is making his move?"

He pulls out the tainted fuchsia shard he just robbed from Jakotsu's 'dying' corpse from his robes, and stares at it while contemplating his options.

 _Jakotsu's Shikon-no-Tama shard...Shall I use it?_

 _Whether I run or stay to fight..._

It didn't take long before the fire-user would decide on embedding the jewel fragment into his neck, his body throbbing a little from the increase of power.

"I'm coming out of this alive!"

Coraline's POV

It has been a little more than twenty minutes since the barrier surrounding the mountain began to act, odder than usual, making it look like the place was gonna get destroyed any second by the lightning energies sparking between the spaces in the fog.

 _Hm, it looks like the structure of the sacred barrier's weakening...but how?_

 _Was it Miroku and Sango? Or Inuyasha, and Lumos?_

 _...Whatever's going on, I dunno if I like it._

"You're tensing. What's wrong, Coraline?"

I turn to meet Kōga's blue irises with my own, and I ask him in kind,

"Don't you sense the shift as well?"

"Huh?"

"My Aura Sensory is picking up traces of Naraku's Aura seeping through air pockets of the sacred barrier. Surely you can smell his scent now as well."

He gives me an expression of disbelief...until he sniffs the air and stiffens with gritted surprise.

"Gh!...You're right. It's not overly strong, but the bastard's stink is there."

He focuses ahead at the mountain with his eyes narrowed in suspecting anger.

"It's probably stronger inside."

"Gah! Guys, look up!"

We glance back at my startled brother Freeman before following where he was pointing, and gasp at the distant sight of two demons - both looking like flying lizards with no limbs but two sets of wings - struggling to push their way out of the waning dome shield!

 _No, way...!_

"Demons, escaping Mount Hakurei?!"

"What the hell?!" "Impossible!"

"Well if that doesn't say Naraku's somewhere within that slab of rock, I dunno what else can!"

The exclamations stir Shippo awake, and he rubs one of his irises tiredly while asking from Freeman's lap,

"Wha...What's goin' on? Has anyone come back yet?"

Besa answers in a gentle but serious tone while standing up with Kilala on his shoulder,

"I'm afraid not, little man...and I have this sinking feeling none of our friends are."

He meets my eyes with his own, adding,

"Not on their own, at least."

Nodding in agreement, I note as I turn to watch those two demons move on for god-who-knows-where,

"Which also means we can't stay here any longer, unless we wanna become easy targets for whatever else comes crawling out of that damned mountain...We need to head in and join the fight."

Kōga looks at me like I was insane for a moment...before forming a wry grin and stating,

"Well, dog face did say to make sure you and your brothers stay safe...but he never actually said to stay _rooted_ to this spot."

Smirking back at him, I reply,

"For once, you and I are on the same page, wolf boy...What say the rest of you?"

Standing up on his own two feet and shifting Shippo to his right shoulder while resting the handle of his long hammer on his left, Freeman shrugs and comments,

"Eh, anything's better than sittin' on my heels. I'm in."

The little fox kit nods with a nervous smile at the same time Kilala mewls with a form nod, and Besa affirms,

"I'm with you, sister."

Ginta and Hakkaku hm while looking at eachother apprehensively...before facing the rest of us with brave faces.

"I dunno if this is a good idea,"

"But we'd rather follow you guys than run away with our tails between our legs."

 _Eh, close enough._

Liking that everyone's up for the big adventure ahead, I spin around to walk closer to the barrier line surrounding Mount Hakurei while calling back,

"In that case, gentlemen, and lady, let's get a move on and find everyone."

I hear Shippo ask as everyone else's footfalls approach,

"But won't the barrier still try to keep us out?"

"Not after I'm done."

I then pull out my combat knife, and Besa quickly clues into what I was about to do.

"Uh! You're going to try and cut a path with your knife's barrier-breaking power inherited from the Blood Coral, right?"

"Mhm. I didn't try before because I had this feeling the sacred barrier might've been able to deflect it...But now that its strength has crippled, I'm more than confident I can carve back the energies so we can all enter inside."

Placing the combat weapon between my palms so the blade was facing straight up, I then say to everyone in warning,

"Best to step back," and they heed my word just as I shut my eyes and draw a deep breath...

 _Okay, focus._

(...Sheen)

Concentrating my own power so it stimulated the other source within my short blade, it glows that salmon pink light with a thin ring of dark arctic blue surrounding, and I shift position so it was pointing outward from my torso...before shooting it with another blast of power!

"Haaaa!"

(Pow)

The blade flies through the air, and behind it, dragged a ribbon of salmon red/dark arctic blue energy that cuts through the weakened sacred barrier like Moses parting the Red Sea!

 _Yes! It worked!_

"Alright, Cora!" "You did it, sis!"

"Nice one, Coraline!"

I chime back to them just as proud but while maintaining a serious front,

"Thanks, but this likely won't last for very long, so we better hoof it while we're able. Come on!"

With that, we all began running inside the inner grounds of Mount Hakurei, determined to lend our aid to the appending battle. I think to myself as I catch my knife on the rebound,

 _Inuyasha, everyone...we're coming. None of you will be alone!_

Renkotsu's POV

Once the energies of my three Shikon-no-Tama shards settled, I made my way back out of the tunnel back to the outside away from the beating of Naraku's power...

But once I was away from the entrance, I would be taken by surprise in seeing my only 'living' band brother sitting on a boulder a few feet in front of me, his back turned.

 _Bankotsu..._

He turns to meet my eyes:

"He~y, so you're alive, Renkotsu."

"Yeah..."

While I did keep a calm external front in my slow approach, internally, I could feel myself fuming over not sensing his arrival sooner.

 _Damn Bankotsu...Let's see..._

 _He has the shards of Kyokotsu, Mukotsu, and Suikotsu, four in all. The shards I took from Coraline are embedded in his halberd, Banryū._

 _I have three shards...from Ginkotsu, and Jakotsu..._

 _That's right! If I can keep Bankotsu from using his Banryū, we'll be as good as even._

With my plan set, I prepare myself for what may very well be my hardest struggle for life yet.

 _If I'm going to do it, it has to be now!_

...But upon reaching him:

(JAB)

"Uh!"

Bankotsu manages to grab for my neck and steal away the two jewel shards I had planted in there without even turning around!

 _Oh, damn...!_

"Two and...(Stands up and faces Renkotsu) That's right. There was one more."

"W-Why you...!"

He smirks at me mockingly for my failed surprise assault and comments,

"Damn, you smart guys are dumb! You keep mulling and mulling it over, and it's too late now."

 _I hate to admit it...but for once, he's right. I calculated for too long and missed the shot right in front of me._

Keeping a palm over my neck, I ask him while fighting a stutter of shock,

"You...You intend to kill me?"

He holds up Jakotsu's hairpin just as a Saimyōshō comes hovering in, contemplating my words.

"Well, what should I do? You killed Jakotsu for the Shikon-no-Tama shard."

I argue back, forgetting about my assaulted flesh,

"You should talk! In the end, all that counts is power! And the more shards you have, the stronger you are!"

Bankotsu chuckles slightly, making my blood boil even more.

"What's so funny?! You have shards embedded throughout your body... _and you used us to get them!_ "

That wiped the smug look off his face...before he would hold up the two jewel shards he just took from me with a straight frown.

"Wanna try it?"

"What?"

"Here."

Then to my absolute befuddlement, he tosses those two jewel shards back to me!

 _...What is he-_

"What's the matter? Take them."

 _...This has to be a trick of sorts. (Glances at Banryū) It must be._

He notices where my apprehensive attention was, before assuring me,

"Don't worry. I won't use Banryū."

Hesitantly, I place the fragments back into my neck, and Bankotsu says to me with a mysterious smile,

"I'll show you the difference between you and me."

"Gh..."

"Well, what're you waiting for? Hurry it up. If you won't attack, then I'll come at you first."

He starts running towards me, and in a fit of panic, I fire my cannon at him!

(Boom)

Unfortunately, my aim wasn't focused, so Bankotsu was able to leap upward away from the blast.

"Uh! Grh, die!"

I try again, but miss, which triggered a stronger wave of panic in my veins, causing me to fire randomly with no precise aim. I couldn't get a grip on myself...I was scared...

Suddenly, Bankotsu leaps down right in front of the barrel of my weapon, and lightly pushes it downward while inquiring,

"What's the matter, Renkotsu? Hurry up and fight."

I back away on the defense, and tripped on a slippery part of the rocky ground, falling on my behind with my cannon dropping beside me...

"What's with you? Hurry it up. Or, I'll come at you again."

"Damn it!"

Somersaulting backwards, I decide to switch to my other signature attack, taking a swig of the fuel in my gourd before spewing a line of fire at my former friend! It hits him dead-on, giving me hope that today would not be my second death.

"Hah! I-I got him!"

"...Absolutely not!"

(Shoom...TOK)

"UH!"

Next thing I knew, I'm stabbed by Jakotsu's hairpin, the force great enough to knock out the jewel shard embedded inside!

 _No!_

...I fall backwards, helpless as Bankotsu approaches me from the fire. A part of me in the back of my head knew in an instant that I wasn't going to make it...but I had to know.

"Wha...What's the difference. Rgh!...What is it? What am I doing differently from you?!"

(...JAB)

His fingers dive into my neck for the second time, robbing me of my other two shards...and the last thing I hear before exiting this world was,

"The difference _is_...I don't betray my friends."

 _Ban-kot-suuuu..._

Bankotsu's POV

Watching my last brother's dead flesh evaporate, leaving behind a clothed skeleton to go crashing on its front, I drew in a breath through my nose while closing my eyes a bit forlornly.

"How sad...Now, I'm the only one left."

 _But, I guess this was inevitable, in a way...After all, we only survived as a group for so long the first time._

I hear the Saimyōshō buzzing a message to me as it hands me that third jewel shard Renkotsu had.

"I know...I've got things to finish."

Putting the fragment inside my body, I walk over to lift Banryū over my shoulder, the images of my fallen comrades flashing through my mind.

 _My brothers...I won't let your seconds deaths go unpunished._

Looking up at Mount Hakurei, I exclaim fiercely,

"This will be the Shichinintai's final battle!"

With that, I make my way into the cave my two other brothers were previously in, determined to find the one person, that, half-demon dog, who's been a big thorn in my side since our first encounter.

 _Inuyasha...your death will be the first to come!_

Kikyō's POV

I wait patiently for Saint Hakushin to consider my offer of guiding him to a more peaceful end...and eventually, the barrier around his being dissipates...

"Now then, I've dissolved the barrier. Dead priestess, you said you want to lay me down to rest...and dissolve the barrier around Mount Hakurei. _However_ , I was buried alive, and my soul is filled with Anger and Hatred. I cannot be saved."

"...A very determined friend of mine would say otherwise...yet, I did not once believe that I could save your soul."

His eyes widen a little in surprise, and I continue.

"I, just wanted to know...what it is that makes you so sad."

"Sad, you say?"

Nodding a little, I lift myself up a bit and reach over to wrap my arms around this poor mummified man...

"Even though I hold you like this...I cannot feel your Hatred and Bitterness."

 _They do not beat strong in his Aura...No._

 _The leading emotions written in his soul...is Sorrow...Pain...just as Rosiagnes correctly warned me to tread lightly of._

"Yours were not tears of Bitterness towards humanity and the world."

There's a pause...before he finally admits to his true feelings.

"Yes...I...I wanted to die an admirable death as a saint...but I could not. I did not want to admit...my own weakness...so I cried in Despair, over my weakness of heart...!"

I softly comment,

"How painful it must have been."

"Yes, it was painful."

"You have done more than enough good in this world... _Please_...Please be free now."

Saint-no...just, Hakushin, wonders aloud after another moment's pause,

"...Is it really alright?"

Smiling sadly, I chide back,

"Yes, it's all right now."

 _You need not torture your spirit any longer, Hakushin...If one of us deserves to be free of their trials and tribulations, it is you._

Closing his eyes with a final drawn breath...this 'Living Buddha' resolves with cutting his tethers to this world, allowing his mummified body to dissolve into his collective soul, ascending upward to Heaven...

I smile and wish him peace, before reaching into my robes to pull out the topknot of Rasetsu no Kansuke.

 _There is no one in this world who never feels lost...who has never sinned in his life._

I hear Rosiagnes agree with my notion:

 _"Aye, tis true. Even the most innocent of chile has done a' least one naughty thing in their lifetime...The word 'saint' is but a word, with no control over the true human spirit...just as Good and Evil, are feeble attempts to place control over Light and Darkness. They have no loyalties, nor do they always act their assumed roles."_

 _Yes...Those who try to be forever divine...Those who try to be forever kind...Those who are tainted by evil..._

 _Everyone wishes to be saved._

Holding up the small lock of hair, it too transforms into the last of the old thief's souls, which float away on a similar path Hakushin's own spirit took...

 _"Well done, Kiky_ _ō...Now then. I would prepare yerself, for now that the daft barrier is gone, the devil hiding in the mountain shan't be hiding fer long."_

I was about to ask my acquaintance from beyond what she meant, when the grounds began to rumble.

 _Uh!_

Casting my eyes to Hakurei, I watch as the mist surrounding began to dissolve...only to be replaced by a thinner, dark pink smog, highlighting the much more, sinister image of sharp, jagged protrusions melded into one, followed by the dispersal of many dark entities!

 _The barrier...it truly is gone...So. This, is where it begins._

No POV

While Kikyō began to formulate her own game plan now that the sacred barrier was completely cancelled out, Coraline, the twins, Shippo, Kilala, Kōga, Ginta and Hakkaku were going with a 'strategize as they go' action, continuing their group sprint into the valley of Mount Hakurei...when they stop and notice the change in environment.

"Huh?" "Whoa..."

"Well, this is different."

"And creepy..."

"I don't feel the barrier anymore."

"Does that mean it's fully gone now?"

"(Shudder) I'm gettin' the willies..."

...Kilala's ears then pick up on the sound of dozens upon dozens of roars, screeches and shivering moans, and looks to the skies with a growl of her own and her fur standing on end. Noting her behaviour with a confused hum, Besa follows her gaze, and gasps before calls,

"Heads up and ready, guys! Here they come! Hundreds of them!"

And by them, the young male with expresso-shaded skin was referring to the many, many demons streaming out of the mountain like nasty confetti string!

...They weren't the only ones who saw this either.  
On a cliff that overlooked Mount Hakurei, Jaken the imp points out the troubling development for his master.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Oh Lord Sesshomaru! The mountain!"

Observing the new appearance of the no-longer-holy peak of rock, the dog demon's expression reflected serious displeasure...

Back down below and into the valley, about ten or so of those demons break from the above swarm to head straight for the ragtag group of humans and demons! Shippo lets out a cry of fright while Coraline draws her ShatterSoul Sword, her footfalls showing no signs of slowing down.

"Outta the way, you vultures!"

She manages to take two down in one stroke of her blade, the sharp end cutting through the demon flesh and bone like they were made of butter. Inspired by her lack of fear, Freeman charges in next with his long hammer.

"Yeheah, just try and slow this train down!"

Not wanting to be part of the front line, the fox demon on his shoulder hops down to the hard ground and scrambles over to the twin-tail cat demon just as she transforms into her full form, refreshed enough to use her full strength.

"Hah, hah, I'm gonna stick with you, if that's alright, Kilala."

"(Rowl)"

Meanwhile, Freeman lets out a short warcry before swinging his weapon like a bat with both hands on the handle, smacking the blunt base against the head of one demon which causes it to spin through the air and crash against two others, creating a small explosion of blood and bone.

"Ha! How'd you like that?!"

"(Screeeeeeak)"

"Huh?"

His victory was short-lived, however, when another demon with the appearance of a bony snake with wings starts lunging from behind, forcing him to duck and roll.

"Whoa!"

What he wouldn't see coming, was the tail of this monster swatting against his wrists and knocking his long hammer right out of his hands!

"Agh, crap!"

Freeman falls on his front hard, and whirls around when he hears the 'screeeeaaak' of the demon close by, finding himself right in its charging path with no way of defense.

 _Ah, damn, I'm screwed! My crystal only shields against distant attacks, not direct!_

He crosses an arm in front of his face, bracing for the worst...which would never come thanks to the interference of the young man's wolf demon lover, who lets out a roar of anger before sprinting over to kick the demon down harshly without thinking!

"Get away from my mate, you skeletal freak!"

The impact was great enough to destroy the bony demon snake's head, leaving behind the body to drop in a limp to the ground. Ginta lands shortly afterward, his breaths heavy as he fought to cool his sudden burst of rage...Removing his arm from his face, Freeman looked up at his lover with an astonished expression.

"G...Ginta..."

He turns around to shoot a smile while stating,

"I may not be the strongest wolf demon around, but if anything on this creepy mountain tries to make you into their next meal, they're gonna hafta hear from me first!"

The young human male with jade green irises was blown away from how sure the young wolf demon with silvery blue irises sounded...before smiling back and nodding.

"Diddo..."

"Oi, lovebirds, save the romance for later, would ya?"

They turn to look over at Kōga, who glares up at the next section of demons heading for the group's direction, adding,

"We still got alot of work to do if we're gonna catch up with the mutt and company!...Let's all show these insects who they're messin' with!"

Everyone cries out a fierce,

"Yeah," in response, ready and able to put in the blood and sweat needed this hour...

Speaking of the topic dog demon, we cut back into the deeper section of that tunnel as Inuyasha and Lumos push on, following their respected sensors that detected the despicable half-demon responsible for this current affair of insanity.

"Come on out, Naraku!"

...But they would be forced to leap backwards to dodge a sudden surface-breaking strike from another sword, belonging to none other than the Banryū Halberd, their wielder emerging from the dusting smoke of the collapsed rock seconds afterward.

"Inuyasha, you won't be meeting Naraku..."

The dog demon growls at the zombie swordsman, who adds with a grin,

"'Cause you meet me first instead."

"Grrrh... _Bankotsu..._ "


	133. Chapter 132

Hello, my lovely readers and fellow writers!

Glad to see that your attention is still being grasped by this and my other stories...and in that event, there's something I need to bring to light.

I've been noticing in the reviews that a few of you have been coming up with requests for different stories involving Character x OC pairings. While I do appreciate your enthusiasm and am flattered by your confidence in me as an author, I just want to stay on task with the three stories I'm working on at this present time (as I've said similarly at the bottom of my author's profile). Plus, now that I'm back in University, coupled with my part-time job, I'll be busy-busy-busy again...But, I do encourage any fellow writers whom have read those requests to jump with your hand up and take a crack at 'em :)

That's it; that's all; movin' on!

* * *

 **Chapter 132: Swan Song of the Shichinintai, Part One**

Eyes belonging to souls of multiple backgrounds living near the foot of the once divinely-strong Mount Hakurei, would have their pupils cast towards the distant protruding rock this current hour of the late morning, as the sacred barrier created by Saint Hakushin decays in complete defeat, thanks to the double pressures of Miroku's Wind Tunnel, and Kikyō's share of empathy towards the self-berating soul. The entire nature-made structure was wrapped in a very troubling, haze-like glow of dark wine red and bright plum purple, with orbs of similar-coloured light escaping from every exit point imaginable, most likely belonging to the mass army of demonic entities hidden within the mountain now convoying for elsewhere...

Some of the more familiar people include Chiyo, Yuuta, their friends and a few men from their village, staring up at the distant mountain from the decimated grave site of the Shichinintai...

And lest we forget Shintarō, young headman of the Hijiri Island Village, he standing near the shoreline heading towards the small, disconnected body of earth itself with his sisters - Hana, Getsu and Yuki - and the rest of his people, watching the action spilling from Mount Hakurei with expressions of awed worry...

Getting back to one of the sources partially responsible for this latest event, the priestess with fair skin and banged ebony black hair stood near Saint Hakushin's robes as she watched the demons swarming from Hakurei like a plague of locusts, muttering to herself,

"It has to be Naraku...just as Rosiagnes said..."

She wouldn't be the only one drawing such conclusions. Back on that cliff overlooking the mountain a ways back, Rin stares at the changing atmosphere with wondering and wary brown irises, before asking the taller demon on her right,

"Lord Sesshomaru, what is that...?"

His reply would be short:

"Just as I thought."

...

Zooming into the mountain territory now, we return to our group of demons and humans that had just made their charge into the valley, Kōga making a beeline to punch another opposing monstrosity to pieces, followed by Coraline using her telekinetic ability with her combat knife to slit the throats of three more egging his way. But, neither the wolf demon or Aura Reader were relishing in these little victories, focusing on the appending problem at hand. Catching her short blade on the next rebound, the angle of reach revealing her outfit's current state (a few small rips and dirt stains on her white tank top, exposed since she ditched her flannel shirt in her satchel, her dark blue jeans sporting a quick sewing line on the lower right pant leg, and scuffing on her black combat boots), the redhead inquires almost dryly,

"Any chance these monsters will give up after we create enough of a carnage pile?"

The wolf demon with long black hair tied back in a ponytail tches and replies bitterly but casually,

"Doubtful. These demons have that 'attack first, die later' kind-a mind."

"That's what I was afraid you'd say, wolf boy...Haaah, alright then."

While psyching herself up for another round of slashing and hacking, Besa - his dark green buttoned-up, short-sleeved shirt, dark grey khaki shorts and brown converse sneakers also sporting noticeable signs of quality deterioration - had gotten one step ahead of his sister in this moment, using his demon bone sickles to charge and slice down as many demons as he could.

"Haaaaa-aaaaah!"

Any evil cretins that didn't go down so fast, would be taken care of by Hakkaku and Ginta, who used the raw strength they possess as wolf demons to harshly kick and punch the fleeting life out of their enemies.

"Take that!"

"And some o' this!"

They pause a moment to high-five eachother at their efforts...which would be a mistake on their parts, when they find themselves being charged at by one large imp-like demon from behind, snarling and wielding a mace of all weapons!

"Aauh!" "Whah!"

" _Fox Fire!_ "

(Fwooom)

Thankfully, Ginta and Hakkaku would be rescued when Shippo uses his illusionary powers to throw the giant demon off-course, it clawing at the blue flames with a howl, giving Freeman - whose clothes were also more rugged than last we saw at the Village of Hijiri Island, including fraying at the bottom of his light gray muscle tank-top, the rip in the left knee of his black skinny jeans larger than before, and his monochrome high-top sneakers scuffed up and tearing slightly in the aglet-free laces - the opportunity to charge at it from the side, swinging his hammer sideways in a hard punt to the torso.

"Fooooour!"

(WHAM)

The imp demon lets a screech of pain scorch from its throat, before the force of impact from the long hammer destroys it in an explosion of flesh and bone...Letting out matching sighs of relief, the wolf demon with the white-blond Mohawk says with a smile,

"Nice counter, guys."

The young male with short, coarse black hair and espresso dark skin scratches the back of his head with a modest smile.

"Ah, no probs. Shippo gets most of the credit for his Fox Fire...And speakin' of which..."

Freeman turns his head to the little demon settling back down on Kilala's back from his jump into the air, commenting,

"You and Ki are lookin' alot better now, little dude."

"Thanks. Feeling better too."

The twin-tailed cat demon rumbles a purr with a nod, signifying her health was back to par as well. Gazing up at the ill-glowing mountain with a hm in his tone, the young man with cornrowed black hair thinks aloud with a frown,

"Well, as much as I don't want to say that isn't a good thing...I'd count that as a sign that the Sacred Barrier's been eradicated. Question is, how?"

Kōga replies as the group cloisters together,

"The only way we're gonna find out is t' keep goin'...I'm definitely smellin' Naraku's scent now that we're inside the valley, and it's getting stronger."

Hakkaku then cries out with a pointer finger directed upward,

"Auh, here they come again!"

By 'they', he was referring to another section of the demon swarm that was heading for their direction.  
Tensing up at the ready with their demon slayer weapons, Freeman and Besa comment with glares,

"Geez, how many of them do we need to send to their maker before they take the hint?!"

"Such is the nature of vultures, I suppose..."

The wolf demon leader jokes without humour,

"Maybe they're hungry or somethin'! Haurrrrah!"

He jumps and claws apart the head of one yellow serpent demon...just at around the time another section of the mass demonic army, made their lunge against Sesshomaru atop that distant cliff!

"Lord Sesshomaru, no!"

But while the little green imp dressed in brown was worried for his master...the dog demon merely brought out his more aggressive blade, Tokijin, and obliterated the dozen or so demons in one stroke of its aura! Feeling inspired by Sesshomaru's lack of fear, Jaken says from his place back a ways with Rin,

"Excellent swordsmanship as always! Now it's time to use my Staff of Two Heads!"

(Fwoooooooom...)

A blast of fire is released from the old man's mouth of the wooden weapon, burning a few more of the opposition into ashes...

"Ah-hahaha! Come at me, you pathetic demons!"

Rin cheers,

"You tell them, Master Jaken!"

He twirls his staff above his head with another confident laugh, fueled by the human girl's encouragement (not that he would ever tell her that out of pride).

(...Twok...zwip)

And back down near the base of Mount Hakurei, Kikyō was hard at work using her Sacred Arrows to piece and cut away the demons charging her way, including one demon that lightly resembles the legendary Mongolian Death Worm...

Cutting to the valley again, Kōga slashes and kicks down two more demons, before calling back to everyone else,

"Let's go!"

Hakkaku, he standing back-to-back with Ginta, Freeman and Besa, asks,

"But where exactly are we heading for?"

"Naraku, where else?"

He and the wolf demon with silver-blue irises cringe with nervous expressions at the sound of that evil half-demon's name, but calm when Freeman says to them with encouraging smirk,

"Hey, don't lose your confidence, guys. It's not we're goin' in alone...We'll have eachother's backs the entire way. Right, bro?"

Besa nods with a smile:

"Absolutely."

Hakkaku and Ginta gaze at the twin young men with astonishment for a moment...before forming determined smirking smiles of their own.

"Right. What're we worryin' about?"

"Our friends and loved ones are here. Well, most of them..."

Hearing the rise of morality, the wolf demon with long black hair and deep blue irises smiles for a second, before forming a serious line with his lips, and pivots his head to lock eyes with Coraline.

"Let's go."

"Right."

The redhead calls over her shoulder just as Kōga starts running ahead,

"Kilala! I could use your assistance, please!"

The twin-tailed cat demon heeds Coraline's polite order, leaving the demon she just took down with her fangs to rush to the human's direction, allowing the latter to jump aboard behind Shippo. Seeing that four out of eight people in the group was already moving on, the other two wolf demons call,

"Hey, wait up!"

"Not again!"

Freeman and Besa lock their distinctively-different green irises with firm nods, before grabbing Ginta and Hakkaku's hands respectively.

"Huh?" "Wha-?"

"Don't let go, guys,"

"And get ready to run faster than you've ever gone."

(...Sheeeeen) (...Sheeeeen)

The clear, thickly-cut shards of the Seven Light Crystals set within the round metal bases strapped to the twin's wrists begin glowing on the silent call of wills from both, before expelling a rippling wave of transparent rainbow energy to envelop their bodies...as well as the ones connected through skin-to-skin contact.

"Wha-?!" "Whoa...!"

Smiling in anticipation, Freeman says,

"Alright. Now that we all got the upgrade...let's motor!"

No one needed a twice telling, and the quartet of wolf demons and humans ran like deer to catch up just behind Kilala, around the moment Shippo turns to Coraline and says,

"I really hope the others are okay..."

"I'm more than positive they're fine, Shippo."

 _Or rather, that's what I'm gonna keep telling myself until we actually see our loved ones again..._

Mind you, turning views back to the inner tunnels of the fabled mountain itself, Inuyasha was feeling anything but okay, snarling at the final-standing zombie of the Shichinintai.

" _Bankotsu_...are you plannin' to block my way?"

With no waver in his deadly smirk, the young leader replies,

"You're damn right. You killed all of my Band of Seven brothers, so now I'm going to avenge their deaths."

Forming his own sardonic and crooked upturn of mouth, the dog demon counters,

"Yeah well, six out of seven ain't all that bad, or five if I put my mate-to-be beside me since she took down Mukotsu..."

 _And boy, did it take a toll on her..._

"But if killing you's the only way I can get to that bastard Naraku, (frown, raises Tessaiga) then it's time for a little reunion! _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

The three-tine claw mark of energy goes cutting through the hard stone ground straight for Bankotsu...who remains confident and unafraid.

"Fool! You think that'll work on me?! Well, (swing) think again!"

He brings his own Banryū down in a counter against the Tessaiga's power, sending a literal burning aura right for the opposing clash, much to Inuyasha's surprise.

 _A blast of heat?!_

The dueling energies collide, creating a broiling explosion that sends hot coals of rock to sprawl onto the broken cave floor...

"So, we're evenly matched."

Bankotsu felt a scoffed chuckle escape his lips after making that observation, while Inuyasha's temper flared up all the more as he broods,

 _Last time we fought at Hijiri Island, he also managed to counter my Wind Scar...and now he's gotten alot stronger!_

"I know what'ch're up to: you're using the other six's Shikon-no-Tama Shards!"

"Of course, and I use them with pride. I think of them as keepsakes from my fallen brothers... _Kyokotsu...Mukotsu...Suikotsu...Ginkotsu...Jakotsu...Renkotsu_. Add my own jewel shard to those and you have a total of seven...So you see: I have more than enough power to defeat YOU!"

With that proclamation in the enclosed winds, the wielder of the giant halberd sends another blast of that blazing aura for Inuyasha's way, who counters with his own sword's power.

" _Wind Scar!_ "

The Tessaiga's clawing energy cuts a narrow path through Banryū's, which Lumos - whom was hovering nearly a centimeter from the ceiling to stay out of the line of fire - makes plain by flying down fast and moaning loudly. The dog demon wastes no more seconds and follows the Will O' Wisp in the next charge, silently agreeing with his logic.

 _He's right: I don't have time to mess around._

With his Robe of the Fire Rat protecting him from the extreme heat, Inuyasha manages to break through to attempt a much more direct attack...Unfortunately, because of the collective power from the several jewel shards in his possession, Bankotsu was able to throw the dog demon off after a brief clash of steel, the latter crashing face-up against the wall of the cave before collapsing on his front...He wouldn't have time to mull about the failure for long, of course, when the sole Shichinintai member makes his own charge.

"What's the matter, Inuyasha?!"

The dog demon with long, wild silver hair barely had enough time to dart up into a sitting position and avoid getting his head impaled by the blade of his opponent's sword, they using their weapon like a vault pole to flip over before attempting another stab, forcing the former to slide in a somersault away...

"That's interesting...Were you always this weak, Inuyasha? Or is it, that I've become way too powerful for you?"

Using his blade to help him stagger back upward, the dog demon inquires in a more serious taunt back the same time Lumos grants him a dose of rejuvenating energy,

"Are you saying that you have the seven jewel shards, Bankotsu, hah...and that's the best you can do?"

Bankotsu almost grits his teeth from the insult, but covers it up by remarking,

"I gotta say, you sure do know how'da talk tough, but unfortunately for you, a big mouth won't be enough."

"Kuh, I'll carve out every one of those jewel shards, (raises his sword) so get ready to meet your maker, Bankotsu!"

Charging forward, the swordsmen meet in several sparking clashes of steel, before they're caught in a close-quarter's stalemate, glaring and grinding their teeth at one another.

"You should be rottin' in your grave like a good corpse, and I'm gonna be the one that makes sure ya do!"

"That's very high and mighty for one such as you, a pathetic little demon who was nailed to a tree! I wonder, (evil smirk) were you thinking of that woman of yours as you said it?"

"Grrrrh! You son of a-!"

Chuckling just as darkly, Bankotsu adds,

"Oh yeah, it's written all over your face, demon. No...half-demon, I should say. You're still pissed over when I snatched up that bitch by her pretty little neck and tried to choke her. Tell me, were you scared of having _another dead woman_ on your hands?"

"Gh! W-Why, you...!"

"That's right: Naraku told me all about you and that dead priestess, Kikyō...Though from what I understand, most of that's ancient history since you and that Coraline chick became an item, which yes, he has knowledge of."

That mentioning sent a cold shiver down the dog demon's spine.

 _No...That, bastard Naraku, knows about my relationship with Coraline? How?_

Angered by the idea that his greatest enemy has somehow ascertained some form of knowledge about he and his special girl, Inuyasha snarls and shoves the Banryū blade back before attempting a swinging lunge with Tessaiga. Bankotsu jumps backwards in a somersault, and lands smoothly before asking menacingly,

"Oh-hoh, did I touch a nerve there? Heh, if telling you that's enough to get you riled up, only kami knows how enraged you might get if your girl was here with us right now. I certainly wouldn't have any qualms about it...since I owe that bitch a beating from our last encounter and for murdering Mukotsu."

"You leave Coraline outta this, and quit callin' her a bitch!"

"I would except she's connected to you, a measly half-demon who was pinned to a tree for fifty years, (angry frown) and has no business criticizing those of us who've been resurrected!"

Now that, confused Inuyasha slightly even with the hardened gruffness in his tone.

"What's that?...Tuh! Sounds like you and Naraku have been talkin' quite alot, huh?"

"Actually, this is the second time I've run into Naraku."

"...Whadda ya mean by that?"

Bankotsu made his answer plain:

"The first time we met was before the Shichinintai, or Band of Seven was formed. Looking back, it was a strange coincidence..."

"So you're _old pals_ , then?"

The dead man guffaws in amusement from such an accusation.

"Ha! I don't befriend demons!...Back then, I was always looking for a challenge, looking for someone stronger to beat..."

Flashback

 _Going back to perhaps a year or less before the infamous, merciless mercenary band first formed, Bankotsu would have been considered a solo artist of a warrior, constantly searching for any opponent, human or otherwise to fight.  
_

 _In one case, he went halberd to_ _ _ōdachi against a wandering__ _rōnin, easily besting in one well-timed slash across the torso, leaving their corpse lying on the path of oak..._

"I didn't care if they were demons, as long as they were strong."

 _Another time, the previously alive young man fought against a mega carrion crow demon, killing them with a slice right down the middle!_

 _...His grizzly travels would soon lead him to an area containing a murky green lake sitting above and a ways a multi-split waterfall, the coursing water spills adding to the mist thinly blanketing the grounds._

"One day, I heard about a very frightening demon, and entered the lifeless forest in which he was suppose to dwell..."

 _Climbing up, Bankotsu would soon spot Naraku - he cloaked in the baboon fur outfit - standing in the middle of the shallow lake, examining the corpse of a very large demon that likened to that of a mutant seal...Stepping a little into the algae-heavy water, the wielder of the giant halberd sword would bravely yet brashly call the evil half-demon out._

 _"I've come to fight the demon who rules this forest."_

 _"...Perhaps it was him."_

 _Knowing that Naraku was referring to the giant dead body, Bankotsu asks,_

 _"Did you kill him?"_

 _"Hm...Are you a demon slayer, or some kind of monk?"_

 _Pointing his sword ahead, Bankotsu replies,_

 _"I am neither one of those. If you're telling me you're strong, then I would like to fight you."_

 _"Oh? You wish to test your strength?"_

 _Lunging forward in a fast charge, the male with cobalt irises exclaims,_

 _"One like you who possesses demonic powers from the moment he was born couldn't possibly understand!"_

 _He then tries to stab Naraku...but the latter was able to jump up in a dodge, leaving the halberd blade to go straight into dead flesh._

 _"Huh?!"_

 _Landing on dry ground with a chuckle, the half-demon mutters,_

 _"From the moment I was born..."_

 _"What's so funny?"_

 _"...You desire demonic powers, do you?"_

 _"So then you admit you're a demon!"_

 _"I have been searching through the lands for a power which I am unable to acquire..."_

 _It isn't entirely clear whether Naraku would then simply speak of what happened, or somehow sent a snippet of Kiky_ _ _ō's body as she and that mysteriously troublesome jewel were cremated through a form of telepathy...Either way, Bankotsu would come to know the title of that one source of power popular to hearts whose desires were mostly of darkest variety.  
__

 _ _"The Shikon-no-Tama, you say?"__

 _ _"I do not when, or if it will manifest itself in this world again."__

 _ _The two stare at one another for a moment in silence...before it broke to the sound of Jakotsu's call.__

 _ _"Hey, big brother!"__

 _ _Bankotsu looks over his shoulder to see his feminine brother approaching, they focusing on the massive seal-like demon's body.__

 _ _"Oh you're kidding! You destroyed it already? Haaah, you could at least leave me one to kill, okay?"__

 _ _The former says nothing, pivoting his vision back to where Naraku was...and saw that he was gone...__

 _ _Jakotsu moves so he was standing beside his younger yet stronger brother, a bit confused by the latter's distracted expression.__

 _ _"...So, you hungry?"__

 _ _"...Hey, Jakotsu. Let's, go to war."__

 _ _That wasn't the answer the other swordsman expected, not at this time or at all.__

 _ _"Huh?! But, what for? I thought you said you'd never take orders from a samurai."__

 _ _Bankotsu counters with a smirk,__

 _ _"And I won't. We'll be mercenaries and slaughter everyone. A samurai won't be able to complain to the leader of a band of elite mercenaries."__

 _ _"Yes, but there's only you and me."__

 _ _"Haah, you're right. I guess we'll need to recruit some more comrades."__

 _ _The male with cobalt irises lets out another reluctant, grumbled breath before starting his way out of the murky lake water, the other following behind and still amazed by this sudden shift of purpose.__

 _ _"Wait up, big brother. Are you being serious?"__

 _ _"I wonder how many men we should have in our mercenary band?"__

 _ _"Huh?...Mm, (smirk) well you can count me in, I suppose, but make there's some good-looking guys."__

 _ _Smiling a little back, Bankotsu lightly retorts,__

 _ _"Don't be silly. What's most important is that they're strong."__

 _ _"Huh?...Hm, I guess you're right. If we recruited any good-looking warriors, I'd just wanna cut them up. What was I thinking?"__

 _ _The comment leaves both future members of the Shichinintai laughing, as they exited the forest that was void of most life...__

End of Flashback

"Heheheheheh...Naraku and I met again after that, and he told much more than he did at our first meeting."

By the end of the retelling, Inuyasha was forming a more clear idea over what this single mercenary's relations were with the evil half-demon bearing the spider's mark...and it did not favor the second former in the least.

"Naraku didn't resurrect you just t' have someone to talk to. You must be a real idiot, Bankotsu."

Bankotsu seem a little shocked by his opponent's claim, but nonetheless retorted,

"You're the only idiot around here."

"What?"

"You can tell from a glance what kind of man he is. A sharper person would see that."

A part of the dog demon was stupefied by the level of naivety his enemy was displaying, but covered it with his more dominant anger towards the insult.

"Grrrh, _you watch your mouth, Bankotsu_. Naraku's just taking advantage of you and makin' you do his dirty work!"

It was Bankotsu's turn to be infuriated:

"Well, it doesn't matter! I'm a busy man and I've got things to do, like settling the score with you!"

He charges in for another attack, which Inuyasha would meet with his own.

"Come on!"

(Clang, clang, clang, clang...)

A few more times the blades slapped eachother's edges, before the dog demon would be forced to jump backwards in a flip...A moment's pause blankets the tunnel as Bankotsu vows to himself,

 _I've been given this second chance at life, and I'm not gonna waste it!_

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

" _Huuuuaaaaah!_ "

(SLIC-FWOOOOOM)

Both warriors unleash their more powerful surges of energy at one another again, creating yet another explosive collision, the impact of rubble causing them both to be thrown back...

And as the small orb of living light started bopping around in a frantic circle, worried for his partner's lover, the voice of most sinister proportions echoes from the depths of the mercenary's memory.

 _"Awaken, Bankotsu...Awaken..."_

Flashback

 _"Awaken, Bankotsu. Awaken...I grant you life once again."_

 _Returning to the past once again, we find ourselves watching Naraku - personifying the face of former prince, Kagewaki - finishing with reviving the flesh-restored Bankotsu with one of seven Shikon-no-Tama shards he would implement in using for all the members of the Shichinintai._

 _"Rh, nh..."_

 _The young man, whose long hair was undone from his braid and body unclothed, groggily opens his cobalt irises, only able to make out a shadowed figure hovering over him._

 _"Who, are you...?"_

 _"To think that man I met years ago is the leader of the Band of Seven."_

 _Once his vision clears and he sat up with a wince due to stiffness in his muscles, Bankotsu recalls,_

 _"I, remember now. You're that demon I met in the forest."_

 _"My name is Naraku."_

 _"Naraku?...Wait, (looks at his hand) what is this? The seven of us were beheaded..."_

 _"You are quite right, and we're inside your grave right now."_

 _Looking behind him in this misty void, Bankotsu spots the bones of the other six members of his band..._

 _"I embedded a Shikon-no-Tama shard inside your body. That is the power you feel."_

 _Placing his fingertips to his neck where the fuchsia glow emitted, the now undead warrior comments with a smile,_

 _"Aaah. Shikon-no-Tama shards can be very useful, can't they?"_

 _"I want you to serve me, Bankotsu. Do so and this new life will be everlasting."_

 _...A bit of the mist clears on the offered man's left, revealing a temporal mirror of sorts that showcased Kohaku when he first stood in front of the Tomb of the Shichinintai, the other jewel shards held at ready in his hand..._

 _Understanding what was needed to confirm the deal, Bankotsu nods, and Naraku smiles darkly before gesturing the young, brainwashed demon slayer to drop the jewel fragments into the soil of the gravesite..._

 _"Now go forth with your six comrades... **and destroy my enemies.** "_

End of Flashback

...Rising from the rubble of the latest cave-in now, the mercenary glares into nothing as he tries to reassure himself of his own agenda.

"I'm not doing this because of his orders..."

He then notices that Inuyasha, despite receiving another wave of damage to his body from the collision, was still alive and standing!

"Uh!...So, you survived."

The dog demon only growled in response once he caught his breath, before turning softer attention towards the Will O' Wisp as he floated downward and released another burst of sparkling energy to help relieve some of the pain.

(Twinkle...)

He only nodded in thanks, and Lumos moans softly before darting to the sidelines as Bankotsu readied to start the battle up again.

"That's good, 'cause now I get to kill you!"

"Only one of us is gonna die today, but it ain't gonna be me!"

...

So as those two continue to hash it out in the lower tunnels of Mount Hakurei, back up the higher range's inner sanctums, Miroku and Sango were running down a crumbling tunnel away from the former shrine of Saint Hakushin.

"It's collapsing!"

"It seems that the sacred barrier surrounding the mountain's been totally dissolved! An evil aura is pouring out!"

The demon slayer double-checks with the monk,

"Is it Naraku's aura?"

"Yes, and it's much stronger than before!...Wait, it's a demonic aura, and it's getting stronger."

They continue their fast trek down the tunnel, heading towards a lit exit...only to find themselves back in a familiar parapet-lined area.

"Wait...is this, the shaft we were in earlier?"

Attention is then drawn downward the dark pit...when the pair's ears pick up on troubling sounds echoing a slow and steady beat from below...

"...Miroku?"

"Yes. I sense it too."

They continue to scan into the darkness for a few moments, the beats getting louder and louder with each pass...

...

Then, the enemy's face appears!

"Hh!"

"Naraku!...It is him!"

His smirking expression doesn't remain visible for long, before it shrinks back into the pit, much to Miroku's dismay.

"H-Hey, wait!"

(...Swipe)

But focuses would be drawn away from the pit again when a section of wind blades comes flying at he and Sango from the other side, forcing them to jump back in a dodge!

"Gh! (Looks forward) That has to be-!"

And surprise, surprise, the monk would zero his vision in on the forms of Kagura and Kanna...

"Keep looking down and you'll lose your head."

"Kagura..."

The incarnation merely smirks at him, before Sango would get him back on track with their mission.

"Miroku, Naraku's disappeared...!"

"He was there...and then it seemed like he ran away..."

His dark blue irises fall back on the Wind Sorceress as he concludes,

"Now I get it: Naraku still isn't complete yet, is he, Kagura?"

Feigning ignorance with a coy smile, she asks back,

"Huh? Whadda ya mean, monk?"

"Naraku took refuge inside Mount Hakurei because his barrier was broken by Inuyasha's red Tessaiga. Isn't that the case?"

Miroku's glare hardens:

"That's why he hid himself in here, isn't it? To reform his barrier and restore his powers!"

Though her smile spoke other volumes, Kagura nonetheless replies,

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Naraku doesn't tell anything important like that...I suppose he doesn't trust me all that much."

She gestures her closed fan to the incarnated sibling standing on her right.

"You'd probably be better off asking Kanna, but I'm betting she won't say much."

"Mrh! Tell us everything you know right now, Kagura!"

"If you really wanna know all this so badly, (opens her fan) _why not ask Naraku?_ I'll even help you, (swing) follow him!"

Kagura sends another wave of wind blades at the pair's direction, destroying the supporting rock of the planks they were standing on. They try to leap to safety on a lower level, but would be hit by another attack from the incarnated demon, tumbling into the pit below with matching outcries!...Kagura only turns away with a scoff, secretly glad she was able to send a bit of trouble Naraku's way...

"Come and get it, Bankotsuuuu!"

"Nrrraaa-haaah!"

Meanwhile, way back down below, the new round of battle between Inuyasha and Bankotsu was escalating in violence, the strength of impact from each clash being enough to send the warriors sliding backwards on their feet. As he recovers from nearly falling over from one clash, the dog demon curses to himself,

 _Damn! I'm not gettin' anywhere. If only Bankotsu were a demon, then my Backlash Wave would take care of 'im..._

"What's the matter, Inuyasha? Getting out of breath?"

He ignores the teasing question of his opponent, too lost in thought.

 _But he's human. Even if he is an evil specter, he doesn't have a demonic aura..._

 _Without the demonic aura to entrap and send back at 'em, I can't use my Blacklash Wave..._

 _Damn that Naraku. That's why he went to the trouble of resurrecting these seven specters._

"Well well, you look deep in thought. Are you thinkin' about where you'd like to be buried? Next to your _soon-to-be-dead woman_ , perhaps?"

"Grrrh, don't you speak about my girl with that mouth of yours, you bastard! And since you're so curious, I was thinkin' about how I intended ta kill you right away, but I changed my mind, 'cause I'm havin' too much fun!"

...

Speaking of Coraline, our redheaded young woman wielding the infamous ShatterSoul Sword was still in pursuit of the mountain itself, riding atop Kilala with Shippo while Kōga ran with her up front, Freeman and Ginta beside the twin-tail cat demon's left, and Besa and Hakkaku sprinted right behind them. The last four's bodies still carry the transparent sheen of the Seven Light Crystal's energies, and will continue to do so as long as they maintain joined hands for proper power flow...

As they continued their run through another section of the valley, the wolf demon with the white-blond Mohawk suddenly asks,

"Hah, hah, hey Besa?"

"Yeah?"

"All the greenery around Mount Hakurei's dead, hah, 'cause the barrier's gone, right?"

"That's the most likely case. The barrier was containing the demonic energies of Naraku, along with his miasma. With it gone, the lush, pure environment around the mountain didn't stand a chance of survival..."

Freeman finishes,

"Leaving behind a dead hunk of rock that's now crawling with demons."

Humming in acknowledgement to the description with a serious frown, the young wolf demon leader then pivots his head towards Coraline to ask,

"Yo, Coraline, can you sense exactly where the bastard is now?"

"Not so much him, (sheen) but I do sense his larger portion of the Shikon-no-Tama."

"Where at?"

"The signal's radiating from the middle below...I'm also sensing several fragments closer to the foot..."

Ginta raises a brow of confusion:

"Hm? Jewel fragments at the foot? Who could have those?"

Freeman guesses,

"That's probably Bankotsu..."

"Just him?"

"Yeah, somehow, I'm doubtin' there's any other members 'alive' at this point..."

Shaking his head, Kōga exclaims determinedly,

"Nevermind him! We should focus on Naraku! Coraline, lead the way!"

"You got it! Double-time, guys!"

Everyone gives a resounding 'Right!', Kilala rumbling a growl, before they'd all pick up their speed to leave the crevice opening to wider-space ground...

 _Miroku, Sango, Lumos...Inuyasha...Stay strong!_

Freeman and Besa thought similarly to their sister as they worked to pump their legs and help their wolf lover and friend respectively.

 _Hang on, guys._

 _Back-up's on the way!_

Focusing back into the twisting tunnels of the mountain's base, Inuyasha had just been sent crashing into the cave wall courtesy of another wave from the heat-induced aura strike of Bankotsu's Banryū. As he struggles to get up, the dog demon thinks to himself in increased frustration,

 _Damn! Naraku's just up ahead..._

"What's the matter, Inuyasha? I thought you said you were having fun."

He ignores the zombie swordsman's taunt, trying to wrack his brain for a new plan of attack.

 _What'll I do? I can't beat Bankotsu like this..._

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Hm?"

He then focuses his amber irises on Lumos, who was bopping up and down on his front left trying to get his attention.

"What? What is it?"

Now that he had Inuyasha's focus, the Will O' Wisp suddenly flies down towards Bankotsu's proximity, and proceeded to circle around the halberd blade several times while making his body emit red flashes over the white-blue...

 _What's he tryin' to tell me?...Something about Banryū?_

"Oi! Cut that out!"

Said wielder of the massive blade would try and swipe at Lumos in an annoyed manner, which the latter would easily dodge, moving back to Inuyasha's side before doing the same gesture he did on Banryū to the Tessaiga, minus the warning glow. The dog demon tilts his head to the side, trying to figure out the hidden message in his ally's actions.

 _Now he's whirling around my own sword...Hmm..._

"Let's just end this right now!"

Bankotsu sends another attack from Banryū, forcing Inuyasha to act fast, leaping into the air out of the aura's path to lunge at his enemy and throw his own sword straight at the other!...But that hardly scared the undead warrior, who scoffs and knocks the Tessaiga away to go landing in the wall...which was partly the wielder's intent, as a distraction for his real means of attack!

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(SLASH)

"Gaaaauh!"

The zombie is hit right in the arm by the half-demon's claws, the new wound deep enough to force out two of the Shikon-no-Tama shards he possessed, which would be caught by Lumos...Holding his injured lower arm in gritted pain, Bankotsu snarls,

"How dare you...!"

The Will O' Wisp drops the two fragments into Inuyasha's waiting hand, the latter smirking in triumph.

"Heh. I knew you had the jewel shards in your arm."

He tucks them away into his red Fire Rat robes, adding,

"Your sword arm seemed unusually strong, so it got me thinkin'."

"So, you took a guess...Looks like you got all the luck."

"Oh it's more than just luck, Bankotsu. I'm gonna cut out all the jewel shards, (knuckle crack) and the next one's in your neck!"

At that, Inuyasha lunges forward to attempt several swipes at his enemy's neck, who dodges them effortlessly...before countering with a suckerpunch to the face! The dog demon goes flying to the ground, and Bankotsu retorts,

"Don't underestimate me, half-demon! Just who do ya think you're dealin' with?"

Forcing himself up halfway from the hard floor, Inuyasha growls,

"You, bastard...!"

They glare intensely at one another, neither side giving an inch...

"I am Bankotsu, leader of the Shichinintai, and I have never lost a battle to anyone!"


	134. Chapter 133

**Chapter 133: Swan Song of the Shichinintai, Part Two**

 _Recap:_

 _The road towards the probable elimination of the evil entity known as Naraku steadily reaches a new end in the red rust dirt._

 _It's certainly been another long stretch for the forces on the hunt for the half-demon whose name passes like rat poison between the tongue, courtesy of the undead septet, the Shichinintai (or Band of Seven), whom were resurrected for the mere purpose of distraction. Battles were fought, blood had been split, and limits pushed beyond reason..._

 _Eventually, it came down to but three of the zombie mercenaries gathering at the mountain to make a last ditch effort in destroying their enemies...Unfortunately, two of those said men would quickly meet their demises, not by the hands of the ones against them, but by their own comrades for reasons related to wavering and maintained loyalty respectively._

...Now, the only one left 'alive' is the young leader, Bankotsu, and if he is to meet the same fate as the other six, he will certainly not go down as easily...

Of course, his fierce battle with Inuyasha was not the only major event taking place within the, dare we say, _demonic_ Mount Hakurei worth noting. Moving up the mountain, past the area where a certain redhead and her team were still dashing and hacking their way through the seemingly endless army of demons to reach their allies, deep within the upper shaft, we zoom down the pit where Sango and Miroku had fallen previously thanks to an attack from Kagura.

Miraculously, they were both still alive and not at the mercy of the malicious being they saw but moments ago, the demon slayer having thrust an end of her Hiraikotsu into the rocky wall to help stop her drop, she now leaning over it as she struggled to hold up the young monk, he hanging on tightly to the other end of the rope she had.

"Nnnh, nh-hh, Miroku, are you alright...?"

With a grunt, the male with pale beige skin and blue eyes calls back,

"Yes, more or less...!"

...But turning his vision below, Miroku would see that he and his partner were in a vantage that was anything but safe.

 _The remains of demons..._

Even so, despite the obvious underlying danger that could be offered by this mass collection of non-exorcised, monstrous appendages and who-knows-what-else, he knew this required further investigation.

"Sango! Lower me down some more!"

 _...Is this all Naraku's doing?_

Returning below around the foot of Mount Hakurei, our infamous half-dog demon was still decking it out against the equally infamous undead human, the former attempting to slug the latter, only to miss and receive a counter-punch to the side of his own jaw.

"Gauh!"

Inuyasha is thrown back against the cave wall with a crashing slide, but recovers well enough that he doesn't face-plant the ground...

"You underestimate my strength."

Bankotsu punctuates his point by punching his palm with a smug expression.

"There was a good reason I became the leader of the Shichinintai!"

He lunges in to hit his opponent again, but the male with long, shaggy silver hair was able to react fast enough to dodge, forcing the former's hand to go straight through the rock face...Still, that hardly slowed Bankotsu down, who lands a series of violent hits shortly after that failed attempt.

"(WHACK) I controlled the gang of murderers with my own power, (WHACK) long before I was resurrected by the Shikon-no-Tama!"

(Swing, miss...TWACK)

The fourth swing would really make headway, sending the recipient flying to the ground with a cloud of dust and upturned rock...

"Tuh, you really are pathetic."

Inuyasha only growls in response at first...before remarking a bit dryly,

"One of your jewel shards...it's embedded in your left arm. (Lifts himself up) Grah...that's a pretty straight forward way of usin' 'em, especially considering how twisted you are."

"Ha. So you let me hit you on purpose to check me out. Will you take my shards from me, (preps himself) or will I rip that head of yours clean off?! (Lunge) Who's gonna be first?!"

The dog demon in red offers no reply, readying himself for another charge...

Sesshomaru's POV

 _Tch, what pathetic spawn, thinking they can best a demon of my caliber._

It would hardly take any effort to cut down the mass army with a few strokes of Tokijin, the corpses falling to the ground in a rain of flesh. Even Jaken was not having much trouble using the fire power of the Staff of Two Heads to incinerate any demons that tried to get too close.

"Take that, and that!"

 _Hn. For once, he is making himself quite useful..._

Just then, my youngest ward would spot a shift in the enemy's behaviour.

"Master Jaken, look at the sky!"

Following where Rin was looking, Jaken and I would see the larger body of demons rushing overhead for places unknown...as if they were fleeing.

"Duh?...Ah! Look, Lord Sesshomaru: the demons are making their escape!"

 _Hm...interesting..._

I sheathe Tokijin, deciding I need not waste anymore energy on the weaker points of my true enemy, much to the imp's confusion.

"Uh? Aren't you going after them?"

"...They're insignificant."

Looking towards the no longer pure mountain, I realize what these demons were really doing.

 _So...they are aware of what fate's in store if they choose to stay with their master..._

 _...You are running out of allies in this closing hour...Naraku._

Kikyō's POV

It would not be long before the demons separating from the mass army spilling out of Mount Hakurei to attack me give up, thanks to several arrows shot from my bow...

And yet, watching the sea of dark souls flee for anywhere that was not this no longer pure mountain, I could feel my unease in this shift of events grow.

 _...Did Naraku set them free on purpose? Or has he no use for them anymore?_

My vision turns back to the source:

 _In any case, I shall go and see for myself...and hopefully, meet with even a few of my, friends, along the way._

Coraline's POV

It took a little more time than expected, having to pause several times to take down a few stragglers of that huge wave of demons making a break for the outside world...but eventually, we would all reach the cave entrance up the mountain where I could feel the mix of Naraku's Aura and the massive piece of the jewel he possessed.

Kōga takes a peek inside first, before asking me as I, Shippo and Kilala come overhead,

"Is this where Naraku's hiding? Sense anything, Coraline?"

"Lemme check. (...Sheen) Yep; the beat of mixed energies is echoing strongest from here."

 _Soon...we'll be meeting that bastard's face once more...and hopefully for the last time._

"We're going in?"

I reply to the nervous fox demon while wrapping a comforting arm around his little body,

"We are."

"I thought so..."

Peering down left, he calls to the rest of our party (who was able to keep their speed thanks to some certain crystals),

"Hey, Freeman, Besa, Ginta, Hakkaku! You guys ready?"

I look down to see the four gesturing a thumbs up with confident smiles, even with a bit of worry flashing in the irises of the wolf demons.

"Ready!"

Inhaling a deep breath, I say to everyone,

"Okay, this is it; no turning back...Let's go!"

"Right!"

Wolf Boy leads the charge inside, Kilala taking me and Shippo aboard her after him, the other four running between...Of course, our youngest member of the group wasn't feeling overly excited about this likely upcoming confrontation with evil.

"Auuaaah! Wait! I'm not ready for this yeeet!"

I just lifted him up to hug towards my torso, holding him with a motherly smile around the time when Freeman calls up,

"Chill out, little dude; this'll be a walk in the park! Naraku doesn't stand a chance against us all!"

"Y-You think so?"

"I know so! United, we're strong!"

Besa agreed to that idea:

"That's the right attitude, brother! We go in together, come out together!"

Ginta and Hakkaku exclaim a resounding 'Yeah', also feeling pepped by my brother's words...It seemed to calm our little friend down, for he stopped shivering in my arms and shifted so he was sitting on his own in front of me again...

I would have been inspired too, if I wasn't so focused on the condition of the shards.

 _We need to get into the heart of the action fast, before the Shikon-no-Tama fragments are completely swallowed by the darkness._

No POV

So with everyone's current locations established, focus returns back to the bottom of that inner sanctum where Miroku and Sango were, the pair now standing at the edge of the pile of demon carcasses, bones and fleshy appendages, looking them over with wide, curiously suspicious eyes.

"Look at them all...!"

"Now we know for certain that Naraku has been trying to rebuild himself within this chamber..."

"Then that means, these demons..."

The young monk nods:

"They were probably used to create parts of Naraku's body."

...Though this would be the least of the duo's worries, when they suddenly spot something strange rising out from the cervices of demonic flesh, in the form of...a short, alabaster-skinned humanoid with a perfectly round head and stubby, tentacle arms?!

"What is that...?!"

Miroku wasn't anymore sure than the young woman with long, dark brown hair was.

"It's moving!"

That small entity would quickly be joined by several more clones, as pointed out by Sango.

"There's more of them too!"

And the more that appeared, the more the little beings would cloister, until there were hundreds upon hundreds, molding together into a single shape overtop the demonic dead!

"Incredible...!"

"I know! They're not, demons. More like clumps of flesh...!"

Calming down a little, the young man with short black hair tied back into a small rat's tail remarks,

"Yes...it's as though they're about to spawn something..."

"Spawn?...But what?"

"I don't know..."

The monk casts his blue irises to the above point of the pit, now not so sure of the enemy's whereabouts.

"...Where did Naraku escape to...?"

Meanwhile, back in the winding caves below this area, Inuyasha wastes no time in meeting Bankotsu's offensive measure with his own.

"Grh, why you...!"

Unfortunately, the undead swordsman knew the dog demon would be aiming for his left arm, and was able to punch down the incoming claws, much to the latter's shock!

"Guh!"

 _He, blocked me...!_

Smirking at the loss of concentration, the 'young' male with cobalt irises whirls around before using his own left arm to send a resounding suckerpunch to Inuyasha's right cheek, causing them to fly into the wall of the cave once again...

"What's the matter, Inuyasha? I'm goin' out of my way to punch with this hand and make it _easier_ for you to take my jewel shards!"

The undead male then hurries over to seize his enemy by the throat, raising the choking dog demon high.

"What, is this battle over already?"

He preps another wailing fist...but would be interrupted when Lumos suddenly comes barreling down from above, darting overtop the hand holding his friend before releasing a spurt of power similar to what he did for Miroku during the events of that supposed elder demon exorcist!

(Bzzzzt)

"Argh!"

Wincing in pain from the Will O' Wisp's attack, Bankotsu is forced to release Inuyasha, he falling to the ground face-up, gulping in some much-needed air. Panting, he glances up at his smaller ally who was now hovering over him with soft, worried moans.

"Hah...hah...thanks."

"Kuh, pathetic."

Amber irises focus back on Bankotsu, he looking down at the former almost disappointingly with a side-glare at the little orb of light.

"This is a real disappointment. And here I was convinced that you'd put up much more of a fight, and without having to rely on help from something like that little, fairy or whatever it is..."

Kneeling down, the undead warrior chooses to grab the dog demon by his robes this time, quickly swatting away the Will O' Wisp before they could interfere.

"One side, you little pest!"

Lumos would go bumping into the cave wall a little harshly, his next moan echoing with a bit of a dizzy wobble.  
Inuyasha mutters his friend's name with gritted teeth, before glaring hard at the one holding him hostage...

"Don't worry, Inuyasha. I'm not interesting in tormenting someone as feeble as you. Weaklings hold no appeal for me."

...There's a pause...before Bankotsu's face contorts into a more serious expression.

"Hmph, now die."

(Thrust...SHOOK)

"UH!"

...But instead of Inuyasha receiving a devastating blow, it would be the male with the long braid of black hair, specifically, a few clawed fingers in his throat, right where the Shikon-no-Tama shards were!

"R-RH! Damn, you, to hell...!"

"I'm not like all the other humans and demons you've slaughtered...I can take alot more damage than them."

Removing his appendages, the dog demon takes away the three fragments that jump out from his enemy's flesh and blood, before swinging a foot forward mid-air right into the other's gut, sending them flying to the ground this time!...Tucking those jewel pieces away, Inuyasha says with no waver in his tone,

"I've got five of 'em...Once I get the shard in your left arm, it'll be over for you, Bankotsu."

Yet even with those facts out on the table, the undead male wasn't anywhere close to accepting defeat.

"Drrh, silence, fool! I will never die! I'll kill you and take back the jewel shards you stole from me!"

"Don't count on it. I've got news: getting outta here's only half the problem. Naraku will never let you stay alive as long as you still possess the jewel shards."

"I'm sure he's more interested in killing you."

Inuyasha pivots his head left to look towards a further punctuation of where lesser evils really stand in this growing climax.

"Over there."

Bankotsu follows the other's gaze...and would see the dozens of gleaming red eyes in several pathways leading deeper into Hakurei, waiting for their moment to strike...

"Those demons aren't guards. They intend to go after whoever survives."

"...Damn that Naraku...!"

"I have no idea what kind of promise you made with Naraku when he revived you..."

Bankotsu recalls the exact words spoken to him during his brief encounter with the spider-marred half-demon himself...

 _(Flash)_

 _"Awaken, Bankotsu. Awaken...I grant you life once again."_

 _"I want you to serve me, Bankotsu. If you do, then this new revived life will be everlasting."_

 _"Now go forth with your six comrades... **and destroy my enemies.** "_

 _(Flash)_

...Silence blankets the air between the mutual enemies...before Inuyasha gives it straight to Bankotsu once more.

"Naraku used you and the Shichinintai. You're nothing but a human shield to give him protection."

"...Kuh, (small smirk) so what if he did use us?"

Now that was not the response the young dog demon expected.

"What? You don't care?"

"Chuh, the Band of Seven were originally mercenaries. We were hired by clan lords and they didn't give a damn about us either. When we became too strong and dangerous for 'em, they hunted us down and chopped off our heads."

A frown had formed on the undead leader by this point.

"I never trusted Naraku right from the very start, but now that I'm resurrected, I can do as I please. (Stands up) I'll kill anyone who gets in my way, even if it happens to be Naraku."

"Really? Naraku didn't do himself any favours picking you to revive."

"Enough!...What's your story? How did you awaken from your seal?"

Under the surface, Inuyasha was once again taken aback...but externally, he felt no obligation to reflect such to his enemy.

"...None of your business."

"Hmph. It's all about greed, Inuyasha. We're all the same. That dried-up old Saint Hakushin, the dead priestess...Even you, and that woman of yours. You live because of your insatiable hunger for life. Don't make us out to be the only villains here."

"You're the ones who killed countless people here, not us!"

Bankotsu makes no denials, even embraces such fact:

"Yeah, and we've killed our share of demons too."

He then leaps backwards, then sideways towards the forgotten halberd, much to the dog demon's dismay.

 _Oh no: there's Shikon-no-Tama shards embedded in Banryū!_

Inuyasha hurries to snatch up Tessaiga just as his enemy takes hold of the other weapon, before spinning around to charge in for another clash of blades...But to his shock, Bankotsu just rushes past the dog demon, aiming instead for the demons back down the path!

"Hrrraaaah!"

(Slash)

"That's nine-hundred-ninety-one!"

(Slash)

"Nine-hundred-ninety-two! Nine-hundred-(slash)-ninety-three!"

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Bankotsu doesn't answer the majorly confused dog demon, focusing his attention on the other demonic entities heading his way.

"Come and get me!"

(Slash)

"Nine-hundred-ninety-four!"

(Slash)

"Nine-hundred-ninety-five!"

(Slash)

"Nine-hundred-ninety-six!"

Seeing that the undead warrior wasn't going to bother with him for a bit, Inuyasha decides to take out some frustrations on the easier targets, throwing a Wind Scar straight at one section of the demon swarm.

(SLASH...)

Meanwhile, Bankotsu was getting closer to the end of his goal.

"Nine-hundred-ninety-seven!"

(Slash)

"Nine-hundred-ninety-eight!"

(Slash)

"Nine-hundred-ninety-nine!"

The final demon he destroys with a single, leaping stroke from Banryū housed the appearance of a giant dragonic centipede.

"Naaaaaaahhh! One-"

(SLASH)

"Thousand!"

The beast's body is cut in half, spurting out a fountain of blood before its flesh fell to the ground...

(Ba-Bump...Ba-Bump...)

Suddenly, the halberd is wrapped in a fiery red glow, much to Lumos's worry, who began to spin dizzily while glowing his red/white-blue warning in front of Inuyasha.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I don't need the rest of you!"

He turns around to see Bankotsu prepping his newly-powered sword with a spin.

"What did you say?"

He's then forced to use his Tessaiga block the thrust of Banryū's aura, which this round glowed a red similar to an aging star, and was so potent that the rest of the demons in the area couldn't take the pressure and were destroyed instantaneously!

...

...

Only the dog demon and the Will O' Wisp would emerge visible through the cloud of dirt from that attack, the former panting while the latter drooped onto his shoulder with a tired moan.

 _Lumos is getting exhausted, and I'm not feelin' any better than he is..._

 _Much as I should take the dead poser out, this fight's taking way longer than necessary._

 _...I need to get the focus back on my real enemy...and get to my pack._

"...If you decide to get outta here, I won't get in your way."

Bankotsu was too intent towards vengeance to even think about switching tactics to save his own skin.

"I'm not going anywhere until I kill you and avenge my brothers."

"Huh, just because your blade transformed a little?"

"Actually, I wanted to lop your head off to complete the transformation...but then again, it may not have been enough, what with you being a half-demon."

"What's that suppose to mean?!"

"You're about to find out!"

(Lunge, swing...CLANG-bzzzzzzt)

This round, when the sharp metals gnashed their teeth against one another, a series of red electricity sparked...Inuyasha struggles to hold back the opposing blade, pushing it back before speeding backwards to dodge a series of blows from Bankotsu while rethinking the situation.

 _Why's that sword so powerful? It's like Sesshomaru's sword, Tokijin!_

"When I first met Naraku, he told me about the existence of the Shikon-no-Tama!"

(Swing, crash)

"A sacred jewel that could empower both humans and demons! Humans can't possess demon powers, and I didn't care for spiritual powers, and I wasn't born with the power of the divine..."

One particular blow sent from the halberd connects with Inuyasha's body, and he yells in pain as he's thrown back into the cave wall, again...!

"I always thought that in order to become more powerful, you had to make yourself stronger. However, _there was one other way, and that's to put power into an object_. So I made a wish on my Banryū. I've cut off the heads of a thousand warlords."

Growling, Inuyasha attempts a counter:

" _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

"And just now, I killed by thousandth demon!"

Bankotsu thrusts out another strong aura...which cancels out the energies of the Tessaiga's signature attack!

"Guh! The Wind Scar...!"

"Besides the wish I made on it, Banryū has Shikon-no-Tama shards embedded inside...One thousand humans, one thousand demons. This demon sword that's absorbed the wrath of two thousand lives. You wield a demon sword too, (grin) but can it beat my Banryū?!"

With a resounding outcry, the undead swordsman attempts a leaping strike against his opponent, to which they would leap back from while countering,

"You were resurrected by Shikon-no-Tama shards alright, but you're still human! That sword is surrounded by a demonic aura; get rid of it for your own good!"

 _Wait...demonic aura..._

"Go to hell, half-breed!"

Bankotsu throws down another back-breaking aura, which Inuyasha was barely able to block, the strength enough to shove him back into the cave wall.

"A demon like you could never understand my desires! Or maybe you think you understand because you're a half-demon; is that it?!"

The blades meet in another powerful clash...

"You can't understand man's world, where strength is your only hope of survival!"

...The fight pauses for a moment, and Bankotsu begins spinning his sword above him, channeling all the power he can with the intent of finishing this battle once and for all.

"It's over."

...That's when it clicks to Inuyasha:

"Uh!"

 _Of course!...That's what Lumos was trying to tell me earlier!_

"With this power, I will lose to no one!"

The zombie throws a meteor ball of blazing energy towards the dog demon...but the latter wasn't worried, finally figuring out what he had to do.

 _Bankotsu isn't a demon, but if his Banryū's producing this demonic aura, then I can use the Bakuryūha!_

A vortex of wind begins forming around Inuyasha, as he preps himself to unleash said technique...Then just as the meteor orb of demonic power's but a few feet away, the counter is made.

" _Bakuryūha!_ "

(SLASH, WHOOOOOSH...)

The vortex is released, crashing against the opposing attack before reeling it backwards to its starting point, namely, Bankotsu! Letting out a surprised cry, the undead warrior attempts to block...but the power was too great, and shatters Banryū, leaving the wielder helpless to being hit full-blast by his own attack!

"Aaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh!"

(Ka-BOOM)

...

Once the dust and rubble settles, we find that while he wasn't completely obliterated, Bankotsu was buried 'alive', his dominant arm amputated and reduced to bone a few feet away while still grasping the remains of the halberd.

"Hhhh...I don't, understand..."

A shadow hovers over his form, belonging to the one who defeated him.

"You were way too greedy, Bankotsu. You were strong enough on your own, even without the jewel shards."

...The 'young' warrior chuckles dryly despite himself, before succumbing to his wounds, choosing to forgo any remaining reviving power he may have had left from the jewel shards, and join his brothers in the afterlife once more...

Suddenly, the ground beneath Inuyasha's feet began to shake and crumble, swallowing the corpse of the last Shichinintai, while the dog demon struggles to remain steady.

 _What's goin' on...?!_

Moving back within the center sanctums of Mount Hakurei, that massive pile of mounted flesh...began to vibrate, pulse like a fatty heart.

"Miroku, look...!"

"Now what?...Uh!"

The ground beneath the feet of the priest and demon slayer started shaking too, prompting the former to lead the latter away from the bulk of this mess.

"Run for it!"

...That shaking will travel all over the mountain, reaching the valley cave entrance Coraline and company had just entered, though not as violent. She herself notices parts of the rocky path begin to pulse with a luminous glow.

"Huh? What is this?"

Shippo whimpered a bit and shifted closer to the young woman with two-tone blue irises, feeling a shift in the dark energy growing stronger the further the group rushed in. Just then, the twin males with espresso skin but contrasting styles of coarse black hair feel a vibrating from their pieces of Seven Light Crystal, and peer down while still sprinting, observing a new sickly gray glow to the usually prism-clear viscosity.

"Hoh boy, this don't look good..."

"Yeah. We're in dangerous territory now, people."

Hmming both curiously and nervously, Ginta and Hakkaku ask aloud,

"What could this mean?"

"Are we that close to Naraku's location already?"

Responding to all of the observations, the wolf demon male with deep blue eyes and long black hair tied back in a ponytail calls over his shoulder,

"We'll find out soon enough!"

So despite the rising unease, the group ups their speed, moving further into the cave...which were now pulsing more strongly in a manner likening towards... _blood vessels_...

Back just outside the valley, the priestess with alabaster skin and long, banged black hair held back by an accessory contrasting her more traditional garments was now looking up at the nature-made structure with a more stoic air.

"...The demonic aura is growing stronger..."

She of course was not the only one feeling the shift in the tides. With the swarm of lesser demons having fled from the area, Sesshomaru's focus would not be distracted from his vantage atop that cliff-side facing Mount Hakurei, sensing the power of his enemy thickening around the mountain like a putrid smog...Knowing that the battle ahead would not be a safe zone for his young human ward, he orders,

"Rin."

"Yeah?"

"Take A-Un and get away from the mountain."

The young girl with big brown eyes was a bit taken aback, before asking with a worried expression,

"But what will you do, Lord Sesshomaru?"

"It goes without saying...Naraku is in there somewhere."

Rin hms more to herself in understanding to her lord's words...just as Jaken approaches the tall dog demon with a somber expression.

"Uh-pardon me, milord..."

"What is it?"

"There is no question that Naraku has kept himself hidden from his enemies until now in order to recoup his strength. He has undoubtedly grown much stronger since last time that we met..."

...While Sesshomaru would be too proud to admit to this moment, here is where we see him reflect a family trait of stubbornness he shares with his younger half-brother, right down to a more, subtle version of Inuyasha's glare.

"Your point is?"

The imp of course would pick up on it quickly, jumping down to a kowtow while dropping his staff.

"Gah-uh, my point, yes! What was my point? Nah-heh, I guess my mind's growing weaker with age..."

He stops mumbling when he senses his lord's departure...which pauses to the sound of Rin's call.

"Lord Sesshomaru."

Golden amber irises peer over the owner's shoulder to beet deep brown, and the younger human latter says,

"...Good luck, my lord."

No reply is made, though there hardly was a need for one between these two...Sesshomaru continues his way into the valley...

Meanwhile, his half-brother feels the ground beneath his heels beginning to soften, and looks down to see the rock had turned into some sort of slate-coloured...jelly, like substance. Cursing, he attempts to hop to another spot where there would be more stable ground, only to land in the same result.

 _What's with this ground? It's like it's tryin' to draw me in!_

 _(Glances up) And it's not just the ground, either: this entire cave looks like a giant wall of flesh...!_

If things hadn't become taxing enough, some of the fleshy gel suddenly oozes upward in the form of tendrils, encasing around Inuyasha! Panicking, Lumos - whom had remained on the dog demon's shoulder to recuperate - tries to pull himself free from the new bindings, but also found himself trapped, moaning a wail.

 _Damn...we can't move!_

And while those two rose upward...Bankotsu's corpse sunk downward...

Kōga's POV

We had all got about several yards into the cave entrance from the valley, when my ears pick up on much louder pulses.

 _Hm?...That doesn't sound good..._

Stopping, I make the observation known to everyone else as they halt, Besa asking,

"What's up, Kōga?"

"Somethin's definitely goin' on; it's getting louder in here."

My best buds comment on the pulsing by their own ears.

"Mm, he's right..."

"(Shiver) Almost sounds like a, giant heart..."

Coraline gets us back on track:

"If the beats are getting noisier, we shouldn't linger longer than necessary. Best to press on."

We all nod in agreement...but just as I make the motion to lead us on, I suddenly found myself sinking into the ground!

"Guh!"

"Kōga!"

"D-Dammit! What is this...!"

Worse still, Ginta and Hakkaku we're experiencing the same a few feet behind me.

"Gah, oh no!" "W-What the hell?!"

 _Ginta! Hakkaku!_

Our human friends, somehow staying in a save zone between these, quicksand spots, waste no time in trying to help, Coraline coming to my aid while her brothers rushed to my friends.

"Kōga, hang on!"

"Ginta!" "Hang on, guys!"

Seizing my hand, Coraline starts pulling as hard as she could, struggling to hold against the strength of this weird ground.

"Rrrrgh! Come on, come on...Wolf boy, ya gotta give me a hand here!"

 _Coraline..._

I peer over to see that Freeman and Besa were a little more successful, which I suspect had something to do with those strange crystals they own, already tugging my best friends halfway back out.

"Hrrrrrh, we've, gotcha...!"

"Just, a little, more...!"

The little fox tyke Shippo, cheers them on from atop the twin-tail, Kilala.

"You guys can do it!"

 _Guys..._

Seeing all three of them working so hard to save us...I couldn't let them get dragged away, or rather,

 _I can't let her get sucked in with me._

"...Let go, Cora."

She gives me a look of disbelief, and I shove her hand away, sealing my fate with a bitter smile.

"I'd never put you in danger...not to mention, Inuyasha, would never let me live it down."

"No!...Kōga!"

"Don't! This is, definitely...!"

The bastard's name never left my mouth, as I'm dragged into this... _flesh_ entirely, my name being the last thing I hear called...

Coraline's POV

"Kōgaaaaaa!"

 _No...No, dammit!_

I was ready to curse to high heaven over failing to save my friend...

"Sis!" "Cora!"

Darting my head back around, I look to see that my brothers had at least managed to rescue Ginta and Hakkaku, their lower bodies a little smudged by the residue of...whatever this stuff is.

"We got these two out; what happened to...?"

...I could only shake my head with a sad frown, making those four mimic that expression with gritted teeth.

"Crap..." "Kōga..."

"We lost 'im..." "Poor Kōga..."

Swallowing down any possible guilt before it could even rise, I focus back on the spot Wolf Boy vanished into, prodding it with a finger as I notice a...texture difference.

"Hold on...This isn't rock..."

 _It, feels like...organic flash..._

Next thing we all knew, the environment around us receives a makeover, shifting to a sickly green with, vein-like structures running along the walls...!

"Look, guys!"

"We see, little dude!" "Holy-!"

"The whole cave changed!" "Unbelievable!"

"What could've done this...?!"

Whimpering, Shippo characterizes the change as the following.

"It's like being inside the belly of a living being!"

 _The insides of a monster...Like, that demon Kikyō and I got trapped in which targets those with spiritual power!_

Watching as the walls began to throb creepily, I begin to wonder,

 _...Is this Naraku's intent, then? Is he, trying to harness the mountain for his own designs?_

 _And why take Kōga away?...Something doesn't make sense..._

"C-Coraline, are we going to be devoured as well?"

Snapping out of my brewing thoughts, I reply uncertainly,

"I can't say for sure. I mean, if that was to be our fate, shouldn't it have happened earlier?"

Freeman wonders similarly:

"Yeah, and it seemed that the fleshy stuff didn't put up that much a fight with Ginta and Hakkaku, more so Kōga...And then those weak demons we fought before coming here: they bolted out with no issues...It's like, this place no longer cares about demons in general...rather..."

Besa finishes with narrowed irises:

"The mountain's targeting the strongest sources of demonic strength...or more prominent enemies. This has to be Naraku."

Humming with a nod, I turn back to the path ahead us and conclude,

"Whatever's happening, we can't leave Kōga behind. We need to go after him, and find out if this is happening to the others!"

At that, I start the sprint inside this time, my ears catching the sound of footfalls belonging to the other four men and Kilala right behind me. Shippo of course, was understandably skeptical of the new plan.

"But Coraline, we don't know where he's buried!"

"Not yet, but we will! I can sense his jewel shards heading this way under these fleshed walls, on a straight course for where Naraku is!"

The others gasp, but don't make any protests...Eventually, we reach the end of the tunnel, opening into a shaft of more organic mounds.

"Hah, hah, made it...but where are we now?"

The men settle beside me two to a side, Kilala and Shippo near my right, as Besa guesses,

"We're most likely in the core of the mountain now..."

"Gauh! What is that?!"

Following Hakkaku's point and freaked exclaim, we look up near the top, to see a disgusting mass of faceless sacs of flesh encased in an embryo-like substance! Freeman makes a face and mutters,

"Eugh, gross...!" Shippo then quietly asks,

"Are they, demons...?"

Using my Aura Sight, I check before replying,

"Not exactly...They do have a shady aura, but, it doesn't read as very alive."

Ginta sniffs the air and adds,

"And they don't really smell like demons either...They're like, somewhere between dead flesh and demon flesh..."

Our observations don't steer Shippo away from deciding,

"Whatever they are, they give me the creeps."

"...Who's there?! Coraline, Shippo, guys; is that you?!"

 _Uh!...Miroku?_

Suddenly, the tip of Hiraikotsu comes popping out, shoving aside some of those small humanoid things to create a hole big enough to show...

"Miroku! Sango!"

 _Oh thank god, they're alright!_

My brothers were just as ecstatic to see them:

"Heeey, Miroku, Sango!"

"You're both okay!"

Sango calls our three names back, before spotting the two wolf demons among our party.

"Oh! Ginta, Hakkaku; you guys too?"

They wave up with reassuring smiles:

"Hi!"

"Good ta see ya!"

...However, there was one person whom I was most anxious to see, and he wasn't here, nor was my little partner.

 _Inuyasha...Lumos..._

I call up to the pair,

"Have either of you two seen Inuyasha or Lumos recently?"

Their confused expressions made me nervous, and Miroku asks back,

"You mean they're not with you?"

"No! Inuyasha went to find you two a long while back, before I sent Lumos to try and help him!"

Besa adds,

"Neither one returned, so the rest of us decided to barge our way in once the barrier started weakening!"

"We haven't crossed paths!"

 _...Oh, damn...Inuyasha...Lumos..._

As my worries grew, Shippo wonders aloud in a similar tone,

"Where could they have gotten to?"

Hakkaku carefully postulates a probable answer:

"What if...they got caught in that same mess Kōga did a couple minutes ago...?"

 _Mm, he might be right...but I also hope he isn't._

(...Tha-bump...)

"Hm?"

(Rumble...)

"Uh!"

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and that mass of fleshy figures falls apart, taking Sango and Miroku with it! They let out matching cries of panic, and Shippo hops down off of Kilala before directing her to save them.

"Catch them, Kilala!"

She doesn't hesitate, kicking off into the air, leaving the rest of us to brace ourselves for the pending drop...

"Whaaaaah!" "Gaaaaaah!"

"Whoooa!" "Aaaaaah!"

"Craaaaaap!" "Duaaaaah!"

...Thankfully, the men of our group act fast, with Ginta and Hakkaku using their demon claws to grip a part of the cave walls where the veins are thickest, before snatching up Freeman and Besa's hands respectively, who then catch me while Shippo clings onto my back!

"Hah...hah...man, that was a close call."

"You said it, hah...You guys okay?"

My brothers calls back to the wolf demons with grunted smiles,

"We're good!"

"Wayda act fast, you two...Kōga would be proud if he could see this."

That boosted their egos quite a bit, their smiles expanding ten-fold...

"Something's rising up from the cavern!"

Snapping our eyes to where Sango was shouting about as I shift to keep my feet from sliding, we watch as several giant tentacles come shooting upward!

"Whoa..."

"What are those...?"

"Oh man, that doesn't look good..." "What now...?"

...But what would really lock my attention, was the one I saw rising with the tendrils.

"Huah! Inuyasha!"

 _Oh no...! He must've been ambushed in the lower section of the mountains by this...thing!_

I try to shout for him, the others in my space doing the same, but no matter how loud we cried, Inuyasha would not respond...

"(Ghostly moans)"

It only got worse when I catch the muffled cries of my other no-longer-missing friend, he too trapped near my lover's shoulder.

"Guh! Lumos, not you too!"

 _Christ...what the hell's going on here...?!_


	135. Chapter 134

Hey people; tis me, the author blabbing in before a new chapter once again!

Just thought I'd finally answer to a few inquiries made in the review section. To the one who goes by **Know it all** , I do not have any plans of incorporating the Inuyasha films into my story. I just wanna stick to the anime's storyline, at least for now. If the idea does become more appealing in the future, they'll more likely be done as separate tales outside this main tale, but no promises.

Then in terms of the multiple mini suggestions coming in from random **Guests** , I'm loving what your imaginations are offering me :)  
I don't know if I'll put every last one to the keyboard, but we'll see as we continue to go along.

That'll be all. Thanks for the continuing positivity; you're what keeps me sane in this increasingly stressing world called Life. Happy Reading!

* * *

 **Chapter 134: Naraku Reborn, Beyond the Darkness**

Continuing from where we last left off, we paid witness to our large group of allies gathering within the central shaft of Mount Hakurei - whether by their own volition or by force - as the aura of their greatest enemy continues to echo a strong heartbeat...

Unfortunately, one of our stronger warriors had become entrapped by these gigantic twisting tendrils shooting from the depths below, much to the horror of his redheaded lover.

 _...No...No, no!_

Once more, Coraline tries to call for the dog demon from her hanging vantage on these strange flesh-like walls.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha, please wake up! Inuyashaaa!"

...This time, her voice reaches his silver-furred dog ears, and he slowly blinks his amber irises open with a closed-mouthed groan.

"Mmm-mmm...Mm?"

Inuyasha then spots his intended's form a small distance away at the end of the human/wolf demon chain.

"...Coraline..."

She breathes in a sigh of relief and blinks back a few stray tears from her two-tone blue irises.

"Damn, you had me worried for a minute there..."

Once he was fully awake, Inuyasha starts scolding the girl for entering the heart of peril.

"You idiot! Why did you come in here and put your lives in danger?"

She replies in kind with a somewhat weak smile,

"You expect anything less?"

"I told you to wait outside for me. You should've listened, (glances at the others) and I mean all of you."

Her brothers cut in with their own small upturns of mouth and mild glares,

"We would've except everyone was takin' way too long, dude, including you."

"Plus once the barrier was gone, it's not like we'd be out of danger for very long. Naraku's demons were making a break for it, and some of them saw us as last-minute target practice."

Coraline finishes,

"If that's not enough...we were all getting anxious for everyone's return...I, was becoming worried sick for you."

Inuyasha could only stare at the girl in disbelief...before remarking with a scoffing smile,

"I can take care of myself just fine. What's your story, wolf? I knew I couldn't trust yo-Huh?"

That's when the dog demon clues into the fact that one member of their combined forces was missing.

"What happened to that mangy wolf; where is he? (Glance) 'Ey, Ginta, Hakkaku: where's your leader?"

Grimacing, the two wolf demons reply regrettably,

"Kōga...he got, swallowed into these strange walls of flesh not too long before we all came here. We almost did too, but Freeman and Besa saved us."

"Coraline tried to save him, but...he forced her to let go, afraid that she'd get sucked in too."

Inuyasha was shocked that his rival was so easily subdued.

 _What? He was devoured?!_

Coraline's next exclaim snaps him out of his thoughts:

"Which means you and Lumos need to break free post-haste!"

He doesn't hesitate to the urge, and began to struggle against the hold of the tendrils...but to no avail.

"Damn!...I can't, budge...!"

 _...But I might be able to get the little orb free at least._

Focusing on where the Will O' Wisp was trying to tug and shake itself from, the dog demon shifts one of his clawed hands onto the tendril holding the other, and pulls at that binding force as hard as he can...Thankfully, those efforts ended in success, and Lumos was able to squeeze out for the open air!

...

But any feeling of minor victory would be shot down before it could form, when Inuyasha senses a very dark force closing in from above.

"Gh! Lumos, head over to Coraline, now! (Looks frontward) Guys, heads up!"

The six souls hanging off the cliff wall of flesh form confused expressions...until their ears pick up on a very familiar, spine-chilling chuckle.

"Oh, crap..." "Don't tell me that's...!"

"We all know whose laugh that is!"

Grinding her teeth in time with her lover, the redheaded human and silver-haired half-demon both put a name to the voice with hard glares.

"Naraku!"

Another laugh from the said evil echoes into the shaft at a louder volume this time, making Lumos freeze halfway back to his human partner's proximity, before breaking into a series of panicked moans while spinning in dizzying circles and emitting blinks of red over his white-blue body. Hearing their friends and spotting the danger-sensing Will O' Wisp, Sango questions,

"Did they say Naraku?!"

Miroku replies from his place behind her aboard Kilala,

"Impossible!"

 _What an unbelievably evil aura! How could it possibly come from Naraku?_

Inuyasha starts his struggles up again, now more determined to break free and get his pack and allies to safety...only to stop when his body is suddenly seized by a sharp pain.

"Grh!"

Coraline mutters his name in worry, before the one responsible for this madness croons a mock into the space.

"Having trouble moving, are you, Inuyasha?"

"N...Naraku...you bastard...!"

...Casting our vision above into the shadows of the ceiling, we watch...as the fiend's face emerges from the dark, much to the shock of his enemies!

"Huah!" "Gh!"

"Auh!"

Ginta and Hakkaku felt their nerves creeping up their spines, but hold strong for the sake of the friends - or mate in the former's case with Freeman - they were holding onto.

"I-It's him...!"

"Naraku!"

Inuyasha growls as hatred towards the enemy rose in his blood, before the latter addresses the group as a whole.

"You've done well to succeed in getting here...or so I'd say under different circumstances. (Smirk) But it's already too late: you are already hopelessly entangled in my intestines. It's all over for you."

The twin young men with espresso-complexioned skin grimace with sickened expressions as they comment,

"Wait, so, we're suppose to be inside that creep's digestive track or something?"

"Aw that's just disgusting, man!"

Inuyasha would make the silence distant from the mountain shaft when he retorts back to Naraku,

"You must be dreamin'! I'll tell ya when it's over! It's over when I rip out your damn throat!"

Coraline was all for that plan:

"Damn right!"

She then shifts herself so her brothers were holding her up by her right arm and she was free to unsheathe her ShatterSoul Sword into her left. Knowing what was coming next, Shippo hops up so he was piggybacking Besa, before cheering,

"Hit 'im hard, Coraline!"

"Count on it! Prepare to meet the afterlife, you bastard monstrosity!"

(Slash)

A dark arctic blue cut mark is sent through the air on a straight course for the face above, Sango following in kind with a toss of her demon bone weapon.

"Naraku, you're dead!"

(Toss, spin...)

Unfortunately, neither attack would be able to connect directly with him, instead hitting the tendrils woven above and around...releasing an acid from the wounds! As the substance starts raining down, Kilala hurries to fly out of the path of the heavier drops, Miroku exclaiming while trying to shield his crush,

"Sango, stay away from it!"

The six hanging off the wall cringe as they felt some of the drops hit their bodies, Besa proclaiming,

"This stuff must be an imitation of-agh, stomach acid!"

Coraline adds in realization,

"Which means if we don't-rh, f-find cover, we'll be neutralized! Ginta, Hakkaku, start pulling us up!"

The wolf demons reply,

"Right," and lead a new clamber back to the top of the cave entrance opening into this shaft...

But they would only get so far, when a giant tentacle comes whipping against the demon slayer, monk and twin-tail cat demon, pinning them to the wall!

"Oh no!"

Freeman cries out,

"Double time, people, or we'll be snared next!"

(...Shoom, GRASP)

"Gaaah!"

Unfortunately, they were too late, and would be seized in two groups by two tendrils, the first containing the human and wolf demon men, while Shippo and Coraline were tied up together!

"Dammit! Guys!" "Oooh, this is bad!"

"Grh, let us go, you monster!" "Cora, Shippo!"

"Damn!" "Argh!"

Inuyasha cries out the names of those six, Coraline's being the strongest, and begins fighting harder against his own bindings. Poor Lumos was the only one left free now, but could offer no way of helping anyone...Naraku would take this opportune moment to mock his enemies again.

"Fools...You still don't understand...The whole of Mount Hakurei has become part of my body."

Looking around the whole of this inner sanctum, one could see these fleshy walls starting to throb and wobble a little more violently, ringing a translucent glow similar to the fuchsia shade of the Shikon-no-Tama...

"In other words, you are all trapped inside of me."

The entity of evil lets out another dark chuckle, making Inuyasha grind his teeth in anger, while Sango looks down at the tendril that was pinning her body as well as Miroku's and Kilala's.

"These fleshy walls are a part of Naraku?"

The monk grimaces with a glare, while Freeman mutters from his place back-to-back with his brother, Ginta and Hakkaku in a corner not too far away from the former,

"Second time I'm sayin' it, that's just disgusting, man."

The other three entangled in the same thick tendril nod in agreement, while Shippo asks Coraline fearfully from another spot within this pit,

"C-Coraline, are we, g-g-gonna be devoured just like Kōga was?"

"Now hold on, we don't know for certain if Wolf Boy's really gone. (Peers around) He could still be fighting within these walls somewhere."

 _That guy's almost as stubborn as my boyfriend when it comes to dodging death..._

"Still holding onto pointless hope, are we, woman?"

The older redhead stiffens from Naraku's address, and darts glaring blue irises upward to meet sneering red.

"I'd highly advise against thinking so conceitedly."

"Is that right? Maybe you should take your own advice and shove those boastful remarks up your-Agh!"

Coraline would be cut off when she felt a smaller tendril holding her down around her shoulder area tighten considerably, causing her a fair amount of pain. Her friends and loved ones would gasp with worry, while she directed an even harsher glare towards the enemy.

"D-Damn, you...!"

Naraku merely laughs and says to her,

"It's unseemly imaginations like that which only prove the worthlessness in absorbing creatures such as the likes of you...No. Devouring any of you would only serve to weaken my body."

In the time the demonic monster says such, another tentacle rose near his head...carrying the last corpse of the Shichinintai!

"Gh! Bankotsu!"

Miroku was just as shocked as Inuyasha:

"Bankotsu is dead?"

The wolf demon with silver-blue irises and his best friend with the blond-white Mohawk comment,

"So this means,"

"The Band of Seven's been completely wiped out...!"

They both snap back to attention as Naraku spoke again, his smile not disguising the disgust in his tone.

"The stupidity of humans makes me utterly sick to my stomach...even villains like Bankotsu. He arrived here, to avenge his comrades' deaths, and he fought with you, Inuyasha...I gave each member of the Shichinintai a single Shikon-no-Tama shard...When Bankotsu possessed them all, he should have forgotten about getting revenge and fled with them...(Grin) _Yet he didn't_."

The trapped dog demon lets another growl loose, knowing where his enemy was going in his characterization...Naraku chuckles and concludes as he summons three smaller tendrils from the larger holding Bankotsu's lifeless body to wrap around the corpse's arm containing the last of the jewel shards,

"They prove themselves to be such fools each time, these mortals called Humans."

A fourth one comes slithering from another vantage of the cave towards the raised left appendage...before piercing the area just before the wrist joint, and taking away the last two Shikon-no-Tama fragments Bankotsu once wielded! With no more power left to retain the resurrected flesh, the mercenary would disintegrate back into a skeleton once more, much to the horror of Coraline, Shippo and everyone else watching...

"Naraku, damn you to hell!...Sure, Bankotsu may have been a villain..."

Inuyasha recalls a few pieces of his last battle with the undead male, specifically, his determination and strive...before concluding with ferocity,

"He was evil alright, but he was a hundred times more decent than you, Naraku!...But compared to him, Naraku, you're...!"

The villainous demon marred by the mark of the spider inquires in cruel amusement,

"Why are you so wound up, Inuyasha? Ultimately, you were the one to end Bankotsu."

"Grrrh, spare me the lectures!"

At that moment, another tendril creeps its way to the broken blade of Bankotsu's sword, Banryū, removing the shards from it, and leaving the metal to rust away...

"(Ghostly moan)"

By this point, Lumos was done with floating around uselessly, and proceeded to barrel through the air against the tentacle to try and steal back the jewel shards! He manages to attain some sort of grip, and began pulling as hard as he could, starting a dangerous game of tug-of-war with that part of Naraku. Inuyasha watches the Will O' Wisp work, both impressed by their bravery and concerned for their well-being.

 _Lumos..._

(...TOK)

"Gauh!"

He would miss seeing the other tendril that was heading his way, before it pierces through his chest! Coraline cries out her lover's name with a small tear forming in the corner of her right eye, her brothers wincing and muttering,

"Damn..." "That has gotta hurt..."

Said young man with long, shaggy silver hair grimaces from the penetrating pain, and the tendril would extract itself while holding the five jewel shards he possessed! At the same time, poor Lumos had lost the fight with the other tendril that the two jewel shards previously embedded in the halberd sword, and would be struck aside like a little ball of dandelion fluff to go hitting the wall by Hakkaku's head.

"Gh! Hey, are you alright?!"

The Will O' Wisp groggily floats away from the wall with a shaky moan of response, while Naraku draws in the Shikon-no-Tama shards to his proximity to place around his head, a smug laugh and smile prominent on his lips all the while.

"At long last, I have them. The Shikon-no-Tama Shards belong to me."

...

(Tok, pow)

Back outside Mount Hakurei, Kikyō continues to shoot her Sacred Arrows at the lesser demons streaming from the jagged protrusion before her...but would pause when she felt the little individual energy beats of the jewel fragments converting into a single throb.

"Hm?"

 _...The Shikon-no-Tama shards are merging into one._

Narrowing her deep brown irises, the priestess thinks to herself in disdain,

 _So you finally made your move, Naraku._

And on a steady path heading up the ominous-looking mountain, was Sesshomaru, slowing his own walk to glance upward at Hakurei in thought over the entity hidden inside.

"There's no mistake. It's his demonic aura..."

Coming up behind him was his ward, Jaken, after seeing off Rin and A-Un whom were ordered out of the mountain area for the young human's safety.

"Pardon? Um, did you say something, Lord Sesshomaru?"

Ignoring the imp, the dog demon starts his pace again, thinking to himself,

 _Naraku...Hm, you finally reappeared._

Jaken's thoughts in contrast to his more or less passive lord were leaning towards self-preservation as he gazed up Hakurei with worry.

 _I-I've never felt such a strong demonic aura other than around Lord Sesshomaru._

 _If I continue to go with him, I may wind up dead!_

"Hh-h-hnh! L-L-Lord Sesshomaru!"

...The dog demon pauses and pivots to look the imp in the eye, and a silence blankets the space between the two for a moment...before Jaken's pupils well up and he waves,

"Good luck, miloooord!"

(...WHAP)

But let's be serious: was the brown-robed imp _really_ going to get out of the path to mortal peril so easily considering his position to one such as Sesshomaru?

"Let's go, Jaken."

Wincing from the new bump on his head, he replies sullenly,

"Y-Yes, milord..."

Kohaku's POV

I do not know exactly how long Kanna and I had been waiting inside this cave far enough away from the inner mountain sanctum...but soon, she would feel the start of the end.

"It has begun."

Turning to her, I ask despite having a good idea to my answer,

"What's begun?"

She just carries on her cryptic speech while starting a walk away from here.

"However, it will soon end."

 _...Naraku..._

"Are you sure we don't need to wait?"

"...Kagura, is no longer here."

 _Hm...If she had already left, then I suppose it's fine we did as well._

 _...Still..._

I stole a final glance down the path heading for the inner chambers of the mountain...thinking, about the young woman whose face beats familiar to me, but in such a distant way.

"...Goodbye, miss."

 _I do not know if it will be the last time we see eachother...but, if you don't come out alive, I pray you don't suffer._

With that, I turn around and start heading after Kanna.

Coraline's POV

 _Dammit, this is not good. Rgh, if only I was strong enough to break free of this bind...!_

With my body too tightly bound to even reach for my combat knife, I was just as helpless as everyone else as we watched Naraku gather our jewel shards into one area.

"The Shikon-no-Tama shards are joining to form one big clump!"

The heartbeats... _Naraku's_ , heartbeats, become louder and cause the walls behind me to rumble, the sensation sending a shiver down my spine...As soon as the jewel pieces were close enough to merge, the area where Naraku's face was is enshrouded in a bright, fuchsia light that burns into a blinding white, forcing me to squint my eyes and turn away for a moment.

"Arh!"

 _No...!_

I hear a few similar sounds echo from my loved ones in their vantages of this fleshy pit...before the flash finally dies down and allowing us all to look that way again...

...

But I almost wish I didn't, when I saw what the teamed efforts of that dark fiend and the collected parts of the Shikon-no-Tama had created this time.

"Hauh!"

 _Oh...shit...!_

While he did retain a good portion of his guise he stole from the late Lord Kagewaki (i.e. the long black, wavy and banged hair, red irises with white pupils and almost alabaster complexion), the rest of Naraku's...body, had changed dramatically. He now sported a well-built form cloaked in robes of onyx black, with a purple and light blue overvest extending to his calves, and a long yellow sash tied around his waist; armour that was more than likely made of demon bone, including spiky gauntlets and these strange hooped parts that made you think of de-skinned wings; three reptilian tentacles protruding from his back; and most disturbing of all...a giant red eye in the middle of his chest plate!

Oh yes, and let's not forget the spherical barrier encasing the whole picture while we're at it...

"What is that?!"

Miroku answers Sango's question with just as much alert in his voice.

"Naraku's newly-formed body!"

I turn to see my brothers Freeman and Besa staring down at our enemy with eyes wide as saucers, Ginta and Hakkaku none too far behind them with their slack jaws.

"Uuuuh, no way!"

"Th-Th-That's...!"

Lumos was on pins and needles thanks to this turn of events, blinking in and out red/white-blue at an almost feverish manner while zipping over to float by the side of my head for some sort of safety. Shippo was too horrified to even emit a response other than a few shaky whimpers...And as for me...I fought to swallow down my heart before it leapt any further from my throat.

 _Son of a-!_

Naraku would soon be moving, barrier and all, in a steady downward float towards Inuyasha, the latter's dark aura reeking of confidence and cruelty.

"Hehehnhnhaha, such a pity...Look at you. Each and every one of you despises me so much, and now that you've finally tracked me down, you can't even lay a finger on me."

 _Grrrrh...curse him._

(...Ba-bump...ba-bump)

Suddenly, I could feel my vision beginning to get clouded over slightly by my own Soul Energy, shadowing the technicolour with a dark lapis blue filter. I knew this was a sign that my emotions were starting to add more fuel to the fire than necessary, so I drew in some deep breaths to try and keep myself center.

 _Stay calm, girl, stay calm..._

"C-Coraline, are you feeling okay? You're tensing up...like, way up..."

Keeping my eyes on the forms yonder, I reply through my teeth to the younger soul entangled with me,

"I'll...be, alright, Shippo. Just, need to breathe..."

Focusing through the realm of blue on my lover's aura, I listen as he barks back bravely at Naraku,

"Yeah, like I'm trembling in fear! You went to so much trouble ta hide yourself in sacred grounds, I was expecting you to be some big, scary monster!"

In all honesty, I was feeling almost as disappointed as he was, for I too expected something a little more freakish than this...

And yet, now that I was staring at Naraku's form with my Aura Sight (not that my soul was giving me much of a choice at present), I could see some detail changes...namely,

 _Odd...I can't sense any slivers of, Onigumo's old aura._

 _...It feels...all demon._

 _All dark, malicious, and the light...corrupted, lost. A puppet to the darkness..._

My eyes widen as I wonder,

 _Has Naraku finally shed himself of his human/half-demon origins?_

 _...No...It can't be possible...!_

I'm not sure if Miroku's sensory was detecting the same as I, but he was definitely feeling something off in our revived enemy's spiritual structure, and took the initiative in warning my boyfriend.

"Inuyasha! Naraku's demonic aura has changed; it's much stronger than it used to be!"

Of course, my man was stubborn in believing that Naraku's strength had increased past what we could handle, which I consider both good and bad. Good, because it meant that he was confident we'd prevail...but Bad because there was the probability he wouldn't take this shift of power seriously.

"Demonic aura?...Don't make me laugh!...Ha, as if! He's just become more warped than before! That's the only thing different about this loser!"

His firm belief fueled his ferocity so much...that he was able to finally break free from the tendril holding him, spinning through the acid that spilled out of the skin and looking quite ready for the real fight that was to commence.

I cried out his name with a smile, happy to see him free again, and Freeman calls out to him,

"Alright, dude! Take it to 'im hard!"

Springing up to bounce off the veined wall, Inuyasha calls back,

"On it," before jumping straight out with a clawed hand raised to strike.

" _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!_ "

(Slas-Bzzz...Pow)

"Gah!"

But while the blow was on point, it couldn't break through the energy of the barrier, and he would be thrown back onto a lower part of the main tentacle that came rooting upward from the pit below...

"Hn, pathetic. Only a fool would dare to attack me with bare fists."

"Ha, ya think so?"

Inuyasha pulls his sword sheath off from his hip to hold out.

"If it's a sword you want, I'll gladly cut you t' bits!...Come, Tessaiga!"

...A bright light shines through a lower section of these fleshy walls, before that dog fang sword comes bursting free and flies through the air! Inuyasha meets the aerial weapon halfway in his own jump, grasping its handle by the right hand and invoking the full transformation.

"Now...prepare to die! (Raises it high) It's over... _Wind Scar!_ "

(SLASH)

The three-tine claw of striking yellow goes streaming through the air on a straight course for the enemy...but...the latter was ready, holding up his right fist and producing a red eye similar to the one in his chest plate, while also lengthening one of the spikes on his wrist guard. The way it looked almost reminded me of the deceased Constantine's last stand after he was infected by a Shadow Being, only perpendicular rather than straight out.

 _Which must mean...Oh no!_

All it took was one sideways swing, and my lover's signature attack was counteracted! Cursing, I think to myself in aggravation,

 _Should've known that bastard would have something ready to deflect the Wind Scar..._

Worries would only increase when I notice that the failed attack had not dissipated, rather, it began to act like a rubber ball thrown in a tight spaced box, bouncing all over the place! It nearly hits Miroku, Sango and Kilala, then barely misses my brothers, Ginta and Hakkaku, before it started shooting mine and Shippo's way! My young friend shouts my name, and I call through the roar of energy,

"Lumos, I need your aid!"

My Will O' Wisp partner hears me, and just as I feel the tendril enveloped around my body evaporating, I reach my hand upward for Lumos to float up onto.

(...Sheen-Vworp)

Thankfully, our timing was sound, and we were able to activate that teleport shift before Shippo and I could plummet, re-materializing atop the same central trunk of tentacles that Inuyasha was, only a bit higher up! I hear some gasps of awe resonate from my loved ones, and our common enemy grinds between his teeth in disbelief,

"What?!"

I shoot Naraku a smug smirk, before turning my vision down to Shippo as he finally breathes out,

"Whoa...That was awesome! It felt like we became air!"

A small laugh bubbles from my throat at his excitement, and I turn downward to Inuyasha as he asks me,

"You alright?"

I start climbing down to where he was, watching my step so I wouldn't slip, and reply calmly,

"Yeah, we're good. (Frown) But I'd like to know what the hell's going on. Usually your Wind Scar would've dissipated by now if it couldn't connect."

He nods with just as puzzled an expression:

"That's what I'm wonderin' too..."

We scope out everyone else's positions now that they were no longer restrained to the walls, the first small group of focus being Sango, Miroku and Kilala as they stood atop a small protrusion from the wall while gathering behind the former's weapon.

"Miroku, stay behind my Hiraikotsu!"

"What is going on?!...Ah!"

They barely stave off the next bounce of the Wind Scar, and it travels through the air in a loop around Naraku's shielded form before diving for the other four on our side. My brothers hurry to ready themselves to block the rogue attack with their crystal pieces.

"Aw man, here it comes again!"

"Guys, stay behind us!"

Ginta and Hakkaku do as Besa tells them, and the transparent rainbow dome shield activates from the power of two to form around the quartet, forcing the Wind Scar to ram over it and strike the wall before making another leap for the air again...

Naraku chuckles at our near-misses, before mocking the one who tried to bring their sword upon him.

"Inuyasha. I've trapped your Wind Scar in the very flow of my demonic aura."

 _What?! No way!_

Shippo yells at my boyfriend, blaming him for our current predicament.

"Stupid Inuyasha! You let Naraku goad you into unleashing your Wind Scar and now he's turned it on us!"

"Shut up!"

"Aaauh! It's coming again!"

 _Hang on...I got it!_

Quickly placing the fox demon on Inuyasha's shoulder, I pull out my own special weapon at ready.

"Not this time!"

"Wait, Coraline, what're you-?!"

I give him no hints to what I was up to, and just went for it like he always does, leaping off the tendril straight for the Wind Scar, much to his and everyone else's shock!

"Gah! Coraline!"

"Coraline, no!" "Cora!"

"Has she lost it?!" "She's gonna get torn to bits!"

 _Not if I use my own signature attack..._

" _Spirit Slash!_ "

(Slash...BOOM)

My aura collides with the released power of the Tessaiga, and they fight eachother for a moment...before swirling together like wind and smoke, then blowing apart in an explosion of raw, sparking bolts of energy, which shove my own body back harshly until I landed hard against a part of the wall several feet away from where my brothers and the two wolf demons were...!

...Grimacing with a hiss through my clenched teeth, I fight to raise myself from my crash-landing area, just as Inuyasha comes hopping over with Shippo still on his shoulder, his expression reflecting a mixture of emotions over what I had just done.

"...Coraline...where the hell did'ja get the idea to-"

I interrupt him as I rose up straight once more, minding the new ache in my spinal cord.

"I guess, it came from that event, where I was forced to fight you one-on-one to bring you back to your senses..."

His amber irises widen in realization to what I was speaking about, and I add,

"Only this time, it was your Wind Scar that I wanted to stop from doing something regretful. I wanted, to use my aura to calm it down."

"...Coraline, you..."

I merely shook my head with a reassuring expression, before turning my vision towards Naraku as a sardonic smile formed on my lips.

"Well, Naraku, it seems your plan to turn our power against us has failed. That the best trick you got to offer from your new form?"

He glares at me in return for the mockery, making me hold down a chuckle.

 _Now I'm starting to understand why Kikyō used to act so arrogantly around this guy._

 _But, I better take care not to get full of myself..._

 _Hm, speaking of my Soul Sister, (curious frown) I wonder if she's gotten into the valley now?_

Kikyō's POV

Soon there would be no more demons swarming out of the mountain for me to draw my bow on, most having focused on getting as far away from the area as they could...Something even I could not blame them for, as I looked over the unholy structure and felt the new evil clouding it inside and out.

 _A demonic aura is whirling around inside Mount Hakurei..._

 _Wait. There: the beat of a powerful soul...A human soul._

"Coraline...Hm?"

I then sense a presence similar to Naraku's aura leaving from high up the side of Mount Hakurei.  
Pivoting my eyes that way, I focus on the figure...before concluding,

 _That's Kagura, Naraku's incarnation...(Narrows irises) She's holding something..._

 _...Uh!_

Once I had an idea to what that thing in her arms was, I immediately drew another arrow onto my bowstring, and release my power against the demon...Unfortunately, she sensed my attack, and was able to evade it. Kagura then readied to counterattack...but stopped before she could even begin, likely on orders from the entity in her possession...

As I watched the two auras disappear from the area, I wonder to myself,

 _Naraku...what have you unleashed?_

Naraku's POV

Thanks to that accursed redheaded woman and her foreign blade, my plan to destroy my enemies with Inuyasha's own attack had failed...

But I would have little time to brood about it, when I detect the presence of the one person I want obliterated by my hands more than all others.

 _...Kikyō. (Small smirk) So you've finally arrived._

Glancing back down at the ones I have trapped in this sanctum, I reason to myself,

 _Even though Coraline was able to disperse the Wind Scar, she, Inuyasha and their companions can still land no blow to my newly-obtained body._

 _...There is only one thing left to deal with._

An image of that priestess passes my mental vision, before I direct my barrier to carrying me on a steady course out of the mountain...

"Naraku! Are you trying to run away from me?!"

 _Ha, hardly, Inuyasha._

...I then feel his human's stare burning into the area under my feet...and realize,

 _She can see those jewel shards...!_

 _...Tch, why should I worry, though? She is still unable to do a thing to me._

Or so I thought: as I continued to float upward, I suddenly felt that woman's presence as well as Inuyasha's begin to close in on me fast. Pivoting my irises over my shoulder, I spot their forms leaping up the tendrils for my direction, each with their swords drawn.

 _Ha. They must be insane, charging at me with the plan to draw both their blades on my barrier..._

...But, about halfway in their chase, Inuyasha would re-sheathe his Tessaiga, while the woman...channeled a strong, spiritual energy into her sword, creating a billowing ring.

 _That, power...her soul is..._

There's an exchange of stares and nods between the two...before Coraline suddenly runs off the tendril in a leap, and whirls around to my direction before bellowing out an outcry in a foreign tongue.

" _Scáth an Soul!_ "*

(Slash-slash-slash-slash-SHING, Spin)

Next thing that I knew, the woman sends forth a current of dark blue energy wrapped around an odd wheel shape formed by four, fiery gold wing-like blades!

 _What?!_

She cries out Inuyasha's name just as that orb creature barrels down her way and assists in activating that baffling transport ability, vanishing and giving room for that damned half-demon to make his own leap and use his sword's sheath to strike her attack, and send it reeling faster through the air, hitting the bottom of my barrier dead-on!

"Rh!"

The energy blades cut through my shield...releasing the wolf demon, Kōga, from my clutches in a cocoon of my inner fluids before I could have the chance to fully absorb him. Hearing the woman's exclaim of her ally's name along with that of his two subordinates...it was amusing to say the least.

 _So that was her intent all along? To free the wolf? Hehaha, what a fool!_

"You bother to worry about a friend at a time like this? Your unfailing stupidity thoroughly disgusts me."

My insults did little to bother my enemies, save the one human by name of Freeman who attempts a retort.

"Oh yeah, who asked for your opinion? You're the moron who just lost two jewel shards and fodder for your body!"

One of the wolf demons yanks him back by his waving fist to stop him from shouting anything more, while I merely smirk and think to myself,

 _Perhaps I have, but those shards are of little importance right now._

 _I have more than enough power at present to help me complete the task awaiting outside this mountain..._

 _But first._

"If your comrades are so precious to you..."

Raising a palm, I command the structure of this shaft to start falling apart, as well as releasing one of my most potent miasmas to start seeping through the cracks. I watch as Inuyasha scrambles to catch his woman - keeping the fox kit on his shoulder all the while - before hopping downward in the direction of the falling Kōga, the twin humans and two wolf demons following after them shortly after they're cloaked in the power of those strange crystals, and the monk cringing back while shielding the slayer and the twin-tail...The sight of their struggles was satisfying, and I grin while calling down,

"I'll show you all compassion. You can all rest together in the same grave!"

With the bulk of my enemies distracted by their appending doom, I continue my steady trajectory upward, anticipating the long overdue meeting with the first bane of my existence.

 _Hehahahahaha...Kikyō...I shall be seeing you soon._

* * *

*Irish to English Translation - _Scáth an Soul_ , or Shadow of the Soul


	136. Chapter 135

**Chapter 135: Soul Bond, Immortalized**

Continuing from the last scene, we rejoin Inuyasha, Coraline and Shippo as the two latter ride atop the back of the former, following the slimy cocoon-trapped wolf demon, Kōga, in a downward trajectory within the crumbling walls of Mount Hakurei's central sanctum. Following after them in their own group of four was Freeman, Besa, Ginta and Hakkaku, the two humans cloaked in that transparent rainbow glow courtesy of their Seven Light Crystals so they had some form of protection against the acidic compound spewing from some of the cracks in the stone flesh...

The dog demon in red does get close to grabbing Kōga once, but would be forced to draw back his hand when another tendril fragment gets close to hitting his appendage. Watching her wolf demon friend's vulnerable form dive deeper and deeper into the dark abyss tugged at Coraline's heartstrings.

 _Kōga..._

Inuyasha curses and hurries to land atop a more stable, protruding part of the pit's wall, the twins and two wolf demons slide to a halt on the opposite side atop another cliff-like edge.

"Hah, hah, damn, this place is cracking up fast!"

"We gotta get a move on before we're buried alive."

"But then...Kōga..."

Matching frowns of conflict form on their faces, unsure of what to do...

"Inuyasha, Coraline, everyone!"

Eyes turn above and lock onto where Miroku's call came from, he riding with Sango on board a fully-formed Kilala. As she worked to use her Hiraikotsu as a shield above their heads, the demon slayer calls in a muffle from behind her filter mask,

"We have to get out of here quickly or the miasma will kill us!"

Sensing the torrent of emotions wracking within the fellow redhead since her Aura Powers started spiking, Shippo gently but firmly tries to coax,

"Coraline...I know how you feel, but there's nothing more we can do for Kōga. We have to give up on saving him."

Sucking in a breath between her teeth, the girl with glowing dark arctic blue eyes mutters forcefully,

"I...I know."

 _He, wouldn't want all his comrades dying in a crazy attempt to rescue him..._

 _Still. This is a really unfair way of going out from the world for a demon warrior..._

"Who says we all gotta give up?"

"Huh?"

Expressions of surprise focus onto the young male with bright jade green irises surrounded by dark brown and short, coarse black hair, whom had been formulating a plan with the other three in his proximity in the short time Miroku, Sango and Kilala caught up. His own face reflected a burning determination to not quit on a friend just yet.

"We can still go after Kōga, me, Besa, Ginta and Hakkaku. The rest of you, get the heck outta here while you still can!"

"What?!" "No!"

"Are you outta your minds?!"

"This place is falling apart at the seams, not to mention the miasma-"

Besa interrupts the young monk with the calm argument of,

"Will not effect us so long as our crystals remain shining. Meanwhile, Hakakku and Ginta have demon immunity; they'll be strong enough to combat the poisonous air for a while even without our help. Plus, I highly doubt they're going to abandon their pack leader so fast, (turns to them) right?"

The wolf demon with the blond Mohawk and black-brown irises nods firmly.

"Right!"

The other with silver-blue irises and short, blue-grey/black hair follows with his own reply of,

"Absolutely! We've already lost too many tribe members to that bastard Naraku! To lose our leader without at least trying to save him...It's unthinkable."

The rest of the group stares at the four in amazement for their dedication to the appending, noble and somewhat foolhardy task...

"Someone needs to go after Naraku, and another needs to prevent the loss of another good soul! It's as simple as that! Now go, all of you!"

"...Bros..."

Coraline felt her eyes well up a little at the thought of separating from her kin at such a dire hour, but swallows her tears and nods in agreement with the logic.

"...Okay, you're right. Do it, guys, but please...be careful."

Smiling, Freeman and Besa reply,

"We will,"

"And don't worry. We'll come out of the mountain alive, Cora...That's a promise."

The latter brother with black cornrowed hair turns to lock his own dark forest green irises ringed by dark brown with Inuyasha's amber.

"Inuyasha...please take care of our sister like you always do."

"Besa...(Small smirk) I will, and you and the others better walk out with that scrawny wolf, or you'll be hearing from me."

"Heh, I don't doubt that...Now then."

The young human male casts his attention to the pit below, along with the other three men in his proximity.

"Let's go!"

"Right!"

They all jump as one, and the quadruplet of bodies sink into the darkness, while the dog demon and twin-tail cat demon start carting everyone else upward out of the mountain's insides. Watching as the four auras shrink and disappear from aboard her boyfriend/intended's back, Coraline thinks to herself,

 _Please god...let there not be any deaths on our side today._

Kikyō's POV

As soon as the very grounds of this once pure-aired mountain began to rumble and I sensed the exponential rise of dark energy, I knew that something had changed in favour of that wicked demon.

 _Is this evil presence Naraku?...Still. I sense something different in it._

The evil had become potent and thick enough that I could not sense the auras of my allies, not even Coraline's soul, which considering how strong the energies were before was in itself strange and foreboding...

That's when the shaking became more powerful, making me narrow my irises on alert.

 _Mount Hakurei is disintegrating...!_

 _"Aye, he comes, that black-hearted devil of these lands. Take heed, priestess, take heed!"_

 _I shall, Rosiagnes._

...

The tip of the mountain splits down the middle a few ways, and opens to release a stream of miasma as thick as smoke, with a large orb of dark pink light acting as lead, like a falling star. I knew instantly whom was projecting such aura, but kept my calm even as the orb came barreling down the side of the crumbling mountain, the impact sending a shockwave through the ground and cracking it around me...

As soon as it settled but a few yards away, I would be greeted by the sight of my newly-reformed enemy, his arrogant smirk and chuckle as memorable as before.

"...Naraku."

"Ah, Kikyō...we meet again."

Ginta's POV

 _Hang in there, Kōga; we're coming!  
_

The drop down into the pit of this unstable mountain didn't take as long as I expected it to be, and the four of us - my mate included - would soon be near the bottom...if you could even call it a bottom.

Covering my mouth with a cough, I exclaim,

"A whole pool of poison!"

The others weren't feeling any better off than I was, stifling their own coughs of discomfort from the increase of these nauseating fumes.

"Mus-(cough), be a byproduct of Naraku's transformation..."

"Aw man...if he fell in that..."

"Wait, there!"

Following Freeman's point, we spot the one slimy cocoon that Kōga was trapped in!

"There he is!" "Kōga!"

"I got this!"

Besa starts diving down faster than the rest of us, quickly pulling out his sickles to hack open the gross prison.

"Haaaa-ah!"

(SLICE-SLICE, sploosh)

Two strokes was all it took to break open the sac, and Kōga would be free...I quickly drag Freeman over towards the wall in our trajectory downward so I could use my claws to grip the rock while he held onto me, and while we hung over yonder, Hakkaku landed atop that piece of hardened tentacle with Besa to help carry our unconscious friend...

"How is he; is Kōga alright?!"

Besa calls back to me,

"He's unconscious and has some burns on his skin from the poison, but other than that, he'll live if we get him out of here!"

 _And the sooner the better. Naraku must have tried to absorb Kōga to get his jewel shards...Damn him._

Freeman and I hurry to follow after Hakkaku and Besa up out of this abyssal pit, using the falling pieces of the mountain to clamber out as fast as our legs could carry us. I hear a strangled cough emit from Kōga, he being carried with his arms around our friends' shoulders and his shoulders having their arms, and spot him vomiting up a bit of that slimy stuff, making my own stomach churn a little.

 _Ugh, poor Kōga..._

"Glad to see you're still alive, man."

"B...Besa?...Hakkaku..."

My more active friend smiles and nods at him, and once he was more awake, Kōga then asks frantically,

"Naraku! What happened to Naraku?!"

Freeman and I answer as we jump up ahead of the three,

"He's back with a body stronger than ever!"

"The others are making chase after him, and we need to catch up!"

...

After several minutes of real intense climbing, we'd reach a little more than halfway towards the top of the shaft...However.

"Dammit, where's the exit?!"

I exclaim after my mate,

"Oh no!...Don't tell me we're too late!"

Kōga berates our loud thoughts with the scold of,

"Gauh, you idiots! Don't you know the way out?!"

Besa argues back as he and Hakkaku dodge one rock while hopping off another,

"We do, but the main exits have been blocked off already! So the only way we're getting out is through the top...if that hasn't already been sealed too."

"You gotta be kiddin' me!...This is so not how I pictured goin' out, so you all better work hard to make sure it doesn't come true!"

Hearing the strong belief in our abilities behind the aggravation made us smile and smirk a little, and Freeman calls back,

"No worries, man! This mountain's not gonna be any of our graves today!"

He then pulls out his long hammer, and swings it against a huge rock heading our way, smashing it to pieces.

"Now's our chance; let's motor!"

Summoning every ounce of strength in our legs, we make our biggest leap upward yet...and finally reach this sunny opening in the top of the mountain!

"Yeah!" "Alright!"

"Outside, here we come!"

A few minutes earlier, Inuyasha's POV

My friends, lover and I managed to reach near the top of this godforsaken shaft while two (or I guess I should say four) of our own dove down deeper to rescue Kōga, assuming he was still alive...But that's when we ran into another problem.

"It's no use! All the openings are already sealed!"

I call back to Sango as I moved to temporarily settle on another projected part of the crumbling wall,

"You gotta be kidding me!"

 _No way...No way we're dying like this!_

Shippo cries,

"Isn't there any way out?!"

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Huh?"

Looking up, we all spot that little orb Lumos circling over the center point of the shaft.

 _Hang on...that must be the weak point!_

Miroku must've caught onto what I was thinking too, and reaches to remove those beads from his cursed hand.

"It's too early to give up! If there's no exit, we'll just have to make one!"

Sensing what was about to come to pass, the Will O' Wisp hurries down our way so he wouldn't be drawn into oblivion...

" _Wind Tunnel!_ "

(Whoooooooosssssshhhhhhhh...)

Once he sucked down most of the rock, we'd get a wide enough opening for an escape route.

"Alright, Miroku!"

I turn to the kid and ask,

"Shippo, can ya take us out on your balloon form?"

"I'm on it!"

He hops off of me for the air and transforms in a puff of smoke to his larger form.

"Hurry!"

Keeping Coraline on my back, I jump on top of Shippo so he could fly us out of here right behind Kilala...  
We're all soon high up in the air and flying away from the collapsing mountain.

 _Man, to think that used to be a holy place, and now..._

Shippo then brings up the people of our extended pack that haven't come out of Hakurei yet.

"Where are the guys? Anybody see them yet?"

"Maybe they didn't make it out in time..."

My intended scolds the monk for his quick judgement.

"No way! They will get out of the mountain with Kōga; I know they will!...My brothers don't keel over that fast, and Ginta and Hakkaku are tougher than they give themselves credit for."

I wrap my arm around her in comfort, also sure that those four, the twins in particular, wouldn't die saving that wimpy wolf.

 _Freeman, Besa...you better come outta there with the others soon._

No POV

As everyone of our main group plus more hurries to make their escape from the destruction of the once proud mountain, the priestess wandering these lands with death stalking her continues to stand face-to-face with the stronger evil that has plagued these lands for far too long...

"Naraku. What is the meaning of your appearance?"

His smirk does not waver, and answers in a way like he was talking about the simplest topic to date,

"Isn't it obvious? This is my new, rejuvenated body."

Kikyō's glaring dark brown irises don't flinch, not buying what the demon was selling.

"Don't make me laugh. Do you think my eyes can't see the truth? You may look formidable, but such finery is nothing but a facade. You escaped to Mount Hakurei, and went so far as to put up a Sacred Barrier. What were you after?!"

Naraku's face contorts into a sneer:

"Ha. So you noticed, did you? How very astute."

 _And I suspect based on the earlier stare, that strange woman with the strong soul may have detected something as well..._

"Just before the mountain collapsed, your incarnation, Kagura, left with something in her possession..."

Drawing an arrow against the string of her bow at ready, Kikyō demands,

"Tell me: what is your purpose?!"

...

By this time, the part of the group whom escaped Mount Hakurei first had reached a cliff overlooking the crumbling mountain. Inuyasha, Coraline and Shippo - he back in his normal form - were the ones actually standing on the ground, while Miroku and Sango hovered above on Kilala, Lumos floating inbetween. They were all waiting with bated breath for the other missing five to meet up, praying they hadn't perished...

That's when the woman with red hair sensed it.

(Pulse...)

"Uh! The shards..."

Everyone turns to look at her as she adds,

"I sense the two shards in Kōga's possession!...And...(Wide smile) Yes! His and the other four's auras!"

...Peering into the dust protruding from the collapsing rock, we see Freeman and Ginta leap out from one side, and Besa and Hakkaku - still holding onto the injured wolf demon leader - on the other!

"There they are!"

Shippo cheers after Coraline,

"They made it!"

Hearing their shouts, the twins look up to see the forms waiting for them on the cliff.

"Uh! Sis!" "Inuyasha, Shippo!"

...But what they should've paid attention to was the slabs of giant stone still falling around them and the three wolf demons! Sango calls down to them,

"Watch out!"

Thinking quickly, Kōga snaps his heels down to push off another sinking boulder, pulling the two friends by his sides to do the same.

"Come on!"

"Whoa!" "Uh!"

Thanks to the jewel shards in the one wolf demon's legs, they all got enough momentum to hop the rest of the way, with Freeman and Ginta just barely making chase in a similar route.

"Almost there!"

"Just one, more...JUMP!"

The very grounds surrounding the mountain area shake like a crashed cymbal as the last of Hakurei falls apart as if it were a tower of blocks knocked down by a toddler...and the five escaping humans and wolf demons slide safety onto the surface of the cliff...

"Bros, guys!"

Coraline runs over to meet them, engulfing her brothers in a group hug oozing in relief.

"Oh thank god, you're alright!"

"Cora...!" "Easy, easy!"

Squeezing eachother tight, the redhead pulls back a little to display her happy smile towards the wolf demons as well.

"And Kōga, Ginta, Hakkaku...I'm really glad to see you guys are okay too."

They just nod back with smiles of their own, around the time Shippo comes scampering over to hop atop Freeman's shoulder.

"That was amazing! You and Besa are like, the humans that defy demon logic or something!"

"Haha, I dunno about that, little dude, but I like your confidence."

"...So you made it alive after all, did you?"

"Hm?"

Eyes turn to Inuyasha as he walks over, who says with his own little smirk,

"Never doubted it for a second. That bastard's out of his mind if he thinks he can bury us all like a bunch of old bones...And, I do mean all of us."

His amber irises lock with Kōga's deep blue:

"Much as it almost kicks me to say this...you've become a valued sort of, friend if good rival...Kōga."

To say that the wolf demon with long black hair was surprised by such a comment from the half dog demon would be an understatement. He wasn't able to respond at first other than gaping...but then manages to quirk back with his own wry smirk,

"Tch, yeah, I, guess the feelin's mutual. But don't think too much on it, mutt."

"I won't if you won't, wolf."

The rest of the group standing atop the cliff stares between the two with amazement at the sign of growth, Shippo quietly commenting,

"Wow...I think this is the first time they haven't insulted eachother out of pettiness."

...

If only all good feelings like this could last.

Turning back to the area below, the air between Kikyō and Naraku couldn't be thicker with the deadliest of tension. The former finally releases that one arrow to go streaming past the right side latter's head, missing him by a hair!...She then draws out another while saying to him,

"I'll ask you just one more time...Naraku, tell me what your true purpose here is!"

"I'm surprised...Did you come all this way and go to all this trouble to ask me such a simple matter?"

The priestess's brown irises narrow:

"I'm the one who's asking the questions."

Chuckling, the demonic entity obliges, if a little cryptically.

"Round and round goes the spinning wheel, spinning and weaving a red thread of fate. Meeting Ransetsu, or should I say, Kansuke, was no coincidence."

Kikyo's eyes widen...

"It was all according to my plan."

"...You mean..."

"I merely took advantage of his desire in finding a place to die. It was all so simple: I put rumours into that dying man's head about the sacred grounds of Mount Hakurei, and thus set him on your path. Now do you understand? Hehahaha, you did not come here of your own accord. I _lured_ you here!"

The priestess could not make a reply other than narrowing her irises with a grunt of anger...

"I have often heard you humans refer to this as fate or destiny."

She then recalls her time down the dark roads, back when her soul was only half of what it was, a bitter and forlorn half at that.

 _Once the threads of destiny become tangled, they cannot be undone..._

Then came the memory of first heading for the direction of the once peacefully-standing Mount Hakurei.

 _To walk down this path once more, only confirms my cursed destiny..._

While Kikyō may hold to these beliefs with seriousness, Naraku's reaction to such a school of thought was of a mocking scorn.

"Only the weak utter such nonsense. It is different for the truly powerful: they create this so-called destiny or fate with their own hands!"

For some reason, that statement caused the priestess to think about that day which reshaped her stance in the physical world a second time, when a certain young woman took a tremendous risk to mend that which was severed.

 _...Coraline..._

An image of the questionable demon from another plain flashes before her vision, along with a snippet of his crazy laughter, causing a shiver to run down her spine and her skin to tingle in reaction...Shaking herself free from such thoughts, Kikyō replies calmly if a bit stiffly,

"Ugh, you're the one speaking nonsense...Naraku."

The demon with long black hair and red irises does not miss that fleeting moment of distraction in his enemy, and his smirk widens a touch.

"Oh yes. You were interested in finding out about my true aim."

...

A moment of silence drapes the grounds, until the evil speaks again.

"You wish to know? Then I shall tell you..."

Naraku raises his right arm, lengthening that one spike on his demon bone armour.

"You shall learn my purpose, what it is I need to accomplish at Mount Hakurei. (Grin) _Here's your answer_."

(...Slash-SNAP-SLASH)

"UH!"

A blade of fuchsia purple energy is released from the bone spike, destroying Kikyō's bow and arrow like they were merely twin toothpicks, before cutting into her right shoulder! She is too shocked to fully register...the pain she feels, as her blood seeps forth from the wound, wrapping the few escaping borrowed souls of the dead in a streaming river of red!

Naraku laughs cruelly, remarking with sadistic pleasure,

"What misery this must be for you, given the gift of a new body of flesh by the hands of an odd demon and the foolish sacrifice of that young swordswoman, only for it to be cut down by my own hand once more. Tell me, how does it feel to bleed from that same shoulder?"

Falling to her knees, the priestess growls out in anger while holding a hand over her injury,

"I curse you...Naraku...!"

 _Wait...how could he have known about..._

"Oh yes, I know that body of yours has traces of demonic origin thanks to that ritual Coraline performed with that being from elsewhere...You underestimate me, Kikyō. Did you not believe I would have some form of eyes even in my absence?"

 _(Flash)_

 _Returning to way back when, in that southeastern crater within the Forest of Inuyasha, just as everyone of this event gathers and the priestess draws an arrow at the demon partially responsible for the trouble...we zoom in on a crevice of one of the large boulders surrounding the landmark._

 _...Peering from within, is a single Saimyōshō!_

 _(Flash)_

"I admit, I was not impressed with his insults to my person...but his other comments were quite amusing, especially the ones regarding humans with guilt-ridden hearts...You must have felt quite retched when your soul was completed again, didn't you?"

Kikyo clenches her teeth, avoiding her enemy's stare for a second...

"Yet even with your, 'light and darkness' together again, your arrogance barely wavered...You still came here feeling self-assured, so certain that would not be able to kill you. You believed that as long as I had the heart of that worthless human, that pathetic bandit Onigumo who loved you with all of his being...you believed I wouldn't harm you. (Raises his right hand) I feel nothing, even after wounding you so. No remorse nor sadness."

Looking at Naraku again, the priestess wonders,

 _Does that mean that his heart no longer beats inside you?...I see!_

 _That's what Kagura had in her possession: his human heart!_

This realization only made her stomach knot up, adding to the pain in her bleeding shoulder, before attention would be drawn forward and behind her when Naraku steps closer to her immobile person.

"The bottom of this crevice is filled with my miasma. Your 'human' flesh will be devoured by the poison in a matter of seconds."

The demon's hand contorts and shifts so that the fingers had elongated into branch-like claws...

"Kikyo...this, will be your burial ground!"

(...SLASH)

 _(Flash)_

 _A piece of the past comes rising within the victim's mind, in the form of that heartfelt moment by the pier in the Goshinboku Village more than fifty years ago..._

 _No! Why are these memories coming back to me now?!_

 _(Flash)_

(SHOOM)

"AAUUH!"

Naraku's claws pierce straight through the priestess's chest, ripping through her robes and flesh, and releasing a torrent of blood, missing her heart and lungs by millimeters, yet was just as potent all the same!...The weaponized appendages retract as her body tumbles backwards into the small canyon, and in her state, Kikyō found herself receiving more flashbacks of her life before and after her demise, the first ones being filled with her moments with Inuyasha...before being overtaken by images of her and Coraline together...

Only one of their names echoes in her mind...and would receive that faint call in their own.

(Pulse...)

"Uh!"

 _...Kiky_ _ō...?_

 _(Flash)_

 _An image of Kiky_ _ō's struck body by Naraku's hand..._

 _(Flash)_

 _Uh!...No...NO!_

(Pulse, pulse, pulse...)

A veil of dark arctic blue energy cloaks over Coraline's body, much to the concern of her loved ones.

"Uh! Coraline?" "Cora!"

"Sis, what's wrong?!" "Coraline!"

"What's goin' on? Say something, dammit!"

She herself wasn't sure of what was transpiring, but was focused on one thing.

 _This...can't...be...happening...!_

 _(Sheen...)_

 _"This be where I step in, reincard."_

 _Ro-si-ag-nes...?_

 _"Shh, rest, child...Allow me into your spirit, and I shan't fail ye."_

(...SHEEN)

Her body is then overwhelmed by the light completely, the shine blinding the surrounding crowd.

"Agh!" "Rgh!" "Whah!"

"Auh!" "Whuh?!"

...When the light dies down, it would be Inuyasha who focuses back first, only to bulge his amber irises when he got a gander at the new vision before him.

 _What, in, the, hell...?!_

The young woman known as Coraline Croft, was no longer standing before him. Instead, we see a different female, standing about a foot taller than the one before, with skin the shade of toasted ivory that seemed to carry an unearthly glow, deep red hair that reached to the end of her back in waterfall curls, and wore clothing depicting of a checkered fall red, forest green and midnight blue dress (the top left plain with the second dominant colour), a leather belt where the sheathed ShatterSoul Sword now rested, and brown leather shoes...

The only similarity the dog demon seemed to recognize, was the two-tone irises of lapis and sapphire blue, the white of her eyes clouded by veins dark arctic rather than the whole completely shining that shade.

"C...Coraline...?"

The redheaded woman in the strange garments does not heed the bated whisper of Inuyasha, instead focusing her vision far away from this vantage, to where another's body was plummeting.

 _A river of poison? Bah, how cumbersome of that land-dwelling devil..._

"Ní bhuaigh sé..."

Eyes from the people surrounding this new woman widen with confusion from the foreign tongue expelled...yet something about the tone clicked a gear within Besa's mind.

 _Wait...that accent...Irish!_

Before he could make his guess of identity aloud, the woman with lengthy waterfall curls crosses her arms into a mock cross shape before bellowing out in a strong voice,

" _Daingniú_ _!_ "

The ring of energy previously around her body seeps into a singular point just above her heart, before shooting forth and expanding into a ghostly shape mirroring that infamous bird said to die in a great blaze and be reborn from its own ashes!

"Whoa...!" "What is that?!"

"Is that...a phoenix...?"

The bird-shaped projection of energy lets out a screech, flying fast to its destination, they being Kikyō's falling body, crashing forth to envelop the priestess in a bright glow of icy blue energy just before she drops into the river of miasma!

...

Back atop that cliff, the woman occupying Coraline's place lets out a few sounds of discomfort, dropping to one knee while fighting to hold her position with her arms.

 _Must...hold...fast..._

"K...Ki-ky-ō..."

Hearing the rough-accented pronunciation of the priestess's name shot a feeling of red alert into Inuyasha's skull.  
Frowning with some concern but mostly edginess towards this stranger, he crouches down to her level to try and inquire,

"Who are you, and how do you know Kikyō?...Where's Coraline?!...Answer me!"

The woman does not respond with words, only grimacing before glancing over at the dog demon to meet his eyes...They stare for a moment, before the former wordlessly gestures to Lumos, whom had remained strangely quiet during this new turn in events. The Will O' Wisp immediately heeds her silent order, and flies to touch the top of her head...

(Vwooop)

And just like that, the two were gone in a flash of sapphire light, much to everyone's dismay!

"Huh?!" "She's gone!"

"Coraline!"

"Wait...was that even Cora?"

"What the heck is going on...?!"

The rising confusion only made Inuyasha's teeter towards worry.

 _Something's wrong...Coraline-no...That wasn't her, but, someone posing within her..._

He turns his head in the direction where that phoenix-shaped burst of energy fled to, narrowing his amber irises while muttering in conclusion,

"Whatever's happening...that bird-thing went to the source."

With that, the dog demon quickly gets up and starts running off to where he think the woman went, ignoring the calls of protest from his allies...

Meanwhile, back at the area where Kikyō was stricken down by the heartless Naraku, the demon himself had formed a frown of slight discontent, retracting his clawed hand while narrowing his red irises towards where he saw that blur of icy blue light previously.

 _What in the hell was that light?...Wait...I know that power._

"That was a sliver of the strange energy that courses through the soul of that red-haired lass."

 _...Could it have been a last attempt from that young woman to save Kikyō?_

A sneer forms on his lips:

"Ha. A foolhardy attempt, indeed. Nothing can withstand my miasma...You have meet your death, Kikyō. Now do you understand? At last, the new body I desired for so long is mine."

...A set of footsteps come up behind him.

"I must say, you took extraordinary steps to killing one mere woman, Naraku."

Turning around, the fiendish demon would meet the eyes of yet another enemy of his.

"Sesshomaru..."

Jaken, who was standing on the dog demon's left, narrows his big yellow eyes in anger.

 _He shows Lord Sesshomaru such a lack of respect! He's grown too full of himself!_

"Jaken, listen to me: stay well back."

The imp looks at his master with a small gape of surprise, before residing with moving away a respectful distance...

"I never expected you to be following me as well, Sesshomaru. So you find me that interesting, do you?"

That comment from Naraku would reel Jaken back in for a moment, so he could shout angrily with a fist raised,

"Silence! You are the one who keeps meddling in our affairs, so we merely-"

Sesshomaru cuts in with a harsher direct of,

"I said back away, Jaken."

The imp scrambles away, and the dog demon turns attention back on the enemy.

"Since you've emerged from your barrier, I assume you're capable of producing a significant amount of power."

Naraku shifts his stance so he was fully facing Sesshomaru, and a breeze of hazy air blows through the space between them, before the former taunts,

"Why don't you see for yourself?"

The dog demon's only functioning hand moves to grip the hilt of Tokijin, and another moment of silence passes...before he sends a wave of his sword's aura straight at Naraku, the impact strong enough to hack his body to pieces!

"Got 'im!"

...But Jaken would be eating his words, when he sees the chuckling evil demon's head and a silver of his shoulders was still in tact, encased within a dark fuchsia barrier!

"Guh! He's laughing?!"

"Sesshomaru. I shall now reverse the power of your sword and fire it back at you!"

An orb of the Tokijin's aura appears through a part of the barrier, before blasting straight at the previous offender!  
Jaken squawks in panic and rushes behind his master, who uses his sword to block the counterattack...However.

"Lord Sesshomaru is being pushed back!"

The dog demon focuses on getting enough ground, before rushing forward and bringing Tokijin down on Naraku's head!

(SLASH)

...Was it the end?

"Ha! It's useless! I will never die!"

Unfortunately, Naraku wasn't even close to being through, already reforming his body from the pieces flying to meet his head! A tornado of miasma whirls around him when he gets as far as the head and torso, which would carry his cackling form out of the area and into the sky to disappear...

 _Such impudence...You merely wished to test the powers of your new body against me._

Knowing his enemy was long gone, Sesshomaru sheathes Tokijin...just as his younger half-brother arrives.

"...Sesshomaru."

"Inuyasha. Still alive, are you?"

"What're you doin' here?"

"It seems that Naraku's main interest was not you."

Sesshomaru's gaze falls on the broken remains of Kikyō's bow.

"But rather his real objective, was to kill that woman."

Inuyasha follows his own stare to where his older half-brother was looking...and would widen his eyes when he saw the shattered weapon.

"Kikyō's bow...No...Kikyō..."

He rushes over to lift one of the pieces, not believing what he saw...

 _What happened?...Did Naraku kill Kikyō?...No! It can't be!_

 _"Naraku cannot kill me...not as long as he has Onigumo's heart, the heart which cares for me."_

...

Amber irises turn to the rushing river of poison within the crevice, searching for a sign that maybe the truth wasn't staring him in the face...He then catches sight of a shred of fabric from Kikyō's haori, being circled by a single Shinidamachū.

"A Soul Collector..."

What really caught his attention, is that the fabric was glowing faintly with the light from the ghostly phoenix entity released earlier.

 _That glow...from the bird-shaped energy..._

A breeze catches the cloth, and causes it to float upward off the rock and flutters into the miasma, with the Shinidamachū following after it like a faithful guard, perishing in a burn of blue flame...Grimacing, Inuyasha whispers regrettably as his grip on the one half of the broken bow tightens,

"I failed you again...my, friend...I wasn't there for you, when you died alone."

 _...Wait...Is this why Coraline was acting strange a moment ago?_

 _...And that woman. The one who rose in place of her...She's not here._

 _Where? Where is she?!_

Jaken peers down at the river himself, commenting with a sleeve over his nose,

"This miasma is terrible...There's no way she could survive it..."

He then notices that his master was leaving, and hurries to catch up.

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

"...Hold on, Sesshomaru!"

He stops to Inuyasha's call, and turns to look at his glaring form.

"F...Forget, Kikyō, for a moment...Was Coraline here, or a woman that looks similar? Did you see her appear?"

...Sesshomaru does not reply, and turns around to resume walking, prompting the younger dog demon to reach for his Tessaiga while shouting,

"Answer me! Was, she, here?!"

"...I should be amazed that you have long since pushed your old feelings for that priestess away, yet I am astonished by the level of distraction your intended mate is causing you."

"Huh?"

The elder dog demon stops again to add,

"I have not seen your wayward human, though it is fair to say she's alive and nearby...Meanwhile, the person responsible for killing Kikyō, was Naraku...and you...you're the one who didn't save her. Inuyasha...blame yourself."

Inuyasha only growls a little, but relaxes his stance slightly while removing his hand off the hilt of his sword...

"Rather than take your anger out on me, I suggest gathering your woman before going after Naraku."

Jaken nods in agreement with his master:

"Exactly."

And with that, both demons continue their way out of the area, disappearing into the dusty fog...leaving Inuyasha to drop on one knee while clenching a fist in helpless anger and worry.

"Grh...Kikyō...forgive me...Coraline...Coraline, where are you?"

"...Inuyasha!"

His ears twitch to the sound of Miroku calling for him, he and everyone else finally arriving to his proximity...He stands up without a word, and that was when Besa notices the broken bow.

"Uh!...Inuyasha...Is, Kikyō...Did Naraku..."

"...Yeah...Naraku wasn't after me...He wanted Kikyō...He wanted to take her life."

Everyone tenses, but then the dog demon mutters,

"But...that, isn't my main concern right now."

"It's not?"

"No..."

He finally turns around to face everyone, his amber irises burning with frustration and concern.

"Coraline...she's not here, and I have no idea where she could be. (Grit) I...I can't sense her; I can't sense my intended!"

Seeing the dog demon looking so vulnerable regarding a loved one, actually made Kōga feel a little sorry for him, his face contorting with a light pity.

 _Poor mutt. He just lost a friend, and his intended's nowhere to be found..._

 _Where could Coraline have gotten to?_

"(Ghostly moan)"

"Huh?"

The wolf demon's ears then pick up on the sound of a familiar wind-whispered call, and turns around to see a certain creature that dwells in abundance on foreign grounds.

"Hey, isn't that...?"

Everyone else looks over to where his vision was directed, and would widen their own eyes at seeing,

"Hey, that's-"

"It's Lumos!"

"Whoa..." "Where'd he come from?"

Inuyasha would react faster than the rest, hurrying over to the Will O' Wisp with impatient agitation burning in his eyes and covering an overwhelming ache of worry.

"Lumos!...You left with her, right?...Do you know where Coraline is?"

The white-blue orbed entity doesn't answer with words, but bounces up and down frantically before flying back the way he came from, prompting the dog demon to make chase.

"Uh! Wait!"

...

Soon, everyone was jogging along the riverbank of the miasma further downstream the crevice starting point, trying to keep up with the speeding Will O' Wisp.

"Hah, hah, man, Lumos is sure fast when he wants to be!"

Crinkling his nose, Ginta replies back to Freeman,

"Ugh, it wasn't hitting me as bad before, but this miasma's more putrid than some of the others I've come across."

Hakkaku comments in a bitter afterthought,

"Probably has to do with how strong that freak Naraku's gotten...Wonder where he went now?"

Miroku would reply from in front of him and between Kōga and the Kilala-riding Sango,

"We can figure that out after we find Coraline...Uh! There!"

Everyone screeches to a halt, with Inuyasha and Shippo up front, when they spot a female figure standing a few yards ahead within the eerie mist cast over these grounds...

"Coraline?! Is that you?!"

"Coraline!"

The figure does not respond to either demon...at least, not in a language they understood.

"...An bhfuil tú cairde nó foes?"

"Huh?"

The group of ten form expressions of puzzlement from the rough-sounding syllables, and Kōga would mutter,

"Anybody got a clue what that load of gibberish was?"

"...I think I do."

Eyes fall on Besa's form, who steps forward so he was standing on the young fox demon's right (Inuyasha being on the left), before adding,

"Guys...I don't think that person is Cora, or at least the Cora we know."

"Whaddo you mean?"

"What are you saying, Besa?"

He answers Inuyasha and Sango's questions by replying,

"I'll let you know after I ask her," before calling out with a bit of space between his pronunciations,

"Ex-cuse me!...Is, your, name, Rosiagnes?"

"...Aye!"

The figure steps out from the mist, revealed as the woman with deep red waterfall-curled hair in the strange checkered, thick-material dress of red, green and blue. Her expression was calm and somewhat stoic, her facial features reflecting an age beyond her youth.

"Is mise Rosiagnes. Ye allies de mo reincard?"

"Uhm, aye?...Aye. We, allies."

Shippo looks at the young man with espresso skin with amazement shining in his bright green irises.

"Whoa! Can you really understand what she's saying?!"

"Uh, not exactly, but I can sort of derive from context based on one or two words since they're in the English language too. She's wondering if we're friends of her 'reincard'...which, I'm almost sure means reincarnation."

Now that words caught the young monk's attention.

"Reincarnation?...Wait! That must mean-"

Sango finishes for him,

"That woman is Coraline's ancestor!?"

Jaws belonging to the wolf demons and Freeman would drop in shock, while Inuyasha froze up.

 _Coraline's...ancestor...?_

...

Nighttime would soon fall, and somewhere within the thick branches of the forest, sat Kagura as she gazed at the bundle she had been forced to cart out of the crumbling mountain.

 _Damn that Naraku, making me take care of this thing..._

"...Kikyō is dead."

She looks down at the creature with surprise at their statement, they revealed to be a baby of sorts with pale skin, short lilac hair and dull purple eyes.

"Huh? What did you say?"

The infant merely smiles...and repeats,

"Kikyō is dead, and Naraku killed her."

* * *

List of Irish to English Translations used in this chapter:

1) Ní bhuaigh sé - He shan't win

2) Daingniú - Fortification

3) An bhfuil tú cairde nó foes? - Are ye friends or foes?

4) Is mise Rosiagnes. Ye allies de mo reincard? - I am Rosiagnes. Ye allies of me reincard?


	137. Chapter 136

Hey everybody, new chapter, finally!

I am so, so, _sooooo_ sorry for such a ridiculously-long wait this time! I can only offer the following excuses: busy with university (semester two of year five, done!), my day job, typing for my other fics, and then of course...a couple moments of the dreaded writer's block.

I promise I will try to do better for next time and not leave you all on pins and needles, but I can only emphasize the word try as there's a last project portfolio for one class that I need to work on for the next week and a half. Ugh, Life Interference 101...

So then, getting back to this tale...I'm gonna be honest: this may or may not be one of my 'best quality' original chapters, but this is as far as my imagination would go. I'll leave it for you to decide in your own circles, but hopefully, it'll still be as good as what's been written so far. Oh! And for those in the audience that are language-curious, the Irish-English translations will be available at the bottom of the chapter. Also, I'll be trying to write a certain character's speech to a roughly-accurate Irish accent, so just watch that some of those 'spelling mistakes' may be done on purpose.

Anyway, read on and love on :D

* * *

 **Chapter 136 (Special): Battle From Centuries Past**

Recap:

 _...Just when it looked like our misfit group of heroes from all over and even beyond Sengoku Edo were about to finally get one over their greatest enemy, things only took a turn for the worst within the death trap that was Mount Hakurei._

 _First, Naraku successfully regenerates a brand new body more demonic than ever before, leaving his enemies to be buried alive within the crumbling mountain unless they acted fast (which they did, thankfully)..._

 _Then he would meet Kikyō outside near the border of the mountain base, practically rubbing it in the undead priestess's face that her arrival was not a coincidence forged by chance events: Naraku had planned out everything to the letter this time, leading to the very moment...where he could kill her!_

 _One thrust of the claws was all it took, and poor Kikyō goes tumbling over the side of a crevice leading to her doom in the form of a river of miasma..._

 _This event would not go unnoticed by one individual a part of the retreating party, Coraline, which goes so far as to trigger the summoning of another through her body, before disappearing in a flash of arctic blue light. Her mate would make chase after her by following the path of a power release with the likeness of a certain legendary bird...but would only meet with the failure of reaching Kikyō, his dear friend from a less compromising time..._

 _As soon as everyone of his extended group met with him, Lumos would reappear to lead them all to a space below the poisonous crevice, straight to a figure standing in the mist..._

 _That person, was both Coraline, yet, not Coraline, someone lost from centuries before the Sengoku Edo period began._

Now...

We return to the moment when Inuyasha and company had just found what they were hoping to be a familiar redhead, but instead was a stranger whom had distant relations to their friend, family and lover. Shaking off some of his shock, young Shippo would ask the question that had risen within practically everyone's skulls.

"...I don't get this at all: why would Coraline's, _ancestor_ be here?! And...w-where did Coraline go?"

Miroku replies,

"We're just as confused as you are, my young friend...though it likely has something to do with Kikyō's, unfortunate demise...That release of power before..."

He turns his blue irises to meet Freeman's jade green surrounded by a dark earthy ring.

"You said it looked like a phoenix, correct?"

"Yeah. I remember the artwork for Cora's family crest had a phoenix bird shaped just like that burst of power...The symbol itself is basically the Croft calling card, or so she's spoken about in the past...Still, doesn't really answer what she did, though, does it?"

Sango adds,

"Nor does it explain why we're all meeting the face of Rosiagnes rather than Coraline..."

"An bhfuil tú ceart go leor?"

"Huh?"

Eyes focus back on the vision that's the centuries past Celtic, who tilts her head to the side slightly while narrowing her two-tone blue irises in confusion.

"Tá sibh uilig ag stánadh...Cad é an fhadhb?"

Almost everyone on the opposite side of the desolate landscape near the miasma riverbank could not find a way to respond to her, especially considering the obvious language barrier...Inuyasha, on the other hand, gave way to his growing anxiety and frustrations over not seeing his intended mate, and growls before calling back aggravatingly,

"We don't understand a lick of what you're sayin', woman! Speak normally and tell us what you've done! Where's Coraline?!"

As Besa and Shippo work to keep the dog demon from springing on her, Rosiagnes furrows her eyebrows in further befuddlement.

 _What is that dog warrior speaking of? The young man with skin the colour of moistened earth can heed my speech, so why-_

 _...Aw, blast it all; I'm still speaking in me mother tongue, aren't I?_

"Ní haon ionadh go bhfuil siad chomh fainiciúil sin ó mo láithreacht...Go han-mhaith ansin. Lumos!"

The Will O' Wisp caught in the middle of this predicament snaps to it at the waterfall-curled redhead's call, flying to stop just around the top of her throat around the larynx. The action and audio catches everyone's attention, Ginta and Hakkaku whispering to one another,

"Now what's she doin'?"

"Don't know..."

There's a second-long pause, before the predecessor Croft cries out with glowing blue irises,

" _Glaoigh ar na teangacha._ "

...A similar shine emits like a bright star twinkle from Lumos, which spreads in ripple waves over the redhead's neck. The audience watches with wary expressions, mystery and intrigue coarsening through the air...

Half a minute later, the strange spell of sorts was finished, and the little orb of sentient white-blue light backs away with a soft, ghostly moan just as their familiar breathes out a sigh with a small smile.

"My thanks, young Wisp. Now thay're shan't be a miscommunication issue hereon."

Several gasps resonate, and Freeman realizes,

"Whoa; she flipped the script with her voice! How'd she do that?"

Feeling the new stares of bewilderment and not missing the exclaim, Rosiagnes chuckles silently before focusing ahead of her.

"I trust ye can all perceive me speech na'ow?"

The wolf demon with deep blue irises and long black hair tied back in a ponytail calls back a bit uncertainly,

"Uh, if by perceive, ya mean we can understand what you're sayin', then yeah."

"Tha' be precisely what I mean, warrior wolf...Now, I understand ye all have questions regarding me emergence, and I shall try t' answer as many as I can. 'owever, take heed that some of me answers may be limited, as d'ere are things I can't be revealing at dis time..."

Narrowing her eyes and glancing towards the skies above, she adds with a bit of distaste,

"Especially since while the devil marred by spider may 'ave vanished, his ears may still be lingeren'..."

Sango mutters to herself in confusion while holding her brown eyes a little wide in surprise from the older young woman's current tongue,

"Devil marred by spider...?"

The monk dressed in dark purple robes guesses,

"I believe that may be her personal reference to Naraku, if we'll recall that strange scar we've seen on his back a few times before."

"Right..."

Growling a little through his teeth, Inuyasha would be the first one to inquire information out of Rosiagnes, albeit in an interrogative manner.

"Oh I've got a question alright! What have you done with Coraline? Where is she?"

Holding out a hand in a calming gesture, the woman with toasted ivory skin feather-touched with the early signs of aging replies in kind.

"Peace, warrior of the dog fang. Me reincard is not gone...She is merely restin', safe within the depths of our soul."

"...Resting? Whaddo you mean?"

"Because I no longer have a body of me own to work with, I had to arise within hers, which makes logical sense since we are both of the same spiritual origin. We come from the same soul, but are different Crofts...What ye see currently, is but a projection of what I last looked like, (sad smile) before I met me demise centuries ago."

Inuyasha makes a sound of awe mixed with suspicion, and Shippo hops atop his shoulder before timidly asking the woman,

"S-So, you're not here to take over Coraline's body?"

"No, fox chile. I be doing no such thing. That would be an act of most terrible selfishness...I am only here temporarily until me reincard gathers enough strength to return on her own, which may take a little time because of how much Aura Power had been used on me part."

Stepping forward, Miroku asks,

"And, what exactly did you do, if I may?"

Sighing and shaking her head, Rosiagnes replies vaguely,

"Tha' there, is one question I cannot answer in full...other than it does have t' do with the priestess of these lands the devil marred by spider sought vengeance against."

Time Skip, Unknown POV  


 _...What is this?...The eternal darkness...does not feel as suffocating as it usually is..._

 _In fact...it almost feels, as if the earth is moving off my person...The weight of damnable death, is lifting..._

 _...The dark...It is, giving me strength...to awake!_

"Hh! H-hh...!..."

I do not understand what manner of the earth and stars has allowed this event to transpire...but somehow, I am breathing once again.

My eyes snap awake, wide as a new page boy's during their first arduous fortnight, my lungs sharply sucking in air from my surroundings...My body, feels considerably stiff, as if I had been bedridden for months, but at the same time, I can feel a tingling in the flow of my blood. Deciding to give the rest of me time to adjust, I peer around with but my pupils, absorbing in the build of these unfamiliar quarters.

 _What is this place?...Walls as thin as parchment, cut like windows. A wooden floor, blocked by this blanket underneath my back..._

 _Another cloak is overtop of me save my neck and skull..._

 _And I sense...the presence of evil._

"Ah. So glad you could join the world of the living at last."

 _...Who is that?_

Looking towards my right, I find myself staring at a stranger dressed in a set of robes unfamiliar in style to say a scholar or a monk. The garb has more colour if with a dark theme, and is lined with a type of armour made from, bone...His appearance almost reminds me of a lord or perhaps even a young king, but with the tenacity of a rogue. A long mane of wavy black hair, skin as pale as the glow of the moon, strong yet lean facial features...and eyes the colour of dried blood, quite unusual.

 _Hm, his dress coupled with the room suggests foreign ground...And I feel this shiver of blackness from he..._

 _Could he be the one who awoke me from beyond the grave?_

"I must admit, I was a little skeptical to whether this spell would work on someone from born from beyond these lands as well as the netherworld...But, it seems that fate is continuing to bless me."

His lips curve into a smile that held quite a high amount of pride and confidence.

"I imagine you must have some questions. Please, feel free to ask away."

My dry throat was resistant to dislodging my tongue, so my voice would come out a little hoarse and rasped.

"...Who, are you?"

"I am Naraku."

 _Na-ra-ku. Such a strange name..._

"Ah...And, what manner of entity, do you claim yourself as?"

My eyes narrow if a little weakly:

"You look like man, and yet, I sense something that tells me otherwise. An, evil, beyond comprehension...Only those, who practice necromancy are capable of performing a feat as resurrecting the dead. Tell me: are you a dark warlock?"

His face reflects an odd sort of amusement which also told me he was a little curious on my words.

"Ha...I do not know what you mean by 'warlock', but if you are trying to suggest I am a magician, you are both close and could not be anymore wrong...To make it simple for you, I am a creature that can mimic the appearance of mortals, who will usually associate these 'beasts' from the depths of Hell..."

 _...Demon..._

Any other person but myself would have likely been frightened or repulsed by the idea of laying helpless within the proximity of the devil's spawn...But instead, I felt this wave of irony hit me, making my lips split to release a whisper of a chuckle with a most bitter smile.

"How much more ironic can this be for someone of my stature, to have fought a crusade against heathens who practiced such deviant and undesirable lives...only to be reborn by the hands of one said entity..."

Breathing out a sigh, I decide now was the right moment to test my limitations for movement, placing my palm gingerly atop the strange material underneath my body, before slowly pushing myself upward into a sitting position, groaning quietly from the sore ache in my muscles as I did so...

"I would exercise caution in moving too quickly. You have only just risen, and given the special lengths I had to undergo, your new body will still be adjusting."

 _Special lengths? Hmph, such self-confidence he has...But then, my body..._

As I turn to face this mysterious evil that posed as man, one of my hands found itself softly running over my chest, feeling no signs of trauma or injury.

 _It's as if my demise never occurred..._

"...Tell me, foreign devil: what business does someone of your nature have with a man previously trapped in eternal slumber?"

I meet his eyes with a suspicious glare:

"Why have you awoken me, and with a new body nonetheless?"

He chuckles a little as if my inquiry the most humourous thing he has heard in his life, before answering simply,

"Some fair questions you ask, my friend...and I have but one answer to them all. My reasons concern with that of a, common enemy we share."

 _Common enemy?_

"You are able to recall all if not most of your past life, correct?"

"...Yes, though there are a few pieces in a haze."

"As expected. It should all come back clearly within the next hour as your spirit begins to settle into your new body...But returning to topic...does the name, Croft, ring with familiarity?"

My breath hitches, and my teeth clench.

 _Croft...!?_

"How do you know that name? Explain!"

"Ha. How interesting that a single name causes such unease and anger...As for how I know have knowledge of it, well, it's quite a long story..."

He reaches for something laying on his right side, and lifts it up to hold, revealing the object as a silver mirror of reasonable design...Then a moment later, an image appears within the glass, they being what looks to be a younger version of the lass who had a hand in my death centuries ago.

 _What is this?...She looks alot like, her, but dresses in an odd manner..._

"I have come to know this version more than that of the one you are most familiar with...This other redheaded lass..."

The image changes, reflecting that of the woman I know in but a heartbeat, whose name makes my blood run hot like melted iron.

"I believe you know her better than I?"

Clenching my hand into a fist, I growl,

"Oh that I do...for how can I forget the face of the _witch_ who sent my comrades and I to our doom?"

 _Rosiagnes Croft..._

"Heh. I can feel the anger wafting off your person...You wish to enact vengeance on her, don't you, make this woman suffer for daring to defy you and your men?"

I dart my eyes up to his:

"Perhaps...Why?"

"What if I were to tell you, that your enemy was just as alive as you are now, within the body of her reincarnation no less?"

 _What...?!_

Miroku's POV

 _How is it that the universe can make the atmosphere go from perilous to confusing in but the drop of a bead?_

Night has fallen over the lands, and our large group decided to camp in an area away from the destroyed Mount Hakurei as well as that river of miasma. We're now nestled in a zone between there and the path leading to Shintarou's Village, a ground of mixed grass and barren dirt near a treeline...

Though our bodies may be slowly warming up by the fire, our hearts were still chilled by confusion and tension, partly in due to the unfortunate failure in stopping that fiend Naraku's plans...while the other half went towards our new ally we were speaking to through that of someone else's being.

"So you have been aware of what was transpiring, but have chosen not to act directly until now?"

Rosiagnes nods, replying solemnly,

"This war be not my own, but that of me reincard's as well as ye all. I can only act as a guide...or rather, that was me intent, but I suppose fate be having different plans..."

"And how long will it be again until Coraline returns?"

She looks over at Sango - who was sitting beside me atop a fallen log - and says,

"The exact time is uncertain, but I have confidence it won't be days. She may even take back her body as early as tomorrow."

"I see..."

"I can sense the unease in ye tone, lass, but please do not concern yerself until ye are sick with it. As I say, I be not looking for a second life. This is me reincard's time now."

Rosiagnes eyes the rest of us with a knowing sort of smile.

"Tha' goes for the rest of ye as well. Don't be giving yeselves a reason to slow yer own recovery down."

A few of us smile sheepishly, and though Kōga was trying to keep as stoically casual as possible, there was no mistaking the curiousity in his next question.

"So how exactly are ya able to speak our language right now and not that other gibberish from before?"

"Hmph, first, that 'gibberish' be _Gaeilge Ársa_ , warrior, and I'll kindly ask ye to watch your attitude over me native tongue. As fer how I be able to speak to ye all without the communication barrier, I simply called upon the tongues of a clan member who understood what ye were yammering about. In which case, I be borrowing me reincard's ability to speak this, Jan-pen-knees or whatever ye call it 'ere."

I almost wanted to laugh at how she smoothly retorted back to the wolf demon, her tone and manner reminding me of the redheaded young lady we were more familiar with.

 _Definitely proof she's Coraline's family..._

Freeman seemed to notice as well, guffawing from his seat between his mate Ginta and the third wolf demon present, Hakkaku,

"Hehaha, that almost sounds like something Cor would say!...Nice to know where sis gets her confidence from, family-wise, I mean."

"My thanks for the compliment, clan brother."

"...Clan brother?"

Rosiagnes's smile becomes a little more sentimental.

"Aye. Me reincard 'as been callin' ye and your blood brother kin for years now, and in the days of old when the Crofts thrived like a field of Bell Heath'a, we call all our allies fam'ly...Given tha' d'ere are no living Crofts other than she te turn to, ye 'ave all essentially become 'er new clan, along with de host fam'ly back in the other era...By dat extension, ye are more clan t' me."

"...Whoa..."

The rest of us were just as mesmerized by such a recognition, though Sango seemed to connect to the ideal more through her own life, back before the senseless act committed by Naraku that brought her to us.

"I can understand that. We demon slayers have a similar outlook on family relations...My, own clan viewed everyone as fellow brothers and sisters, even if we weren't directly related by blood."

Ginta even threw his opinion into the ring:

"It's the same for us wolf demons: there are different tribes, but we still remain interconnected through brotherhood...Something we'll need to strengthen in the coming times..."

Hakkaku and Kōga nod in agreement with him, and Shippo hums in his own recognition, for from what he's spoken about during those quiet hours of our travels, his fox demon tribe was big on familial interconnection through the spirit rather than direct blood as well...He then glances over to where Inuyasha had been sitting these last few hours since the more awkward dinner we all shared, that being a branch atop a tall tree several feet from our proximity, and sighs while shaking his head and muttering,

"I guess a quiet Inuyasha's a little better than a brooding Inuyasha, but...I wish he wasn't acting so cold..."

"Do not judge his manner, fox chile...He 'as the right to be actin' the way 'e is."

We all look at Rosiagnes in shock for her opinion on Inuyasha's attitude, and she frowns sadly but sternly while remarking,

"Keep in mind that he 'as not only lost an old, dear friend none too long ago, but his heart is yearnin' for the comfort of his lover whom is currently resting within the depths of our soul. (Sad smile) I may be Croft, but I be not the Croft he wants."

"Mm...yeah, I guess that's fair...Poor Inuyasha; his heart must be a mess right now..."

"Mos' likely...but from what I've observed, he is a strong one too. I 'ave confidence he will 'bounce back' as it is said sooner rather than later...It will just take time and a great amount of patience, is all."

Scoffing, Kōga comments gruffly but not too unkindly,

"Yeah well, he better not be plannin' on mullin' around for too long's all I'll say. I mean, I get that he's been dealt a bad loss, but we all have this last, (mumbling) comin' up on close to a year and a half, I think, (regular volume) yet we've all been forced to push forward or risk that bastard Naraku get too far ahead down that road...The time for mourning can't overwhelm the time for action."

 _Huh...I think that's the most insightful I've ever heard him sound._

No one makes a movement to disagree with him, not even Rosiagnes.

"Aye, wolf, ye make a fair point. Grief is but as natural as the air we breathe during the worst of times, but it cannot be made a routine if ye wish to honour the memory of the lives lost...The dead may wish to live, but their true desire, is for their loved ones to live on when they cannot."

That was an intriguing statement I didn't expect from the spirit of someone who was pulled from the afterlife.

"Is that so?"

"Aye, monk...That be what comes out from the heart of the next world, eventually. Some take longer to realize it, of course, but that thought does imbed the mind."

 _Interesting...I wonder, if Kikyō has come to reside with that thought too..._

 _...Speaking of her._

"I know what ye are wishing to ask of me next. Ye wish t' know what I did to help the priestess."

"U-Uhm! Yes...but if it's something you can't talk about, I won't-"

She waves a hand dismissively:

"Spare ye stuttering, monk; it's fine...As I said earlier, I cannot reveal her fate in full, but I can explain the purpose of the phoenix."

 _The phoenix..._

Inuyasha's POV

Though my heart's still in the dark over...recent loss and vulnerability, my ears were fully in tune with the conversation below, and would twitch come the moment that, Rosiagnes woman mentions Kikyō, even if so subtly...

"What ye had all witnessed is a very powerful ability we Crofts are able to develop with extensive training in both body and spirit, a ritual spell if ye will."

 _Ritual spell?_

"It be known in me native tongue as Daingniú, and translated to yours, Fortification...The simplest way I can explain it, is that me soul as well as Kikyaō's forged a temporary bond wit' one another, similar to what it used ta be before Coraline broke it with help from dat damnable devil from beyond hell. In that light, I was able to transfer some of me aura to she, which took form of the phoenix ye all saw, and flew to wrap a barrier around 'er body."

Besa summarizes,

"So in other words, you tried to protect her from destruction in the river of miasma."

"Aye...Unfortunately, even I did not have the strength to still the fatal wounds dealt by Nau'raku...The devil, was successful in getting what he wished for..."

I clench a fist tight and fight to hold down a low, menacing growl.

 _Yeah...that bastard was able to kill Kikyō a second time...and there was nothing we could do to stop it. Not me, not the others, not even Coraline's ancestor.  
_

 _He got away with it!...But then...if she knew that, then why-_

"However, I shan't allow he'im to get away with complete annihilation of the priestess...I am not fully certain if me spell worked, but...there is a chance her body may not have perished in the poison."

Everyone gasps, including myself, and Sango asks,

"Are you saying that...her, corpse, could be out there somewhere?"

"Aye. Not definitely, but could be...and before any of ye ask, no, I would not know where to start searching."

I couldn't keep my mouth shut after that statement, finally reaching my tolerance of this woman's cryptic talk.

"Kuh, that's real helpful!"

I feel the stare of multiple eyes on my form, and I don't keep them waiting, jumping down from the tree to step right over to this ancient woman harboring my intended's body. I glare at her, and she returns my expression with a cool, stern gaze of her own.

"There be something ye wish to say to me, dog man?"

"Grh, oh there's plenty I wanna demand from you, woman, but based on what you've been talkin' about so far, I know you won't provide a straight answer."

Besa and Miroku call my name to try and stop me from saying something callous, but I wouldn't have it, fed up with everything that's been going on since we first came to this stupid mountain area.

"It's clear you're keepin' alot of info to yourself, and out of respect for Kikyō's memory, I'm willing to let some of it slide...But the fact that I'm continuing to stare at someone who only vaguely resembles Coraline, and not her, is really tweaking at my last nerve. If you've got nothing useful to say, then quit usin' my woman's body and give her back!"

Glaring back, Rosiagnes holds to a calm tone yet replies stiffly,

"It be not that simple, swordsman. Me reincard needs time t' rest, so ye will just have to deal with me presence in the meantime."

"The only reason she's resting is because you used up a good amount of her energy!"

"She wanted to save the priestess but did not know how! I did, so she stepped aside and allowed me to guide 'er Aura Power into doin' that. 'Tis not me fault that the spell takes a high amount of spiritual power!"

"You still knew it would!"

"Enough of ye nonsense!"

She suddenly darts to her feet, tall enough that she could meet me eye-to-eye, hers glowing slightly in anger from my pushing, not that I cared much because I was feeling just as pissed.

"There is much more at stake here than ye realize, and I will not be lectured by a young whelp who wears his heart on his sleeve!...How me reincard puts up with ye is beyond me comprehension."

 _Why this...!_

If she wasn't occupying my intended's body, I swear I would've struck this aggravating woman. Instead, all I could do was growl at her lowly and clench my fists tight enough to threaten skin breakage, while her eyes began glowing in and out like Coraline's, only in a way that seemed more controlled...

"Whoa whoa, alright, break it up, you two!"

Freeman suddenly jumps to his feet and rushes over so he was lodging himself between us.

"There's already enough tension in the air as it is thanks to, recent events, and we don't need t' pile it on!...Let's try to remember we're on the same side, okay?"

 _Same side? Tuh, yeah, right..._

Rosiagnes took the guy's words in - admittingly - better than I was, breathing out a short breath before replying in a mutter,

"Very well, ye be correct...Excuse me; I think I be needing some space from the fire."

On that note, she turns away sharply, gesturing at the little orb Lumos to follow her, and makes her way over to one of the cherry blossom trees about twelve feet away...We watch her go for a moment, before Freeman turns to face me with an expression I hardly see on him, one that reflects disappointment.

"Dude, really? Ya _had_ to go and play the accusation card on her?"

"What're you-"

"Look, I get it. You're hurtin'; we all are...but taking your frustrations out on Cor's ancestor isn't gonna help anybody, least of all you. If anything, this is what that spider bastard's expecting us all to do: pin the kind of blame on eachother that doesn't exist."

Miroku and the wolf - to my surprise - nod in agreement with his judgment.

"Freeman makes an excellent point: we cannot allow our anger and misery to destroy our bonds. We're all on the same side, even if our interests may differ a little."

"Yeah, and consider how that Rosiagnes woman is feelin' right now. She's been forced to return from the dead, on both foreign land and within a body that ain't hers...If ya think she asked to get thrust into unfamiliar territory, tuh, then you really don't know much past your own problems, mutt."

I glare at Kōga more so than the monk...but inside, I started to reevaluate my choice of words while considering their points, as well as a bit of what the woman of subject was saying before she stormed off...You can imagine how much of a moron I felt like by the end of my trail of thinking.

 _...Dammit...I just had to let my mouth run, didn't I?_

Releasing a sigh that had an undertone of a growl, I mutter reluctantly,

"Alright...maybe there's some merit to what you're all sayin'...What should I do about it, though?"

I could see everyone was visibly surprised that I was admitting a need for guidance, which thank kami only lasted a few seconds, before the squirt makes his own suggestion, climbing atop my shoulder so we were at eye-level.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to go and try talking to her again, but, ya know, just do it without sounding super angry this time..."

Sango adds with a half-smile,

"Though she'll likely not admit it aloud, Rosiagnes needs someone to help her navigate our land, and who better than the one her reincarnation holds dear?"

"...Hmph, I think it'd be fair to say she's a stone's throw from hating me."

"If that was true, she likely would've tried to attack you by now."

I glance over at Besa, and he chides with that wise, gentle smile of his,

"Again, keep in mind that the poor woman's walking on unfamiliar ground and has to rely on knowledge that's not hers in order to avoid running into total disaster...It may not look like it, Inuyasha, but Rosiagnes is very scared to be back alive."

 _Scared, huh?...Haaah, alright, I think I've got enough to go on now._

Not breathing another word, I start moving away from the camp on my own in the direction that Rosiagnes left for...The closer I got towards her form underneath the cherry blossom tree, the lousier I began to feel, especially when I realize,

 _She's like a more, lost version of Kikyō, when she was revived by that ogre bitch, Urasue..._

 _Brought back to the land of the living without any real warning, and certainly not by their choice..._

"I'm surprised ye are approachin' me, swordsman."

I snap back to reality at the sound of that accent-rough voice, watching as the woman turns around to face me, her expression seemingly blank but with an undertone of bitterness in her eyes.

"I would 'ave guessed ye to keep as fa' away from me as possible, based on what ye said."

"Uh, yeah, about that...Haah, look, I'm...I'm sorry for making you sound like the bad guy. That was my anger talking...I, know this isn't your fault; you're just tryin' to do what's best for Coraline in whatever way you can..."

She relaxes with surprise from my willingness to apologize, before breathing out a breath with an almost sheepish smile.

"Aye, well...me own temper is not helping the situation either, so, I apologize as well fo' regardin' ye so abrasively."

"Tch, it's fine. You're not the first human to act harsh towards me..."

...An awkward kind of quiet falls between us for a few minutes, and I found myself watching Lumos as a way to avoid a weird eye-lock with the woman who has very distant relations with my intended...

"I have witnessed 'ow protective ye are with me reincard."

Snapping out of my daze, I look at Rosiagnes with a bit of confusion and surprise.

"You have?"

"Aye. Ye certainly give it yer all when it comes to her safety, and 'ave not fallen short in bestowing that needed affection for lovers to survive...Ye both have yer moments of conflict, but what partners do not?"

She turns her vision from the flowering branches to meet my eyes again.

"What I be saying is despite me initial feelings about the two of ye undertaking such a relationship...ye 'ave been good for me reincard, and are an admirable protector."

 _Hm..._

"Mind if I ask what you thought about us in the beginning?"

"(Shrug) To be frank, I was not confident ye would move on from your old feelings fer the priestess and leave Coraline hangin' like a rusted sword."

My eyes widen by how blunt her opinion was:

 _...Well there's some honesty I didn't expect._

"G-Guh, uhm..."

"Heh, calm yerself, dog warrior...I have not the same opinion as it was in the beginning, to which I thank me reincard's courage to confess t' ye for...Ye are coming along to meeting me standards fo' what sort of man I want for me family's women."

"Hmph, is that right?"

"Aye...Anyway, ye relations to me reincard are the least of me worries at dis present."

Her eyes cast to the night sky, narrowed in a foreboding manner.

"Wha' concerns me, is the probable repercussions tha' may ensue the longer I remain in this world."

"Whaddo you mean?"

"I am speaking of the devil marred by spider...and this eerie yet distant beat from the underworld I have been feeling since night farst touched the ground."

 _What?!_

A noise of surprise escapes through my mouth, before I ask with an incredulous expression,

"Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"It was not strong enough to warrant immediate attention and ye all demanded other more important information."

"...Ah...Okay...Well how 'bout we focus on that now."

"Ye sure ye want t' leave the topic of me reincard so quickly?"

Reluctantly, I reply,

"If you say Coraline's safe, then, I can settle with believing she'll come back when she's recovered...Now what's this about a shift in the spirit world? What's going on?"

"Haah, if ye insist..."

Unknown POV

It has been long enough that my old spirit and my newly-reformed body have forged a bond, and this demon in the form of man, Naraku, has since given me a short summary of the course of events that led to his decision to bring me back to the living...

"I see...So that heathen woman has arisen within the body of her descendant, because of another heretic ye had done away with recently."

 _We are different natures, yet he and I share a commonality of interfering forces..._

"You say heretic, but I would call her a pest of a priestess...But nevermind her; that problem's been taken care of. Our focus should be on the other woman that must be rid of."

Adjusting my new garments known as a kimono (the colour being black as ink), a matching hakama, white stockings called tabi, and wooden footwear by name of zōri, I turn back to the devil's spawn with a nod.

"Mm, yes, that blasted woman of Croft...I never imagined having another chance to destroy her, after what happened so many years ago..."

Looking back on the event in question now, perhaps my men and I were a little hasty in obtaining the power of that creature's mask. But how were we to know that the energies would mean the end of our lives? It only got worse the more that Croft woman came between us and our goals, and before we knew it, the darkness consumed my fellow knights and I...while _she_ 'self-righteously' casts Majora's dark power away, before succumbing to her own demise.

 _All to protect a clan who foolishly embrace the dangerous abnormalities of this realm. Pah..._

Glancing at the skin of my hand, I comment aloud,

"And it would seem our battle of wills has continued to newer generations, since my own descendant has received the sharp end of that damnable blade...You say that it was a strand of his hair that allowed you to establish a connection to our collective soul, correct?"

"Indeed. I had a feeling that Bishop fellow's presence in this time would prove useful to me, and what better way than with his own flesh? My original intent was to eventually create an incarnation of myself based off of his image...but given current circumstances, I believe I made a more strategic choice."

A bitter smirk carves onto my lips as I reply,

"Ha. So in other words, I am no more than a blunt tool to you, a new sword."

Demon though he is, he had the decency to be honest.

"Perhaps, but my own goals should not have to deter your own, my friend. When it comes down to it, we both want the same thing."

 _Yes...The Crofts must be put to an end._

Clenching my fist tight...I activate an ability new to me, but not so to my descendant when he was alive, namely, a deep purple blade of sorts that protrudes from the back of my wrist like a deadly extension of my bone.

"Very well then, Naraku...While I would have declined an offer of alliance with someone of freakish origins in the past, now, I feel it beneficial to take a parchment page out of my descendant's strategies. I shall continue what he was unable to finish, and obliterate both Crofts in one body."

 _So is this decree made by me, Clayton Bishop, of the Trinity Knighthood._

Time Skip, No POV

Morning would arrive at a rather sluggish pace for our large group of unofficial heroes, and by the time the sun rose high into the blue, everyone was finishing breakfast and preparing to move out to elsewhere to get further away from the remnants of Mount Hakurei. Rosiagnes was still occupying Coraline's body, so the atmosphere continued to have an undertone of awkwardness, though everyone was slowly getting used to her presence...

Right now, she was overlooking the lands ahead from atop a small incline, with Lumos hovering around her from. A gentle breeze billows up her red waterfall curls as she breathes out a sigh.

 _These lands...So different from me home country, yet, the colours look familiar enough..._

"A beautiful sight, isn't it?"

"Hm?"

She shifts her head to see Sango approaching with a kind smile on her face, Kilala bounding alongside her.

"Ah, Sond-go, is it?"

"Heh, Sango, actually."

"Apologies. Me accent is quite rough."

"That's alright...Tell me, did your home village have a similar nature to that of these lands?"

Widening her two-tone blue irises a little, the redhead then obliges the brunette's question.

"...Aye, there are features that match...For example, the forests: so vast and teeming wit'd mystery jus' waiting to be uncovered."

She looks to the air above with a wistful smile:

"The sky is as blue as it was back when the weather was fine, perfact for explorin', training one's skills of the blade and of course, visiting the friends of Majora..."

"Yes, we've been told of what sort of creatures live there. Ones like Lumos, as well as something known as Dryads."

"Ah yes, the Dryads. Not someone ye want to get on the wrong side of, I can tell ye that. (Small smirk) I remember a few instances when a few thick-headed men from me clan tried to get the attention of a dryad maiden, only t' end up thrown all the way into the foaming shores of the ocean."

The notion was enough to make both women laugh a little...

"I suppose that be one of the faults of 'umanity."

"Huh?"

An almost pitying smile forms on Rosiagnes's lips as she muses,

"We 'ave this tendency to let our more prideful thoughts take lead rather dan logic o' compassion, and use fear as a way to acknowledge what we cannot fathom...One thing me people, me kin, strive for is t' be as open as possible, take time to understand what is before we judge."

"And I imagine that attracted some unwanted trouble?"

"Afraid so...Ye and the others of de main group 'ave been introduced t' today's faction of what I knew then as the Trinity Knighthood, a problem that was once constant fer me clan as soon as they found us."

Sango's face fell into a frown as she recalls that said encounter.

"A little hard to dismiss that event completely, especially considering that their leader, Constantine tried to kill Coraline."

"Mm, aye...Constantine...His appearance, the clashes between he and me reincard...It be less coincidental than ye may 'ave perceived it. Fated, in fact."

The brunette looks up at the older redhead with attentive surprise traced in her facial features.

"Fated, you say?"

"Aye...Dis, Constantine, be not the first Bishop who served the Trinity Knighthood...nor the first of tha' family to take on a member of me clan. His appearance...is strikingly similar to that of the man who led the knights to foolishly try and claim Majora's precious mask."

 _Which has me wonderin'...could that shift, have been Cl-_

(Pulse)

"Hm!"

Suddenly, Rosiagnes senses a strong beat of negative power echo from a distance...moving slowly towards the unsuspecting village whose young head was once in charge of the tranquil Hijiri Island...

"What's wrong? Do you sense something?"

"Aye...and it be not a good thing. Not at all."

Before Sango could ask further questions, the women turn around to the sound of agitated moans coming from Lumos, whom also felt the vibration of dark energy and dove back to the camp to stir the attention of the others before leading them up here. Freeman would be the first to touch the top of the small incline while asking,

"Oi, how come, hah, Lumos, is goin' off like an oversensitive smoke detector? What's going on?"

"He be approaching."

"Huh?"

Eyes fall on the woman from more ancient times, her eyes narrowing into a glare and clouding over with that bright, dark arctic blue essence of her soul.

"Over yonder, towards a clearing before that village...I sense the aura, of someone I had hoped would stay back in the realm of the dead."

Moving to stand on Rosiagnes's right to gaze into the distance from her vantage, Miroku asks,

"An enemy of yours, I presume?"

"Correct, monk, bu' most of ye, save the three wolves, may find him familiar to that of another deceased man...One tha' me reincard had eliminated, by using the most deadly technique o' Shattersoul... _or did she?_ "

A few gasps emit from the group, and Besa inquires with a touch of urgency,

"Hold on!...Are you saying that, Bishop's soul...may not have been completely destroyed?"

"What I be sayin' is that a very large bulk was annihilated...but a fragment may have in fact escaped to these lands before that Bishop left, back when he and his men invaded to kidnap me reincard...all in thanks to the aid of another, more demonic entity."

Kōga curses,

"Aw crap, don't tell us: it was Naraku, wasn't it?!"

One nod gave way to a flood of emotions to come crashing against the bodies of this extended group, ranging from distress to anger and of course dread...

"Bu' the devil marred by spider be the least of our issues this hour."

That pool of negativity dries out a little to make room for confusion to pour and mix in, and Rosiagnes explains while drawing out that fabled Croft Family sword,

"If he 'as resurrected the one man in the one manner I think, then dese lands will be cursed with a new form of chaos that had touched me own centuries ago...unless I go and engage battle with them before they reach the village."

"You're not thinking of doing that alone, are you? We've only just emerged from that ticking time bomb of a mountain with our lives yesterday, not to mention the level of mystery that's still hanging in the air."

Turning her glowing eyes to meet with Besa's dark forest green irises, the Croft from yester-year replies with a stern air,

"There be no choice, young man. If that daft crusade leader lingers in dis realm fer too long, it becomes tha' much harder to rid him. His strength grows with each step; there be no time for hesitant hearts."

(Sheeeeen...)

On that note, Rosiagnes invokes a deeper stimulant of her Aura Powers, the energy billowing over her body to settle as an outline against her dress and skin...before she takes off with speed that settled between the top levels of Inuyasha and Kōga!

"Uh!" "Damn, Cora's ancestor's fast!"

"Wait, Rosiagnes!"

Groaning a little, the dog demon dressed in the furs of the fire rat hurries to pursue after the woman with long waterfall curls, the rest following his example simultaneously...

...

The trail of swift footfalls continues into the canopy of the narrow forest strip, the illuminated form of Rosiagnes Croft leading the way, hopping over large roots protruding their elbows through the mossy ground and ducking under low-bearing conifer branches. Her focus was beyond her by at least half a kilometer, they being a dark figure entering a meadow break in the tree cover.

 _I know not why that devil was crazy enough to revive ye...but I know it be you..._

 _Clayton Bishop._

The woman eases her way through a low-growing bush, entering the clearing first...She slows herself into a steady walk, continuing until she stops near the center...

"Your sensory is as sharp as ever, to have known of my presence closing in to this area...Although..."

Someone emerges from the other end of the clearing, the natural light revealing a man who could very well be Constantine Bishop back from the dead. This man shared the other's tall height, porcelain complexion, military-cropped gray-blond hair, and steel gray eyes with a ring of dark purple around the irises...Though there were some distinct differences: this male had stubble on his chin, his skin carried a weather-beaten quality, and was of course wearing the clothing provided to him by another whose current location was unknown...

"I would expect no less from a heathen like you."

A sardonic sort of smile carves onto Rosiagnes's lips, matching that of her age-old enemy.

"Clayton...Tis been too long."

"That it has..."

Everyone else of our misfit group of heroes would have caught up by this point, stopping at the edge of the forest strip touching the meadow to stare ahead with wide eyes at the pending scene before them.

"Whoa..." "That's..."

"He looks like a more, rugged version of Bishop tryin' to pass as a samurai."

The three wolf demons from the eastern tribe would of course be the odd ones left out of the topic loop, having only just heard about the one Trinity soldier familiar to the Croft currently occupying the said redhead's body the other night.

"Uhm, someone mind explaining what the heck you lot are so antsy about?"

"Yeah, I'm a bit confused..." "Same..."

Freeman shifts his footing so he was looking at Kōga, Ginta and Hakkaku before giving them the following quick summary.

"Long story short, he was the one responsible for killing Cor's father, and after a series of events that'd take way too long to describe right now, he and sis would eventually meet in a battle to the death within her family's tomb...Don't think I really need to say who won that one..."

The latter three nod in a grim understanding, just as Inuyasha notes after sniffing the air,

"'cept we're not really starin' at that dead bastard. Just some past version of 'im...Hell, this guy's scent's all over the place; I'm getting the undead, demon and, some other beast that's definitely not from around these parts."

 _And what's really bugging me...is that the demon stink's close to Naraku's..._

Shippo takes a turn smelling the air towards where Clayton stood, before muttering to himself with furrowed eyebrows and a scrunched-up nose,

"Yeah, it's like the scent can't decide what it is...Too weird..."

Sango notes aloud,

"Well if we consider the most likely party responsible for reviving this man, I'm almost not surprised that their new origins can be thrown into question..."

Miroku adds in his own narrowed observation,

"I almost wonder if they were brought back with a technique similar to how Naraku created his incarnations..."

Besa concludes the speculations by saying,

"It should all become clear in a moment, but in the meantime, let's just all pray that Rosiagnes knows what she's doing."

Rosiagnes's POV

 _Haaah, once again, I be forced to fight in a battle that should not have been..._

To stare at the fool of a man from centuries past was almost nostalgic in its own merit, but not in a way that was sentimental. No...it was a sour and bitter sort of feeling, the kind one gets in looking back on an old nightmare that lost its power. I would have been angry if I did not think this comeback was pathetic and pointless, even though Clayton's revival was not his doing...

"I be surprised ye are willin' ta go through dis daft conviction again, considering 'ow our last encounter ended."

"I assure you, the same mistakes will not be repeated, woman. Not the ones I committed, nor the ones of my descendant in his pursuit of your descendant."

"So ye retain his memories, do ye?"

 _How interesting..._

"I do. As it turned out, the devil spawn who revived me had used a fragment of Constantine's hair and blood he stole with a demon insect agent, combined with another manner of black magic to recreate who you see before you now."

I use my innate ability to see into Clayton's soul...and did not like what I saw.

"Aye, so I notice...yet there be more ye are admitting to. Yer soul...'as become a monster of its own design. Ye are but a sliver of what is holding ye to this earth, while the rest is made up by a mockery heart created by the devil marred by spider...Once more, (narrows eyes) I can also sense the power of a creature my people knew better to stay away from, for fear of descending into a beast-like madness...The Shadow Being. Its poison runs through ye veins, does it not?"

Chuckling slightly, a bitter sort of smirk curves onto his face as he confirms,

"Yes, it would seem that the ability my blood descendant had obtained from that beast came with me. As I said to Naraku, at one time ago, this would have been an issue of morals...However..."

(Shoom)

A deep purple blade manifests through Clayton's wrist joint, extending to almost half his arm's length and glowing a poisonous plum colour! A similar, more eerie gleam would brighten around his grey irises, making himself look more sinister than before.

"Time moves forward, and in order to move with it, one must adapt in any way they have to."

 _...Blasted fool._

The cat with two tails lets out a growl from atop Sango's shoulder while the fox chile shivers and hops atop Inuyasha's shoulder to hide his eyes behind the other's neck.

"U-U-U-U-Uhh, not again; that power was already creepy enough when Bishop used it!"

 _Creepy does even begin to describe, little one...Clayton. He has no idea the consequences that came out of this revival._

"By the gods, ye truly let yeself fall into darkness...Clayton, I shall only give ye this warning once: do not start a battle ye know will not end any different from the past. Release yeself from that blatant manifest of flesh while ye can still grasp yer rationale."

"Ha! As if I would listen to the heathen swordswoman who sent me to my first death along with my comrades. The resilience of your clan was what further fueled this desire, to one day meet you in battle once more, and finally finish my objection in ridding the world of the Crofts, the greatest heretics known by Trinity. Unfortunately, my descendant failed and yours was victorious...but now...here we are, the two of us borrowing their flesh in our own manners to put an end to this farce."

Clayton holds his weaponized arm out straight, and in response, I twirl ShatterSoul a few times in my dominant right hand before settling in a fighting stance with my free left fist held out front while I held the sword held up high and a little behind, the blade poised ready to strike...

"Now then...face your doom!"

My old enemy charges first, as I expected he would, going about a speed less common for humans...and much closer to that of the Shadow Beings.

"Tch."

I wait until he brings down that bone-like blade...before countering with a block of shining steel. Metal corrodes against bone as hard as rock, the two of us exchanging the expressions of rival warriors, our eyes burning for victory over the other, just as it had been many years ago...

After another minute or so, my strength would prove to be the more fortified, and I threw the man of living contradictions backwards to go sliding against the grass on his heels, while I jumped back a few feet. Once he was stable again, Clayton would try and best me with another move born from the cursed power of the Shadow Beings. A hazy energy of black-purple begins emitting over the bone-like blade...before he brings it down in a diagonal swing, shooting out an air cut of dark power! My reincard's allies gasp, the fox chile and clan brother who wields the hammer weapon crying out,

"Look out!" "Heads up!"

 _Hmph, so that be his game, eh?...Let's try this!_

Drawing in a big breath and closing my eyes, I concentrate a good amount of my soul energy into my old weapon...before letting it go so it could float just a foot in front of me, that familiar blue glow surrounding its surface, flat and with the blade pointed straight to the skies...then silently directed it to begin spinning faster than a maple seed in a gust of wind, creating a thin but strong shield to block and dispel the opposing attack!

"Uh! Grrrh...!"

"Ye'll have t' do better than this, Clayton!"

In response to my taunt, he launches several more attacks in that fashion, while I kept the shield going without an inch of concentration broken...Of course, my move was doing more than just protecting my being: it was also absorbing half of the strength from each blow, building up a counterattack to release back at him once he was through.

 _He should be done any moment...Now!_

" _Staon dorcha!_ "

My old blade stops immediately...before spinning on axis the opposite way, and blasting a weaker-hued stream of purple energy from its blue-shining steel straight for Clayton!

...However, I expected that he would not be bested so easily by such a counter, as evident when he rushes to the side in a duck and roll maneuver, leaving his reflected power to go crashing against the meadow and upturning a mound of dirt and grass. As soon as he was upright, the ole knight extends a second bone-hard blade from his other wrist, and lunges fast to try and cut me down with two Shadow Weapons!

 _Tuh, great, just what I be needin'. Give a madman a sword, he be a dangerous foe. Give him two, and ye be praying for yer head._

Make no mistake: I was not afraid. Nah, this was more cautious annoyance if anything. Thankfully, he be not the first opponent I faced whom carried a high agility, and with my training, I was able to keep up and use ShatterSoul to block...My ears could not help themselves in picking up on the commentary from our audience.

"Amazing...!" "She's able to block with but a single hand!"

"Yeah, that's Euro swordsmanship for ya."

"I'm almost wondering if this was how the battle went back during her time..."

 _Heh, ye be close, brother of the sickles, but not quite._

 _There were more knights dressed in mail with shields and long swords back then...  
_

"I suppose it shouldn't be too much of a surprise, considering how much experience she was able to gain."

"Mind you, this Clayton character's not slacking."

"He's almost fighting the same way Bishop did..."

"Tch, he's not that tough; most of the strength's gotta come from his old grudge."

 _Hm, most likely, warrior of the dog fang...though tis more than tha': the spider devil's handiwork be giving Clayton the strength he would not have had back when he lived..._

 _But, such power comes with a cost, one that he's yet to feel._

The battle continues on for a while, reaching more than half an hour before the two of us would begin to feel our individual endurance and stamina wavering. Sweat was beading my forehead, making a few strands of red hair stick to my skin, and my fingers beg for a break from holding my weapon, their aching as prominent as the rest of my muscles, my legs especially. The grounds were steadily becoming littered with small craters from the expulsions of power, and my reincard's allies had been forced at least two times to shift their position on the perimeter of the meadow to avoid becoming unwanted casualties...

As for Clayton, his situation had turned dare I say, more dire than he would care to talk about.

"Hah...hah...h-hh..."

As I mentioned before, the process by which the devil marred by spider underwent in reviving my old enemy was fiendish even among the standards of regular necromancy practitioners: using a sliver of a destroyed soul, combined with a half-demon's incarnated flesh, while also reawakening the poison of the Shadow Being?...Using a term from my reincard's time, it's the equivalent of a mad scientist's experiment that would not survive. Such was noticeable now, by judge of the heavier sweat coating his skin and drenching his robes, his steel grey irises glowing feverishly with that plum purple, which was the same colour of his throbbing veins.

 _All that be missing is the growl of a wild animal..._

"Having a bit of tra'uble, Clayton?...Is the body that devil granted ye not longer holding to the power contained?"

"K-Keep, quiet, you, d-damned woman...!"

He grinds his teeth together just as another wave of energy threatens his being, now sparking in a mix of red and purple...which through Coraline's memories, was not an unfamiliar phenomenon.

 _As I thought: his soul is too weak for such a 'hotch-potch' design. Nau'raku did not account for the instability in his creation._

Shaking my head in disappointment, I scoff,

"Bah. This be turnin' into an exercise of futility, a mockery of a battle for the two of us...Ye would 'ave done well to stay in the afterlife, Clayton, and no' head fa'or an end more disgraceful than yer first."

"I said keep quiet, damn you! Drrh!...The only disgrace that matters to me, is the one met in losing to one such as you..."

Lifting his head with a heavy breath, his eyes completely cloud over with a dark rouge-purple, telling me his spirit was corrupted and lost to help.

"The Crofts...will...DIE!"

And just as if someone poured oil onto a dying fire, Clayton's body suddenly erupts with a huge flame of dark rouge-purple power, his warcry bellowing for all to hear!

 _Blast it all...!_

No POV

As Rosiagnes prepares herself for the climax of this age-old grudge match, Inuyasha and company found themselves dumbfounded by the spectacle that was the raging Trinity Knight's latest act. Shippo stutters,

"U-U-U-Uh, I don't remember this part from when Coraline took on Bishop...!"

Miroku comments as his eyebrows furrow together in a serious manner,

"I sense a major shift in demonic presence, mixed with another manner of beast I'm not familiar with. It's almost completely swallowed whatever is left of the human aura!"

Both Inuyasha and Kōga growl through clenched jaws when their noses pick up on a more prominent scent, and the former inquires the latter,

"You recognize that stench too, I take it?"

"How can I not? It's got that bastard Naraku written all over it!"

Having smelt the shift of air themselves, Ginta and Hakkaku stiffen with nervous glares of their own, while Kilala's fur rose on ends to the tune of her own hiss. Glancing behind him at his mate and their best friend, Freeman turns attention back in front of himself to the battlefield while commenting,

"Uhm, I think demon scents are the least of our worries right now. That Clayton dude's lookin' ready to go off like a nuke..."

His brother with the black cornrows was also concerned about the change of power distribution.

"No kidding. It's like he's losing control of his abilities...Or maybe, he's lost control over his very being."

"What're you saying?"

"Well think about it: when's the last time we've seen power born from dark intentions work out for anyone with mortal origins?"

"...Never."

Folding his arms in a matter-of-fact fashion, Besa mutters,

"I rest my case," just as Sango wonders with suspicion creeping into her tone,

"If that much is true, then why would Naraku go to the trouble of reproducing Bishop's ancestor?"

The monk offers a probable answer:

"He likely did not take into account the full consequences of using his incarnation spell in such a manner. It may very well be a miracle that Clayton has lasted this long..."

The wolf demon with long black hair and deep blue irises scoffs,

"Who really cares about the Whys at this point? What we should be asking is if that Rosiagnes woman can actually defeat him now that his power's gone crazy."

"Don't be an idiot; of course she can take 'im down."

"Huh?"

Eyes filled with surprise turn to the half-dog demon with long silver hair and amber irises, who adds to his defense by stating,

"She's Coraline's ancestor, her family for gods sake. She has the experience and expertise that can best ten men like that Clayton fool without so much as an eyelash bat...And it's that strength, which I see emerging in my intended everyday, that I saw when she took down Bishop back in her family's tomb. (Shakes his head) It just doesn't sound possible that her ancestor, the one whose soul she grew up from, would lose here after all this time."

Everyone on the sidelines grew quiet at Inuyasha's words, feeling more assured that the Croft from another time and plain would prevail...Though on the inside, he would make this solemn promise.

 _Still...if this is where things will truly make a turn for the worst...I'll step in and get my girl, the one sleeping within the depths of body and spirit, out of danger._

"This is the end of you, Rosiagnes Croft! Once more...this is the end of your barbaric clan!"

On that hoarse shout, the barely-stable, overpowered Clayton makes his speeding charge straight for the redheaded woman dressed in the thick-material checkered dress...who in turn, drew in a deep breath, and stuck out the ShatterSoul sword straight in front of her like a lance.

 _The only one who be meeting their end...is ye, Clayton._

" _Bíseach Aura!_ "

One second echoes like a heartbeat...before a sliver of power the same shade as Lumos the Will O' Wisp comes sliding up from the hilt of the Celtic blade's hilt to end at the tip, before erupting into a snake-like whirlwind of energy that twists and turns forward, crashing against the opposing force born again by a demon's hands and creating an explosion of blue/red/purple smoky light!

(Ka-BOOM)

Clayton's yell of pain would echo from within the bulk of impacting sounds, the clashing energies threatening to tear his body limb from limb, his blood veins practically stretching to free themselves from his skin. Meanwhile, the audience on the sidelines was forced to cringe back while covering their eyes from the bright shine...

...

As soon as the rumbling settles, Lumos flies from his place above the heads of Inuyasha and Shippo, diving into the dying smoke to search for Rosiagnes...

"Hah...hah...hah...hah...hah..."

She would be found alive if rather exhausted, bending over a little with her free hand atop her knee while the other held the ShatterSoul sword in a half-offensive, half-defensive position a little above her hip. The first to see her form would be Hakkaku:

"Huh? (Points forward) Hey, look, she made it!"

Following his direct of vision, others would quickly express cheers of excitement and relief.

"Alright!" "She won!"

"Wayda go, Rosiagnes!" "Woo-hoo!"

...But then Inuyasha spots the second form that while defeated, was not taken out permanently.

"Huh? Hm...Might be a little early to celebrate, people."

Feeling some stares of confusion, he points a clawed finger towards where Clayton's form would be kneeling. Getting a closer look, we see that his condition has become a little...worse for wear, to be polite. His skin now carried blotches of a deep plum colour as if someone slapped purple paint on him with a paintbrush in a haste, his blood veins throbbing a sickly red, similar in fashion to his bone-like blades that were slowly becoming transparent and forming cracks like fragile glass, and his eyes...were now a full gray with no pupil or iris, making them look sunken.

"Haahhhhh...hhhnhhh...hh-hh-hhnhhhh..."

 _ **W** h **a** t' **s** , **h** a **p** p **e** n **i** n **g** , to **m** e **.**. **.**?_

"Yer ties to this realm be dissolvin'...It shan't be long before ye are destroyed."

Fighting the painful trembles, Clayton looks up to see his triumphant enemy looking down at him with a mix of disdain...and just the slightest amount of pity.

"Ye did not have t' take that devil's deal. Ye could have released yeself from that disaster of a body before ye were completely settled in and saved yeself from a more damnable entrance t' Hell...Instead, ye foolishly chose t' fight for a second chance at winnin' a battle ye were doomed ta lose since those years ago. (Shakes head) How many more times must I explain i' to people like ye? To try and dispel that which is unexplained, unattainable, is an impossible task tha' ends in turmoil for the one committing the act. Be one mortal, immortal ar somethin' inbetween, it matter not...for the Hand of Fate be unkind to all."

"H-hh-hhhh, belay, your talk. It's useless, on s-someone of my sta-ture..."

The dying Clayton breathes out a whisper of a chuckle, his chapping lips forming a most bitter of smiles.

"People like I, who see one way and deny others, cannot be persuade...I suspect the same for that dastardly devil who revived me. His evil has but only one mission: rid his enemies by using every means within his grasp, so that none shall stand in his path. He is the kind of creature that will commit great atrocity without looking back in remorse...I knew this, and yet I did not listen to my common sense, or perhaps it did not come back with me."

Looking up at his old enemy with his full gray eyes, the destabilizing man says to her with a voice that grew as hoarse as the ragged elderly,

"Take heed, heathen, that your descendant and her allies do not end the same as I...If he can easily cloud my judgement, I cannot begin to imagine what would horrors await one of your ilk, should they become corrupted by that Naraku devil. You may be a heretic...but there are _far, worse, evils_ , than even you...Farewell."

With that, Clayton expels the sound of a graveyard's breath, before his body burns in a demonic blaze of wine red and grape purple, shin and bone chipping away like sparks and ash...until there was nothing left but an afterglow highlighting the burn spot in the meadow, shaped exactly like the symbol for Trinity...

"Haaaah, Clayton, ye were a fool through and through...an' curse that spider-marred devil fer preying on ye thirst for vengeance."

 _May he pray the underworld be the littlest bit kind to his soul, for an eternity of torturous repent be a long one..._

 _...Hm?_

Just as Rosiagnes sends such a message to her enemy's departed soul (or whatever may have been left), she senses a new demonic aura permeate from a section of the meadow's perimeter. It was not as strong as the one Clayton radiated, but was more clear and precise...a direct creation from the source.

 _Ah, so he had his eye on his knight, did he?...Paranoia be setting in._

"(Ghostly moan)"

Lumos comes to chirp a few warning sounds to her, and she nods while replying,

"Aye, yes, I just sensed 'is arrival, my friend, but do not be alarmed. Tis only a messenger body."

"Is something wrong, Rosiagnes?"

Turning behind herself to meet the eyes of the large group of misfit heroes, the redhead replies to Miroku,

"Nothing to work into a big lather over...Jus' the devil's eyes and mouth preparing to make a nuisance of themselves, now that 'is latest soldier 'as failed."

Kōga asks her,

"What's that mean?"

"Ye shall see in a moment."

She pivots to stare toward the far West, then calls out with narrowed irises,

"There be no use secluding yeself in the shadows, devil!...I know ye are there, so come out and face us like the man ye disguise yeself as!"

...

...

A figure emerges from the cover of shrubbery and thick tree trunks, moving into the sunlight to reveal themselves as Naraku, cloaked in the baboon skin! Everyone but Rosiagnes gasps and prepares to defend, until she says to them,

"Calm yourselves; that be not the true devil...Jus' one of those, 'demon puppets' as me reincard 'as told me abou'."

...The others relax a little, and Besa comments,

"I guess that makes sense, considering what happened only just yesterday...I wonder if that thing was watching us the whole time..."

His twin brother scoffs,

"That would be so like the freak to do that, play the creeper spy..."

Focusing back between Rosiagnes and 'Naraku', the redhead takes one step towards the demon puppet's direction before saying to the puppeteer through his creation,

"If ye were under the impression that destroying me reincard would be easy while I am in control of her body, ye are a sadder coward than I imagined ye t' be. We of the Croft Clan are trained generation to generation ta adapt, to sa'urvive...Resurrecting me age-old enemy's soul was a fool's mistake, though ye likely did not know of Constantine's demise...That aside, I cannot help but be curious of something else: ye went through quite an elaborate dance to rid yeself of the meddling affairs of the priestess, yet were in quite the haste to rid me reincard not even a day after. Why is that?"

A knowing smirk curves onto the lips of the woman from centuries past.

"Can it be that ye have become jus' as afraid of Coraline, as ye were afraid of Kikyaō? Is that it, devil?... _Are ye scared of a woman who knows how to stand against yer evil?_ "

...

The demon puppet makes no verbal reply, instead shooting out a vine whip from their right arm, which Rosiagnes easily counters with a quick slash of ShatterSoul.

(Slice)

A fragment of thick root drops to the ground just a foot and a half in front of the woman, her expression unchanged.

"Ha. That's quite a reply there...which speaks more volume than ye realize. If ye not going to defend your actions, ye may as well leave. I have no patience for those of your ilk offering no reasonable argument...Jus' remember this, _Na'uraku_."

Rosiagnes's face falls stern and strong:

"Those who know not their repercussions, shall be destined to meet the most unexpected and grizzly of ends."

...

Once again, the messenger creation says not a word, and only vanishes back into the forest once more...

"Should we try and go after that puppet?"

The redhead with lengthy waterfall curls pivots her head to see the rest approaching, and replies simply to Freeman's question,

"I would not bother. Knowing tha' devil, he'll likely destroy it quickly an' eliminate its trail before we even exit the meadow...Nah. That was just a petty attempt of a scare tactic, ta remind us who we are messing about with."

(Pulse...pulse...pulse...)

Suddenly, the center of the woman's chest began throbbing with a familiar bright dark arctic blue light.

"Huh?" "What's happening now?"

"You okay?"

Rosiagnes was just as surprised...until she realizes what was happening.

"Aaah. (Smile) What perfect timin': me reincard has gathered enough strength. She is ready to come back now."

"Come back?...But, won't that mean...?"

Her upturn of mouth falters with a bit of sadness at Shippo's hesitant question.

"Aye, chile. Tis time fo' me to return to the Spirit Realm, an' about bloody time too. No' that yer world does not have its beauty, bu' it's much too different fo' me. Besides, I have lived me life, and have accepted me death long ago...This be the new generation's time..."

A few more light smiles form on some of the group members, and Sango says to the soon-to-be-departing woman,

"Well, it was certainly an honour to meet you...Thank you, for keeping our friend's body safe."

"Of course, Slayer Sango, as it was a pleasure to interact with all of ye."

She shifts to meet the amber irises of one fellow in particular.

"It was especially interesting gettin' ta know ye, Inuyasha."

"Uhm, yeah, same...Before you go, there's, something I meant to ask."

"Aye?"

"...Are you, sure that you don't know what happened to Kikyō's body?"

Humming to herself quietly, Rosiagnes then says to the dog demon,

"Let me pu' it to you this way...Death, 'as more patience than The Living, thus the reason why The End comes so slowly."

And just before Inuyasha or anyone else could ask for the meaning behind the cryptic statement...the woman's body is bathed in a blinding arctic blue light, falling forward for the former to catch in his red-sleeved arms...!

...

...

The meadow grows quiet...until a soft groan echoes into the dog demon's ear, the tone being in that of a much more familiar woman he's come to know for more than a year and a half now.

 _...Coraline?_

Feeling a shift, he looks down...and meets the tired-smiling, two-tone blue eyes of his beloved.

"Heh...Inuyasha."

* * *

List of Irish to English Translations used for this chapter (keep in mind that these are rough translations and may not be 100% accurate):

1) An bhfuil tú ceart go leor? - Are you alright/okay?

2) Tá sibh uilig ag stánadh...Cad é an fhadhb? - You're all staring ... What is the problem?

3) Ní haon ionadh go bhfuil siad chomh fainiciúil sin ó mo láithreacht...Go han-mhaith ansin. - No wonder they are so wary of my presence ... Very well then.

4) Glaoigh ar na teangacha. - Call of the tongues.

5) Gaeilge Ársa - Old Irish

6) Staon dorcha! - Dark refrain!

7) Bíseach Aura! - Spiral Aura!


	138. Chapter 137

Hey all! So, just a little heads up for this chapter.

There will be a some discrete sexual imagery come a certain character's POV switch. Given that this is T-Rated, I obviously can't go _too_ far, but it's far enough that you'll get the context pretty easily. If that's not something you're into, just skip the scene.

Everyone copacetic? Cool. Read away ;)

* * *

 **Chapter 137: Bittersweet Pleasure & an Aura Reader's Insanity**

Nighttime...The time of day when all the regions are at their most vulnerable.

Darkness enshrouds the land, creating an environment that very few are brave enough to travel across, whether out of an age-old respect of the serene tranquility forged by the stars and moon, or out of fear from what could be awaiting to attack them from the shadows...

For the case of the travelers sitting around a campfire under the cover of the nearby trees away from the crevice poison river left behind by their greatest enemy, tonight's darkness settled in to toy with their minds, finally having time to properly discuss recent events in detail without worry of being attacked, even if it's just for the one night.

"...Man...between what happened in Mount Hakurei and the sudden appearance of that Clayton character, it's lucky we even get one night's rest."

Besa, who was now wearing a simple black t-shirt, a green vest, dark blue loose-fit jeans and his monochrome high-tops (semi-matching his brother who went with a black tank-top and nothing else for his torso), nodded in agreement with his brother.

"It does seem that Naraku hardly gives us time to recuperate, but, such is the mindset of a madman..."

Kōga, who along with his two best friends decided to stick around for a little longer with the main group, cuts in with his own opinion.

"I just can't believe he went to all this trouble with that holy barrier, just to kill one woman."

"Lady Kikyō was no ordinary woman."

Eyes fall on Miroku's form as he elaborates,

"It is as Rosiagnes correctly accused his demon puppet: Naraku feared Kikyō's spiritual powers."

Coraline, now dressed in a green camouflage tank-top that shows off her midriff underneath a tied-up button shirt of deep red, loose-fit acid blue jeans and her brown hikers, stares into the campfire while muttering sadly,

"So he sought to rid himself of his human heart, Onigumo's heart, that still cared for her enough to never truly mean harm to her."

She leans back a bit to rest her head on Inuyasha's shoulder, he having stuck to her side like glue for the past several hours since she arose back in her body. Hugging her closer to him now, the dog demon chose to keep silent as the conversation continues, the role of speaker passing to the bodysuit-dressed Sango who sat against a tree with her signature weapon.

"This greatly bothered him...Naraku tried to cut his human heart once before, I seem to recall."

"That was when he created Muso, a being who possessed the heart and memories of the bandit Onigumo."

Freeman scoffs with a bitter smile as he grabs his mate Ginta's hand to hold,

"And boy did that backfire on them both: Naraku was forced to reclaim an organ he doesn't want because he did too early a surgery...and Muso, well..."

His sister finishes for him, recalling the moment in question from her own perspective.

"He was mercilessly reabsorbed into the demon..."

 _(Flash)_

 _"Stop! Let me see Kikyō! I must see Kikyō! (Looks at Coraline) P-Please, girl: help me! You have her within you! Help me reach Kikyō!"_

 _...I'm sorry, Onigumo._

 _(Pulse)_

 _"Huh?"_

 _...Was that...No. Not my Soul...It was...the light half of Kikyō._

 _...Is she just as saddened by this turn for him as I am?_

 _"Kikyō...! Kikyō...!_ ** _Kikyōōōōō...!_** _"_

 _"Hehnhnhn, such bitterness...Such festering greed..."_

 _(Flash)_

"...But after all this time since then...he was able to fulfill his despicable goal...Uh! That would mean...!"

The young monk dressed in purple garments nods and answers with the demon slayer,

"Yes. Those numerous clumps of flesh that we saw deep within Mount Hakurei..."

"He's trying to create a body in which he can seal his human heart, and then cast that body away. I see."

Ginta and Hakkaku cringe with freaked out expressions as the second exclaims,

"That is beyond creepy, even for Naraku!"

Eyeing the more sorrow-filled expressions of Coraline and Inuyasha, the young leader of the Eastern Wolf Demon Tribe watches himself on his next choice of words.

"So now that bastard thinks he has the freedom to do anything he wants to now that, he opted off one person?"

Besa argues,

"Well he did kind-of prove that logic with the appearance of Clayton...Though really, if you think about it...maybe Rosiagnes was right about something else."

He turns his brown-ringed dark green irises to the redheaded woman of the bunch.

"Maybe our enemy's strength has increased...but so has his paranoia. While it is unfortunate that Kikyō's, gone, let's not forget that she wasn't the only woman with great spiritual power on his tail..."

"So...what you're sayin' is that Naraku, wanted to take out Coraline before she can pick up where the priestess left off?"

Everyone felt a wave of realization hit, and Inuyasha felt a growl bubble in the back of his throat as he pulls his intended mate even closer to him.

 _That, bastard...He already killed a, good friend of mine, and now he wants to slaughter my mate?!_

 _Nothin' doin'; I'll never let him get so much as one claw on her!_

"I-Inuyasha?"

"Hm?"

Snapping out of his thoughts to the sound of said girl's voice, he looks down to see her two-tone blue irises staring at him with some worry.

"Um, can we maybe, shift our position? Your grip's starting to cut the circulation off in my arm."

"Uh...oh, sorry."

Releasing her, Coraline then moves so she was sitting sideways in his lap, hugging his torso gently while resting her head against his chest...Knowing where the earlier grip was stemming from, she then whispers soothingly,

"I'm right here, Inuyasha...Here against your heart, see?"

The dog demon could only stare down at the young woman in light amazement for somehow detecting his fears...before letting out a sigh and wrapping his right arm around her body, leaning down so his lips were brushing against the top of her head...

Watching their actions for a moment, Freeman shoots his brother and Kōga a glaring smile while scolding,

"Nice going, guys; now you got the lovebirds on edge."

The recipients look away with somewhat guilty expressions (Besa's more embarrassed while the wolf demon had a mask of pride), before the deliverer goes on with saying,

"And if what happened earlier today was a sign that demon's getting scared, he should be...but not just of Cora."

The young man with dark espresso skin turns his vision to lock with another set of green belonging to Shippo.

"He should be shaking at the prospect of all of us comin' after his sorry ass. Right, little dude?"

The fox demon gapes slightly...before forming a little determined smirk once he saw where the other was going.

"Right! Naraku should be afraid, because no matter what he throws at us, we'll just come back for more stronger than ever! (Sad smile) And, if not just for us, we do it for the people whose lives have been lost...We don't let their sacrifices be in vain..."

Everyone in the circle thinks about the tally of souls taken off the face of this earth because of that damnable demon...and really, because of the Shikon-no-Tama's cold and unforgiving reputation...

Multiple beings from different walks of life who sought one of the precious jewel shard pieces...and the lives caught between who want little to nothing to do with this seemingly everlasting war...

The mass amount of Wolf Demons from Kōga's tribe...

Shippo's parents...

Miroku's Father...

Sango's entire clan, save her wayward brother, Kohaku...

And now, Kikyō...

The moment of silence breaks with a few expels of breath, a mix of gloomy upturns of mouth and frowns of dulled agony fixed onto their faces, yet nodding in comprehension with the young fox demon's ideal.

"...You know what moments like this call for?"

Reaching into his dusty brown satchel, Freeman pulls out that bottle of Black Sugar Rose Rum.

"A stiff drink."

Smirking a little, Coraline reaches half a foot in front of her and Inuyasha to pull out another bottle from her own bag.

"I'm all for that plan, and let's add a splash of the Irish to that Caribbean while we're at it."

"You still have some of that Locke's Moor Whiskey, sis?"

"I know; I'm just as shocked as you are..."

Rolling his eyes a little, Besa moves to assist his siblings with their plan by grabbing out some cheap shot glasses from his satchel and his brother's, enough for the almost full dozen here. The rest could only watch with bewilderment as the three modern-day teens began pouring the alcohol, before Sango finally coughs out,

"Are, you guys serious...?"

"As serious as a scribe, Sango my friend. Sometimes, ya gotta find a way to take the edge off..."

Grabbing two of the shot glasses at ready to serve, Freeman chides,

"What better way than by sharing a round of good rum and whiskey with good people? Won't be permanent, but, you know..."

He then hands them to Ginta and Hakkaku, while Besa passes another two for Kōga and Miroku...Soon, everyone's eventually holding their own glass of alcohol, including a reluctant Shippo (his watered down to be cautious).

"U-Uhm, are you guys sure it's okay for me to have this?"

He was looking at Coraline in particular, and she sighs with a minuscule smile before replying,

"Well normally, I wouldn't encourage pushing the boundary of underage drinking...but, it's just for the one night. You can have that if you want to, Shippo."

"Hah! Really?"

She almost giggles at the eager smile on the fox child's face.

"Mhm, but just the one shot, okay?"

"Got it."

Staring down at his own glass of the whiskey, Inuyasha wonders with a dismal sort of gruff,

 _Hm...somehow, I doubt one glass of this stuff can really take away the pain...Won't hurt to try, though._

"Say, Cor?"

He snaps back to reality at the sound of his intended's brother's voice, the girl replying,

"Yeah?"

"...Wasn't there somethin' your dad and his friends used to do over a round of whiskey, a, prayer or whatever?"

Coraline forms a confused expression...before breathing out a chuckle when she remembers,

"Oh that. You mean the drinking prayer?"

"That's the one!"

"Hm...Yeah, I sort-of recall it. It was some strange tradition he and his best buddy Roth started when they were teenagers, supposingly born out of another old ritual the Crofts used to practice...They always did it during a time when they felt their lowest, and wanted to look towards something better than what life was offering in the present..."

Everyone hms at the sentimental description, before Miroku asks,

"...Do you remember how it went?"

Looking the monk in his blue irises with her own with mild surprise, the redhead deduces where he was going with the question. Smiling a bit, she replies softly,

"Not in full...but, I can improvise."

Clearing her throat, Coraline then holds her shot glass of both alcohols into the air, the mix glowing an dark amber in the firelight.

"A call to hearts is made this hour, to say a prayer for the future...We drink for Kikyō, the one who helped carve the road ahead before joining others in watching our progress...We drink for the lives lost before her in this waging war, whose futures will lie in wait for their next life...We drink for the ones still alive, sitting with us, or elsewhere, thankful that none of us are alone in walking down the arduous path to the next day...And finally, we drink, with the hope of one day slaying the evil one responsible for the hardships we must continue to face, his eventual end marking a brighter tomorrow."

She pulls the glass back as she concludes,

"So be this prayer. Amen."

Everyone chides an echo of 'amen', before they all down their respected glasses.

(Gulp...)

Some form a few bristled expressions from the aftertaste, while others held fast to the strong flavours. Looking at the bottom of his offered glass, Kōga comments,

"Huh. Never tasted spirits like this before...It's amazing what humans will come up with for a new way to get drunk."

Laughing at such a remark, Freeman replies,

"Comin' from you, dude, we'll take that as a compliment...So, are you guys, staying here with us for the night at least...?"

Knowing that the young man was more so referring to Ginta rather than he and Hakkaku, the blue-eyed wolf demon leader smiles at him knowingly and breathes out in a mock sigh,

"Yeah, I guess so, (looks at Inuyasha) that is, if muttface doesn't have any objections to it."

Smirk-glaring at the other demon, the young man with long silver hair grunts back,

"Tch, whatever, wolf, as long as you're not sleeping so close to me and my girl."

"Ha! Do I look that dumb to you or something?"

Coraline quirks back,

"Don't ask questions you don't want an answer to."

"'ey!"

A collective laugh rings from around the campfire, its occupants soaking in this small moment of good feeling while they could...

Eventually, they all begin nodding off to get some form of sleep. Sango and Shippo chose to cloister together against Kilala's larger form, she resting near a bush, and Miroku slept sitting up nearby the twin-tail cat demon's head. Across from them, Freeman and Ginta slept in eachother's arms with the former's head on the latter's chest, while Besa and Hakkaku quietly snored in their own solo positions close by, on his stomach and sideways respectively. Resting with his back against a tall trunk near his wolf demon buddies and the human twins was Kōga, who subconsciously kept his ears active for any suspicious noises that would dare approach the camp tonight...

So then where does that leave Coraline and Inuyasha?

...Following the path of the little Will O' Wisp away from the fire, we spot the young couple sitting together on a tall knoll overlooking the landscape on this moonlit night, both souls feeling too restless for sleep...

"...If only she could've waited for us."

"Hm?"

"Kikyō...She could've waited until we got to her, instead of taking Naraku on alone..."

Inuyasha clenches a fist to himself in an anguished sort of anger.

"She...Even after receiving the rest of her soul...she didn't believe in us, and that's why she died..."

Coraline leans her head on his arm, forcing her fingers to lace with his and break the fist.

"No...I don't think the problem was belief, at least not the way you're thinking."

"Huh?"

Watching the stars twinkling in the sky, she explains,

"As much as she had changed back to a close reflection of who she once was...the sad truth is, Kikyō's ego didn't completely deflate. She was still convinced that the main fight could be fought by her own two hands."

Smiling sadly, the redhead adds,

"It wasn't that she didn't believe in her allies, but that she believed in her own strength more...A strength that for some reason, just wasn't enough to overcome Naraku..."

"Hm...And now we're back to square one, minus one more friend."

"Yeah...I'm, sorry that I can't say where her, body might be if it survived the river of miasma, but Rosiagnes gave me no clues before she dove back into my soul...And, maybe for now, it's for the best."

Stiffening up considerably, the dog demon pulls back so that he and Coraline had to face eachother sideways, his expression set in a grieving disbelief.

"How can you say something like that so calmly?!"

"By looking at the bigger picture of danger we're still all technically in. Need I remind you of what happened earlier today?"

"...You know about Clayton?"

"Mhm. Most of the memory's in flashes, but I definitely recall the end when one of Naraku's demon puppets showed up..."

A frown curves onto the young woman's lip:

"And if that on top of my ancestor's enemy's revival isn't a clear indication that Naraku could be watching from wherever he's hiding this time, what else is there to look at? If he's indeed able to spy on our activities...then not looking for Kikyō may be safer than risking Naraku getting his claws on her body and-mph!...Doing god who knows what sort of further desecration to her spirit that he already hasn't..."

"Uh..."

Inuyasha allows his intended's words to sink into his own mind for a moment...before realizing the logic in them.

 _...She's right. In the long haul, the less we know, the less our enemy knows, and the better advantage..._

 _But, still, not knowing the full details of Kikyō's fate...it hurts._

"...But it was worse without you."

"Huh?"

Coraline looks at her boyfriend confusingly, not understanding the context of his thoughts.  
He turns his head to meet her blue eyes with his amber, a more serious expression on his face.

"Having to face that grief on my own, without having you beside me...was worse than the grief I'm feeling right now...It felt like, I lost both that friend, and my lover, that was slowly losing everyone."

"Inuyasha..."

(Tug)

"Oh!"

The redhead's then pulled to sit sideways in the silver-haired dog demon's lap, the latter wrapping his arms around her body tightly, hugging her in a way that she was almost swallowed into his red kimono...

"Accepting, that Kikyō's gone, is already hard...but it would be impossible to grip the idea of, losing you. I can't lose you, Coraline; I just, can't!"

"...Inuyasha..."

To hear him on the brink of breaking down was heart-wrenching for the girl, and a few tears well up in her own eyes before she clasped her arms around him, burying her face between his shoulder and chest.

"...You won't lose me. You won't, b-because, I don't wanna lose you. (Sniff) I...I love you too much to let you go, Inuyasha. So much...!"

She feels a calloused clawed hand begin to pet her hair, and the owner nuzzles her neck while whispering,

"I love you too, Coraline, and I refuse to let anyone or anything take you away from me...The road may get harder from here, but when has that ever stopped either of us?"

Inuyasha gently moves back and places a finger under his intended's chin to guide her to look at him.

"No matter what life may throw at us, at the end of the day, you belong with me, and I belong with you...We have eachother's hearts, (small smirk) and I for one, don't plan on giving yours back."

A small giggle escapes Coraline's mouth, before she leans in close so that they were but a centimeter away from kissing.

"I should hope so...because I'm keeping your heart forever."

"Good to hear."

On that note, the young couple seals the deal, pressing their lips together for a deep, tantalizing kiss.

Coraline's POV

 _God, kissing him gets more addicting with each one...So, addicting..._

Suddenly, it felt like the sad atmosphere was slipping away. I suppose it's true that grieving with good people is better than grieving alone, and that we all have our own methods. For Inuyasha and I, ours was to get lost in eachother, searching for a pleasure that could etch away the pain for even just a little while. Every kiss, every touch; it healed some of the deeper emotional wounds...

What I didn't expect, was just how lost in eachother we'd get, to the point where our relationship's dynamic, would change forever after tonight.

It started out innocently enough, lots of lip-lock and my fingers combing through his hair while he focused on holding me to him...But then, one of his hands began to descend, from back, to lower back...before finally settling on my bottom. A squeak escapes me, allowing his tongue access into my mouth, changing that sound into a moan which he returned with a rumbling growl of pleasure.

I didn't think too much of it at first, dismissing it as just a moment of boldness...But then, Inuyasha breaks our latest deep kiss, and descended to my neck, leaving a few butterfly kisses and licks, which made my breath shorter and deeper...

"C-Coraline..."

"Y...Yes?"

"...I don't think, I can hold back anymore. I need you...I need to, make you mine."

 _Make me hi-...Oh, my...He wants to-_

"I-I understand, if you're not comfortable with going, a-all the way...But at least, let me mark you."

 _Inuyasha...I..._

Maybe this was my hormones talking...or perhaps I wanted to escape grief in the deepest way possible...But mostly, I thought,

 _...I need him. I want him. All of him!_

"...Do more than mark me."

"Huh?"

"I want you, Inuyasha...I need all of you, more than just your mark. I want...I want to mark you, and, feel you. Feel us as one...!"

I felt his breath hitch against the skin of my neck, before he asks uncertainly,

"A-Are you sure?...Because once we go that far, there's no going back."

"I know...but I never want to go back. Not from you...the one I love more than anyone else in this world."

Craning my neck a bit so he could see it better, I whisper,

"...I'm ready to become your mate, Inuyasha."

There's a pause...before I felt him drop fast against my skin again, nipping and licking my neck, then sink his fangs into my flesh. There was a sting, followed by a wave of pleasure never felt before, stronger, wilder, beautiful.

"Oooh...!"

 _So...So good. So-!_

Something in my own basic instincts was set off, and as soon as his mouth left my neck, I performed a similar act on his, making him cry out in pleasure and my heart croon happily in hearing that sound from him...

It all became a bit of a blur after that, other than the sight and sounds of clothes being taken off, almost ripped away our bodies...His strong hands caressing and squeezing my exposed body...Our moans filling the air around us as we finally... _finally_ gave ourselves to eachother in the most intimate and physical of ways...

If I could summarize it one sentence...that night, was euphoria born from tragedy.

Time Skip, Inuyasha's POV

 _My god...That was, the most wonderful night I ever spent..._

I awoke in the early morning, without clothes and in the arms of my equally bare inte-no...with my beautiful mate cuddling into my chest, the two of us having slept on my robes the rest of the night after we...well, I don't think I really need to say what we did, do I? Words can't even begin to describe how, amazing it felt going all the way with this woman, seeing her flushed face writhing in as much pleasure as I felt it riddle my body. For one fleeting moment, I thought that my demon ego would take control...but no. What happened last night, was all me, and all her, just the two of us, like it used to be since the early days of our adventures.

 _And I wouldn't trade those days for anything...We've come so far, and beyond that._

Smiling, I brush my claws through her long locks of red hair, glancing at the mating mark on her neck, it no longer a bite, but, reformed as the kanji for 'Inu' within a dog fang.

 _And now...she's all mine, forever. This special mark will tell other demon males to back off._

Recalling the similar mark she made on my own neck (which will more or less take the same shape), I almost chuckle a bit at how into the action she got.

 _She may be a human, but she sure isn't like those other girls in this era...She knows how to keep up._

"Mm...mm-m, Inuyasha..."

 _Ahp, speaking of..._

I feel her shift against my torso, before opening those mesmerizing blue eyes to stare at me with a sleepy smile.

"Mm, good morning."

"Heh, good? I think _great_ morning would be a better greeting..."

I run my knuckles against her cheek softly:

"How're you feeling?"

"(Yawn) Tired mostly, and a little sore...but I guess that's to be expected...How 'bout you?"

"Same...You, were, incredible last night."

She blushes and giggles out,

"So were you...I, admit, I've fantasized about that moment, but, they pale in comparison to the pleasure you made me feel."

She leans in to steal a kiss, which I returned.

"You made me see heaven."

 _Heaven, huh?...Who would've thought?_

We spent a couple more minutes just lazing in eachother's company, before we realized that everyone else would eventually come looking for us. So reluctantly, we get up and redress in our clothes, then help eachother look at least a tiny bit presentable. Yeah, not something I usually worry about, but I want our experience to remain as discreetly noticeable as possible for as long as I can allow it, even though the demons of our group will easily catch wind with their own sense of smells...

Soon, we were walking back to camp, hand in hand and glowing with happiness and love, a duo of emotions I didn't think I'd feel so soon. The first thing I'd notice is the smell of breakfast cooking, in the form of roast rabbit, bird and boiled rice.

 _Eh, a bit simplistic, but as long as it fills..._

The ones doing the cooking this round would be Sango and Besa, with the little tyke helping out when he could. The wolf and one of his buddies were standing by, talking with Miroku, which left Kilala and Lumos playing around with eachother...

"Hey there, you two. Nice of you to join us."

I nod over at Besa while Coraline actually voiced a greeting.

"Morning, brother, Sango. (Turns right) And morning to you three as well."

They wave back, just as Shippo comes bounding over to us and hops onto my shoulder, a small beam of a smile on his face.

"Morning!"

Wincing silently from how loud he was against my ears, I then smirk slightly and ruffle his hair while greeting back,

"Yeah, mornin' to you too, squirt."

Coraline gives me a peck before moving down to her knees and prep a bowl for each of us...just as Shippo suddenly asks me a question I'd never thought to hear from him, and he actually kept his voice down too.

"Say, Inuyasha..."

"Hm?"

"(Sniff-sniff) Not saying this to insult you or whatever, but...you smell a bit different today."

I wasn't too nervous, but it surprised me that he of all demons here would be the first to notice a slight change.

"...Do I?"

"Yeah...and, Coraline's scent's a bit different too. It's like...you both have a little of eachother..."

 _Hm, he's grown sharper after all this time...Maybe, it wouldn't hurt to at least give him a hint._

"Keh, and your nose isn't lyin', kid...I won't go into details 'cause you're still young, but...let's just say Coraline's no longer just my intended mate."

I give him a minute to think...before it dawns on him.

"Hah!...Y-You mean...!"

I chuckle a little at his eager smile and nod, causing him to cheer quietly then whisper,

"That's amazing; I'm so happy for you!...You two are mates now...No wonder you two look so happy this morning."

The tiniest of smirks curves onto the kid's lips:

"You finally got it with her."

 _Auh!...Okay, this kid needs to stop hanging around the monk. He's learned way too much too fast._

I hiss at him with a smirk-glare,

"Watch your mouth; that's not something you should be saying at your age."

"Hey, I am getting older, aren't I? _Wiser_?"

"Whatever, just be careful the girls don't hear you."

"Sure, sure..."

Sango's voice cuts into our little private conversation:

"Hey, are you two gonna sit down and eat or what?"

We do, I dropping down beside Coraline so she can pass me a bowl she made for me, and Shippo settling beside Kilala just as the others come over to eat...That's when I notice there were two more people that have yet to join the campfire.

"Hey. Where's Freeman and Ginta?"

Swallowing some of his meal, Besa replies,

"I thought I saw them go a bit further into the forest while they, Kōga, Hakkaku and I were hunting for meat earlier...Strange they haven't come back yet..."

Hakkaku cuts in with his own observation:

"They did seem a little distracted, almost like they weren't focused on food at all..."

"...Hah, hah, hey, guys!"

 _Ah, there they are._

We look to see the two jogging out from the cover of the trees and brush...and looking a little disheveled, or at least that's what I saw.

 _Hm~...looks like my mate and I weren't the only ones who got some 'action' in these last several hours._

A knowing smirk curves onto my lips as the wolf says to them,

"About time you two show up! What kept you?"

Straightening up, both human and wolf demon would look honestly sheepish and reluctant to answer the question.

"Uhh..." "Well..."

And it seems that Kōga wasn't as completely ignorant as I usually believe him to be, for one glance over their forms told him what I already guessed happened.

"Gh-uh! (...Shakes head) On second thought, I don't wanna know."

They take that as the message to sit down and grab their own portions of food, and as Freeman settles, he's nudged by his brother who gives him a downright devilish smile and mutters,

"Sheesh, can't keep your hands off eachother, can ya, brother?"

"Sh-Shut up!"

I let out a loud laugh along with the other men while the girls sigh exasperatingly...Once we're done eating, we pack up and ready to hit the road again, parting ways with the wolf and his two-man crew at a fork in the path.

"You sure you guys wanna go your own way and not keep going with us?"

He replies to Coraline with a shrug,

"It's probably for the best. There's no telling which way exactly that bastard's gone this time, so splitting up in as many directions as possible may be the better option."

Ginta nods and piles onto the logic by saying,

"Most of the bad aura's gone South from what I can smell...Haah, first North, now South?"

Hakkaku facepalms and complains,

"At the rate this is goin', we'll end up at the edge of the world before that evil creep decides to stay in one spot."

Their leader argues back,

"If that's what it takes, that's what it takes, so don't start bellyaching...Now come on, let's get a move on."

He then locks eyes with me and says in a tone between serious and casual,

"...You take care of yourself and your pack, 'kay, mutt?"

"Uh...(Nod) You too, wolf."

 _He definitely senses the change between me and Coraline..._

Once everyone else says their goodbyes, including a long lip-lock between those die-hard lovers Freeman and Ginta (making me roll my eyes), the wolves head their own way while we decide to start our next length of the journey by checking in on Shintarō's village first since they were closest...

What we'd come across is several huts reduced to piles of damaged lumber laying by the body of water surrounding Hijiri Island.

 _Damn..._

"This area's been affected too."

Freeman says to Miroku with his own frown,

"Shouldn't be too much of a surprise: most of the demons I saw leaving Hakurei were heading this direction."

Shippo mutters with a bit of worry,

"I wonder if Shintarō and the others are okay..."

...Suddenly, the little twin-tail jumps from Sango's arms and began running ahead of us, along with that little sentient orb.

"Uh! Kilala!" "Lumos!"

...

Running after them into the heart of the village, we'd discover that the young headman, his sisters and most of the villagers had made it out alive, and were currently distributing their own meals.

"Here you go, enjoy."

 _Huh...so they made it at least._

Coraline calls for Shintarō, and he looks up from Kilala to spot the rest of our arriving forms.

"Miroku, Coraline, all of you!"

"You came back!"

The monk greets the four siblings with his own relived smile.

"You're all looking well, if I may say so."

We stay for a little while before moving onto the next nearby village, the one that, Kikyō temporarily stayed in with those kids, having been hit similarly by the demons that escaped Mount Hakurei, but were otherwise okay...

It just kept going like that for another two days, our group steadily moving away from the destroyed mountain to continue our search for the one responsible...Eventually, we come across a more recent attack on a village by Naraku's demons.

"That aura..."

Cursing, I pull Coraline onto my back so that we'd jump ahead of the others down to the village to see if there were any survivors...Unfortunately, no one would be found alive this round, the village now a ghost town riddled with corpses.

Sango comments on how horrible the sight was, and Miroku notes,

"This the the third village," while I observe,

"I'm only catching the scent of weaker demons..."

Besa mutters,

"Then this was definitely the work of the beasts that made a break from the mountain when the sacred barrier was cancelled out...They no longer had anything to hold them back, not even their master."

 _Damn, this is awful! I thought that we made progress forcing Naraku out of hiding, but this is even worse than before!_

 _...On top of that, Kikyō was killed, and I almost lost my mate because that bastard resurrected her ancestor's enemy..._

Nudging me out of my thoughts, Coraline guides me into helping everyone else prepare graves for the lives lost here...

Sunset comes as I finish digging out one more grave, and I think to myself with a very bitter smile,

 _Seems we're back in that 'good Samaritan period' again._

Climbing out of the hole, that's when I notice a new stranger had arrived, in the form of a priest much older than the one in my pack.

"Excuse me...It would seem there's been a tragedy. Please, allow me to help."

Though a little suspicious, we decide to accept the invitation of assistance...while learning about where he had just come from. Soon, we're listening to his tale by the side of an abandoned hut.

"So you came from the area of Mount Hakurei?"

Nodding to Miroku, the old priest replies,

"Yes, I've been on a pilgrimage, traveling around these lands. I heard that the scared Mount Hakurei had collapsed and that an evil aura was spreading South."

"I see..."

I continue to stare at the stranger...feeling something off, which got stronger when he suddenly says,

"Oddly enough...it's exactly as that priestess said."

My mate stiffens under the hold of one of my arms in time with my own body, both of us feeling a trigger from the title.

 _Priestess...?_

"It was two days ago: an injured priestess washed up on the riverbank near a village on the other side of the mountains. She mumbled about being wounded by Naraku, then she said something about having to chase after this Naraku."

 _...That does sound like it could be Kikyō...and yet, Rosiagnes said..._

 _(Flash)_

 _"..._ _Unfortunately, even I did not have the strength to still the fatal wounds dealt by Nau'raku...The devil, was successful in getting what he wished for..."_

 _(Flash)_

 _"However, I shan't allow he'im to get away with complete annihilation of the priestess...I am not fully certain if me spell worked, but...there is a chance her body may not have perished in the poison."_

 _"Are you saying that...her, corpse, could be out there somewhere?"_

 _"Aye. Not definitely, but could be...and before any of ye ask, no, I would not know where to start searching."_

 _(Flash)_

Bearing that woman's words in mind...it suddenly made the priest's words less trustworthy, even when he said rather convincingly,

"However, her injuries were so serious...she may have already died from them."

...That's when it really hits me, why I felt something foreboding in a familiar way from this monk.

 _Because... Renkotsu did the same thing at that temple, swaying us into a false sense of security on top of a wild goose chase...and it-_

I look down at Coraline, tightening my arm around her.

 _It almost cost me the the lives of my friends, and the woman whose heart means more to me than anyone's in the world..._

She seem to sense something of the same suspicion I did, if not more, yet replies smoothly with a gentle smile,

"We see...Thank you, for this information, monk. We must be on our way, however."

"Oh?"

Nodding, she leads us away from the stranger and out of the village...

"That man beats with no aura."

We all look to Coraline in surprise from her remark, and her brother Freeman asks,

"You sure?"

"Yes. That's why I wanted to get out of there...What he said...I don't trust it, or him. Something's not right."

 _Hm...Maybe we're alot closer to the bastard's new trail then we thought..._

Time Skip, No POV

The next morning after sleeping in a clearing near the massacred village, Inuyasha and company would set out again on this path heading to the South, an air of unease still hanging over their heads from their encounter yesterday evening...

That feeling would soon switch to alertness, when their ears pick up on the sound of horses approaching from behind them.

"Huh?"

Stopping, they turn to see an official and his men coming towards them.

"Hold it right there, all of you! You look suspicious!"

Coraline raises a somewhat incredulous brow:

"Suspicious? What, does he believe we're highwaymen or something?"

Besa suggests in a gesture towards himself, her and Freeman,

"He could be referring to our outfits since we're, you know, technically foreign to this era."

The other twin with cropped coarse black hair shakes his head and mutters,

"I dunno, bro, it's been a while since anyone made that comment..."

Frowning with a glare, Inuyasha grumbles,

"Well whatever's going on, I don't like the looks of this guy."

The official stops his horse in front of the group of humans and demons, before saying with a narrowed look,

"There have been many strange happenings in this vicinity lately, so we have been ordered to detain all suspicious-looking travelers. Now come!"

The dog demon growls at the man's tone, and Coraline takes his hand while chiding,

"Easy, love; don't get too riled up..."

She then quietly asks everyone as a whole:

"Well, whaddo you all think? Should we go with them peacefully or make a break for it?"

Miroku ponders,

"Between what's occurring now and the stranger we met yesterday...perhaps it wouldn't hurt to play along and find out what's shifted besides the scattered demon activity. Does that sound agreeable?"

Everyone nods uncertainly, even the dog demon who mutters with a scoff,

"Teh, besides, they're just humans. Worse goes to worst, we'll just knock 'em out and run."

The official did not appreciate the verbal secrecy:

"What are you talking about over there? Get the rope and tie them up!"

On that order, the servants surround the group with their bō staffs held at ready. Shippo jumps into Freeman's arms with a scared whimper while the latter holds him and reassures,

"Don't worry, little dude; it's gonna be alright. It's all part of the plan."

"I-If you say so..."

...

The scene shifts to the inside of a mansion where the official came from, just as another bound man is being forced into a kneel before a feminine silhouette hidden behind the entrance screen doors.

"Please have mercy! I've done nothing wrong! I have all the proper travel documents in my pocket!"

Unfortunately, whoever this lady of the manor was, her heart was not of the kind variety.

"Kill him."

"Yes, milady."

A samurai attendant unsheathes his katana, and despite the frightened sounds from the victim...

(Slash)

They would fall to the cold cruel order, much to the horror of the other people who were dragged here under questionable charges. Among this mix of villagers and travelers trapped in the courtyard...was our own main group, bound with rope by their wrists and torsos, Kilala being tied to Sango in a leash-like manner, while Lumos was lucky enough to hide in Coraline's satchel. The demon slayer mutters with a bitter glare,

"That wasn't much of a hearing, was it?"

The twins shake their heads with frowns of their own, while their sister turns to duck her face towards her mate's chest with a grimace.

"Madness...!"

Though Inuyasha wasn't able to hold her comfortingly, he substitutes by kissing the top of her head, then glaring ahead at the figure behind closed doors.

 _Of all the cruel-!_

Miroku's voiced opinion wasn't too far off:

"I must say, this is very disquieting..."

Shippo scrambles as best he could behind the monk's legs, whimpering,

"I wanna get outta here...!"

Suddenly, the lady of the house points towards Coraline's direction while saying,

"She's here."

Quickly deducing what his mistress meant, the official goes over to the group and seizes the redhead while directing some guards to keep the others back.

"Ah!"

"Coraline!"

The dog demon felt his protective instincts kick into overdrive.

"Grrrh, let her go!"

Ignoring the angry silver-haired man, the official says to Coraline,

"Come with us immediately, girl. My Lady Okugata commands it."

She thinks to herself on edge,

 _What? Just me?...Now I'm convinced something's wrong._

It would only get worse when said lady commands,

"I have no use for the others...Kill them."

On that note, the rest of the prisoners are quickly surrounded by the guards, while Coraline is forcibly dragged away, despite her struggles and protests.

"No! Rgh, guys, Sango...Inuyasha!"

Said dog demon cries out her name and readies to charge after her, only to be knocked back by two of the guards.

"Stay where you are, demon!"

"You will not interfere!"

"Grrr, why you...!"

 _No...Coraline...!_

...

Leaving him and the others, we catch up with the redheaded woman as she's unceremoniously shoved into Lady Okugata's quarters.

"Agh! Hey!"

She readies to stand up and chase after the official in a fury...but was stopped when she picks up on an unsettling aura.

"Huh...?"

 _That, energy...like that of a demon..._

Slowly turning around, she spots Lady Okugata sitting none too far away with what appears to be an infant in her arms...A magenta/purple glow begins to cloud her body as she speaks to her captive.

"Now that Kikyō is dead, it seems that you're the only one left who can sense the jewel shards."

"Uh...Hmph, (glare) and how do you know of her and the Shikon-no-Tama?"

Coraline then senses a presence to her left, and looks to see,

"...The priest from last evening...?"

...

...

They suddenly fall forward in a dead limp, and a foam oozes from underneath his hat, confirming the young woman's worries about their character.

 _Auh, I knew it! He's already dead!...And there's only one person I know capable of making a corpse appear alive without a soul..._

Sucking in a deep breath, she then calls out strongly but calmly,

"Come out from the shadows, _Kagura_."

...Said wind demon incarnation does, holding up her fan with an utterly annoyed expression.

"Honestly, I've had it. That bastard makes me look after this stupid infant."

She then smirk-glares at the human a few feet before her.

"So you knew of my Dance of the Dead, did you? Aren't we getting clever by the day."

"Hard to forget that particular parlor trick of yours...Now what's the meaning of this, sorceress?"

"No one will come to save you."

Coraline darts her head back at Lady Okugata, who adds,

"Your dear friends and lover will be killed by the castle soldiers."

Unsettling though that prediction was, the former was more pressed by the...new octave.

"...Wait a minute...That voice, is too young..."

 _Which means she's not the one speaking now, (glance) but rather...!_

She fixates on the infant in the woman's arms, and getting a closer look...we see them to be the strange purple-haired baby that Kagura had taken from Mount Hakurei only a few days ago!

"Inuyasha will not come."

He turns so his pupiless lilac eyes met two-tone blue.

"He will be the first to die in an attempt to rescue you."

Gritting her teeth, Coraline realizes,

 _This must be Naraku's latest incarnation. He has that similar aura...and yet, why does it have a more human quality to it?_

"...Who are you, and what do you want from me?"

"I am called Akago, and I already told you: you are the only one left who can sense the Shikon-no-Tama shards...I have need of your eyes."

"My...eyes?"

Lady Okugata slowly rises like a stiff marionette, and begins to slowly approach the bound redhead with Akago in her arms. Coraline flinches back with a defensive glare, silently pleading for her lover's name...

He meanwhile, was prepping for a fight coming with the guards outside as some unsheathe their blades.

"Now reside yourself to death!"

Inuyasha shares a look with his comrades, who nod back firmly with their own expressions of battle.

 _Wait for it..._

The guards charge, and Sango makes the first move, rushing forth and freeing herself with her hidden wrist blades before blocking one man's sword!

(Clang)

"Whah?! A hidden weapon?!"

They begin their own fight, drawing the other armed guards to try and attack her as well.

"That damnable wench; how dare she!"

"She's not the one you should be worryin' about, bub!"

"Huh?"

(Slash-rrrip)

Inuyasha then chose this moment to break his bindings with just his sheer strength and the tips of his claws, a smirk on his face all the while.

"Don't you know it takes more than some measly rope to keep me down?"

He then runs forward and kicks two of the sword-wielders to the ground, just as Sango finishes disarming the first one, their sword landing blade-first in the dirt...

"Don't let those two get away!"

The slayer hurries to free Miroku with her weapon.

"There you go."

"Thank you, Sango."

Inuyasha does similarly with his claws to free the twins, Shippo and Kilala with just a few swipes.

"Hah!"

(Slash-slash, slash)

"Thanks, man." "Thanks, Inuyasha!"

"No sweat. Now get ready, 'cause here they come!"

Soon, fights were breaking out all over the place, including Miroku snatching the staff of one servant to use for his own devices, socking the latter in the stomach with one end to put them out of commission for a time...Sango would move her focus to getting her Hiraikotsu and the monk's true staff back, taking down less than half a dozen guards with her wrist blade before slinging up the more familiar weapons over her shoulder...However, three more guards stood in her way.

"Grh, I'm taking these back."

Over by the rest of the captured villagers and travelers, Freeman works to knock out two more servants with a stolen staff while his brother finishes helping untie the helpless crowd.

"As soon as you see an opening, run for it."

"R-Right!...Let's go!"

They begin a retreat for the gate, but wouldn't get too far before some more guards block their way!

"Hold it; you're not going anywhere!"

" _Fox Magic: Wailing Mushrooms!_ "

(Poof)

A wave of those said illusionary shrooms pop to life, crashing against the soldiers that were blocking the exit out.

"Gah-aaah!" "What are these?!"

The one responsible for the trick lands back on the ground smoothly with a smug smile, before turning to shout at the villagers,

"Now's your chance; hurry!"

They don't hesitate, heeding the fox demon's word and dashing for the front gate just as Sango takes down the guards blocking her.

"Outta the way!"

(Whack)

"Gauh!" "Uh!"

Besa lends a hand, motivated to get his and Freeman's weapons back.

"Take, this!"

(Whack)

"Ugh!" "Urh!"

They all go down with one club swing from Hiraikotsu and a 'borrowed' bō, and the slayer runs over back to Miroku's side to hand him his staff just as the cornrow-haired teen comes back with his sickles and his brother's long hammer.

"Here, bro."

"Thanks; I was startin' to feel naked without this thing."

Moving so they were standing back-to-back and properly prepped for a brawl, Sango comments to the other three men,

"Well these guys aren't any real challenge..."

Miroku argues,

"Yes...but we mustn't forget: these guys are following orders from someone higher up...We can hardly start killing them, and besides, we're outnumbered."

Besa adds,

"Not to mention they're only human...Thank goodness those other poor people escaped."

"Yeah, well there's only one person I'm concerned with right now!"

Eyes fall to Inuyasha's form just as he punches out another guard, his face contorted with anger and worry.

"They took Coraline, my girl, and I swear if I don't find out where she's being held in this damn mansion right now, _someone here's_ gonna pay!"

On that note, he charges towards the front doors of the luxury estate.

"I'm coming, Coraline!"

His companions call for him to slow down, but their protests fall on deaf ears, further blocked by the outcries of the hostile guards...Turning back inside the room of Lady Okugata, the infant incarnation known as Akago chuckles before saying to his captive,

"Coraline, I will make good use of your eyes...Kagura, I want you to untie her ropes now."

"Are you sure?"

Though even in asking that question, the wind incarnation follows the order, sending a small wind blade to cut the bindings around the redhead.

(Snap)

"Rh!"

She winces from the impact...before focusing back on the puppet ruler now kneeling in front of her, and preparing to hold Akago towards her!

 _Crap!_

Coraline tries to back away, but is held down fast by Kagura.

"Let, go...!...Ah!"

Lady Okugata holds the strange demon-like infant towards the human, who grinds her teeth at the sight of those tiny hands reaching near her eyes.

"Mph! Stop that!"

"Why? What're you afraid of? Do you think that I'll take your eyes and perhaps eat you?"

"Hardly...I'm just done with the creepy banter. It gets really annoying after one too many times."

(Shove)

"Ah!"

Coraline's suddenly pushed forward by the wind sorceress, and Akago takes the advantage by embracing her upper chest, laying his head where her heart lies...Closing his eyes, he seemingly listens for the heartbeat...but really, he was looking for something much more.

 _...Uh! This girl's soul...The light, the darkness...I've never heard of such a deep intertwine...!_

 _No black and white...just, gray. How can this be?_

 _Good or bad, the light and darkness of a humans is never usually this deeply knit together..._

 _But wait...there is dominance in the shadows...Grief...Guilt...And my...such a killer's instinct.  
_

Meanwhile, said recipient of this invasive search began to feel a sharp pain writhe through her bones.

"Rgh-gh...A-nh...!"

 _What, is this?...I-It's as if he's trying to pry me apart, looking for...for what...?_

 _...Arh!_

 _(Flash)_

 _We turn within the depths of her soul, to see an image of_ _Kikyō being stabbed by Naraku's hands, falling over the side of the poisonous river..._

 ** _Kikyō...My, Soul Sister...Why? Why did I have to lose you?!...Why couldn't I have done more for you?!_**

 _(Flash)_

 _Then came the chortling image of the strange demon that helped her separate her own soul from the priestess, which would compromise the trust between her and her companions._

 _ **"It's funny how dumb you all are, not seeing this sooner! Then again, she did do a good job hiding our deal, going behind your backs to gather the items needed to pay me."**_

 _To recall the expression of betrayal on Inuyasha's face was especially hard for the girl.  
_

 _"Why did you do this? Why?"_

 _"...I...I-I..."_

 ** _I still can't fully forgive myself for going behind their backs, his back...but, I did it, to protect you, Inuyasha..._**

 ** _Yet how can I protect him, if I can't protect myself?_**

 _(Flash)_

 _Her memory goes back further, back to her early days before she came to Tokyo, and was struggling to survive. One major test to her resolve, would be in the French backwoods with those wild wolves, led by their rabid leader who was - in a twist of fate - killed by the scrappy eleven year-old girl with only a sharp rock._

 ** _Even before I began to have episodes of losing it to my powers, I was still capable of going crazy to stay alive._**

 ** _...Yet this day seems more innocent, compared to what would happen in...in India._**

 _(Flash)_

 _That frightening scene in the tiny populace located past the_ _Village of Lambasingi returns, the screams of its people and the roar of the flames creating a terrible symphony of chaos. We fast-forward through the younger Coraline's own capture by Trinity Soldiers, then her attempt to run when those other villagers tried to riot against these monsters in human clothing...Then came the defining moment, when she kills the one soldier with their gun in a battle of strength and wills, triggering a murderous rampage by the young soul just to get away from the violence, involuntarily adding to it.  
_

 ** _How...How could I have done that? How can I still live with the fact that I senselessly killed these men?_**

 ** _They were horrible in their own right, yes...but why me? Why did I become their insane Angel of Death?!_**

 _(Flash)_

 _Finally, came the day where she lost control of her energies, and allowed herself to become swallowed by the more rage-fueled side of her soul in order to savagely kill Shichinintai member, Mukotsu. Seeing the more crazed version of herself, glowing eyes and all, remembering that banshee-like howl which emitted from her lips upon lunging at the poison-user...it frightened Coraline to say the least._

 ** _No, no stop! Not this again! Please!...Please don't make me see this, this beastly version of myself!_**

 _(Flash)_

"I have it...!"

...The air begins to thicken with the dark aura of Akago, as he fixes to take hold of his captive's spirit.

"I have a hold of your darkness, Coraline. You can't get away from me now."

Lady Okugata collapses, her purposes no longer required, not while another, despite her weak struggles...begins to stiffly embrace the demonic child.

"Now hold me tightly. Let our souls unite and become my eyes."

(...Pulse...pulse...)

What Akago didn't realize however, was that stimulating that darker part of Coraline's spirit may not have been wise, as evident by the clouding, feverish glow of dark arctic blue over her 'sought out' eyes.

"Nnh...Hh-h!"

 _N-No!...Inu-yasha...Inuyasha, h-help, meee...!_


	139. Chapter 138

Hey all!

Just wanna send a quick shout-out to my PM buddy **WolfWitchHuntress1318** for helping me with the craft and edit of this chapter. Your contributions for the descriptive and more fluffy scenes were a huge help :)

Read on, live on :D

* * *

 **Chapter 138: Conquering & Embracing Personal Demons**

Continuing from last we left off, while Coraline was being assaulted by Akago the Demon Infant within the mansion of Lady Okugata, the battle out in the courtyard rages on as Inuyasha and company work to try and dispatch the guards and servants.

Miroku knocks one staff-wielder down by punting the end of his own in their torso, throwing them to the ground.

"Why you...!"

Another guard retaliates by trying to bring his blade down against Sango, who blocks with her Hiraikotsu before disarming him and two more with her wrist blade.

(Ka-tang)

"Uh!"

The swords land to stick into the dirt, but hardly deter the rest of the mansion workers, who crowd around the slayer and monk. The latter comments,

"Fighting off these men without actually killing them, is proving to be very difficult..."

"No kidding; it's easier to fight off demons..."

One guard makes their lunge:

"Now die!"

"Back off!"

(Clang)

But Besa suddenly jumps in to block the katana with his own two sickles in a cross position, much to Sango's surprise.

"Besa...!"

He flashes a smile of reassurance at her, before focusing a glare onto the assailant.

"Can't you see that you and your men are the ones in the wrong here?! If you wanna save yourself some grief, just tell us where my sister is and be done with it!"

"Silence, foreigner!"

Freeman, who had just whacked down another guard with a neutral jab from his long hammer, turns around to see his brother struggling with his current opponent.

"Oh for the love of..."

He runs over, using his weapon like a jousting lance.

"Yaaaa-aah!"

(Whap)

"Gauh!"

The swordsman is thrown backwards, crashing against another guard and two servants...The espresso-complexioned twins turn to stare at one another, and the one with regular coarse black hair says to the other,

"Dude, I'm pretty sure these guys aren't gonna be listening to a peaceful solution anytime soon."

"Haah, so I'm noticing, but it doesn't hurt to try..."

Looking around and spotting Shippo being backed to a wall with the full-grown Kilala beside him, while Inuyasha was surrounded by another group of guards closer to the front door of the mansion, Miroku thinks to himself,

 _This isn't good. At this rate, we'll never rescue Coraline._

Sango was also growing worried for their missing group member and good friend.

 _Coraline, please be safe..._

As for the dog demon, he was becoming increasingly frustrated by the ongoing resistance that was blocking his way to searching for his newly-turned human mate.

"Rrrrr, will you lot just stay down already?!"

He thrusts a few more punches, taking three more down...

 _Rgh, if these guys were demons, this would've been done with one quick Wind Scar._

 _...But even I know when to draw the line on destruction._ _Still, how the heck are these guys even carrying on?_

"(...Sniff) Hm!?"

That's when his nose picks up on a familiar, dangerous scent, and he turns to the screen door, spotting the silhouette of a certain wind sorceress.

 _Uh! Grrr, I knew it...Kagura..._

He's forced to stop staring when a guard's sword comes dangerously close to swiping his face, and he dodges before kicking them down...Meanwhile, said incarnation watches the group carry on while muttering to herself,

"Tuh, so they're all still alive, and it seems they're refusing to kill the castle soldiers, even Inuyasha...Heh, as usual, they're far too principled."

 _Though perhaps not for long now that the dog knows I'm here..._

She turns away to walk back to Lady Okugata's quarters, where the captive redhead kneels with a firm but slightly shaky grasp on Akago. He says to Kagura,

"But soon, they'll want to kill the soldiers. After all, the soldiers are quite intent on killing them...The malice of the soldiers is quite contagious, and soon the humans, those two demons and that half-breed will kill eachother."

 _The Human Heart is weak. Hatred is bred easily...This girl is no excepti-_

"S...St-op."

"Hm?"

The fair-haired demon child's thought cuts off when his ears pick up on a ragged and rough-toned whisper, and he looks up, finally noticing what his power was doing to the captive redhead. The dark arctic ice blue glow in her eyes was flickering more feverishly, like an electrical lamp during a wind storm, her breath coming out in hisses each time she felt her muscles tighten and throb, the dark power of the Naraku Incarnation vibrating against her like sharp stones across calm waters.

"Re...Release, m-my s-s-soul. Stop, gras-ping it, y-you little, leech! Agh!"

(Pulse, pulse, pulse)

Feeling the continuance of the spiritual assault, her soul's Aura Energy works to try and counterattack Akago's strength, which consequently causes more pain for the recipient...as well as some more equally hurtful flashes of some otherwise unpleasant memories.

 _(Flash)_

 _The final blow she delivers to the rabid wolf pack leader back in France..._

 _(Flash)_

 _Her bloodied form mindlessly firing the handgun every which way, walking forward past the roaring flames of the slaughtered village in India..._

 _(Flash)_

 _Shaking hands with a certain antagonistic ally whose arm was pitch black and thin as a tree branch, she crying out loudly over his chortle while their covenant symbol burned into her skin..._

 _(Flash)_

A violent shiver passes through Coraline, she letting out a soft cry and a series of whimpers, the glow in her eyes spreading to ring around her body. Both demon incarnations watch with a new wariness in their expressions, Akago humming to himself,

 _Interesting...Her darkness is much stronger than I would have guessed for a human._

 _...She strives for justice against evil, yet has committed quite a number of sins herself._

"What's going on? Why is she still conscious?"

Breathing out a laugh, he replies to the confused Kagura,

"Merely an, unexpected development, something I should have taken into consideration with her powerful soul...which very well makes her more prone to my manipulation."

The wind sorceress looks the human female's tensing form up and down, before muttering with narrowed eyes,

"If you say so..."

 _Yet something tells me it may not be that simple..._

Now, while the youthful demon was assured by such presumptions, those he accused of being controlled by Hatred were not feeling that call to taking drastic measures so they could save their single member...Well, not yet.

(Twok-twok)

A few arrows are released to go flying against Miroku and Sango, the latter using Hiraikotsu as a shield to block the shot weapons. They bounce off the demon bone-enforced giant boomerang and clatter to the ground like they were nothing more than broken branches...But, the guards and servants just ready to fire more.

"Get it together, men! Kill them!"

Meanwhile, the Brownlee twins had shifted gears to try and make their way over to the young fox demon and twin-tail cat demon, both caught in a simultaneous deadlock against a swordsman and staff wielder. Grunting as they shove back against the mansion warriors, Freeman and Besa call to their friends who were trapped by four more guards near the wall,

"R-Rh, hang in there, Shippo, Kilala!"

"We're comin' to help you!"

The young boy with bright green irises and orange-red hair nods with a nervous expression, thinking to himself as he feels his fellow demon friend rumble a defensive growl,

 _Oooh, man, this is getting out of hand...!_

Another minute or so passes before the young monk dressed in purple begins to consider possibly throwing his personal morals out the door if he wants his friends to escape this place with their lives.

"I'm sorry, Sango."

"Hm?"

"If I were to use my Wind Tunnel, we could probably stay alive...but..."

The demon slayer with long brown hair and matching irises nods slightly, understanding the conflict.

"If it means killing all these men, then I can't do that either...However, Miroku..."

The leading castle guard calls another offensive order.

"Shoot them!"

(Twok-twok-twok)

Another row of arrows fly, and Sango cuts two down with her curved wrist blade while blocking a few more with Hiraikotsu. She finishes her sentence with reservation, her worries for the absent redhead winning over her reluctance of doing harm to humans in the wrong though not of their volition.

"It's our duty as her friends to rescue Coraline!"

Forming a minuscule smirk of his own, Miroku replies,

"Absolutely, so there's now way I'm about to give up trying!"

"...If that's the case, then I'm definitely through messin' around!"

"Huh?"

The monk and slayer pair glance over behind them closer to the front door of the mansion, just as Inuyasha pulls out a battle-ready Tessaiga from its sheath, the anger in his amber irises rising to full capacity.

"I know I saw her, that _bitch_ Kagura, inside where Coraline was taken. Naraku's behind this bullcrap, and I'm not about to let these naïve humans stand in my way a second longer!"

He pivots his head to the directional point the twins, Shippo and Kilala were standing.

"Freeman! Use your hammer and shake these clowns off their feet!"

Swinging out said long-appendaged weapon to stop in an offensive angle in both hands, the young male with espresso skin calls back,

"I'll do you one better, man: I'll knock 'em all out in one shot!"

 _I was hoping for a little more practice, but then again, best way to know if something works is to just do it._

 _...Besides...Cora needs us..._

Drawing in a sharp breath, Freeman silently calls upon the power of his Seven Light crystal piece, that familiar transparent rainbow sheen rippling over his body and traveling to envelop the head of his weapon...

" _Anvil Wave!_ "

The long hammer is swung downward, the head hitting the hard-packed dirt with an almighty, ground-shaking smash...But instead of the usual path of soil shooting out of the ground and creating a small chasm, this attack sends an electrical-like wave of the Seven Light's power, traveling in several separate currents to attack all the guards and servants like vicious snakes, the energy coiling around their bodies before they're hit with a moderately-strong shock!

(Bzzzzzzt)

"Gaaaauuuh!" "Aaaaaa-uuuuuh!" "Jauuuuuuh!"

"Caaaaaaauuuuu!" "Waaaauuuugh!"

...

They all fall to the ground in dead-like limps, the sound of their pained moans filling the air, while the deliverer of the attack pants heavily with a new coat of sweat forming on his body.

"Hah...hah...hah..."

His friends and brothers could only stare at him in awe from the sudden release of raw strength coupled with spiritual power, before Besa breaks the silence by walking up to the former to say,

"...Brother...that was incredible. How did you do that?...Freeman?"

A soft groan emits from the addressed, before the long hammer dropped from his hands as he fell to his knees, prompting a worried exclaim from Shippo.

"Oh no, Freeman!"

Besa hurries to his own knees to catch his brother before he completely drops to the ground, and Sango asks tentatively,

"Is he...?"

Feeling the other's forehead with the back of his hand, the young man with cornrow black hair breathes out a sigh of relief before calling back with a half-smile,

"It's okay! He's alright!"

 _He must have used too much energy to pull that one off...Oh, bro..._

He then locks his stare with the dog demon over yonder and adds,

"Inuyasha, now's the time: get Cora outta there!"

"On it!"

Speeding to the front door, Inuyasha throws back the screen flap as he leaps inside, following the familiar scent of the wind sorceress down the inner halls.

 _Kagura went this way...and I'm getting traces of Coraline's too._

...

Unfortunately, by the time he reaches the quarters of Lady Okugata, the evil incarnation pair and their hostage were gone, leaving behind the corpse of said mistress of the mansion along with that of the dead body of the elder priest. Inuyasha recognizes the latter figure right away:

 _That's the priest who told us that Kikyō was alive...Tch, thank kami I didn't fall for that trick..._

 _...But then where is she? Where's Coraline?!_

"Coraline!...Coraline!"

Hearing no response and smelling a new scent trail heading out of the mansion, the dog demon curses,

"Dammit! I'm just a bit too late."

He runs outside to meet with the others and quickly plan their next move...while at the same time, Kagura, Akago and Coraline were flying away from the area aboard the wind sorceress's giant feather transport...

Eventually, the strange trio arrive at a temple long since abandoned by the original caretakers...where another Naraku incarnation was awaiting them by the large, fragmented Buddha statue.

"...Hey there."

The Demon of the Void pivots her head to the sound of her sister's voice, seeing the small party making their way towards her.

"If it isn't Kanna."

Turning to fully face Kagura, the vacant-expressioned demon girl then presents a Shikon-no-Tama shard that glowed an poisonous black.

"Mm? A Shikon-no-Tama shard?"

Akago orders from his place in the hold of Coraline (whose struggling had subsided temporarily, but still carried the wary glow around her body),

"I want you to implant that tainted Shikon-no-Tama shard into Coraline. Once it is in, she will be completely under our control...My mission here is almost done. Implant the shard and I shall go into hiding."

Humming with a mild interest, the demon woman with red irises and short, banged black hair picks up the shard from Kanna's hands and muses,

"With this, Coraline will become Naraku's slave, you say?"

Stepping forth so she was directly in front of the redhead on stand, Kagura reaches to tilt the other's chin up, wincing slightly from the buzz of Soul Energy that shocks her fingertips.

 _Such raw power...But still, if this does succeed..._

"She will share the same fate as Kohaku."

The glow that enveloped the whole of Coraline's eyes seemed to sharpen a little upon hearing that familiar name.

 _Ko-ha-ku...?...Wait..._

Previously clouded in a bright blur, her Aura Sight focuses back in just a few heartbeats, picking up on the dark aura of the Wind Sorceress...as well as the corrupted jewel shard.

 _That, darkness...A jewel shard...Kagura..._

 _Does she, intend to put that shard in me?...No. No, not again!_

"N-No-t, a-again...Not, s-same trick, as, T-Tsubaki...!"

Kagura gasps slightly upon hearing the girl talk:

 _What? How?_

Coraline hardly called it a victory, however, cursing her limited speech.

 _Dammit, I can't even speak properly!...Akago._

She turns her gaze downward, narrowing her glowing eyes as best she could under the pressures of the Demon Infant.

 _He still has a grasp on my soul...Damn him._

Her next haggard whisper slips through her lips in a hiss.

"L-Let, go, y-you leech...!"

Akago orders the other demon incarnation to halt her actions.

"Kagura, hold on."

"Hm?...So you heard her as well?"

"Yes. She's a stubborn one...She's regained her fight once more."

(Pulse...pulse...)

That power throb starts up again, starting out steady but gradually becoming more violent as the one emitting the phenomenon tries to fight off the invading energies.

"Hr-rh!...I-Inu-yasha...!"

 _Inuyasha...Inuyasha, please find me!_

Akago switches tactics to try and quell the redhead's resistance, preying on an old insecurity that she previously kept bottled within the depths of her mind.

"It's useless. You must know by now that he won't be coming to save you...And why would he? Why would Inuyasha come for someone _more demonic than a demon_?"

That certainly struck a chord in the young woman, she feeling her heart skip a beat, and the energy throb stops dead, settling as a frozen blue glow.

 _...I'm, more demonic...than a demon...?_

Inuyasha's POV

Once I informed the rest of my pack what I discovered inside the mansion, I hurried on ahead into the forest away from the place, following the scents of that damned incarnation...and my mate.

 _Dammit...I should've acted faster!_

Just recalling her scared face as she was taken away by that leading guard was enough to make my heart clench, and I grind my teeth together as I think further on the situation at hand.

 _...If I don't hurry...this could end like..._

My stomach churns as I try to imagine what that bastard Naraku must have done to, kill Kikyō, how she likely plummeted to her doom off the side of the crevice to the river of miasma below...My imagination twists the image so that it was Coraline in her place, a soft cry of my name emitted in her voice, and it took everything in me to keep from screaming in protest like a madman.

 _No!...No...Losing Kikyō, was hard...but I wasn't the only one hurting. Coraline was too._

 _...We needed eachother, so we could move through the bulk of the grief._

 _(Flash)_

 _"...You won't lose me. You won't, b-because, I don't wanna lose you. (Sniff) I...I love you too much to let you go, Inuyasha. So much...!"_

 _"I love you too, Coraline, and I refuse to let anyone or anything take you away from me...The road may get harder from here, but when has that ever stopped either of us?...No matter what life may throw at us, at the end of the day, you belong with me, and I belong with you...We have eachother's hearts, (small smirk) and I for one, don't plan on giving yours back."_

 _"Ehehehe, I should hope so...because I'm keeping your heart forever."_

 _"Good to hear."_

 _(Flash)_

I'll be the first to admit, I didn't expect the rest of that night to get, so heated...but I don't regret it at all. We're now at a level of commitment that can't be undone by anyone. She's my lover for all eternity...and I'll be damned if I allow anything to try and stop that.

 _My friend from over fifty years past may be gone...But my girl, my mate, is still here._

 _...I can feel it: I just know she's fighting, waiting for me._

"Wait for me, Coraline! I'm coming!...Don't you die on me!"

Coraline's POV

Out of all the accusations I have been dealt by the enemy or simply by negative people...what Akago just said now...

 _Me, more demonic than a demon?...Could, that be true?_

He senses that my resistance had froze, and proceeds to guide me on the matter with a persuasive tone, the kind that reminded me of Naraku to an almost perfect T.

"Tell me, Coraline, when you learned that Kikyō was dead...weren't you actually quite pleased?"

A short gasp escapes my lips, and I barely manage to ask in a choppy whisper,

"W-What...do, you mean?"

"The woman who came between you and him is gone...and the soul that has caused yours nothing but torture will no longer plague you...Is that not the reason why you sought that deal with the demon with unspeakable powers?"

 _...He's talking about..._

 _(Flash)_

 _I remember the aftermath of making that Faustian Covenant with, him, and how I thought to myself while staring at the symbol on my wrist,_

 _"This is more than likely gonna bite me in the ass later on. He sounds both sane and insane...Even so...I don't regret my move."_

 _ **And who knows? Maybe there is a selfish part of me doing this to eliminate the reincarnation title on my back, but I'm not making a big deal about it anymore like I was in the beginning of this whole adventure...I know I'm not that petty...**_

 _(Flash)_

 _...But...what if I was more petty than I told myself back then?_

Akago takes advantage of the doubt starting to creep its way into my spirit.

"You see it now, don't you? Your hatred towards having to fill Kikyō's role had never left you. It merely quieted down...making room for the guilt that would come later. You may claim to have done what you did to protect Inuyasha and save the priestess...but you still committed quite the betrayal, did you not?"

 _Betrayal...Yes. I betrayed my friends...I betrayed my lover, just to get rid of a presence I never wanted in my body._

 _...And worse still...I've, betrayed myself, my, very being, more times than I care to mention._

"Yes, now you understand: someone like you with such instability is not worthy for the side of good...You are a monster that has been trying to be like those foolish humans for too long."

I feel Akago's head snuggle close to my chest again.

"Now come. Fill your heart with bitterness once more..."

 _...Fill it, with bitterness...?...Ha. Hehaha._

Something about the way he conveyed it, like I was already under his command...It struck me as if it were the most hilarious thing I've heard in a long while. A chuckle began to bubble in my throat, coupled with an emerging smile that, dwells on insane, surprising and confusing Kagura and Akago.

"Huh?" "Why are you-How-?"

"...Has Naraku really lost that much of his intelligence, or is it just you, Akago?"

My upturn of mouth curves into more of a sneer as I continue my train of thought, blind and deaf to the new pulse in my veins and darkening of the ethereal blue, until it felt I was sinking deep into an underwater cave where light could not brighten the liquid.

"You tell me, to fill my heart with emotions like hatred and malice, as if I've fallen under your hold already...You truly are the most foolish of all his incarnations."

I feel him stiffen in my hold, the anger in his aura increasing from my insult.

"Excuse me?"

"Naraku, through help from the Dark Priestess Tsubaki, tried to take control of me once before...He failed, his voice expelled by my soul...This time is hardly any different."

A bit of sadness creeps into me as I lament,

"I'm willing to admit, what you say about me...what I've done, is nothing I can deny. I've made some terrible decisions over the years, a few quite recently, just to save my own skin...And the guilt, the self-hatred, will likely never leave me...Human though I am, I'm also a monster...However."

That deep sea blue energy begins to spark and crackle around my body, making Kagura back a step or two.

"Uh!"

The next words that leave my lips were more malicious and dangerous-toned.

"I'm not a monster that's easily controlled, by anyone, least of all a _demonic brat_ who presumes as arrogantly as his master. You believe a darkness like mine should be on your side? Ha! My darkness..."

My pupils appear over the shadowed deep sea blue.

" _My darkness plays on no one's side but my own!_ "

...

All I can fully recall after that, was this feeling of pure chaos.

(POW)

Inuyasha's POV

I had just reached the next edge of the forest, opening towards an old temple that hasn't seen any caretakers for kami who knows how long...when suddenly, a huge rumble courses through the ground under my feet, following a blast of power that came smashing through the sliding doors of the place! I skid to a halt, watching as that same energy began to surround the temple with streams of lightning-like sparks.

"Huh?"

 _What's going on?...Wait...that light. I know that light!_

"Coraline's soul!"

Now convinced that the situation's turned worse than earlier, I snap back into a run faster than before, leaping in through the demolished doorway...only to find myself staring at one of the more crazier scenes I've ever paid witness to.

"Uh!...Coraline...?"

The room permeated with a dangerous energy, the kind you'd almost expect from a wild predator. Over by the ruined religious statues were Kanna, Kagura, and some third smaller figure that was more than likely another incarnation, the second holding them in a bend while gritting her teeth from what must've been a hard impact...

Meanwhile...my mate...she was standing dead center, her body completely enveloped in a blue light much darker than I've ever seen before, radiating off of her in waves that rippled across the floor and hung heavily in the air. Her expression was set in a glare, eyes glowing with the same dark blue light that was surrounding her, teeth bared...but there was a lot more than rage written in her face. The beads of sweat, the creases in her forehead, the whimpers between her snarls...she was scared, in pain.

 _What the hell happened here...?_

"Now I see, why Naraku hates that girl so much."

I snap my focus to Kagura as she makes that comment, feeling my anger settle in side-by-side with my worry for my mate.

"Why you...What did you do to Coraline?!"

The puny thing that reeked of Naraku's familiar scent spoke next, having no remorse whatsoever.

"Ha. I just rummaged around in her soul a bit...I was quite surprised to see such a deep twist between her light and darkness, not something you normally see in a human...And what impressed me more was how strong the darker parts of her are. Such a deadly nature within a simple-looking girl, a true monster in disguise."

Narrowing its pupiless eyes, they add,

"A shame she's decided to go rogue. Had my persuasion worked, her soul may not be currently struggling to avoid destroying itself."

 _Destroying itself?...Coraline..._

Stealing a glance at my girl as she lets out a few strangled yelps and cringes, I then growl and lock my glare back on the one responsible for triggering this new problem in my mate.

"Bastard! Just what the hell are you?!"

"...Inuyasha!"

The rest of my pack arrives, but just as Kilala lands with the twins jumping behind her, I quickly gesture an arm out to halt them from getting too close.

"Stop! Don't come in here!"

"Huh? Why? What's wro-Uh!...Coraline..."

They all form similar expressions of shock and worry when they see the state of my mate, and Shippo exclaims,

"Wh-What's going on?! What's happening to Coraline?!"

"If I could tell you, I would, kid, (points forward) but what I do know is that they were harassing her soul!"

Miroku would put the names to the more familiar demon incarnations in the room, careful to not step too close to the doorway or risk getting hit by the sparks of Coraline's energy.

"Kagura! Kanna!"

"What? You're still alive?"

Freeman moves to the monk's side and retorts edgily to the wind sorceress,

"Hell yeah we are, and you were stupid to think we'd be defeated by some dumb mansion guards and servants!"

The small demon in Kagura's arms spoke next.

"Monk, demon slayer, and warrior twins...Tell me: how many of the soldiers did you and the rest kill?"

 _Huh? What the hell's that got to do with anything?_

"Hate to disappoint you, but we don't kill needlessly."

Besa nods in agreement with Miroku:

"Unlike your master, we know how to draw the line in battle."

"Now, tell us...are you Naraku's human heart?"

 _Uh!...Naraku's human heart?_

A flash of surprise seemed to pass over the infant's face before he asks,

"Why would you think that?"

"We know that Naraku hid himself at Mount Hakurei, in order to create a more powerful body...But also, he wanted to cast away his human heart. Naraku told us that he cut away his human heart, the one that continued to yearn for Kikyō. That way, he could slay her."

 _...That's right. The lowlife Onigumo's heart was basically holding Naraku back from dealing his long-awaited finishing blow..._

 _With it gone, nothing can hold his evil back...Meanwhile, this baby..._

"This baby, is the heart of that bastard who yearned for my friend, who reached out to my mate once through Muso before becoming swallowed into his flesh again?...The _heart_ , who now seeks to tear Coraline apart through her soul?"

My body began to shake with rage, and I snap with my own malice,

"It's absolutely sick! The underhanded ways Naraku toys with people's emotions!"

"Haaa _ **auuh!**_ "

"Rh!"

I dart my eyes on said girl again, who suddenly bends down and shook her head like a creature on rabies, before letting out a hoarse roar of pain. It hurt me deeply to see her like this:

 _Coraline...!_

"Ha. I'd be careful of your tone, Inuyasha. She may very well attack you out of agitation from listening to such hostility."

I growl at the infant, he smirking the slightest before continuing on.

"Now then...there is a possibility, that I am indeed the human heart which Naraku once possessed. I can clearly see into a person's heart, their weaknesses and frailties. I know just what to do in order to make one suffer, to make them feel sorrow or hate...This is all familiar to me...but if there's one feeling I did not inherit from Naraku, it is the anguish and yearning of Kikyō."

 _What...?_

"Where do you think that feeling went?...Those disgusting clumps of flesh you saw at Mount Hakurei?...That's where."

It dawns on me:

 _So, that would mean, human heart or not...Onigumo's desires for Kikyō have been, erased?_

"And that is why, I feel neither pain nor sorrow."

Clenching my fist, I retort back,

"Tch, so in other words, you're just a monster created from Naraku's heart, all twisted and grotesque. That's all I need to hear!"

I pull out Tessaiga at ready:

"Prepare to die! Wind Sca-"

"(Ghostly moan)"

Lumos suddenly bursts out from the pouch of Coraline's satchel we picked up from the mansion before coming here, and came to speed in front of me while letting out a series of protesting cries and blinking that warning glow. I make the motion to ask what the heck he was doing...until I remembered,

 _Gh!...Dammit. I can't attack them...or I'll hit my mate in the process._

" ** _Deeemoooon..._** "

"Uh?"

My focus turns on said girl when I hear her drag out that grinding whisper, and scrape of metal against leather sounds, before I'd be witnessing my mate readying her own sword to strike, as if the energies sparking out of her jittering body wasn't happening at all.

" ** _Dem-ooon, must, diiieeee...Spir-it, Slaaash!_** "

(SHING, SLASH)

Unlike the other times I've seen her do this move, the cut mark that went flying through the air didn't look very stable, as if it was going to break apart before even hitting the target...But even though it did last, it hardly mattered, for the damned demon infant was prepared, erecting a barrier at the last moment to block the attack.

"Auh!"

"Look: her attack's being absorbed into the barrier!"

"...Oh crap-Hit the deck, people!"

(Vwoooooo-...POW)

A reverse flow of Coraline's attack is released...

" ** _Spiiirit Shieeeld!_** "

(Shing-sheeeen...POooooowwwww...)

Cringing from the eruption of light, I lower my arm when it dies down, and find myself still standing with no damage dealt.

"Huh?...What happened?"

My ears catch the sound of winded pants, and I look forward, widening my eyes when I see a dome-shaped shield of dark blue light dimming down from around my mate!

"Uh!...Coraline..."

 _She erected a barrier, with her soul power..._

"Don't think this is over just yet."

"Rrh!"

I look upward where a new giant hole in the roof's been created, and see that demonic brat, Kagura and Kanna floating away inside that other barrier the former created.

"I'll be back soon."

Just hearing how smug and sure of himself he was, like the freak he was born from, made my blood boil.

"Shut up, you bastard! As if I'll ever allow you to touch Coraline again!"

"Hehmhmhmhm...Now that the priestess Kikyō is no longer with us, that monster of a girl is the only one who can sense the Shikon-no-Tama shards."

 _What...?_

"Soon, very soon, once Coraline's eyes become ours, the Shikon-no-Tama will become whole once again...a Shikon-no-Tama filled with hate, that is."

 _...He wants to do the same thing Kaede said Onigumo wanted to do to Kikyō and the jewel back when!_

"Are you crazy?! There's no way on earth that Coraline would ever do anything to help Naraku!"

"Humph. There are many ways to corrupt that girl, Inuyasha...Of course, that's assuming her darkness doesn't kill her and all she cares about this hour first."

 _Uh! Grrrr, why you...!_

A final whispering laugh is sent our way, before the incarnation trio takes off for elsewhere...

" _ **Gaaaarrrrruuuuuuhhhh!...**_ "

(Bzzzzt-pow-pow-pow)

But for once, I could care less about Naraku and his damn subordinates, because right now, I have an even bigger problem that needs address. Ducking down from the shots of soul energy that go flying out the doorway, I look forward to see that my mate's power was getting more out of control and was corroding her worse than before. Her veins were pulsing, glowing, almost like they were about to burst, and her screaming...it began to sound like something between man and beast...!

 _Coraline!_

"What's happening to her, Miroku?!"

The monk calls back to Sango,

"I don't know for sure...but if what that infant said is accurate, the darker half of Coraline's soul must be threatening her existence in this world!"

Besa then says,

"Cora did say once that the physical-spiritual structure of Aura Readers isn't balanced...that the kind of human souls they carry, are almost too strong for them to handle."

 _Uh!...That's right._

 _(Flash)_

 _"As strong as we are spiritually, that same power...it's, not really made well for the human body. Our Souls are actually almost too powerful to handle, which throws our very lives and sanity at stake...I know I've told you about how most of my family tree has been killed off thanks to Trinity...but some...some died because they were destroyed from the inside out by their very Souls."_

 _(Flash)_

 _...Th-Then this means, her soul is...?!_

"Inuyasha."

"Hm!?"

I snap out of my panicking thoughts to the sound of a familiar accented voice that seemed to echo from nowhere...

"Can ye hear me, Inuyasha?"

"...Rosiagnes?"

My friends make sounds of confusion, most likely not hearing what I could.

"Huh?" "Did you say...?"

"Rosiagnes?" "Where?"

The voice echoes into the air again, making it seem like they were standing beside me.

"Aye, tis me, and ye be the only one who can hear me voice...because of dat deeper connection ye share with me reincard now."

 _Deeper connection...Our mating bond._

Shaking my head of the weirdness, I then ask,

"What's happening, Rosiagnes? Why is Coraline acting like this?...Is, her soul..."

"Haaah, aye. Unforchunately, that new spawn of Nauraku 'as agitated the darkness of me reincard's soul in ways that cannot be easily tamed. 'er mentality is in a very dangerous place at present, hostile to practically anything with a beating aura. It matter not what side they be on."

"So, she could attack any of us and not be aware of the consequences?"

"Correct. It be part of a very deadly ability called Last Resort, somet'ing only activated when we Aura Readers are in an especially dangerous situation. The soul blocks out reason and gives into an inner beast within ourselves dat guarantees protection...but a' the cost of our morals, and in some cases, our very lives."

 _...That sounds almost exactly like my demon ego..._

Still, something about this didn't make sense, and I ask the woman from beyond,

"But Coraline's been in a lot of life-threatening situations before! Why's this happening now?"

"I am afraid the brat born from the spider-marred devil may have preyed upon some sensitive triggers within me reincard's darkness...He convinced 'er of an old insecurity that Coraline thought she rid 'erself of."

 _Old insecurity...?_

"But tha' be a concern for later conversation. Right now, we must focus on subduing 'er raging soul now befo' the worst comes to pass...and Inuyasha...ye are the only one who can help 'er."

"Me?"

"Aye, you. As far as me reincard's aware and because of the bond ye both now share with each other, ye may be the only one with the right aura who can approach 'er, as long as ye remain calm and firm...But, I must implore ye t' take heed: once ye grasp 'er, she may recognize ye, but she will still try to resist ye because 'er Aura is out of control and drowning in darkness. Once more, she won't be able to stop it from surging into ye, which may aggravate and cause the demon part of ye to emerge."

A quiet gasp escapes me, for though I would never admit this aloud...the very thought of my demon ego emerging has become rather terrifying to me...

"What's happening, Inuyasha? Are you alright?"

Turning my eyes over my shoulder, I tell the others,

"Yeah...except, Rosiagnes is tellin' me that the only way to save Coraline...is that I have to reach out to her and talk her down."

A round of gasps sound, and Shippo asks,

"B-But, is that really a safe idea? I mean, won't she try to-"

"There is a risk that she may lash out at me, but, between all of us, me going in is most likely the wisest move. With my body, I can take whatever she has to throw...Besides, she's done the same for me before."

Turning back to face my struggling lover, I explain my reasoning.

"Though I've never actually seen myself when my, inner demon took over, I can't imagine it looked too different from how she looks right now, save the power radiating. (Bitter smile) I must've been unrecognizable, a dark shadow of who I am right now, right?"

Miroku hesitantly replies,

"Uhm, well...yes, I suppose that's one way to describe it."

"Hm...and yet, despite how dangerous and tense those moments were, Coraline...she refused to turn away. She always found a way to reach out, and bring me back to center...even if it meant she would get hurt in the process...That's what I want to do for her right now, not just to return the favor...but to show her how far I'm willing to go for her, like how she's shown me how far she's willing to risk it all for me."

 _Even if it means I gotta fight down the beast within me..._

Drawing in a deep breath, I began my approach, using caution to avoid the shots of soul energy sparking from my mate's body or accidentally agitating her any further...

"...Coraline."

Stiffening, she pivots to face me, giving me a full view of the problem wracking her being: her eyes have now gone a full pitch black with a dark blue ringing the edges, similar to the veins on her arms, neck and face. Even her red hair was darker than before, like someone spilled ink on her and it didn't wash all the way out.

...She eyes me for a moment, unsure of how to perceive my presence, which I took as an opportunity to take a few steps closer.

"Coraline...I know you're, probably not all in your right mind right now...but you've got nothing to be afraid of. The threats, they're gone now. You're with the people who care about you, who could never hurt you..."

" _ **Hrh...hrh...I-In...u...**_ "

It wasn't much, but a bit of hope rose in my heart hearing her try to pronounce my name.

"(Nod) That's right. It's me, your mate, Inuyasha."

I'm now directly in front of her, and could feel the heat of the power against my own skin, making me shift the slightest out of discomfort.

"Mph..."

 _Suddenly, I'm back at the active volcanic area that old battleax sword-maker calls home._

 _...Must be almost unbearable on her end...I better cool her down fast._

Sucking in another stream of air, I raise my left hand and tentatively reach out towards her shoulder, making her shuffle back with a grinding wince.

" _ **Nh! H-Hh! N...No...T-oo...dan-g'r's...!**_ "

Anyone else but me wouldn't have understood that gibberish, but I did, and it hurt to listen to the distrust and fear in her broken tone. Fighting to stay firm and calm, I step towards her again, all the more determined to rescue her from herself.

"No. I won't abandon you, not in your hour of need...I don't care how dangerous this is: you need me, more than you're probably aware."

 _And I need you, in ways I can barely understand with words...I need you here, with me, and I'm gonna keep you on this earth in any way I have to!_

With that silent promise made, I wait until she tries to flinch back again, before making my move, lunging and embracing her as tightly as I can!

"Hh!"

" ** _Anh!_** "

...

...

The grounds fall silent around her and me, as if all the life in our proximity was afraid of breathing loudly and causing a stir. The energy froze in time with her muscles, as if my very gesture was unthinkable...

That's when I felt it.

(Pulse, pulse, pulse...)

"Arh!"

The dark energy began to surge and beat against my body, clouding my vision in complete darkness, where the only thing I could see was the raw power of the energies sparking out around us...and the out-of-control, darkened aura raging within the woman that was in my arms. It was seeping through my skin to penetrate my very soul, creating this piercing cold feeling like I was being dragged into ice water! It was frigid, and burning at the same time, making me cry out in pain and alerting the rest of my pack. Though my ears rang, I was able to catch the faint cry of Sango calling out to me before Miroku pulled her back, Besa doing the same for his brother based on what I could smell. Now, normally, I wouldn't pick up that much detail in the heat of a life-threatening situation...However, as the overloading energies of Coraline's soul kept bullying mine...

(Ba-bump...ba-bump...)

My more demonic side was beginning to peek out. If the sharpening of my senses wasn't enough of a tipper, then the feeling of my fangs and claws lengthening would be.

"Gaa **aa-uuuuurrrr** rhhhh! **Grrrrra** aaaa **hhh!...** "

 _D-Dammit!...Something, ta **king, over...!**_

 _ **...No!**_

 _ **N** o...Gotta, s- **tay!** calm, for Coraline's sake._

My darkened aura vision starts to cloud over to a weak red hue that I knew was coming from my demon side, and by focusing on the squirming form in my arms, I keep it that way. I also make sure that her own arms were pinned to her sides so she couldn't thrash about, holding her tight like I've done many times before...

"C...Cora-line..."

" _ **I...I-n** **u...yash...**_ "

 _(Inuyasha...Inuyasha...!)_

I almost jump when I hear the more familiar voice of my mate echo in my mind...but that surprise quickly left before it could settle, setting my priorities on my mate.

 _Coraline...can you hear me?_

 _(Y-Yes...Inuyasha...I'm, I'm scared. I, I can't, s-stop this; my power is-)_

 _Shh, it's gonna be alright. Just concentrate on me, okay? Listen to the sound of my voice...I'm right here, and I'm not letting you go._

 _(...But...why?...Why, would you go through all this, risking you life and your humanity...for a monster like me?)_

 _Monster?_

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion from the label she was using on herself, before responding back,

 _Because I love you, why else?_

 _(Uh!...)_

 _I dunno what the hell that freak of an infant said to you...but it's like I told you that night: there is nothing on this earth that will take you away from me, ever!_

 _And if that means I have to battle with your soul to bring you back to me, then so be it...You've gone against my demon ego before to bring me back. How is this any different?_

 _...Please, Coraline...don't resist me. Just let go of what's causing you to lash out, and come back to me._

(Pulse, pulse...pulse...)

" _ **I-Inu...I**_ -nu-ya-sha..."

I feel my inner beast rumble in satisfaction from hearing the more normal tone returning to my mate's voice, and a tiny smile curves onto my lips as I chide to her,

 _That's it. You're doing great; just keep focusing on me..._

...

...

Very slowly, the pulsating power of her soul began dimming down, the glow in her veins fades away, and her true irises appear over the black before that too went away. The signs of my more beastly-like being started to retract as well, my teeth and claws shrinking back to what they were before and the weak red hue in my vision started to clear back to normal as well...

Eventually, it would just be the two of us, no strings attached...A small whimper sounds from my mate, followed by a soft, whispering moan which told me she fell unconscious, something I expected would happen by the end of all this. As the others hurry to us, I pull back a little to look at a more peaceful Coraline sleeping away, the exhaustion written heavy all over her features. I frown with worry, yet sigh in relief that she was safe once again...

Time Skip, No POV

It would only be but a two day journey before the entire group would return to the Goshinboku Village, quickly finding Kaede and informing her of all that has happened since they last saw eachother, particularly, the fate of her undead sister...

She and Inuyasha would be found at the base of Kikyō's gravesite right now, tending to the repaired marker and sharing this melancholy feeling hovering over their shoulders like a weighted blanket that's only just being lifted away...After another moment of silence, the dog demon finally speaks.

"...Forgive me, Kaede."

The aging priestess with gray-brown hair replies with a gentle sigh in her tone,

"Say no more, Inuyasha. My sister Kikyō...was forced to return to this world of the living. While here...her soul only suffered...and so..."

Breathing out through his nose and holding down the urge to break into tears, Inuyasha mutters grimly,

"I was, unable to save Kikyō's soul...She was killed for a second time by that bastard Naraku."

Gazing wistfully at the blue skies above, Kaede laments,

"Sister Kikyō's soul has faded now...She will no longer have to suffer."

"But I-"

"So Inuyasha, you, and Coraline, need not suffer either."

...The young man with long silver hair makes no response, and eyes fall to the pretty violet iris plant set in front of the grave marker.

"Yes, my dear sister is gone, but, I wish...that her remains could be returned, to their proper resting place."

 _From what I gathered, this woman called Rosiagnes, has chosen to hide Kikyō's body..._

 _Though perhaps until Naraku is vanquished, that may be wise...for I do not want my sister's remains to be desecrated again._

...

A little more time passes before we reach around midday, and we zoom in on the riverside heading into the forest outside the village, where Miroku, Sango, the twins and Shippo were currently hanging about. As the young monk and one young man with black cornrow hair kneel down to refill their water containers, the redheaded fox demon sighs with worry,

"I sure hope Coraline will be alright. She hasn't woken up for a few days now since, well..."

He couldn't finish the sentence, shivering slightly in remembrance of the frightening state the older redhead was in before her lover coaxed her back. Smiling reassuringly, Miroku and Sango chide,

"Inuyasha is with her."

"She'll be just fine."

Freeman and Besa add with their own nods,

"Yeah, we've got nothin' to panic about."

"Besides...something tells me those two will need a bit of time to talk..."

Panning away to Kaede's hut, we peer inside to see the dog demon kneeling on the left side of the unconscious Coraline, who is right now resting comfortably on a futon bed under the soft blue blanket she brings with her. Hovering just an inch above the bed on her right near her head was Lumos, who chose to stick to her like dogwood fluff since she first blacked out...

"...Mm...Mm-m..."

Another minute passes, before those familiar sea-storm blue irises flutter open to greet the world again, much to the tremendous relief of Inuyasha.

"Uh! Coraline...you're awake."

A murmured sound of confusion emits from the tired redhead, before she glances sideways to meet with the amber irises of her lover/mate...She smiles weakly, and softly mutters,

"Hey, love...Thank you, for bringing me back. I just knew you would..."

A wispy moan grabs her attention, and she looks up to see her Will O' Wisp partner flying above her head in an excited circle, making her giggle quietly.

"Yes, hello t' you too, Lumos."

She then gingerly moves one of her palms to help her push herself up into a sitting position, grunting a bit from the muscle aches and exhaustion weighing on her being. Her dog demon mate wraps his arms around her instantly:

"Are you okay? Take it easy."

"I'll, manage...Just, want some fresh air..."

Once they were sure she wasn't going to collapse, Coraline and Inuyasha would move into a quiet part of the latter's namesake forest, sitting between two beech trees to talk about recent events...Neither was willing to speak up at first, finding it difficult to find the right words to convey...but as soon as Lumos passes their vision again, the dog demon would start by apologizing for his half-blunder.

"...Coraline...I'm sorry about what happened. I should've gotten to you faster."

Smiling sadly with a light headshake, the other replies,

"What matters is that you came for me. If anything, it was my fault for bein' easy prey to that damned infant."

"Easy prey? Don't be ridiculous! You were pushed beyond your limits just to protect yourself!"

 _...And if Rosiagnes hadn't told me what I had to do...then I could've lost Coraline for good..._

...

A beat of silence passes between the young couple, before the redhead sighs out quietly,

"She's left."

"Hm?"

"My ancestor...She spoke with me before I awoke, saying that, she has other matters to attend, and that I may not hear from 'er for a time...So, it may be a long while, before we learn what truly happened to, Kikyō's body..."

"I see..."

Inuyasha could sense there was more on his mate's mind, and thought back to how Akago and even she characterized herself...

"In that case, you mind explaining something else to me?"

"Shoot."

"...What the heck was all that 'monster' nonsense about?"

Coraline felt herself stiffen in her seat...before relaxing with a depressed expression forming on her face.

"Oh...that...Haaah, it's, nothing really; the darker part of me was doin' most of the talking. Like you said, just a spot of nonsense."

"That's not what I heard."

"Huh?"

A clawed hand reaches to gently grasp the area of her chin and lower jaw, turning her face so she was looking right at Inuyasha, he sporting a serious frown.

"The tone you used when I was fighting to coax you back, and the way that freak was characterizing you before he and those other two incarnations left...It's not nonsense to you, is it? Something got to you before I came crashing into the temple."

"Uh...I..."

"...What did that infant say to you, Coraline?"

Wincing the littlest bit, the girl bites her lower lip nervously before coming clean with her troubles.

"Akago...he...he said I was, more demonic than a demon. He, reminded me of the guilt and betrayal that's still roosting in a corner of my heart, before saying that I'm a monster fruitlessly trying to be human, unworthy of the side of good."

"Uh!...Coraline..."

Inuyasha could hardly believe what he was hearing, and would only become more concerned as a few tears gather in the corners of Coraline's eyes, she gritting her teeth bitterly before going further.

"And, while I know he was just trying to manipulate me...what he said wasn't too far from the truth. In reality, I may be human, but at the same time...I've become quite the monster of a human. Heh, it's a wonder that my darkness hasn't tried t' corrupt me sooner...Still, as I told Akago, my monstrous dark nature's not one to be collared. It plays by its own rules, and is even willing to go against me. How demented is that?...(Sniff) I, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm...I'm sorry I scared you all and put you through all this, and, I understand if...if you can't-"

"Can't what? Stand to be with you anymore?...Now that would be demented. And you wanna know why?"

The redhead's eyes would then widen with surprise, when her dog demon lover/mate suddenly swoops in to kiss her deeply, taking the advantage to pull her close so she was sitting in his lap...Once their lips part, Inuyasha continues his response with a firm but honest air.

"Because even after everything we've been through together since we met, you can still stand to be with me. Even after all the times my inner demon came out and caused havoc and bloodshed...You never once saw me as a monster, and I can't ever see you that way either. So shut up with belittling yourself like that and just be happy with who you are."

"...And who am I?"

"Kuh, you're really fixin' to play dumb, aren't you? Alright, I'll tell you...You're Coraline Croft: a smart, courageous girl with the most fiery red hair and amazing blue eyes I've ever seen."

He kisses her right cheek:

"You also have one of the most fierce, and just as fiery personalities I know, and that's saying somethin' considering how Sango can get during one of her moods..."

Coraline giggles from her mate's characterization of the demon slayer, making him smirk a bit before pecking her left cheek.

"You're very strong, in mind, body and spirit...You have a heart as open as the skies above, and hardly judge anybody unless you have a good reason to...But most importantly..."

He finishes with a kiss to her forehead,

"You're my mate, forever mine...to have, to hold, to protect, to fight beside...to laugh with, to cry with, to comfort...to be happy with, to love...to live together, and stay together for as long as we both shall live...How's that for an answer?"

Releasing a few tears she is barely able to keep in with such a happy smile after hearing her lover/mate's heart-filled declaration to her, the redhead leans in to kiss the dog demon's cheek before snuggling into his chest as she embraces him.

"Perfect, love. Absolutely perfect, especially since it was from you...Thank you, Inuyasha."

Smiling a little himself, he hugs the girl close to him, both souls watching the little white-blue orb glide along a gentle breeze with a pair of cabbage butterflies.

 _No...Thank you, Coraline, for loving me as I am, and for not leaving me nor this earth too soon._


	140. Chapter 139

**Chapter 139: Hikiji's Revenge, Part One**

"So much has happened this last while...It almost feels, wrong to head back home in the modern era..."

Such is the first comment made by our heroine redhead as she and her brothers approach the fabled Bone Eater's Well, with Inuyasha seeing them there while the rest of the group was hanging about at Kaede's, mostly to rest their weary bodies from the intensity that was the massive battle within Mount Hakurei, and everything that came afterward. Unfortunately for all of them, despite their tremendous efforts, their greatest enemy, Naraku, had once again thwarted their plans in defeating him, and would assassinate Kikyō for a second time after more than fifty years...

But as it was once said, 'every dark cloud has a silver lining'. Through their shared grief over losing a good friend, the red-robed dog demon and his Aura Reader girlfriend would reach a deeper step in their romantic relationship, finally sealing their love under the commitment of matehood. Such would then be put through its first arduous test, come the entrance of Naraku's newest incarnation agent, Akago. Once separated from her loved ones, Coraline would be put through a very invasive search of the heart, triggering the darker side of her soul to emerge and cause chaos. Thankfully, through both their mate link and an understanding of what it means to live with an inner beast, Inuyasha was able to coax his significant other back to reality. Several days of rest after that would be the best medicine for her to recover, which everyone else would gladly join in on...

Now comes the time of returning to the modern era after being away for a substantially-longer period this round...Though with all that's happened, Coraline was feeling almost reluctant to go back to a world that's relatively, 'quieter' than that of the Sengoku era.

Turning to face her dog demon lover, she asks him,

"You sure it's okay for us to head back for a bit?"

"Yeah, it's, not like there's too much to do around here right now..."

"Hm...(Small smile) Well alright then."

Hoisting their legs over the lip of the ground structure before seating themselves at ready to jump first, Freeman and Besa say to Inuyasha,

"We shouldn't be any longer than three days, but feel free to crash the gate early."

"Something's telling me we might've been gone too long to save our apartment, so I guess we'll find out from Shuji when we get there...Catch you later!"

With that, the young men with matching espresso complexions push themselves off the edge, and drop down the well...Coraline would be next, though not without stealing a long, tantalizing kiss from her lover first.

"...Don't keep me waiting."

"Heh, isn't that what I should be sayin' to you?"

"Maybe at one time ago...but I think the game's changed, hasn't it?"

And without another word, the redhead with two-toned blue irises jumps into the great unknown to the time period she was born to, leaving Inuyasha to watch her go while thinking to himself with a sigh of content,

 _...Yeah, I guess it has._

...

Shifting the scene to just outside the shrine built around the Bone Eater's Well, Coraline just exits to the courtyard behind her twin brothers, before all three get a greeting from her youngest adoptive sibling, who was playing soccer when the three teenagers passed through the dimensional portal.

"Sis, guys! Welcome home!"

"Hey, Souta! Good to see you!"

The four young souls would then wander back to the Higurashi residence, specifically, through the sliding glass door leading into the kitchen, where Souta's mother and grandfather would be waiting.

"Coraline, Freeman, Besa! Welcome back, dears."

"Well well, you three were gone for such a long time. (Small smirk) Yoshi and I were discussing just the other day over tea whether or not you were trying to avoid training."

Filing into the sitting room connected to the kitchen, the adoptive member of the household asks out of curiousity,

"Oh! Has he been released from the hospital, then?"

"Yes, just a few weeks ago, actually. His injuries had somehow healed alot more quickly than average man, and not too long after you three returned his treasured item..."

The three teenagers meet eachother's eyes on that note, thinking of the name for that said item.

 _The Jewel of the Ancient One..._

A delicate frown forms on Akari's face as she remembers what sent her father's friend to the hospital in the first place.

"Oh, just recalling that day sends a shiver up my spine, (relieved smile) and makes me all the more glad that you're all safely home again."

Coraline and Freeman just nod with their own smiles while Besa actually makes a verbal reply.

"So are we..."

Noticing a lack of enthusiasm, the elder Higurashi asks,

"What'sa matter? You kids tired or somethin'?"

"In a way...Just, had to deal with alot more intense battles this time. Oh! Right, before I forget..."

The Brownlee with cornrowed black hair moves to pull something out of his brother's satchel, namely, a small cloth bundle.

"We brought back some wild game meat you won't find in the grocery store. Rabbit and Boar."

Taking the bundle from the younger's hands, Grandfather Higurashi comments with an anticipating expression,

"Aah! I can't wait to try it!"

Akari asks,

"How do you keep it preserved, if you don't mind my asking?"

Freeman answers,

"Half the time, we just cure it with plenty of salt and seal it with either one of our Tupperware containers or with tight cloth wraps like this one. Once it's been cooked, it can last a while as long as we're careful...Ah-heh, that reminds me: guys, we need to refill on salt while we're here."

Rolling her eyes slightly, Coraline mutters with a sighed smile,

"O~f course we do...But right now, the ole mattress is calling m' name."

...A short few minutes pass before we find the redhead flopping back-first onto the comforter of her bed, one that hadn't felt her body for what seemed like ages.

"Haaah...So much drama has come and passed between the blood and gore..."

She glances upwards and sideways at the little orb of light that had followed her upstairs.

"But now we've got a period to decompress, eh, Lumos?"

The Will O' Wisp emits a soft moan of cautious content, and his human partner knew why. Smiling tiredly, she mutters,

"Yeah, I suppose it'll depend on whether the universe wants t' cut us a break. (Furrows eyebrows) What surprises me right now is that I can even come back to this quieter time period. I mean, my bros have their crystal shards, so they're fine, but I lost all of our Shikon-no-Tama shards to that bastard Naraku at Mount Hakurei, which may as well be known as Mount Rubble now..."

 _But, if what Rosiagnes told me before I awoke in Kaede's is true..._

 _(Flash)_

 _"Really? So, I don't need the jewel shards to travel through the well anymore?"_

 _"Nay, ye shan't have any troubles from hereon...Ye 'ave hung about dis particular time for long enough now that yer spirit 'as created a, tether shall we say, which should remain so long as the quest for the jewel goes on...After that, well, I cannot be certain."_

 _(Flash)_

 _...So as long as the search goes on, I can still travel back and forth between here and there._

 _...But what will happen when and if we complete the quest?_

Running a hand over her face with a disgruntled sigh, Coraline mutters,

"Now I'm starting to see why time-space conspiracies annoy the crap out of Freeman...But you know what? We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

 _And by we, I mostly mean Inuyasha and I..._

 _Hah, Inuyasha. How far you and I have come._

A delicate blush dusts the redhead's cheeks as she sits up, a loving smile on her face as she finishes aloud in a wistful whisper,

"And I wouldn't have it any other way, never...Hoh, listen to myself: as dreamy as a tween with her first crush."

"...Hey, Cora!"

"Hm?"

She snaps out of the harmless daze to the sound of the young elementary school boy's voice, as he suddenly jogs into view through her doorway.

"Hah, hah, I just remembered something cool I wanted to tell you and the guys that Hōjō told me when he was down at the school with a friend who's the older brother of Hitomi..."

"Oh?"

...

We catch up with the conversation downstairs, as the Higurashis and Brownlee boys sat around the table eating dinner, some of which was made using the meat that the three teens brought back from the Sengoku Era...

"Cultural Festival?"

"Yeah! You guys missed the one held last year, but you're back just in time for this one."

Swallowing some of his rice, Souta goes to explain with an animated smile.

"It's a tradition that Hōjō's school does annually, or so Hitomi's told me. There's gonna be choir singing, a bunch'a food, some of it from other parts of the globe, and even a play!"

Scooping up some more rabbit stew, Besa comments with a smile,

"That does sound rather exciting...and we did plan on being here for a few days."

He looks at Freeman and Coraline:

"Whaddo you guys think?"

"I'm down with checkin' out the festival. Cor?"

"(Shrug) Sure, why not? Sounds like a good way to wind down from all the action and drama."

Standing to walk over to a pot of rice and grab some more for her bowl, Akari says to the teens,

"I believe preparations will still take at least another day, but you might be able to see some familiar faces in advance if you go down tomorrow."

Coraline feels one of her brows raise with a half-smile as she thinks on the hinting tone in her adoptive parent's voice.

 _Hm, she knows something else. A surprise, I'm bettin'..._

 _Eh, but why ruin it early? I'll wait on tomorrow._

Time Skip, Coraline's POV

"Oh, wow! Everything's really coming together..."

My bros and I decided to head down to Hōjō's school just a little after breakfast and see what's been built so far. Gotta say, for normal teenagers, they sure know how to put their imagination to work: so far, it's just alot of framework for booths, but they've already got a nice banner decorated with cherry blossom branches hanging over the entrance for everyone to see as they walk in, and I can see signs of what will be featured throughout, from the food to costumes to...

 _...Hold on._

My thoughts come to a stop when my eyes catch a familiar uniform, namely, a certain Karategi worn by some of the more regular students of a dojo my brothers and I have connections to. How do I know this? By the crest on their right (which is left to them) breasts, which I now recognize as an artwork form of what must be the Jewel of the Ancient One when it was once in full glory.

 _Those guys are from Master Yoshi's dojo...But, why are they-_

"Heeey, Coraline, Freeman, Besa! Over here!"

Turning our heads to the call of a familiar voice, we look to see noneother than Mokoto and Shuji, also in their own Karategi!

"Uh! (Big smile) Hey!"

It wouldn't be too long before the five of us were sitting at one of the outside picnic benches near the cafeteria, catching up with eachother on what's been going on in our lives-um, within reason, of course. There's only so much I can tell about my adventures without freaking these two out...

"So, you've become another student, Shuji?"

"Uh-huh. After the near-disaster with my cousin Rikona and the increased danger in the neighbourhood, I figured it's about time I get some lessons in how to properly defend myself."

He gives my brothers a sad smile as he then says,

"By the way, I'm truly sorry about your place, guys. The landlord just couldn't afford the late rent anymore. I did persuade my brothers to help me convoy your things into my garage, so, whenever you're ready to pick it up, or what's left..."

Freeman and Besa were thankfully very understanding about the situation, and just wave Shuji off with a casual,

"Hey, crap happens, man,"

"We had a feeling something like this would happen sooner or later, so we appreciate that you went to that much trouble...Besides..."

They look towards me as Besa finishes with a secretive smile,

"We practically live at the Higurashis, so we'll be fine."

 _Heh, and by that, bro, you mean you're feeling more at home through the well to the other side of time..._

 _And, really, thinking about it...I'm starting to feel that way myself._

I don't go further into that odd thought when Mokoto brings us to a more current topic.

"Well that's good to know...So, I'm guessin' at least one if not all three of you are wondering why some of us from the dojo are here in our uniforms, right?"

I answer,

"That was gonna be my next question."

"Heh, then wonder no more. See, this year's cultural festival will have an extra feature: our dojo and a few other martial art schools are gonna be throwing together a little exhibition tournament."

Now that got our attention:

"Whoa!" "No way...!"

"Awesome!"

"Yeah! Master Yoshi's the main organizer, along with one of the masters from the Lotus Dojo. There's gonna be some demonstrations, a couple contests, and then of course, the main event: the mini tournament."

Shuji adds,

"We say mini because a regular one would be alot longer. It'll likely just be a handful of the best-ranked fighters from each of the schools going head-to-head...And on that note..."

Both boys suddenly form expressions of desperate resolution.

"There's something we need to ask you guys."

"Huh?"

...

 _...What?!_

I'm still reeling over the request as we're being lead over to where the martial arts section of the festival's gonna be set up, the central ring already created and with a few of our students as well as others from other schools practicing. My voice chokes on surprise as I double-check with Makoto,

"You guys want us to compete in the tourney?"

"That's the deal."

 _Hoo boy..._

Freeman seemed about as floored as I was, if not more or less.

"Y-Ya sure you don't wanna give some others a chance? I mean, we only just got back from a-um, pretty heavy journey, and we're still kind-of worn down..."

Shuji replies with a half-smile,

"Maybe, but you guys have come and gone from your little secret adventures and can still keep up with the rest of us in class. Not to mention that special training you've been doing with sensei. (Mutter) Still dunno how you three swung that..."

"Ah, Mokoto, Shuji. I see you found them."

Looking up from my somewhat nervous thoughts, I meet the soft brown irises of my martial arts teacher, he also in full uniform including his black belt. For reasons born out of concern since the last time I saw him, I had this picture in my head of meeting a more crippled version of the man I know...But, grandfather was right: it's as if the attack on his life by Hikiji never happened, his beige skin having plenty of colour and bringing out the features of his kind, heart-shaped face. His black hair remains styled in the modern version of the chonmage (basically a top-knot without the shaven part), though I guess it grew a bit longer...

"Croft-san, Brownlee-sans. It's been quite some time."

My brothers and I bow in respect to our teacher:

"Sensei."

Raising ourselves straight, I was the first to greet him a bit less formally with a relived smile on my face.

"We're glad to see you up and about, considering you were still recuperating before we had to leave elsewhere."

"Ah yes. I trust things are going well with your other friends and that, task?"

"It, took a bit of a grim term, but we're slowly recovering. We're at a bittersweet point at present and just glad to breathe."

"I see...Well remember to keep your spirits up. The bad never lasts for long, and it all eventually leads back to the good."

We nod at his advice, and he forms a different, more directive smile.

"But in the meantime, perhaps a good distraction will help. I assume Makoto and Shuji have told you about the exhibition and our, situation?"

"Yes. We understand you need a few extra hands?"

"Correct, mainly for the demonstrations and the small tournament. (Small frown) Unfortunately, three of your fellow students have fallen ill to a case of food poisoning from a mishap in their school cafeteria."

Wincing, the three of us comment,

"Ooo..." "Harsh."

"That'll definitely have you bed-bound for a couple days..."

"In any case, if you hadn't shown up today, we would've been at a disadvantage...So, what say you? Will you kindly lend the dojo a hand?"

 _...Oooh, what the heck? Can't very well leave them hanging._

Sharing a knowing and meaningful look with Freeman and Besa, we then turn back to Master Yoshi and reply with halfhearted smiles,

"Of course."

"(Clap) Excellent! Thank you so much; you three are doing a great service this hour...So, first: we need to find you each a uniform that will fit, then we'll go over the basics of what to expect during the festival, and finally, non-stop practice."

I feel those playful nerves creep back at the excitement in my master's voice, and I sigh with an exasperated smile while thinking,

 _So much for rest..._

The next several hours would be spent getting fitted into my own Karategi, complete with brown belts to show how far our instruction has come. I still don't know why we follow the Judo system of rank when we play with a number of different fighting styles, but I guess it's one of those things you don't question and just follow...Anyway, after uniform fittings came the run-through of the program, which was basically what we've already been told: first, the exhibition fights to demonstrate everyone's skills, then a few contests that showcase fundamentals like balance and power, and finally, the little tournament between our dojo and about seven others...

Then came the more vigorous part of the day, training and practice. Good, grief: if I wasn't worn down from all the latest Naraku activity, I was come close to sunset after all the exercise in getting all my punches and kicks right.

 _Uuugh, fighting demons and searching for jewel shards suddenly sounds breezy..._

So would be the worn-down thought bouncing in my brain as the three of us slowly trudged up the stairs back home, panting and sweating through our casual day clothes (the uniforms in our own little bundles to take and save for the big day).

"Hah, hah, hah..."

"Sheeeesh! Maybe coming back here wasn't such a good idea..."

"How were we suppose to know we'd get thrust into a martial arts tournament?"

Eventually, we reach the front door, and wander inside while trying to get the breath back in our lungs...

"Gee, you guys look more tired now than when you came back yesterday."

Looking up from my limp, I see Souta smiling sheepishly at us.

"Did you get badgered with questions or something?"

"Heh, not exactly, little brother. We-um, actually got roped into doing something for the festival..."

"Ahaha, so Yoshi has you already hard at work for that exhibition, eh?"

Looking into the living room, I see Grandfather sipping some sake before shooting me one of those knowing smirks of his.

"I expect to see you and your brothers do your sensei proud."

Sending a tired and slightly annoyed smirk back, I reply,

"Nothing less shall be seen."

 _Damn geezer knew this was gonna happen...Oh well: this beats Naraku's manipulative drama any day._

Sengoku Era, Goshinboku Village, No POV

At the same time Coraline, Freeman and Besa return home to rest up for what will be some interesting and eventful days to come in their era of birth, back through the well and in the hut of the aging priestess, Kaede, she and the rest of our ragtag group were having a full discussion of what their biggest enemy had attempted to perform...

"Naraku tried to use Coraline's eyes?"

Miroku confirms:

"Yes, to help him find the Shikon-no-Tama shards."

"Hmm, tis a strange turn, considering he sent an age-old enemy of the chile's ancestor to eliminate her beforehand...Though based on what ye have all told me, he did not take into account just how skilled Rosiagnes would be...In any case, this means Naraku doesn't know the whereabouts of the remaining Shikon-no-Tama shards."

"Yes, and the fact that he went to the trouble of kidnapping Coraline, must signify that there are shards even he cannot find."

Shippo asks the young monk from his place beside Sango,

"How come?"

"It's hard to say. Perhaps there is something about how they are hidden..."

Miroku shares a look with Inuyasha, the latter then offering a short insight to the situation.

"It means that Naraku's not infallible."

...

Night soon falls, and the scene shifts to another part of the Edo landscape, namely, a desolate swamp...Emerging from the murky mire now, would be a short elderly figure with beige skin, a rounded head, long white beard, wearing moss green robes and leaning on a wooden staff. The most distinctive feature of this form of life, are his rather large ears with obnoxiously-long earlobes...

"Hehehehe, so you've come, Naraku. Actually, I heard you coming several leagues away."

"...Oh? Then that will save me time explaining myself."

A swirl of miasma with a company of Saimyōshō comes streaming from the skies to land near the old man on the shoreline, and as the poison fades, the entity of evil shows himself with his body intact...

"Mimisenri. They say that you have ears that are capable of hearing anything in this world."

"Yes, you are correct, and I have heard things about you too. Do you intend to take my ears and make them a part of you so you can use them?"

"Rest assured, your filthy little body doesn't interest me at all."

Not breaking from his state of calm, Mimisenri asks,

"Well then, tell me: why have you come all the way here to visit me?"

"What have you heard about the whereabouts of the Shikon-no-Tama shards?"

"Aah. According to the rumours of demons, Naraku, you yourself have apparently obtained nearly all of the Shikon-no-Tama shards."

"Just one. One is left, and somehow it's eluded my intents to find it."

Sensing the dangers in refusing the demands of one like Naraku, Mimisenri decides to lend his wisdom.

"Aah, then let's see what my ears can find for you..."

So while one side of the great war for power was about to receive some clarity, the other side was now hanging about near the fence outside of Kaede's hut, talking about their endeavors even further. Miroku grimly notes,

"All of our jewel shards are now in Naraku's possession."

Inuyasha mentions a few fragments that may not be in their hands, but are being kept safe by allies.

"Kōga still has two jewel shards in his legs..."

Sango solemnly adds,

"And there's the one which keeps Kohaku alive..."

"...Of course."

"If Naraku succeeds in making the Shikon-no-Tama whole again, Kohaku will die..."

"Don't worry, Sango."

She turns to meet Inuyasha's amber irises with her dark brown.

"We'll stop him."

"(...Smile) Thank you."

"Believe me, we're gonna find the remaining jewel shards before him."

"Yes...you're right, Inuyasha. We will."

Miroku then moves so he was standing in front of the dog demon.

"Inuyasha..."

"Hm?"

"I'm, sure I don't need to remind you, especially since, you and she have become quite involved with one another...but you must be more careful with Coraline. Make sure Naraku never captures her again."

Turning away from the monk's stare, Inuyasha grinds slightly,

"Look! I already know that, okay?...Besides...he didn't just have her taken..."

An image of Coraline infected by the power of her Last Resort festers within his imagination, and he fights back a shiver before muttering darkly,

"He provoked her to near self-destruction, something I can never allow to happen again."

 _My mate stays on this earth where she belongs..._

His ears then pick up on the sound of a certain young fox demon munching vigorously on something, and looks down to see the visual.

"Hey. What're you eatin' over there, Shippo?"

Pausing his consumption, the little redhead looks up at his friends and explains.

"What, this? Remember those villagers and itinerant priest we saved a while ago? Well, they gave me some of their food in gratitude."

Sango suddenly lets out a groan and snatches the one piece of dry meat from Shippo's hand, before gathering the rest from the leaf bundle.

"Oh brother! No matter how many demon slayers warn them, they never listen..."

"Whaddo you mean?"

She answers after directing her twin-tailed companion from taking a bite out of the dried meat for herself.

"No, Kilala...This food is made out of demons."

"Whaaat?!"

"This is the hyphae of a fungal demon called Shironyuudou."

Kneeling down to see the said piece himself, Miroku then asks the demon slayer,

"So is it safe to eat?"

"Yes, like this it is...But if you, put it in water and heat it..."

"You mean, if you boil it."

"Yes. If you boil it, a new Shironyuudou is born."

Shippo concludes,

"So it isn't really dead then."

"It's best if all this food is disposed of."

Pouting a bit, the fox demon child mumbles,

"Hauh...but it was so darn tasty..."

"That's why it's such a nuisance."

Jumping down to his feet from the fence, Inuyasha then says,

"Forget about the food. If we can find the remaining Shikon-no-Tama shard, we can put an end to all this."

Nodding in agreement, Miroku comments,

"You're quite right. That was the start of it all."

"Wherever Naraku is hiding right now, he's sure to appear where the last jewel shard will be."

Time Skip, Modern-Day Tokyo, Hōjō's POV

 _Good lord, this festival's always more exhausting before it becomes any fun..._

Finally getting a break from rehearsals, I decide to wander around the school to see how the rest of the setup was going...

"Ha! Ka! Ha!"

"Concentrate, Croft-san. More fluidity in your katas."

 _Croft-san?...Could it be...?_

Looking over where the martial arts exhibition tournament the local dojos would be, I spot a familiar face practicing some sort of slower version of regular punches and kicks while their teacher was observing nearby.

 _Ah! Coraline...Heh, so she's returned from nowhere for a short time, eh?_

"Hey! That you, Hōjō?"

"Hm?"

Turning to my left, I see Freeman and Besa - dressed in what I'm assuming is their dojo's uniform - jogging over to me.

"Oh! You guys are back too!"

They stop in front of me and reply with somewhat weary smiles,

"Yeah, for a few days, at least."

"Just until the festival's done, which, we've inadvertently become a part of..."

Noting the hesitance in the second's voice, I conclude with a sympathetic smile,

"Last-minute recruitment?"

"Pretty much...Sensei Yoshi's definitely been working us to the bone so we'll be ready for the exhibition. I myself will be going up against a few students in the beginning, then participating in a contest for best close-combat."

Freeman would speak next:

"Similar sitch for me, 'cept I'll be in a contest for execution of strength and balance."

He points to a set of bamboo poles in a pile next to the arena.

"See those poles over there? I gotta maneuver around atop those, while showing off the power in my delivery."

"Sounds tough..."

"Eh, trick is to not think about it...Heheh, meanwhile, (looks at the arena) poor sis is being pushed to the envelope as our school's star fighter for the tournament. She'll be with us when we demonstrate our katas, but after that, she only has so much time to rest before it's all hands on deck."

 _Oh wow..._

Watching her move while noting the determined expression on her face, I smile and mutter,

"Better her than me, but I do know how she feels. I'll be doing my tour of duty as the male lead in our school's play."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhm, and luckily for me, Yumi's playing the female lead. (Nervous smile) Also lucky for the other girls, 'cause now she won't be giving them the stare of promised death."

"I heard that!"

"Gh!"

Spinning around on my heel, I spot my girlfriend approaching, an irritated but playful smirk on her face.

"But you're not wrong: I would have to have words with any said girl if they were playing Escargot Purin instead of me."

 _Haah, such a bold personality, but I love her..._

I then feel her hand on my upper arm, and she says to the twins,

"Sorry to cut into your conversation, but I gotta take Hōjō back to the auditorium for rehearsals."

"Again?"

"Yes again. If we don't get it right, we'll bomb the festival! Now come on, off we go."

Sighing, I allow her to drag me away, calling over my shoulder,

"It was nice seeing you guys! Let's try to catch up again during the festival!"

They call back,

"Sure!"

"Good luck!"

Small Time Skip, Inuyasha's POV

It may have only been about two days, but since they said I could come by early if I wanted to, I decided to head through the old well this afternoon to find my mate and her brothers, with Shippo seeing me off.

"I'll be back soon."

"I guess we need Coraline to start looking for the Shikon-no-Tama shards again, huh?"

"Yeah. She and her brothers like to take their sweet time in their era...See ya!"

The last thing I catch is the kid's request for more ninja food, making me roll my eyes a bit.

 _As if I would forget..._

Hopping up onto the lip of the well come a couple centuries later, give or take, and the first scent that greets me is my mate's.

 _Huh. So she's actually home. (Sniff-sniff) And so's Freeman and Besa..._

 _Hang on. There's a couple other scents in the courtyard...I definitely know one of them from somewhere..._

"Ha! Ka!...Ji-ya!"

 _What the hell...?_

Curious of the sounds, I open the door to the outside, and spot the source just a few yards away, in forms of my lover, the guys, and...that Yoshi guy, practicing some katas in the middle of the courtyard along with some other students from that dojo. What also caught my attention was that my mate was actually dressed the part in her own Karategi.

 _What's going on...?_

"Hey, Inuyasha!"

Looking to my far right front, I see Souta jogging over to me.

"Yo."

"Have you come for a visit?"

"Eh, kind-of..."

"Ah, so mostly to get sis and the guys?"

"Yeah..."

He nods in understanding, before we turn attention to the formation of bodies nearby us.

"Well, you might be in for a wait. See, sis and the guys are gonna be a part of the martial arts exhibition tournament in the cultural festival tomorrow."

"Huh? Cultural Festival?"

"Yeah! It's a big event the local highschool throws each year, with lots of singing, dancing, food, games, that sort of stuff. The exhibition's a newer addition, though, organized by Master Yoshi himself a few other dojo senseis."

 _Huh...It does sound kind-of interesting..._

"Cora's got the most pressure on her shoulders, though."

"Whaddo you mean?"

"She'll be the acting star champ for her dojo during the tournament, so on top of getting her katas to a science, she's gonna have her hands full going up against other school champs too. Then the guys will be in a few demonstrations and contests..."

"Really?...Hmm..."

 _In that case, maybe the others back in Edo can wait, (smirk) so I can watch my girl kick some major tail in this tournament._

"Oh, Inuyasha-san! I see you've returned as well!"

"Mm?"

I snap away from watching Coraline to meet the eyes of Yoshi, the rest slowing to a stop when they notice their sensei's attention was elsewhere. He then says to them,

"Alright, that will be enough for now, my students. We shall practice our individual roles in half an hour."

"(Collective bow) Hai, sensei."

So while most of the boys decide to just sit down and rest, the three people I know best and their teacher wander over to me. I immediately wrap an arm around my mate as soon as she was near me.

"Oh! Heheh, missed me, I take it?"

"Maybe...So according to the squirt, you and the guys are gonna be showing off your fighting skills in some exhibition, and you're leading the tournament?"

Pulling back slightly so she could look me in the eye, she replies with a sheepish smile,

"Yeah, pretty much. It was a last-minute request from sensei, Makoto and Shuji, and as students, we couldn't very well say no...The festival will be starting tomorrow, so after that, we'll be ready to return to our mission."

"Right...Haah, guess it can't be helped. At least I get to watch you do something exciting."

"Mm, well I'll have some time between the opening demonstration and the tournament, so we can hang about the rest of the festival while we wait. Heh, Akari-sama's already promised to help me with a special outfit to wear while on break. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised..."

 _...Damn this woman, knowing just how to keep me on my heels._

Giving her a quick peck mixed with a nip on her neck, I practically purr to her,

"Hm~, now I definitely wanna check things out tomorrow..."

"Heheh, and by that, you mean check _me_ out, you dog."

"Tch, I am what I am, and you still love me anyway."

"That I do, that I do..."

A dry cough expels from Freeman's throat as he cuts into our atmosphere.

"Uhm, do we need to give you guys some privacy or somethin'? Didn't think you guys were into getting risque publicly..."

 _...Aoh, what?!_

That definitely killed the mood, and both our faces erupt into blushes before exclaiming in embarrassed fury,

"Bro!"

"Really man?!"

He just laughs at us while his brother rolls his eyes with an amused smile before slapping the other's shoulder. Yoshi then gets us back on topic, though there was no mistaking the humour in his voice.

"Alright, that'll be enough of that sort of joking around. Freeman-san, it's comments like that which have me wondering if you're truly focused."

"I-I am, sensei, honest!"

"Hehmhmhm, I shall take your word for it. Besa-san, your quick precision is improving greatly, but remember to fixate each drive so they meet their target."

"Hai, sensei."

My mate would be the last one the martial arts master would discuss with regarding practice.

"As for you, Coraline-san, my only criticism at this point is that you're going a little too easy on your fellow students. There's no need to hold back your strength. They need to be prepared for whatever may come for them tomorrow, and you're essentially the strongest opponent they have currently."

"I know, sensei...Recent events have, just been keeping me grounded at a certain standard right now, (sheepish smile) and I'm worried about accidentally causing some personal injury."

 _Huh?...Ooh, I think I know what's wrong..._

A frown forms on my face as I conclude,

 _She must still be a bit rattled by our last encounter with that bastard Naraku...Can't really blame her either..._

"Maybe you just need a more suitable opponent."

She turns to me with a confused expression, and I give her one of my signature smirks before explaining what I mean.

"Let's you and me go head-to-head."

"Huh?!...You sure?"

"Mm-hm. (Looks at Yoshi) No offense to your teaching, but it sounds like the rest of these boys aren't giving my girl the challenge she needs. I can be her sparring partner for the rest of this practice session while you focus on fine-tunin' everyone else, if that's okay."

The man gives me a calculating stare for a few moments...before smiling in approval with my proposal.

"A fine idea, Inuyasha-san. I shall entrust you into preparing my dojo's champion."

 _Heh, she really is playing the star..._

We part ways, me leading my mate near that old tree while Yoshi and the guys went back to the other students...

 _And I'll make sure she shines._

"Sooo, mind if I ask what brought this about...?"

We're quickly positioned so that we're just a few yards away from eachother, and turning to face her, I reply honestly and simply,

"Just figured this would be a good way to help you escape the binds of this last while."

"Escape?...Oh..."

She breathes out a heavy-toned breath and admits,

"Yeah, I, suppose I haven't let go of, Mount Hakurei and the mansion quite yet...As much as I keep reminding myself that it's humans I'm sparring with...I keep finding myself forcing my fists to not deliver blows meant to knock the wind out of demons..."

"Mm, I get that...which is why we're here now: I'm gonna help you get some control over your fighting modes again."

Readying myself for the pending match, I add,

"I'm positive that after fighting me a while, that tunnel vision'll clear."

Coraline murmurs my name in awe...before smiling both gratefully and with determination.

"In that case, let's get started. Thank you, and while you may be my lover, don't think I'll be going easy on you."

"Keh, wouldn't have it any other way. Bring it on!"

Time Skip, No POV

Night would soon fall, and our four unsung hero teens find themselves sitting with Souta, Akari and Grandfather Higurashi around the dinner table after a long training session with Master Yoshi and the rest of the student warriors.

"Uuugh, I can barely feel the muscles in my legs! It'll be a miracle that I can move tomorrow..."

"Psh, quit your bellyachin', Freeman; you never complain this much in Edo."

Grabbing himself some more miso soup, the elder of the table humphs after Inuyasha,

"For once, I agree with him: complaints will get you nowhere. (Wry smirk) Besides, what you feel is only the start. You'll likely be twice as sore come tomorrow evening after the exhibition and tournament."

The young male who wields the long hammer shoots the dog demon and elder Higurashi a dirty look, while Besa rolls his shoulder and yawns,

"And that's why I'm choosing not to think about anything related to muscle pain. Mind over matter, know what I mean?"

As she passes some rice over to Coraline, Akari compliments,

"Well I'm sure that all three of you will do excellent, and I'll be cheering for the dojo."

Souta chimes with half a mouthful,

"Me too; you guys'll be awesome!"

Giggling slightly, the redhead with two-tone blue irises says,

"Thanks, Akari-sama, little bro. Just seeing your supportive faces will be enough to help me do my best...By the way, were you able to find 'it', Akari-sama?"

Laughing silently behind her hand, the woman with short, wavy black hair replies,

"Yes, dear, I finally tracked down that blasted accessory. It was hiding in that old storage chest in the attic..."

"Thank you...Haah, now all that's left is a goodnight's rest, (tired smile) and then I have to get up early..."

Stretching his arms over himself, Inuyasha lightly boasts,

"Yeah well, that's the price of being at the top: ya gotta be at your best no matter the hour."

"Says the 'voice of experience', I suppose?"

"No duh! Out of all of us, I'm the one who pulls most of the weight."

Besa counters with a raised brow,

"Uh yeah, 'cause you're the one who jumps in headfirst without warning the rest of us."

"Incase you haven't figured it out by now, Besa, I'm not exactly the kind who plans every little detail until my head spins. Half the time, I just wing it and it works."

"A~h, so what you're saying is that you suck at planning, is that it?"

Immediately catching the other twin's jab, the dog demon growls,

"Watch it!"

He just receives a chorus of laughter from them both in response, making him sulk in a moody manner while Souta tries to hold in his own snickers...Fast-forward a few hours later, and we find our heroine redhead brushing out her hair while dressed in a simple pair of white pajama pants and matching spaghetti-strap tank top.

"Haaah, another fortunate night of rest on a soft mattress...Thank you again for, helping me get fully back to center."

She had turned to Inuyasha - he sitting on the side of her bed - so she could say that while meeting his eyes...which were, somewhat distracted at present.

"Hm? Inuyasha?"

What was causing our favourite dog demon to daydream? Believe it or not, it was his mate's current appearance, the relaxed fit and simplicity of her lounge clothes alongside her freshly-groomed red locks looking very attractive to him.

 _Wow..._

"Um, Inuyasha~..."

Finally drawing back to reality, he manages to stutter out,

"H-Huh? Oh, um, your welcome."

"...So, do you think I'm ready for tomorrow?"

Rolling his eyes with a mock sigh, he replies with a smile,

"Yeah yeah, you're ready. More than ready, really...You're gonna kick butt and take names guaranteed."

That brought a more confident upturn of mouth to the young woman's face.

"Good."

"Of course, you're not gonna be in top shape unless you get a good amount of sleep, so come on. In ya get."

Her smile transforms into a playful smirk as she approaches her waiting lover.

"Little eager, are we?"

He just chuckles in response, before snatching Coraline up as soon as she was within his reach, gently pulling her in so she was laying atop his front while he laid back in the bed. The young lovers then share a few heated kisses, their hands wandering over their bodies while careful not to rile eachother up too much~...A few minutes later, we see them lazing on the cool surface of the comforter, she cuddling into his chest with her arms wrapped around him, while he had his left arm wrapped around her waist, and his right claws weaved into her hair...

"I missed these moments with you. Ya know, just the two of us without danger breathing down our backs?"

Leaning his nose forward, Inuyasha nuzzles the top of Coraline's head before planting his lips on it and whispering back,

"Same...Being with you like this, makes me feel more at peace than I've ever felt in a long time...Wish it could last longer."

"Mm, we have another day or two before we hit Edo again. It'll get noisy tomorrow, sure, but at least we can forget about the jewel drama for a while."

"True...G'night."

The blue-eyed redhead cranes her neck up to peck the silver-haired young man's lips.

"Heh, goodnight."

With that, these two souls drift off to dreamland under the soft glow of the very much active Will O' Wisp, his steady circling seen through the darkness of the night...

Time Skip

Sunlight from first morning glow streams through the glass of the teenage girl's bedroom, reaching to caress the faces of the dog demon and human like the gentle fingers of a parent to their child. Feeling the familiar warmth, Coraline's sea-storm blue irises flutter awake, squinting back once they're hit with the full brightness of the sun.

"Mm! Mm...Oh..."

 _Sunrise...It's time for the festival._

Shifting one of her fists to rub the sleep away from her eyes, she then uses that same hand to nudge her lover's chest.

"Inuyasha...Inuyasha, I need you to let go."

"Hrh...Mh-w-wha...?"

"I need to get up and get ready."

Groggily blinking open his own amber irises, Inuyasha mumbles,

"Mornin' already? (Glances at window) Ugh, barely. Do you really have to go down this early?"

Smiling apologetically, his mate replies,

"Afraid so. There's gonna be a few preparations to do before the festival begins. Setup, registration, last-minute run-through of the schedule. Can't be helped."

"Haah, alright, I guess I'll let you up..."

She giggles a bit from the playfulness in the mock sigh, and waits until the strong arm leaves her waist before rising to a kneel, then slipping off the bed to stand up and head over to her dresser to find some suitable clothes to change into...Staring up at the ceiling and watching the active Lumos flutter around as a way to prevent himself from looking over at a half-naked Coraline, Inuyasha asks,

"So besides the tourney, what else should I expect t' see at this festival? Souta gave me a basic description, but..."

Pulling a cream cropped tank top over her head, Coraline explains,

"Well this'll be my first time going to one of the highschool festivals too, but if it's anything like the ones that go on downtown during the seasons, there's going to be alot of stalls set up to sell things like food, trinkets, games...Uhm, something I should warn you beforehand: I think there will be at least one stall that serves curry."

"Gh!...Right. I'll just steer clear of that..."

"According to Akari-sama and Grandfather, these festivals have actually become more westernized, so we might see some stuff more common in Freeman and Besa's home country, like a haunted house, a few carnival games...Oh, and you may see some humans dressed like popular demons from folklore, so when in doubt, check their scents."

Scoffing with a half-smirk, Inuyasha argues,

"Please, when's the last time you saw a human wearing a good demon disguise?"

"Fair point...Say, this isn't by chance, the first festival you're going to, is it?"

The upturn of mouth shifts into a more or less thoughtful frown as the dog demon replies,

"...I think there was a festival of sorts held every year in my, mother's village. Never went to it for, obvious reasons, but...I sometimes watched it from a distance...It was also one of those few times I used to, imagine myself actually blending in with everyone else, before I woke up to the reality of never really fitting in."

"Hm...Well, you won't have to worry about that kind of thing today."

Glancing sideways upon sensing the approach of his mate, he soaks in the image of a slender young woman dressed in the crop tank, showing off her midriff as well as her black yoga capri pants, her toned body displayed in subtle glory after all the exercise the girl's attained from her adventures in this last year and several months. Fiddling with her hair to tie it into a braid, she continues with a gentle smile,

"As you no doubt have noticed by now, those sort of attitudes don't really exist in this era, at least not in the same prominent tone. Heh, with all the costumes that'll be worn, you'll more than likely just have a few oddball questions thrown your way, and when that happens, just use the same excuse you used with Hōjō and Yumi and say you're cosplaying as a half-demon dog. Heck, you can even say what you are without the cover and nobody will freak out."

"Really?"

"Mhm. (Sheepish smile) Gullibility for my species in this era's taken a rather, interesting shift, thanks to the decline of more noticeable abnormality. Most are rather ignorant and naïve to the extraordinary, only going as far as believing in it for the sake of a good story...I'm a part of the rarity who knows better."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Inuyasha comments,

"So in other words, most humans have become dumb to the supernatural by your time."

"Heheh, that's one way to put it, but yeah."

(Knock-knock)

"(Muffled) Yo, Cor! You up yet?"

Turning her head towards her door, Coraline softly calls back,

"Yeah, Freeman, I'm up! I'll meet you guys downstairs!"

"(Muffled) Alrigh'!"

Moving to grab her cloth bundle with her dojo uniform wrapped inside, the redhead prepares to head out of her room and downstairs to get a bite to eat before leaving the shrine/residence.

"Well, down I go. You comin' too or ya gonna try and catch some more Zs?"

"Keh, I'll see you three off."

Come several minutes later, said teenagers are seen jogging away from the front entrance, the twins seen wearing matching outfits of loose grey shorts and white tank tops.

"Catch'ya later, everyone!"

"See you down at the school!"

The Higurashis are seen waving them off from the front door, smiles of anticipating encouragement on their faces.

"Good luck, dears!"

"See you guys later!"

"Make Yoshi proud!"

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was lounging atop the roof of the residence, watching his two friends and mate rush to the staircase with a relaxed smirk on his face.

 _Tch, they better do their damnedest down there later, or I might have to start questioning their skills..._

 _...Hm?_

That's when he feels a set of eyes on his person, and sits up to look over yonder his right to where a few trees sit...

"Hmm..."

 _Thought I just felt...Hmph, paranoia._

Dismissing it as nothing to be concerned with, he lays back down to rest until Souta calls for him...

...

Little did he realize, however, was that there was someone skulking in the shadows of the leaves, someone who was smart enough to disguise their scent so they blend with the environment. Humphing to themselves, the dark-clothed figure turns their sharp green irises to watch the three other teens disappear down from the top of the staircase.

 _So, they've returned to this era at last, have they?_

Waiting until they were sure no one could see them, the figure swiftly jumps down and activates a device on their right wrist, opening up a certain portal to pass through...

(...Vwoop)

Before reappearing behind a different tree in the courtyard of Hōjō and Yumi's highschool, the setting of today's youth cultural festival! Hurrying up into the tree branches, the figure then speeds on their toes to hide within the branches of another slab of living wood, nearby where the martial arts arena stood. They immediately lock onto the youths wearing the uniform signifying their loyalties to Master Yoshi's dojo, and narrow their eyes in a foreboding manner.

 _Tch, look at them down there, the amateurs...They have no idea what's coming..._

Their attention diverts onto Coraline, Freeman and Besa as they chat it up with Mokoto, Shuji, Hōjō and Yumi, the smiles on their faces provoking more anger to flow into their veins.

 _Especially, them...The ones responsible for the deformation of my own master._

 _(Flash)_

 _"Croft and her cohorts have returned to these lands...You know what your mission is: make them regret their first encounter with our clan...I am counting on you, my dear niece."_

 _"(Bow) As you command, sensei."_

 _(Flash)_

Removing their hooded mask, their identity is revealed to be a long-forgotten female whom was previously seen as a harmless if callous rival of our favourite redhead...until now. Clenching her fist, the teenage girl with medium-length, straight black hair and pale skin curves her glossy pink lips into a sneer as she vows,

 _I, Mikuru, swear on the name of Hikiji, that you and your friends will pay for your treachery, Coraline Croft!_


End file.
